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.
The Kennebec also rises in the highlands, near the sources of the Androscoggin, and flows nearly south to the sea; falls and rapids render the navigation difficult above the tide at Augusta, from which place it is navigable for vessels of one hundred tons, and from Hallowell and Gardiner for ships to the sea. The country watered by the Kennebec generally consists of excellent land; it is one of the best grazing districts in New England; and there are upon the banks of the river a number of flourishing and handsome towns.
The Merrimack rises in New Hampshire, and has two principal branches: one of them being the outlet of lake Winnipiseogee. The north or longer branch is called the Pemigewasset, and has its source near the Notch of the White Mountains. At its junction with the outlet of the lake this stream takes the name of Merrimack, and flows south seventy-eight miles to Chelmsford, where it enters Massachusetts, through which it runs east to the sea. Its whole course is about two hundred miles. There are numerous falls in the New Hampshire portion. Though not equal to the Connecticut for fine scenery, the Merrimack is a noble and beautiful stream. Its waters are pure and salubrious, and on its borders are many flourishing towns. Its name in the Indian language signifies a sturgeon. Its width varies from fifty to one hundred and twenty rods; it receives many minor streams and rivers, which form the outlet of several small lakes. Its obstructions have been partly remedied by locks at different places, and there is a good navigation for vessels of two hundred tons to Haverhill. Two chain bridges cross the river at Newburyport, and Salisbury.
The Piscataqua has its rise and its whole course in New Hampshire. It is formed by the junction of several small streams in a wide and deep bed; the longest of these streams is Salmon Fall river, which forms part of the boundary between New Hampshire and Maine.
The Connecticut is the largest river of the New England States. It rises beyond the high-lands which separate the states of Vermont and New Hampshire from Lower Canada. It has been surveyed to the head spring of its northern branch, about twenty-five miles beyond the forty-fifth degree of latitude, from which to its mouth it flows upwards of three hundred miles through a well inhabited country. Its navigation is much interrupted by falls. It receives several rivers, as the Chicapee, Deerfield, Miller’s, and Farmington. At Hartford it meets the tide, whence it passes on in a winding course, till it falls into Long Island sound, between Saybrook and Lyme. This river is navigable for sloops, as far as Hartford, fifty miles distant from its mouth; and the produce of the country, for two hundred miles above it, is brought thither in flat-bottomed boats, which are so light us to be portable in carts.
The Hudson, or the North River, is formed by the confluence of the Hudson proper and the Mohawk, which unite below Waterford, ten miles above Albany. The Hudson takes its rise in the forty-fourth degree of north latitude, from the foot of the mountains which separate the waters of the St. Lawrence from those of Lake Champlain, and the Mohawk in the table-land surrounding Oneida lake. The Mohawk river rises to the north-east of Oneida lake, about eight miles from Sable Water, a stream of Lake Ontario. It runs first twenty miles south to Rome; then south-east one hundred and thirty-four miles; and, after receiving many tributary streams in its course, falls into the Hudson by three mouths. It is a large stream of water; and is now navigable for boats from Schenectady to Rome, one hundred and four miles distant. From Albany to Schenectady is a portage of sixteen miles, on account of the falls and rapids, which render the river unnavigable. These falls and rapids, denominated the Cohoes, are three miles from the junction of the Mohawk with the Hudson. The river is one thousand feet wide at these falls; the rock over which the stream descends is forty feet perpendicular height; and the whole height of the cataract, including the descent above, is seventy feet. Properly speaking, the North river is no other than a narrow gulf of the sea, entering inland at New York, and penetrating across the double chain of the Alleghany Mountains, as far as the confluence of the above mentioned streams, one hundred and seventy miles from the sea. This is what distinguishes the Hudson from all other rivers in the United States. In no other does the tide ascend beyond the first range; but in the North river, it crosses the first chain at West Point, sixty miles north of New York; and the second at Catskill, after having burst the beds of granite which opposed its passage, and cut them into a thousand different shapes. Hence the deep valley of
