The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1855-03-21
Traces Of Travel to Texas.


adelphia PRESBYTERIAN, to which it was comm u |
nicated by Mr. Walker, who lately visited this I
place: Il
Messrs. Editors-I recollect having read, /
some years ago, an essay, believe by lord !
Bacon, upon the desiderata, or tue things to
be done, in science, but however much has
been accomplished since his day, how immense
" have the desiderata increased! Every new
discovery but reveals our ignorance, and opens
up a thousand new fields for investigation. But.
the great difficulty is, to know what has been
done, and mankind, in general, are as ignorant
of this as of what remains to be done. These
remarks are suggested by the position IN which
I now find myself. l am unwilling to repeat
what others have said before me, and what IS
generally known, but the physical history OF
| the United States is in so fragmentary state,
that know not where to find it, and must
write at venture.
| It was nv misfortune toysit the south when
the greater part Of the trees and shrubs were
stripped of their foliage, and many OF the
plants peculiar to the climate must have es-
capped my notice. had made catalogue which
resembles SO much what Ihave since found IN
geographical work, that ! see no need OF
publishing it. There is however, one tree, the
true monarch of the forest, which saw for the
first time, and feel impelled to notice. 1t bids
defiance to the frosts of winter, and ever spreads
its magnificent green dome to the heavens. The
live oak (Quercus virens) is the noblest OF all
trees know not what is its appearance IN ITS
native forests, but some Of those standards,
planted by the early French settlers on the
Mississippi bottoms, are exquisitely beautiful IN
symmetry, and stretch their massive iimos
over an area that would contain ten thousand
tho ip,bn in uanpraI much
heavier than can be found on the Atlantic slope
from New Jersey to Georgia, yet saw none
equal to that of the northwestern region OF
! Pennsylvania. The trees Of every description
seemed Young, no fallen timber lay on the bot
TOMS and there is no depth Of vegetable matter
+ from decayed leaves. The impression forced
: upon me was, that the soil now bears its first
! race of vegetable life, since it emerged from
beneath the waters.
y The high land between the Sabine and Red
: River is mixture of ockrey clay and sand,
4 and varies from deep red to light yellow
= This is from three to eight feet deep. On the
surface, and intermixed with the clay, are great
4 quantities of silici6ed wood, in fragments and
q massive trees, the only stones found are clay
], iron ores, Of that species termed Llmmonltle
i In fracture they are often extremely beautiful,
is exhibiting concentric square lines of various
il colors, others having the appearance of nuts,
h with a nodule of clay for a kernel or the form
y of a shell, with red pigment for an oyster
q Beneath this clay there is about forty feet o.
v white sand, interspersed with viens of tertiary
! clay, some of which would probably be vel
1f adapted for fire brick. In this stratum, am
,r told that those digging wells frequently come
Vi upon logs of wood, undergoing decay, but still
ce wood. Underneath this there is about two
~ feet of Ignite, or wood coal, at depth o
W about sixty feet, below which the diggers, il
&c the instance from which made my obscrva
Of tions came upon spring Of salt water, whcl
an suspended their operations. From observation
". of several bluffs, suppose this description
nv applicable to a large region Of country.
ke / have deposited specimens of these mlne
rails in the museum of the Polytechnic coeg
IT. of Philadelphia, and professor Thomas is il
nd clined to believe that the silici6ed wood is {
mo- the same kind and age as that found in Flemin
en- county, Kentucky, and Saline, Arkansas. III
Ignite he considers identical with that found /
av the diluvial clay near Natchez, Mississippi
ia Maysville, Kentucky, and Glendale, Ohio Th
ed whole country seems once to have been an In
ed mense fresh water lake, but SO far as know
,ot no attempt has been made to define its bou1
daries, OF tosascertain the process by which
ar has been drained, but for its Identification tn
o. above marks are given.
nd The streams OF bayous, which are all branch
3e- es of Red River, flow in valleys which hay
cv, been denuded Of portion of the old depos
ice by the action Of water, and in which ne
an deposit is thrown up, deep near the river, ar
the shallower as it approaches the higher Ian
vas The materials Of the new soil are a mixture
ON the argillaceous clay Of the pine land, with
e f1,n h1rrh
the regions of the country. The whole having be-
till suspended in water, there are few pebbles to
inc found but in a sand deposit was able to &C
nj lect a few, among which professor Thorn
zen found sard, agates, jasper, and quartz
i'd The water of Red River possesses stror
her favour of magnesia, and from large stalactit
the of impure chloride of sodium being form
rs from its evaporation at a leak in steambc
,ws boiler which saw, it must also contain a lar
,s;- portion of common salt To ascertain t
ore proportions of the ingredients in water
;ce however, work of great labor and nicely "a
sin. I feel gratifed in being able to give the folio
. to ing analysis by professor Thomas. The wa
ro- was taken from the river at low water, at hi
his water it would have contained large quaint
han of oxide of iron in suspension. ssThe Watel
tier he reports, 'swas most carefully tested with
bv following results: acids, carbonc, sulphur
hydro-chlorc. Bases, lime, soda, and mag
old sia, with small quantity of oxide of ],
into though not rendered evident by the most d'
]thv cate test'' A genial mixture of clay a
Lee. sand, stepped in this water, forms the quick
had fertile soil of the river bottoms. In 1859 ca
hful r. B. Marcy explored Red River to its sourc
as and he informs us that it flows for a hund
for miles over gypsum formation, from which
~ takes up the sulphate Of lime, which gives
.ass disaereeable taste to the water.
her I have several times expressed my opin
then that the region Of Louisiana is of recent orig
her and have given some reasons. am, he
that ever, unwilling to claim for tia less antqu
Ugh than for the Mississippi bottom, and ! find t
ON sir Charles Lyell, (principles P. 273, Fl
state calculations founded on the quantity Of 81
Mil matter annually brought down by the river;
tie the extent Of the deposit, arrives at the conc
find sion that the whole must have been the W
oon If ,,nvards of a hundred Thousand wears