ms which have their
sources in a great variety of soils and climates. But the Missouri is
still sufficiently powerful to give to all its waters something of a
common character, which is of course decided by the nature of the
country through which it passes. The bed of the river is chiefly
composed of a blue mud from which the water itself derives a deep
tinge. From its junction here to the place near which it leaves the
mountains, its course is embarrassed by rapids and rocks which the hills
on each side have thrown into its channel. From that place, its current,
with the exception of the falls, is not difficult of navigation, nor is
there much variation in its appearance till the mouth of the Platte.
That powerful river throws out vast quantities of coarse sand which
contribute to give a new face to the Missouri, which is now much more
impeded by islands. The sand, as it is drifted down, adheres in time to
some of the projecting points from the shore, and forms a barrier to the
mud, which at length fills to the same height with the sandbar itself;
as soon as it has acquired a consistency, the willow grows there the
first year, and by its roots assists the solidity of the whole: as the
mud and sand accumulate the cottonwood tree next appears; till the
gradual excretion of soils raises the surface of the point above the
highest freshets. Thus stopped in its course the water seeks a passage
elsewhere, and as the soil on each side is light and yielding, what was
only a peninsula, becomes gradually an island, and the river indemnifies
itself for the usurpation by encroaching on the adjacent shore. In this
way the Missouri like the Mississippi is constantly cutting off the
projections of the shore, and leaving its ancient channel, which is then
marked by the mud it has deposited and a few stagnant ponds.

The general appearance of the country as it presents itself on ascending
may be thus described: From its mouth to the two Charletons, a ridge of
highlands borders the river at a small distance, leaving between them
fine rich meadows. From the mouth of the two Charletons the hills recede
from the river, giving greater extent to the low grounds, but they again
approach the river for a short distance near Grand river, and again at
Snake creek. From that point they retire, nor do they come again to the
neighbourhood of the river till above the Sauk prairie, where they are
comparatively low and small. Thence they diverge and reap