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Show ·8 &\HGRANT'S GUIDE. The dividing ridge between the Sabine and Red r'vE'r~, pre~~rves at this place nearJy an equal. dist~nce_ from each st~eam ; . tbe s tret~ms respectively flowing in oppos1te ~hr~ct10ns ; thnse ot Re~J nver, N ·.E.; those of Sabine, S. W. After leavmg the settlement of B<~you PH .. rre about eight miles to the Wf'St. pine again occurs in great abu ld<Jll(:e-, interspersed with black·ji1ck ridges. The count~y i~ very broken, poor, and on the hilJs san' y and rocky. Here 1s seen a pht-nnmenon often beheld in Louisiana. Some of the creeks are fint> clea·r streams of water, whilst others have their channels dry, except when Rupplied by rain. There is nothing peculi~r in the country to point out the reason of the difference. Upon some of the streams are large. quantitit>s_ of a sp€'~ies of maple, having the external appearance of the acer mgrum of M1chaux. This tree is v~ry scarce in all lower Louisinna, and utterly unknown in any part south. of the place under review. It is here found in its usual company, the beech, black oak, white oak, and ash. Whether this maple is really the acer nigrum (black sugar tree,) of Michaux, or a non-Jescript, remains undetermined. Enough of the bottom land of this region is fertile to admit of extensive settlement. The timber is very large and excellent. Ap-. proaching the Sabine, no very perceptible change in the general ap· pearance of the country takes place. The !;urface of arable Ian~, perha(JS, is something more extensive. The eastern side of the Sa· bine in all its length, from tlHi 32° N. I at to the gulf of Mexico, is low, and more subject to overflow than the western. A ridge of hills winds along the western shore of the Sabine, often projecting precipitous ledge!5 of sand stone rock, over the stream. In no one place does a bluff reach the river on the east side. The rock is all perfectly horizontal, and of one species, bluish friable sand stone. There are few indications of metals, none of either lime stone or mineral coal. At a distance from the river, in the creeks and even on the highest hills, occur pudding stone, with petrified wood, often imbedded in the mass. Rounded siliceous pebWes are scattered over every part~ and often form the body of the hills. The general timber upon the Sabine is composed of pitch pine, 'black oak, red oak, white oak, black hickory, sweet gum, black gum, a_sh, beech, and dogwood. Cane is abundant upon the margin of the nver, but does not extend far from the stream, and is generally of small growth. Receding from this place towards Opelousas, pitch pine gradually encroaches upon the other trees; and below 32° N. lat., to the praines on Merm~ntau and Calcasiu, may be termed a pine forest, except the margm of the streams ; and even there the pine often reaches to the wa~er. This is frequently the case with the Sabine, whose banks are at mtervals dothed with an unmixeu pine wood. Above 32° N. lat. the country maintains the character pointed out upon the trave,rse ra~ by the author, \lntil merged into the great prai- ~nes towards the Pan1s village~. · Red river enters the state of Louisiana in one undivided stream, and flows southward into the state about thirty milf's hy a direct course; 1hcn spreads out into a number of ch~nnels ami lakes, forming an inun;. • ·EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. dated swamp six miles wide and fifty Jong. This overflowed tract in ReJ river, may be strictly 1called the commencement of its delta, as, in strictness, the river ne\·er does again unite in one continuous stream. The breadth of the overflowed land bas been much overrated. The author measured the high lands along both banks, from the town of Natchitoches to 3~ 0 55' N. 'lat., and determined by actual survey the Jeu~ th a~ad b_readth of the inundated part. The aspect of the country above N atchttoches on the eastern, is greatly superior to that near the western side of Red river. Tlw botloms on the creeks are more extensive, and of better soil, than are thost towards Sabine. The hills, though much more elevi1ted, are more gradual in their elevation. At low water. this inundated country is an assemblage of islands, between the varwus lakes anLl channels, but at the season of high water, all. the low lands r~re covf'fed and become one great lake. Jt will ?e obv1ous to any p( rson who vis its the country and observes the obJe~ ts JJ~esented by nature attentively, that the prest-nt situation of thmgs m the delta11'-. of ~ed ri\-er is of recent origin. In all the larg_e lakes, the_ rernaws ot the cypress tree still appear to attest the anc1ent tatf! ol the country. In Natchitoches, Spanish, Black, Bisti .. nean, and BoJ_cau lakes , the ruins of thf::' cypress trre are abundant~ The cy ~ress, like all other trees, perishe~ whenever its roots are immersed 111 watn throughout the year. The timber of this tree resists th~ combined a_ction of air_ and moi~ture longer than any known wood, an~ f~r thrs reason lhe1r stern~ now remain in these Jakes perhaps ~ge'i after the other trees that formerly grew in the same places llave fd lien and mouldered away. l_t _would appear that Red riv~r had gradually deposited allu·don sufficient to fill up the Vrllley throu~h which it ran. above the level ~f the hottorn_s of tht> creeks that entered from each side. No creek en ~ ~r~ Red nver below the_ cornmencement of this inurJdated tract, but whtch forms lakes prev10us to entering the main stream. In this manner has been fu~med all the lakes near the river. Many of those lakes have ten or fifteen feet water in the driest seasons where onc-e ,grew a forest. ' . There is no direct channel remaining through the alluvial tra-ct from Jls .~omrnen~ement to t_he Grand Ecor, four miles above Natchitoche11·. It IS not Wtthout coN~JderablP. difficulty that boats can be pilot~j t~~nugh, and only at b~gh water can pass. Many parts of the vario~.s ~h~~1 ?~:s are choke~ w1th ttees. 1'here is not, however, as generally th g ' ~ny co~lmued raft. No floating timber can now escape rough th1s labynntb, and the circumstance affords positi\·e eyiden~e JW~ t! ~~s term freq~ent~y occurs i~ this and other works on Louisiana, it toa the ancie r;or~er to. g•ve ll8 explalilatJOn. 1 he estuary of the Nile was called b~ rabl n s, .rom tts re ·emb_lance to the Greek letter A, ~elta. This was tole~ wh!sea~~~ft~~at~,.:~·~nlaa~J:'·~r ;~/yh:i~il~, tbut tc 1 ?uld not _apply to other rivez:s .aat th 11 • uel en ou tnes. It 1s now used to des'g-st e e a UVIal tmct:; fo,·med by the abrasion of the waters of any n'ver wh " Ald't>o..pamtes dc.a t·rtyh 'd ow n, aml d eposJ· te great b odt.e s of sediment oear their m' outohsse. tween twm ·1 IS man;e~·, the term delta serves to point out a distinction be~ trude bod~e~ ~fses o r~vers; those .whic.b, like the Nile and Mississippi, ro., J'Jat~, have wid~a~~ysf'f~~tt~j:~s~~~·~i~;.IJke t~e Dele ware, Susquebannah, ~nd ',I, |