The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1804-08-18
coNTIE ED. |

When thole lakes 6rf approached they prefer.
10 perfect resemblance O. the Mi'ifipPi with regard
to breadth the appearance the banks and the nat
raj e1pcntne form of its coure that Iuany per!ons
have been deceived thereby and recognized their err
rot only b. the discovery of the hagnan fate of the
water, the appearance on its borders of the Nym-
phe Nelunbo, and other aquatic plants; no perfon
therefore doubts that thoie lakes have all in their turn
ierved convey the of ths father of rivers and
now during the ieaton OF the irundation till flow with
ful current, contributing their aid to the evacuation
OF the waters of thoiand rivers which pfecipitate
the1ntelycs into the valley of the Mifiiiippi When
we take furvey of this valley, upwards of 30 miles
wide oppohte TO rhe Natchez, dyergin very obt,fely
as we approach the iea coaH, where it is not le Than
Ii long. and that in part Off do dcover any
other foil than luch is daily depoited by the
waters o. iise Eiidippi it is inlpoble not to believe
that This valley has, in the beginning, been !y2ssh or
inlet oi tle ocean, which received into It's bofon this
great river iar to the River de Ia Plata the Gulph
OF St. Laurence, Delaware Bay, and many others not
remarkable for the aluvia properties of their rivers
When, OH the other hand, contemplate the effects
OF the creative power OF the Hillppi which has FL
led up this prodigous fpace With foil more or lei fold
aa -..:c!: :.:=a - Aatchsz exceed 700 csat .e,el-
dicular above the level OF the f.a hopino gradually
Ike an iunene glacis the coat of the bay of Mex
co, Vnere nevertheless does rot terminate but Gel-
wing of by continual accumulation frequently cnbar~
rallies veeiS out oil tight cf land along The coat 10 the
wet OF the Miiiiiipp Gay when we furyey this iu-
Inene work performed by The hand Of nature we can
not accord with the opinions OF certain yfolary phi
oloPhers, who have been peaied amuie tiemfelyes
with the pretended infantile tate of orr continent
compared to their transatlantic world but on the
contrary, we niult grant it ncalcuabe antiquity
When the inundaton is height the whole valley
IS rePlenihed with every where in not;ou ma
king It's progress towards the ocean; 70 that at that
eaion the river may be iad be 80 miles or more in
breadth at Natchcz the waters which PATS over the
wet bank 81 tic %;iH channel never tn rerH on the
eat, chain Of high land vh,h At mary points j,
wahed b. the river, rcsndsring along its valley com
pes its waters 70 rejoin its primitive fream; bat from
Baton Rouge, the high land which ms hitherto held
afo1.heriy courie DIVORCES fddesly 20 the fouth eat
md is NJ more yifted by the grand channel Of
| ne Milnnipp; ali the wa. IS w'..h elcapg 10 the
! eAitward between Baton Rouge and Marnllc rs
-n'ies) are collected by the Iberviile which paiiinp
through breach in the high land Of about 60 yard,
wide, delivers r. contents 70 the river Amt which
c'rftes itclf into lake Maurepas, communicating with
is Or 40 BY the intervention Of The coniid raJle
AXE Pontchartrain; the high land is continued in
very narrow tongue or promoutory, in louth eaGery
direction. along the mend of New Orleans which Is
iiirupted N many places, thereby venting the waters
of The nurdaton uto the lakes, which oterwife would
be collected into an obong baton, formed by the high
land the hand, and the bank o. the river on the
otl'er--oae half Of the iaaad Of Nsw-o Orleans would