six hundred miles, five hundred of which it is navigable for batteaux of fourteen or fifteen tons burthen.
The Muskingum rises in the north-eastern part of Ohio, and flows southerly into the Ohio river. It is two hundred miles in length, and is navigable for boats one hundred miles. It is connected by a canal with Lake Erie. The Sciota rises in the western part, and flows southerly into the Ohio. It is about two hundred miles long, and is navigable one hundred and thirty. There are rich and beautiful prairies on the river, and its valley is wide and fertile. A canal passes along this valley, and extends north-easterly to Lake Erie. The Licking and Kentucky rivers take their rise in the Cumberland Mountains, and flow north-westerly into the Ohio. They are each about two hundred miles in length. The latter is navigable for one hundred and fifty miles, and has a width of one hundred and fifty yards at its mouth. The current is rapid, and the shores are high. For a great part of its course, it flows between perpendicular banks of limestone. The voyager passing down this stream experiences an indescribable sensation on looking upwards to the sky from a deep chasm hemmed in by lofty parapets. Among the other tributaries of the Ohio are the Great and Little Miami, Saline,11 Green river, Big Sandy, Kanhawa.
The Illinois rises in the north-eastern parts of the state of that name, not more than thirty-five miles from the south-western extremity of Lake Michigan, and interlocking by a morass with the river Chicago, which empties into that lake. Its two main head-branches are Plein and Kankakee. Thirty miles from the junction of these rivers, enters Fox river from the north. Between this and the Vermilion, enter two or three inconsiderable rivers. The Vermilion is a considerable stream, which enters the Illinois from the south, two hundred and sixty miles above the Mississippi. Not far below this river, and two hundred and ten miles above the Mississippi, commences Peoria lake, which is no more than an enlargement of the river, two miles wide on an average, and twenty miles in length. Such is the depth and regularity of the bottom, that it has no perceptible current whatever. It is a beautiful sheet of water, with romantic shores, generally bounded by prairies; and no waters in the world furnish finer sport for the angler.
On the north side of the Illinois, the rivers that enter on that shore have their courses, for the most part, in mountainous bluffs, which often approach near the river. For a great distance above its mouth, the river is almost as straight as a canal; has in summer scarcely a perceptible current, and the waters, though transparent, have a marshy taste to a degree to be almost unfit for use. The river is wide and deep; and, for the greater part of its width, is filled with aquatic weeds, to such an extent, that no person could swim among them. Only a few yards width, in the centre of the stream, is free from them. It enters the Mississippi through a deep forest, by a mouth four hundred yards wide. Perhaps no river of the western country has so fine a boatable navigation, for such a great distance; or waters a richer and more luxuriant tract of country.
Rock River is one of the most clear and beautiful tributaries of the Mississippi. It has its source beyond the northern limits of Illinois, and in a ridge of hills that separates between the waters of the Mississippi and those of Lake Michigan. On its waters are extensive and rich lead mines. Its general course is south-west, and it enters the Mississippi, not far above the commencement of the military bounty lands. Opposite the mouth of this river, in the Mississippi, is the beautiful island, called from the name of the river, and on which is a military station of the United States.
Kaskaskia River rises in the interior of Illinois, nearly interlocking with the waters of Lake Michigan. It has a course, in a south-west direction, of between two and three hundred miles, for the greater part of which course, in high stages of water, it is boatable. It runs through a fine and settled country, and empties into the Mississippi a few miles below the town of the same name.
The Ouisconsin is the largest river of the North-West territory that flows into the Mississippi. It rises in the northern interior of the country, and interlocks with the Montreal of Lake Superior. It has a course of between three and four hundred miles, has a shallow and rapid current, which is, however, navigable by boats in good stages of the water, and is eight hundred yards wide at its mouth. There is a portage of only half a mile between this and Fox river. It is over a level prairie, across which, from river to river, there is a water communication for periogues in high stages of the water. Fox River has a course of two hundred and sixty miles. It runs through Winnebago lake. It has a fine country on its banks, with a salubrious climate. Chippeway is a considerable river of the Mississippi, and enters it just below Lake Pepin. It is half a mile wide at its mouth, and has communications by a short portage with Lake Superior. The other chief rivers of this territory, tributary to the ‘father of waters,’ are St. Croix, Rum, St. Francis, and Savanna.
Among the smaller tributaries to the Mississippi are the Obian, Forked Deer, Big Hatchet, and Wolf rivers, all of which flow into it from Tennessee; and the Yazoo and Big Black, from the state of Mississippi. The last named rivers are only navigable for boats.
Beside the rivers which flow into the Mississippi, and are thus emptied into the Gulf of Mexico, there are a few small streams which disembogue immediately into the gulf. The Alabama River rises in the mountainous parts of Georgia, in two head-streams named the Coosa and Tallapoosa, and running south-westerly through the centre of the state of Alabama, unites with the Tombeckbee; both the streams then take the name of Mobile, and flowing south for a short distance fall into Mobile Bay. The Tombeckbee is formed of two main branches rising in the mountains of the Mississippi. It has a boat navigation in the lower part of its course. The Alabama has a boat navigation for one hundred and fifty miles from the bay. Pearl River rises near the centre of the state of Mississippi. A number of branches unite to form the main river, which is afterwards increased by the Chuncka and other streams. It passes through a pleasant and fertile country, and derives much importance from being one of the chief points of communication between the state through which it flows and the Gulf of Mexico. The Pascagoula rises in latitude thirty three degrees, and after travelling for two hundred and fifty miles a tract of pine country, broadens at its mouth into an open bay, on which, at a town of its own name, is a resort for the inhabitants of New Orleans during the sickly months. Most of the rivers of Florida which flow into the gulf have their sources in Georgia. The most important of these is the Appalachicola. The topography of this country is as yet very imperfect, and the very numerous streams which intersect it have borne a variety of names. Most of them are barred at their mouth with sand.
II. RIVERS WHICH FLOW INTO THE ATLANTIC.
The River St. Croix forms a part of the eastern boundary of Maine, and is little navigable except by rafts; most of it consists of a chain of small lakes. From Calais to the sea, thirty miles, its navigation is unobstructed.
The River Penobscot is the largest in the state of Maine. It rises in the highlands separating Maine from Lower Canada. Between the junction of its two upper branches is Moosehead lake, about forty miles long, and fifteen wide. From the Forks, as they are called, the Penobscot Indians pass to Canada, up either branch, principally the west, the source of which is said to be not more than twenty miles from the waters which fall into the St. Lawrence. The whole navigable course of the river for sloops, is forty-six miles from the head of the bay, to near the head of the side; and from the Forks to the sea is one hundred and thirty-four miles. This river has very numerous branches, navigable by rafts and abounding in mill sites.
The Saco rises in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, enters Maine at Fryeburg, and flows in an irregular course south-east to the sea; it is one hundred and sixty miles long, and has numerous falls which afford excellent mill sites and manufacturing stations.
The Androscoggin rises in Umbagog lake, among the highlands which form the north-west boundary of Maine, and descending through a succession of lakes enters New Hampshire at Errol; it re-enters Maine at Gilead, and flows east and south till it joins the Kennebec at Merrymeeting bay. Its length is one hundred and forty miles; the whole course is broken by rapids and falls, which prevent the transportation of any thing except timber and logs.
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