748

The inside of the bend is generally covered with a dense growth of willows leaning toward the stream. They increase very much the difficulty of passing the sharp bends. There are a few rocky shoals located on the map, but the river being only navigable at high-water they are not material obstacles at that stage.

The time of high river is very irregular, but from January to May may be taken as an average for the navigable season.

The snags and other obstructions to the navigation were too numerous to be located on the map. In the following columns are given the number of obstructions in two sections of the river:

IMPROVEMENTS.

The river being unfit for low-water navigation, it will only be necessary to remove the obstructions above low-water, so as to make the navigation safe with a rise of six feet of water, this being the least rise with which the steamboats can go up the river, owing to occasional falls in the water, by which the boats are sometimes left on shoals for weeks.

The limited business of the country would not justify the heavy expense of removing the snags and logs from the bottom of the river; therefore I would suggest that dangerous snags and logs above low-water should be cut up into short pieces, which would then be carried away by the next freshet, or sink to the bottom out of the way.

The overhanging willows should all be cut down and chopped into pieces small enough to float without obstructing the river. This improvement cannot be expected to be a permanent one, because a new growth of willows will start on the same place, and would have to be cut down after some years. Large overhanging trees, generally on the outside of the bends of the river, should be treated in the same way.

All of this timber, if properly cut up, will float down the river to some place where it overflows, and there drift into the bottom-lands, where the trees and brush will retain it.

It is plain that these improvements should be made gradually; that is to say, to divide the work into four or five years, for if all the timber were to be cut in one year it might seriously injure the navigation of the river.

A great many large trees are standing close to the edge of the banks, and their slow vibration from the action of the winds, combined with the wearing of the banks by the current, causes large cavings, forming serious obstructions. Such trees should be dealt with differently from what was done some years ago by parties under a contract with the State of Texas for improving the river.

In this case all such trees were girdled; some of them are standing yet and are a serious danger to the navigation; steamboats and flat-boats are often driven by the current against the banks in proximity to such dead trees, which have been known to fall on the decks, endangering the lives of passengers and crews, besides causing great damage.

In my opinion the better way of dealing with such trees would be to cut them down, leaving a stump tall enough to keep the trunk horizontal, in case the stump should afterward be washed into the river, and thus prevent its making a sawyer, but in most cases the force of the winds acting only on the top of the tree would be done away with, and the roots would strengthen the banks and thus prevent some of the cavings.

In case any work should be done on the river, special attention should be given to the places marked on the map as cut-offs, which are channels of recent formation and could generally be made good passages by cutting trees and taking out stumps which obstruct them.

Several other places where two bends of the river come close together, and where the water at high stage runs across the banks, could be made good cut-offs by making a judicious choice in the cutting of the trees. The water then would soon wash its way through.

These cut-offs, besides shortening the distance, would generally avoid bad bends of the river.

According to the statements of the people living on the river, the previous improve

L

ments attempted by the State have proved to be a failure. This was owing to the incompetency of the men in charge of the work and to the contract system. It seems to me, also, that the money, if any should be appropriated, could be spent more properly under the superintendence of an experienced foreman.

SURVEY OF THE NECHES RIVER.

This survey was commenced at the junction of the Angelina River, being there with my party after the completion of the survey of the latter river.

I could not, as my order stipulated, get up to Boonville; the water being high, the current was too swift to go up by the river. The communication by land was also too difficult, the bottom-lands being overflowed; and moreover, there being no settlements within reach, where I could secure transportation, I concluded to work down the river, calculating to take the first steamboat going to Boonville, but none went up until the survey of the Lower Neches was completed, including the bar at the mouth."

At the time of the survey some parts of the river were overflowed, having both banks from 2 to 6 feet under water. This made the work very difficult, and in order to prosecute it at that stage of water I was obliged to build scaffolding in the trees on the banks in order to set up the instruments.

The delay resulting from this, and the loss of time in going to the upper river and waiting for help, protracted the work longer than was anticipated.

34, 086

Stopped at Yellow Bluft 2 hours for repairs.

Passed Bearman's Bluff.

Richardson's Bluff; observed United States magnetic variation, 8° 19′.

