rians, are the prevailing sects, and there are some Episcopalians and Roman Catholics. Alabama is divided into 46 counties. In 1820, 1827, 1830, POPULATION AT DIFFERENT PERIODS. In 1810, less than 10,000; in 1816, 29,683; in 1818, 70,542. 127,901 244,041 INCREASE. SLAVES. INCREASE. 41,879 309,527 || From 1820 to 1830, ....181,626 | 117,549 24,541 Of the above population of 1830, there were, white Males, 100,846; white Females, 89,560; deaf and dumb, 89; blind, 68; aliens, 65. Total whites, 190,406. Free coloured Males, 844; Females, 728. Total, 1572. Slaves-Males, 59,170; Females, 58,379. Total, 117,549. The city of Mobile is a flourishing commercial town, being the depôt for nearly the whole State of Alabama and part of Georgia and Mississippi; it is built on a dry and elevated spot, but was formerly rendered unhealthy by the surrounding marshes; these, however, have been drained, and the streets have been paved with shells, and of late years Mobile has not suffered from diseases. The harbour is good, and numerous steam-boats run on the river and to New Orleans. The annual export of cotton from the port is about 250,000 bales. The population in 1830 was 3194; in 1835 it was estimated to exceed 6000. Blakely, on the opposite side of the bay, on a high, open, and healthy site, with deeper water and a harbour easier of access than that of Mobile, has not thriven in the same manner, and is only a little village. Montgomery, near the head of the Alabama, is a busy, growing place, with about 2000 inhabitants. Wetumpka, on the Coosa, at the head of steam-boat navigation, was cut out of the forest in 1832, and in 1835 it was a place of considerable business, with 1200 inhabitants. Gainesville, on the Tombeckbe river, is a thriving place, lately settled. Tuscaloosa, the capital, stands in a rich district, on a fine site, near the centre of the State, on the Black Warrior river, and, being accessible to steam-boats, is a place of considerable trade; it contains the State-House, the halls of the University, the county buildings, &c. The population of the town is about 2000. Florence, below Muscle Shoals, at the head of steam-boat navigation on the Tennessee, is a growing place of about 2000 inhabitants, with a prosperous and increasing trade. Tuscumbia, opposite to Florence, is also a thriving town. Above the Shoals, and about ten miles north of the river, is Huntsville, situated in a very fertile and beautiful region, with about 2500 inhabitants. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI. THE State of Mississippi is bounded on the north by Tennessee, east by Alabama, south by the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana, west by Louisiana and Árkansas. It is about 300 miles in average length, and 160 in breadth; area, about 48,000 square miles. The principal rivers are the Mississippi, Pearl, Pascagoula, Yazoo, Big Black, Tennessee, and the western branches of the Tombeckbe. The Mississippi forms the western boundary from lat. 31° to 35° north; 308 miles in a right line, but by the course of the river near 700 miles. The Yazoo or Mississippi Swamp is an extensive tract of country north of the Yazoo river, and between that river and the Mississippi, about 175 miles in length and 50 in breadth, with an area of 7000 square miles. A considerable part of it is annually overflowed by the waters of the Mississippi, and at that period it assumes the appearance of a vast marine forest. Many parts of it have an excellent soil, and produce large crops of cotton, &c.; it is also intersected by numerous creeks and bayous, leading to and from the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. Numerous mounds, walls, and enclosures, are found in it, attesting the existence of a considerable population at some former period. The Cold Water river, the head branch of the Yazoo, communicates with the Mississippi by a bayou or creek called the Yazoo Pass, through which boats of considerable burthen pass and repass during periods of high water. It is proposed to clean out and deepen this channel sufficiently to admit steam-boats of large burden. The southern part of the State, extending about 100 miles north from the Gulf of Mexico, is mostly a champaign country, with occasional hills of moderate elevation, and is covered with forests of the long-leaved pine, interspersed with cypress swamps, open prairies, and inundated marshes. A considerable portion of this part is susceptible of cultivation. The soil is generally sandy, sometimes gravelly and clayey. It is capable of producing cotton, corn, indigo, sugar, garden vegetables, plums, cherries, peaches, figs, sour oranges, and grapes. In proceeding north, the face of the country becomes more elevated and agreeably diversified. The growth of timber consists of poplar, hickory, oak, black walnut, sugar-maple, buckeye, elm, hackberry, &c., and the soil is exceedingly fertile, producing abundant crops of cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, indigo, garden vegetables, and fruit. Nearly all the country watered by the Yazoo, is described as incomparably fertile and well watered. Its climate, and the