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into two branches by the Island of Orleans, which is twenty-five miles in length, and six in breadth, the river on each side being about two miles wide. Beyond this island it gradually expands into the spacious Bay and Gulf of St. Lawrence, and 370 miles below Orleans, and 743 from lake Ontario, falls into the Atlantic Ocean, by a mouth ninety miles in breadth.

Columbia river, which falls into the Pacific Ocean, was first discovered by M'Kenzie, the enterprising British traveller, in north latitude 54 deg. 40 min. west longitude from London 120 deg. 25 min. from which point he descended it about 150 miles; when leaving it, he crossed over to the ocean. From the place where M Kenzie left it, the course is unknown till we approach Clark's river, where it is a stream of great magnitude. About seventy miles below Clarke's River, after receiving some tributary streams, the Columbia forms a junction with Lewis's River, a stream composed of numerous branches rising in the rocky mountains, where, like Clarke's River, they interlock with the head waters of the Missouri. Below Lewis's River, the Columbia makes a bend to the south and east, and then passes through the mountains; about 300 miles below are the great falls; twenty miles below the falls the river makes a considerable bend, and passes through another chain of mountains, below which, about sixty miles, it receives from the south-east the large and important river, called the Multnomah. This river is supposed to rise near the head waters of the Rio del Norte. The waters of the Columbia are clear, and abound with fish of every variety.

Rio del Norte.-This river rises among the mountains between north lat. 44 deg. and 42 deg. and west long. 33 deg. and 34 deg. Its head waters interlock with those of the Missouri, Columbia, La Plate, Arkansas, Multnomah, and Francisco; and the waters of the Rio Colorado of the west, which fall into the Gulf of California, approach near it. For 300 miles from its source it forms the south-west boundary of Louisiana. About 100 miles below this is Santa Fé, one of the most

interesting of the Spanish settlements. Below Santa Fé the river runs about 450 miles in a direction east of south, without receiving any material augmentation, when the Rio Conchos falls into it from the south-west. At a short distance from hence it makes a remarkable bend of about 100 miles, and receives the Rio Puerco from the north. Atthe Rio Puerco, the Rio del Norte again becomes the south-west boundary of Louisiana. Below this it runs an easterly course of between fifty and sixty miles, when it receives a considerable stream from the north, and from hence, without receiving any material addition, it holds a course nearly south-east, about 400 miles, to the Gulf of Mexico.

Having thus described the rivers forming the outskirts, as it were, of the United States' Territory, it now remains to take a view of the Missouri and Mississippi, with their numerous branches which water the interior.

The Missouri, when traced to its highest source, is found a little above the 44 deg. of north latitude, and near the 35 deg. of west longitude, 3000 miles from the Mississippi; it is here enclosed by very lofty mountains. Tracing the river downward from this point, we find that it bends considerably to the northward, the great falls being in north lat. 47 deg. 3 min. distant from the mouth of the river 2575 miles. From the source to these falls it receives eight considerable rivers. Here the Missouri descends 365 feet in the course of eighteen miles, the falls being partly perpendicular pitches and partly rapids; the highest pitch is eighty-seven feet, the next 47, and the next 26: other inferior descents make up the quantity above mentioned. Below the falls, in a course of about 300 miles, it receives fourteen rivers, some of them of considerable magnitude. In north lat. 47 deg. 21 min. it forms a junction with another river nearly as large as itself, and it is here 372 yards broad. In lat. 47 deg. 2270 miles from its outlet, it is clear and beautiful, and 300 yards wide. About 380 miles further down, it is 527 yards wide; its current deep, rapid, and full of sand bars. From thence to the

end of its course the navigation is very good, the current being deep and rapid, and the water muddy. Its breadth various, from 300 to 800 yards; and at its junction with the Mississippi, a few miles above St. Louis, in lat. 38 deg. 45 min. it is about 700 yards broad.

