13 
and where generally a long grass affords them a 
secure hold against the rapid current of these moun- 
tain streams. The expansion of the Tennessee 
river, known by the name of Muscle shoals, is of the 
character I have described; it is shallow, ornamented 
with a number of small islands, and its bed is full of 
the long grass which abounds in various species of 
Naiades. The lover of the grand and the beautiful 
in natural scenery, as well as the student in science, 
will here find abundant sources of interest. He will 
be delighted with a noble river, whose beautiful and 
numerous islands are clothed with gigantic trees; 
whose high and undulating shore on one hand is 
ornamented with thriving villages, and on the other 
spreads out an extensive alluvial, rich in all the gifts 
of Ceres, or rises abruptly from the river a mural 
escarpment of carboniferous limestone, which re- 
flects its blue and sombre aspect in the crystal 
waters at its base. Like many other spots, how- 
ever, remarkable for their loveliness, the subtle 
messengers of death have chosen it for their abode, 
infusing the poison of their breath into the serenity 
of autumn, when the transparency of the air and the 
purity of the sky, together with the gorgeous scenery, 
present at first to the unconscious traveller, sensa- 
tions alone of health and enjoyment. 
Elk river has a bed of limestone, which is also 
B 
