AND ITS DELTA. 185 



dies of great extent are found in favorable situations, which 

 greatly facilitate the ascending navigation of the river; but as 

 the current is continually deflected from shore to shore, boats 

 are at many points unable to stem the force of the current, 

 and are under the necessity of crossing frequently to get as 

 far as possible out of the main current. 



No abrasion takes place at the bottom of the channel of the 

 Mississippi (in Lower Louisiana), an equilibrium has long since 

 been established ; it is believed rather that its bed is on the rise : 

 as the margin of the river rises by the influence of every inun- 

 dation which passes over it, it is thought that the bottom must 

 rise also; but this effect must depend altogether upon the pro- 

 trusion of the cradle of the river into the ocean, by which means 

 the extremity of the inclined plane which the river has carved 

 out for the conveyance of its waters, being prolonged horizon- 

 tally, the waters within the channel must acquire a new eleva- 

 tion, placing themselves parallel to their former position, and 

 the bed of the river will rise proportionably so far only as the 

 alluvial bottom extends; and thus there will be a low but pro- 

 gressive rise of the margin and bed of the river, which is per- 

 fectly agreeable to observation. 



The formation of land is surprisingly quick in certain situati- 

 ons; the moment the waters lose their great velocity, they begin 

 to deposit their contents ; the most favorable position is on either 

 side of the main channel, where the current is nearly but not 

 absolutely destroyed : as for example, when the river suddenly 

 makes a breach or cut-off from bend to bend, leaving a circle of 

 several leagues of the former bed with little or no current, the 

 waters immediately begin to block up die. two entrances, leaving 

 the interior in form of a lake : in 5 years the soil will be tole- 

 rably iirm, nearly of equal height with the adjoining lands, and 

 covered with forests of willow and cotton-wood (probably popu- 

 lus deltoides*) 50 feet high; some parts of the old channels were 

 perhaps not less than a hundred feet deep: this wonderful crea- 

 tive power of the Mississippi may, by the ingenuity of man, be 

 applied to the accomplishment of grand objects : by proper em- 

 bankments, and a regular supply and discharge of the waters of 



c c 



* Of Bartram. 



