The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-01-04

and harbor are such that . single,VessSl
could blockade it il such blockade wSfe
considered necessary. As the town is
cut off from the interior by long reaches
of dense swamp, through which stTag.
Cling post road is kept up, it win be con.
sidered Of no importance. Next in value
to Pensacola, as a capacious and safe har-
Dor, is the Bay Of st. Joseph. 1t is nearly
land-locked. and has an anchorage depth
of twenty-five to thirty-three feet, its en-
trance measuring seventeen feet Of water
on the bar. There is an unimpoTtant
fishing town called st. Joseph on this bay,
The Bay Of st. Andrews, the next har-
hor on the coast, though q shelter for
ships in bad weather, has only one small
town upon its shores. Equally wilder
ness in the country about st. Rosa Bay,
which has narrow entrance with but six
feet water on the bar. Connecting this
bay with the bay of Pensacola is st. Rosa
Sound, navigable only for vessels drawing
less than four feet OF water.
10. PensacOla.-One of the most i'm
portant points, in many respects, upon the
Gulf, is Pensacola, the next approachable
harbor to the West Railroads connect it
with Montgomery, the capital Of the State
Of Alabama, at which point it is connected
with the great net work of national roads.
The location, near Pensacola, Of United
States Navy Yard, adds to its importance.
The Bay of Pensacola, on which the town
lies, affords the finest harbor on the Gulf.
The water on the bar at the entrance,
measures twenty-five feet; within the bay
it is still deeper, but the depth is only
twenty-one feet off the wharves Of Pensa.
cola. Santa Rosa Island, near forty miles
in length, throws its western extremity
across the mouth of the bay, leaving q
single entrance one and quarter miles
wide. Near the extreme western end OF
the island is Fort Pickens, so situated that
the entrance channel sweeps around it in
a semi-circle; and vessels entering are cx-
posed in turn to the fire from three sides
Of the fort, within o range of less than q
mile. Santa Rosa Island Is scarcely q
quarter of mile wide at its broadest pOr-
ton, and so low that heavy seas sometimes
break entirely across some parts Of it,
Opposite Fort Pickens, on the main land,
is Fort McRae, and little to the south Of
the latter is the water battery. The War
rington Navy Yard and Fort Barrancas lie
on point Of the main land within the
bay, about one and two-thirds miles from
Pickcns. Fort Pickens can alone main
tain blockade of Pensacola, SO long as il
remains in the hands Of the United States
Government.
A short distance west from Pensacola is
Perdido Bay, with bar on which lies but
four feet Of water.
ALABAMA.
90. Mo6iLe.-Forty miles west from
Pensacola, on the bay of the same name,
lies Mobile entrance, the second place oi
entry on the Gulf after New Orleans. -
Two railroads connect it with the great
national routes. The Mobile river and its
branches, the Tombigbee and Alabama,
navigable for steamboats, several hundred
miles, also make important connections
with the interior. The population Of Mo.
bile is twenty-five thousand its business
wholly commercial. The entrance to the
bay lies between Sand Island, on which
the lighthouse stands, and shoal making
off from Mobile Point, long narrow SPIT
projecting from the main land, nearly tif'
teen miles in length. On the bar Of the
deepest channel the water lies twenty feet
in depth. Fort Morgan guards the en-.
trance, fertilization on Mobile Point, and
all heavy draught vessels have to pass i'm.
mediately under its guns in entering the
bay. This fort is in the hands, of the Sc
cessionists rha, yvsssAt, Ihsf GSe;mg vi
port will experience some difficulty in find
ing safe anchorage during heavy weather,
as the fort will prevent their using the bay
as refuge. The pass between Petit Bois
and Horn Island. having sixteen feet, is
the nearest refuge from southeast or south
west gales.
From Mobile Bay, westward, line o.
low sand islands lies parallel to the coast
forming Mississippi Sound, which is navi
gable for coasters drawing six feet Of wa
ter Flfrodgff this Sound considerable
trade is carried on with New Orleans, by
way Of Bayou ST. John and Lake Pom.
chartrain. The Sound communicates with
Mobile through narrow channel Of five
feet at low water, called Grants Pass
There are several connections between
Mississippi Sound and the Gulf, viz: be,
tween Dauphine and Petit Bois Islands,
between Petit Bois and Horn Islands, and
beyond Horn Island. The coast commu.
nication between New Orleans and Mobile
could be cut off by a small cutter cruising
between Horn Island and ChandeleuI
Reef, distance of thirteen miles, cutting
off at the same time the communication u
New Orleans with the Gull, through Lake
Ponchartrain. The latter body Of water
is navigated by vessels drawing seven feel
of water. Cat and Ship Islands have good
harbors, the first at its northeast end and
the last at the northwest end. Their chan
nels afford, respectively, seventeen and
nineteen feet.
LOUISIANA.
81. Mouths Of the MississiPpi.-There
are three main passes to the Mississippi
the Northeast Pass, the Southeast Pass
and the Southwest Pass. These, at their
widest divergence, are about twenty-five
miles apart. The Southwest pass has
usually thirteen feet of water on the bar