Teesta River

“ We lighted our fires; and, having cooked and eaten our fish, which were delicious, we prepared for a night's rest by spreading mats upon the sand. It was terribly cold; for we were not sheltered from the wind, which went right through my blanket.
Not far from Fetich Point is the river Tetica, one of the tributaries of the Nazareth river. The Nazareth falls into the bay, through a tangled, dreary, and poisonous track of back country, consisting of mangrove swamps, like those I have described on the Monda river, and where, I daresay, no animals, except serpents, are to be found. ”

“ But charming as the view of the town is, we quickly leave it to watch the changes of light and colour in the valley and on the wide-bedded Tescio as it twists and turns in countless sharp zig-zags till we lose it where it joins the Tiber—there where the mist rises. We might travel far and not find so fascinating a river as the Tescio; only a trickle of water it is true, but sparkling in the sunshine like 86 a long flash of lightning which has fallen to earth and can find no escape from a tangle of fields and vineyards. ”

“ The heaviest piece of work on the canal is a rock cut through the “divide” on the eastern portion of the summit level, commencing about four miles to the west of lock No. 3. This cut is about 2·9 miles long and the average depth is about 150 feet, involving a removal of about 2,150,000 cubic yards of earth, and 7,500,000 cubic yards of rock.
Lake Nicaragua has a watershed of 8000 miles. The only outlet of the lake is the San Juan river, which discharges, at its lowest stage, near the close of the dry season, 11,390 cubic feet of water per second. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The plan of Martinez appears to have embraced two distinct objects, the first of which extended to the lakes of Tezcuco and San Cristoval, while the second was confined to the lake of Zumpango, the superfluous waters of which were to be carried into the valley of Tula, by a subterraneous canal, into which the river Guautitlan was likewise to be compelled to flow. ”

“ Postglacial faulting and tilting along the southern margin of Grand Teton National Park diverted drainage systems (such as Flat Creek, southwest of the Flat Creek fault on the south edge of the geologic map) , raised hills, dropped valleys, and made steep slopes unstable. Flood-control engineers wage a never-ending struggle to keep the Snake River from shifting to the west side of Jackson Hole as the valley tilts westward in response to movement along the Teton fault. ”

“ The Sansons [102] give us a Map of it from the Discoveries of Texeira, who sail’d up and down the same in 1637, 1638, and 1639. The River, he says, begins at the foot of a Chain of Mountains nam’d Cordelera, about 8 or 10 Ls. East of Quito in Peru. It runs first from West to East, turns afterwards South; and then after many Windings and Turnings holds its main Course East, till it falls into the Atlantick Sea. Its Fountains and Mouth are very near under the Equator, and the main of its Stream is in the 4th and 5th deg. of S. Lat. ”

“ The trees do not, indeed, grow as high as the Big Trees of California or the eucalyptus in Australia, but some of these in the Teesta Valley are 200 feet in height with buttressed trunks between 40 and 50 feet in girth, and give the same impression of stateliness and calm composure. With incredible effort and incessant struggle they have attained their present proud position, and the traveller most willingly accords them the tribute that is their due. ”

“ In order to augment its water supply, the North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company desired to conduct water from a stream known as Texas Creek, in Nevada County, California, across the Big Cañon branch of the South Yuba River into the main Bloomfield flume or aqueduct, which was located on the side of Big Cañon Creek, at a vertical elevation of 620 feet above the bed of the latter stream. The quantity of water to be carried was about 32 cubic feet a second (1,250 miner's inches) , which could be diverted from Texas Creek at a point 480 feet vertical above the Bloomfield flume. ”

“ 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. ”

“ There are no fords. In some dry seasons there are rapids between Seña and Tete; they are [239] always passable. The bed of the river is mud, gravel, and sand.
In the dry season, the water of the river is clear and transparent; in the rainy season, it is brown, and at times approaching to a bright yellow. At this season, the Mozambique Channel is discoloured at a distance of 80 or 100 miles from the Killimane Bar.
In the neighbourhood of Tete, gold, coal, and iron are found in close proximity. Dr. Livingstone has worked the “Asthmatic” with the coal of the country ”

“ The Americans have always looked with favour on a scheme for a canal here, owing to the fact that Lake Nicaragua, which is one hundred and ten miles long by thirty-five miles broad, offers navigation for a considerable portion of the route to be traversed. This lake, situated some hundred and twenty-five feet above the level of the sea, is fed by about forty different streams, and empties itself by means of the River San Juan into the Gulf of Mexico. ”

“ Pressing westward, we go through the sandy, marshy zone, and leaving behind us Tejeria, Soledad, Paso Ancho, and PasoPg 8 del Macho, we reach the famous Chiquihuite bridge, when a glorious region succeeds to the flat country and parched vegetation of the coast; we continue to ascend through grander and grander scenery and more luxurious vegetation, having on our left the river Atoyac with its precipitous course, between deep ravines, and presently we come in sight of the iron viaduct, which is considered one of the best works on the line. ”

“ 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. ”

