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In Dartmoor, the great headland of Devon, some of its principal and many of its smaller rivers have their sources; all radiating from within the circuit of a few miles, on this central fountain head, and flowing down the slopes of its high summits to almost every point in the compass. Of the most important of these, the Dart, so termed from the rapidity of its course, (and hence the name Dartmoor,) runs southeast from Okement hill, in a winding course to Totnes; and after a course of about 35 miles, gradually widens into a deep navigable estuary, and falls into the English Channel at Dartmouth haven. Its course is tidal for 10 1/2 miles.
The East and West Okement, though they rise near the same hill as the Dart, take an opposite course, and unite at Okehampton, whence the stream runs northward to the Torridge, a large river which rises in the north-west angle of the county, and after taking a very tortuous course, flows past Torrington to Bideford, where it becomes navigable for large vessels ; and after a course of 45 miles, issues into an estuary at Barnstaple Bay, common to it and the Taw. Its course is tidal for about 15 miles. The Taw rises in Dartmoor, and flows northward past Chulmleigh, where it meets the Little Dart, and then, pursuing a north-west course, receives various tributary streams, among which is the Mole, from Exmoor and South Molton; and after a course of about 45 miles, flows, by Barnstaple, into the Bristol Channel, through the same estuary as the Torridge. It is tidal in its course for 11 1/2 miles, and large vessels come up to Barnstaple.
The Tavy rises in the centre of Dartmoor, and flows past Tavistock, to the Tamar, a large river which rises near the north-western extremity of the county, and flows southward to Plymouth Sound, forming, with a few slight exceptions, the boundary of Devon and Cornwall, in its course of nearly fifty miles, in which it is navigable to Launceston, whence a canal extends northward in the valley to Bude Haven, with a branch to Holsworthy, &c. There is also a canal from the Tamar to Tavistock. The Teign originates from two branches, called the East and West Teign, both rising in the most elevated district of Dartmoor. The former is the main branch, and flows eastward between the Dart and the Exe, from Chagford to Dunsford, and thence southward to Chudleigh, below which it receives the West Teign, or the Wrey. Passing southward to Newton Bushel, the Teign turns eastward, and runs in a fine estuary to Teignmouth, about five miles below, where its waters are lost in the English Channel.
The Plym rises in Dartmoor, and runs southward to the Plymouth, in a course of about 15 miles. it mingles its waters with those of the Tamar, in Plymouth Sound. The Erme and the Aven, between the Plym and the Dart, are also considerable rivers, rising in Dartmoor, and flowing southward to the English Channel. The Exe, as noticed at pages 63-'4, has its sources in the forest of Exmoor, in Somersetshire, within a few miles of the Bristol Channel, and about 36 miles N. by W. of Exeter, to which it flows in a sinuous course, by Dulverton and Tiverton.