Bernard.” On August 16 he sailed to take possession of that bay. His equipment and his force were totally inadequate for the purpose. He made a landing at some point on the coast; but finding the Indians hostile, he was obliged to abandon the expedition. With this futile attempt all efforts on the part of the French to occupy any point on the coast of Texas ceased. On the other hand, they remained in uninterrupted possession of Natchitoches;[58] and the Spaniards, though they continued to occupy Adaes as long as the French were at Natchitoches, never renewed their attempts on the region of the Osage and the Missouri. [Illustration: NEW ORLEANS AND THE MISSISSIPPI. [This is a part of the “Carte de la Côte de la Louisiane, par M. de Sérigny en 1719 et 1720,” as given in Thomassy’s _Géologie pratique de la Louisiane_, 1860.—ED.]] During the year 1721 the mortality of the immigrants on the passage over seriously affected the growth of the colony. Among other similar records it is reported that in March two vessels arrived, having on board forty Germans,—all that remained out of two hundred. The same month the “Africaine” landed one hundred and eighty negroes out of two hundred and eighty on board when she sailed, and the “Duc du Maine” three hundred and ninety-four out of four hundred and fifty-three. The pains of the poor creatures did not end with the voyage. Some of them “died of hunger and suffering on the sands of Fort Louis.” Enfeebled by the confinement and trials of a protracted ocean voyage, immigrants and slaves alike were landed on the beach at Biloxi, where neither suitable food nor proper shelter was furnished them.[59] Indeed, so great was the distress for food in 1721, that the very efforts put forth to increase the population were a source of embarrassment and suffering. There were not provisions enough left at Biloxi in September to maintain the garrison; and once again, after more than twenty years’ occupation by the French, the troops at Biloxi were dispersed among the Indians for subsistence. The engineers who were watching the action of the Mississippi kept a record of their soundings. They attributed the changes which they observed to the scouring action of the water, and suggested methods[60] for keeping up the strength of the current by restraining the river within limits. Their observations confirmed Bienville in the opinion that New Orleans could be reached directly by vessel; thus avoiding the wretched anchorage, fifteen miles from shore,[61] and the expensive and troublesome transfer from ship to barge, and from barge to boat, only to effect a landing by wading, at a spot which was still several days of difficult travel from the natural highway of the country.