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AMtlrn.TUKAI. UKPOItT.
[TiSTO, 871, 872
So near Uu» Ihmc.1!. one miuht :-uppose that the sca-water had pome parkin e IVeetinu this' i !.-<•; 1 hit llie (’oast Survey soundings show the existence < i'	el.i\ Mratum at the sea-bottom, all
along this co.i-l :	-ics.	11**' miner;.1 water oi‘ Mrs. Mcllae’s well
is verv tliil'i n	i.. u|>o^i 1 iun ii■ >:n sea-watcr. It is |}'>t impossi-
l*le, tlicr.;!')r(‘, ii V: artesian well/, moiU likrlv yielding mineral water, might	1 blainc-l on tho sea-coast at tho proper (not very
great) depth.
Tho clui.u'Ur ef ih.' .-.tiuta lenders boring cH-^y, ami it might bo well worth Uic while (.1	: f our entciprlsing dispensers cf t.ca-t*horc nir to refugees
from tho i.iiiis, (o tiy the experiment. Artesian fountain-! would certainly be a great addition l'i I!,•; !■'.auty m:d attractions of the rural palaces of Pascagoula, Mii»ift>ippi l’.r ' I'hii.'tian, and Kay St. Louis.
870.	The clmrni ter •/’ tlie mineral watem of the Coast is generally that of taltnc chrilylvtfci, with more cr less sulphuretted hydrogen, and some carbonic acid. The iron exists in them, partly in tho state of sulphate (copperas), partly as the carbonate. Chloride of Sodium (common salt), Cl^Jorido of Magnesium, ird Chloride of Calcium. are present in all that I have examined ; to thcso is somotinies added (» r., in Mrs. Mrltae’s well-water, and that of a mineral spring on the land of Mr. Alfred Lewi?, West Pascagoula), Sulphate of Soda, or Glau-b'rlswdt. IVw are entiieiy free from sulphuretted hydrogen; some (o. <7, one of tho Ocean flings waters), arc strong sulphur waters. In many cases, ho wot e i, the la..te of decaying vegetables matter (the smell of the “black mud ”), predominates over :.ll the rest. Such U the ca^e with the waters dripping from thogmj and black clay blull's containg cypress trunks, on Wolf River (1249), and, aocordi:;~ to repi.it from others, in the wells dug near tho Bayou Bornarel, in Mr. Hell's i.e‘.jdil>ui huoil, nii to ten miles above lland.sboro' (t -18.)
871.	Tm: Im.ands.—Ship Island 13 the only one of the islands of Mississippi Sound, which I have personally visited ; it is said, however, to be a pretty fair specimen of all the rest, with the exception of the Chandeleur Group, which are said to be different in character, and quite productive.
At tho East End of Ship Island, wo find a bar of whito sand, about a mile and a half long by wide, little elevated abovo tide-water; storm tides always sweep over it, and hence it is strewn with sea-shells. It bears no vegetation save a fow tufts of grass, and small patches of a species of Stone-crop. Further west, the ground becomes more elevated, and the “ Pitch pine" appoars, with an undergrowth of Dwnrf Palmetto (Sabal minimus'), stunted Live Oak, and three or four kinds of undershrubs, not found in bloom. The Prickly l’ear, also, is ocoasionally seen. Such is the growth on the ridges, which rise 10 to 25 foot above tide level ; between these extend small marshes, mostly covered with the lioucd-rush ; their water is very brackish. The soil is scarcely anything but a whito sand, without any coherence, fcavo where it is matted with roots.
At tho West End, near the fort and light-house, vegetation is somewhat better ; the grass (thie liy I\micum and y'a.</>a/M»i) sufficient to sustain a number of cows, tho milk of which is of excellent quality. With the aid of manure, the Iight-houso keeper lias raised good vegetables in his garden ; w hich is a great ■leal more than those white sand ridges promise at first sight. Water is readily obtained in the level f-pots by digging a few feet, or sinking a barrel; it is so nearly fresh, oven within CO yards of tho l>each, that those accustomed to its use, do not seem to notice the slight brackishness which is apparent to the visitor.—The pines avcraw G"> to 45 feet in height, and arc about 0 inchos in thickness.
K7‘2. Such appears to be, with little variation, the character of
•J873, 874j	Gfl.F ANP SII111 1HI.AXI) KAII. ROAD.
387
all the islands of this group. Cat Island is probably the best in point of fertility, as there is a plantation on it—respecting which
I could not, however, learn any particulars. The “-------------------Spit ", a
white sand-hill on Cat Island, sixty feet in hight, is a land mark, and the only one, on this coast.
The shape and extent of the sandbars connected with theso islands, is, of course, somewhat variable, since storm-tides will sometimes sweep away some and enlarge others ; yet the channels for navigation arc on the whole subject lo but little change.
It is asserted by pilots that the narrow neck of land which connects the East End of Ship Island with the West End, has within their recollection been broken through by tho so:), so as to allow small ci\ilt»to piss through the break; but has subsequently been closed up again.
874. In consequence of the irregular configuration of the sea-bottom (as exhibited in the sonnding3 of tho Coast Survey charts) and the diversions caused by the islands, the tides of j\lissis=3ippi Sound arc very perplexing to tho novice. The increase of depth from tho shore ►•caward, is so gradual, that wharves of great length are nccessary to accomodate the .shippiii'jr.
Thus the wharf at Or. Tegar len's Hitjl, Mississippi City, is about two-thirdt of a mile in length, and thttof Ilarnes’ Hotel nearly three-quarters ; which allows of sulH'.-ient depth of water for the New Oi leans Steamers, even at low tide. Hundreds of smaller wharves have l>-e:i built, all along tho coast, in front of private residences.
The extensive oyster banks of Mississippi Sound are well anel widely known and apoieeiated ; the bivalve is of superior quality. The great number ami variety of eve.ellent. Iish found in the 3am(J waters, will scarcely fail to satisfy the most fastidious taste.
871. 1 hav-Q boon somewhat minute in the description of the general character of the Coast region, beean-e it is less known to the majority of the people of Mississippi, Hum any other p.ir’ion of the State in consequence, no doubt, of the chllicnlry of intercommunication at present existing. Although abstractly aware of the (act that Mississippi possesses a >harc in tin: chores and watera of the Gulf, it has not, until recently, enieied to any great extent into the calculations of the people at large. Ytt the most casual observer, so soon as personal inspect ion shall have made bim conscious of the reality, cannot lail to be impres-ed with tho immense importance of opening a highway through which Mississippi may communicate, over her own soil, with a poi t:on of her territory which possesses both a harbor comnnn-u:a:e with tho magnitude of her commercial interests, and a climate ne>t onlj healthful anel pleasant, but capable, moreover, oi' producing many