Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1846-04-01

cumscribe these bends: gathering strength
from resistance, it will form new and more
direct channels; and thus i, is that large
tracts of country once on the river, become
inland, or are entirely swept away by the
current; and so frequently does this hap
pen, that =" utoif's" are almost as familiar
to The eye on the Mississippi as its muddy
waters. When the Mississippi in making
its "cut offs" rs ploughng its way lhro'
the virgin soil, there float upon the top OF
this destroying tide thousands Of trees
that covered the land, and lined lis curviag
banks. These gigantic wrecks Of the pr.
miilve forests are tossed about by the invi.
slble power Of the current, as If they
were slraws and they find no rest, until
with associated thousands they are thrown
upon some projecting point of land,
where they lie rotting for miles, their dark
forms frequently shooting into the air like
wrlhlng serpents, presenting one OF the
most desolate pictures the mind can con
ceve.
These masses Of timber are called
"rafts." Other trees become attached 10
the bottom of the river, and yet by some
elasticity ofthe roots they are loose enough
TO he affected by the strange and powerful
current, which will bear them down under
The surface; and the tree by IFS own
strength, will come gracefully mp again,
10 be eugilted and thus they wave up.
ward aud downward with graceiuness Of
motion which would not disgrace a beau Of
The old school, MBoats frequently pass
over these "sawyWs, as they go down the
stream, pressing them under by their
weight: but let snmc unfortunate child of
the genius of Robert Fulton, as It's passes
up the stream, be saluted by the visage Of
one Of these polite gentry, as it rises ten
or more feet ia the air, and nothing short Of
irreparabe damage, or swift destruction,
enSues, while the cause Of the disaster, af
ter this conclusion, will Use above the RI.
in as if nothing had happened, shake the
dripping water from Ms forked limbs, and
sink again, as if rejoicing in its strength.
Other trees will iaslen lhemselye to the
bottom Of the river; and their long trunks,
sborn Of their limbs, present the most for.
mdable objects to navigation. A rock
itself, sharpened and sci by art, could DO
no more dangerous than these dreaded
g snags." Let the bows Of the strongest
vessel come in contact with them, and the
conclusion will drive through lis imbers
as if they were paper; and the noble craft
will sometimes tremble for moment like
a thing Of life, when suddenly struck to Its
vitals, and then sink into IFS grave.
Such are The 'cnt- offs" .ra(ts,' "saw.
yers,' and snags" Of the Mississippi;
terms significant to the minds Of the
western boatman and hunter, oil qualities
which they apply 10 themselves and their
heroes. whenever they wish 10 express
themselves strongly, and we presume the
beau ideal Of political character with
them, would be one vino would come al
the truth by "cut-oii," separate and
pile up Ialsehood for decay, like the trees
Of "rafi,n and do all this with the po-
likeness Of "sawyer," and with princi.
plies unyelding as snag."
| The vast extent Of the Mississippi is al
most beyond belief. The stream which
may bear you gently along in midwinler
so far south that the sun is oppressive, finds
its beginning in country 81 eternal snow.
Follow it in your imagination thousands
of miles, as you pass on from its bead wa.
tiers to It's mouth, and you find il flowing
through almost every climate urder hea.
ven: nay more, the comparatively small
stream on which YOU look, receives within
itself the waters Of four rivers alone; Ar.
kansas, Red, Ohio, and Missouri; whose
united lengths, without including their trl-
butaries, is over eight thousand miles: vet
this mighty flood is swallowed up by the
Mississippi, as il possessed within itself
the very capacity OF the ocean, and dis
dained in its narrow limits to acknowledge
the accession Of strength.
The color Of this tremendous flood of
water is always turbid. There seems no
rest Tor it that will enable il to become
quiet or clear. In all seasons, the same
muddy water meets the eye; and this
strange peculiarly, associated with the
character and form Of The banks, strikes
the mind at once Al the dark sediment
which has for centuries settled upon the
rivers edge, and thus formed the . ridges"
through which it runs; or 10 other words,
| il has confined itseB; and in this we be-
hold one Of its most original features. -
On the Mississippi we have no land slop
lag down in gentle declyities, to the wa.
ter'sl edge; but bank just high enough,
where it Ia washed by the river, 10 protect
| the back country from inunda,ion, in the
ordinary risesof The stream; for whenever,
1 from an extensive food, il rises above The
| Top Of this feeble barrier, the water runs
down into the country. This singular
fact shows how all the land Oh The Mis-
sissippi, south of the ihirly-founh degree
Il .,f latitude fc liahie IA int,nlation efnco