RIVER. A natural collection of waters, arising from springs or fountains, which flow in a bed or canal of considerable width and length, towards the sea.
2. Rivers may be considered as public or private.
3. Public rivers are those in which the public have an interest.
4. They are either navigable, which, technically1 understood, signifies such rivers in which the tide flows; or not navigable. The soil or bed of such a navigable river, understood in this sense, belongs not to the riparian proprietor2, but to the public. 3 Caines' Rep. 307; 10 John. R. 236; 17 John. R. 151; 20 John. R. 90; 5 Wend. R. 423; 6 Cowen, R. 518; 14 Serg. Rawle, 9; 1 Rand. Rep. 417; 3 Rand. R. 33; 3 Greenl. R. 269; 2 Conn. R. 481; 5 Pick. 199.
5. Public rivers, not navigable, are those which belong to the people in general, as public highways. The soil of these rivers belongs generally, to the riparian owner, but the public have the use of the stream, and the authors of nuisances and impediments over such a stream are indictable. Ang. on Water Courses, 202; Davies' Rep. 152; Callis on Sewers3, 78; 4 Burr. 2162.
6. By the ordinance4 of 1787, art. 4, relating to the north-western territory, it is provided that the navigable waters, leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free. 3 Story, L. U. S. 2077.
7. A private river, is one so naturally obstructed5, that there is no passage for boats; for if it be capable of being so navigated6, the public may use its waters. 1 M'Cord's Rep. 580. The soil in general belongs to the riparian proprietors7. A river, then, may be considered, 1st. As private, in the case of shallow and obstructed streams. 2d. As private property, but subject to public use, when it can be navigated; and, 3d. As public, both with regard to its use and property. Some rivers possess all these qualities. The Hudson is mentioned as an instance; in one part it is entirely8 private property; in another the public have the use of it; and it is public property from the mouth as high up as the tide flows. Ang. Wat. Co. 205, 6.
8. In Pennsylvania, it has been held that the great rivers of that state, as the Susquehanna, belong to the public, and that the riparian proprietor does not own the bed or canal. 2 Binn. R. 75; 14 Serg. Rawle, 71. Vide, generally, Civ. Code of Lo. 444; Bac. Ab. Prerogatives9, B 3; 7 Com. Dig. 291; 1 Bro. Civ. Law, 170; Merl. Repert, h. t.; Jacobsen's Sea Laws, 417; 2 Hill. Abr. c. 13; 2 Fairf. R. 278 3 Ohio Rep. 496; 6 Mass. R. 435; 15 John. R. 447; 1 Pet. C. C. Rep. 64; 1 Paige's Rep. 448; 3 Dane's R. 4; 7 Mass. Rep. 496; 17 Mass. Rep. 289; 5 Greenl. R. 69; 10 Wend. R. 260; Kames, Eq. 38; 6 Watts10 Serg. 101. As to the boundaries of rivers, see Metc. Perk11. Dig. Boundaries, IV.; as to the grant of a river, see 5 Cowen, 216; Co. Litt. 4 b; Com. Dig. Grant, E 5.
