Aras River

“ The even ground over which we had travelled from the banks of the Arpa to Kars, from Kars to the southward-flowing streams, does not descend, as one might expect, to the valley of the Araxes through a series of gradual inclines. The transition is effected by an exactly opposite process; the plain continues to rise until it has almost reached the latitude of the river, then suddenly breaks away, and overhangs the valley in a long line of gigantic cliffs. ”

“ The soil and climate seem to be so favorable, that less labor is wanted than in most other countries. A great deal, if not most of the fertility in the valley must be ascribed to the ingenious system of irrigation, which they have introduced by a dam constructed in the river above Paso, and turning a considerable quantity of water into a canal. ”

“ To build a strong dam of stones and cement—say, 60 feet high—in the pass before referred to, and by submerging about 60,000 acres of land now subject to overflow and of little comparative value, create a vast lake 15 miles long by 7 wide, with a probable storage capacity of 4,000,000,000 cubic yards of water; place gates on each side of the river in the dam at the 50-foot level for waste-weirs and irrigating canals to supply each side of the river and keep up a flow in its bed which would bring the water in the canals 70 feet above the streets in the cities of El Paso and Juarez, respectively. ”

“ It rises in Central Colorado, flows east into Kansas, and out again east of the middle of the south boundary of the same State, southeast across Oklahoma and Indian Territories, and diagonally across Arkansas, bisecting it into nearly equal parts, and emptying into the Mississippi. The river is about 2000 miles long, navigable for 650 miles, and drains an area of 188,000 square miles. Much of the water in its upper course is used for irrigation purposes. In Fremont County, in Central Colorado, it flows through the Royal Gorge, one of the deepest cañons in the United States. ”

“ But the truth is that it forms a watercourse dependent at present upon floods, admitting of navigation for hundreds of miles at certain seasons, and at others being as dry as the Arno at Florence or the Manzanares at Madrid. By a series of dams and canals this river might be navigable all the year round. The same remark applies to several of its tributaries, and to rivers generally running toward the inland centres [Pg 236] and flowing into the Murray. The governments of the several colonies have long realized the importance and the necessity of a grand and comprehensive system of irrigation. ”

“ Therefore, if the present major streams reach the sea, it may also be concluded that those of an earlier period reached the sea, provided the topography indicates the perfect adjustment of streams to structure. Lacustrine sediments are absent throughout the Tertiary section. Such through-flowing streams, discharging on a stable coast, would also have mature valleys as a consequence of long uninterrupted erosion at a fixed level. The Majes river must have cut through the Coast Range at Camaná then as now. Likewise the Vitor at Quilca must have cut straight across the Coast Range. ”

“ Every observation tends to the inference that this now mighty estuary may, centuries hence, be reduced to similar bounds and rules to those which govern the outlets of the Amazons, the Mississippi, the Nile, and the Ganges. Nor will this require, perhaps, so long a period as might at [Pg 165] first be imagined. [46] If we except the narrow channel between the Chico and Ortiz banks, below Buenos Ayres, the average depth of the river between that city and Monte Video does not exceed twenty feet. ”

“ Whenever land can be reclaimed for agriculture or grazing on the flanks of the mountains and in the protected valleys and parks, it is done, so that the district has extensive irrigation canals, in some parts diverting practically all the available flow of water in the streams. This is particularly the case with the Upper Arkansas River, such diversion of the headwaters 464 in Colorado having robbed the river of its water to such a degree that the people of Kansas, whither it flows on its route to the Mississippi, are greatly annoyed and have protracted litigation about it. ”

“ It will be new to most people, that this noble stream has recently been navigated by steamers to a distance of 2200 geographical miles from its mouth at Pará, or double the distance which vessels are able to reach on the Yang-tze-Kiang, the largest river of the old world; the depth of water in the dry season being about seven fathoms up to this terminus of navigation. It is not, however, the length of the trunk stream, that has earned for the Amazons the appellation of the “Mediterranean of South America,” given it by the Brazilians of Pará ”

“ The huge irrigation scheme now being carried out will utilize an enormous natural hollow formerly known as the Cuenca Vidal, now rechristened Lago Pellegrini (after a once prominent Argentine statesman) as a natural storage reservoir. The surplus water from the lake and river system, which makes a network over the whole of the western part of the territories of Neuquen and the Rio Negro, at the base of the Andes, will be utilized for the irrigation of their eastern plains. ”

“ The Arkansas River once a mighty stream, has held out with more success than the Republican against the winds and drifting sands, but it is slowly and certainly disappearing, burying itself in the sand and earth it carries down at flood times—a work in which it is assisted by the strong, persistent prairie winds. ”

“ These cliffs extend for miles along the left bank of the Araxes; and it has been ascertained that for a space of over 30 miles they maintain about the same elevation, namely, a height of 6400 feet above the sea, and of 2000 to 2500 feet above the river.1 They may in fact be regarded as forming the rim of an extensive plateau, which commences at the confluence of the Arpa with the Araxes, and stretches westwards, unbroken by any considerable mountain barrier, along the narrows above Kagyzman, and along the broad [414] depression of Pasin to the very threshold of the plain of Erzerum. ”

“ Examining the affidavits and other evidence introduced in this case, it is clear to us that the Rio Grande is not navigable within the limits of the territory of New Mexico. The mere fact that logs, poles, and rafts are floated down a stream occasionally and in times of high water does not make it a navigable river. ”

“ The countless thousands had been doubtless cast into the river whilst flying during a sudden squall the night before, and afterwards cast ashore by the waves. We found ourselves at seven o'clock near the mouth of a creek leading to a small lake, called Aramána-í, and the wind having died away, we anchored, guided by the lights ashore, near the house of a settler, named Jeronymo, whom I knew, and who, soon after, showed us a snug little harbour, where we could remain in safety for the night. ”

