It is not improbable that he never saw this stream,
for it is more than likely that at that time, Red River poured its
waters directly into the Gulf of Mexico, through Atchafalaya and
Cocoudrie Bayous. That these were formerly a part of the channel
of Red River, there can be no doubt. The sluggish swale that now
leads from the river to the Gulf is a silted channel that was
formerly large enough to carry the whole volume of Red River. Such
changes in the channel of a river, when the latter flows through
"made" soil, are by no means infrequent. It is only a few years
since the Hoang River, "the sorrow of Han," broke through its
restraining banks, and poured its flood into the Gulf of
Pe-chee-lee, 350 miles distant from its former mouth.]
With La Salle's exploration the future importance of the Mississippi
began; and though the railway has of late years largely supplanted it
as a commercial highway, yet, with the possible exception of the
Ganges, no other river in the world transports yearly a greater
tonnage of merchandise. The early traders were content to carry their
supplies back and forth in canoes. As settlement and business
increased, the canoe gave place to the raft, and the raft yielded to
the flatboat.
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