That Delta. Five thousand square miles, without any hill save the bumps of dirt the Indians made to stand on when the river over-flowed .
- William Faulkner, Sanctuary

"That Delta" is not in fact a delta at all; technically it's an alluvial flood plain, a couple of hundred miles short of the mouth of the Mississippi. The name stems from its resemblance to the fertile delta of the Nile (which also began at a city named Memphis ); the extravagant meanderings of the river on its way down to Vicksburg deposit enough rich topsoil to make this one of the world's finest cotton-producing regions.

The Delta is a land of scorching sun, parched earth, flooding creeks and thickets of bone-dry evergreens, best seen at dawn or dusk, when the glassy-smooth Mississippi waters reflect the sun and the foliage along the banks. Just containing the sheer volume of water is a never-ending battle, with giant levees struggling to protect the farmland. Though the main thoroughfare south is the legendary Hwy-61 , exploring is best done on the back roads, which are characterized by huge, silent empty views interrupted only by roadside shacks, tiny churches and the sound of the blues.