which can pass the bars at the mouth of the riv-
er, can be laid alongside of the Levee; and at
high water are generally, when loading or un-
loading, attached to the shore with cables and a
plajform. The harbor and the bank of the river
are commensurate with each other, especially
opposite the city proper. Nothing can present a
more animating and busy scene, during the season
of business, than the Levee at New Orleans, from
the loading and unloading of vessels and steam-
boats, and the passing in all directions of an ap
parently countless number of drays, transporting
cotton, sugar, and tobacco, and all the varied
and immense products of the great western valley.
The position of this city, as a great commercial
emporium, is scarcely inferior to that of any in
our country. The Mississippi, with its tributa-
ries, brings to it, as a market, the products of
more than 20,000 miles of navigation ; nor is it
possible yet to conjecture how vast this trade
must become when the resources of the whole
Mississippi valley shall be fully developed. To
expedite the passage of ships to and from the
gulf, large and powerful steam tow-boats are em-
ployed ; some of which will take several large
vessels in their train. By a canal and a railroad
connecting New Orleans with Lake Pontchar-
train, 4% miles distant, the trade of the country
bordering on that lake and on Lake Borgne, and
of all the coast of the N. part of the Gulf of
Mexico, as far as Florida, is brought to the city.

A considerable fleet of sloops is often seen in
the basin, which is formed in the city to receive
the transports from the canal. At the termina-
tion of the railroad also, at Lake Pontchartrain,
a harbor has been formed, and a considerable vil-
lage has sprung up. The route passed over by
these lines of artificial communication is almost
a perfect level; there being not more than 16
inches of variation from it in the whole distance
of 4^ miles. The facilities for trade at New Or-
leans are great, and are well improved.

The exports, including the foreign and coast-
ing trade, are greater than those of any other city
of the United States, excepting New York. In

1850, about 7 50,000 bales of cotton were exported
to foreign parts and coastwise. The imports to
this port, however, are much less; for a large
part of the western country, which sends its ex-
ports by the way of New Orleans, receives its im-
ported goods by the Atlantic cities. ,

The government of the city is administered by
a mayor and a city council, elected by the free-
holders. In 1836 the legislature passed an act
dividing the city into three municipalities, rank-
ing them according to their population; but, in

1851, these municipalities were again consolidated
into one body politic. No city in the United
States, perhaps, contains such a variety of inhab-
itants, from every state in the Union and from
every nation in Europe, as well as from the West
Indies and the Spanish countries in Mexico and
South America. One half of the population,
probably, is black or colored. Of the white in-
habitants, the French yet constitute a large pro-
portion. The intercourse of New Orleans with
New York is greater than with any other Ameri-
can city. That with Havana and Vera Cruz is
great and constantly increasing. The unhcalthi-
ness of the situation of New Orleans is against
it; though, from the occasional ravages of ma-
lignant epidemics to which it is exposed, an ex-
aggerated idea has sometimes been formed of the I
' insalubrity of the climate. The same is true of
the morals of the city. From certain flagrant
features of open abandonment and disregard of
the institutions of religion among a population
so little American in its composition, it is not
strange that an impression extremely unfavorable
to the morals of the city should be produced. It
is said, however, to be an orderly and peaceable
city; and its inhabitants are distinguished for
their politeness, hospitality, and kindness to the
distressed.

There are fewer churches in New Orleans than
in most large cities of this country. There are
3 Roman Catholic and 2 Protestant Episcopal
Churches. The Presbyterians, the Congregation-
alists, the Baptists, and the Methodists have 1
each. A Protestant congregation has been gath-
ered among the French population of the city,
who have preaching in their own language. There
is also a Mariners' Church.

Among the public buildings, the Cathedral, or
Church of St. Louis, on the Place d'Armes, or
Parade Square, is one of the most imposing, from
its venerable and antique appearance. It was
founded in 1792, and so far completed as to be
occupied in 1794. The lower story is of the rus-
tic order, flanked at each of the front angles by
hexagonal towers projecting one half of their
diameter, and crowned by low spires. The sec-
ond story is of the Roman Doric order. Above,
on the apex of the pediment of this story, rises
the principal turret, square below for about 20
feet, and hexagonal above, with a belfry sur-
mounted by an elevated pinnacle. By the- con-
ditions of the erection of this Cathedral, masses
are offered, every Saturday evening, for the soul
of its founder, Don Audrb; and the tolling of
the bell at sunset of that day recalls his memory
to the citizens. On the right and left of this
church edifice are two public buildings of the
city, in the Tuscan and Doric orders, two stories
high, occupied in their lower stories by the police
prison, city guard room, and various offices, and
in their second stories by the offices of the mayor,
and of the city treasurer and comptroller, and the
common council chamber, and by the District and
Criminal Courts of the parish, with the offices of
their respective clerks. The Second Presbyterian
Church is finely located, fronting on Lafayette
Square, the handsomest public place in the city.
It has a fine portico of the Grecian Doric order.
A neat obelisk has been erected, in the court in
front of this church, to the memory of Rev.
Sylvester Larned, the first Presbyterian pastor in
the city, who died in 1820, at the early age of
24. The new Methodist Church, on the corner
of Poydras and Carondolel Streets, is a fine build-
ing, copied from the Temple of Theseus at Athens.
It has a fine portico, and a steeple rising 170 feet
from the ground. This building was completed
in 1837. The First Congregational Church is a
brick edifice, in the Gothic style of architecture,
finished in 1819. The building, which was for-
merly the charity hospital, and more recently the
state house, is a fine piece of architecture, con-
sisting of a centre building and two detached
wings, occupying an entire square between Canal
Street and other streets. The new Charity Hos-
pital is a large building, 290 feet long and 3
stories high, entered from Common Street. The
cupola of this building presents a magnificent
view of the city and its environs. The grounds
around it are handsomely laid out, and neatly