construction of a ship canal around these rapids has lately passed the legislature of Michigan.

The southern peninsula, or Michigan Proper, is generally a level country having no elevation that can properly be called hills; the centre of the peninsula being a table-land, elevated, however, but a few feet above the level of the lakes. Along the shore of Lake Huron there are in places high bluffs: along the east shore of Lake Michigan are immense hills of pure sand, of from 50 to several hundred feet in height, which have been blown up by the almost constant western winds sweeping over the lake and the sandy margin on its eastern side.

The peninsula abounds in rivers: none of these have much extent of course, and but few of them are navigable to any considerable distance inland. Grand River is the largest: it empties into Lake Michigan: its whole course is about 150 miles, and it is navigable 50 miles from the lake to the rapids for sloops and steam-boats, and above that point there is sufficient depth of water for boats 50 miles farther. The St. Joseph's River is a considerable stream, and empties into Lake Michigan at the south-west angle of the territory. It is, like Grand River, navigable for large sloops to the rapids, and above them has a still farther extent of boat navigation. It flows through a very fertile region, variegated by prairies and high forests; the country on this river is not surpassed, in point of beauty and fertility, by any in the Union. Several towns and villages have been recently settled on this river, which bid fair to become flourishing and prosperous places. The other considerable streams which flow into Lake Michigan are the Kalamazoo, Grand, Maskegon, Pentwater, Manistic, and Aux Betises. Those which flow into Lake Erie are the Raisin and Huron Rivers. The Clinton is the only considerable river which falls into Lake St. Clair. The Belle, and Black, or Dulude, fall into St. Clair River. The Saginaw, a considerable and important river, running northward, falls into Saginaw Bay, which is a part of Lake Huron. Many other, but smaller streams, fall into the same lake, such as the Thunder Bay, Sandy, Aux Carpe, and Cheboeigon Rivers.

The eastern parts of this territory, from various circumstances, became first settled. Within the few last years a great mass of emigrants have begun to spread themselves over this fine and fertile country. Situated, as it is, between the west, the south, and the east, with greater facilities for extensive inland water communication than any other country on the globe, with a fertile soil, of which millions of acres are fit for the plough, with a healthful climate, and with a concurrence of circumstances, inviting northern population, the inhabitants are increasing, and wealth accumulates with a rapidity that may vie with any of the neighbouring States.

Wheat, Indian corn, oats, barley, buckwheat, potatoes, turnips, peas, apples, pears, plums, cherries, and peaches are raised easily and in abundance. It is a country more favourable to cultivated grasses than the western country. In short, it is peculiarly fitted for northern farmers. No inland country, according to its age, population, and circumstances, has a greater trade. A number of steamboats and lake vessels are constantly plying in this trade, which is with Detroit, Chicago, and Ohio.

The climate of this region, in consequence of its being level and peninsular, and surrounded on all sides but the south, with such immense bodies of water, is more temperate and mild than could be expected from its latitude. The southern parts have mild winters, and the spring opens as early as in any part of the United States in the same latitude: the position of the northern parts must subject it to a Canadian temperature. The winter commences here early in November, and does not terminate until the end of March.

The legislative power is vested in a Senate and House of Representatives, styled the Legislature; the former are chosen for the term of two years, and the latter annually. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor are chosen by the people, and hold office for the term of two years. The Judges are appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate, the term of office being seven years. Suffrage is universal. The constitution provides that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever be introduced into the State, except for the pun

ishment of crimes; and that no lottery shall be authorised by the State, nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed. It is also a provision of the constitution, that the Legislature shall encourage by all suitable means the promotion of intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement; shall provide for a system of common schools, by which a school shall be kept up and supported in each school district at least three months in every year; and, as soon as the circumstances of the State will permit, shall provide for the establishment of libraries, one at least in each township. Measures have already been taken by the Presbyterians for the establishment of a college at Anne Arbour, by the Methodists of another at Spring Arbour, and by the Baptists of a third in Kalamazoo county.

The State is divided into 38 counties.

In 1810, the population amounted to 4762; in 1820, it was 8896; in 1830, exclusive of the counties now belonging to Wisconsin, 28,004; and in 1634, 87,273.

