Scope and Contents After a short and favorable crossing, they arrived at the Cape on 2 March. They found the town burnt down since Mardi Gras when the Blacks [les Negres] slaughtered a large portion of the natives. Mr. Didans hasn't lived here for about 8 months and he has no one else he can trust for help. He and two others have enlisted in the National Guards where they do the same service as the League troops. He mentions merchant ships that arrive every day, and the high cost of colonial food. He fears a...

Scope and Contents Misfortune follows him everywhere; it's been a month since he arrived and the state of affairs in the colony is so bad that he hasn't been able to find work. He is considering leaving with some friends who are in the same situation for Port-au-Prince. He has eaten up most of his money in the short time he has been there. He decided to put his remaining funds into trade, worth 80 gourdes. He describes the trade scheme he has undertaken with his friends but the way it is going they will soon...

Scope and Contents He is still alive following a terrible sea voyage during which his vessel lost 200 men. Instead of Charleston, their intended destination, they ended up in Louisiana. He is sick with a months-long fever and is being cared for by a local named Mr. Boisblanc, in Chapitoulas, near New Orleans. He asks his mother and his aunt to send him a few casks of wine to reverse the misfortune that has befallen him, since he has lost everything. He intends to learn to make sugar which could be a useful...

Scope and Contents He has written ten or twelve letters to her since arriving in Louisiana but he is certain that the war between France and England has been an obstacle to them getting to her. Thanks to heaven his life is out of all danger, but it is also the one thing that he managed to save, and he is all the more sensitive to the little losses that he has had because they push back the day when he will be able to return to his mother. He asks for her to send him a small shipment of wine or other...

Scope and Contents He is writing to his mother so she won't worry about him. He has been pretty well the last four months or so, since the hospitable weather has arrived in Louisiana. He asks to be given news as soon as possible so he won't worry about his family. He asks that if she can send him a few small casks of wine that she not delay doing so. He does not think it necessary to tell her the reasons for making such a request but she undoubtedly knows it. He sends his love to her and to his brothers and...

Scope and Contents He worries that he has not heard from his mother in two years. He has been in Louisiana for seven months, hoping that the colony's peripheral location would be easier for business, but since the United States of America has taken it over it has been overrun by Anglo-Americans who arrived with their money and took over all branches of commerce, making it impossible for the rest of them. He has therefore decided to join the military, either in the troops that serve Guadeloupe or Martinique, or...

Scope and Contents Garrigues writes to his aunt. He has had nothing but misfortune over the last three years; where he lives he knows neither the language nor the customs. He is applying himself seriously to learning English. He asks his aunt to send him some foodstuffs, by which he expects to make a great profit and be able to quit his current work in order to take up a better position. He has written to his mother and other but does not know if the letters have arrived. A PS gives the possible routes for...

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He rejoices to have received a letter from his mother. He is pleased to hear of his brother's marriage, and to have received a small shipment of wine from his mother, since wine is at the moment selling at a high price and he had run out completely. He discusses his uncertainty about leaving for another settlement opportunity with a friend of his. He sends his love to his family, and in a PS mentions that he will leave the following day for upper Louisiana.

Scope and Contents He only received his mother's letter of 10 September 1804 8 days ago; he hopes that this letter will not take as long as the last to arrive. He recounts the bad luck he has had with the seven casks of wine she sent him: some was lost at sea, and the rest was mostly taken by the exorbitant fees that apply to this kind of merchandise in the colony. He also suspects that his mother was cheated in the purchase, judging from the bill. He is no longer in New Orleans. For about five months he has...

Scope and Contents He notes at the top that it is the 30th year of the independence of the American states. He laments the lack of letters from his mother and his sister Augustine despite the many ships from Bordeaux that arrive in port. He complains at length at his oldest brother's silence regarding his requests for help, and asks his mother to intervene on his behalf. He also asks her to send fine cloth to make tablecloths. He again encourages his two brothers to seek their fortune in the New World. He...

Scope and Contents He recounts in detail the process he went through to get the letters he received from France and his joy at receiving them. He announces his intentions to marry Marie Louise Fontenot, the daughter of a legislator in Mississippi Territory. At the moment Lise has no great fortune but her father's is estimated at 100,000 piastres, which will one day be shared among his four children. He asks for his mother's blessing to add to his happiness. His return to his homeland will now certainly be...

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He writes to his mother requesting shipments of cloth, including measurements and quality. He asks for news.

Scope and Contents He has just received her letter of November 5th. He did not expect her reaction to his intentions to marry; he was so certain that she would give her consent that he married Marie Louise Fontenot last August. He is employed at the moment as a surveyor of the lands of the United States, a position that is lucrative but precarious. He is firmly resolved to spend a month visiting his family the following spring. He mentions again the issue concerning his older brother and his money. He mentions...