[ 174 ] [FEB. 



U ; now RIVERS f 



jr&pr 



RIVERS ! ! How many delightful recollections ; how many fine asso- 

 ciations ; how many splendid visions are called up by this word ! The 

 glory and riches of empires are linked with it, as well as all that is 

 beautiful or picturesque in nature ; but it is my intention at present to 

 take up the subject in a matter-of-fact way, and to write a plain expla- 

 natory paper not a rhapsodj^. There is no word perhaps to which so 

 great a latitude of meaning is allowed as this word river. The garden 

 of an acre, and the garden of a rood, have common features : they are 

 both gardens ; only the one is a little, the other a big garden. The 

 mountain of four thousand, and the mountain of twelve thousand feet, 

 differ in sublimity ; but they have a thousand points of resemblance 

 they are both called mountains, and nobody sees any thing absurd in the 

 designation. But where shall we find any similitude between the mighty 

 flood of the Amazons, and the sparkling stream that bounds our gar- 

 den, or winds through our lawn ? Yet, they are both called rivers ; 

 the term is applied indiscriminately to the wide waters of the new 

 world, and to the trouting streams of our English counties to the vast 

 expanse that embraces the rising and the setting of the sun, and to the 

 insignificant current that may be diverted to turn a mill-wheel. There 

 is evidently nothing in common with these, excepting that they are both 

 running water ; and yet, I fear, there is no mode of distinguishing and 

 duly settling the claims of running water, unless by prefixing augmen- 

 tatives or diminutives to the word river. 



I would make the following classification : First come the mighty 

 rivers. These are the rivers of South America the Amazons, the La 

 Plata, the Oronooko. Then follow the great rivers a more numerous 

 class the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, the Ganges, the Nile and 

 Niger, and some others ; but none of this class are to be found in the 

 continent of Europe, which supplies the third grade : these I would 

 designate the large rivers ; for great and large are not entirely synony- 

 mous ; and, to most minds, the term great river, and large river, will 

 present a distinct image. The lower we descend in the scale, the more 

 numerous do we find the species. The continent of Europe abounds 

 with examples of the third class such as the Rhine, the Danube, the 

 Rhone, the Elbe, the Tagus, the Ebro, the Guadalquivir. The fourth 

 class is still more numerous ; and of this class, which I would call con- 

 siderable rivers, we may find examples at home. Father Thames takes 

 the lead, and the Severn, and perhaps the Trent, the Clyde, the Tweed, 

 the Tyne, and the Tay, may be entitled to the same distinction. Abroad, 

 it would be easy to name a hundred such ; let me content myself with 

 naming the Loire, the Meuse, the Soane, the Garonne, the Adige, and 

 the Maine. Fifthly, come the small rivers. Multitudinous they are, 

 and not to be enumerated in the compass of a magazine ; but, as 

 examples, I may name the Wye, the Dart, the Derwent, the Dee, the 

 Aire, the Spey, the Ex, and a thousand such ; while on the continent, 

 of the same class, may be mentioned the Gave, the Seine, the Reuss, or 

 the Sambre. The word river can no longer be employed. Now come 

 the family of streams nameless, unless to those who live upon their 

 banks ; then follow rivulets ; and lastly, we close the enumeration with 

 rills. 



With each of these classes our associations are in some degree dif- 



