GEOLOGY. 351 



the Mississippi," we derive the following memoranda respecting a proposed 

 plan for reclaiming a large portion of the Delta for cultivation. 



The paper opens by a reference to the several rivers in the old world the 

 Irrawaddy, the Ganges, the Euphrates and the Tigris in Asia, the Nile in 

 E<rvpt and the Po and Rhine in Europe having a formation similar to that 



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of the Mississippi, similar in the Deltas formed at their mouths and simi- 

 lar in that their waters are higher than the adjacent country. Passing from 

 a brief consideration of these, Mr. Everett comes to the Mississippi, the 

 Delta of which, reckoning the territory between, the main river and the 

 Hatchafalaya, or Blackwater River, covers an area of seven thousand 

 square miles. The age of this formation, though remote, probably beyond 

 the creation of man, is geologically of recent date. Its appearance is most 

 remarkable ; from the passes of the Balize to the bluffs of the Baton Rouge, 

 where the land rises to a height of from sixty to eighty feet above the river, 

 there is not an eminence to relieve the eye. " There is not a single pebble 

 in all the Delta." In order to attain a proper understanding of the forma- 

 tion of the bavous it should be remembered that the river through the whole 



* 



delta, instead of being in a valley is upon an eminence. Another element 

 to be taken into consideration is the serpentine course of the river in ques- 

 tion. The delta is all of it elevated more or less above the gulf on the 

 south, and the bays and lakes on the east, at the same time being much 

 lower than the river at high water. From this peculiar formation, result 

 two classes of bayous ; the first, such as drain a peninsula or neck of land 

 formed by the bends of the river, and drain the neck of land on which are 

 situated Carrollton, Lafayette and New Orleans. And second, such as run 

 out cf the river, like the Lafourche and Plaquemine. 



The first of these, as they suspend but little sediment, form but small 

 ridges, and those are limited to then 1 immediate banks. They are very use- 

 ful as natural drains to the district through which they pass. They receive 

 tributaries, whereas the bayous of the second sort give them out. These lat- 

 ter invariably take their departure from the river at one of its bends, and 

 have numerous branches " so that the Mississippi," says Mr. Everett, " from 

 the head of the delta is a mighty natural apparatus for irrigation. These 

 branches are now for the most part filled up as are indeed the bayous them- 

 selves. The filling up of these mouths of the parent stream has caused the 

 most disastrous consequences. They were, while open, so many safety- 

 valves, through which the periodical deluge spent its destructive power. All 

 serious evils to agricultural enterprise might have been prevented by filling 

 up their branches and making dykes or levees in the lowest places." 



To re-open all of these bayous is hardly possible, though some of them 

 might be opened with advantage, and would secure the riparian proprietors 

 against the losses and inconveniences consequent upon the annual deluge. 

 The proposition to build levees is open to objection on account of the vast 

 expense, and because if the banks are raised the water will rise also, for 

 it must have vent. What the limit would be can be learned only by actual 

 experience. On the other hand, were the bayous open, the levees might be 

 much lower than now, and crevasses be yet unknown. 



