139 



RIVERS. 



According to the information of Mr. Lewis, who 

 has lately returned from the voyage of discovery, 

 ordered by the present government of the United 

 States, the river Mississippi takes it rise, south, a 

 little westwardly, of the Lake-of-the-Woods; and 

 receives the grand river Missouri, about five leagues 

 above the town of St. Louis, the capital of Upper 

 Louisiana, in about the 40th degree of north lati- 

 tude. After this junction it runs about 1200 miles 

 before it falls into the gulf of Mexico : and, in its 

 course j receives the waters of many rivers. 



The great length of this river (says the latt Mr. 

 Hutchins)* and the excessive muddiness and salubri- 

 ous quality of its waters, after its junction with the 

 Missouri, are very singular. t The direction of the 

 channel is so crooked, that, from New Orleans to 

 the mouth of the Ohio, a distance which does not 



* Hist. Narrat. and Topog, Desc, of Louisiana. Phil. 1784. 



f In a half pint tumbler of this water has been found a sediment of 

 two inches of slime. It is, notwithstanding, extremely wholesome 

 and well-tasted, and very cool in the hottest seasons of the year ; thp 

 rowers, who are then employed, drink of it when they are in the 

 strongest perspiration, and never receive any bad effects from it. The 

 inhabitants of New Orleans use no other water than that of the river^- 

 y^hick, by keeping in jars, becomes perfectly clear. 



