Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-10-17

the rivers, the uniform calcareous formation tn
absence of tropical SUM- its longitudinal posi-
ton across the temperate zone, and the great
ness aud altitude OF the mountains on its west
| cfn im
The river system Of the Mississippi Basin re
scmbles a fan Of palm leaf The stem in tn
State of Louisiana rests III the Gulf; above, th
aiiluent rivers converge to il from all parts O
the compass. From the east come in the HON
ochiua, the Yaloo, the Ohio, the Illinois am
the Upper Mississippi. From the west, the Re,
River, the Washlta, the Arkansas, the White
! st Francis, and Usage Rivers the Kansas. the
| Triple Platte, the L'eau qui Cours, and the Vel
low Stone, all navlgahle rivers of great lengtl
and importance. These rivers present con
| tlnuous navlgable channel Of twenty. two thou
sand ive-hundrcJ miles, having a shore of forty
1--we thousand miles, an amount ofnavigation ant
coast equal to the Atlantic ocean.
The area of the Mississippi Basin classifcs it.
self into one-and-a half iiilhs of compacty grow
ing forest, the same OF prairie, and two filIhs o
great plains. Through all ofthese the river sys
TEN is ramltied as mnutely as are the veins and
arterieo OF The human system.
The population rs at present twelve millions
The capacity for population is indefinite. Com.
parison Will illustrate this interesting fact. So
ciety crecis itself into empires in order to arrive
most perfect example is the empire of the Ro-
mans, whose history we iamiiiarly possess, com
pete, of It's rise; elimination, and slow decline.
Inns empire occupied and fused into one politi-
cal and social system the Basin OF the Mcdlcr-
ranean, whose area is l,l60.O0O square miles.
From out OF TINS they never passed. except into
the corner OF Gaul and Britain, but restricted
themselves to the Mediterranean and Pontr seas.
to the Nile, to the Danube, and 10 the Rhone.
This empire, embracing the above area con-
ancd under the Antones l9l, 100000 of popu-
laton, and Rome itself, in the geographical cen-
tro, had a diameter OF 30 miles and IL, ,OUO. 900
ollnhabitants But the area of this BASIN is.
Tor the most part, saltwater vaste, into which
proude the peninsulas OF Asia Minor, Greece,
Italy and Spain themselves filed with mountain
vertebre and also few islands Space for
habltatlons AMI the production OF food is there
fore scarce. The equivalent, with us, of this
surface and rugged mountain, is, everywhere an
undulating, calcareous plain, uniformly nhabit-
able and productive. The rivers surpass the
sea for the ireightage OF commerce. and the front
o! lani upon them exceeds The coasts of the
oceans IN amount and accessibility. The Basin
of The Mississippi will then more easily contain
and feed ten times the population or l 81 1000
II the calcareous plain extending to the Arctic
sea, the two maritime fronts, and the mountain
formation, be added, and the whole compared to
Europe and Asia, 1000, 900 900 will easily find
roon-a population double the existing human
race This Basin is all within the Temperate
Zone ; but upon the shores of the Gulf at the
level of the sea- tropical fruits, flowers, and veg
citation, are produced. On the high mountain
slopes grows the vegetation of the Arctic Zone
Between these are found every kind of agricu'-
tural produc ion, as we descend from the ex-
frpmps a tho ~ raj tnaItn,n In - i
exactly central to the Continent
Not far remote from the west bank of the Mis-
sour River, in the bosom Of romantic and fertile
prairie, Is spot where the Smok yhill and Re-
publican Rivers, by their clrcumiuence, form
the Kansas. This is the geographical centre at
once of the North American Continent and Of
the Basin of the Mississippi. The circle describ-
ed from this centre with radius to San Fran
cisco will pass through Vancouver ON the Col
un'ba the port OF Severn River on IIudson's
Bay, through Quebec, through Boston, through
Havana, Very Cruz and the city of Mexico
W IN radius 10 the 19th degree, circle will
pass through Mobile, New Orleans and Mata.
gorda. This spot is therefore the geographical
centre OF the North American Continent, and
OF the Basin OF the Miss ssppl, both at once. 1t
is also equally the centre Of the American I'm
ION, as 1t is now blocked out into existing States
and into prospective States, to occupy sites in
tho now existing Territories Moreover, it is |
AS epuldlslant from, and exactly in, the middle |
between the two halves OF the human family dis /
tnctly concentrated; the one halt Christians, oc
cupyinI Western Europe, to the number of
259 100000 OF popula ion the other halt Pa
gans, occupying Oriental Asia and Polynesia, to
the number oil $4,000 900
Europe has all the outlets of its inland seas
and rivers towards the West, debouching on TO
our Atlantic front, towards which its whole sur
face slopes. Asia similarly presents TO our Pa |
enc front, an Oriental slope, containing her
great rivers, the drnsest masses of her popula-
lion, and detached Islands of great area, dense
population and infinite production. The dis
tance from the European to the Asian shores
Qrom Paris TO Pekin,) travelling straight by the |
continuous river line OF the Potomac, Ohio, Mis- |
souri,, Platte, and Snake Rivers, and across the |
two oceans, is ouly len thousand geographic |
miles. This straight line is the axis OF that tenn
perate zone Of the Northern Hemisphere of the !
globe, thlrty-three degrees in width, which con-
tains lour-hiths of the land, nine-tenths of the
people, and all the white races, commercial ac-
tivlty and industry of the civilized world. When, |
therefore, this interval of North America shall |
be ii led up, the atlllalion OF mankind will be ac- |
complished, proximity recognized, he distraction |
OF intervening oceans and equatorial heats cease,
lHc ielHo'cst natlols ne grouped together and |
fused into one universal and convenient system
OF immediate relationship.
Such are some OF the extraordinary atirac- |
tons presented 10 mankind, as social mass, by |
the position aud confgnration OF the Mississippi |
Basin. There is another and superatve pros |
pectiyc view. This presents itself n contrasting
the physical confguration of North America |
with the other continents.
Europe, the smallest in area OF the continents,
eliminates IN its centre into the icy masses of
the Alps. From the glaciers, where all the great
rivers have their sources, they descend the de-
clivitles and radiate to the different seas. The
Danube flows directly east to the Pontic Sea
the 20, to the Adratc; the Rhone to the sea Of
Lyons the Rhine, north to the German Sea. |
Walled off by the Pyrenean and Carpathian
divergent and isolated, are the Ia
gus, the Elbe, and other single rivers, affluents
OF the Baltic, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean
and the Pontic Seas. Descending from COM
mon radiant points and diverging every way
from one another, no interconmunication exists |
among the rivers of Europe towards their sources I:
navigation is petty and feeble art and commerce
have never, during thirty centuries, united so
many small valleys, remotely isolated by impen-
etrabe barriers Hence, upon each river wells
a distinct people, differing from all the rest in
race, language, religion, interests and habits
Though often politically amagamated by con-