RIVERS. 



ITS 



paradox, it is nevertheless true. It is impossible for 

 her to bring the current with her all the way out- 

 wards; for though the wind should be both brisk and 

 favorable, she must necessarily meet the fiood tides, 

 and stem their opposing forces. As she proceeds 

 toward the great moving cause, the ocean, she meets 

 its rising wave sooner and earlier, and then, if unable 

 to stem, it, must cast anchor and wait. And the 

 nearer ^he approaches the sea, the more she antici- 

 pates the resisting power of the water, which it im- 

 pels along the rivers, and whose undulations there 

 constitutes the tide.* 



The descent of the river towards Waterford and 

 Troy is interrupted by several smaller falls and ra- 

 pids, running over strata of slaty rock. Of these, 

 the most considerable is near fort Miller, above 

 Stillwater. After passing many such declivities and 

 steps, the Fludson, travelling from the north, re- 

 ceives the waters of the Mohawk approaching to 

 meet it fro.m the west. This addition determines 

 iiearly, how high the Hudson is navigable. After its 

 fall at the Cohos, about a mile before the junction, 

 the Mohawk is divided into several streams by a 

 few small islands, lying opposite to Lansingburg and 

 Troy. Its southern branch com.es within about 

 seven miles of Albany, joining its stream to the 

 North river exactly opposite to Troy. The influ- 

 ence of this body of water is immediately perceptl- 

 ble. For though Albany and Troy are so aided by* 

 them^ as to be accessible by sloops of convenient ton- 



* Dr. MitcheU.— Med. Repos, 



