The river at this point is nearly two miles in width, and has a current of about four miles an hour.
The upper Mississippi is a deep, clear stream, while the Missouri has many shoals and sand bars, and whose waters are always muddy, so very muddy that they color the Mississippi, from the junction to the Gulf of Mexico.
At one o’clock we arrived at St. Louis.
This flourishing city is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, and, owing to its commanding position, will probably ever maintain a leading position among the great cities of the West.
The streets, at this time, are quite muddy and filthy, but they are of good width.
The population appears to be made up—as seems to us New Englanders—of a heterogeneous collection of almost every nation and tongue.
Tonight we engage passage to Independence, Missouri, and go aboard the steamer Bay State, which is to leave here tomorrow morning for St. Joseph, Mo.
Sunday, April 29.
We left St. Louis at ten o’clock and proceeded up the river. At twelve we entered the turbid waters of the Missouri.
The Bay State is a good vessel, but is very much crowded with Californians.