103 



he says are seventy-five, others more than two hun- 

 dred feet,) numerous trees of various dimensions are 

 found converted into stone, by the petrifying quality of 

 the springs about them/'* 



Also, ^ large frees are often found from twenty to 

 twenty-five feet UNDER ground, in some of the exten- 

 sive bottoms, and horn four to six miles from the chan- 

 nel. Add to this, the trunks of large trees at the 

 same depth, appear in a horizontal position near the 

 bases of the banks ; also in the sides of the banks new- 

 ly caved in, trees in a perpendicular position are con- 

 stantly seen, whose shafts above their roots are sunk 

 from twenty to twenty-jive feet below the surface of 



the ground."f 



Mr. Bartram, in describing the cliffs or high banks 

 below Natches, on the Mississippi, observes, From 

 eight or nine feet below the loamy vegetable mould at 

 top, to within four or five feet of the water, these cliffs 

 present to view strata of clay, marie and chalk, of all 

 colours, as brown, red, yellow, white, blue and pur- 

 ple 5 there are separate strata of these various colours, 

 as well as mixed or particoloured ; the lowest stratum 

 next the water is exactly of the same black mud or 

 rich soil, as the adjacent low cypress swamps, and 

 above the cliffs we see vast stumps of cypress and 

 other trees, which at this day grow in these low, wet 

 swamps, and which range on a level with them. 

 These stumps are sound, stand upright, and seem to 



* Stoddard's Sketches, page 382. t Page 383. 



