urrent up over the bar whenever there is a rise of 5 feet above extreme low-water in the Atchafalaya. The cross-section at low-water on the bar varies hourly with the washing away of sand in any particular place. The narrowest place at the time of the survey was 20 feet, with a depth of 2 feet, but the shoalest place was but 4 inches deep. All low-water freight passes this bar from the small steamers above to the larger ones below by very light, flat barges; but there are many times when it is perfectly dry on the sand, and the whole upper discharge goes by one of the little bayous above, which were, at the time of the survey, so filled as not to run. Then freight is rolled over the bar. The transfer by either means is much more expensive than the entire freight from Washington to New Orleans with good navigation. The position of this bar varies with the relative height of the two bayous, and it has been at the mouth of the Courtableau, though seldom, much above its present position. When there is low-water in the Atchafalaya and a freshet comes down the Courtableau, it sometimes sweeps the whole bar out into the Atchafalaya, and it passes away only to be replaced at the next succeeding high-river from the Atchafalaya. From the lower end of Little Devil Bar to the Atchafalaya is but three-quarters of a mile, and the depth at low-water is from 12 to 14 feet. This channel is 60 feet in width, but is bordered with standing trees and stumps. The red deposit on which these trees grew has lately slid in, with its growth of trees, as far as the old blue-clay bank, and the present surface of the portion slid in is from 3 feet above to 10 feet below the low-water line. The blue clay is seen on both sides, 7 feet above low-water, with 5 to 6 feet of red soil above its surface on the left bank and 6 or 7 feet on the right bank. The entire fall across the bar at the time of the survey did not exceed 3 feet, and was probably much less, but no levels were taken. The fall from Barry's Landing to the head of the bar was not enough to give a discharge, at the time of the survey, of more than 60 cubic feet per second, which was the amount passing over the bar. The width below Little Devil Bar between the surface of the blue-clay banks is 270 to 300 feet. Were the stumps and trees on the slides pulled out, the red soil of thə slides would probably be soon washed out. There are two small bayous on this three-quarters of a mile, both of which have high banks and are cut down 4 or 5 feet into the blue clay. The left bank of the Atchafalaya, at the mouth of the Courtableau, has blue clay for 7 feet above low-water, with 7 or 8 feet of Red River deposit above it. The cross-section of the Courtableau was taken just below the bar and at the mouth, and also that of the Atchafalaya just below. The area at low-water of the first of these cross-sections was 2,175 square feet, and at the level of the top of the bank it was 6,000 square feet; but the high-water mark was some feet above the top of the bank. At the mouth of the Courtableau the low-water cross-section had an area of 2,160 square feet, almost, exactly the same as that taken half a mile above; but at highwater here the bayou has but one bank, joining the Atchafalaya. The low cross-section of the Atchafalaya was 5,160 square feet, and the current at the place was at least 1 foot per second. At this time all of Red River and a stream from the Mississippi River, through the dredged channel, which gave at the time a discharge of about 360 cubic feet per second, ran down the Atchafalaya. Were the banks filled, the cross section of the Atchafalaya here would be increased 7,800 square feet, or to 12,960 square feet, but it rises in high-water seasons far above its banks, and Bayou Alabama had left the Atchafalaya above the Courtableau, and has a cross-section nearly as large as the Atchafalaya. There was, in the flood of 1874, little, if any, land above water between the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi rivers. The first obstacle to navigation in the Courtablean is Little Devil Bar, and it has been removed by natural causes two or three times already. By making works which will give the same conditions as those operating when the bar was washed out by these natural causes I think we can depend on reaching the same result. By a dam at each of the bayous on the south side, which would keep all the water of the Courtableau from running off to the southward, with a rise of less than 10 feet, and a levee where the height of the bank was below that, and so protecting their lower slope that water could safely run over whenever a flood should rise above that, we would not materially decrease the total amount of water discharge over the south bank in floods like that of 1874, and would find that, at any time, as the water fell below the top of the leveed south bank, we would again have exactly the conditions necessary for natural removal of whatever sand had been deposited at the previous high-river season. Although, with a flood of sufficient height to raise the water very much above these dams, the current would, as at present, run from the Atchafalaya up the Courtableau for a distance, greater or less, exactly proportioned to the relative discharge of the two streams, and a large amount of sand would, as at present, be deposited in the Courtableau; yet, as soon as the height fell below the 10 feet, the entire discharge of the Courtableau would make a current sufficient to clear its own channel. It would not be desirable, were it possible, to build any such levee as would