, 1866-12-24

whose sole apparent sources of supply arc
found in few small streams which low into
It from the State of Michigan.
The largest Of these are the Grand and Man
istee Rivers ; from Wisconsin there Is only
one small stream, the Milwaukee River at
Milwaukee. From Illinois there Is only the
Chicago River, sluggish stream without !
current; md indeed there is at only ten mile:
distance from the banks Of the lake soutt
and west, the water shed called the Summit
which separates the waters which dow into
the st. Lawrence from those which flow iutt
the Gulf Of Mexico, and from the southern
slope this Summit, flowing southwark, Is tht
Aux Plaiues River. a tributary of the Illinois
So that Lake Michigan gets no water from
Illinois, but trifc from Wisconsin and very
little from Michigan. And yet the Straits O
Mackinaw carry of large quantity Of water
from this lake, and Lake Michigan furnishes
Its due proportion Of the great current viii Ct
passes over the Falls Of Niagara. Now, tht
! question arises, whence comes this great vol
ume md mass of running water?
| Geofogists are tolerably familiar with the
subject Of underground streams and water
courses. They know that the crust of the
earth Is full Of these streams, and although
from the fact that they arc generally coa-
cealed from sight, there must be considerable
speculation concerning them, yet there are
cases such as in tho Mammoth Cave in Ken.
lucky, the Adelsberg Mountains in switzcr,
| land, and numerous artesian wells scattered
all over tue world, the lost rivers on our
Western prnirfes, &C.. from which positive
| knowledge may ~be derived concerning the
| nature and history of these rock bound
rivers.
The artestan wells in London furnish now
about L, 000, 600 Of gallons Of water daily.
This Is the seepage Of the valley In which
the great city is located. The water from
the whole country surrounding finds Its way
along the tilts and inclinattons Of the broken
strata. below the chalk beds, in among the
sands and gravel, from whence 1t is taken by
boring into the ground to the depth Of
about 600 feet. It does not appear probable
that there are any considerable streams in
this vicinity, for the entire Of the underlying
gravel beds seem. as 1t were, saturated with
water, which IL reached ut any point of per-
foratior-
These remarks apply to the wells Of Gre
nellie aud Of Passy, In the basin of Paris, with
the exception In the case Of the latter that
they struck m amazing stream Of water
eighteen hundred feet below the surfaeo
Ions nrr d.v 1nsb,ng r. tbo surfars v,th
rreat nov.r and veioc1tv mi. ID .tro,.
evidence eertai6,v- of n or..t nndc,crounds
stream at this point, The great wells Of
KissIngen, in Bavaria, at Munden, in Han
over, at Louisville. In Kentucky, Charleston,
8. c., and hundreds of others, many Of
l. - r..
fug great volumes Of waterfall tend to
demonstrate the fact that the crust Of the
earth is penetrated in all directions aud at all
depths with these streams and water courses.
Adopting this as conceded fact, let us
once more turn to the map Of North
America and note particularly the point
where the thitty-sccona degree Of west
longitude CROSSES the forty fourth parallel OF
north latitude Within radius Of five hun
dred miles, ot which this Is the centre,
WILL be iound the great water producing
region OF the West 1p this elevated and
comparatively uneven surface Of the country
nearly all Of the great rivers Of the West
have their sources and fountain-heads. First
the MlssouF1t with Its lnnumerabIe branches
and tributaries, among which are the Yellow
stone and the North Fork of the Platte, the
A1kansas, tho Red River, the Rto Graude, all
flowing from the eastern aud southern slopes
OF the Rocky Mountains and finding their
way through Thousands Of miles Of country
to the Gulf Of Mexico. On the western slope
Is the Rio Colorado, which empties into the
Gulf OF California. and which is formed by
the union Of the Grand and Green Rivers, the
sources Of which are also within the terri
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