PAPERS BY MEMBERS 103 



are in Coles county and are accessible within a radius of fif- 

 teen miles of Charleston. They belong to the Enibarras. the 

 Kaskaskia. and Little A\'abash systems, but chiefly to the first 

 mentioned. They lie in country principally of two kinds : 

 level black-soil prairie and rough, commonly hilly territory 

 with light-colored soil and with patches of timber. Country 

 of this last type prevails east and south of a diagonal line 

 across Coles county from the northeast to the southwest cor- 

 ner. Streams of the Embarras and Little Wabash systems 

 are associated chiefly with the hilly country and those of the 

 Kaskaskia with the prairie. The Shelbyville Moraine crosses 

 the southern part of the county and occupies most of the reg- 

 ion just south of Charleston. In the north part of Coles 

 county, there are some low prairie ridges that are associated 

 with the Cerro Gordo Moraine. All the region under con- 

 sideration is in the Wisconsin Glaciation, Coles county being 

 on the southern border. 



Based chietly on size, the streams about Charleston may 

 be fairly well grouped as follows : 



1. Streams of first rank or "Rivers." These are Em- 

 barras and Kaskaskia rivers. In general, they average near a 

 hundred feet in width with a common depth of three or four 

 feet under ordinary water conditions. Except in deep holes, 

 having much fine sediment, the bottom is usually gravelly or 

 sandy with a thin superficial layer of clay. 



2. Streams of second rank or "Large Creeks." Thi-^ 

 group includes the lower portions oi Kickapoo Creek. Brush 

 Creek and Polecat Creek. These never become dr\-. and they 

 maintain a permanent connection with larger streams. They 

 average in width betAveen fifty and seventy-five feet and in 

 depth, perhaps two or three feet. 



3. Streams of the third rank or "Small Creeks." Among 

 these, are the upper portions of those of the second gT"oup. as 

 well as Cossel Creek. Indian Creek. Campus Creek. Crab- 

 apple Creek and Flat Branch. They never or very rarely 

 become perfectly dr\-. although they frequently break their 

 connections with parent streams by losing their water on 

 reaching the flood plains of these streams to which they are 

 tributaries. In dry seasons, they become broken into series 

 of disconnected pools. Except during freshets, they are com- 

 monly five to fifteen feet in width and from one to two feet 

 deep, rarely, even in "holes" exceeding three feet. 



4. Streams of the fourth rank. These are the smallest 

 fish-containing streams and are frequently referred to* as 

 "branches." There are many of these in the Charleston reg- 

 ion flowing into all the other types and forming their head- 

 waters. A number of them are at the bottoms of wooded 



