let of Delaware river and other smaller streams. It is 10 leagues across in the centre, and about 7 leagues broad at the mouth, from Cape Henlope to Cape May. From the mouth of the Delaware bay, at Cape Hen-lopen, to Philadelphia, 118 miles distance, there is sufficient depth of water for a 74 gun ship; and above Philadelphia, the river is navigable for sloops up to the great falls of Trenton, and for boats 40 miles higher.-The great bay of the Chesapeak is formed by the outlet of the Susquehannah river, where it receives French creek, and a number of smaller streams. Here it is about 7 miles broad; and it continues so to near the branch that leads up to Baltimore. From thence it assumes various breadths of from 10 to 15 miles, during a course of more than 70 miles, till it approaches the mouth of the Patowmack river. Thence it stretches out in breadth to 25 or 30 miles, during a passage of 90 miles more; and finally opens into the Atlantic ocean by an outlet of 20 miles broad, between capes Charles and Henry. The extent of this bay, from the outlet of the Susquehannah to the Atlantic is 270 B. miles N. and S., dividing in its progress Virginia from Maryland, and affording many commodious harbours, and safe and easy anchorage. In addition to the waters of the Susquehannah, it receives those of the Patowmack, Rappahannock, York, and James' river, all of which are large and navigable. Besides these, it receives the rivers Patapsco and Patuxent, on the W. side, and the streams of the Elk, Sassafras, Chester, Choptank, Nanticoke, and Pocomac rivers, on the E. side. There are numerous islands in this bay, and it abounds in various kinds of fish.-Albemarle sound is a large inlet of the sea, extending more than 60 miles W. into North Carolina. It is from 4 to 11 miles in breadth, having several communications with the ocean, the principal of which is Roanoake. It communicates with Curretick sound on the N. and Pimlico on the S., through a track denominated the Dismal swamp.-The bay of Mobile in West Florida is 36 miles long, and of considerable breadth. At the entrance, between the eastern point of Dauphin Island and Mobile Point, it is 5 miles wide; but it soon expands to 30 miles; and again contracts to 12 at the point where it receives the Mobile river. Large vessels cannot come within seven miles of the town of Mobile. The Americans have constructed a fort at Mobile point to defend the entrance. -Lake Borogne is an arm of the sea running between the coast of Florida and the narrow eastern projection of the tongue of alluvial land formed by the depositations of the Mississippi. This arm extends to within 15 miles of New Orleans. There is another arm of the sea, called Barataria, which opens into the mainland to the W. of the Mississippi, in 29° 15′ N. lat., and communicates with two lakes, called the Lesser and the Greater Barataria, through a rich, fertile, and very flat tract, subject to annual inundations, to within 15 miles S.W. of New Orleans.-The bay of St Louis lies to the E. of Borogne bay, and the bay of Perdido 70 miles E. of Mobile bay.

Lakes.] The Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie, Ontario, and Michigan, have been already described under the article Canada. The next lake in size and importance, is Lake Champlain, between the states of New York and Vermont. It extends 122 miles in length, and varies in breadth from 2 to 14 miles. It contains above 60 islands of various sizes, the chief of which are Motte island, and the North and the South Hero. On the north, it communicates with the St Lawrence, by means of the Sorrel river. At Ticonderago, it receives the waters of Lake George, (formerly called the Lake of St Sacrament,) from the S.S.W., by a fall of 100 feet

in height. Its water is pure and transparent; generally deep enough to navigate a ship of 50 or 60 guns, and in some places from 80 to 100 fathoms. Lake George, with which it communicates, is 36 miles long, and from one to 7 miles broad, containing in its bosom above 200 small islets, some say, 865. The portage between these two lakes is not above a mile and a half.

There are several small lakes in the province of Maine; three of these give rise to as many branches of the Penobscot river; another is the source of the Passamaquoddy. The Kennebeck rises from three small lakes. Another lake, called the Great Pond, is the source of the AndroScoggen. In the state of New Hampshire, is the lake of Winnipissiogee, 22 miles long, and 8 broad.

