that the extra consumption is never missed, and the residences are
always of such dimensions that the visitors seem scarcely to increase
the family--never to be in the way; and the suits of apartments
occupied by them were built and furnished for the purpose to which they
are then devoted. The visitor is at home. The character of the
hospitality he is enjoying permits him to breakfast from seven till
ten, alone, or in company with the family if he chooses. Horses, dogs,
and guns for the gentlemen--billiards, the carriage, music, or
promenading, with cards, chess, backgammon, or dominos for the ladies,
to pass away the day until dinner. At this meal the household and
guests unite, and the rich viands, wines, and coffee make a feast for
the body and sharpen the wit to a feast of the soul. This society is
the freest and most refined to be found in the country.

Upon the coast of the Mississippi, from Baton Rouge to many miles below
the city, the proximity of the large plantations presents an
opportunity of close and constant intercourse. A very large majority of
these are the property and habitations of the cultivated and
intelligent Creoles of the State. And here let me explain the term
Creole, which has led to so many ludicrous, and sometimes to painful
mistakes. It is an arbitrary term, and imported from the West Indies
into Louisiana. Its original meaning was a native born of foreign
parents; but universal use has made it to mean, in Louisiana, nothing
more than simply "native;" and it is applied indiscriminately to
everything native to the State--as Creole cane, Creole horse, Creole
negro, or creole cow. Many confound its meaning with that of quadroon,
and suppose it implies one of mixed blood, or one with whose blood
mingles that of the African--than which no meaning is more foreign to
the word.

The Creole planters, or what are termed French Creoles, are descended
from a very different race from the Acadian Creole, or Iberian. The
first colonists who came to Louisiana were men of the first blood and
rank in France. The Ibervilles, the Bienvilles, St. Denises, and many
others, were of noble descent; and the proud prestige of their names
and glorious deeds still clings around their descendants now peopling
the lands they conquered from the desert, the savage, and the flood.
These daring men brought with them the chivalrous spirit which
descended to their sons--the open, gallant bearing; the generous
hospitality; th