THE 
National Geographic Magazine 
VoL. VII JUNE, 1896 No. 6 
THE SEINE, THE MEUSE, AND THE MOSELLE 
B}’- MTlliam M. Davis 
Professor of Physical Geography in Harvard University 
The three rivers . — The narrow basin of the INIeuse lies between 
the widespreading branches of the Seine on the west and of the 
Moselle on the east. The slender trunk stream of the Meuse, 
with hardly a 
tributary on 
either side, is 
like one of 
t Ii o s e tall, 
close-trimmed 
po})lars that 
the traveler 
often sees 
along the na- 
tional roads of 
France, and 
the compari- 
son is not alto- 
gether inapt, 
for there is 
good reason to 
think that the Figuke r.— The. \ra1>iciimn1>er.s on this figure show the cUflerent 
M e U S e h a S 'orations of the otlier figures used in this article. Tlie Roman 
,, , numbers show the location of the page plates, 
really been 
trimmetl of certain branches which have been diverted to the 
basins ot its larger neighbors. Its basin is, indeed, like the 
1.3 
