MISSOURI. 
Captain Lewis then proceeded to examine the rapids 
above. From the falls he directed his courfe fouth-weft 
up the river: after paffing one continued rapid, and three 
fmall cafcades, each three or four feet high, he reached, at 
the diftance of five miles, a fecond fall. Above_this_ fall 
the river bends fuddenly to the northward : while view¬ 
ing this place Capt. Lewis heard a loud roar above him, 
and, eroding the point of a hill for a few hundred yards, 
he faw one of the molt beautiful objects in nature : the 
whole Miffouri is fuddenly flopped by one (helving rock, 
which, without a fingle niche, and with an edge as ftraight 
and regular as if formed by art, ftretches itfelf from one 
fide of'the river to the other for at lead a quarter of a mile. 
Over this it precipitates itfelf in an even uninterrupted 
fheet to the perpendicular depth of fifty feet, whence dalh- 
ing againfl: the rocky bottom it rufhes rapidly down, hav¬ 
ing behind it a fpray of the pureft foam acrofs the river. 
The feene which it prefented was indeed Angularly beau¬ 
tiful ; fince, without any of the wild irregular fublimity of 
the lower falls, it combined all the regular elegancies 
which the fancy of a painter would feledt to form a beau¬ 
tiful waterfall. Capt. Lewis nowafeended the hill which 
was behind him, and faw from its top a delightful plain 
extending from the river to the bafe of the Snow- Moun¬ 
tains to the l'outh and fouth-weft. Along this wide level 
countrv the Miffouri purfued its winding courfe, filled 
with water to its even and graffy banks, while about four 
miles above it was joined by a large river flowing from the 
north-welt through a valley three miles in width, and dif- 
tino-uifhed by the timber which adorned its fhores. The 
Miffouri itfelf ftretches to the fouth in one unruffled 
ftream of water, as if unconfcious of the roughnefs it mufl 
foon encounter, and bearing on its bofom vaft flocks of 
geefe, while numerous herds of buffaloes are feeding on 
the plains which furround it. 
From the falls the diredtion of their courfe was almoft 
due fouth, inclining a little to the eaft. About fixty geo¬ 
graphical miles from the falls, the river emerges from the 
firft ridge of the Rocky Mountains, or, as our travellers 
call them, the Gates of thofe mountains. This pafs is in 
latitude 46° 46' 50". The rocks approached the river on 
both fides,fo as to form a mod lublime and extraordinary 
fpedtacle, as for more than five miles they rile perpendi¬ 
cularly from the water’s edge nearly to the height of 1200 
feet. They are compofed of a black granite, i. e. green- 
ftone, or bafalt, at the bafe ; but the fragments that have 
fallen from above are like a flint of a yellowifh-brown co¬ 
lour. Nothing can be more tremendous than the frown¬ 
ing darknefs of thefe rocks, which project oyer the river, 
and feem to threaten you wdth deftrudtion. The river is 
350 yards in width, and appears to have forced its way 
down this lolid mafs, which has yielded fo reluftantly, 
that for the whole diftance the water is deep even to the 
edo-es^ and, for the firft three miles, there is not a lpot, 
except one of a few yards, where a man could ftand be¬ 
tween the water and the rock. “ The convullion of the 
paffage mu ft havebeen terrible,” fays the narrative, “ fince, 
at the outlet, there are vaft columns of the rock torn from 
the mountain, which are ftrewed on both fides of the river, 
the trophies as it were of the victory.” Above the gates, 
the perpendicular rocks ceafe, the hills retire from the 
river, and the valleys fuddenly widen to a conliderable 
extent; and here there can be little doubt that w>e have 
the remains of a fecond lake. Thefe were adorned with 
the narrow-leaved cotton-wood, the afpen, and the pine; 
and the country abounded in game. Confiderably beyond 
this, they came to what they called the Forks of the Mif¬ 
fouri, where the river feems to divide into three, near¬ 
ly of the fame fize, fo as to leave it doubtful to which of 
them the name of the Miffouri ought to be applied. They 
determined therefore to difeontinue here the name of 
Miffouri, and to call thefe three branches after three of 
the moll diftinguifhed of the American ftatefmen. That 
on the fouth-weft, which was the moll confjderable, they 
Vol. XV. No. 1067. 
