METEOROLOGICAL TABLE.

Thermometer.Barometer.
1844.Max.Min.Range,Max.Min.Range,Rainy
days.		Prevailing
Winds.		Force of
Winds,		Quan. of Rain.
Months.0 tenths0 tenths0 tenths0 hund.0 hund.0 hund. ratio 1 to 10.Inches.Thousands.
January,79.536.543.030.3829.730.6511S. E.2.44966
February,81.040.041.030.4029.910.495S. E.2.40879
March,83.038.045.030.4029.830.579N. W.3.03031
April,85.040.045.030.4629.980.483S. E.2.51797
May,88.566.022.530.3129.830.489S. W.2.74847
June,91.069.022.030.1830.030.1512S.2.35789
July,92.573.019.530.2230.010.2116S. W.2.29801
August,92.569.023.530.2629.930.3314S. W.2.45199
September,91.561.030.530.2329.950.288E.2.51080
October,85.546.039.530.3129.890.424N. E.2.52180
November,74.040.034.030.3429.940.409N.2.27754
December,74.532.542.030.4429.830.614N.2.41077
Ann'l Mean,84.950.933.930.3329.900.42104 2.548400

Society, as at present constituted in New Orleans, has very little resemblance to that of any other city in the Union. It is made up of a heterogeneous mixture of almost all nations. First, and foremost, is the Creole population. All who are born here, come under this designation, without reference to the birth place of their parents. They form the foundation, on which the superstructure of what is termed "society," is erected. They are remarkably exclusive in their intercourse with others, and, with strangers, enter into business arrangements with extreme caution. They were once, and very properly, considered as the patricians of the land. But they are not more distinguished for their exclusiveness, and pride of family, than for their habits of punctuality, temperance, and good faith.

Till about the commencement of the present century, the period of the transfer of Louisiana to the United States, the Creoles were almost entirely of French and Spanish parentage. Now, the industrious Germans, the shrewd and persevering Irishmen, are beginning to be quite numerous, and many of them have advanced to a condition of wealth and respectability.

Next come the emigrants from the sister States, from the mighty west, from the older sections of the south, and (last not least) from the colder regions of the north, the enterprising, calculating, hardy Yankee. To the latter class this emporium is indebted, for many of those vast improvements which, as if by magic, have risen to the astonishment and confusion of those of the ancient regime, who live in a kind of seclusion within the limits of the city proper—to whom beautiful and extensive blocks of buildings have appeared in the morning, as though they had sprung up by enchantment during the night.

Then come the nondescript watermen. Our river steam navigation, averaging, during half the year, some three hundred arrivals per month, furnishes a class of ten thousand men, who have few if any parallels in the world. The numberless flat-boats that throng the levees for an immense distance, are peopled and managed by an amphibious race of human beings, whose mode of living is much like that of the alligator, with whom they ironically claim relationship, but who carry under their rough exterior and uncouth manners, a heart as generous and noble, as beats in any human breast. They are the children of the Mississippi, as the Arabs are of the great desert, and, like them, accustomed to encounter danger in every shape. Combining all the most striking peculiarities of the common sailor, the whaleman, the backwoodsman, and the Yankee, without imitating, or particularly resembling any one of them, they are a class entirely by themselves, unique, eccentric, original, a distinct and unmistakeable feature in the floating mass that swarms on the levees, and threads the streets, of the Crescent City.

Among them may be found the representatives of nearly all the states. Some are descendants of the Pilgrims, and have carried with them the industrious habits, and the strict moral principles, of their Puritan forefathers, into the wilds of the West. They are all active, enterprising, fearless, shrewd, independent, and self-sufficient, and often aspiring and ambitious, as our halls of legislation, and our highest business circles can testify. They are just the stuff to lay the broad foundations of freedom in a new country—able to clear the forest, and till the soil, in time of peace, to defend it in war, and to govern it at all times.

Of the one hundred and thirty thousand souls, who now occupy this capital, about twenty thousand may be estimated as migratory. These are principally males, engaged in the various departments of business. Some of them have families at the North, where they pass the summer. Many are bachelors, who have no home for one half the year, and, if the poets are to be believed, less than half a home for the remainder. As these two classes of migratory citizens, who live at the hotels and boarding houses, embrace nearly, if not quite, one half the business men of the city, it may serve to some extent, to account for the seemingly severe restrictions by which the avenues to good native society are protected. Unexceptionable character, certified beyond mistake, is the only passport to the domestic circle of the Creole. With such credentials their hospitality knows no limits. The resident Americans are less suspicious in admitting you to their hospitality, though not more liberal than their Creole neighbors, when once their confidence is secured.

