Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Wayne County, Ind.) 1831-1837, 1833-03-02

serted at the usual rates.
FLOOD OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
BY JOHN ,. AUDUBON.
Many Of our larger streams, such as
the Mississipps, the Ohio, the Illinois,
the Arkansas, and the Red River, ex-
hibit. at certain seasons, the most ex-
tensive ovcrAowings Of their waters. to
which the name Of floods is more aP-
propriate than the term fyeshets, usual
" applied to the sudden rlsiDgs of
smaller streams. If We consider the
vast extent Of country through which
an inland navigation is afforded by the
never.failink supply Of water furnished
Nv these wonderful rivers, we cannot
s.cpose them exceeded in magnitude
nv anv other in the known world. It'll
will easily be imagined what a won
derful spectacle must present itself to
the eve Of the traveller who, for the
<irst time, views the enormous mass of
waters collected from the vast central
regions four continent, booming along,
turbid and swollen to overlooking, in
the broad channels Of the Mississippi
and Ohio. the latter of which has a
course Of more than thousand miles,
and the former Of several thousands.
10 give you some idea Of booming
1eDU.I Of tncsc gigantic streams, it is
necessary to state the causes which
sive rise to it. These are the sudde
ueiting Of the SHOWS OIL the mountains,
and heavy rains continued for several
weeks. When it happens that, during
O severe winter, the Allegheny noun
Gains have been covered with snow to
the depth of several feet, and the ac-
>cumulated mass has remained unmei
ted for length Of time, the materials
-ofa flood are thus prepared. 1t now
and then happens that the winter is
hurried off by a sudden increase Of
femper.ature, when the accumulated
aDows melt away simultaneously over
the whole c,oun try, and the southeast
erj, wind uaic b then usually blows,
brings along with it continued fall Of
heayy rain, which, mingling with the
dessoivine snow. de!uges the alluvial
portions Of the western country, nj
ling up the rivulerA: .-avines, creeks,
and small rivers. These delivering
their waters to the great streams, cause
the latter not merely TO A'iste to sur
prising height, but to overflow their
banks, whe rever the land is low. On
such occasions, the Ohio itself p resents
q splendid, and, at the same time, an
appalling spectacle; but when us wa
tiers mlngle with those Of the Missis- Mp
ri, then. kind reader, is the time to
view an American flood in all its as
tonishing magni6cence.
At the foot Of the falls Of the Ohio,
me water has been known to rise up
wards Of sixty feet above its lowest le-
eel. The river, at this point, has
already run course Of nearly seven
hundred miles, from its origin, at Pitts
burg, in Pennsylvania, during which it
has received the waters Of its number
less tributaries, and overlooking all
the bottom-lands or valleys, has swept
along the fences and dwellings which
have been unable to resist its violence.
could relate hundreds Of incidents
whie might prove to you the dreadful
effects cfsuch an inundation, and which
have been witnessed by thousands
besides myself. lhave known, for ex-
ample, Of COW swimming through a
vi. dow elevated at least seven feet
from the ground, and sixty-two above
Iow-water mark. The house was
then surrounded by water from the
Ohio, which runs in front Of It, while
the neighboring country was over
flowed; yet the family did not remove
from it, but remained in its upper
portion, having previously taken of
the sashes Of the lower windows, and
opened the doors. But let US return
20 the Mississippi.
There the overflow is astonishing
for no sooner has the water reached
tho upper part of the banks, than it
PUSHES out and over-spreads the whole
Of the neighboring swamPs, present.
ing an ocean overgrown with stupen-
dous forest-trees. So sudden is the
calamity, that the individual, whether
man or beast, has to exert his utmost
ingenuity to enable him to escape
from the dreaded element. The In
dian quickly removes to the hills Of the
interior. the cattle and game SWIM to
the different stripes Of land that re-