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It is well known, or at least generally believed, that iu 

 point of magnitude, in all respects, the river Mississippi 

 has not its equal upon this globe. That in no one, 

 (the St. Lawrence exccpted,) is there an equal quan- 

 tity of water discharged into the ocean, in the same 

 given time. 



Hence, from the amazing torrent that is, in ceaseless 

 motion, poured into the gulf, and this urged on or pro- 

 pelled by an almost equal volume of water, that is, 

 descending an inclined plane of three thousand miles 

 in extent, and accelerated too by numerous auxiliary 

 branches, some of which are nearly of an equal length, 

 it has for ages literally forced its way in defiance of the 

 waters of the gulf and the tides of the sea, to the head 

 of the present delta, without having experienced a 

 check sufficient to cause the depositing of its alluvion, 

 and the elevation of the bed of the river to a height suf- 

 ficiently great, to occasion the overflowing of the river 

 and lateral branches. 



Here, as if jealous of her rights, the parent ocean 

 opposed its bold career, and turned aside its force. 

 The consequences have been the formation of deltas, 

 that are annually increasing and extending, and which 

 will, one day, prove a source of evils more to be feared 

 by the inhabitants of these fertile regions, than those 

 which may flow from any other earthly source. 



few, perhaps, are disposed to view the subject in 

 this light. It has, nevertheless, excited the well- 

 grounded apprehensions of many and to it the atten- 

 tion of the community at large, at least, in that portion 



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