585 
called the Jefferfon; the middle branch, the Maddifon’ 
and the eafternmolt, the Gallatin. Though the height 
here muft have been very great, the heat in the valleys 
was alfo confiderable. It was now the 28th of July, and 
they remarked that the thermometer in the afternoon 
was 90 0 . The Forks are in latitude 45 0 24/ 8". 
As the Jefferfon branch flowed from the weft, they af- 
cended it in preference to the others, but continued to 
experience great difficulty with the canoes in confequence 
of the rapidity of the current. They were now, however, 
on the point of reaching the end of the firft great divifion 
of their journey. The river continued to leffen as they 
proceeded, its width on the part at which they arrived on 
the 8th of July being not more than forty yards, and on 
the nth it was diminifhed to twelve, fo as to admit of 
being waded over without hazard. They had by this 
time proceeded by computation three thoufand miles from 
the mouth of the Miffouri, and they at laft reached its ex¬ 
treme navigable point in lat.43 0 30'N. and nearly in Ion. 
xi2° W. from Greenwich. Here they laid up their ca¬ 
noes, until they fhould return from the Pacific ; and a 
party proceeding by land had the gratification of tracing 
the current to its fountain-head in the midft of the rocky 
mountains. “ One of the men,” fays Capt. Lewis, “ in 
a fit of enthufiafm, fetting one foot on each fide of the 
ftream, thanked God, that he had lived to beftride the 
Miflouria very natural expreflion of the fentiment 
which muft be uppermoft in the mind of a man, who, for 
a diftance of 3000 miles, had been ftruggling againfl: the 
force of the powerful and impetuous river, which was 
now fo completely fubdued.—From the foot of a neigh¬ 
bouring mountain, iffues the remoteft w’ater of the Mif¬ 
fouri. “ They had now,” he faid, “ reached the hidden 
fources of that river, which had never yet been feen by 
civilized man ; and, as they quenched their thirft at the 
chafte and icy fountain, and fat by the brink of the little 
rivulet, which yielded its diftant and modeft tribute to 
the ocean, they felt themfelves rewarded for all their la¬ 
bours, and all their difficulties. They left this interefting 
fpot with reluftance, and afeended towards the weft, till 
they reached a high ridge, which formed the line of par¬ 
tition between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans.” Travels to the Source of the Miffouri, <$t. by Order 
of the American Government, in 1804-6. 
The dilcoveries of our immortal Cook and his perfe- 
vering fucceflors are now likely to have their grand out¬ 
line filled up from California to Bhering’s Straits, through 
the political enterprife of the United States of America. 
As the lands on both fides of the great river Miffouri, 
which almoft equals the Miffiflippi in breadth and depth, 
and with which alfo it unites after a courfe of many hun¬ 
dred miles from weft to‘ eaft, are extremely fertile, and 
fituated in a very mild climate, many fettlements are now 
making thereon. The American government favours 
them as much as poffible, in the hope that the Miffouri 
will one day afford the eafieft means of effecting a com¬ 
munication between the Atlantic States and Pacific Ocean. 
This circumftance has induced the prelident to order two 
new expeditions of difeovery to thofe innnenfe and hi¬ 
therto but imperfeftly-known countries. The one is to 
proceed by fea round Cape Horn, and will land on the 
north-weft coaft of America. The other expedition is to 
let out from Port Lewis and the mouths of the Miffouri, 
to follow that gigantic ftream to its fource, and to join on 
the north-weft coaft the expedition that goes by fea. It 
cannot yet be ftated with certainty, fay the American 
prints, whether a permanent eftabliftiment will be formed 
upon the Pacific Ocean in a fpot neareft to the fources of 
the Miflouri. This muft depend on circumftances. We 
may add that perhaps the confent of other parties may be 
wanting. Spain indeed is not at prefent able to affert her 
claim; but Great Britain may coniiderthe fafety of Canada 
endangered by fettlements on lands where (he has a prior 
right of difeovery. Feb. 3S17. 
7 K Missouri 