The state of New York contains a vast number of small lakes. There is scarcely a stream in the northern part of this state, but what has either its source in a small lake, or runs through several, in its progress, whether to the great lakes, or to Hudson's river. The chief of these lakes are Seneca, Cayugo, Oneida, Onondago, Skeneatiles, Owasco, Canandaigua, Otsego, Caniadebago, Oswegatchie, Cross, Hemlock, Hanyaga, Candrus, Crooked, and Chataughque. The latter is the most western of all these lakes, near the N.E. extremity of Lake Erie; it is only 8 miles distant from its shore, and the descent to Lake Erie, is by an easy slope. From this small lake issues one of the branches of the Alleghany river, called Conawango, which is navigable for small craft in all its extent. A number of small lakes also occur towards the source of the Mississippi, as Turtle Lake, Red Cedar Lake, Little Winnepeg Lake, Leech Lake, Swan Lake, Sandy Lake, Muddy Lake, Lake Packagama, White Fish Lake. A narrow belt of high land separates Turtle Lake, the most northern source of the Mississippi, from Red river Lake, one of the sources of the Red river which runs into Hudson's Bay. Otter Tail Lake, is the most southern source of Red river; and from thence is a portage of only half a mile to a branch of Raven river, which falls into the Mississippi. The whole tract of high country, at the sources of the Mississippi and Red river, is full of marshes, morasses, and small lakes, whose waters afford never failing supplies to these streams.

The Lake of the Woods is of a circular figure, with a cluster of islands in the centre. The navigating course through the lake, is 75 miles; but in direct distance, it is not above two-thirds of that extent in diameter. From this lake there is a long succession of small lakes, and numerous portages, to the N.W. end of Lake Superior, the chief of which is Lake la Plue. Two small lakes, Lake Biddle which gives rise to the Big Horn river, and Lake Pusthis which is the source of the Jaune, or Yellow Stone river, are situated amongst the Rocky mountains, in W. long. 112o, and N. lat. 42o.

In the state of Mississippi are the lakes of Maurepas and Pontchartrain. The first of these is of a circular figure, 12 feet deep, and 14 miles in diameter. In the time of high floods, it has a communication with the Mississippi, by means of the river Amité, or Ibberville; and this inundation, which lasts only four months annually, occasions what is erroneously called the island of New Orleans, to be then an island in fact, for at no other time is it environed with water, the city of New Orleans being situated on a peninsula." Lake Maurepas communicates with Lake PontFrom Lake Maurepas, to Fort Bute, or Manshac, on the Mississippi, is 60 com. puted miles, following the course of the Amité; and Manshac is 101 miles above New

chartrain, by a stream 7 miles long, and 300 yards wide, and divided by an island extending from the lake to within a mile of Pontchartrain, into two branches, of which the southern is the safest and deepest. Lake Pontchartrain is nearly of a circular form, 40 miles in its greatest length, and 30 miles in its greatest breadth, and 18 feet deep. From this lake to the sea is 10 miles, by a passage called the Regolets, 400 yards wide, and lined with marshes on each side.

The Lake Borogne, or Blind Lake, has been mentioned already, in our account of the bays and arms of the sea. On the W. side of the Mississippi are the lakes of Great and Little Barataria. The Catahoola Lake, 16 miles long and 4 broad, is the source of a stream of the same name, which uniting with the Washita and Bayau Tenza rivers, form the Black river, which falls into the Red river, 26 miles above its junction with the Mississippi river. This lake, during the dry months, is covered with the most luxuriant herbage; and is then the residence of immense herds of deer, of turkeys, geese, cranes, &c. which feed on the grass and grain.

