THE PRINCIPAL RIVERS IN THE WORLD, THEIR LENGTH IN 
MILES, WITH THE AREA OF COUNTRY DRAINED BY THEM. 
RIVERS @F NORTH AMERICA. 
Length. Area of coun- 
Names, Miles. try drained. 
- miles. 
eatin Proper,* U. 8., ‘igs its} 2,900 
fro range 8 
confluence with the Mississippi eaeee } 3,000 ¢ 1,287,311 
at hb a le Lidge its source | 4,300 
ulf of Mex 
Sr. LAWRENCE, ye 2,000... 600,000 
Rio GRANDE DEL Norte, U.S...... essese LGOUU 
Yetiowsrtoneg, U. S 1,600 
Mackenzie, British A 1500 «. 300,000 
NeELson and WINNEPEG, ‘Brit, America, 1,400... 250,000 
Rep Kiver, U. 8 
ARKANS fm Uv. 5 300 swe 250,000 
REGON, or — Ue BaaWaiccue 1,200 
River Priatrz, U.S 1,200 
Kansas River, U.S »200 
TENNESSEE, U.S : 200 ee 42,000 
Orrawa, Canada 200 
Onto, U. S 000... 200,000 
( ANADIAN ogy of a Arkansas)... pot 
Rio Cotorapo, Califor 
WasuaiTa, UE 00 
NeosnHo, U.S 800 
Brazos, Texas 
ALABAMA, U.S 600... 40,0 
CumMBERLAND, U.S 600.. 18,000 
Wisconsin, U. S 
Des Mornss, U. § 600 * 
Wuire River, U.S 600 
Wasasa, U.S 550 
co ee the Cuarra- 
oocuie), lt 50 
T. ag ero or s enartg Urbis 500 
SAGE, U. 50 
-f USQUEHANNA, U.S 350... 30,000 
PoTomac, U.S 380... 13,500 
AVANNAH, U.S - 450 
tock, U. § 5 
t10 Gina, U.S 400 
turnois, U. 8 400... 24,000 
ames, U.S, 370... 10,500 
owa, U.S 350 
-enoBscorT, U.S. 350 
veces, U.S 350 
ABINE, U.S 350 
ACRAMENTO, California 5 
UIN, siaitedeasehevestes ve = 850 
onneEctTicuT, U.S 
Iupson, U.S 300 
)ELAWARE, Wa Bi escceses seesesen Steeciteves, OUO cee: La, 000 
CASKASKIA, U.S 300 
CENNEBEC, U.S. 
RIVERS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
Amazon 3,550 .., 2,330,000 
Rio DE L scoe 2p L00 505 1,242,000 
Mapnina (chick saa of the Amazon), 1, bps 0 
70 
aiey ae 381,000 
10 Negro 400 
San Francisco, Brazil 1,275 
Orinoco 1,150... 300,000 
Portus (branch of the Amazon)......s00. 1,250 
, re a“ Seicdeccste: 4000! 
JAPURA, se “ acistsxsces 1200 
TAPAJos, sy bal sesckecaee UU 
Putumayo, ‘¢ ae ecaseaseee kg OUO 
sunt vd ee eeiipeateee 1 ORO 
Jur ae 
eicdsceens Mew Great SiSadeasnrcecse SOU 
RIVERS OF EUROPE. 
gpa Russia in ope 350... 640,000 
my Austria nd Turkey . feat acsiess, a 25 ese SIO, 
Dan rabid Ra uss 1,240... 200,000 
Don, 1,110... 205,000 
RuIne, eiceninis and Holland.....-000. 65 70,000 
Dwina, Russia 1,000 . vee 125,000 
Vistura, vihewig and Pruagia..cceccocsscee 650 o 70,000 
Lorre, 620%... © 48,000 
E.sr, Prants 580 we ,000 
Ruaong, France 540 
Duna, R 490 
Dni 
ESTER, Ru 480 
aun de and Portia} sererensamresser 520... 28,760 
Meuse, Prussia and Holla 520 * 
; keer 
SEINE 480 ... ,20 
Oper, Prussia 460 ... 43,926 
Douro, Spain and Portugal 455 .. 35,000 
Esro, Spai 410 
Po, Ital 380 ,000 
THAMES, ere 200 wed 5,000 
M 
BRANNON, Treland .)ccc.00)) cos ssdonericasees 
RIVERS OF ASIA. 