The restrictions thus thrown around society, and the great difficulty which the new comer experiences in securing a share in those social enjoyments to which he has been accustomed in other places, have had an unfavorable effect upon the morals of the place. Having no other resource for pastime, when the hours of business are over, he flies to such public entertainments as the city affords. And if these are not always what they should be, it behooves us to provide better. Public libraries, reading rooms, galleries for the exhibition of the fine arts, lyceums for lectures, and other kindred rational amusements, would do much to establish a new and better order, and to break down those artificial barriers, which separate so many refined and pure minded men from the pleasures and advantages of general society, condemning them to live alone and secluded, in the midst of all that is lovely and attractive in the social relations of life.

The character of New Orleans, in respect to health, has been much and unjustly abused. At the north, in ratio to their population, the consumption annually destroys more than the yellow fever of the south. The city of New York averages about thirty a week. Patients with pulmonary complaints, resort to these latitudes for relief, where such diseases are otherwise rarely known. In truth, this capital shows a more favorable bill of mortality, than any seaport town in the United States, except Charleston and Baltimore.

There is little to be said in favor of the morals of New Orleans, during the first few years after its cession. Report made them much worse than they were. As the community was composed of some of the worst classes of society, gathered from every region under the sun, nothing very good was to be expected. But circumstances have changed. A system of wholesome police regulations has been introduced and enforced, which has either brought the desperate and the lawless under subjection, or expelled them from the community. By reference to the statistics of crime, in other commercial cities in proportion to the number of inhabitants, the stranger will be convinced that this City has reason to be proud of her standing. Riots here are unknown, robberies seldom occur. Personal security in the public streets, at all hours, is never endangered—and females may venture out after dark, without a protector, and be free from insult and molestation. Foreign influence has entailed upon society here a code of honor which, in some measure, has had a tendency to injure it, but the false notion is fast falling into disrepute.

The new state constitution, if adopted, will put an effectual stop to this barbarous practice. Article 130, reads,

"Any Citizen of this State who shall, after the adoption of this constitution, fight a duel with deadly weapons, or send a challenge to fight a duel, either within the state, or out of it, or who shall act as second, or knowingly aid and assist in any manner those thus offending, shall be deprived of holding any office of trust or profit, and of enjoying the right of suffrage under this Constitution."

The learned professions here, generally, stand preeminently high. The science of medicine may boast of a talent, and a skill, that would confer honor upon any city in the Union—and the few empirics who disgrace the practice, are so well known, that the evil is circumscribed within very narrow limits. The clergy are proverbial for their learning and eloquence—and the same remarks will apply with equal force to the members of the bar.

This city, at the present time, possesses no public library. Considering the population, and their ability, this must be regarded as a blot upon the intelligence of its citizens. This is completely a commercial community, however, and money is the universal ambition. Thence springs that acknowledged deficiency in literature and the fine arts, observable to the stranger. But shall it still remain? Is there no Girard—no Astor—among our millionaires, who will leave behind them a monument which shall make their names dearer and more honored in all coming time, than those of heroes and conquerors?

After several attempts to establish a library, an association of young men, some years ago, at last succeeded in organizing one; but, for want of proper aid and support from the rich, it lingered on for some time, and was finally sold out by the sheriff! It then consisted of four or five thousand volumes of well selected books. It was purchased by a private gentleman, B. F. French, Esq. for a mere nominal sum. Thus has a work intended for the honor of the city, become, in an evil hour, the monument of its shame! It is soothing however, to learn that, at length, a love of letters and the fine arts is springing up in our midst. Under the head of Lyceums, National Gallery of Paintings, and Public Schools, in this volume, facts illustrative of this assertion may be seen.

The Masonic fraternity in New Orleans appear to enjoy all their ancient privileges. There are some ten lodges, besides a grand lodge, and an encampment. Here is a large number of the order of Odd Fellows, as one of Equal Fellows—a Typographical Association, and Mechanics, Hibernian, St. Andrews, German, and Swiss societies. These are all, more or less, of a benevolent nature; and within their own circles, have all been extremely serviceable.

The navigation of the Mississippi, even by steam boats, in 1818, was extremely tedious. The Etna is recorded as arriving at Shipping port, a few miles below Louisville, in thirty two days. The Governor Shelby in twenty two days, was considered as a remarkably short passage. An hermaphrodite brig was seventy one days from New Orleans—and a keel boat one hundred and one; the latter to Louisville. Now, the time occupied is five to six days.

During the business season, which continues from the first of November to July, the levee, for an extent of five miles, is crowded with vessels of all sizes, but more especially ships, from every part of the world—with hundreds of immense floating castles and palaces, called steamboats; and barges and flat-boats innumerable. No place can present a more busy, bustling scene. The loading and unloading of vessels and steamboats—the transportation, by some three thousand drays, of cotton, sugar, tobacco, and the various and extensive produce of the great west, strikes the stranger with wonder and admiration. The levee and piers that range along the whole length of the city, extending back on an average of some two hundred feet, are continually covered with moving merchandise. This was once a pleasant promenade, where the citizen enjoyed his delightful morning and evening walk; but now there is scarcely room, amid hogsheads, bales and boxes, for the business man to crowd along, without a sharp look out for his personal safety.

