TS&O-:'55°; R T II A M % RTC A.
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•StXavvre:
'Th-c nqble river of ^t. Lawrence is,yniyerfally »regarded as the. fpcond
ia,- North. America,, being -not id's than §$ |pll@s« wide at its moutl|fc,.ap-d
navigable for.&ips of the li^e as far as Quebec, a.diftance of, 40.0 miles'
from the fea. Near jQuehcedt is. five miles in; breadth?and -atMontreal
from two to four.7 Though thefe be fome rapids» yet this grand river
may be cqnfidered as navigable to K.ingfton, and the lake Ontario,
743 miles fro^lB^fot. Ït4 s difficult tQ'defipe the precifefourceiof 'the
St. Lawrence^ thoughthat name be generally confined to the river iffuing
from lake-Ontario-; while the Niagara, which flows from the -lake Erie,
_fe regarded as aidiftimai ftream. As in'Afiatic geography.the Angara
is traced from the fea of Baikal, witho-utaffumingthe Sdinga a's a further
fource, fo by analogy the St. Lawrence cannot : bë traced Mybnd
the lake Ontario, nor can geographical lifage permit it! to be traced to*ttie
lake Superior 5 and far lefs, with Mr. Welch to rhe lake Winlpic^ which,
according to the beft maps, has mo communication whatever with vfh at
has been above called the fea of Canada, confiding of.the joint-lkkes |su-
pèri®rMicbigan,rhnd Huron. The :lSngth of th^'St.1 Ekur£hc|?'@ky
therefore -be abouryoo B. miles, the breadth being the 'grand fferac-
teriftic. ■
' The other chief rivers in North America are the'Safka{hawtei,phe
„Athabafca, the Unjfga ór Mackenzie*driver,* thé Rio BriVo,'Whiirfi;frbws
into the .gulf of Mexico; that of Albany, which'jUm’s Hudlbn-s Bay:
Nelfon river and Churchill river are alfo confiderablè ftteams^which
flow into that fea ; but their geography is far from being-perfect. The
broadeft and the moft rapid. LePage du Pratz, in his hrltoryaf Louifiana, (i. 202. of the Eng-
.lifh abridgment) fays that the French word Mt([tflippi is a contra&ion of the fayage term MeaB-
Chajfipi, which literally denotes the ancientjPather of Rivers. Mr. Hutchins oblerves ( Imlay, jSy)
that the natives ftfllcall it Mefchafipi ; and the fame author adds, p. 405, that the Miffouri “ af-
. fords a more extenfive navigation, and is a longer, broader, 'and deeper river than the Mifliffippi-”
The journey of a great favage traveller to the fources of the M'ffojiri jin.d to the great weftern
-river, Du Pratz, ii. 125, -feems to correfpond .with recent difcoveries, and the Otter nation probably
{till exifts. The free navigation of the.Mifliilippi was fecured to the American:.States by
.the treaty with Spain 1795. The inundations begin in Marph and fubiide in July. It appears
Jfrom Mr. Mackenzie’s Voyages 1802, 4to. p. xxxvi. that fome livers .of N. America have, lank
•piore than ten feet beneath their ancient level.
7 JVeld, ii.5J$.8vp. * See.the article.Nstive Tribes for. further details.
P O R 'T I f ' A i fT R T C A. •
'ilme óbffervation touft;-bêfeXt,ehdV#To.'the Oregal*, 'or great river of thp
wefr, whichj''don'fine'd ‘hyVa- eh^in; ofTnMuntrifas^'mihs S., t$Ht.hy a
wcftern,' bendmt' join|<6h6?Badifiê.ht,rBmÈ; th ^ « p v e |y^ fittiiêt-wcftera
regipnsipf Ameriea may difclofê' .%ej.%0nfid,érable ftreams. im that
g'Uarterf
The mountains of Nprth.AmerijJa aj^fato from, riyh'%g the I
fife Jfouth. « Somt, megu-lar ra>gess .pervade (the- IflhmUs' hut it^ems
mere* theory- to -confider them* asyieqniaectbd with, thk-jAqdes^as,. (théy
have neither..the.fame chamber- npr,4 be&ie>n. In thefe ,are -
alfo #verai,vojca«roe& 5,tbAit-the natural« hifiqry < of Wdffi «America js
extrèmely vim,pe^fé;öti->'t ‘ ,
The-»centre of »North .America Teems to -préfenti|.ipaft'!^ftilê^p]’ai4i, | I
watered, by the IViflqurï and its .auxiliary 'ftrea'ms. 'Oh.ithC.i^é^pfar
a| difcpvered„ ^ range..,offmountains^proc^eds,from NewINfScog SrS T
,.an^ jpins the ridg| cajjed jhe Stoney ï^düntains I
whicl^,&x||n^ ,to,-jhe vicinityjof the Ar£tiq ocean. Thé Stoney Moun-
tains are faid to be about 3300, feet above-their b ^ I
he ^qoto, feet^abot e the fea. In general,' naviga- 1
t® ^ ° haye fifitecTthis coalt, fit Icqms to,relemble Norway,
beM a wi^e alpine country, qffWat eifent; fwKilc‘ the flióre,' like“that ''
of Norway, prefénts innumèrkhlé creeks"and iflandsf
fromhhc;filtöney Mountains1 and Mackenzie’s • river' to the’
foureg of the ©regam and - Beerrng’s ftrait, *'i|ïyyèfhapS^‘d#tain 'thé
higheft mountains -in North'America, Wh art' boföpjfetfeiy él^l^edi-by tbe ?
eyfe 'of-feience. On the nortkr ejift^ GFrêénlandj^L^Uóf,^ and the >
countries around Hudfon Sea, prefbnt rirregi^r^aÏÏfes "eoveredywith.
eternal-fnowj .with, black-naked peaks!, fdpmBlmg in. .'form.the *lp?res
of.the alps,-.; .but. of-far, inferior elevation, mountains genér^allM-Je-
credfiiig in height towards the;piöfe.A 1
* A high ridge paffes Sr W, from the-eo^ft of Labrador*« t l i è W e ' e ^ t # # ^ ^ dividing
the nvers that fall mto St. Lawrence and HudfonJa Bay. The Stoney mountains run oamHel
itih the Pacific from -Cook’ s entry, ta the"river Col«mbia| Whfcre tiev^are more ‘ v-l. ‘‘
waft and.left elevated. The focks wellef Wihnipio are.foft m k k té , ton She
great lakea^are- between the.Jimeftone and gmnit*,„nges.,, M acfaliel s
M
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Mountains,