Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/70

62 deer, may be seen grazing nearly the whole of the year.

Cahokia is another small village, sixty miles further up the Mississippi, and inhabited by French people. It is situated on a small stream, about a mile from the river, and contains about eighty houses. The land *here is rich, mostly level, and covered with large timber.

The Illinois, a noble river, enters the Mississippi forty-five miles further up, and twenty-five miles above the mouth of the Missouri. It is four hundred yards wide at its mouth, and is navigable four hundred and fifty miles. Numerous tributary streams fall into it on both sides, some of which are also navigable a considerable distance. The Little Michilimackinac enters the river, from the southward, one hundred and ninety miles from the mouth, and is navigable ninety miles. One of the principal branches of the Illinois takes its rise near the head waters of the Chichago river, which enters into lake Michigan. Between these two rivers, there is a short portage of only two miles, making an easy communication between the Mississippi and the lakes. The navigation is uninterrupted, for vessels of considerable burden, from Lake Michigan to Niagara falls. From Lake Erie, to the Mohawk river, which empties into the Hudson, it is said, all the portages do not exceed twenty-six miles. Thus, by portages of about twenty-eight miles, an inland navigation is opened between New Orleans and