The position of New Orleans, as a vast commercial emporium, is unrivalled—as will be seen by a single glance at the map of the United States. As the depot of the west, and the half-way-house of foreign trade, it is almost impossible to anticipate its future magnitude.

Take a view, for instance, of the immense regions known under the name of the Mississippi valley. Its boundaries on the west are the Rocky Mountains, and Mexico; on the south, the Gulf of Mexico; on the east the Alleghany mountains; and, on the north, the lakes and the British possessions. It contains nearly as many square miles, and more tillable ground, than all continental Europe, and, if peopled as densely as England, would sustain a population of five hundred millions—more than half of the present inhabitants of the earth. Its surface is generally cultivable, and its soil rich, with a climate varying to suit all products, for home consumption or a foreign market. The Mississippi is navigable twenty one hundred miles—passing a small portage, three thousand may be achieved. It embraces the productions of many climates, and a mining country abounding in coal, lead, iron and copper ore, all found in veins of wonderful richness. The Missouri stretches thirty nine hundred miles to the Great Falls, among the Flat Foot Indians, and five thousand from New Orleans. The Yellow Stone, navigable for eleven hundred miles, the Platte for sixteen hundred, and the Kanzas for twelve hundred, are only tributaries to the latter river. The Ohio is two thousand miles to Pittsburgh, receiving into her bosom from numerous streams, the products of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Western Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana and Illinois. The Arkansas, Big Black, Yazoo, Red River, and many others, all pouring their wealth into the main artery, the Mississippi, upon whose mighty current it floats down to the grand reservoir, New Orleans.

The Mississippi valley contained over eight millions of inhabitants in 1840, having gained eighty per cent., during the last ten years. The present number cannot be less than ten millions.

The last year, the Mississippi was navigated by four hundred and fifty steamboats, many of which are capable of carrying 2,500 bales of cotton, making an aggregate tonnage of ninety thousand. They cost above seven millions of dollars; and to navigate them, required nearly fifteen thousand persons—the estimated expense of their navigation is over thirteen millions of dollars. The increase since, may be calculated at fifty additional boats—which would make an advance in all these items in a ratio of ten per cent.

Such statements as these, large as they seem, convey to the reader but a partial idea of the great valley, and of the wide extent of country upon which this city leans, and which guaranties her present and future prosperity. To form a full estimate, he must, besides all this, see her mountains of iron, and her inexhaustible veins of lead and copper ore, and almost boundless regions of coal. The first article mentioned (and the phrase in which it is expressed is no figure of speech) has been pronounced, by the most scientific assayer of France, to be superior to the best Swedish iron. These, and a thousand unenumerated products, beside the well known staples, constitute its wealth; all of which by a necessity of nature, must flow through our Crescent City, to find an outlet into the great world of commerce. With such resources nothing short of some dreadful convulsion of nature, or the more dreadful calamity of war, can prevent New Orleans from becoming, if not the first, next in commercial importance to the first city in the United States—perhaps, in the world. The flourishing towns upon the Mississippi and her tributaries, are merely the depositories for this great mart. In twenty years she must, according to her present increase, contain a population of three hundred thousand, with a trade proportionably extended.

With such views, it may be deemed folly to attempt to look forward to the end of the nineteenth century, when this metropolis will in all probability extend back to lake Pontchartrain, and to Carrolton on the course of the river. The swamps, that now only echo to the hoarse bellowing of the alligator, will then be densely built upon, and rendered cheerful by the gay voices of its inhabitants, numbering at least a million of human beings. If, like Rip Van Winkle, we may be permitted to come back after the lapse of half a century, with what surprise and astonishment shall we witness the change which the enterprise of man will have wrought. But let us not waste a moment in dreaming about it. Let us be up and doing, to fulfil our part of the mighty achievement. It would not be strange, however, if the present map, which is given to show the rapid growth of the city, by comparison with one drawn in 1728, should then be republished with a similar design, to exhibit the insignificance of New Orleans in 1845! We ask the kindness of the critics of that period, should they deign to turn over these pages, begging them to consider that our humble work was produced as far back as the benighted age of steam!

PUBLIC BUILDINGS

Having noticed, in the preceding sketch, the most prominent features in the history of this interesting section of country, it becomes a duty now to present to the intelligent reader, and more especially to the inquiring traveller, a description of such of the public institutions, buildings, and places of resort, for business and amusement, as may be deemed worthy of his attention. In attaining this object, it was necessary to have recourse to the most carefully digested statements of facts now existing, as well as to collect others from personal inspection.