Mississippi River.-This noble river, which has been emphatically termed the Nile of America, though it is, in fact, much larger than that river, rises in Turtle Lake, north lat. 47 deg. 47 min. and after receiving a number of tributary streams, reaches the falls of St. Anthony in lat. 44 deg. north, where it is little more than 100 yards wide. These falls are sixteen feet perpendicular, with a rapid below of fifty-eight feet. At a short distance from the falls, St. Peter's river forms a junction with the Mississippi from the west, and a little below, the river St. Croix falls in from the east. About fifteen miles further down, the river spreads out into a beautiful sheet of water called Lake Pepin; at the lower end of which it receives the waters of Chippeway river. Ninety miles below the Chippeway, and in north lat. 42 deg. it is joined by the Quisconsin. This river is highly important, as it approaches within two miles of Fox river, which falls into Lake Michigan. In lat. 39 deg. the Mississippi is joined by the Illinois river from the east, and twelve miles below the Missouri from the west; being the main branch of the river we are describing, and by far the longest, having been navigated nearly 3000 miles. The waters above this are clear, but the Missouri is a muddy stream, and imparts its colour to the Mississippi. In lat. 37 deg. and about 190 miles below the mouth of the Missouri, the beautiful Ohio joins the Mississippi, of which it is the great eastern branch, as the Missouri is the western. About 350 miles below the Ohio, the White river falls in from the westward. Fourteen miles below the White river, the Arkansas pours in from the westward also. This is a very large and important river, having its sources in the mountains above Santa Fé. Below the Arkansas river, 190 miles, the Yazoo falls in from the eastward. The Black River likewise flows in the

same direction, and joins the Mississippi sixty-three miles by water, but only thirty in a direct line by land, below the Yazoo. The river now flows through a most interesting country, which will become the seat of great and important settlements, having Natchez, fifty-six miles from the Yazoo, for a central point, and about the same distance further down is Loftus Heights and Fort Adams. A short distance from this we pass the 31st degree of north lat. which forms the boundary between the states of Louisiana and Mississippi; after which the river makes a remarkable bend to the westward, and receives the waters of Red River eighteen miles below Fort Adams. The junction of this river with the Mississippi is very singular. It would appear that they had been originally separate and distinct waters; the Mississippi passing to the sea by New Orleans, and the Red River through the river Atchafalaya. But in one of these numerous bends which the Mississippi has formed, it appears to have broken into the bed of the Red River, and they have made a temporary junction, but again receded, and resumed their original course towards the ocean. As the Mississippi receives no streams of importance after passing the Atchafalaya, which is indeed a continuation of Red River, it may be considered as having reached its greatest magnitude; and we may view it in its progress to the Gulf of Mexico, as being an average breadth of 800 yards; the depth about 120 feet, and the mean volocity one mile an hour. Thus it flows on with majestic grandeur, and 240 miles below the Atchafalaya reaches New Orleans, where it makes a considerable bend to the south and east. Sixteen miles below the city the river makes another extraordinary bend, called the English Turn,*

* In the early settlement of Louisiana by the French, the English government sent out a small squadron for the purpose of exploring the Mississippi. The squadron succeeded in finding the mouth, and ascending the river to the bend now in question. A French officer met the ships, and had the address to persuade the English commander that the stream that he was then upon was not the great Canadian River, as it was then called, but another of far less importance; and that the object of his search was farther westward. In consequence of this information, the British officer quitted the Mississippi, and went in search of it to the west; then finally abandoned the enterprize, and returned to Europe.

after passing which, the next place deserving notice is Fort St. Philip, or Placquemines, distant fifty-four miles. From hence to the mouth of the river the distance is thirty-two miles. Some scattered clumps of trees are found, but the general surface of the little iand that rises above the water is a mere swamp. The aspect of the country is lifeless and dreary, and even the low grass-constructed cabins of the fishermen contribute to the melancholy appearance of the scene. The whole length of this mighty river is upwards of 2,600 miles, and its communication with the sea is by six outlets; namely, the west, south-west, south, main, or north-east north, and Pass à la Loutre. The eastern extremity of the waters of this river is the head waters of the Allegany, which are situated in Pennsylvania, about 190 miles north-west of Philadelphia.-The western extremity is the head waters of Jefferson's river, about 540 miles from the Pacific ocean: the distance between these two extremities, in a direct line, is 1,700 miles.-The northern extremity is a branch of Missouri, in north lat. 50 deg. 42 min. 550 miles west by north of the Lake of the Woods. The southern extremity is the south pass into the Gulf of Mexico; north latitude 29 deg. 100 miles below New Orleans: the distance between these two extremities, in a direct line, is 1,680 miles.-Thus the river and its branches spread over nearly fifteen hundred thousand square miles, viz.

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