? 'ANG-TSE-KIAN NG, or K1ank0, China..... yg ie om 000 
iggy Asiatic Rus sia 0,000 
a "9740 ~ 858,000 
1OANG-HO. China oe LU, 
Hin 2,200... 410,000 
TA, BID .cecccnnecceace seerenreoeeses 
RIVERS OF THE WORLD. 
ae a Area punctes § ile wide, bh for some distance before commingling ve 
iis Hil wry ina with Missouri it has a much greater width. 
GAncEs, Hindostan 940 ... poner the junction of the two streams it is a mile and a half vides 
BuRRAMPOOTER, Hindostan ...cccceese sees 2,0 he uni § » flowing from the the mouth 
PHRATES, Asiatic per eereeere 1,720 ... 230,000 | the Ohio, has an average width of little more than three- 
SIHON, or OXUS, Tartary .......0.cseesseeee 1,300 quarters of a mile. On its un niting with the Missouri, it 
Sirr, or JAXARTES 200 loses its distinctive character: it is no longer the gentle, 
Oural 50 placid stream, with smooth shores and cl d-bars, but 
AY-KIANG, or Campon14, China.,........ 1,700 asa furious and boiling curre turbi — 
100, Tartary 10 mass of wate’ ith jagged and dilapidated shore ts 
S1-K1ANe, Chi 050 cha rof calm magnificence, that so delighted the eye 
ENAM, or Siam 1,080 above, is seen no more. 
The Mississippi River differs in agroney: & of character 
~ from that of any other river upon the glo its entire 
course being directly from north me con eq ntly it 
RIVERS OF AFRICA. | embraces a great variety of climates and productions, which 
it otherwise could not do, if its course was in an osite 
Nine, Egypt, &c., COMPULED AEersserersen 3,600 ... 1,425,000 | direction. 
Sais. A ee ey o- 3,00 “ eee 800,000 One would naturally suppose, from the extent of country 
ZAIRE, or Coxeo 1,40 rained ta this river, that the spring floods would be very 
SENEGAL, Senegambia rie0 great; but it must be remembered that, the course pf _ 
GAMBIA, aceccvecesceseesesese 800 river being from north to south, and, as the return 
OraneGe, Cape a 1,050 warm season advances in oe direction, its fey f ves 
ZAMBESE, pal tg ZO. wrecrsosecccees 950 are gradually removed, the surplus waters, therefore, being 
allowed time to pass off t a its natural ss se into 
the Gulf of Mexico times of reshets, how- 
uring 
—_ the banks are frequently washed away, yor gtd 
oo i ako en of life and property. This 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND i sinisp TRIBUTARIES. term 
i of epee has been formed by deposits 
The se ’ 
Tue MISSISSIPPI RIVER, wit chief ciecor pr wi ~~ from the von ind lying very low, is at all times subject to 
Missouri, forms not ag the oboe but o 4 
rt ae rtant rivers in the world. It is (including all, its For a distance of three hundred miles aime the river 
tributary s oe patirely within the boundaries of the | bank, the pce back from the stream is, i th 
United Sta lower than high-water mark; and, for a Mdnsiees of 130 
This < ae was discovered as early as 1672, yet its | miles or more ified 
true prt was not fully determined until its exploration | has been constructed, to confine th 
by Mr. Sch shone in 1832; it was then found to take its el enhesknens t is composed of clay or green 
rise in the sm lake Itasca, “one is situated in 47° 10’ turf, prea ith cypress logs, and varies from 5 to 
N. Lat., and 04° by" W - Long. from Greenwic 15 feet in etary aa from 10 to 30 feet in width. Wh 
orms a beantiful sheet of transparent water, | the river is full, the prospect of rich fields, 
about eight miles in lengt a its shape i egular, and it | juxuriant crops, ‘and 5 tudded with villas and villages full 
is situated among bills covered with pine forests, and fed | of life and animation, lying below the level of the riv er, isa 
y springs. It is 3160 evi from a oa of Mexico, and | novel, and, to the stranger, a startling sight. 
