304 Expedition to the 



soil of the neighbouring country is extremely fertile. A bed 

 of soft sandstone, or indurated clay, crosses the river, caus* 

 ing a fall of ten feet in fifty yards. " This stone, when ex- 

 posed to the air, becomes as hard as freestone, but under 

 water it is found as soft as chalk: a channel could with very' 

 little labour or expense be cut through any part of the bed 

 of the river, and need not be extended more than two hun- 

 dred yards. It is believed that twenty men, in ten days, 

 with mattocks only, could, at low water, open a channel suf- 

 ficiently wide and deep for all the barges that trade in this 

 river to pass with safety and ease.* Three quarters of a 

 mile above this rapid is another very similar in extent and 

 magnitude. 



Thirty miles above the Rapids we find the river divided 

 into two beds, each having a high bold bank. The right 

 channel contains about one- third of the volume of water of 

 the whole river. They separate from each other four or five 

 miles below Natchitoches, and unite again here, forming an 

 island sixty miles long and five wide. The right branch is call- 

 ed by the French " Rigote de Bon Dieu," and the other Old 

 river. Another island, commencing one-fourth of a mile be- 

 low Natchitoches, extends parallel to that above mentioned 

 thirty-four and an half miles: this is about four miles wide. 

 The current in all the branches which lie between these is- 

 lands and the main shore is rapid, but not equally so. The 

 description already given of the valley of the river is appli- 

 cable to this portion. On each side the surface descends 

 from the river, terminating in a line of pools and cypress 

 swamps, which extend along the base of the bluffs. Settle- 

 ments were here somewhat numerous in 1806. The small 

 cottages are placed near the bank of the river, and the culti- 

 vated lands extend back but a little distance. " The inhabi- 

 tants," says Freeman, " are a mixture of French, Spanish^ 

 Indian, and Negro blood, the latter often predominating. 

 * Freeman's MS- Report to Win. Dunbar, Esq. 



