370 



gulf of Mexico. " we have reason to believe, that they 

 are above the overflowing of the tides of the sea. or the 

 inundations of the river ; consequently, they could not 

 have been formed and elevated to their present height, 

 exclusively by either, although much may have been 

 done in this work, by the latter. 



A circumstance that has had considerable influence 

 in establishing a belief that the delta of the Missis- 

 sippi, so called, has been formed by that river, is, that 

 its banks, and those of almost all the subordinate 

 streams and bayous, are highest next to the rivers, 

 where the greatest quantity of alluvion was deposited, 

 and thence gradually descending, as they recede from 

 them. That the banks are higher immediately upon 

 the river, than at a distance, is unquestionably true; 

 JBut that they were formed and elevated by deposites 

 of alluvion from the currents alone, is doubtless an 

 errour; for we find, upon almost all rivers running 

 through alluvial districts, or having alluvial banks, 

 however high they may be elevated above the water, 

 or the highest inundations, that they have always a 

 greater or less descent from the river. This may be 

 seen on the banks of many rivers, and which, being 

 thirty or forty feet above low water, were never known 

 to have been overflowed. 



In order to comprehend the subject more fully, it 

 may not be amiss to examine the process by which 

 they are formed. 



It is believed, that when a river passes beyond the 

 limits of the coast, and discharges itself into an open 



