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Show 168 during the summer sea~on, explosions are very frequently heard, pro~eedmg frotn und~r the ground; und not rarely a cunous phenmnenon IS seen which is tern1ed the blowing of the Inountains · it is ~onfined elastic. gas f~r~ing a ~assage through tl;e side or top of a h~ll, dnvmg before it a great quantity of earth and In~neral matter .. During the winter season the explosiOns and blowmg of the mountains entirely ~eases, fro~ whence we may conclude, that the cause Is coml?aratlvely superficial, being brought into action by the 111creased heat of the 1nore direct rays of the summer sun . . The confluence of the 'N"ashitn, Catahoola and Tenza, is an interesting place. The last of these ~ommun~cates with the Mississippi low lands, by the mte~ventiOn of other creeks and lakes, and by one in particular, .ca!le~ ': Bayau d' Argent," which empties Into the MisSISSippi, about fourteen miles above Nat. chez. During high water there is a navigation for batteaux of any burthen along the bayau. A large lake, called St. John's lake, occupies a considerable part of tl~e. P.assage bet\reen the Mississippi and the Tenza; It .IS In a horse shoe form, and has, at some former penod,. b~en the bed of. the Mississippi: the nearest part of It IS about one Inile removed from the river at the pre~er~t time. This lake, possessing elevated banks, similar to those of the river has been !ately oc~upied .and in1proved. 'The Catah~ola bayau ~s the t~Ircl navig~ble stream: during' the ti1ne of the InundatiOn there IS an excellent communication bv the lake of that ~mne, and from thence, by large creeks, to ~he Red nver. T~e co~ntry around the point of unwn of these three nvers IS altogether alluvial, but the place of Mr. Hebrard 's residence is no Ion o-er subject to inundation.. There is no doubt' th:t as the c~untry augments ~n population and riches, this place w1ll become the site of a comn1ercial inland town which will keep pace with the progress and prosperit; of the country. One of the Indian mounts here is. 169 of a considerable elevation, with a species of rampart surrounding a large space, which \\'as, no doubt, the position of a fortified town. While here, Mr. Dunbar met "·ith an American who pretended to have been up the Arkansa river three hundred leagues. 'The navigation or this river he says is good to that distance, for boats drawing three or four feet water. Implicit faith, perhaps, ought not to be given to his relation, respecting the quantity of silver he pretends to haYe eollectrd there. He says he has found silver on the vVashita, thirty leagues above the hot springs, so rich, that three pound.~ of it yielded one pound of silver, and that this was found in a cave. He asserts, also, that the ore of the 1nine upon the little Missouri, was carried to Kentucky, by a person of the name of Boon, where it was found to yield largely in silver. This man says he has been up the Red river likewise, and that there is a great rapid just below the n:ft, or natural bridge, and several others above 1t; that the Caddo nation is about fifty leagues above the raft, and near to their village commences the country of the great prairies, which extend four or five hundred miles to the west of the sand mountains, as they are termed. These great plains reach far beyond the Red river to the south, and northward over the Arkar:sa river, and among the numerous branches of the Mtssouri. He confirms the account of the beauty and fertility of the western country. On the morning of the 25th Mr. Dunbar set out, on horseback, from the Catahoola to Natchez. The rain which had fallen on the preceding da~s rendered the roads wet and muddv and it was two 1n the afternoon before he reached the Bayau Crocodil~, which is considered half way between the Black nver a~d the Mississippi. It is one of the numerous creeks 111 the low grounds which assist in venting the waters of the inundation. On the margins of the water courses the lands are highest, and produce canes; they fall 22 - |