value of its productions, will doubtless cause it to remain an important part of the Union. Tobacco and indigo were formerly the staples of Mississippi, but cotton, at present, is the chief production of the State, and it absorbs nearly all the industry of the inhabitants, to the exclusion even of corn and cattle. The crop is about 300,000 bales. Some sugar is produced in the southern strip, but the cane does not appear to thrive. Some works of magnitude have already been undertaken for facilitating the transportation of the bulky staple of the State. The Mississippi Rail-road, which is to extend from Natchez, through Jackson, to Canton in Madison county, a distance of 150 miles, is in progress. The Woodville and St. Francisville Rail-road, from Woodville to the Mississippi in Louisiana, 30 miles, is completed. The Port Gibson and Grand Gulf Rail-road, 8 miles long, connects the former place with the Mississippi. The Vicksburg Rail-road, from that town to Clinton, 35 miles, is also in progress. The Jackson and Brandon Rail-road is 8 miles in length. A large portion of this State was, until recently, in the possession of the Choctaws and Chickasaws. The former occupied an extensive tract on the eastern border, between the head waters of the Pearl and Big Black Rivers, and the Tombeckbe; in 1830, they ceded these lands to the United States, and in the course of the three succeeding years removed to the Western Territory; their number is 15,000. The Chickasaws are still in possession of a part of the country between the head waters of the Yazoo and Tennessee. But they cease to form a distinct nation, and they have ceded their lands to the United States on condition that they shall receive the proceeds of the sale. If they remain in the State, they become citizens and subject to its laws; those who choose to remove provide a home for themselves. Their number is about 5000. The same provision was made by Congress for the support of schools in this State, as was made in Alabama; and the State has also a small literary fund, devoted to the same purpose. There are in the State several academies and three colleges; Jefferson College at Washington, Mississippi College at Clinton, and Oakland College at Oakland. The population of Mississippi has increased with astonishing rapidity. In 1810, the population of the Territory of Mississippi, which included the present State of that name and Alabama, was 40,352; in 1820, the State of Mississippi contained 75,448 inhabitants, and in 1830, 136,806, of whom 65,659 were slaves. During the last three or four years the emigration has been active and uninterrupted, and it was estimated, in 1835, that the population of the State exceeded 325,000 souls. In 1820,. Mississippi is divided into 56 counties. POPULATION AT DIFFERENT PERIODS. SLAVES. INCREASE. INCREASE. 75,448 32,814 1830,. 136,806 From 1820 to 1830,. 61,358 65,659 32,845 Of the above population of 1830, there were, white Males, 38,466; white Females, 31,977; deaf and dumb, 29; blind, 25: total whites, 70,443. Free coloured Males, 288; Females, 231: total, 519. Slaves-Males, 33,099; Females, 32,560: total, 65,659. Natchez, the largest and most important town in the State, is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi, 300 miles above New Orleans. It consists of two distinct parts; the lower town, called Natchez under the Hill, or the Landing, is built on a dead level on the margin of the river, about half a mile in length, and from 100 to 200 yards in breadth, and is occupied by warehouses, tippling-shops, boarding-houses for the boatmen, &c.; the upper town stands on a lofty bank or bluff, rising abruptly to the height of 300 feet, and is the residence of the better class of citizens. The streets are wide, regularly disposed, and adorned with fine shade-trees, while many of the houses are embosomed in groves of the orange, palmetto, and other trees, and ornamental shrubs. This place has been occasionally visited by the yellow fever and other diseases, but it is during the greater part of the year an agreeable and healthful residence, and seems of late years to have lost its character for insalubrity. Natchez is 300 miles above New Orleans, yet it carries on a considerable direct trade with foreign countries, and large ships come up to the town. Its river and inland trade is, however, more extensive. In 1835, 35,000 bales of cotton were shipped from the port. Its population in 1830 was 2790, but at present it is probably 4500. Vicksburg, 106 miles above Natchez, and about 12 miles below the mouth of the Yazoo River, stands in a picturesque situation, on the declivity of several considerable eminences, called the Walnut Hills, rising abruptly from the river. It is surrounded by numerous large and rich plantations, and is the depôt of a large tract of newly settled country, which a few years since was owned and occupied solely by Indians. In 1835 it shipped off 55,000 bales of cotton, and contains at present probably 3500 inhabitants, having doubled its numbers within the last 2 years. The merchants have commenced a direct intercourse by sea with the Atlantic ports, and are