materially decrease the discharge of the valley directly down its slope across the Courtableau in floods, as it would but force more water on to the already deeply-covered region eastward of the Atchafalaya. Before beginning any work it would be necessary to make a careful detailed survey of each bayou for a mile below its head, running level lines to determine the location of dams and levees. No levels were taken on this survey, and so short was the time at command that no work was done except that absolutely necessary. The blue clay foundation can be depended on as it is, for there is no danger from its washing, but a good brush or plank apron will be necessary wherever any current very much greater than that at present found runs over the red soil. Much of this red-soil surface is now well protected by its growth of brush and trees. Any improvement of this stream, to be of much benefit to the people of the valley above Washington, will require locks, and will be a slack-water navigation. Natural conditions could not well be more favorable than they are. The banks are everywhere perfect from the point where the lowest lock of the series must be placed up to the month of the Lamourie, which is but a few miles from Alexandria. This channel, in the greatest floods, is never full, and, except the Lamourie and Huffpower, no bayons would require closing. Had the channel been dug for a canal it could hardly have been more uniform in cross-section. There is sufficient water for needs of lockage at lowest stages, and if such dams are built and gates for locks made as can be removed when the water rises so high as to make them no longer useful, and replaced at will, as the stream falls, the slight amount of sediment deposited at low-water would be swept out at high-water. In great floods much of the height above Washington is due to backwater. The lower one of this series of locks will need to be put at a point but few miles below Barry's Landing, as far up the bayou as there is sure to be sufficient water for navigation when depending entirely on backwater from the Atchafalaya at the lowest stage of that stream; this is found at the first place where the bank of blue clay is exposed on the seventeenth mile. The discharge at the time of the survey was probably as little as it often is at extreme low river, and it was just above Washington 180 feet per second; several large bayous and 25 miles of river, with so large a cross-section that there was about the same current in it as would be the case in slackwater navigation, intervened between this point and Little Devil Bar, which might be considered a lock, and how much, if any, water escaped at those bayous is not known, no current being perceptible in either bayous or lower river, yet the discharge over Little Devil Bar was 60 cubic feet per second. There had been at the time a long drought. The conditions are almost exactly the same in the Courtableau, Bœuf, De Glaise, and in the Teche. So little is the difference that the same plan of improvement will answer for all of them. The cost of the necessary dams and levees on the south bank of the Courtableau would probably come within $20,000, and perhaps much within it, but an exact estimate cannot be made from data procured. Cost of clearing the banks and removing snags above Washington will be about $200 per mile for the 90 miles, and if the locks and slack-water improvements are constructed the banks could be cleared for this amount. The same is necessary as well if navigation is to be improved for the highwater season alone. The 28 miles below Washington can be cleared of snags and overhanging trees for $50 per mile. This will make the total estimates for the Bouf and Courtableau Clearing 90 miles above Washington, at $200 Clearing 28 miles below Washington, at $50 Four locks and needle-dams, at $15,000.. Total....... $18,000 00 1,400 00 20,000 00 60,000 00 9,940 00 109,340 00 This estimate is but $926.61 per mile, and, considering the probable amount of commerce per year, would be but a very low rate per ton. The bayou above Washington runs through some of the finest alluvial land in the State. There is also a large and productive country to the westward of it, the products of which would find their way down what would, with this improvement, be practically a canal, penetrating nearly a hundred miles into a rich country which has heretofore had but a very uncertain and expensive outlet. I have no data for the amount of commerce at present, but was told that an average of about three steamers per week passed between New Orleans and Washington each way through the year, and that were navigation uninterrupted its amount would be greatly increased. Opening the navigation above Washington would be in fact more than doubling the area to be benefited by the entire system of improvements. A chart of the bayou has been made on a scale of you, giving topography, soundings, and obstructions. Yours, respectfully, GENERAL: I have the honor to submit herewith report of Assistant Engineer H. S. Douglas, of an examination of Bayou De Glaise, Louisiana, provided for in act of Congress approved March 3, 1879. Tracings of chart drawn to a scale of will be forwarded in a separate package. Recommendations of Mr. Douglas, as to plan of improvement, are given in his report and are concurred in. His estimates are also approved, the total amount of which, viz, $9,540, can be expended to advantage on the work during the ensuing fiscal year. The commercial statistics furnished by Mr. Douglas show the work to be of very considerable importance. The work is not susceptible of permanent completion. It is located in the collection-district of New Orleans. The nearest light-house is at the entrance to Atchafalaya Bay. