State rights and democratic union. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1839-18??, 1839-08-13
THE MissISSlpPI.

y
younger difs Magazine.
THE MISSISSIPPI.
J Il is surely no MISSIONER that this giant.
stream has been styled the sseteraal river"-
the '.terrible Mississippi" for he may find
none ether etnbodying so many elements Of
the fearful and sublime. In the wild ice
lake Of the far, frozen forth, amid solitude
broken only by the shkilI clang of The myriad
water-hows, is its homes Gushing out from
fountains, clear as the aif-belI, it sparkles
over the wEiitespebbly sand. beds, and break.
ing owes the beautiful falls Of the s.Iaughing
waters it takes mp its majestic march to the
distant deep. Rolling onward through the
shade of magnificent forests, and hoary cas-
tellated cliffs, and beautiful meadows, its
volume is swollen as it advances until il re-.
ceives into its bosom a tributary riVal-a
conqueror, which has roamed three Thousand
mixes for meeting: they meet, atd its orr.
ginal features are lost forever. Its beauty
is merged in sublimltv. Pouring along in
its deep bed the heaped up water of streams
which drain the broadcast valley on the globe
sweeping on in boiling mass, furious, tur-
bid, always dangerous, tearing away from
time to timeits steep banks, with their giant
colonnades Of living verduEe, and then, with
the stern disposition Of eonqueror. throwing
them aside again, governed by no principle
but It's own lamiess wiII-ztIie dark majesty
lOf It's features summon up an emotion Of the
lsubIime which deIies contrast o. parallel.
/ And then, when we think Of its lonely
course journeying onward in its proud
dtead, SOLITARY grandeur, through forests dusk
with the lapse of centuries pouring out the
ice and snow Of arctic lands, through every
Temperature Of cline, till at last il heaycE
/ free its mighty bosom beneath the line-we
are forced to yield up ourselves in uncon
i trolled admiration offs gloomy magnifcence
And it's dark, mysterious history too-those
fearful scenes Of which alone il has been the
witness-the venerable tombs of race de.
parted, which shadow its wateE--the savage
tribes that yet roam IFS foresls--the germs
Of civilization luxuriating upon its boEders
and the deep solitudes, untrOdden by man
through which il rolls, all conspire TO throne
the fancy Century on century, and cycle
on cycle, have rolled away "a hundred gene.
rations have arisen from the cradle. and
Hourished in their freshness, and withered il
the tomb; and the Pfarabhs and the Ptole.
Emies, and the Caesars and the CaIiphs, have
Numbered over the nations and are passed
away: and here, amid these terrible soil
tudes, in the stern majesty of loneliness, ane
power, and pride, have rolled onward these
deep waters to their destiny!
i There is, perhaps, no stream which pre-
sents greater variety Of features than tn
J Mississippi, or phenomena of deeper interest
whether we regard the soil, productions, an
Iclimate Of its valley, its individual character
and that # its tributaries, or the outline Q
/ It's scenery and course. The confidents q
!; this vast stream are numerous, and each on
brings in tribute Of the soil through whic
: lie has rOauned. The Missouri pours out il
4 waters heavily charged with the mail Of th
D Rocky Mountains, the saffron sand Of 'th
q Yellowstone; aud the chalk Of White rivsl
5 tho Ohio holds in its foods the vegetabl
1 mould Of the Alleghanies, and the ArIsnsa
! EaRd Red rivers bring ii the deep4dyed ALI
j, tiOn tf their banks. Each tributary ningle
d the spells Of It's native hills with the genera
81 food. And yet after The cdntribution Of s
i many streams, the remarkable fact Is Of
S served, that its breadth and volume seeI
! rather diminished than increased. Abov
o the embouchure Of the Missouri, fifteen hui
& | died miles from the Mexican Gulf Il
) broader than at New Orleans, with scare
& one-tenth Of It's water, and at the foot Of S
!. Anthony's Falls, its breadth Is but one.thir
VI less. This forms striking characteristic
i the western rivers il oResy perhaps, It's Or
( gin partially TO the turbid character o(the
E waters: as they approach their outlet the
e augment in volume and depth, and impetut
n sity Of current, but contract their expans'
|. None, however, exhibit these features /
j. strikingly as the grand, central str Ga
!, while for its body Of watefsit is ~
IS est stream known, Il IS charged
Isl solutions, and has broader allu u
& other. The depih u the stream onstant
q varying. All New Orleans, Il exceeds 81
nundred feel. LIS Width i from bali of 81
4 to two miles. The breadth Of it's valley
ml rom six miles 10 sixty. The rapidly of
81 current IS from TIVE miles @ four. rs me,
/. descent is elk inahes IN mile; and ils 81
) nuaI foods vary 10 twelve feet % sixt
! commencing il March and ending Ia AIa
], hus much for statistics:
"a BelOh is confluence With lie tsrbid trib