ENGELMANN—STAGE OF MISSISSIPPI. 
423 
w 
. 
that mean elevation, and in August it is about equal to it. 
The mean lowest stage takes place in December, and is not 
quite six feet high ; its greatest average volume of water is 
reached in May, with more than twenty feet. The mean an¬ 
nual stage in these seven years ranged from 7.7 feet in 1864 
to 16.8 feet in 1844, and the mean monthly stage from 2.2 
feet in December, 1863, to 33.2 feet in June, 1844. 
It was thought best to add a second table, giving the 
extremes of every month and every year in those seven 
years, as the extremes are of more practical importance for 
the boatmen, as well as the inhabitants of the banks, than the 
means. The table shows that from September to February 
the river has never been higher than 17 feet, from March 
to July never lower than 6 feet, and in April, May, and 
June never lower than 8 feet above low water mark. The 
lowest stage, zero, was observed on December 21, 1863, and 
the highest, 41.4 feet, on July 27, 1844. 
In the subjoined table are given all the high water guages 
and the dates of their occurrence which 1 could find. They 
are partly taken from the above mentioned work of Hum¬ 
phreys and Abbott, partly from Mr. Homer’s tables, and 
those between the years 1838 and 1858 have been observed 
by myself or by Mr. A. Kayser, when City Engineer. They 
have all bfeen reduced to the standard adopted at present, 
the low water mark of December, 1863. 
High water 1785, April, ab’t 42.0 ft. 
“ “ 1828, March, (?) 36.3 “ 
“ “ 1838, May 8, 27.0 “ 
“ “ 1839, May 28, 27.5 “ 
“ “ 1843, May 2, 27.3 “ 
“ “ 1844, June 27, 41.4 “ 
“ “ 1845, June 27, 32.5 “ 
“ “ 1846, May 10, 25.0 “ 
“ “ 1849, March 10, 27.5 “ 
“ “ 1851, June 10, 37.0 ft 
1854, June 29, 
1856, May 9, 
1858, June 14, 
1861, May 15, 
1862, April 26, 
1863, March 4, 
1364, May 14, 
1865, July 28, 
In this list, embracing twenty years, the highest rise 
took place in March three times, in April twice, in *May 
nine times, in June five times, and once (last year) in July; 
but all the greater floods, with the exception of that of 1785, 
took place in June. 
One word more about the rain curve on the diagram. 
This curve was, in all those four years, much less regular 
than it usually is with us. While, commonly, the greatest 
quantity of rain descends in May and June, the rains of 
those months in all those four years, and especially in the 
last three, were unusually light, and sometimes even the 
lightest of all the twelve months of the year. The meteo¬ 
rological table for the year 1865 (p. 419) shows that we 
have returned to a period of greater regularity and heavier 
summer rains. 
