^21 Bringier on the Region of the Mississippi, ^c, 



water is high. They are all evidently modern lakes, whose 

 beds were, not long since, part of the forest. 



Fossil Remains of the Mastodon. 



On the same voyage, I sav/, in New-Madrid, a Mam- 

 moth grinder, which had just been found by one Francais 

 Lesieur. Along with it were several other teeth belonging 

 to the same jaw — it was found about three miles below the 

 village, on the banks of the Mississippi, but it was very 

 damp and very soft.* This kind of fossil is frequently met 

 with on the porphyry ridges bordering, in many places, a 

 portion of the grand valley which is included in the state of 

 Missouri. 



Between White river and Strawberry river are three par- 

 allel porphyry ranges, running circularly from the west to 

 the north east ; the three mountains are twenty-eight miles 

 across, and seem to have been above water, when the whole 

 country around was covered by the ocean. The south- 

 west side presents a large undulating valley of basalts, 

 amongst which are some calcareous stones that may be de- 

 nominated marbles. 



At the foot of the before mentioned mountain, was an 

 elephant or mammoth's tooth (or grinder j of an enormous 

 size; it was fully twice as large as the largest I had seen be- 

 fore atBig-Bonelick. A great quantity of these fossils are 

 there gathered in a small compass, and this collection was 

 doubtless occasioned by the appetite which these animals 

 had for the salt. Attracted by the water that oozes in these 

 ' marshy places, they were evidently mired when they ven- 

 tured too far in, and of course, the struggles of the last one 

 would sink the bones of his predecessor still deeper. Thus 

 these collections are easily accounted for, although at first, 

 it seems very strange to see these bones accumulated, like 

 those of some of the extinct Indian tribes in the west. The 

 grinder which I discovered, was perfectly preserved in its 

 shape, and converted into a siliceous petrification, repre- 

 senting milk white jasper, variegated with beautiful colours. 

 It was incrusted by a solid block of porphyry, which the de- 

 structive hand of time had worn away to such a degree, 



* Us weight is mentioned in tlie text as beins, if we could read it con-ect- 

 'V; eleven t.o seven ounces — but this could hardly be the correct meaning. 



