GEOLOGY. 293 



whose structure has been described as admirably adapted to the depth 

 at which it has been found, and which Prof. Owen has demonstrated 

 cannot exist at a depth of less than two or three hundred fathoms, 

 exists at Eastport, Me., in water so shallow that it can be taken by 

 hand. In the same locality and position, Radiata are found which 

 have heretofore been thought to be only inhabitants of deep water. 

 Some of Mr. Forbes's genera are also found in less than ten fathoms of 

 water. 



THE RED RIVER. 



This is the name of one of the largest of the great streams of the 

 west, which, taking its rise in the northeastern part of Texas, and 

 flowing a distance of about one thousand miles, in a southeasterly di- 

 rection through Texas, the Indian Territory, Arkansas and Louisiana, 

 finally empties its waters into the Mississippi river in Louisiana, oppo- 

 site the southwestern corner of the State of Mississippi. The soil of 

 the inhabited portions of the valley of this river is probably not sur- 

 passed in the world for fertility, and rewards the labors of the planter 

 with abundant crops. The navigation of the stream has been seriously 

 impeded by the obstruction called the great raft which is located 

 about 90 miles above Nachitoches where the river, in crossing an 

 immense swampy alluvial, divides into a great many small channels, 

 and has in the course of a long series of ages become choked with 

 logs, brush-wood, &c., to such a degree that in some places vegetation 

 is growing above the water, and it is difficult to find a channel. Boats 

 only can pass above the raft. At a recent special meeting of the 

 American Statistical and Geographical Society of New York, Capt. 

 R. B. Marcy, of the U. S. Army, read an interesting paper relative to 

 his recent exploration in the upper Red River country. 



After briefly describing the previous attempts which had been made 

 both by government and by private individuals to explore the head 

 waters of the Red river, but which had invariably resulted unsuccess- 

 fully so far as the main object of the expeditions was concerned, the 

 paper proceeds to state that on the 2d day of May, 1852, agreeably to 

 an order from the War department, Capt. Marcy left Fort Belknap, 

 on the Brazos river, accompanied by a suitable escort of soldiers and 

 Indians, for the purpose of exploring Red river, from the confluence 

 of Cashe creek to its sources. Cashe creek was the highest point that 

 had been examined ; it is a stream of considerable magnitude, and 

 unites with the Red river one hundred and twenty miles above the 

 AVachita, or one hundred miles above the highest settlement on the 



O 



river. About fifty miles from the confluence of these streams, the 

 explorers found that Red river divided into two nearly equal branches. 

 Following the northern branch for forty miles they arrived at another 

 fork, the branches of which were of nearly equal magnitude. Capt. 

 Marcy chose for their route the northernmost of these, and after fol- 

 lowing it up a distance of three hundred and seventy miles, arrived 

 at its sources, in lat 35 14' north, and Ion. 101 51' west. While at 

 its head waters, he made an excursion across the country to the Cana- 