The city of Detroit, the principal place in Michigan, is situated on a rising plain on the western shore of Detroit River, which unites Lakes Erie and St. Clair. Few places can be more admirably situated for a commercial city, and few have a more solid promise of permanent prosperity. The city is regularly laid out and neatly built, and during the last five or six years its business and population have increased commensurately with the growth of the fertile country in its rear. In 1830, the number of the inhabitants was 2222; in 1835, it was estimated at 8000. The public buildings are five churches, of which the largest and most striking is the Roman Catholic Cathedral, a State-House, Academy, and county buildings. Detroit is the depôt of all the country on the upper lakes, and there are sixteen or eighteen large steam-boats plying between this port and Chicago and Buffalo.

Among the small towns springing up in Michigan, are Palmer, on St. Clair River, Anne Arbour, on the Huron, with about 1000 inhabitants; also, Adrian and Monroe, on the River Raisin; the latter is about 2 miles from the mouth of the river, and is accessible to steam-boats. It contains several saw and grist-mills, a woollen manufactory, and an iron foundery. The rivers afford a number of millseats, with a plentiful supply of water. The population, in 1835, was about 2000. At the head of St. Clair River, at the outlet of Lake Huron, on a commanding position, stands Fort Gratiot, a United States military post; Mackinaw is on Michillimackinac Island at the entrance of Lake Michigan.

STATE OF MISSOURI.

THIS State is bounded north by Wisconsin Territory; west by the Western or Indian Territory; east by the Mississippi River, which separates it from Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; and south by the State of Arkansas. Its length is about 280 miles, and medium breadth 230, the area being about 65,000 square miles. The Mississippi River runs 460 miles along the eastern border of the State, whilst the Missouri flowing for 200 miles along the western boundary, and through its centre for 350 miles, enters the former stream a short distance above St. Louis. The western line of this State, south of the Missouri River, is the meridian which passes through the point of junction of the Kansas and the Missouri Rivers.

Besides the great rivers Mississippi and Missouri, this State is watered by various others of considerable magnitude. The largest are the Osage, Grand, Salt, Chariton, Gasconade, Merrimac or Maramec, Big Black, and St. Francis. The Osage is a large river, navigable for boats 660 miles. Much of the surface in the central portion of the section south of the Missouri is mountainous, or rather hilly, being traversed in different directions by the chains of the Ozark Mountains, one of which under the name of the Iron Mountain divides the waters of the St. Francis and White Rivers from those of the Maramec and Gasconade, and another forms the water-shed between the Gasconade and Osage; but these ridges are not very lofty. Between the Osage and Missouri, and north of the

latter, the country is undulating and agreeably diversified, while in the south-east between the Big Black River and the Mississippi, the whole tract, with the exception of a narrow strip on the border of the latter, is a low, inundated morass, forming a portion of the great swamp of which the principal part is in the State of Arkansas.

The lands bordering on the Missouri, are exceedingly rich. They consist of a stratum of black alluvial soil, of unknown depth. As you recede from the banks of the rivers, the land rises, passing sometimes gradually, and sometimes abruptly, into elevated barrens, flinty ridges, and rocky cliffs. A portion of the State is, therefore, unfit for cultivation; but this part of it, however, is rich in mineral treasures. The land is either very fertile or very poor; it is either bottom land or cliff, either prairie or barren: there is very little of an intermediate quality. The climate is remarkably serene and temperate, and very favourable to health. Missouri is admirably adapted for a grazing country, and vast herds of cattle, horses, and swine are raised. The prairies are excellent natural pastures; “the business of rearing cattle is almost reduced to the simple operation of turning them upon these prairies and letting them fatten until the owners think proper to claim the tribute of their flesh." Beef, pork, tallow, hides, and live-stock constitute important articles of export. Cotton is raised in the southern part of the State, but not in considerable quantities; tobacco is more extensively grown, and hemp, wheat, Indian-corn, and the other cereal grains are cultivated with success. Maize, flour, lead, furs, buffalo-skins and tongues, and lumber, constitute, with the articles before mentioned, the exports of Missouri.

