62 Miscellaneous Geological Topics 
- the figure of a half moon, or of ahorse-shoe. Each cut off, before 
the mouths are closed, serves as grand reservoirs for floating wood, 
which accumulates in the bogs to an enormous extent. When the — 
~ two ends of the bend are filled with wood and mud, leaving a canal 
to accumulate with the Jake, the river rolls off to the east or west, 
when, ere long, another great bend is scooped out, and another cut 
off takes place, which are scattered throughout the whole of the vale, 
of this most astonishing river. 
_ The mud which causes the turbidness of the water of this river, 
is brought principally from the Missouri. Most of the floating tim- 
ber, in the time taken to make the journey of five or six hundred 
miles, sinks by the accumulation of mud. This journey is accom- 
panied by frequent delays, as the planted timber often arrests that 
which is floating, and detains one and another tree, until many hun- 
' dreds are locked and interwoven together, when a considerable mass 
of logs will be formed and perhaps detained ; both very high and 
low water occasionally extricates the mass, wht the trees again 
separate and take the direction of the current. Few or none of the 
logs from the Missouri, unless perhaps the cotton-wood, reach Natch- 
ez... We have never heard of pines arriving at that place, although 
cedar has been occasionally seen and supposed to have left the Ten- 
nessee river. 
we 3 
SUBMERGED AND INHUMED “WooD. 
That an immense forest of timber lies concealed Semnesh the 
depths of this river, in all its roads across the vale, was evinced by the 
earthquakes which occurred in 1812, and which were so severely felt 
at New Madrid. These convulsions brought to the surface of the riv- 
er an incredible quantity of timber. The first shock was at nights 
the boat-men imagined it to be the approach of a storm: hearing a 
mighty noise like wind, and feeling considerable agitation — of the 
boats, they went above to see whether all their fastenings to the shore 
were sufficient ; and to their astonishment no shore could be seen ; 
the distant lights of the town were sometimes séen to the right and. 
Sometimes to the left. They imagined themselves to be neither in 
the river, nor on the land ; but fying with rapidity through the air, 
accompanied by a moving sfurest. It appeared, that for five or six 
minutes, the boats were impelled up the stream with great rapidity, 
and in the same space of = oe were returned, which accounts 
for the shifting app | lights and the rising of the wood gave 
