296 On the Elevation of the BanJcs of the Mississippi. 



that, it has been subject to overflows to some extent ; while the op- 

 posite side of the river was inundated by high water previous to that 

 period, but since that it has not been known to be flooded. This is 

 proved by the quantities of large cane that cover it, which is not 

 the case with land that is flooded to any extent. That part of the 

 Madrid bend marked 8 is to be excepted, as it is a bank now in the 

 act of forming, by deposits from the river, a circumstance, I believe, 

 almost peculiar to that stream. That part of the Madrid bend to 

 which the remark respecting its being elevated applies, is that which 

 is marked by the figure 5. But not only that part of the Bend 

 marked with 5 was elevated, but also all that bank of the river 

 where the figure 5 stands, until you get below the mouth of the river 

 Obion, was raised at the same time. This elevation, however, was 

 only a few feet. It, to some extent, obstructed the mouth of Reelfoot 

 creek ; also that of Obion river. This obstruction formed several 

 lakes along back of this, where the figures 6 stand. It is quite 

 probable that the land there was depressed, in some degree, in or- 

 der to form these lakes. That these lakes, which are called Reel- 

 foot and Obion, were formed then is proved by the old trees that 

 were standing in them when I was there. The black spot by the 

 figure 3, represents a swamp that has been raised. There are many 

 such swamps, or rather sloughs, on that river, formed by the river 

 forsaking its bed, and this is filled up first at either end, and then by 

 degrees the other part is filled, by sediment carried into it by the 

 floods, until at length it gets so that there is little else in it but a 

 deep thin soft mud. Around the edges, which are higher and dryer, 

 cypress has begun to grow, and by shooting its roots into the mud, it 

 stiffens and dries it ; as this takes place, small ones shoot up, and 

 thus the trees environ those swamps. The larger ones are on the 

 more elevated and dryer ground, and the smaller ones farther in. 

 The swamp alluded to by figure 3 has this arch of cypress around 

 it, the larger on the higher and the smaller on the lower ground, 

 but beyond the influence of the cypress roots, it takes a gradual 

 swell, rising higher in the center than elsewhere, but is very regular 

 in its shape, looking as if when soft it had been pressed up from be- 

 neath, the center and softer parts rising the higher. This beautiful 

 piece of land, for it is now high and dry, is covered with a uniform 

 growth of young cotton wood. That this was one of those sloughs, 

 and has been raised, is evident from the encircling cypress, its uni- 

 form shape, its being without cane in the midst of a cane brake, and 

 the character, age, and uniformity of the trees that cover it. 



