LA SALLE ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 553 



banks of the majestic Father of Waters * (near the con- 

 fluence of the Missouri, with the Mississippi) both he 

 and his followers were vastly impressed by the spacious 

 grandeur of the mighty stream which they saw before 

 them, swiftly drifting towards unknown destinies, and 

 embarking upon its waters they floated day after 

 day down its turbid flood, until they reached the 

 ocean. 



The earlier discoveries of the Spaniards f had thus 

 far led to little or no result, but La Salle at once 

 appreciated the magnitude of his success. His reports 

 to the French court of Louis XIV. caused the matter 

 to be warmly taken up and the first settlement was 

 thus made on the Mississippi. From that day to this 

 the Mississippi has rapidly increased in importance, as 

 a great highway of commerce from the far interior to 

 the ocean, and is now rightly esteemed one of the 

 leading glories of the American Union. Great in peace, 

 it promises to be no less great in war, and though 

 the defence of its embouchure in some respects presents 

 peculiar difficulties, according to Captain Mahan, u.s.N. 

 (the writer of a recent remarkable work upon " The 

 Influence of Sea Power upon History ") the advantages 

 of the Mississippi are such "that the main effort of the 

 country must pour down that valley, and its permanent 

 base of operations be found there," in case of naval 

 operations in the Caribbean Sea. 



If the Mississippi System forms a crown of glory to 

 the United States, another no less noble stream, which 



* A.D. 1682, February 6th. 

 t Under Ferdinand de Soto, 1541. 



The Influence of Sea Power on History, by Capt. A. T. Mahan, 

 U.S.N., 1890, p. 34. 