Swamps.] The alluvial tracts of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Lower Louisiana, and indeed the whole coast from New Jersey, is a succession of swamps, enlarging in extent as we proceed southward. They receive different appellations in different places: as cedar-swamps in New Jersey; rice-swamps in the Carolinas and Georgia; and cypress-swamps in the vicinity of New Orleans. The whole tract W. of the Lower Mississippi, from its junction with the Ohio, to the sea, may be considered as one vast swampy belt, of 50 miles broad. In the eastern parts of Virginia and North Carolina, there is a large tract called the Dismal swamp, containing 150,000 acres, which is entirely covered with trees. These trees attain a prodigious size; and among them there is often thick brushwood, so as to render the swamp impervious; while other forests in America are commonly free from underwood. In this swampy forest, bears, wolves, deer, and other wild animals abound. Some parts are so dry as to bear a horse, while some are overflowed; and others so soft that a man would sink in them. A canal has been cut through this swamp. In the mountainous parts of North and South Carolina, the marshes and swamps, especially in the hot months, send forth the most noxious effluvia, and generate fevers and agues. Georgia presents a singular marsh, or swamp, called Ekanfanoko, or Owanqua-fenoga, lying in the S.E. extremity of the state, between the rivers Oakmulgee and Flint. It is 300 miles in circumference, and contains several large and beautiful islands; one of which is represented by the Creek Indians as a kind of paradise.

RIVERS.] With the exception of the Mississippi, and its numerous branches, and the St Lawrence, all the other remarkable rivers of the United States, flow from the eastern and southern sides of the Alleghany, and may be divided into four classes. Of the 1st class are, the Alabama and Flint rivers, which descend into the gulf of Mexico, from the southern slope of the range which divides their sources from the Tennessee and its

Orleans, by the windings of the Mississippi. From Manshac to the Amité, there is a natural canal of 21 miles, navigable for vessels drawing four feet water, when the Mississippi is high; thence the Amité is navigable all the way to Maurepas and Pontchartrain Lakes, and thence to the sea. This natural canal, which is dry for ten months in the year, is very absurdly termed the river Ibberville, for in the dry months, the surface of the Mississippi is 24 feet lower than the bed of this natural canal. The river Amité itself, even from where the Ibberville joins in the inundations, is not navigable above four months annually, for the first ten miles; but three miles farther down, it has from two to six feet water; and all the remaining part of its course to Lake Maurepas, there is from two to four fathoms water.

accessory streams.-The 2d class contains those which descend from the western chain, or the proper Alleghany, and run across the eastern chain, which being seated on a bed of granite, causes them to precipitate in their passage from falls more or less high, at the foot of which they receive the tide. Such are the Hudson, Delaware, Susquehannah, Potomac, and James' rivers; to which may be added the rivers flowing from the prolongation of the two chains, as the Connecticut to the N., the Roanoake to the S., the Cape Fear, Pedre, Santee, Savannah, and the Alatamaha. The rivers of the 3d class throw themselves into the 2d, above their falls, and flow between the western and eastern chains, in the high valley of limestone. Such are the Wallkill and Paulinskill between the Hudson and Delaware, which water the valleys of New Platz and Newton; the Lehigh and the Swatara, crossing the valleys of Easton and Middletown, between the Delaware and the Susquehannah; between the Susquehannah and the Potomac are the Conecogwinet and Conecochegue, fertilizing the valleys of Carlisle and Chambersburg; and on the other side of the Potomac, the Shenandoah, winding along the most beautiful valley in Virginia. All the rivers of the 4th class spring from the foot of the eastern chain, have their falls near their sources, and receive the tide at the very foot of their falls. This is the reason why they have so large a volume of water below the head of the tide, and are so slender above, where they rather appear like small rivulets. Such are the Penobscot and Kennebeck in the district of Maine; the Merrimack in Massachusetts; the Providence river in Rhode island; the Thames in Connecticut; the Passaik and Rariton in New Jersey; the Christiana in the state of Delaware; the Schuylkill in Pennsylvania; the Elk, Patapsco, and Patuxent in Maryland; the Rappahannock, York, Appomatox, Elizabeth, and Pasquetank in Virginia; and a number of other rivers which spread their waters over the flat and sandy coasts of the two Carolinas and Georgia.

The Penobscot.] The river Penobscot is the largest in the district of Maine. It rises in the high lands separating Maine from Lower Canada. Between the junction of its two upper branches is Moose Deer Lake, 30 or 40 miles long, and 15 wide. From the Forks, as they are called, the Penobscot Indians pass to Canada, up either branch, principally the W., the source of which is said to be not more than 20 miles from the waters which fall into the St Lawrence. The whole navigable course of the river for sloops, is 46 miles from the head of the bay, to near the head of the tide; and from the Forks to the sea is 134 miles.

