for exportation only, under the provision of any law in force for the time being, made for the warehousing of goods without payment of duty upon the first entry thereof.-21.

Forfeitur s how incurred.-Any goods imported, exported, or carried coast wise, contrary to the law of navigation, shall be forfeited, and the masters of ships carrying the same shall forfeit each the sum of 1001.- 22.

Recovery of Forfeitures.-All penalties and forfeitures incurred under this act shall be sued for, prosecuted, recovered, and disposed of, or shall be mitigated or restored, in like manner as any penalty or forfeiture can be sued for, prosecuted, recovered, and disposed of, or may be mitigated or restored, under an act passed in the present session of parliament for the prevention of smuggling.—( 23.

66

NEW ORLEANS, the capital of Louisiana, one of the United States, situated on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, about 105 miles from its mouth, in lat. 29° 57′ 45′′ N. lon. 90° 9′ W. Population in 183, 46,309. The new-built streets are broad, intersecting each other at right angles; and the houses are mostly of brick. It is the grand emporium of all the vast tracts traversed by the Mississippi, the Missouri, and their tributary streams, enjoying a greater command of internal navigation than any other city either of the Old or New World. Civilisation has hitherto struck its roots, and begun to flourish, only in some comparatively small portions of the immense territories of which New Orleans is the seaport; and yet its progress has been rapid beyond all precedent. It appears, from the accounts printed by order of Congress, that during the year ended the 30th of September, 1835, the value of the native American produce exported from this city amounted to 31,265,015 dollars, while the value of that exported from New York was only 21,707,867. With respect to imports, the case is materially different; the value of those of New Orleans, in the year just mentioned, being 17,519,814 dollars, whereas those of New York amounted to 88,191,305. It is believed by many, seeing how rapidly settlements are forming in the West," that New Orleans must, at no very distant periód, exceed every other city of America, as well in the magnitude of its imports as of its exports; and, considering the boundless extent and extraordinary fertility of the uncultivated and unoccupied basins of the Mississippi and Missouri, the anticipations of those who contend that New Orleans is destined to become the greatest emporium, not of America only, but of the world, will not appear very unreasonable. Steam navigation has been of incalculable service to this port, and, indeed, to the whole of Central America. The voyage up the Mississippi, that used formerly to be so difficult and tedious, is now performed in commodious steam packets with ease, celerity, and comfort. "There have been counted," says Mr. Flint," in the harbour, 1,500 flat boats at a time. Steam boats are arriving and departing every hour; and it is not uncommon to see 50 lying together in the harbour. A forest of masts is constantly seen along the levée, except in the sultry months. There are often 5,000 or 6,000 boatmen from the upper country here at a time; and we have known thirty vessels advertised together for Liverpool and Havre. The intercourse with the Havannah and Vera Cruz is great, and constantly increasing."—(Geography and History of the Western States, vol. i. p. 557.) From 1811, when the first steam boat was launched in the Mississippi, down to the beginning of 1830, no fewer than 336 steam boats had been built for the navigation of this river, the Missouri, Ohio, &c., of which 213 were employed at the latter period. In December, 1834, the aggregate burden of the steam vessels belonging to this port amounted to 46,292 tons! Vessels of the largest burdens may navigate the river several hundreds of miles above New Orleans. A large proportion of her foreign trade is carried on in foreign bottoms; and as a shipping port, she ranks much below several of the other ports of the Union. The total of the registered, enrolled, and licensed tonnage belonging to New Orleans on the 31st of December, 1834, amounted to 74,741 tons; of which 46,437 tons were employed in the coasting trade; but of this a large proportion consists of steam ships. The depth of water in the river opposite to New Orleans is, at a medium, about 70 feet; and it maintains soundings of 30 feet till within a mile of its confluence with the sea. Besides 3 or 4 of inferior consequence, the Mississippi has 4 principal passes or outlets. In the south-east, or main pass, at Balize, the water on the bar at ordinary tides does not exceed 12 feet; and as the rise of tides in the Gulf of Mexico is not more than 2 or 24 feet, vessels drawing much water cannot make their way from the ocean to New Orleans.-(Darby's View of the United States, p. 467.) The unhealthiness of the climate is the great drawback on New Orleans. This probably arises from the low and marshy situation of the city and surrounding country, which is under the level of the Mississippi, being protected from inundation only by an artificial levée or mound, varying from 5 to 30 feet in height, and extending along the bank of the river a distance of 100 miles. The unhealthy season includes July, August, and September; during which period the yellow fever often makes dreadful havoc, particularly among the poorer classes of immigrants from the North and from Europe. Latterly, great efforts have been made to improve the health of the city, by supplying it abundantly with water, paving the streets, removing wooden sewers, and replacing them with others of stone, &c. Many places, where water used to stagnate, have been filled up; and large tracts of swampy ground contiguous to the town have been drained. And as such works will no doubt be prosecuted on a still larger scale, according to the increase of commerce and population, it is to be hoped that the ravages of fever may be materially abated, though the situation of the city excludes any very strong expectation of its ever being rendered quite free from this dreadful scourge.

The following Tables give a very complete view of the trade of this great and growing emporium :

I. Account of the Quantity of the various Articles imported from the Interior to New Orleans during the Nine Years ending with the 30th of September, 1836. These, of course, form also the Articles of Exportation.

II. Exports of Cotton and Tobacco from New Orleans during each of the Nine Years ending the 30th of September, 1836.

Bales of Cotton.

Whither exported.

Great Britain

236,526

France.

