62 Miscellaneous Geological Topics 



ly the figure of a half moon, or of a horse-shoe. Each cut off, before 

 the mouths are closed, serves as grand reservou's for floatmg 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 lake, 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 j both very high and 

 very low water occasionally extricates the mass, when 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. 



SUBMERGED AND INHUMED WOOD. 



That an immense forest of timber lies concealed beneath 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 night; 

 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 seen to the right and 

 sometimes to the left. They imagined themselves to be neither in 

 the river, nor on the land ; but flying with rapidity through the air, 

 accompanied by a moving forest. It appeared, that for five or six 

 minutes, the boats were impelled up the sti'eam with great rapidity, 

 and in the same space of time they were returned, which 'accounts 

 for the shifting appearance of the lights and the rising of the wood gave 