The most remarkable feature in Missouri is its lead-mines, which are estimated to cover an area of about 3000 square miles. The centre of the lead-mine district is about 70 miles south-west from St. Louis, and the principal diggings are included in an extent of 30 miles in one direction by 15 in another. The leadore is found in detached masses, and not in veins. The business of mining is, consequently, very uncertain. The ore is of that species called galena, and yields from 75 to 80 per cent. About 3,000,000 pounds of lead are annually made, giving employment to about 1200 hands. In this region, are likewise found copper, zinc, manganese, antimony, calamine, cobalt, &c. These leadmines were wrought by the French, 100 years ago.

Numerous shot-factories are established along the high rocky bluffs of the Mississippi, which renders the erection of towers unnecessary. Iron is found in inexhaustible quantities, and is pretty extensively wrought. Coal also abounds particularly along the Missouri, and aluminous and nitrous earth, marble, salt-springs, sulphuretted and thermal waters, &c., occur. There are three colleges in the State: St. Louis University in St. Louis, and St. Mary's College at Perryville, Catholic institutions, and Marion College at Palmyra. The Baptists and Methodists are the most numerous sects; the Presbyterians and Roman Catholics are also pretty numerous, and there are some Episcopalians. Missouri is divided into 52 counties. The population is as follows:

Of the foregoing population of 1830, there were, white Males, 61,405; white Females, 53,390; deaf and dumb, 27; blind, 27: total whites, 114,795. Free coloured, 569; Slaves, 25,091: total, 140,455.

St. Louis is the commercial capital of Missouri, and the largest town west of the Mississippi. It is built on two banks: the first, not much raised above the level of the river, contains two narrow streets running parallel with its course, and the second or higher bank, which spreads out into a wide plain in the rear, comprises the rest of the city. The upper part is well laid out with spacious and regular streets. St. Louis was founded in 1764, but it continued to be an inconsiderable village while the country remained in the hands of the Spanish and

French. It is the emporium of the Upper Missouri and Mississippi, and must increase rapidly in importance as the vast regions to the north and west become occupied by industrious cultivators. The lead mines in its vicinity and the establishments connected with the Indian agencies, land offices, and army supplies, also create a good deal of business. The number of steam-boat arrivals in 1835, was 803, tonnage 100,000. The population is now chiefly composed of Americans, but there are many French, with some Germans and Spaniards. There are four or five Protestant Churches and a Roman Catholic Cathedral. In the vicinity are an United States Arsenal and Jefferson Barracks, extensive stone buildings with accommodations for 600 or 700 men. In 1830, it contained 5852 inhabitants, and, in 1836, upwards of 10,000. St. Louis stands nearly in the centre of the Great Valley, on the right bank of the Mississippi, 17 miles below the mouth of the Missouri, 175 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, 1350 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and 850 from Washington. It has easy water communication with the country at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, 2600 miles distant by the course of the river, on one side, and with Quebec and New York, 1800 to 2000 miles, on the other; and with New Orleans, 1250 miles to the south, and Fort Snelling, 860 miles to the north.

St. Charles, 20 miles above the mouth of the Missouri, and the same distance north-west from St. Louis, is a pleasant village containing nearly 1500 inhabitants, of whom about one-third are of French descent; it consists of one long street, on which are many handsome buildings. St. Charles was for a number of years the capital of the State.

Jefferson City, on the south side of the Missouri river, and near the centre of the State, is the capital of Missouri; it contains the State-House, and a Penitentiary; its site is not a fortunate selection, and it has not in consequence prospered. Higher up the stream are the villages of Franklin, Booneville, Keytesville, Lexington, and Liberty; this is the most western settlement in the United States, in which a newspaper is published, being 1142 miles from Washington City, and 324 west of St. Louis. Westport at the mouth of the Kansas, is the most westerly village in the Union. Herculaneum, 30 miles below St. Louis, is a small town, which contains numerous shot-works, and serves as one of the ports of the lead district. St. Genevieve is another old French village, built on a high alluvial bank which the river is now washing away. Cape Girardeau, situated on a high bluff in the midst of a rich district, is the depôt of the southern part of the State. New Madrid is an inconsiderable village, on a high alluvial bank, which, like that of St. Genevieve, has been mostly carried away by the river. The village also suffered from the earthquake of 1811.

