106 



comparatively recent period, to the forks of the Calcasieu river, it 

 may be stated that a mile and a half above Lake Charles, at Nix's 

 ferry, the banks of the river which are composed of the yellowish 

 brown loam of the bluff formation, contain at the depth of from 

 three to four feet, numerous oyster shell deposits apparently of recent 

 type, almost in their natural state, a few of them being incrusted 

 with barnacles. The same shell deposit also exists at Gossport, 

 where oyster shells were found at a very shallow depth in digging a 

 well at some distance from the river banks. An addittonal proof to 

 sustain the position assumed, is the well known fact that the banks 

 of Lake Charles, composed of yellow loam, which in some places 

 are from twenty to thirty feet above the level of the lake, are par- 

 tially made up of the brackish water shell peculiar to the outlets of 

 the Gulf, called Gnathodon cuneatus, in a fossil state; and that the 

 same bivalve shells are now found in a living state in Lake Charles 

 itself in considerable quantity, being supplied with the necessary 

 ingredient of salt water by the rising of the tide, the effect of which 

 is slightly felt at the lake shore. The most remarkable anomaly 

 presented is the connection in the fact that the TJnio trapezoides, the 

 Unio nodulosus, and the Unio apiculatus, essentially fresh water 

 shells, are found associated with the salt water Gnathodon at the 

 shallow bottom of the lake, about a hundred yards from the shore. 

 This proves beyond all doubt that the yellowish brown loam, un- 

 derlying the Calcasieu prairies and the pine flats, and which does not 

 present anywhere distinct stratifications, is of marine origin, and 

 must have been deposited by the waters of the Gulf, at the time the 

 shore line commenced to contract, leaving behind a layer of sand, 

 thrown out by the action of the waves dashing against the shore. 



From Nix's to Richie's ferry, which is on the west fork of the Cal- 

 casieu, the road passes, for a distance of four miles, through a nar- 

 row strip of swamp land, rich in the composition of its soil materials, 

 and very heavily timbered. Ilere are found the swamp chestnut, 

 <oak, beech, hickory, magnolia, sweet gum, locust, and here and there 

 a cypress ; all of very large size. 



On the north bank of the west fork the pine woods commence, and 

 continue as far as Bayou Rapides, where the pine hills gradually slope 

 down to the Red river bottom lands. 



The Calcasieu prairies are every where interspersed with circular 



