“ The Mississippi is subject to inundations, often destructive in their effects. To secure the land from these inundations, immense embarnkments, or levees, as they are generally called, have been formed along the Mississippi, and the canals or bayous through which its waters overflow. The white waters of the Mississippi do not readily mix with the sea, and may be distinguished from 9 to 14 miles from Balize. The facilities afforded by the Mississippi and its various tributaries for internal navigation are unsurpassed. De Soto, 1541, was the first European who explored the Mississippi. ”