1811.

EARTHQUAKE OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.

849

"The atmosphere was filled with -a thick vapor or gas, to which the light imparted a purple tinge, altogether different in appear ance from the autumnal haze of Indian summer, or that of smoke. From the temporary check to the current, hy the heaving up of the bottom, the sinking of the banks and sandbars into the bed of the stream, the river rose in a few minutes five or six feet; and, impatient of the restraint, again rushed forward with redoubled impetuosity, hurrying along the boats, now set loose by the horror-struck boatmen, as in less danger on the water than at the shore, where the banks threatened every moment to destroy them by the falling earth, or carry them down in the vortices of the sinking masses.

"Many boats were overwhelmed in this manner, and their crews perished with them. It required the utmost exertions of the men to keep the boat, of which my informant w7as the owner, in the middle of the river, as far from the shores, sandbars and islands as they could. Numerous boats wrecked on the snags and old trees thrown up from the bottom of the Mississippi, where they had quietly rested for ages, while others were sunk or stranded on the sandbars and islands. At New Madrid several boats w-ere carried by the reflux of the current into a small stream that puts into the river just above the towm, and left on the ground by the returning 'water a considerable distance from the Mississippi.

" A man who belonged to one of the company boats, was left for several hours on the upright trunk of an old snag iu the middle of the river, against which his boat was wrecked and sunk. It stood with the roots a few feet above the water, and to these he contrived to attach himself, while every fresh shock threw the agitated waves against him, and kept gradually settling the tree deeper into the mud at the bottom, bringing him nearer and nearer to the deep muddy waters, which, to his terrified imagination, seemed desirous of swallowing him up. While hanging here, calling with piteous shouts for aid, several boats passed by without being able to relieve him, until finally a skiff was well manned, rowed a short distance above him, and dropped down stream close to the snag, from wdiich he tumbled into the boat as she floated by.

" The scenes which occurred for several days, during the repeated shocks, were horrible. The most destructive ones took place in the-beginning, although they were repeated for many weeks, becoming lighter and lighter, until they died away in slight vibrations, like the jarring of steam in an immense boiler. The sulphurated gases that were discharged during the shocks, tainted the air with