244 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



knowledge, I wrote to Captain Eads calling his attention to my in- 

 vestigations of the Passes and of the origin of mudlumps, and sug- 

 gesting that, so sure as the main current of the river was turned into 

 the South Pass, mudlumps would necessarily arise; not at once, but 

 within a period of probably twenty to thirty years. Captain Eads re- 

 plied that, while he appreciated the force of my objection, even a sur- 

 cease of twenty to thirty years would be of great service to American 

 commerce, and that it would be unfortunate to bring the matter to 

 public notice at that time. To this suggestion I agreed; and so soon 

 as the bill passed Congress, the work was begun with his wonted 

 energy by the distinguished engineer. He, unfortunately, died before 

 its completion, but it was carried out according to his plans by his 

 successors. 



A MuDLUMP Appears in South Pass, Confirming Author's Theory 

 For about twenty-five years after the completion of the jetties there 

 was little difficulty in keeping up the required channel depth of 26 feet, 

 200 feet wide in the South Pass and over the bar beyond the jetties. 

 Within the last six or seven years, however, obstructions began to appear 

 in the channel, which the dredges found great difficulty in removing and 

 which, when removed, seemed to be promptly renewed at the original 

 point. Within the last year it was definitely stated in the news- 

 papers that the obstruction was a " mud bubble upheaved by the gas 

 from the bottom of the river; the mud being so stiff that the dredges 

 could not handle it, and a navigable channel had to be carried around 

 it." I, thereupon, communicated with the engineers in charge of the 

 South Pass navigation and promptly received, from Assistant Engineer 

 C. Donovan, a blueprint of a map showing the soundings in the jetties, 

 and beyond and across the bar ; which, by this time, has become a pretty 

 definite ridge, as in the case of the other Passes. This map shows that 

 the current impinges directly against a mudlump mass which has arisen 

 across its course, but has not yet reached the water surface; and a 

 scrutiny of the soundings shows that a maximum depth exists, even 

 now, right at the upstream slope of the newly risen lump. The highest 

 portions of the mudlump are still about twenty feet below the water's 

 surface; whether naturally, or kept so by dredging, I have not learned. 

 No eruption of liquid mud has thus far been reported, although at such 

 a depth it might easily have escaped observation. 



Possible Forestalling of Farther Upheavals 

 This unfortunate verification of my prediction of the event would 

 seem to confirm pretty definitely my theory of the origin of mudlumps 

 in general. As this confirmation is of considerable interest for the 



