New Orleans History -- Lake Pontchartrain
Thursday, October 03, 2024
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1879 - Four Months in a Sneak-Box

'My shortest route to the Gulf of Mexico was through New Basin Canal, six
miles in length, into Lake Pontchartrain, and from there to the Gulf..The first
part of this canal runs through the city proper, and then through a low swampy
region out into the shallow lake Pontchartrain. At the terminus of New Basin
Canal I found a small light-house, two or three hotels, and a few houses, making
a little village. I rowed out of the canal on to the lake...The skippers of the
little fleet were very civil men. Some of them were of French and some of
Spanish origin, while one or two were Germans. Night settled down upon us...the
evening became lovely. Soon the quiet hamlet changed to a scene of merriment, as
the gay people of the city drove out in their carriages to have a 'lark,' as the
sailors expressed it; and which seemed to begin at the hotels with card-playing,
dancing...and to end in a general carousal.'

Source: http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net