149 



ties into lake Maurepas, communicating with the 

 ocean by the inteiTention of the more considerable 

 lake Pontchartrain. 



The perpendicular height of the high lands abovfe 

 the level of the inundation, is from 200 to 300 feet at 

 Natchez : but declines at Baton Rouge to 25, and on 

 the island of New Orleans, it is frequently lost under 

 the accumulations of the soil deposited by the waters* 



The principal channel is rarely a mile in width 

 below the Ohio ; and often it is less than half a milce 

 From New Orleans to the mouth, it is from 50 to 

 70 fathoms deep,but its depth diminishes considera- 

 bly as we advance upwards ; at Natchez, when the - 

 waters are low, it is about 12 fathoms, and there are 

 situations below the Ohio, where the ordinary boats 

 have been embarrassed to find a passage ; a moderate 

 fresh, nevertheless, rei^ders the river navigable up 

 to the falls of St. Anthony, 2000 miles from its mouths 

 But the great obstruction to its navigation is the bar 

 at its mouth, which is formed by the deposition of 

 the sediment of the water, in the form of a crescent, 

 in a depth of 15 feet. If this impediment w^re re- 

 moved, a ship of the line might find at all times suf- 

 ficient water, six or seven hundred miles up the 

 river. 



The fish of this river are sturgeon, pike, perch* 

 eels, and catfish, of a monstrous size. Craw-fish 

 abound in the country, in every part of the earth, 

 and are obtained by raking a pond dug for the pur* 

 pose. Shrimps are caught by sinking a small can- 

 vass bag with a piece of meat in it, for a few hours. 



The falls of St. Anthony in the Mississippi are a 

 plcashig sight. The whole river, which is more than 



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