Rocky Mountains. 303 



Above Black river the bed of Red river immediately con- 

 tracts to one hundred and twenty yards, which is its average 

 width from this point to the Rapids, seventy-two miles above. 

 The current becomes, in a corresponding degree, more rapid, 

 running with a velocity of from two and an half, to three 

 miles per hour, at a moderate stage of water, in the early 

 part of summer. The average depth in this section is stated 

 at from eighteen to twepty feet, at a time when the water is 

 twenty-one feet below its maximum of elevation. The 

 banks are generally bold and steep, on one side or the other, 

 and often on both. The bottom lands are level, and exceed- 

 ingly fertile, but bear the marks of periodical inundation. 

 The forests of the lower section of Red river differ little 

 from those of the Mississippi and the Arkansa. White 

 gum, cotton-wood, pecan, locust, white oak, mulberry, syca- 

 more, hackberry, and cypress, occupy the low grounds, 

 while the low and scattered hills are covered with pine, in- 

 termixed with a small proportion of oak and hickory. The 

 only portion of the low lands in any sort fit for cultivation is 

 a narrow strip immediately on each bank, commencing a little 

 above the mouth of Black river, and enlarging upwards; but 

 even here the settler is not secure, as uncommon swellings 

 of the river, sometimes lay the whole under water. Aside 

 from this the extreme insalubrity of the air, occasioned by 

 the vicinity of extensive swamps, stagnant ponds, and la- 

 goons, tends greatly to retard the progress of settlements in 

 this quarter. 



At the Rapids the river spreads to three hundred yards 

 in width. The banks are thirty feet high, and never over- 

 flowed. Here has for many years been a settlement. The 



different. This land is good and light, and is disposed to receive ail the cul- 

 ture imaginable, in which we may assuredly hope to succeed. It natur- 

 ally produces fruit trees and vines, in plenty; it was on that side, muscadine 

 grapes were found. The back parts have neater woods and meadows, in- 

 tersected with tall fortsfs. On that side the fruit trees of the country are 

 common, and above all the hickory and walnut trees, which are sure indi- 

 cations of good soil." Du Pratz's Louisiana, p. 1 66. 