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, SIR: In obedience to instructions received from you, I left New Orleans October 21, 1879, for the purpose of making an examination of Bayou De Glaise, Louisiana, and have the honor to submit the following reports and accompanying charts: My instructions were to run a transit and stadia line, with soundings, on the Bayou De Glaise, commencing at Simmsport, where the bayou debouches into the Atchafalaya River, and terminating at the town of Evergreen. This latter place is not, however, on De Glaise, but on the Bayou Rouge, which is practically a continuation of De Glaise. These two bayous are formed by the waters of Red River, during high water, flowing down through Bayous Lamourie, Choctaw, and du Lac into Lake Pearl, and from thence into Bayou De Glaise, one, if not the only one, of its outlets. After flowing down de Glaise 24 miles, the water arrives at what is known as the "Junction," or the point where Bayou Rouge leaves De Glaise; the water flowing either way from this point, one portion finding its way into the Atchafalaya by Bayou De Glaise, the other by Bayou Rouge. The distance by both bayous from Simmsport to Evergreen is 634 miles, Bayou De Glaise 48 miles, and Bayou Rouge 15 miles. The average width of the former is 250 feet, that of the latter 175 feet. The general cross-section is like that of an artificial cut or canal. At the time of making the survey there had been a prolonged drought in the immediate country, and also very low water in the Mississippi and Red rivers, in consequence of which the bayou was almost dry, the only water being a narrow stream or pool in the center, supplied from springs. This condition of affairs was Lighly favorable for the examination, as it enabled obstructions to be seen and noted that otherwise might have escaped observation. In lieu of soundings, which were unnecessary, the pools preserving an even depth of 1 foot, cross-sections were made at tervals. These latter on the Bayou De Glaise show approximately the slope of the hed of the stream, as the general country, as well as the banks of the bayou, being all of alluvial formation, is nearly on a dead level. As is the case on all Louisiana leyous, the immediate banks are the highest land, the slope being from them toward the cypress swamps. The width of the cultivated land-that is, the distance between the bayou and the swamp-averages about one-half mile on the north bank and 1 mile on the south. It is a noticeable peculiarity that the south bank of all bayous has the widest strip of land to be cultivated, proving that the largest part of material during high water is deposited on the south bank. The country bordering both bayous is thickly settled and all under cultivation, the principal crops raised being sugar, cotton, and corn. The town of Evergreen is situated at the junction of Bayous Rouge and Huffpower. This latter connects the Bouf and Rouge at high-water. Bayou Rouge continues on past Evergreen to the south, and finally meets the Atchafalaya at Churchville, where it has been closed by a damn, so as to obtain slackwater navigation in the lower bayon. The obstructions noted on the chart in the first and second miles of Bayou Rouge consist of 29 standing trees, 1 fallen tree, and 19 logs. From the third to the sixth mile the bayou makes a long bend, the distance across the point being about 1,800 feet. This bend is very badly obstructed by willows and other trees, which have grown up in the bed of the stream. At some past date this bend Lust have been cleaned out, as for a distance of 4,000 feet the fifth mile is filled with old stumps cut off to an even height of 2 feet above the bottom of the bayou. In this bend there are also numerous logs or fallen trees, besides two shoals or bars on the sixth mile; one 1,300 and the other 2.000 feet in length, and both from 1 to 2 feet above the general level of the bottom. On the seventh, eighth, and ninth miles, the obstructions are 11 standing trees, 16 logs, 1 fallen tree, and three bars, one on each mile, respectively 500, 1,400, and 200 feet in length, and from 1 to 2 feet above the general level of the bottom of the bayou. The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth miles are around Coco's Bend. For 8,300 feet the bayon is filled with standing trees, principally willows. Two fallen trees and about 2 logs would have to be removed. On the thirteenth and fourteenth miles, a shoal 2.500 feet long and from 1 to 3 feet above the general level of the bottom is to be found; also 6 logs and 15 standing trees. In the fifteenth mile is the town of Cottonport. The bed of the bayou was perfectly dry from here to what is known as the "junction" at the time of the survey. On the sixteenth mile there are six standing trees, and the last 1,000 feet is filled with the same. This also brings us to the "Junction" of Bayous Rouge and De Glaise. The bed of the Ronge at the junction" is from 4 to 6 feet above that of De Glaise. From the seventeenth to the fiftieth mile Bayou De Glaise is almost clear. The obstructions to be found are all located on the chart, and consist of 12 fallen trees and 171 logs lying on the bottom. On the twenty-fifth mile is the town of Moreauville, situated at the upper end of the cut-off road across the big bend; the town at the lower end is known as Hamburg. The distance by the bayou between the two towns is 30 miles, and