MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR. 155 into another boiler, where, after having undergone nearly a similar process, they are allowed to cool. The greatest nicety seems to be required in the boiling process, and in this appears to consist the great art of manufacturing sugar, the object being to effect the boiling in such a manner as to procure from the juice, when cool, the greatest degree of granulation. The juice which remains in the bottoms of the pans, after the sugar on the surface has been removed, is called molasses, and the sugar is valued according to its whiteness, and the peculiar manner in which it is crystalized. I am told that a boiling process has lately been discovered by which the quality of the sugar is very much improved, as it has the effect of rendering it nearly white, and thus increasing its value by nearly one-half. This method is called boiling in vacuo, and consists in having the boilers made with a double case, so that the juice never comes in contact with that part of the iron which is immediately exposed to the flame. By this method the sugar escapes being burnt, and, consequently, has no longer the brown hue which, when boiled. by the old process, it always more or less assumes. We spent a considerable time in the sugar-house, which is a large brick building, with a tall chimney at one end. The negroes seemed to be as cheerful and merry a set of people as I ever saw, although for the last four or five days they had been very LETTER XXXV. ATROCITIES COMMITTED IN THE DISTANT PLANTATIONS DEPARTURE FOR THE MEXICAN ARCHIPELAGO-THE 'DIME' STEAMBOAT-DIFFICULTIES OF THE NAVIGATION-THE ISLAND OF DON RUBIERA· -LIFE IN THE BARATARIA New Orleans-February. UR trip up the river had been so interesting, OUR and we had seen the condition of slavery in so mild a form, that we could not help fancying that there must be a darker side of the picture than that we had seen. There can be no doubt of the fact, that in these days the horrors of slavery cannot exist, nor can acts of cruelty and gross injustice be practised on the black race on the banks of that great thoroughfare, the Mississippi River, or indeed any part of the country, where a man's actions must inevitably become known to his fellow-men; but, on the plantations which are more removed from public observation, all sorts of atrocities may still be perpetrated to the disgrace of humanity, without any risk of loss of character LOUIS PHILIPPE'S HOME. 165 to the tyrant who is capable of taking so cruel an advantage of the unprotected condition of his negroes. Such may certainly be the case, but we were informed by the best authorities here, and among them by some of the bitterest foes to slavery, that, in some of the distant plantations, the slaves lead frequently an easier life than they do on the Mississippi; we were also informed that though instances of cruelty are rare, the immorality which prevails is almost incredible. We were sorry to find that we could not visit that part of the Attakapas which we were most anxious to see, owing to the absence from their plantations of those we had, at one time, intended. to visit. The Attakapas is a sugar region, which commences some thirty or forty miles west of the Mississippi, and extends towards the Gulf of Mexico it is watered by the Atchafalaya, the Teche, La Fourche, and other small streams; and it was here that Louis Philippe found a home for many months, during the troubles of the French Revolution. A gentleman, who is the owner of two or three of the model plantations in the State of Louisiana, kindly offered to be our Cicerone, in our trip to the lower part of the river, and also to show us some plantations on the Gulf shore, which are the most remote from human ken, and which are, in fact, almost inaccessible except by sea. He assured me, that these plantations, though they are not more than seventy or eighty miles from New Orleans, have rarely, if ever, been visited by a European female, to quote a very disagreeable Americanism; but we were not to be deterred from the undertaking by the objections, or evil prognostications of our friends, but commenced the preparations for our pilgrimage in a most businesslike manner. Our kind friend, Mr. B-, not only kindly undertook to procure the means of conveyance, but also to make every arrangement for our comfort during the expedition. He possessed a sugar plantation on one of the islands of the Mexican Archipelago to which we were bound, and we could not sufficiently congratulate ourselves on our good fortune, in having the advantage of his escort and experience. As the greater part of our journey was to be performed on the canals and lake, lying to the south-west of the Mississippi, Mr. B- informed us, that he had chartered a boat for the expedition. The vessel in question was called the Dîme,' which word being the name of a very minute coin in circulation in America, will sufficiently attest that our boat was not remarkable for size. She was, in fact, neither more nor less than a small barge, of about the same dimensions as the smallest of those used on our English canals; our canopy over head was formed of wooden planks ; and if a strange invisible perfume hit the sense,' |