CONTENTS. ix 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



PAGE 



Bluffs at Memphis. New Madrid. No Inn. Undermining of River 

 Bank. Examination of Country shaken by Earthquake of lSll-1 2. 

 Effects of Passage of Waves through Alluvial Soil. Circular Cavities 

 or Sand-Bursts. Open Fissures. Lake Eulalie drained by Shocks. 

 Borders of Sunk Country, west of New Madrid. Dead Trees stand 

 ing erect. A slight Shock felt. Trade in Peltries increased by Earth 

 quake. Trees erect in new formed Lakes. Indian Tradition of 

 Shocks. Dreary Forest Scene. Rough Quarters. Slavery in Mis* 1 

 souri . 171 



CHAPTER XXXIV, 



Alluvial Formations of the Mississippi, ancient and modern. Delta de 

 nned. Great Extent of Wooded Swamps. Deposits of pure Veget 

 able Matter. Floors of Blue Clay with Cypress Roots. Analogy to 

 Ancient Coal-measures. Supposed &quot; Epoch of existing Continents.&quot; 

 Depth of Fresh-water Strata in Deltas. Time required to bring down 

 the Mud oft he Mississippi. New Experiments and Observations re 

 quired. Great Age of buried and living Cypress-trees. Older and 

 newer Parts of Alluvial Plain. Upraise i Terraces of Natchez, &c., 

 and the Ohio, the Monuments of an older Alluvial Formation. Grand 

 Oscillation of Level. The ancient Valleys inhabited by Quadrupeds 

 now extinct. Land shells not changed. Probable Rate of Subsidence 

 and Upheaval. Relative Age of the ancient Alluvium of the Missis 

 sippi, and the Northern Drift 183 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



Departure from New Madrid. Night-watch for Stecimers. Scenery of 

 the Ohio River. Mount Vernon, Ornithology. No Undergrowth in 

 Woods. Spring Flowers. Visit to Dr. Dale Owen, New Harmony. 

 Fossil Forest of erect Trees in Coal-measures. Movers migrating 

 Westward. Voyage to Louisville. Professional Zeal of one of &quot; the 

 Pork Aristocracy.&quot; Fossil Coral-reef at the Falls of the Ohio, Louis 

 ville. Fossil Zoophites as perfect as recent Stone-corals . . . 200 



