royal river

Any navigable river of England so far as the tide ebbs and flows. It is said to be a branch of the sea, so far as it flows, and the sea is under the dominion of the king. See Arnold v Mundy, 6 NJL 1. "Lord Hale says that, as the common highways upon the land are the common land passage, so these kinds of rivers, whether fresh or salt, that bear boats or barges, are highways by water; and as the highways by land are called the `king's highways,' so these public rivers for public passage are called `royal streams,' not in reference to the propriety of the river, but to the public use." See New England Trout & Salmon Club v Mather, 68 Vt 338, 35 A 323.