133.881

141,872
4,363

101,253

82,302 78,138

1835-36. 1834-35. 1833-34. 1832-33. 1831-32. 1830-31. 1829-30. 1928-29. 1827-29. 1826-27.

259,123 289,169 225,667 203,365 223,374 196,892 130,514 142,546 193,539

60,101

60,913

93,446

78,370 66,425

South of Europe

12,074

6,918

9,742
1,384

12,953

8,215 9,279

Coastwise

1,690 94,223

5,752 64,728

2,400

1.379

135,086

56,116

41,017 86,283 66,763

III. Arrivals of Ships, Brigs, Schooners, Sloops, and Steamboats, for Four Years, ending the 30th of

498 472 537 13 1,520 1,372 507 490 593|11|1,601 1,172 418 507 487 10 1,422 1,005 405 428 469 2 1,304 1,081

We are indebted for the above valuable information to the Circular Statement of William Alderson, Esq., New Orleans, the 1st of October, 1836.

[For the information which follows concerning the commerce of New Orleans, we are indebted to Hazard's Commercial and Statistical Register.

Imports from the Interior at New Orleans, for Three Years, ending with the 30th September, 1839.

Arrivals of Ships, Brigs, Schooners, Sloops, and Steamboats, for Three Years, ending 30th Sept., 1839.

Total

18 17

18 1

54

62

27 19 15

35 33

45 48

54 64

41

59

00213

62
157 193

74

168

204 75 67

173

198 36 57

58

75 3

188 186

sdoors-0000002 000

1

670 411

716 28 1825 1573 582 464 554 15 1623 1551 499 430 543 6 1478 1549 (New Orleans Price Current.)

Exports of Cotton, from the port of New Orleans, for the last Three Years, commencing 1st October, and ending 30th September.

Comparative Arrivals, Exports and Stocks of Cotton of New Orleans, for Ten Years, commencing

Total

Exports of Sugar and Molasses (up the River excepted) for Three Years, ending 30th September, 1839.

1830-31

428,876

424,684

13,697

1829-30

363,611

351,890

9,505

Hhds. Bbls. Hhds. Bbls. Hhds. Bbls. Hhds. Bbls. Hhds. Bbls. Hhds. Bbls.

Exports of Tobacco, from the port of New Orleans, for the last Three Years, commencing 1st October, and ending 30th September. Hogsheads of Tobacco.

Comparative Arrivals, Exports, and Stocks of Tobacco of New Orleans, for Ten Years, commencing

1st October.

An Ordinance Concerning the Levee Duties in and for the Port of New Orleans.-The General Council of the Municipalities of New Orleans, in conformity with the 20th section of the Act of Incorporation, approved 8th March, 1836, ordain as follows:

Article 1. The levee or wharfage duties on ships and other decked vessels, and on steam vessels arriving from sea, shall be fixed as follows:

1837. 26

1836. 42

1835.
25

1834.

1833

11

16

2

2

0

6

17

24

11

15

Art. 2. The payment of these duties shall be exacted and collected by the municipality within whose limits such vessels may have moored, after their arrival from sea in port; and an extra duty of one third of these rates shall be paid by all vessels which may remain in port over two months, the same to be recovered at the commencement of the third month; and if they remain in port four months, then they shall pay a further additional wharfage of one third of said rates, at the commencement of the fifth month, and be privileged to remain until the expiration of six months from date of original arrival and mooring, without a further charge being imposed on them.

Art. 3. When any vessel shall be removed from that division of the port in which it shall have originally paid duty, to another division of said port, under the jurisdiction of another municipality, said latter municipality shall be entitled to receive from the municipality to which said duty has been first paid in the following ratio, viz.:

One half of the duty actually paid or due, if said vessel have not remained longer than fifteen days in that part of the port in which it was first moored; one third, if said vessel have remained longer than fifteen days, but not more than twenty-five days; but if beyond twenty-five days, not any part of said duty shall be recovered. Nevertheless, the municipality in whose limits said vessel shall afterwards be moored, shall have the right to levy and collect the extra duty of one third of the rates mentioned in Article 1, on the conditions mentioned in Article 2; provided, that no further charge or extra duty shall be exacted from any vessel which may have removed from one part of the port to another, for the mere purpose of forthwith proceeding to sea.

Art. 4. All vessels or steamboats coming from sea, which, after their arrival in port shall proceed to, and return from any plantation, or other place, with a cargo, or part of a cargo, of any kind of produce whatever, and shall again enter the port for the purpose of discharging the same, shall pay, on returning from any such trip, a levee duty of eight dollars over and above the duties fixed by the 1st article of this ordinance, the same to be collected by the municipality within whose limits said vessels may discharge said produce.

Art. 5. The levee duties on steam vessels navigating on the river, and which shall moor and land in any part of the incorporated limits of the port, shall be fixed as follows:

Art. 6. All steam vessels employed as packets, and plying regularly between this port and ports in the Gulf of Mexico, including Havana, shall pay no other or higher rate of wharfage than is imposed by this ordinance on steamboats navigating the Mississippi.

Art. 7. The duties specified in the preceding article, shall be paid on the mooring and landing of said steamers in port, by their captains or other agents, to the officer entrusted with their collection by the municipality within whose limits said vessels shall have moored and landed.

Art. 8. After the payment of these duties, said steamers shall be entitled to remain thirty days in that part of the port which may have been designated by the municipality to which it belongs; and any steamer remaining over thirty consecutive days, shall pay an additional duty of two dollars per day, until its final departure from port, the same to be collected daily; and if any steamer leaves its