elevated about 1680 feet above the o Below the mouth of the Ohio the iplnasia in the m5 sis- 
is river drains an exte nt of territory m ge hog fer- sippi have all been numbered; but at present the nu 
e u i 
° 
= 
s 
7 2, 
o 
= 
a 
i e 
rrit m i a. acre from | washed away by 'the force of the m waters, and ne 
the sources of the Mississippi in the north, to the Gulf of | ones selina forming. ng 
Mex h leg his “growing up” of the islands of the prisiranyde is 
on the east, to the Rocky Mountains on the west. Or, to | one of the ony eviking al nour i of this ey ap 
y i tha itself to t 
B.S 
a 
th If of Mexico, where it empties its accumulated | yoyager Aran th tae the stream, unless the wedi tha 
wa dru i Ro we i i ; 
? 
along the dividing-line between the sources of streams | then form lakes. Upon waters of these lakes congre- 
flowing into the Ohio River, and those flowing towards the gate rd a of aquatic punt yaventacd geese, ducks, peli- 
Atlantic; between the confluents of the Tennessee, and | cans, ai e like 
those streams emptying into Mobile Bay; between the Sou a rae tei: third degree of latitude may be seen 
sources discharged into the Mississippi, and those into the | the first es of the Spanish J/oss, hanging in gloomy gran- 
Tombigbee and Pearl Rivers; to the mouth of the Missis- | deur fro e bou vas a the cypress trees. Here, also, is 
sippi fi the ecincne with its broad, fan-like leaf, the lofty eotton- 
he whole presenting an outline of more than 6,000 miles, | wood, the sea-grass, the impenetrable cane-brake, and all 
r an area of about 1,237,311 square miles, divided as | the concomitants of a southern forest, ae are also 
follows: — not unfrequently seen, reposing upon a log, and basking in 
= miles. the noonday sun, in descen ding the Miseininnt from about 
Valley of the ee 0,000 this latitude. 
ower Mississippi..........0 330, 000 The “MISSOURI RIVER e ot hg Core a little 
“ “i Obie 210,000 below Lat. 39° north. Owin ng t eater 
= “« Upper Mississippi........se0. 187,210 volume of water than the latter rine, mark nae jive = imparties 
ees its own general character to it, some writers have thought 
Total, 1,237,311 its name should have — given “the stream from its jun 
tion to the Gulf o 
The Mississippi River is navigable for steamboats, with This, the greatest seibataery of one Nvispaag ih River, rises 
but partial interruption, as far north as the Falls of St. | in the Rocky Mountains, a short distance from the head- 
Anthony, a distance of 2037 miles, and, at seasons, as far | waters of the Columbia, and sich in the same parallel of 
: : syree head 
T. 
er, is extremely crooked, and no dager. en a bend | streams, which unite not far from the base of the principal 
0 to i und, wh ra i n, 
these 
is not more than a mile or two. In some instances,  how- Madison, and Gallatin a 
ever, these distances have been aici: by what is | 110° W. Long. Aft pio n, the Siver continues a con- 
termed “cut-offs,” which are made by opening a ‘saa siderable distanve - i st til a oaming 
channel-across the neck of a bend, when, on admitting the | it then spreads into a broad, pr oan shail | gentle 
water, the current, running with such velocity, soon forms | stream, with numerous islands. The then becomes 
a channel both wide and deep enough for the largest | almost a continued cataract for about 17 miles during which 
steamboats to go through. The navigation is frequently | its ecnaae relive is about gy Its course con- 
rendered dangerous, owing to the mighty volume of water | tinues rapid for some ig fart 
washing away from some projecting point large masses o The ONE, one of sha: principal tributaries 
arth, with its huge trees, which are carried down the | of the Missouri, rises in Sage ne range of mountains with 
stream. Others, again, are often imbedded in the mud, | the a stream. It enters yous the south bya asad 
with their tops rising above the water, and not unusually 850 wide, and is a broa — Sn river, havin 
os. 
