[50] The settlement of Avoyelles occupied an island of prairie, about forty miles in circumference, rising out of the swamp thirty or forty feet above high water. The name was that of a small tribe of Indians found there by the early French. Acadians went thither in considerable numbers during the last fifteen years of the eighteenth century. In 1803 the inhabitants were a mixture of French, Irish, and Americans, settled around the edge of the prairie, near the woods, their houses facing the open land, which they cultivated. A decade later the population was estimated at four hundred and fifty whites and a hundred and fifty slaves.--ED. [51] "The south side of this river, quite to the rapid part, is entirely different from the opposite side; it is something higher, and rises in proportion as it approaches the height I have mentioned; the quality is also very different. This land is good and light, and is disposed to receive all the culture imaginable, in which we may assuredly hope to succeed. It naturally produces fruit trees and vines in plenty; it was on that side muscadine grapes were found. The back parts have neater woods and meadows, intersected with tall forests. On that side the fruit trees of the country are common, and above all, the hickory and walnut trees, which are sure indications of good soil." _Du Pratz'_ Louisiana, p. 166.--JAMES. _Comment by Ed._ This reference is to the second London edition (1764). [52] Sibley's report on Red River says of the settlement at the rapids (1803), "No country whatever can exhibit handsomer plantations." See _American State Papers_, "Indian Affairs," i, p. 726. There were also at that time a few settlers on the north side of the river between the rapids and Avoyelles, but none on the south side which was more subject to inundation.--ED. [53] Freeman's MS. Report to W. Dunbar, esq.--JAMES.