The mouth of the St. Lawrence opens
directly towards Europe and of all American rivers lies nearest
to the seafaring peoples of Europe. Since it flows chiefly in a
rocky bed, its course changes little; its waters are clear, and
they become icy cold as they approach the sea and mingle with the
tide which flows into the great Gulf of St. Lawrence from the
Arctic regions. The Mississippi, on the other hand, is a turbid,
warm stream, flowing through soft lands. Its shifting channel is
divided at its mouth by deltas created from the vast quantity of
soil which the river carries in its current. On the low-lying,
forest-clad, northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico it was not easy
to find the mouth of the Mississippi by approaching it from the
sea. The voyage there from France was long and difficult; and,
moreover, Spain claimed the lands bordering on the Gulf of Mexico
and declared herself ready to drive out all intruders.
Nature, it is clear, dictated that, if France was to build up her
power in the interior of the New World, it was the valley of the
St.
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