ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, January 27, 1871. SIR: I most respectfully submit herewith the report on the examination of "Ouachita River" from Rockport to the State line between Arkansas and Louisiana.

Ouachita River has its head-waters in the Ouachita Mountains, a range running parallel with the northern boundary-line of Polk County, in the State of Arkansas.

The general course of the river through the mountainous counties of Polk, Montgomery, and Hot Springs, is eastward. At Rockport, the river, entering the bottom-lands, takes a southerly direction to the mouth of Little Missouri River, and then turns its course southeast to the State line between Arkansas and Louisiana, leaving the former State in township 20 south, range 9 west.

The general character of the river is marked by several changes in its features, so that in giving a description of the river it is proper to divide the whole course into three sections.

The first section embraces the part from Rockport to Arkadelphia, a distance of fortyfive miles.

The second will treat of the river from Arkadelphia to Camden, seventy-six miles. The third section reaches from Camden to the State line, one hundred and thirty miles.

The examination of the first section was made at a very low stage of water; so low, in fact, that I found it difficult to get over the bars and shoals with a small skiff drawing not more than 3 inches of water.

During the progress of the work on the second section the river rose 3 feet, which proved rather an advantage, as I had the opportunity of noting all the obstructions at that stage of water, the stage when small steamboats begin to run between Arkadelphia and Camden.

l'efore commencing the examination of the third section, the rainy season had set in and the river rose from 15 to 20 feet. Accordingly the observations were confined mostly to notes of the general character of the river, and of such obstructions to navigation as the stage of the water permitted. These notes were supplemented by information from the best pilots with whom I had the opportunity of consulting while I was at Camden. The term " eddy," which will appear frequently in the subsequent notes, stands for "pool," and is in that sense universally used in that section of the country.

SECTION 1.-From Rockport to Arkadelphia, distance forty-five miles.

Ouachita River leaves the mountainous region of Hot Springs County at Rockport, and enters the bottom-lands, which spread out mostly on the left shore. The bottomlands on the right shore are not more than two miles in width, and are bordered by the high uplands, which frequently strike the river-bank and accompany the same for several thousand feet. These bluffs are from forty to sixty feet high, and mostly covered with high pines. The uplands in the immediate neighborhood of the river consist either of sandy alluvial ground, or of red sandy and sometimes clay soil, while the bottom-lands have the deep alluvial soil, which, when it can be cultivated, is very productive.

On the left shore the upland terrace strikes the river in this section in but one place, about three miles above Arkadelphia. The bluff is from 40 to 50 feet high, and follows the shore for a distance of half a mile; is very steep, and consists of red clay underlaid by sandstone, which crops out half way up the bank.

The river in the upper two-thirds of this section is rapid, and partakes of the character of a mountain stream, as is shown by the devastation to which the adjacent country is subject at the time of high water, when the river overflows the banks, carrying trees, logs, and even rocks with it, depositing them in the middle of the bottom-lands, woods, and cane-brakes.

The course of the river exhibits a continual succession of shoals and eddies. From Rockport to the head of Watermelon Island-a distance of twenty miles by waterthere are not less than fifteen shoals, and from Watermelon Island to Arkadelphia the number of shoal places is about seventeen. On these shoals the river is, on an average, 200 feet wide, and divided into from three to six water-courses, running between immense gravel bars. These channels have barely water enough to admit of the passage

of a small skiff.

The channel-width on these shoals at low water varies between 10 and 50 feet, and the depth from 2 to 15 inches. The great amount of drift-wood in the bottom, and extensive bars, consisting of large heavy gravel, and from 10 to 15 feet above low water, indicate that during high water the current must be very rapid, consequently a great mass of drift-wood is lodged at the upper end of Island Chutes, while the bends are full of logs and snags, so that it requires skill to steer a skiff at low water between the logs and snags, the channel being generally narrow and winding.

The most prominent shoals are as follows. The locations are by distance from Rockport:

Lower Ford Shoals, one and a half miles below Rockport, 900 feet long; channel

width, 30 feet; depth, 12 inches; fall on the shoals, 1.50 feet. The channel changes from the left to the right shore, there being a large gravel bar extending along the left shore 500 feet wide and a mile long.

At the next shoals, three miles below Rockport, the river is divided into three channels, the middle one discharging the most water. This chute, running between gravel bars, is from 25 to 50 feet wide, 7 inches deep, and 700 feet long.

Cow Ford Shoals, 4 miles below Rockport, the channel changes from the right to the left shore, with a large gravel bar along the right bank. The channel is, in low water, at the narrowest portion, 55 feet wide, with 6 inches of water. The shoals are each 500 feet long with 1.5 feet fall.

The next three shoal places, situated respectively at four and a half, six, and seven miles from Rockport, bear the same character. The river is at these places divided into from four to five distinct channels, separated from each other by large gravel bars. None of these channels have more than five inches of water, by an average width of from 25 to 40 feet.