STATE OF ARKANSAS.

ARKANSAS is bounded on the north by Missouri, east by the Mississippi river, which separates it from Tennessee and the State of Mississippi, south by Louisiana, and west by the Western or Indian Territory and the northern part of Texas. Its southern line is the 33d degree of north latitude, and northern 36° 30'. Its length, from north to south, is 245 miles, and mean breadth about 212; its area is 51,960 square miles.

The principal river is the Arkansas, which flows down from the Rocky Mountains. Its course is nearly through the centre of the State from west to east; and it affords at all times steam-boat navigation to Little Rock, 300 miles from the Mississippi, and occasionally to Cantonment Gibson, nearly 350 miles higher up; the other important streams are the Red River, (which flows through the southwest angle of the State,) St. Francis, White, and Washita rivers.

Arkansas has considerable advantages for commerce; nearly every part of it has a direct and easy communication with New Orleans, the great emporium of trade for the whole Mississippi valley.

The surface of the country exhibits much variety. In the eastern portion, along the Mississippi river, it is level, and often overflown by that noble river and

its large confluents, which have their course through this territory. In the central part it is undulating and broken, and in the western section it is traversed by the Ozark Mountains, which are estimated to attain an altitude of from 2000 to 3009 feet above the ocean. The other considerable elevations are the Black Hills, north of the Arkansas, and the Washita Hills, or Masserne Mountains, on the head waters of the Washita river. The soil is of all qualities, from the most productive to the most sterile; much of it is of the latter description. It has, however, a sufficient amount of excellent land to enable it to become a rich and populous State. The column of emigration has begun to move in this direction, and it has nearly doubled its population within the last five years.

Of the products of Arkansas, cotton is the staple; corn and sweet potatoes thrive well; wheat, and other small grains, have not been cultivated to a great extent; peaches are remarkably fine; apples do not succeed, except on the elevated parts of the State, at a distance from the Mississippi. The wild fruits, grapes, plums, &c., are abundant. Among the curiosities of this country may be mentioned the vast masses of sea-shells that are found dispersed over different tracts of it: they are generally found in points remote from limestone, and answer a valuable purpose to the inhabitants, who collect and burn them for lime.

The hot or warm springs are among the most interesting curiosities of the country; they are in great numbers. One of them emits a vast quantity of water: they are remarkably limpid and pure, and are used by the people who resort there for health, for culinary purposes. They have been analyzed, and exhibit no mineral properties beyond common spring-water. Their efficacy, then, for they are undoubtedly efficacious to many invalids that resort there, results from the shade of adjacent mountains, and from the cool oxygenated mountain breeze, the conveniences of warm and tepid bathing, the novelty of fresh mountain scenery, and the necessity of temperance imposed by the poverty of the country, and the difficulty of procuring supplies. During the spring floods of the Washita, a steamboat can approach within 30 miles of them. At no great distance is a strong sulphur-spring, remarkable for its coldness. In the wild and mountain scenery of this lonely region, there is much of grandeur and novelty to fix the curiosity of the lover of Nature.

Arkansas formed a part of Louisiana, and afterwards of Missouri Territory, until 1819, when it received a separate territorial government, and in 1836 it became an independent State. The legislature, styled the General Assembly, consists of a Senate chosen for the term of four years, and a House of Representatives elected biennially; the General Assembly meets every two years. The Governor holds office for the term of four years. The superior Judges are appointed by the General Assembly, those of the Supreme Court holding office for eight, and those of the Circuit Courts for four years. Every white male citizen of the age of 21 years, who has resided within the State during the six months preceding the election, has the right of suffrage. Votes are given viva voce. In the prosecution of slaves for crimes, it is provided that they shall have an impartial jury, and slaves convicted of a capital offence shall suffer the same degree of punishment as free whites, and no other. No lotteries can be established, and the sale of lottery tickets within the State is prohibited.

This State being as yet but thinly settled, the towns are few in number, and of limited population. The capital, Little Rock, is situated on the Arkansas river, about 300 miles from the Mississippi. It was intended to give it the name of Arkopolis; but the people playfully called it by its present name from the numer