Grant was then face to face with the great problem of the day, the solution of which would cut the Confederacy in two, and separate the east from the cattle plains of Texas, from which its armies were fed. No point was accessible from which he could operate. There was not the remotest possibility of making a successful attack in front of the city. The point was to reach a position in the rear of the place, where there was standing room to conduct siege operations. The country was flooded with water, and the troops were frequently inundated in their camps. The perils and difficulties of the gigantic enterprise were patent to all; but the troops were mostly veterans, and they worked with zeal and patience. The president had considerable confidence in the Vicksburg canal, and, though Grant had but little hope of its success, or little confidence in its value if completed,--as the lower end of it was covered by rebel batteries,--he labored patiently upon it for two months. His next plan was to flank the water communications of Vicksburg by a navigable course by Lake Providence, through a series of bayous and rivers, to the Wachita, and thence to the Red River, by which a passage could be obtained for light steamers to the Mississippi, four hundred miles below. It was an immense undertaking, which nothing but American enterprise would have considered, but which American enterprise would have accomplished if it had been possible. It was not possible, and the plan was abandoned. A similar attempt was made on the east side of the Mississippi, but rather as a means of entering the Yazoo to destroy the rebel steamers which had gathered there, and to break up gunboats in process of construction on its shores. There had formerly been a steamboat route through Moon Lake, Yazoo Pass, the Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers, to the Yazoo; but as the influx of water from the great river above inundated the whole region annually, a strong levee had been built by the state to protect the country, and the passage was thus closed. This levee was cut through, and after the most incredible exertions in removing obstructions placed in the stream by the rebels, and cutting an opening through the overhanging branches, a fleet of light gunboats and transports penetrated to the Yallabusha, where its farther progress was interrupted by a battery called Fort Pemberton, which could neither be battered down nor drowned out. With difficulty the expedition was extricated from its perilous position, and though Grant had entertained a hope from its first success that he should be able to transport his troops and supplies by this route to the rear of Vicksburg, he was compelled to abandon the idea.