Upper Fishtrap Shoals, 9 miles below Rockport, are 450 feet long, with 1.5 feet fall. The shoals extend over the whole width of the river, which is 300 feet wide between banks. There is no marked channel, the depth of water varying between 3 and 12 inches.

The next two shoals are ten and a half and eleven miles below Rockport. The river is cut up into several chutes from 20 to 40 feet wide, with from 4 to 0 inches depth of water. The length of these shoals is 600 and 700 feet, having a fall of 1.75.

Robinson's Defeat, twelve miles below Rockport. Large gravel bar extends for a mile in length along the left shore. The channel, which runs close to the right bank, varies from 12 to 40 feet in width, and is from 12 to 18 inches deep; the bottom is full of snags and logs, making the passage very narrow. The current is very strong. The bar is shoal throughout its entire length, with intermediate spaces of from 200 to 500 feet, where the depth reaches from 2 to 3 feet.

Lower Fishtrap Shoals, sixteen and a half miles below Rockport. The river is here divided into two arms, forming an island between them one mile long and 500 to 1,000 feet wide, the lower portion of it partly cultivated and known as "Strabling's field." The channel runs between the right shore and a large gravel bar for 1,000 feet, and crosses over to the left shore, forming a similar bar on the right shore extending over a mile in length. The channel is from 30 to 50 feet wide, with 9 inches of water. Watermelon Island Chute, 20 miles from Rockport. Watermelon Island, below Morrison's Landing, embraces an area of 1,100 acres, most of which is cultivated and very productive. The left chute, forming the main channel, is a mile and a half long and from 200 to 250 feet wide between banks. The channel width varies between 50 and 75 feet, having at the shoalest places 18 inches depth. From the foot of Watermelon Island to the upper end of Bearhead Island, a distance of 1,000 feet, there are two shoal places 200 feet long and 300 feet apart, extending over the whole width of the river and covered by from 12 to 18 inches of water.

Bearhead Island.—The right chute is the high-water channel, as can be seen by a large drift-pile which closes the entrance to this chute. The left chute, one mile long, is from 50 to 80 feet wide between banks. A large gravel bar follows the island-shore and contracts the stream at low water to from 15 to 30 feet in width, with hardly depth enough to pass over the upper portion of it with a skiff; thence around the bend to the foot of the island the depth varies between 2 and 4 feet, having a channelwidth of from 25 to 40 feet Snags are found in abundance along the left shore and serve to narrow the channel. Both shores are also covered with leaning timber, whose branches meet above.

After passing an eddy two miles in length, 400 to 500 feet wide, and from 4 to 6 feet deep, the following shoals are found at its foot:

Devil's Race-Track, 1,000 feet long, channel-width 60 feet, depth from 12 to 18 inches. The river makes at this place a very sharp, double turn, and the bends are full of snags and drift-wood. The bars which are around the "Points" are 15 feet above low water, and consist of very large gravel. The fall on these shoals is 3.25 feet. These shoals are followed by five shoal places commonly called “flats,” and extending over the whole width of the river. They are from 200 to 300 feet long, and from 10 to 15 inches deep. De Roche Island, one inile above the mouth of De Roche Creek. The left chute is from 50 to 80 feet wide between banks, almost entirely blocked by drift-wood, logs, and snags. The right chute, one mile long, is from 80 to 100 feet wide between banks. The river changes its direction five times, passing from one shore to the other, and is divided into several channels, which are, in many places, not wider than 25 feet, with from 3 to 12 inches of water. The spaces between these channels consist of gravel bars, partly covered with small willow-brush.

From the foot of the island, passing the mouth of the Roche Creek, to half a mile above the mouth of Caddo Creek, there is an eddy 300 to 400 feet wide, and from 2 to 5 feet deep. On the shoals below this eddy the river is divided into three channels

running between gravel bars, the main channel being 60 feet wide, with 12 inches of water.

One mile below the mouth of Caddo Creek, a flat shoal, 2,000 feet long, extending over the whole width of the river, has from 6 to 18 inches depth.

Three miles above Arkadelphia, at the foot of Osborn Eddy, several flat, marshy islands, covered with willows and birch, extend half a mile in length between the left shore and the main channel. The channel on these shoals, called Ösborn's Shoals, is at the upper end 100 and at the lower end 200 feet wide, and from 18 to 24 inches deep.

CHARACTER OF THE BANKS AND RIVER-BED.

The bottom of the river-bed consists of gravel throughout this portion of the river. The bed is covered with boulders, many of which are very large.

The banks along the bottom lands are from 15 to 25 feet high, firm, and not subject to caving. Where the high uplands strike the river, the lowest strata of the bluffs expose rocky ledges, which crop out frequently and form, at times, part of the riverbed. The upper layers are generally composed of a stiff red or blue clay, mixed with sand. Overhanging trees are found all along the river, and snags and sunken logs abound on all the shoals.

The bottom-lands are subject to overflow in high water, from 2 to 10 feet, and are mostly covered with heavy timber and dense cane-brakes. There are but few tracts of cleared land in the immediate neighborhood of the river. The high uplands, consisting principally of sandy soil, are not very productive, and mostly covered with pine forests.

