|
LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPIby Mark TwainTHE 'BODY OF THE NATION'
BUT the basin of the Mississippi is the BODY OF THE NATION.
All the other parts are but members, important in themselves,
yet more important in their relations to this. Exclusive of
the Lake basin and of 300,000 square miles in Texas and New Mexico,
which in many aspects form a part of it, this basin contains
about 1,250,000 square miles. In extent it is the second great
valley of the world, being exceeded only by that of the Amazon.
The valley of the frozen Obi approaches it in extent;
that of La Plata comes next in space, and probably in
habitable capacity, having about eight-ninths of its area;
then comes that of the Yenisei, with about seven-ninths;
the Lena, Amoor, Hoang-ho, Yang-tse-kiang, and Nile, five-ninths;
the Ganges, less than one-half; the Indus, less than one-third;
the Euphrates, one-fifth; the Rhine, one-fifteenth. It exceeds in
extent the whole of Europe, exclusive of Russia, Norway, and Sweden.
IT WOULD CONTAIN AUSTRIA FOUR TIMES, GERMANY OR SPAIN FIVE TIMES,
FRANCE SIX TIMES, THE BRITISH ISLANDS OR ITALY TEN TIMES.
Conceptions formed from the river-basins of Western Europe
are rudely shocked when we consider the extent of the valley
of the Mississippi; nor are those formed from the sterile basins
of the great rivers of Siberia, the lofty plateaus of Central Asia,
or the mighty sweep of the swampy Amazon more adequate.
Latitude, elevation, and rainfall all combine to render every part
of the Mississippi Valley capable of supporting a dense population.
AS A DWELLING-PLACE FOR CIVILIZED MAN IT IS BY FAR THE FIRST UPON
OUR GLOBE.
EDITOR'S TABLE, HARPER'S MAGAZINE, FEBRUARY 1863 Chapter 1
The River and Its History
THE Mississippi is well worth reading about. It is not a
commonplace river, but on the contrary is in all ways remarkable.
Considering the Missouri its main branch, it is the longest
river in the world--four thousand three hundred miles.
It seems safe to say that it is also the crookedest river in the world,
since in one part of its journey it uses up one thousand three hundred
miles to cover the same ground that the crow would fly over in six
hundred and seventy-five. It discharges three times as much water
as the St. Lawrence, twenty-five times as much as the Rhine,
and three hundred and thirty-eight times as much as the Thames.
No other river has so vast a drainage-basin: it draws its water
supply from twenty-eight States and Territories; from Delaware,
on the Atlantic seaboard, and from all the country between that and Idaho
on the Pacific slope--a spread of forty-five degrees of longitude.
The Mississippi receives and carries to the Gulf water from
fifty-four subordinate rivers that are navigable by steamboats,
and from some hundreds that are navigable by flats and keels.
The area of its drainage-basin is as great as the combined areas
of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany,
Austria, Italy, and Turkey; and almost all this wide region is fertile;
the Mississippi valley, proper, is exceptionally so.
It is a remarkable river in this: that instead of widening toward its mouth,
it grows narrower; grows narrower and deeper. From the junction of the Ohio
to a point half way down to the sea, the width averages a mile in high water:
thence to the sea the width steadily diminishes, until, at the 'Passes,' above
the mouth, it is but little over half a mile. At the junction of the Ohio
the Mississippi's depth is eighty-seven feet; the depth increases gradually,
reaching one hundred and twenty-nine just above the mouth.
The difference in rise and fall is also remarkable--not in the upper,
but in the lower river. The rise is tolerably uniform down to Natchez
(three hundred and sixty miles above the mouth)--about fifty feet.
But at Bayou La Fourche the river rises only twenty-four feet;
at New Orleans only fifteen, and just above the mouth only two
and one half.
An article in the New Orleans 'Times-Democrat,' based upon reports
of able engineers, states that the river annually empties four hundred
and six million tons of mud into the Gulf of Mexico--which brings to mind
Captain Marryat's rude name for the Mississippi--'the Great Sewer.'
This mud, solidified, would make a mass a mile square and two hundred
and forty-one feet high.
The mud deposit gradually extends the land--but only gradually;
it has extended it not quite a third of a mile in the two hundred
years which have elapsed since the river took its place in history.
The belief of the scientific people is, that the mouth used to be
at Baton Rouge, where the hills cease, and that the two hundred
miles of land between there and the Gulf was built by the river.
This gives us the age of that piece of country, without any
trouble at all--one hundred and twenty thousand years.
Yet it is much the youthfullest batch of country that lies
around there anywhere.
The Mississippi is remarkable in still another way--
its disposition to make prodigious jumps by cutting through narrow
necks of land, and thus straightening and shortening itself.
More than once it has shortened itself thirty miles at
a single jump! These cut-offs have had curious effects:
they have thrown several river towns out into the rural districts,
and built up sand bars and forests in front of them.
The town of Delta used to be three miles below Vicksburg:
a recent cutoff has radically changed the position, and Delta is now TWO
MILES ABOVE Vicksburg. ORBuy "The Mark Twain Collection" and receive all 45 of the ebooks for only $9.95 Ebook Titles: - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- TOM SAWYER ABROAD
- TOM SAWYER, DETECTIVE
- THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN
- 1601
- A Burlesque Autobiography
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
- A Dog's Tale
- A Horse's Tale
- A TRAMP ABROAD
- Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories
- Carnival of Crime in CT
- Christian Science
- Complete Letters of Mark Twain
- Curious Republic of Gondour
- Double Barrelled Detective
- Essays on Paul Bourget
- Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven
- Extracts From Adam's Diary
- FENIMORE COOPER'S LITERARY OFFENCES
- FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR
- Goldsmiths Friend Abroad Again
- How Tell a Story and Others
- In Defence of Harriet Shelley
- Innocents Abroad
- IS SHAKESPEARE DEAD?
- LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI
- MARK TWAIN, A BIOGRAPHY
- Mark Twain's Speeches
- On the Decay of the Art of Lying
- Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc v1
- Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc v2
- Rambling Idle Excursion
- Roughing It
- Sketches New and Old
- THE $30,000 BEQUEST and Other Stories
- The American Claimant
- The Gilded Age
- The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg
- The Mysterious Stranger
- The Prince and the Pauper
- The Stolen White Elephant
- The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson
- Those Extraordinary Twins
- WHAT IS MAN? AND OTHER ESSAYS OF MARK TWAIN
That's right! No more waiting for the mailman to come to your door 7-10 days later.. You can start reading this book instantly!
It doesn't matter if it's 2 AM in the morning, you'll be downloading and reading "LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI" within just a few minutes. There's absolutely no risk to you - so what are you waiting for?
Here's how to order
LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI is delivered in PDF format and is viewable on any computer. All you need is "Adobe Reader" or "Acrobat eBook Reader" which is available free and already on most computers. to get the software. They are both Free.
Click below for an INSTANT download of the LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI (.PDF, 308 KB) ebook.
The cost of this ebook is only $3.00
get the ebook INSTANTLY
The charge will show on your billing statement as CLKBANK*COM or PayPal
Once your credit card is approved, you will be taken to a special download page where you will download the LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI ebook.
You'll be reading in less than three minutes.
Purchase Online with Credit Card by Secure Server.
Click Here NOW to download your copy (308 KB).
It doesn't matter if it's 2:00 a.m. in the morning!
All the best!
| |
and eLibrary present:
