Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/116

18 drifted timber begins, choaking up the river, at intermediate places, which are frequently several leagues apart, for one hundred miles. The stream is extremely crooked, and the low lands, which are rich, extend to a great width on each side. Although the river is so obstructed, boats of any size can ascend in a bayau most of the year. This is called bayau Channo, leading into lake Biftino, at the distance of about three miles from where it leaves the river. This lake is about sixty miles in length, and is nearly parallel with the river. A communication with the river is formed at the upper end, by a bayau, called Daichet. This passage is much shorter than to follow the meanders of the river. From this bayau to the mountains the river is free of obstructions.

Nearly eighty miles above bayau Daichet is the Caddo old town. The lands for this distance are rich, consisting of high bottom, which is widely extended from the river. The Caddo old towns consist of a number of villages built on a large prairie, in the midst of which is a lake of about five miles in circumference, without any stream running in, or out of it. The water is so perfectly limpid, and the bottom so clear, that the fish may be distinctly seen, at the depth of fifteen or twenty feet. On this prairie, and not far from the lake, is an eminence to which the Indians pay great veneration. They have a tradition, that the Great Spirit, having determined