Early Voyages Up and Down the Mississippi (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: APPENDIX. FTER the firft fheets of this volume were printed, I received Thomafly's Geologic Pratique de la Loutfiane, which contains the original of the following extract from a Letter of Mr. de la Salle to the Marquis de Seignelay. Western Mouth Of The River Colbert, ) March 4, 1685. J My Lord: .... The feafon being far advanced and feeing that very little time was left me to accomplifh the enterprize I had undertaken, I refolved to afcend this channel of the river Colbert, rather than return to the more confiderable one, diftant twenty-five or thirty leagues from here northwefterly, which we had remarked on the 6th of January, but had been unable to recognize, believing from the ftatement of the pilots of his majefty's veflel and ours, that we had not yet pafled Efpiritu Santo Bay (that of Mobile); but at laft, after conftantly coafting along very near land and in good weather, the latitude made us perceive that they were miftaken, and that what we had feen on the fixth of January was in fact the main entrance of the river that we were feeking. If fpring had not been fo near, I would have gone back. Fear of fpending thereft of the winter in running eaftward, from which direction the winds blow almoft conftantly, and drive the current weftward, made me refolve to afcend the river here, and to afk Mr. de Beaulieu' to go and reconnoitre that other mouth to give an account of it to your Lordfhip. This one is fituated at 28 18' or 20' N. latitude: the channel is wide and deep within the bar, there being almoft everywhere five or fix fathoms of water. It is true that there are only two fathoms on the higheft bank, at leaft at this feafon, when the river being frozen in all its branches has too little force to clear the channel and drive back the fand which the fea...