No. 2. 
RESUME AND FIELD NOTES, 
BY 
JULES MARCOU, 
GEOLOGIST AND MINING ENGINEER TO THE EXPEDITION; 
WITH 
A TRANSLATION BY WILLI AM P. BLAKE. 
Note. —This paper is a copy of Mr. Marcou’s field-hook, and is an exact transcript of the original rough notes as they 
were taken while on the road or in camp. 
Itin'eraire Geologique du Fort Smith et Napoleon 
{Arkansas) au Bio Colorado de Californie. 
[Original.] 
Little Rock, Ark., 
le 16 Juin, 1853. 
Les alluvions du Mississippi forment entiere- 
ment les "bancs de cette riviere depuis Cairo 
jusqu’ a Napoleon. Cette alluvion est noire 
grisatre et forrnee de limon ou depot de Roue a 
deux endroits, Highland et Memphis. On 
voit dessous ce limon un sable jaunatre et 
blanchatre tres-fin qui forme les cliffs de la 
riviere a ces deux jioints. 
En remontant de Napoleon a Little Rock 
sur la riviere Arkansas, on a la meme alluvion 
limoneuse que sur les banes du Mississippi, 
seulement, la couleur est jaune rouge&tre, et 
dessous se trouve d’epaisses assises de sables 
jaunatres, ce qui rend le cours de la riviere 
tres-serpentineuse. On ne voit aucune pierre, 
meme de la grosseur d’une noix, dans tout cette 
alluvion. Ce n'est qu’ a 1 mille au dessous 
16 t 
Geological Itinerary from Fort Smith and Na¬ 
poleon {Arkansas) to the Fiver Colorado of 
California. 
[Translation.] 
Little Rock, Ark., 
June 16, 1853. 
The alluvial deposites of the Mississippi 
form- both of its banks from Cairo to Napoleon. 
This alluvium is greyish-black, and consists 
of slime or mud at two places—Highland and 
Memphis. We see under this slime a very fine 
whitish and yellowish sand, which forms the 
cliffs of the river at these two points. 
On going up from Napoleon to Little Rock, 
upon the Arkansas river, we find the same slimy 
alluvium as upon the shores of the Mississippi; 
only its color is reddish-yellow, and under 
it are found thick beds of yellowish sand, 
which renders the course of the river very 
sinuous. No stones are visible, even of the 
size of a nut, in all this alluvium; and it is 
only a mile below Little Rock that we meet 