The Connecticut.] The Connecticut is the largest river of the northern, or New England States. It rises beyond the high lands which separate the states of Vermont and New Hampshire from Lower Canada. It has been surveyed to the head spring of its northern branch, about 25 miles beyond the 45th degree of latitude, from which to its mouth, it flows upwards of 300 miles, through a well-inhabited country. Its navigation is much interrupted by falls. It receives several rivers, as the Chicapee, Deerfield, Miller's, and Farmington. At Hartford it meets the tide, whence it passes on in a winding course, till it falls into Long Island sound, between Saybrook and Lyme. This river is navigable for sloops, as far as Hartford, 50 miles distant from its mouth; and the produce of the country, for 200 miles above it is brought thither in flat-bottomed boats, which are so light as to be portable in carts.

The Hudson.] The Hudson, or, according to the dialect of the Americans, the North river, is formed by the confluence of the Hudson Pro

per and the Mohawk, which unite below Waterford, 10 miles above Al bany. The Hudson takes its rise in the 44th degree of N. lat., from the foot of the mountains which separate the waters of the St Lawrence from those of Lake Champlain, and the Mohawk in the table-land surrounding Oneida lake. The Mohawk river rises to the N.E. of Oneida lake, about 8 miles from Sable Water, a stream of Lake Ontario. It runs first 20 miles S. to Rome; then S.E. 134 miles; and, after receiving many tributary streams in its course, falls into the Hudson by three mouths. It is a large stream of water; and is now navigable for boats from Schenectady to Rome, 104 miles distant. Prom Albany to Schenectady is a portage of 16 miles, on account of the falls and rapids, which render the river unnavigable. These falls and rapids, denominated the cohoes, are 3 miles from the junction of the Mohawk with the Hudson. The river is 1000 feet wide at these falls; the rock over which the stream descends is 40 feet perpendicular height; and the whole height of the cataract, including the descent above, is 70 feet. Properly speaking, the North river is no other than a narrow gulf of the sea, entering inland at New York, and penetrating across the double chain of the Alleghany mountains, as far as the confluence of the above-mentioned streams, 170 miles from the sea. This is what distinguishes the Hudson from all other rivers in the United States. In no other does the tide ascend beyond the first range; but in the North river, it crosses the first chain at West Point, 60 miles N. of New York; and the second at Kaats Kill, after having burst the beds of granite which opposed its passage, and cut them into a thousand different shapes. Hence the deep valley of the Hudson has derived a most singular and magnificent aspect; the western bank being, in some places, 500 feet of perpendicular height above the level of the river. The whole course of the Hudson river is 250 miles.

The Delaware.] The Delaware issues by two streams, called the Coquago and the Rappadon, the union of which, 40 miles in a direct line from their sources, form the Delaware, from the Katskill mountains, in the county of Delaware, state of New York. Running first S. it next turns to the S.E. forming, for the space of 60 miles, the boundary between Pennsylvania and New York; and thence, forms again the line of separa tion between the former state and that of New Jersey, for upwards of 100 miles more to Trenton, where there are falls, but of no great height. Thence, with increased breadth, it pursues a course of 36 miles farther, to Philadelphia, where it is a mile broad. Thence it proceeds to Newcastle, 40 miles below Philadelphia, where it is two miles broad. Thence it spreads out into a spacious bay, and falls into the Atlantic, 70 miles below Newcastle, by an outlet of 25 miles. The whole course of the river, from the Atlantic to its source, is 350 miles; and 280 from the head of Delaware bay, including the windings. Its two chief tributary streams are the Lehigh and Schuylkill. The navigation betwixt the Delaware and Chesapeak is now improving by means of a canal.

The Susquehannah.] The river Susquehannah, of all those of the eastern states, most resembles the Mississippi and the St Lawrence, on account of its numerous and distant branches. The N.E. branch, which is the remotest source, is formed by the junction of two small streams that issue from the lakes of Caniadebago, Ustavantho, and Otsego, in the state of New York. It runs S. and S.W. in such a winding course, (receiving

The term is derived from the savages; and what is singular, the same word is applied in the county of Liege to a little cascade, eight miles distant from Spa.