by the cut-off road but 34. On the fifty-first mile will be found one of the three bad obstructions which exist on the bayou. It is a collection of logs on the bottom in the shape of a sunken raft. This seriously obstructs navigation, as it requires 2 feet more water to carry a boat over this raft than would ordinarily be required for the navigation of the bayou in that Vicinity. One fallen tree would have to be removed. Two fallen trees and one log are all the obstructions on the fifty-second and fiftythird miles. In the fifty-fourth mile is Mill Bayou, the mouth of which has been closed by an automatic gate, which only allows the water to flow into and not out from de Glaise. The obstructions are a sunken flatboat and 1,200 running feet to be cleared of brush and standing trees. The fifty-fifth mile is clear. The town of Hamburg is situated about the middle of this mile. The fifty-sixth mile has the north bank lined with brush and standing trees. On the fifty-sixth mile is the wreck of a sunken boat, which, however, is not bad, as it is partially broken up; also brush on both banks and one fallen tree. Fifty-seventh me has brush on both banks to clear off. Fifty-eighth mile has 2,500 feet lined with brush, one fallen tree, and two logs. On the sixtieth mile there is another raft, similar to that on the fifty-first mile, and to which the same remarks will apply, except as to length, this one being 500 feet in length; also 3,200 feet to clear of brush. On the sxty-first mile is the last of the sunken rafts, this one being 100 feet long and similar to the others. One fallen tree and two logs to be removed; trees and brush to clear off. The sixty-second, sixty-third, and sixty-fourth miles of the bayou are obstructed by brush and trees, growing into the channel; there being one particularly bad place at the beginning of the sixty-second mile, just below Yellow Bayou, where there is an island. Steamboat men complain of this place as being hard to pass on account of projecting trees. Seven logs and one fallen tree have to be removed in this distance. Sixty-three miles and 4,500 feet bring us to the mouth of Bayou De Glaise, at the Atchafalaya River. The rafts on the fifty-first, sixtieth, and sixty-first miles were placed there during the war to prevent gunboats going up the bayou. It will not be necessary to clear the entire bed of the stream from brush, but only where it encroaches upon the channel. The best time to remove the obstruction would be between the months of July and February at low-water. ESTIMATE FOR IMPROVING BAYOU ROUGE FROM EVERGREEN TO THE JUNCTION, 154 MILES. Clearing channels from standing trees, stumps, logs, and fallen trees, 15 miles, at $200 per mile.... Add 20 per cent. for contingencies. Total $3,150 00 630 00 3,780 00 No estimate is made for removing the bars in Bayou Rouge, as the benefit obtained would scarcely justify the expense. They are only obstructions on the first stage of a rising or the last of a falling bayou. No boat has been in the Bayou Rouge since 1874, and in that year only a little beyond Cottonport. None have ever, so far as I could learn, gone to Evergreen. ESTIMATE FOR IMPROVING BAYOU DE GLAISE FROM THE JUNCTION TO THE ATCHAFALAYA RIVER, 48 MILES. Clearing brush off banks where it encroaches on channel, removing sunken logs and fallen trees, 48 miles, at $100 per mile........... Add 20 per cent. for contingencies....... Total...... There is a very valuable commerce to be benefited, as the bayou traverses a thicklysettled and productive country. All the land on both banks is under cultivation, the average crop being: 20,000 bales cotton, valued at. 1,653 hogsheads sugar, valued at 2,532 barrels molasses, valued at. $750,000 00 140,000 00 30,000 00 920,000 00 The miscellaneous country produce, in the way of corn, rice, stock, poultry, eggs, together with a considerable quantity of cypress lumber, will raise the value of the annual products to over $1,000,000. The value of return freights will also be considerable, as very nearly all supplies are brought from New Orleans. During low water in the bayou all this business has to be transacted by wagons, the charges for hauling cotton to Simmsport, the only shipping point, averaging $1 per bale, and is proportionate upon other articles. This tax is entirely avoided when boats come into the bayou, as they carry freight from the planter's landing to New Orleans for the same rate that it is carried from Simmsport. The removal of the obstructions mentioned is not, however, the improvement which the inhabitants most desire, for their removal will only improve the navigation for three or four months in the year-the months of March, April, May, and June-or during high water in the Mississippi and Red rivers. What is most desired is some improvement that will give them constant navigation. This can only be accomplished by means of slack water, and Bayou De Glaise is singularly favored in its position in regard to such an improvement. Lake Pearl, its source, is 3 miles long by 2 miles wide, and from 4 to 6 feet deep, surrounded by a cypress swamp, by the overflow of which its reservoir capacity could be greatly increased without injury to the neighboring country. The fall from the Junction, the highest point to which it would be desirable to improve the bayou, to the Atchafalaya is, approximately, 22 feet, and the natural cross-section is the one that gives a minimum of evaporative surface, so that there would be but little loss from this cause. The data obtained from a mere examination is not, however, sufficient to predicate an |