TRAVELS IN 
408 
French, as there appear vediges of a rampart and 
other traces of a fortrefs ; perhaps fort Louis de la 
Mobile ; but in all probability it will not remain 
long vifible, the dream of the river making dally 
encroachments on it, by carrying away the land on 
which it flood. 
Obferved here amongft other vegetable produc- 
m O O X. 
tions, a new fpecies, or at lead a variety, of Hale- 
(ia diptera : thefe trees are of the fize and figure of 
ordinary Mulberry trees, their flems fhort, and 
tops regular and fpreading, and the leaves large 
and broad, in fize and figure refembling thofe of 
our common wild Mulberry. 
Oppofite this bluff, on the other fide of the river, 
is a diflridl of fwamp or low land, the richefl I ever 
faw, or perhaps any where to be feen : as for the 
trees I fhall forbear to defcribe them, becaufe it 
would appear incredible; let itfuffice to mention, that 
the Cyprefs, Afh, Platanus, Populus, Liquidambar, 
and others, are by far the tailed, draighted and every 
way the mod enormous that I have feen or heard 
of. And as a proof of the extraordinary fertility of 
the fob, the reeds or canes (Arundo gigantea) grow 
here thirty or forty feet high, and as thick as a 
man’s arm, or three or four inches in diameter ; I 
fuppofe one joint of fome of them would contain 
above a quart of water ; and thefe reeds ferve very 
well for fe trios poles, or mads tor barks and canoes. 
Continued yet afcending this fine river, palling 
by :ne mod delightful and fertile filiations : ob- 
ferved frequently, on bluffs of high land, deferted 
plantations, the houfes always burnt down to the 
ground, and ancient Indian villages. But perceiv- 
ing little variation in the natural vegetable pro- 
ductions, the current of the river preding down 
with 
