Riparian Rights from Another Standpoint [pp. 10-14]

Riparian Rights from another Standpoint.
ed within a few days; whose purpose simply was to get a cargo of dye wood, and who
had no expectation of traffic in their annual
visits? If we admit this part of the story to
be true, we shall have no difficulty in accepting the learned argument of M. de Quatrefages to prove that the foreigners came from
Lieou-Tchou or the eastern islands of Japan,
but if we submit the tale to a careful scrutiny, it is not an easy, one to believe.
There is not sufficient evidence to justify
the belief that the Japanese or Chinese ever
made such ventursome voyages. We have
both record and tradition of the arrival of
Japanese vessels on our coast, but they were
plainly unwilling visitors. There is no known
wood upon our coast of particular value as a
dye-wood, and there is no part of the North
Pacific coast where the extermination of a
particular tree would leave the inhabitants
without wood. The collection of a cargo of
dye-wood in a country which has no wood
valuable for that purpose is not a sufficient
motive for the annual voyage. If, for the
purpose of rendering the story more plausible, we admit that the bearded men came
for the purposes of trade, then we should
expect to find some traces of its existence in
the hands of the Indians. A careful examination of the authorities does not disclose
any evidence of such a trade ever having existed.
Our conclusions, then, are that the journey
of the Indian was not only a possibility, but
that the accumulation of testimony showing
knowledge of the river and sea of the West
bears evidence of the existence of intercourse
between the tribes inhabiting the valleys of
the Mississippi and the Columbia. We can
not accept as probable the habitual visitations of the bearded men; and since Dumont
acknowledges that he receives the version
that he gives from the lips of Le Page, we
must hold Le Page responsible for their introduction in the story and for the double
endings. That Moncacht-Apd existed, that
he had a reputation as a traveler, and that
he made some such trip as is described in
the story, may be inferred from Dumont's
statement that he knew the Indian; and although he does not give full credit to the
story, still his publication of it shows that he
felt that there might besome foundation for it.
Should the students who may hereafter
have access to Oriental records find material there which will justify the belief that the
shores of the North Pacific Coast of America were frequently visited by the Japanese or Chinese, we shall gladly withdraw
our conclusions that a large part of the story
of Moncacht-Ap6, as told by Le Page du
Pratz, is to be assigned to the literature of
hoaxes, and cheerfully join in restoring it
to the region of history.
Andrew McFarland Davis.
RIPARIAN RIGHTS FROM ANOTHER STANDPOINT.
WHAT can be done in the matter of irrigation by the State of California? How far
and in what manner can the waters of our
streams be diverted from their natural channels for the purpose of rendering fruitful the
great arid valleys of the State? These are
destined to become shortly the most prominent questions of the day, because within a
few years a great effort will be made to utilize to their utmost the waters flowing from the
Sierras in the work of irrigation. The Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys are now,
for themost part,itreeless plains. The late
rains enable the growth of small grains, but
forage plants, fruits, and vines cannot be
grown with success. A thousand acres will
not afford a reasonable living to more thtn
one family. Were it possible by a network
of ditches to bring into these valleys an
abundant supply of water, a metamorphosis
could and would be accomplished in their
agricultural condition. The soil is rich and
the climate warm. With the requisite moisture, forage plants, trees, and vines would
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[July,