- 
A 
yar ga 
eausing the destruction of many a fine craft. These are | course of about 1600 aiiua. The Wi another of its 
called, in the phrase of the country, “snags” and “sawyers.” | great tributaries, rises in the same range of mountains 
he whirls, or eddies, caused by the striking peculiarities | with the parent speek — measured a its meanders, is 
of the river in the uniformity of its meanders, are termed supposed to have a co of about 2000 miles ewan me 
points” and “bends,” which have the or a aap many | joins that river, At a outh it _is nearl ya mile 
y the sw 
ad gh 
of a ss. These are agin “ ar, that the flat-boatmen | floods, e@ very large Cees. havi ing a 
frequently sateciaie distane y them: instead of the | course “i about 1200 eile and is boatable for most of st 
number of miles, they e scene their progress by the num- |} distance 6 e OSAGE is a large and important brane 
ber of bends they hav: e passed. the Missou ; it is boatable for 660 miles, rok Susaelnthe 
A short distance from its eee ge per in becomes | with the wat ers rsof the Arkansas. The nF mea 0% 
; be 
tre Pp 
it is half a mile wide, pee ele tl e ‘Des Mateos Rapids | extensive pine forests, from which the great supply a sank 
it assumes a medial width and character to the mouth of | and timber of that kind is brought to 
the Missouri. About fifteen miles below the mouth of the} Above the River Platte, the open at al character 
Croix River, the Mississippi expands into a beautiful | of the country be egins to —— ceaetae pa into the 
ealled Lake Pepin, which i ing from it inde 
| p 
i go than the Ohio: its current is more gentle, | of this ocean of grass. oes, elk, antelopes, and moun- 
ge sige ao ia gure itis a third wider. In general, it is | tain sheep abound. Lewis and Clark, and other reapeaantae 
gar - 
larly the buffalo, are innumerable. Such is the pane 
character of the country until we approach the spurs of the 
The OHIO RIVER enters the ampran a at about 37° 
of N. Latitude. It is formed by the junction of the Alle- 
g and Monongahela, the er caine navigable for 
keel-boats as fa Olean, in the State of New York, a 
stance of about 250 miles; the latter is navigable for 
u ds of 17 At Pittsburg commen , 
an ga course of about 1000 miles, unites its 
aters with — of the Mississippi. No ot erof | 
c 
is in the autumn, a floating substance would probably not 
advance a mile an honr. 
Between Pittsbu urg and its mouth it is diversified by 
many co nsiderable islands, some of one are 7 Posy acer 
f whi 
ion of the or " 
S$ RIVER enters the —e on its weat 
side, south of hey 34°, after flowing e of abo ut 2000 
mile 
steamboats can ascend it nearly to the mountain 
e RIVER, which joins the Mississippi i in about 
31° N. Lat., is one of its principal western tributaries. It 
takes its rise in New Mexico, near Santa Fé, and flows a 
g 
m- 
mense s of timber and fallen ping hy ary down from 
the agers a of the river, and ge und a lodgment 
here. It a great expansio - on river, to the 
width of prem twenty-five miles, “watch spreads at the 
nd sm 
raft into a number of narrow channels. Weeds ai 
trees have taken root upon the surface of this a pa 
grow above the waters. Ab the river is broa 
and deep, and is naviga e b, steamboats, at seasons, for 
1000 miles; keel-boats, h. wev 'r, can usually pass over it. 
we 
ag yg a ag EXTENT, IN tee: OF STEAM 
GATION Md a5 RIVERS OF THE MTSoISSIPPE 
VALL LEY, B A GOVERNMENT TOPOGRAPHICAL 
ENGINEER. 
MissIssipPI AND BRANCHES, AS FOLLOWS :— Mississippi. 
on 2000. St. Croix, 80. St. Peter's, 120. Chippe- 
*k, 6 
high water, $50; at other season Ca nadian, 60. 
= 
, 60. 100, 
130. Big Sunflower, 80. Little Sunflower, 70. Big Black, 
u T B ou Carré, 7 . avou 
Green, 150. Barren, 30. Wabash, 400. uicbernuk 
400. Tennessee. 720.—Total. 3292 miles. 
Missouri AND Brancr rae proper, 1800. Yel- 
lowstene, 360. atte, 40. sas, 150. Osage, 275. 
Grand, ¢ miles. 
Rep River, axyp Brancues, Bayors, &¢,~— Red River 
se bal Little. 
‘0 
f f Ma 17 
Louis, 30. nsas River, 15! Lake Bistenaw, 60. 
Caddo, 75. ier Fork, 100, Little River, 65. 
i, 40. Bog ). Bayou Pierre, 150. é 
Ogey, 
| 360. —Total, 3630 m 