“ The impounding of these waters, along with their regulated and systematic release to those with contracts, has promoted the spectacular development of the Lower Basin. Today, the United States operates a whole network of useful projects up and down the river, including the Hoover Dam, Davis Dam, Parker Dam, Headgate Rock Dam, Palo Verde Dam, Imperial Dam, Laguna Dam, Morelos Dam, and the All-American Canal System, and many lesser works. ”

“ This plain, of which I shall have more to say anon, forms the centre of the Draa basin, and extends from the foot-hills of the southern [126] slopes of the great Atlas range as far as the northern extremity of Jibel Saghru, the so-called Anti-Atlas, to the south. The river of Agurzga, flowing from the snow-level, is always well supplied with excellent water, which whirls and eddies along in crystal clearness over its stony bed, here in deep blue pools, and there in tiny rippling rapids. In winter-time it is liable to sudden floods, and often entirely unfordable. ”

“ This great water artery receives no affluents for more than 1500 miles from its mouth—the Atbara River, meeting it above Berber, being the last tributary that joins it,—and throughout a considerable portion of its lower course, reckoned from the Nubian Desert northwards, the people can only live by congregating close to its banks. ”

“ Various schemes were suggested at this time for drawing off the stagnant waters, as well as for the future regular drainage of the valley, and small operations for those purposes were undertaken with partial success; but it was feared that the discharge of the accumulated waters into the Tiber would produce a dangerous inundation, while the diversion of the drainage into the Arno would increase the violence of the floods to which that river was very subject, and no decisive steps were taken. ”

“ The main stream of the district is the Virgin, with a drainage area of 11,000 square miles, Muddy River and Santa Clara Creek being its main tributaries. It is a torrential stream, subject to sudden floods and carrying much silt. A section of its valley in the northwestern corner of the present Arizona, near Littlefield, is to be dammed in the near future for the benefit of small farms that have been cultivated for many years and for carrying out irrigation plans of much larger scope. ”

“ August 5th.—The river reminds me of some parts of the Jaburú channel, being hemmed in by two walls of forest rising to the height of at least 100 feet, and the outlines of the trees being concealed throughout by a dense curtain of leafy creepers. The impression of vegetable profusion and overwhelming luxuriance increases at every step. The deep and narrow valley of the Cuparí has a moister climate than the banks of the Tapajos. We have now frequent showers, whereas we left everything parched up by the sun at Aveyros. ”

“ At what possible expense could the absolute security of these great dikes be assured?
To continue: we enter the San Juan River, kept in bounds by a large dam, which, however, is not enough to assure everywhere sufficient depth of water in the shallowest parts; where there is not depth enough it would be necessary to blow up or excavate by dredges a channel one hundred metres wide by eight and a half metres deep. To make this channel would be difficult, to maintain it against what would constantly come in to fill it up might be still more so. ”

“ The arroba is a Spanish weight, equal to twenty-five pounds of sixteen ounces each.
Continuing the voyage with a fair wind, the governor arrived, on the evening of the 25th October, at a place where the river divides into three channels. One arm forms a great lagoon, which the Indians call the Black River; it runs towards the north into the interior of the country. The other arms, in which the water is of a good colour, reunite a little way further down. ”

“ The majority of the board, 8 to 5, opposed the idea of a dam and locks at Gatun on two grounds: first, that the introduction of locks in a treatment of the question was objectionable from many points of view; and, second, that the maintenance of a summit by means of an earth dam of immense magnitude to control the flood waters of this river introduced an element of great danger since the dam, without sheet piling, was proposed to be founded on the alluvial-filled gorges of the Chagres River, where the depth at one point extended 258 feet below the level of the sea. ”

“ In mountainous districts landslips sometimes occur and block the valley of a stream which then forms a lake. The water gradually rises and eventually flows over the dam and sweeps it away causing a flood, which is of great suddenness and height but decreases very quickly in height as it travels down the valley. In a case which occurred in the Himalayas in 1888 the inhabitants of the valleys, from the dam to the point where the river debouches from the hills, were compelled by Government to vacate all habitations below the probable level of the flood, and no loss of life occurred. ”

“ The Green River is the Rio Verde of the Spaniards, who named it from its timbered shores and grassy islets: it is called by the Yuta Indians Piya Ogwe, or the Great Water; by the other tribes Sitskidiágí, or “Prairie-grouse River.” It was nearly at its lowest when we saw it; the breadth was not more than 330 feet. In the flood-time it widens to 800 feet, and the depth increases from three to six. During the inundation season a ferry is necessary, and when transit is certain the owner sometimes nets $500 a week, which is not unfrequently squandered in a day. ”

“ The only ones of any importance are in the Pesháwar Valley. These draw their supplies from the Kábul, Bára, and Swát rivers, but the works supplied by the first two streams only command small areas. The Lower Swát Canal was begun in 1876, but the tribesmen were hostile and the diggers had to sleep in fortified enclosures. The work was not opened till 1885. A reef in the river has made it possible to dispense with a permanent weir. The country is not an ideal one for irrigation, being much cut up by ravines. ”

“ The dam on the Euphrates which regulated the flowing of its waters into the Hindîyeh canal has been allowed to fall into disrepair; every year a deeper and a stronger stream flows down the Hindîyeh, and matters have reached such a pass that during the season of low water the eastern bed is dry, the palm gardens of Ḥilleh are dying for lack of irrigation, and all the country along the river-bank below Ḥilleh has gone out of cultivation. ”