42 RUSSELL 



As far as land trafficability is concerned, the chenier units are excellent, and the stretch 

 along Grand Chenier, which was a beach not too many centuries ago, is actually trafficable by 

 trucks for over ninety miles. 



The cheniers are also sources of potable ground water and are populated. There is quite 

 a little settlement in remote Pecan Island. Chenier au Tigre has been ruined recently because 

 of the mudflat that now isolates the beach. This old resort area has disappeared because of 

 mudflat development starting five years ago. On cheniers people dig only a few feet to find a 

 source of water. Troops could be brought in and landed in such places, and could stay there 

 for some time on perfectly firm surroundings. 



The chenier belt shows a pattern narrowing to the west. It affords excellent trafficability 

 in directions parallel to the coast. Transversely, however, the marshes between the cheniers 

 are generally too soft, and waterways must be used to get from one ridge to another. 



One of the tedious things to map is the inner extent of the marshes. This boxmdary has 

 been shown on the maps exhibited. North of the boundary is all good substantial dry land. Thus, 

 any route followed in crossing the marshes of Louisiana would end in the inner part on the good 

 firm dry land. 



Well, those are the things that Dr. Morgan would have said. He would have said a good 

 deal more, too, but from his notes, and from the time I have available, I have tried to boil down 

 some of the points. I might say that these are all generalizations. We have completed the detailed 

 mapping of seventy-four quadrangles. Our field parties have done the soimdings for depths indi- 

 cated on the maps. They show controlling water depths, and show them quite accurately, and also 

 define areas of firm land. 



