7 GO PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



trough on the south side and flowed through the channel to the point 

 where the water re-entered the river, thus forming an island of consid- 

 erable size on the south. During low water the river recedes, thus re- 

 uniting the different parts of the island. The head of the island is 

 covered with trees, which serve to protect it from erosion and also from 

 damage by ice. Between these points is a dense covering of trees and 

 underbrush left for the same purpose, on account of the land being low 

 and the channel somewhat deep. Here driftwood accumulates in great 

 quantities, making it of particular advantage to the islanders. Wisdom, 

 however, would dictate to allow the driftwood to accumulate in order 

 to protect this, the weakest part of the island. 



The geological formation of the bluff on the Virginia side of the river 

 was not examined, but the rocks appear to be the same as those on the 

 opposite bank. On the Ohio side the rocks are composed of sand and 

 take the name of sand-rock. Not far distant, and farther up the river, 

 are located several grindstone quarries. The series of rocks belong to 

 that age known as the upper iiortion of the coal measures. Through 

 this sand-rock the Ohio has gradually cut its way until its bed is nearly 

 600 feet below the summit of the adjacent hills. That the bed of the 

 river was once still lower is evident from the fact that its bottom is 

 composed of sand and gravel. The river channel was partially filled 

 during the glacial epoch, and since the close of that period the river has 

 been gradually reaching its former level. During this process it has 

 changed its bed several times. The plain of Belpre was its bed at the 

 close of the glacial epoch. Distinct markings occur which exhibit 

 changes that took place upon the plain. By the continued proce^ss of 

 erosion, first on the Ohio and then on the Virginia side, shifting its 

 channel from time to time, the river has cut its way to its present bed, 

 leaving on the Ohio side a series of beautiful plains and on the Virginia 

 a perpendicular bluff. 



Blennerhassett's Island is not wholly an accretion of sediment formed 

 by the river, but largely a deposit of the age of ice. The river, in 

 the constant shifting of its bed, formed two channels at this point, which 

 gives shape to the island. The troughs running along the sides of the 

 ridge, thus forming three ridges (one of which is high and the other 

 two low and bordering the river), were once additional channels, thus 

 presenting four beds, all of which were occupied at one and the same 

 time. When this was the condition of the river the island, in all prob- 

 ability, was a series of three islands running i)arallel, the two outer ex- 

 tending farther into the present river channels. The bed of the trough 

 on the north side is higher than that on the south, and hence was the 

 first to become dry. More than one-half of the old trough on the south 

 side is still quite low and is soon overflowed during a rise in the river. 

 The whole island is occasionally inundated, which generally inures to 

 its benefit on account of the rich sediment usually deposited. 



From the observations made the land seemed to be making on the 



