Swallow up

Actually the job was almost the despair of those early pioneers, for the surface was a "quaking morass," the surrounding district was undrained, and no sooner than soil was deposited than it was swallowed up, with no apparent effect, for the sponginess of the land remained unaltered.

Yes, there were hundreds of companies in existence, but a form of natural selection was taking place. Weaker companies were swallowed up by larger ones.