making exertions to have it declared a port of entry. All the trade of the Yazoo country centres in this place. Vicksburg is upwards of 500 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, by the Mississippi River. On the west bank of Pearl River is Jackson, the capital of the State: it is finely situated in a plain about a half mile square, on which stand the State-House, the Penitentiary, and some other public buildings. It contains about 1000 inha bitants. Woodville, in the south-western part of the State, 18 miles from the Mississippi, is a very pretty, and growing village with 1000 inhabitants. The little village of Fort Adams is considered as its port on the Mississippi, but Woodville is now connected with the river at St. Francisville by a rail-road. Port Gibson, or Gibsonport, is a flourishing little town, prettily situated in a charming tract of country on the Bayou Pierre, and laid out with great regularity. The river is navigable for steam-boats to this place in time of high water, and a rail-road connects it with Grand Gulf, its port on the Mississippi. The latter, finely situated on a natural terrace, receding to a crescent of wooded hills, takes its name from a remarkable eddy in the river, and is a thriving town with 1000 inhabitants; 55,000 bales of cotton were shipped from this place in 1835. Port Gibson has 1200 inhabitants. Grenada and Manchester, both on the Yazoo, are thriving places, as are also Aberdeen and Columbus, on the Tombeckbe: the latter place has a population of more than 2000, and an extensive commercial business is transacted here. STATE OF LOUISIANA. LOUISIANA is bounded on the north by the States of Arkansas and Mississippi; on the east, by the latter State; on the south, by the Gulf of Mexico; and on the west, by the republic of Texas. The 33d degree of north latitude is the northern boundary, west of the Mississippi river; and the 31st degree on the east of that river; the Pearl River is its extreme eastern boundary, and the Sabine its western. It is in length 240 miles, by 210 in breadth; and contains 48,220 square miles. Three-fourths of the State are without an elevation that can be properly called a hill. The pine woods generally have a surface of a very peculiar character, rising into fine swells, with table surfaces on the summit, and valleys intervening from 30 to 40 feet deep. The alluvial soil is level, and the swamps, which are the only inundated alluvions, are dead flats. The vast prairies, which constitute a large portion of the surface of the State, have, in a remarkable degree, all the distinctive aspects of prairies. To the eye they seem as level as the still surface of a lake. They are, except the quaking prairies, higher and drier than the savannas of Florida, That part of the surface of the State periodically overflowed by the waters of the Mississippi, was found to contain, from a survey made by order of the government of the United States in 1828, an extent of above 5,000,000 acres, a great proportion of which is deemed unfit for cultivation in its present condition. This immense alluvial tract embraces soil of various descriptions, which by proper draining may be rendered capable of producing all the staple commodities of this region. The Mississippi, after having formed the boundary of the State for about 450 miles, enters its limits, 350 miles from the sea by the course of the river channel. Throughout this distance of 800 miles, its western bank is low, and flooded in high stages of the river. Outlets, or bayous, receive its surplus waters during the period of the annual inundation, which are carried off by them to the sea: the principal of these bayous are the Atchalafaya, Plaquemine, La Fourche, &c. The rivers in this State, in addition to the Mississippi, are, the Red River; the Washita, flowing into the Red River; the Teche, Vermillion, Mermentau, and Calcasiu, run into the Gulf of Mexico, together with the Pearl, on the east, and the Sabine, on the west. The Red River is the most important, and, indeed, with the exception of two or three insignificant streams on the eastern side above Baton Rouge, the only tributary of the Mississippi within this State. Soon after entering Louisiana, its bed is choked up by an immense accumulation of fallen timber, called The Raft; and the water is here dispersed into numerous channels, and spread over wide expanses. The Raft extended formerly over a distance of 160 miles; but 130 miles of it have been removed by the exertions of the general government, and the whole mass will soon be cleared away. On the banks of the Mississippi, La Fourche, the Teche, and the Vermillion, below lat. 30° 12' north, wherever the soil is elevated above the annual inundations, sugar can be produced; and the lands are generally devoted to this crop. In all other parts of the State, cotton is the staple. The best districts for cotton are the banks of Red River, Washita, Teche, and the Mississippi. Rice is more particularly confined to the banks of the Mississippi, where irrigation can be easily performed.