As the Mississippi reaches the neighborhood of the Balize the east banks slope to the sea level very rapidly, running off toward the end at a declination of three feet to a mile; after which, the land is soon lost in wet sea marsh, covered by tides. On the west side the land declines more slowly, and in some places is deeply wooded. The chenières begin where the declination ends, and the great reservoirs of the coast, the lakes and lagoons, begin.
The incessant changes in the channel and filling up of the Mississippi preclude the possibility of a table of distances mathematically accurate, yet we have taken from accepted authorities the number of miles from the Gulf to the principal points along its banks. The table may be of service to the many that are daily tending to the great Father of Rivers, and those at home may be able to form, perhaps, a better estimate of the immense length of the stream, by having before them these figures:
TABLE _of Distances and Altitudes on the Mississippi_.
_Above level_ From the Gulf of Mexico _Miles. of the sea_. To New Orleans, La., 110 10.5 " Donaldsonville, La., 188 .... " Plaquemine, La., 210 .... " Baton Rouge, La., 240 .... " Port Hudson, La., 263 .... " Bayou Sara, La., 275 .... " Mouth of the Red River, La., 315 76 " Fort Adams, Miss., 327 .... " Natchez, Miss., 387 86 " Grand Gulf, Miss., 450 .... " Warrenton, Miss., 500 .... " Vicksburg, Miss., 512 .... " Mouth of the Yazoo River, Miss., 522 .... " Milliken's Bend, La., 538 .... " Lake Providence, La., 588 .... " Greenville, Miss., 657 .... " Napoleon, Ark., and mouth of the Arkansas River, 730 .... " Mouth of White River, Ark., 756 .... " Helena, Ark., 838 .... " Mouth of St. Francis River, Ark., 848 .... " Memphis, Tenn., 928 .... " New Madrid, Mo., 1,113 .... " Columbus, Ky., 1,167 .... " Cairo, Ill., and mouth of Ohio River, 1,187 324 " Cape Girardeau, Mo., 1,237 .... " St. Louis, Mo., 1,388 382 " Mouth of the Illinois River, 1,422 .... " Upper Iowa River, Io., 1,984 .... " Mouth of St. Peter's River, Minn., 2,198 744 " Falls of St. Anthony, Minn., 2,206 856 " Lake Cass, Minn., 2,761 1,402 " Itasca Lake, Minn., 2,890 1,575 " Springs on the summit of Hauteurs de Terre, 2,896 1,680