HIGH WATER.

High water is caused only by rains in the mountain region; such a rise, properly called a freshet, appears very suddenly, the stream sometimes rising within twelve hours from 15 to 20 feet, and lowering as many feet in twenty-four hours after the rain ceases. These freskets have a very rapid current, as indicated by the large gravel bars, and by the immense amount of drift-wood which is deposited in the woods. The current, in such cases, cuts across the necks of the crooked bends, leaving the riverbed entirely; the result is frequent changes of the channel after high water, the flood carrying away gravel bars and depositing the same in other places.

The rapidity of the current at high water is such that boats, otherwise adapted for the navigation of the stream, could not stem it; the small extent to which the country is cultivated and the general scarcity of water in the stream do not justify any expend iture of money in attempting to improve this section; consequently, no estimate has been made for this portion.

SECTION II.-Arkadelphia to Camden, distance seventy-six miles.

Arkadelphia is the head of steamboat navigation, which is carried on during the winter season between this port and Camden. Light draught-boats run generally from December to the month of June. The river, having fairly entered the bottom-lands, changes its character, and although there are still many shoals, yet these places do not cover as much space as in the section above, there being, on an average, a wider channel and more water.

The following table will exhibit the most prominent shoals, giving the names, the location, dimensions, and propositions for improving each of them by the method of excavating and deepening the shallowest places in the channel.

Below the mouth of Little Missouri River-which empties into Ouachita River fortythree miles below Arkadelphia, and is the largest tributary on the right shore-the shoals diminish in number; the pools between them are long, and on an average 500 feet wide, and at low water 5 feet deep and over.

Shoals between Arkadelphia and the mouth of the Little Missouri River.

Excavating and deepening the channel on the shoals would be of great benefit to the navigation, but it is not absolutely necessary to do this.

The greatest and most dangerous obstruction to the navigation consists of leaning timber and the great number of logs and snags lying in the channel. The aggregate number of trees in this is 12,475, two-thirds of which belong to the species of willow and birch, and are less than one foot in diameter. The snags and logs are 1,053 in number.

CHARACTER OF THE ADJOINING COUNTRY.

The river follows, between the two ports, a very winding course, and flows almost entirely through bottom lands. The high uplands, touching the river at Arkadelphia, recede from the stream, and strike the same again for the first time, thirty-two miles below that city, at Little Hill, a bluff about half a mile long.

Tate's Bluff, forty-three miles below, is the next high ground. These bluffs are 200 feet high, and strike southeast for two miles, where they touch the river again at a single point, turning then southwest, and after meeting with the river shore once more, at Boiling Pot Rock, recede from the river entirely, and are not in sight again until two miles above Camden.

The air line from Tate's Bluff to Boiling Pot is four miles, while the distance by river is not quite ten miles.

On the left shore only one place is above overflow, viz, Manchester Landing, eleven miles below Arkadelphia; the bluff which runs alongside the shore for a mile is about 40 feet high. Although the bottom lands are submerged during the high-water season, yet there are a great many farms on both banks of the river, situated mainly on places where the lands are a few feet above the overflow of the regular high-water season. These farms are only inundated at extreme high water, which generally recedes into the proper river bed within two or three weeks. They are cultivated mostly in cotton, and partly in corn, and produce over one bale of cotton and 70 to 80 bushels of corn to the acre. The rest of the bottom land is covered with dense cane-brakes and valuable timber. The extreme low places are cypress swamps intersected by lagoons and bayous. The banks are from 20 to 25 feet above low water; the lowest strata are generally clay, and not subject to caving.

The bottom of the river bed is gravel on the shoals, and mud in the pools. The high-water season sets in generally about the 1st of December. Frequent rains in this latitude serve to maintain a fair stage of water during the winter season, until the spring freshets make their appearance and overflow the bottom lands. Low-water stage takes place by the middle of June, gradually getting down to the lowest stage in August and September, at which stage it remains until the rainy season sets in again, with the exception of a temporary rise of a few feet caused by rain-storms, which, however, disappear very quickly. Hence, navigation can be carried on only during the winter

season.

From the nature and peculiar character of the stream it is evident that the manner of improvement will be different from what it is in the large western rivers, but as it will be similar to that of the lower river I will submit a plan for doing the work at the end of this report.

SECTION III.-Camden to the State line; distance, one hundred and thirty miles.

From Camden to the State line, between Arkansas and Louisiana, the river flows almost entirely through bottom lands which are subject to overflow.

The course of the river is very crooked. The width between banks changes frequently. From Camden to Marie Saline Landing, it varies from 300 to 500 feet, and in many places narrows to 250 feet between banks; so that the larger boats find it difficult to turn around. Thence to the State line, the average width between banks is 600 feet; at a medium stage of water there is plenty of room in the pools for boats to run; at low water the channel width varies between 100 and 200 feet. There are comparatively few shoals in this section of the river. They are as follows: