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Show 124 ridges of primitive high-land; the .rest bein& evi. dcntly alluvial, although not now snbJeCt to be mun. dated by the Washita river in ~onseqnence .of the g1 eat depth which the be~l of the nver has <Jcqturcd ?Y abrasion. On approaching towards th_e bayau L?ms, which empties its waters into th~ vVaslnta on the ng:ht, a little below the rapids,. there IS a grea~ deal of htgh land on both sides, whtch produces pme and other timber, not the growth of i~undated la~ds .. ~t the foot of the rapids the navigation ~f the ~1ver IS tmp:ded by beds of gravel formed in It. _1 he first rap~ds lie in latitude 31 o. 48 '. 57". 5 N. a httle above wht.ch there is a high ridge of pri1nitive earth, studded w.1th abundance of fragments of rocks, or stone, w~1ch appears to have been thrown up to t~1e surface ;n a very irregular ~anne~. 1'he stone IS of. a fn~ble nature, some of 1t havmg the appCi:trance of mdurctt~d clay; the outside is blac~ish ~r~m e~pasure _to the ai.r, within it is a greyish white; It IS sa1d that In the h1ll the strata are regular and that good grin_dstones. m~y be here obtained. The last of the rapids, which IS formed by a ledge of r~cks crossin~ the entire bed o~ the river, was passed In the ~ve~mg o~ the 27th, above it the water becan1e again hke a tnill pond and about one hundred yards wide. The \\'hole of these first sho1ls, or rapid~, embraced an extent of a~out a mile and a half; the obstruction was not contmued, but felt at short intervals in this distance. On the right, about four leagues frmn the rapids, they pass.e~ the '' Bayau Aux Boenfs," a little above a .rocky bill. high lands and. savanna is seen on the nght. . On sounding the nver they found three fathoms wat~r on a bottom of mud and sand. ·rhe banks of the nv~t, above the bayau, seem to retain very little alluvtal soil; the highland e<~rth, which is a sandy loam of: light grey colour, \Vlth streaks o~ red sat:d and cl~~' is seen on the left bank; the sml not nch, beanng pmes, interspersed with red oak, hickory and dogwood. 'The river is fron1 sixty to one hundred yards 125 wi~e l_1ere, but decreases as you advattce. The next rapid 1s ma~e by a ledge of rocks traversing the river, and nru:rowmg the water channel to about thirty yards. The '-'ndth between the high banks cannot be less than one hundred yards, and the banks fi·mn thirty to forty feet.high. In latitude 32°. 10'. 13~. rapids and shoals a gam occurred, and the. channel was very narrow; the sand bars, at every point, extended so far into the bend as to leave little more than the breadth of the boat of water sufficiently deep for herpassaO'e althouo-h . d . b ' b It sprea s over a Width of seventy or eighty yards upon the shoal. In t~e afternoon of the :31st, they passed a little I~lantatwn or settlement on the right, and at night ar. nved at three others adjoining each other. ,..fhese settl~ments are on a plain or prairie, the soil of which we .may be assured is alluvial fron1 the regular slope '~hie~ the land has from the river. The bed of the :Iver IS now sufficiently deep to free the1n from the Inconvenience of its inundation; yet in the rear the waters of the l\tlississippi approach, and some;imes l~ave dry _but a narrow stripe along the bank of the nver. It 1s however now more comn1on, that the extent oft~1e fields cultivated (frmn J to ; mile) remains dry dunng the season of inundation; the soil here is ~ery good, but not equal to the Mississippi bottoms; It may be esteemed second rate. At a small distance to the east are c x~ensive cypress swamps, over which the waters of the Inundation always stand to the depth of from fi[teen to t\venty -five feet. On the west side, aftt.r passing over the valley of the river whose breadth vanes from a quarter of a mile to two miles, or more, the land assumes a con~~derable elevation, from one hundred to three hundred feet, and extends all along to the settlements of the Red river. These high lands a~~ reported. to be poo~, and badly watered, being c teflJ what Is termed pme barren. There is here a ferry and ~·oad of communication between the post of the Washita, and tqe Natchez, and a fork of this road ) |