Ensign, Bridgman & Fanning's lake and river guide; . , pro-jecting their tops, producing snags and saAvyers, as they arecalled, which are dangerous to navigators. The whirls oreddies which are produced by the tortuous course of the river,and its projecting points, also render navigation, to a degree,difficult and hazardous. Before the introduction of steamnavigation, it required eight or ten weeks to go from NewOrleans to the Illinois. The first steamboat on the westernwaters was built at Pittsburg, in 1811. Embankments calledlevees have been raised from 5 to 12 feet high, extending agreat dis
Ensign, Bridgman & Fanning's lake and river guide; . , pro-jecting their tops, producing snags and saAvyers, as they arecalled, which are dangerous to navigators. The whirls oreddies which are produced by the tortuous course of the river,and its projecting points, also render navigation, to a degree,difficult and hazardous. Before the introduction of steamnavigation, it required eight or ten weeks to go from NewOrleans to the Illinois. The first steamboat on the westernwaters was built at Pittsburg, in 1811. Embankments calledlevees have been raised from 5 to 12 feet high, extending agreat distance above and below New Orleans. By this meansthe river is kept within its usual limits, except in seasons of thegreatest freshets. Sometimes these embankments give way,overflowing thousands of acres, causing immense loss ofproperty. The river for 50 miles from its mouth runs nearlyparallel with the gulf of Mexico, from which it is separatedin some places by an embankment only three quarters of amile across. There are no tides in the ?^^?ini-: