New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1859-10-21
sb 0rItans 1ailp Crescent,

FRTDAY MORNING, OCTOBER u, 1859.

E15ll5AI lHfsN 1EsSSs DSsn -
~ EDC1a1AgA AND TExAs COASTS s
II 1S0sa III observations 81 Major Bowman, OF the
\ Issr Corps; u wen - those Of many parties
~ ave had knowledge o. these waters, = ap-
4 ~ That i shore current tends along the whole
6cs9t Il a. sGnlf 81 Mexico running regularly N
w me se,,eral 7 tesiy direction without no
Shle Stioa. IN current y presumed % ne
~ 81 xdd BY the swirl Of the waters
~ i5s,1f Il jnnpasted By the counter cur
a = III slream and compromising the with
] q N Wsters by that great channel. The
y y and influence Of this shore current is
u III he typographical characteristics Of
IA n II among which the most noticeable is
alin01t invaliable detection Of the mouths Of
a YfyeSS lFom their general courses to direction
Wifh the current, and the formation OF
i \ 16outls Of The harbors by long spits of sandy
f nStscn tending with the current toward the
4 ~ most striking instances Of this peculiar
3 being the mouths Of Pensacola, Mobile,
Galveston and Choctawhatchie bays.
1T 1kodAvcragc rate Of this current, from the mouth
IL m Mississippi to Matagorda Pass, is two miles
u honr, and this determines the direction and des
on II the vast quantities Of silth and drift dis
cIrged w he Mississippi, which Is deposited
along she shore Of Louisiana, West Of the mouth,
1nd On The Northcrly portion Of the coast Of
1sxa1. Thus has between forty and fifty miles
breadth Of Louisiana territory been formed, lying
hStwsen Tie Sabine and The Mississippi rivers, and
! nostly comprised within the limits of the par
hkes u Calcaaieu, vermillion, st. Marys, Terre-
boGne, LAfcurche, Jefferson and Plaquemine, the
shalv character Of much Of the coast land Of
which. running many miles back, is sufficiently
\ yyell known 10 well known, indeed that it has
~ heen desig mated as 1e,7'e Isenbleste - and
- pfsne " axuish hts Is this sensitive real estate
Shst u ] man has the misfortune to stub his toe
IA IN over, square mile Of It shakes responsive
III IN iii Indeed there h an old tradition, but
1sabtleis malicious invention Of some enemy,
~ = - could stamp bis foot and shake all Yer
Y eIjon paffsh % its center-a popularity Of ter
800 h<ssbaity which, as the legend runs, was
y iAkAn advantage ofSby terrible old pirate
a. Ac1riahed before Iaftte, and who, in revenge
r.. not very courteous treatment received at the
&Ands ii ne settlers, landed sxpounder on the
sheaeh ma simply by firing blank cartridge caused
conclusion which shook down every house in
1he parish about the ears of the dwellers, who
thought they had been attacked BY first-class
! earthquake
M foriaation 81 this loosely constituted terri
~ b continnally going and the coast line Of
~ ~ UntinaaIly encroaching on the gulf the
4 n rosd ani muddy sith acquiring frmness and
Il graduslly and steadily. The Mississippi
4 n Il deposited many miles out, and lays SO very
IN the bottom that the keels Of vessels can
4 through II two or three feet without their speed
3ksing matarially retarded. AT Berwick's Bay the
sSkSnnel runs for nearly ten miles through mud,
which the kces of the steamers cut into one OF two
|iIst
Wcfnd in the National Inteligencer an interesting
|sxiicle from ( AZ N. L. Corpus Christi cores
ponent who treats at length ofthe characteristics
n fhe coasts and harbors of Louisiana and Texas
more particularly Of the latter, however He
ahasKes in The bars which obstruct the harbors to
acconnt Of The shore current referred to above.
lFlile ~ Mississippi mud prevails the Louisiana
ocasfs unadnlterated by any admixture of other
earthy substance, the bar Ut Sabine Pass which is
lne miles vide (e BARI contains some little sand.
Fsfther on, Galveston bar, seven miles wide, con-
tains aand a principal proportion, while in Mata-
9orda bar, three miles wide, mud again predomi-
nates though not chargeable to the Mississippi the
Iud being discharged from the several rivers,
enptyfng into Matagordo Bay, and prevented from
Nard escape by the parallel shore current. At
A1ansas Pass, The bar is three-quarters Of mile
side. ~ pure sand.
.