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Show I '- 10~ ~. . or tl1e ri,·cr · not one entire jam from the be. .o· ms· e to tl1e e11d o' f it but only at t he pom· ts, w1·t h .. mmng ' . . "laces 'of several leagues that are clear. !he nve: ts p ol·cd and the low grounds are Wide and nch, very cro " ' . . 'll fi' d -and 1 am informed, no part o! Red nver "'1 . a o~ better plantations than alo~g Its ~anks by th1s raft, which is represented as bcmg so nnportant as to render the country above it of little value ~or settle~ents; this opinion is founded entirely upon H}Correct. mformation. The first or lo,,·cst part of the raft IS at a bend or point in the river~ just.belo'~ the upp~r plan. tation, at which, on the nght s1de, ~ 1arge bayau, .or division of the river, called Bayau Chan no, comes m, which is free of any obstructions, and the_gr~aterpart of the year boats of any size 1nay ascend _1t, ~lltO la~e Bistino, through which, to its. cominumcati_on wtth the lake, is only about three 1niles; the l~ke IS a?out 60 miles long, and lays nearly_ parallel \Vlt_h the nv.e:, from the upper end of which 1t comf!lumcates ag,un with the river, by a bayau called Dazclzet, about ~0 mifes above the upper end of the_ raft; ~rmn the l~e to the river, through Bayan Daichct, ts_c?lled nme miles; there is always in this bayau sufficient w~ter for any boat to pass; from. thence upwa.rds Red nY~r is free of all obstructions to the mountains. By lake Bistino, and these two bayaus, an islan_d is formed, about 70 miles long, and three or four wtde, cap.able of afl:ordino- settlctnents inferior to none on the nver. From the anb ove account you w1·1 l percet· ve, th. a' t the only difficulty in opening a boat passage by this ra~t, throt1gh the lake, which is tnuch shorter than ?Y t; course of the river, and avoid the current, and mdee d, was the river unobstructed, would always be preferre1' is this small jatn of timber at the point, just below ue bayau Channa, as it is called. it After the rece1pt of your letter I had an opportun hy of seeing some of the inhabitants who live near t 15 }Jlace '~ho informed me, that that sn1all raft '~as easily broken, and that they had lately been talktng •· I .. -·' 103 Q[ doing .it. I persuaded them to n1ake the :tttempt, and they' accordingly appointed the Fr~day following, and ·all tht neighbors were to be invited to attend and assi~t. They met according!), and effected a passage nei:t to one bank of the river, so that boats could pass, but did not entirely break it; they intend to take another spell at it, when the water falls a little, and speak confidently of succeeding. The country about the head of lake Bistino, is highly spoken of, as well the high lands, as the river bottom. There are f~tlling into the river and lake in the vicinity, some handson1e streams of clear wholesome water from towards Washita, one in particular called bayau Badkah by the Indians, which is boatable at 5ome seasons; this bayau. passes through a long, narrow, and rich prairie, on ··which my inforn1ant says, 500 families might be desirably settled ; and from thence up to where the Cacldos lately lived, the river banks are high, bottoms "'ide and rich as any other part of the river. From thence it is much the '.iame to the mouth of the Little river of the left; this river is generally fron1 50 to an 100 yards wide; heads in the great prairies, south of Red river, and interlocks with the head branches of the Sabine and Trinity rivers; and in times of high water is boatable 40 or 50 leagues, affording a large body of excellent, well tiinb~ red and rich land, the low grounds from 3 to 6 miles wtde: but the quality of the water, though clear, is very inferior to that of the streams that fall into Red. river on the north side. 'fhe general course of the Red r.iver from this upwards is nearly from west t<J east, till we arrive at the Panis towns, when it turn~ n_orthwestwardly. After leaving the mouth of the Littl~ n:er of the left, both banks are covered with strong, th.tck c?ne for about 20 miles; the low grounds very Wide, r~ch and do not overflow; the river widening in pr~portlon as the banks are less liable to overflow; you a;nve ~t a handsome, ric~ prar_ie, 25 miles long on· the ;n"ht s1de, and 4 or 5 mllei wtde; bounded by hancl-"' I , |