INVESTIGATIONS IN MISSISSIPPI, LOUISIANA, AND TEXAS. 289 



the same size. Several other bayous connect with it, one of them being 

 known as Lagoon Bayou, which is the outlet of two small lagoons. 

 Its shores and those of the upper portion of Grand Plains Bayou are 

 higher and more liberally supplied with water willows and other woody 

 vegetation. Near its mouth Pearl River divides into several branches, 

 known as West Pearl River, Middle Pearl River, etc. Opening into 

 West Pearl River is Black Bayou, which is much frequented by anglers. 

 It is about 40 feet wide, 5 to 15 feet deep, and several miles long. Its 

 shores are low and marshy and covered with a dense growth of marsh 

 grass. In the water was a rank growth of water vegetation, consisting 

 of Ranunculus, Myriophyllum, Anacharis, Potamogeton, Nymphcea, and 

 Nuphar, both of the latter in bloom. 



Another bayou opening into Pearl River is known as Mulatto Bayou, 

 which flows through the Sea Glen plantation, several miles north of 

 Baldwin Lodge. The laud along the greater length of this bayou is 

 considerably higher than along the other bayous mentioned. At Sea 

 Glen the ground is 5 to 15 feet above the water, and is covered with 

 groves of magnificent pecans and a few magnolias. Many of these 

 trees are of immense size, and the oaks are rendered unusually beau- 

 tiful by the great mats of Poly podium growing upon their trunks and 

 larger branches; and the masses of Tillandsia usneoides, or long moss, 

 hanging in long, graceful festoons, form a rich drapery to the branches. 



Pearl River has several outlets or mouths, all opening finally into 

 Lake Borgne. This lake is approximately 25 miles long by 10 to 12 

 miles wide, the greatest length extending in a northeast and southwest 

 direction. It is a very shallow body of water, the average depth prob- 

 ably not exceeding 8 feet. South of Baldwin Lodge a depth of 18 to 20 

 feet is found, but it rarely exceeds 9 feet. 



The country surrounding Lake Borgne consists almost entirely of 

 low tide marshes, with rank growths of marsh vegetation, but scarcely 

 any bushes or trees, and is intersected and cut up by numerous narrow 

 channels or bayous. Our visit to this region was at the time of the 

 great flood of the Lower Mississippi, and the basin of the Pearl River 

 was also somewhat affected. The water in all the bayous visited was 

 deeper than usual, owing to backwater from Pearl River. Southern 

 winds continuing for several days frequently have the same effect. 



At this time the water in all these bayous was practically fresh, and 

 even Lake Borgne was not strongly brackish. In the late summer and 

 fall, however, the water is much shallower. Ordinarily it begins to 

 grow brackish late in April or May, and gradually increases until the 

 fall rains set in, when it becomes gradually less brackish, and during 

 a portion of the winter and early spring it is comparatively fresh. At 

 this time various fresh-water species of fishes extend their range even 

 down to Lake Borgne and its connecting bayous. Among them are 

 large-mouthed black bass, catfish, warmouth*or " goggle-eye" perch 

 gaspergou, buffalo, gar, and sunfish. During the drier season the 

 opposite result is noticed. The fresh-water species are driven farther 

 F. k. 98 19 