Arrived at Weiss Bluff.

750

Number of days on the river, 70.

Number of days actually at work, 39.

Distance from Boonville to the mouth, 195.56 miles.

Average number of miles run each working-day, 5.01 miles.
Number of days at the mouth, 33.

Number of days actually at work, 22.

GENERAL DIVISION OF THE NECHES RIVER.

The river may naturally be divided into two parts; the lower part, navigable at lowwater stage, and the upper part, only navigable at high-water.

The part navigable at low-water extends up to Weiss Bluff, according to the statement of the people living on the river, and of the captain of the steamboat Graham, which run up there the whole of last summer. It is also said that the tide is felt at this point.

A portion of the upper part of the river from Boonville to the Angelina Junction is nearly in the same condition as the Angelina River, with the exception that the bends are not quite so abrupt; the banks are generally higher and sometimes rocky.

At the time of the survey, the water being high. I could notice but one place where the rocks in the channel of the river obstruct the navigation at that stage. At a place located on the map are two points of rock running out from the right bank to the center of the channel. They are at water-surface when it is about 9 feet above low-water, and being on the outside of a bend they endanger the navigation at that place very much. According to some statements this is the only dangerous rocky place.

The other portion of the upper river, from the junction to the Weiss Bluff, is in better condition with regard to the overhanging timber; the captains of the steamboats which, at high water, run regularly to Bevilport, cut more or less trees every year. The stream is generally wider, with the exception of some places where the banks are low; the water overflows the bottom and there is but little current in the channel, which is the cause of its being narrow and very crooked.

The river is especially in that condition for the ten or twelve miles immediately above Weiss Bluff.

The portion of the lower river between Weiss Bluff and Bunn's Bluff is comparatively in good condition, there being but few logs and snags, and a very small number of overhanging trees; at low-water stage a few sand-bars reduce the width of the channel so as to make it difficult for boats drawing three feet of water to get by them.

At the time of the survey, the water being high, I could not notice them, but, according to the statement of the captain of the steamboat Graham, they are formed by snags, and if they were removed from the bottom the sand would soon wash away. The width of this portion of the stream ranges between 200 and 300 feet at high-water stage.

The portion of the river between Bunn's Bluff and the mouth is in good condition. There are but very few snags, logs, and overhanging trees. A few miles below Beaumout the timber gives out, and the river winds its way through a low marshy country to Sabine Lake. This is favorable for sailing-vessels, which run regularly to Beaumont and to the surrounding saw-mills. Their principal trade is lumber, to which the above country furnishes an abundant supply of several varieties of timber, mentioned in the description of the upper river.

Schooners run up as far as Bunn's Bluff and Concord, on Pine Island Bayou, a tributary of the Neches.

The width of this portion of the stream ranges between 400 and 900 feet.

The yearly freshets have little effect on the height of the water in this part. The average may be estimated at five feet, and the rise and fall, owing to the tides, are the most noticeable variations in the stage of the water.

The villages located immediately on the stream are of no material importance, Beaumont being the only business center worthy of mention.

The water being high during the survey of the whole river, some logs and snags may have escaped notice. This was especially unfavorable for the portion between Weiss Bluff and Bunn's Bluff.

This part being susceptible of low-water navigation, it would have been important to ascertain the character of the obstructions to low-water navigation.

The number of obstructions to navigation in the several parts of the river are as follows:

The portion of the upper river between Boonville and the junction being in the same condition as the Angelina River, everything stated for the latter can be applied to this part, and the work should be done in the same way.

The rock mentioned in the previous description will have to be removed.

The portion of the upper river between the junction and Weiss Bluff should be treated in the same way as the Angelina River. There is a rock at a place located on the map which will have to be removed to low-water surface.

The portion of the lower river between Weiss Bluff and Buun's Bluff being susceptible of low-water navigation, special attention should be given to this part in removing from the bottom of the channel all logs and snags which obstruct it and cause the formation of sand-bars as before stated.

With regard to the other portion of the lower river between Bunn's Bluff and Sabine Lake, nothing special is to be mentioned; cutting down some trees and removing a few snags and logs are the only things to be done.