too, and exhibits still more clearly what we have said
of deposits, that the lower river for the most part runs along the
summit of a ridge of its own formation, and annually this ridge is
becoming more elevated. The inland deposits are made by the bayous and
their overflow. The lands close to the river are disproportionately
higher than those farther back. The average distance from the river to
the swamp is about two and a half miles. And the slope in some places
sinks to a depression of eighteen feet to a mile. It is upon this strip
of tillable earth that the river plantations are located. By a system of
drainage even much of the swamp lands now unconverted might soon be
turned to profitable use.

The numerous islands and old channels of the Mississippi are also
another source of wonder to the traveller. The 'cut offs,' previously
explained, are mainly the cause of both. In the first instance, the
river forces its way by a new route, and joins the river below; this
necessarily detaches a certain amount of land from the main shore. As
for the second, after the river has taken this new route, its main
abrasive action follows with it. The water in the old channel becomes
comparatively quiet, sediment is rapidly deposited, and in course of
time the old bed loses its identity, or becomes a beautiful lake,
numerous instances of which occur between the Ohio and the Red Rivers.

As the Mississippi reaches the neighborhood of the Balize the east banks
slope to the sea level very rapidly, running off toward the end at a
declination of three feet to a mile; after which, the land is soon lost
in wet sea marsh, covered by tides. On the west side the land declines
more slowly, and in some places is deeply wooded. The chenieres begin
where the declination ends, and the great reservoirs of the coast, the
lakes and lagoons, begin.

The incessant changes in the channel and filling up of the Mississippi
preclude the possibility of a table of distances mathematically
accurate, yet we have taken from accepted authorities the number of
miles from the Gulf to the principal points along its banks. The table
may be of service to the many that are daily tending to the great Father
of Rivers, and those at home may be able to form, perhaps, a better
estimate of the immense length of the stream, by having before them
these figures:

TABLE _of Distances and Altitudes on the Mississippi_.