FLORIAN - The Most Traveled Man on Earth

Letter 18.
Cote des Allemands [the German Coast, Louisiana], 23 March 1809
[from the typed version, Volume I of the Mobile Public Library version, the Library of
Congress typed version, and especially the handwritten translation]
[From Jean-Baptiste Florian to his wife, four daughters and brothers-in-law, still in
England]
You see by the date of this letter that I have already begun my tour, my tender friend, and
I hasten to let you know what I have been able to find of interest to you. I left New
Orleans last Thursday, mounted on my pretty little Creole horse, in the company of Mr.
Charbonnet, one of the brothers of Madame Plique. <strong>The</strong> first night we reached the home
of one of his aunts, 8 leagues above the city. On the way we dined at the home of Mr.
Cabaret, an educated and friendly man.
<strong>The</strong> day after we went to dine at the home of Mr. Trouard, parish judge, about 12 leagues
from the city. I received many kind words and invitations from him to stay overnight at
his house. I stayed there two days, and Monday morning went to do the same thing at the
home of Mrs. Dain [or Pain or Sain], another aunt of Charbonnet, the best woman in the
world. <strong>The</strong> family is large, because she has many nieces and nephews staying with her as
long as they like. She has only one daughter, a child of 6 or 7, as spoiled as a little
heiress who is to be very rich.
Here I came across one of my comrades of Quiberon, 23 who overwhelmed me with
kindness, Doctor Le Beau, an excellent little Breton and a very good physician. He
married a sister of Mrs. Plique and is living at Mrs. Sain’s [?] with all his children. He is
doing well in business and just now has urged me to beg you to give his best regards to
Mme. <strong>The</strong> Countess of Sommeri [?], and to bring him news of her when you come.
<strong>The</strong>y took me to dine at a neighbor’s, and talked about our project to establish a school
for young ladies. Everybody is just delighted, and they can hardly wait for you to arrive.
You can count on all the young ladies around here at 300 piasters, that is, about 65
guineas per year, and the expenses are much less than in London. In a word, enthusiasm
is at the point where they are pushing me to get started without delay, and they promise
me 7 or 8 young people as students immediately. I am going to think seriously about it.
<strong>The</strong>re is quite a respectable academy here run by a Mr. Lefort. He has 40 scholars at
$300, which equals 12,000 piasters per year, 24 of which he pockets at least half, and is
highly esteemed.
23 In 1795 Quiberon in Brittany was the site of a failed French royalist invasion, backed by the British, who
were trying to restore the monarchy after the Revolution, and which Jean Baptiste participated in, as
described later in the letters. This battle should not be confused with the Battle of Quiberon Bay, in 1759,
which involved the British Navy successfully attacking a French fleet which had been planning to land
20,000 troops in Scotland.
24 This confirms that 1 piaster equals about 1 US dollar at the time.
64