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Show 18 'EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. There are six outlets to the Mississippi ; the west, ~outhwest, south, main or northeast, north, aml Pass a Ia Loutre. Of these, the northwest, and northeast, have each about an equal depth of water, viz. twcl~e feet, on their respective bars. The west pass has nine feet, . the south eight, and the. north, and Pass a la Loutre also, about eight feet water. At present only tl1e pass of the nnrlheast is used ext~nsively. ; ~n~re than nineteen -twenti'eths of the vessel!=! that enter or leave the Misstssip-pi, pass by this route. , It has be ~ n an interesting subject of inquiry, how far the mouth of the Mississjppi would admit of improvement. Serious attention to the subject has been prevented, as have many other pra&ticable imp rove ... ments, by the erroneous idea that the channels are extremely cha Jge~ ble, and that a rapiuly inaeasing alluvion would retard and ult imately destroy the fruits of any labour and expense employed to Je'epen the channels over the oors of this great river. The author of tbis treatise measured and sounded the west, south-· west and mai.n, or nort'beast passes, ar.d could not perceive even a possibility of a very r~pi cl accu mulation of earth. Within thirty feet of the bar in the souHnvcst p:1ss, in the ouhlicJe, there is five fath om wau~ r. The inside sboals more gradually. The other passes exhibited nearly similar features. In all , in the insicle, at the distance of a fJ Uarter of a mile, the re is four fatbom water. The Lotto.m is ev~ry \rhere :1 hard tough tenaciouSJclay. , There i:t c \·cry re ason to believe, that al no great expense, double rows of piles could be driven, leaving sp.ace between for the largest vessels, and that the earlh could be scoope I out between, and the channel deepened suflici en tly to admit ships of the line to enter. There is nothing hazardous in the prediction 1 that wit bin less than l1al fa century, millions of acres of land, now abandoned to the waters, will be reclaimed, and made the residence of man, and that ships will sai I into. the Missi_,sippi, of a draught greater by far, than any that can at this time <:ither enter or leave this invaluable stream. More correct , ancl more liberal conceptions of improvement, wilJ expel the apathy that now prevails in that country, which is destined to reap the richest fruit s, afforded by the commercial and agricultural facilities by the Mississippi. No. 2. · From Ne,\-V Orleans to Mobile and Blakely:- l~'o.rt St. John, - - - _ _ _ Point aux Herbe~, - Fort Petites Coquilles, Vv estern mouth of the Rigolets. .Eastern mouth of the Rigolets, .. .. l&les aux Ma1heureux~ ~ - St. Joseph's Island, - Miles. 5 5 - 10 15 4 19 .!. J9 1 :!! 2 9j 28 9 31 Marianne Island, opposite the·:mouth of the bay of St. Louis, - P~ss of Christian, opposite Cat-Island, - - - 7 44 5 49 4 53 Mtd-channel, between Biloxi Bay and Ship-Island, Opposite Dog-Island, - Western enJ. of Dog-Island, ., - 20'173 20 83 8 91 E~IG llANT'S GUIDE .. Opposite the mouth of Pascagoula, Mid-cb.:mnel, between the eastern end of IIorn-IslaJ.:ld and Round-Island, Western end of hie au Petite Bois, Ea.5tern end of do. \V cstorn encl of Dauphin-Island, Entrance of the Pass aux Herons, 1\fobile Bay, - - Bar opposite Dog-River, Eutrance of Spanish-River, Head of the l\1obile-Island, • .. • .!VI iles. 10 101 6 107 6 113 7 120 4 124 3 127 5 1·32 15 147 5 152 6 158 Mobile - - - .. 6 164 The 'inside passage from New Orleans to Mo.bile and Bl~kel;r, and of con~equence to ;ill the cowntry upon the waters of M?btle, Alabama, and Tomhigbee rivers, is perfectly safe and co~~odwus for sma~l vessels. The depth of water in the passes of Chnstta~ and 11eron 15 not sufficient, in ordinary times, for vessels of more than sax feet draught. The force of the sea is ,brokem by the long peuinsnl~ th.at. b?unds Lake Borgne ''()n the southeast and by a chain of islands, c~nstshng of Mal· ·neureux-lslands, Mariance-Islands, Cat-lsland, Ship-Island, Dog- Island, Horn-Island, Isle aux Petites Bois, ano D~uphm·lsland. The bottom of this strait is a soft sagd. A singular circumstance, communicated to the author by an inte lligent t.:ommander of a vessel, r~specting the nature of the component parts of the ban~s u?on. the. Islands and main shore, may be of ~ome use ~o l'.ersons navtga.ttng m th1s place. The person who made the com~umcat1on had nav1gat~d frequently between New Orleans and .Mob de ; and observed, that m the dark erSt niaht he could always determine on which side of the strait the vessel was in as along the islands there were no shelJs mixed with the sand, whilst broken shelJs were invar~ab1y brought up by the lead when on the main shore. This information is introduced here, with the more confidence, because perfectly corresponding with th~ ob. servation·s-of the author. The southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain is low land, scarcely .rising above common tides, with very little timber. There are two passages from Lake Pontchtlrtrain into Lake Borgne ; the pass of the Hirrolets, and that of Chefmeuteur. The latter is of littJ~ cons.equence, not having more than fotJr feet wa ter on its respective bars. The H.igolets are properly the mouths of Pearl river, and afford nine feet water at each extremity. This pass, either in a commercial, na:, ·al, or military view, is of great consequence ; it is, in fact, after the Mississippi, the most important inlet of Louisiana, and ought to be ttrongly fortified. . Lak~ Borgne is a prolongation of the strait reaching from the Rr-: golets to Mobile ; it is about 35 miles in length from Cat-Island to. the mouth of Bayou Bienvenu, with a medial width of. twelve miles. L:1ke Borgne is chequered with two groups of smal1 Islands. Mallleureux and Marianne Jslands. It is generally extremely shallow. ExceptiJlg a .n.arrow cp~J!nel ~unni.ng along its northweslern border, |