June 14, 1858.] AND THE ADJACENT COUNTRIES. 
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country it drains, occupies a much lower level. The dividing line 
between the Minesota, a branch of the Mississippi, and the Red 
River of the north, running into Lake Winnipeg, is less than 1000 
feet above the sea. The Missouri River, draining the eastern slopes 
of the great Rocky Mountain ranges, occupies a much higher plane. 
At the mouth of the Yellow Stone, about 3260 miles from the sea, 
its elevation is about 2180 feet. At the foot of the Grand Falls of 
the Missouri, 3960 miles from the sea, the elevation of the surface 
of the river is about 2600 feet above tide. The Missouri at its 
mouth is about 380 feet above tide. The distance from this point to 
the Grand Falls is about 2570 miles. The river falls, consequently, 
in this distance about 2220 feet, or at the rate of a little more than 
10 inches to the mile. The rate of descent is remarkably uniform ; 
— the lower portion of the river being, probably, the most rapid. 
Steamboats can run from the Gulf of Mexico to the Grand Falls, a 
distance of 3960 miles. 
It is to the gentle descent of its great rivers, and the ease with 
which communications can be effected between them, that the 
United States owe their remarkable facilities for an internal 
commerce. Lake Superior, the source of the St. Lawrence River, is 
elevated about 590 feet above the sea. This elevation is distributed 
over a distance of 2500 miles, the greater portion of the descent 
being grouped at two points, the falls of Niagara, at the outlet of Lake 
Erie, and the falls of the St. Lawrence, at the outlet of Lake Ontario. 
By means of canals this magnificent watercourse is rendered 
navigable for its entire length. A vessel of large class may 
now clear from the head of Lake Superior, in the very heart of 
the continent, for Liverpool or London. A steamer may leave 
the same point, passing through the Straits of Belle-Isle, the 
Atlantic Ocean, to the Gulf of Mexico, and up the Mississippi 
to within one hundred miles from the point from which it started, 
after having made a voyage of nearly 8000 miles. These facilities 
for commerce give value to the produce and the lands in the interior 
of the continent, without which they would be valueless. Produce 
can now be taken from Chicago to New York by water, a distance 
of 1500 miles, for seven or eight dollars per ton. Owing to the 
smaller quantity of freight going West, the charge for heavy articles 
in this direction is only about five dollars per ton. The charges 
for transportation on the Mississippi River from St. Paul, and 
from Pittsburgh, at the head of navigation on the Ohio, both more 
than 2000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, are at very nearly the 
same rates. 
In speaking of the great interior basin of North America, a portion. 