-The quantity of land within the State adapted to the cultivation of the three staples, has been estimated as follows: sugar, 250,000 acres; rice, 250,000; cotton, 2,400,000. Some of the sugar-planters have derived a revenue in some years of $600 from the labour of each of their slaves; from $350 to $450 is the ordinary calculation. The cultivation of cotton is believed to be equally profitable. The amount of sugar has gradually increased in this State, from 1783 to the present time. The crop of sugar is now from 70,000 to 90,000 hhds.; and of cotton, about 200,000 bales. The prairies of the west afford fine pastures, and here are found large herds of cattle and horses.. Rice, maize, tobacco, and indigo are also produced. In the eastern part of the State, between the Mississippi and Pearl Rivers, much lumber is cut for exportation, and some tar, pitch, and turpentine are prepared. There are valuable school lands in Louisiana, reserved, like those in the other new States, on the sale of the Public Lands, and there are three colleges in the State, Louisiana College at Jackson, Franklin College at Opelousas, and Jefferson College; in 1835, the Legislature voted an allowance of 15,000 dollars a year to each of these institutions, and some attempts have been made, although with not much success, to provide for the education of poor children. There is a Medical School in New Orleans. The Roman Catholics form the majority of the population; but there are many Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians. Several rail-roads are constructing in the State. The New Orleans and Nashville rail-road is in progress from New Orleans to the Mississippi State line, 88 miles. This vast work, when finished, will no doubt bring a great increase of trade to New Orleans: it will be upwards of 500 miles in length. The Atchalafaya rail-road, from New Orleans to that river, is also in progress, and a rail-road has been made from Alexandria to a point on the Bayou Boeuf, a distance of 30 miles. The Woodville and St. Francisville rail-road, 30 miles, is principally within this State. The New Orleans and Teche Canal, extending from the Mississippi to the river Teche, is in progress. Some useful works of less extent have also been executed. Among these are the Pontchartrain rail-road, 44 miles, from New Orleans to the lake of that name, and the Carrollton rail-road, from the same city, 6 miles up the river; a rail-road to Lake Borgne, 10 miles, is about to be constructed; this last work, in connexion with a harbour on the lake, will afford a new and convenient access to the city, from the sea. There are also canals from New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain. The population of Louisiana consists in part of the French and Spanish colonists by whom it was occupied at the time of the cession, but it comprises also a large and increasing number of immigrants from the other States. The French language is used exclusively by a considerable proportion of the population, but the English is also familiar to many inhabitants of French origin. The subdivisions bear the name of Parishes, of which there are 33. POPULATION AT DIFFERENT PERIODS. Of the above population of 1830, there were, white Males, 49,794; Females, 39,397; deaf and dumb, 45; blind, 38; aliens, 1,700: total whites, 89,441.Free coloured, 16,441; Slaves, 109,588. New Orleans, the third commercial mart in the Union, stands on the left bank of the Mississippi, 100 miles from the sea by the course of the river, and four miles from Lake Pontchartrain. Steam-boats and small vessels come up to the landing on the latter, where an artificial harbour has been formed, and whence a rail-road and two canals extend to the rear of the city. In the front of the city on the river, the largest merchant-ships lie close up to the levée or bank, so that no wharves are necessary to enable them to load and discharge. The river is here from 100 to 160 feet deep, and a half-mile wide. New Orleans is the depôt of the whole Mississippi Valley, and must increase in importance with the daily growing wealth and population of that vast region. Thousands of huge arks and flat-boats float down its mighty artery for thousands of miles, loaded with the produce of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, as well as with that of the more western States. The number of steam-boat arrivals in 1835 was 1172; and from 1500 to 2000 flat-boats, 50 to 60 steamers, and a forest of the masts of sea-vessels may be seen lying at once along its levée. In 1835, 535,000 bales of cotton, 34,365 hhds. of tobacco, 47,015 hhds, and 4832 barrels of raw sugar, 1,539,267 lbs. of crushed, and 358,749 lbs. of clarified sugar, 18,597 hhds. and 23,577 bbls. of molasses, beside large quantities of flour, salted provisions, whiskey, lead, &c., were exported; in which year the shipping amounted to 357,414 tons, comprising 507 ships, 493 brigs, and 604 sloops and schooners; the total value of the exports for the year, including the foreign and coasting trade, was about 40,000,000 dollars. The city stands on a dead level, and is regularly laid out, with the streets intersecting each other at right angles; as the surface of the water is from two to |