“ We arrived at the cataract of Theotonio about mid-day, after being very nearly swamped in the rough water below the fall. The river widens out at the foot of each one of the principal rapids, and in the case of the Theotonio, the greatest fall on the river, the bay is of very considerable size. The water here is always in a more or less agitated state, from the effect of the principal fall, which is about twenty-six feet in height, and when the wind blows up stream, [42] the waves rise so much that canoes run great danger of being swamped. ”

“ Few countries are better supplied with navigable rivers, streams, and rivulets, than Texas. Nevertheless, excepting along a part of the coast, and on the banks of the Red River, near the Great Raft, no such inundations take place as to render the adjacent district periodically unhealthy. ”

“ The Chalchijalpa is a large river, whose different sources come from the direction of the Chimalapa Mountains. Señor Moro says: 'The Indians of Santa Maria ascend it on rafts to a point 38 miles distant from their village.'
Although it may be possible to utilize isolated portions of the river for the canal, even in these high points, it is my opinion that flood-gates and other accessory works will overbalance the economy of excavations. Be it as it may, future surveys must determine these points, with the study of details. ”

“ Here the Tees, in a succession of violent cascades, makes a descent, as we have seen, of two hundred feet. At High Force it falls by only seventy-five feet; but, whereas the lonelier cataract is a long and broken slope, the water at High Force falls with plummet-like directness, in a vast broad sheet when the river is in flood, in two straight white columns when the floods are subsidin [Pg 200] g, and in a single glittering fall when the river is at its normal height. Here the contrast between the Yorkshire and the Durham side of the Tees first makes itself decisively felt. ”

“ In the debate leading to approval of the first congressional appropriation for irrigation of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, the delegate from the Territory of Arizona made this statement:
'Irrigating canals are essential to the prosperity of these Indians. Without water there can be no production, no life; and all they ask of you is to give them a few agricultural implements to enable them to dig an irrigating canal by which their lands may be watered and their fields irrigated, so that they may enjoy the means of existence. ”

“ The Nachez [Neches] and Angelina are small rivers, of about 20 yards in width, which, after forming a junction, discharge into the Trinity. The river Toyac is a small stream, which discharges into the gulf of Mexico, at the same bay with the Sabine, in about lat. 29° 50 ́ N. and long. 97° W. [IV'-48]
The Sabine river, the present limits between the Spanish dominions and the territories of the United States in that quarter, takes its source in about lat. 33° N., and enters the gulf of Mexico in 29° 50 ́. It may be 300 miles in length by its meanders, and at the road about 50 yards in width. ”

“ Few of them are navigable for any distance, being—like the Chagres river, which traverses the Isthmus of Panama, or the San Juan river, that is to be utilised for the Nicaraguan canal—too rapid, tortuous and subject to floods, to be convenient for purposes of navigation. In course of time, however, as wealth and population increases, we may naturally look for the artificial improvement of such waterways with a view to their adaptation for purposes of commerce, as in the European rivers already referred to. ”

“ The highest floods of the Tehuantepec River never reach fifteen feet above its bed. An inspection of profile will show that there is no difficulty in crossing over the stream.
Harbor of the Atlantic Terminus of the Canal. — On the Atlantic side of the isthmus there is a natural, well-protected harbor, made by the banks of the Coatzacoalcos. The harbor varies its depth, but from its entrance to the island of Tacamichapa it can easily be deepened to twenty-two feet. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Through this wild and lovely country the river Settite flowed in an ever-changing course. At times the bed was several hundred yards wide, with the stream, contracted at this season, flowing gently over rounded pebbles; the water was as clear as glass; in other places huge masses of rock impeded the flow of water, and caused dangerous rapids; then, as the river passed through a range of hills, perpendicular cliffs of sandstone and of basalt walled it within a narrow channel, through which it rushed with great impetuosity ”

“ The track would conduct one to the ruins of a bridge which has been built over the Pilcomayo, but the road bed of the structure was in such a rotten condition, that the arrieros do well to trust themselves to the chances of the ford rather than risk falling through from the bridge into the river. On either side of the ravine are patches of cultivated land, watered by “azequias,” or irrigation channels, led from the necessary distance up the stream. ”

“ The mouth of the River Martín, which is much choked with sand, forms the harbour of Tetuán, but sea-going vessels have to anchor in the open roads. The trade of the place is unimportant.
A coast-road was constructed by the Spaniards during the Morocco campaign, connecting Tetuán with Ceuta (23 M.) , but now only a track remains. It leads at first through the coast-plain at the E. base of Jebel Dersa (see above) , and then, beyond the Cabo Negro or Cape Negron (886 ft.; Arabic Râs et-Tarf) , skirts the fertile spurs of the Anjera Mts. ”

“ The temperature of these rivers varies extremely at different parts of their course, depending on that of their affluents. The Teesta is always cool in summer (where its bed is below 2000 feet) , its temperature being 20 degrees below that of the air ”

“ Beyond the lake there must be a clean-cut over or through the mountains to the Pacific, and here six locks are reckoned sufficient. Cross-cuts from one bend in the river to another can be constructed at the rate of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or less, per mile. The canal must be sunk or raised at intervals; there will, therefore, at various points be the need of a wall of great strength and durability, from one hundred and thirty to three hundred feet in height or depth.
The annual rain-fall in the river region between Lake Nicaragua and the Caribbean Sea is twenty feet ”