136 



GEOGRAPHY. 



[Sect. V. 



An affi uent, too, may generally be said to be smaller 

 than its recipient, and may often be more correctly called 

 a rivulet or a torrent ; and here it may be remarked that 

 there is great advantage in attending to the true and 



proper use of these relative terms, rivers, torrents, rivulets 

 or brooks, the two latter being more or less synonymous 



and a torrent being generally applied to a rapid mountain 

 stream ; all these, more or less, bring down detritus from 

 the hills, w^hich is deposited at the mouths of the streams 

 or wherever other natural causes retard the rapid flow of 

 water. In these cases deltas are formed, which deserve 

 examination, and are either fluviatile, lacustrine, or ma- 

 rine, according as the river empties itself into another 

 river, a lake, or the 





But there are other important characters which deserve 

 attention in the description of a river; and chiefly the 

 name is of importance. Does it change 



durin 



h 



:re and wiien ? How far up from the mouth is the 

 same name preserved ? and is it the same on both banks ? 

 What is its origin, and by whom, was it first given ? Then 

 we must inquire what islands are met with in its course ? 

 Where are they Bituated? Are they low? subject to 

 inundation ? marshy or rocky ? or do they stand high 

 above the level of the stream ? Are they cultivated or 

 not ? What are their natural productions ? By what 

 creatures are they inhabited? Again, is the river at all 

 affected by rapids, or shoals, or cataracts ? and what are 

 the peculiar characteristics of these impediments to nan- 



cation ? 



Does the tide flow in them 



5 



and huvv far np 



* 



See Col. J, J, Jackson's work, *What to Observe/ London, 



I 



) 





I 



Sect 



fer 



roc 

 riv 



ill 



pp 



ob 



liu 

 sul 



vol 



aci 



ill 

 nej 



wl; 

 rei 



Se 



*"i 



nci 



po: 



on] 

 the 



12 mo., 1841. 



S1Z( 



whi 



arid 



^^ 



