460 



NATUEE OF THE DELTA AT NEW OELEANS. [Ch. XIX. 



of the 

 him 



formation 



age) occurring at slight elevations above the sea along the 



Mississippi 



page 448). Some 



common 



Myt 



thtt coast, while in other parts it is Ml of the roots and 



trunks of the deciduous cypress 



As the beds containing 



some 



bear witness to an upheaval of the bottom of the gulf at a 



very modern period. 



It has already been stated that the base of the marine 

 formation was not reached in the Artesian well at New 

 Orleans at a depth of 630 feet. It will be seen by the 

 map (fig. 32) that at the distance of only twelve miles from 

 the mouth of the South Pass the soundings already 



5 fathoms, and eight miles 



rive a 

 same 



direction 144 fathoms, then at 32 miles 452 fathoms -beyond 

 this 600, and they increase to 1,000 fathoms before we 

 arrive at the Florida Straits. 



When 



New 



beyond the general coast-line, and that at a distance from 

 the Balize equal to that which separates the Balize from 

 New Orleans, the gulf is 3,000 feet deep, it seems probable 

 that the recent deposit if it could be gauged would prove to 



mig 



mar 



or thrice that thickness. We mus 



the great bulk of it will contain 



shells, and that a large part of the whole will consist of fine 



clay, although here and there pebbles and sand brought down 



to the bar will have been spread out during storms over wide 



In my Second Yisit to the United States (vol. ii. p. 1**), 

 I have remarked that ' all the pilots agree, that when the 

 Mississippi is at its height, it pours several streams of fi^ 



water, tinged with yellow sediment, for twelve or mor 



These streams, floating 



areas. 



• • 



e miles 



into the gulf, beyond its months. 



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over the heavier salt water, spread out into broad super ci 







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 laving 



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