Some diversity of opinion has been entertained; as to the advantages to be derived from these operations, in reference both to sandbars and snags; but the doubts are not greater, nor better founded, than those which have invariably assailed every novel and bold undertaking. It is obvious too, that many of them proceed from interested persons; the pilots decry every improvement in the navigation of the rivers, which by making it more safe and easy, has a tendency to render their own calling less important, and their services less valuable, while the owners and officers of insufficient and badly managed boats, are always ready to attribute those disasters, by which life and property have been wantonly endangered to any other cause than their own cupidity or criminal mismanagement.

The only objection to any of these measures, is that they have not been attempted on a scale of magnitude becoming their importance, and urged with all the energy which could be given by the resources of a great nation. The western plain is the centre of our empire, the citadel of its strength, the magazine of its resources, the heart, whose healthful operation must throw out nourishment and vigor to the whole continent,-and here should the nation lay deep and broad the foundations of its future greatness.

CHAPTER III.

The River Mississippi.

From the Ohio, we proceed naturally to that part of the Mississippi river, comprised within the region to which we confine our remarks.

In descending from St. Louis, the traveler is at once struck with the magnitude and boisterous character of the stream which has been so appropriately called, the Father

of waters. The current is powerful and impetuous. The water, loaded at all seasons with particles of white clay, carries upon its discolored surface, the evidence of the violence which it is continually committing upon its shores. The torrent itself, has always an angry appearance boiling up or whirling round in eddies, and foaming, and lashing the shore, as it rushes along. On the Missouri side, a large portion of the country is high and broken, and the river often sweeps along the rocky bases of abrupt hills—behind which are the regions of lead and iron. Between these elevations are large tracts of alluvial bottom lands, which predominate on the Illinois side, whose shore presents an almost unbroken line of forest trees, extending their luxuriant foliage to the water's edge. The low, ragged, broken banks, are subject to continual change accumulating at one point, while at another they are undermined, precipitating masses of earth and immense trees, into the headlong torrent, to be whirled in its eddies, or planted in its navigable channels.

Almost midway between St. Louis, and the mouth of the Ohio, masses of limestone rock are seen on either side, which, though now unconnected, have the appearance of having once formed a continuous ridge, crossing the general course of the river in an oblique direction. It has been suggested that a cataract, as mighty as that of Niagara, may once have existed at this spot. If such was ever the fact, the barrier has now been worn down to the general level of the channel of the river. But there is no reason to believe that such obstruction ever existed at this place, as the surface of the plain, on the Illinois side of the river, is such as to give a decisive negative to the supposition; for the river, if obstructed here, would have flowed over the low ground on that side, instead of being dammed up at this point. The stream thus confined, is narrower here than above or below, and in crossing the rocks, its course suddenly

changes to a direction nearly at right angles with that of the ridge.

Approaching from above, we first discover the ridge throwing out a bold promontory into the stream on the Illinois shore, on the extreme point of which, is a large rounded mass of rock, 50 or 60 feet in height, shaped like an oven, and thence termed the Devil's Bake-oven. A low neck of land connects this with a range of perpendieular rocks, which frown in rugged precipices over the stream, and whose summits are beautifully crowned with vegetation. As the current sweeps abruptly round this cape, another promontory is seen jutting out from the opposite shore. Against this the whole force of the current beats with fearful velocity, and by its attrition, has worn it away until a large fragment has been separated, and left standing in solitary grandeur in the midst of the waves. This is the Grand Tower. Its height may be 50 feet, and, its diameter about the same. Its contour is remarkably exact and symmetrical, forming a column as nearly circular as if its proportions had been marked out by the hand of art. The sides are nearly perpendicular, but the different strata distinctly marked out. The whole has the appearance of a regular column, whose height is equal to its diameter. The, top is flat, and supports a stratum of soil, which gives birth to a short, but rich growth, of trees and shrubs.

In our early history, this was a noted spot. The river boats, which before the application of steam, were propelled up the stream with difficulty, by human labor, were unable to ascend this rapid pass with oars or poles. Not only was the current too strong for this operation, but the danger of being dashed against the rocks, was imminent. The only way to surmount these obstacles was, to drag the boat round the cape on the Illinois side, by means of ropes. To effect this object, it was necessary for a portion of the crew to land, and an opportunity was

offered to the Indians to attack them, when the prospects of resistance or of flight, were equally hopeless. Here then they formed their ambuscades, and many a crew was slain at this spot, to gratify the savage lust for plunder and revenge, while many boats were wrecked by the violence of the waves.

These dangers exist now only in tradition. The Indians have retired, and our own industrious citizens inhabit these shores; while the introduction of steamboats has obviated the dangers of navigation, and rendered this spot as safe as any other. When we behold the steam vessel slowly and majestically overcoming the mighty current, riding along in perfect safety, and then turn our eyes to the surges which are beating against the rocks and sending up their sheets of white foam into the air, we cannot but acknowledge the deep debt of gratitude, which our country owes to the memory of Fulton. And when we behold this grand and durable tower, so graceful and so appropriate in its form, so appositely placed in the midst of scenes, calculated to awaken respect for the genius, and gratitude for the services, of Fulton, we are induced to hope that a monument, to the fame of this illustrious citizen will be erected upon this natural pedestal.

The devil's tea table, and other appurtenances of the dominion of his Satanic majesty, are found in this neighborhood. The cornice rocks, are great curiosities. The perpendicular sides of the limestone precipices, have been worn by the water into regular shapes, and in some places, a continuous formation resembling a handsome cornice work, may be seen, overhanging the cliffs, whose sides represent columns, and other architectural devices. The upper Mississippi is a much more beautiful river than it is generally believed to be. In richness, beauty, and variety of landscape, it far surpasses the Ohio; and we cannot conceive why the French, who knew both, should have called the latter la belle in preference to E

the former, unless, indeed, they considered that it would have been a solecism in language to have made a belle out of the Father of streams. For the first thirty miles above St. Louis, the country, although extremely rich and valuable, is not interesting in its appearance. Within that distance, the Missouri river comes in on the one hand, and the Illinois on the other; and after passing the latter, the shores become attractive.

The whole character of the river is changed, after passing the mouth of the Missouri. Above that, the Mississippi is a clear stream, with a strong, but smooth current. Instead of the low alluvial banks, which are continually accumulating at one spot, and falling in at another, as is the case upon the lower Mississippi, here are bold and beautiful shores, such as no other river that I have ever seen, can boast. On the Illinois side, we now behold a range of tall bluffs, rising perpendicularly from the water's edge, to the height of from one to two hundred feet, and faced with a solid bed of limestone.

In looking at these bluffs, the imagination readily suggests the idea, that the river has once flowed upon a level with their summits, and has cut its present channel, by the action of its current. This is doubtless in part true, in reference to this, as to all other rivers. But the appearances which cause this conjecture may be accounted for much more easily. The horizontal lines and projections, resembling long rows of cornice, which are noticed by the voyager far above his head, have doubtless been produced by the trickling of the rain water down the sides of the precipice. The strata being horizontal, and of different degrees of hardness, the particles have been removed most rapidly from the softer parts, and with a regularity corresponding with the formation of the rock. The escarpments or steep sides of the rock, exhibit no angular shapes, but are smoothed and rounded as if by the long continued action of a powerful current of water.