﻿I] 
  Historical 
  Review: 
  First 
  Periods 
  13 
  

  

  pp. 
  40-42) 
  recounting 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  fossil 
  bones 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  

   of 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  supposed 
  to 
  resemble 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  big 
  bone 
  

   lick 
  near 
  the 
  Ohio. 
  

  

  Two 
  years 
  later 
  he 
  forwarded 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  society 
  (see 
  vol. 
  vi, 
  

   pp. 
  55-58) 
  a 
  letter 
  received 
  from 
  Martin 
  Duralde 
  from 
  the 
  

   ' 
  ' 
  country 
  of 
  the 
  Apelousas 
  ' 
  ' 
  relating 
  to 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  fossil 
  

   remains, 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  elephant 
  bones, 
  in 
  that 
  region. 
  Fur- 
  

   thermore, 
  " 
  M. 
  Duralde 
  in 
  sinking 
  a 
  well 
  in 
  his 
  cow-yard 
  found 
  

   sound 
  oyster 
  shells, 
  lying 
  in 
  a 
  horizontal 
  direction, 
  near 
  to 
  each 
  

   other, 
  at 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  22 
  feet." 
  

  

  In 
  1804, 
  Dunbar 
  contributed 
  an 
  extended 
  article 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  

   Transactions 
  (pp. 
  165 
  et 
  seg.) 
  entitled 
  "Description 
  of 
  the 
  River 
  

   Mississippi 
  and 
  its 
  Delta, 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  adjacent 
  parts 
  of 
  Louis- 
  

   iana." 
  This 
  contains 
  little 
  of 
  geological 
  interest. 
  

  

  Stoddard* 
  — 
  In 
  his 
  Sketches 
  of 
  lyouisiana, 
  Maj. 
  Stoddard 
  

   comments 
  as 
  follows 
  on 
  the 
  delta 
  regionf 
  : 
  "Nothing 
  is 
  more 
  

   certain 
  than 
  that 
  the 
  delta 
  has 
  gradually 
  risen 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  sea, 
  or 
  

   rather 
  that 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  formed 
  by 
  alluvion 
  substances, 
  precipi- 
  

   tated 
  by 
  the 
  water 
  from 
  the 
  upper 
  regions. 
  It 
  is 
  calculated 
  that 
  

   from 
  1720 
  to 
  1800, 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  eighty 
  years, 
  the 
  land 
  has 
  advanced 
  

   fifteen 
  miles 
  into 
  the 
  sea 
  ; 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  those 
  who 
  assert, 
  that 
  

   it 
  has 
  advanced 
  three 
  miles 
  within 
  the 
  memory 
  of 
  middle 
  aged 
  

   men." 
  

  

  His 
  notice 
  of 
  the 
  Five 
  Islands 
  reads 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  "There 
  is 
  an 
  

   island 
  of 
  about 
  three 
  miles 
  in 
  circumference, 
  situated 
  in 
  the 
  gulf 
  

   a 
  few 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  westward 
  of 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Chafalia, 
  ele- 
  

   vated 
  more 
  than 
  two 
  hundred 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  and 
  

   connected 
  with 
  the 
  mainland 
  by 
  a 
  sea 
  marsh. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  

   islands 
  along 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Mexican 
  gulf 
  exhibit 
  this 
  proud 
  

   pre-eminence, 
  while 
  the 
  country 
  for 
  a 
  great 
  depth 
  is 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   time 
  covered 
  with 
  water. 
  Some 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  impregnated 
  with 
  

   sulphur, 
  and 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  on 
  fire 
  for 
  at 
  least 
  

   three 
  months." 
  

  

  The 
  production 
  of 
  the 
  saline 
  springs 
  near 
  Natchitoches 
  is 
  given 
  

  

  *Sketches, 
  Historical 
  and 
  Descriptive, 
  of 
  Louisiana. 
  By 
  Major 
  Amos 
  

   Stoddard. 
  Phila. 
  1812. 
  

   flbid. 
  p. 
  158. 
  

  

  