a tree; this stump set fire to a fine bed of coal on which it stood, and the coal continued to burn for several months, until the earth fell in and extinguished it. This bed breaks out at the bottom of the bluffs of the Mississippi, and is about five feet in thickness; the same vein is found at the surface several miles distant. Near the village of St. Ferdinand, on the edge of the Missouri, fourteen miles from St. Louis, the bank is one solid bed of fine coal, of unknown thickness, but certainly more than twenty feet.

Besides the minerals above enumerated, iron, tin, zinc, copper, and saltpetre are found in abundance. The existence of silver ore about the head of the Arkansaw and Red river is believed by the inhabitants who reside in those districts, and various accounts are current amongst them of its having been discovered there by hunters. As. those rivers rise in the range of mountains in which the mines of Santa Fé are situated, and not far distant from them, the account is very probable.

The climate of the new settlements upon the Missouri river has been already noticed; that in the neighbourhood of St. Louis, and for a considerable distance above and below that town upon the banks of the Mississippi, is very fine. The spring commences about the middle of March, at which time the willow, the elm, and maples are in flower; the spring rains usually occur in May, after which month the weather continues fine, almost without interruption until September, when rain again occurs about the equinox, after which it remains serene weather until near Christmas, when the winter commences. About the beginning or middle of October what is called the Indian summer begins, and is immediately known by the change which takes place in the atmosphere, as it now becomes hazy, or what they term smoky. This gives to the sun a red appearance, and takes away the glare of light, so that all the day, except a few hours about noon, he may be looked at with the naked eye without pain. The winters are sharp; but it may be oberved that less snow falls, and they are much more moderate on the west than on the east side of the Allegany mountains in similar latitudes. It is necessary, however, to remark, that what has been stated relative to the climate, duration of winter, &c. relates more particularly to the region included betwixt New Madrid, forty-five miles below the mouth of the Ohio, and the junction of the Missouri and Mississippi, or from 36° 30' to 39° N. lat. ; but as this territory extends from 26° to 49° 37', therefore proper allowances must be

made for the differences of latitude. The observations on climate may be concluded by stating, that the same causes produce the same effects in this country as in other places; the greatest and most durable cold is found in parts highest and most exposed to the north; the longest and most extensive heat in low places, sheltered from the north and open to the south winds.

In an agricultural point of view, the settled part of this territory may be divided into three regions, suitable for the culture of as many great staple articles, viz. sugar, cotton, and grain. The sugar region reaches from the gulf of Mexico to 31° N. lat.; the country proper for the cultivation of cotton, and too cold for that of sugar-cane, extends from 31° to about 36°; it will grow many degrees further north, but will not yield a sufficient crop, nor is the cotton so good in quality. The remaining inhabited part of the territory is admirably adapted for the production of the different kinds of grain, and of every article of culture raised in the best gardens. A well cultivated field will produce, one year with another, sixty bushels of Indian corn, and thirty-five of wheat per acre.

There is no part of the western country that holds out greater advantages to the new settler than the Missouri territory. It is inferior to no part in point of soil or climate, and has a decided superiority over the country on the Ohio; as the passage to New Orleans may be made at any season of the year, whereas the river Ohio is not navigable during the months of August, September, and October it has also the important advantage of being from 600 to 1,000 miles nearer to that great commercial city than the upper part of the Ohio. Opportunities of purchasing settlements or plantations, already formed, are frequent, and on very moderate terms; as the rage for retiring backwards prevails here in as great a degree as in the other new countries. Wild lands, as it is called, may either be had from the government of the United States, or from the old French inhabitants, several of whom possess very large tracts, obtained by grants from the Spanish governors. The titles of these lands are now undoubted, as they have been ratified by the commissioners appointed by congress to examine into claims. The price of land is varions, but may frequently be obtained on better terms from the land owners than from · the government, or for less than two dollars an acre. In the reclaiming of wild land, or the forming of a plantation from a state of nature, the trouble and labour is much less than in clearing a forest; as here the trees are not

more abundant on the upland than would be necessary for fuel and for fences. They naturally stand at a sufficient distance from each other to admit a fine undergrowth of grass and herbage. This country will reap incalculable benefit from the application of steam-boats on the Mississippi; and this mode of conveyance will be much facilitated by the abundance of excellent coal so universally spread over these regions.

The Indian title, by various treaties, has been extinguished to about 70,000 square miles, or 45,000,000 acres ; a tract of country nearly as large as the states of Ohio and Kentucky. (See Appendix.) Between lat. 35° and 40° N., and long. 10° to 12° W., 2,500,000 acres of lands for the United States' army have been laid out and surveyed. This tract is watered by the Missouri, Gasconade, John's river, Gravel, Great Osage, &c. and is chiefly of first quality, prairie and woodland interspersed; the timbered land is covered with tall canes, a sure indication of a warm and productive soil. These lands are capable of sustaining a numerous population, and from the advantageous local situation, will rapidly enhance in value. Emigration to this promising district continues to an unparalleled extent; as it is probably the easiest unsettled country in the world to commence farming in. The emigrant has only to fix himself on the edge of a prairie, and he has the one half of his farm a heavy forest, and the other half a fertile plain or meadow, covered with a thick sward of fine grass; he has then only to fence in his ground and put in his seed. The country abounds with salines and salt works sufficient to supply the inhabitants with good salt; and there is a navigation to almost every man's door, which will give him a market for his surplus produce, and bring to him all the necessary articles of merchandise. The soil and climate of these bounty lands are favourable to the growth of Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats, cotton, tobacco, hemp, flax, and almost every kind of vegetable that grows in the United States.-Take the country for all in all, there is no section of the Union has ever opened such a great and advantageous field for enterprise, either for the industrious working man, or for the steady professional character.

Nature has been bountiful to the native Indians resident on the waters of the Missouri and Mississippi. The buffalo abounds from the plains of Assinnibion, in 50° N. lat., to the confines of Louisiana, and from the Mississippi to the Rocky mountains: their hides and tallow are important articles of the commerce of the territory. Lieutenant

Pike, whose route was up the Osage river to the Great Osage village, from thence across the head streams of the Kanzas and White river to the Arkansaw, and thence up that river to the Mexican mountains, found no difficulty in supplying himself and party with abundance of fleshmeat, from the vast herds of buffaloes through which he passed; the females of which produce beef equal to any in the world. He affirms, that he does not think it an exaggeration to say, that he saw 3,000 buffaloes in one drove; the face of the earth appearing to be covered with them. The borders of the Arkansaw may be termed the paradise of North America for the wandering savages. Of all the countries visited by the footsteps of civilized man, there never was one probably that produced game in greater abundance. It is not doubted, that there are buffalo, elk, and deer, on the banks of the Arkansaw alone, if used without waste, sufficient to feed all the Indians in the United States for a hundred years.

The great brown bear of the Upper Missouri is a terrible animal; and the extreme difficulty with which they are killed, renders them a dangerous and formidable enemy to man. Nothing but a shot through the brains will stop their career, and this is a very difficult operation, on account of two large muscles which cover the side of the forehead, and the sharp projection of the frontal bone, which is also very thick. One of them, after seven balls had passed through him, has been known to pursue six men, who only saved themselves by leaping down a perpendicular bank of twenty feet into a river; the bear plunged after them, and was within a few feet of the hindmost, when a hunter from the shore shot him in the head, and finally killed him. Another of these ferocious animals of a monstrous size, after having been shot through the centre of the lungs, pursued the hunter furiously for half a mile, then returned more than twice that distance, and with his talons prepared himself a bed in the earth, two feet deep and five long, where he was found perfectly alive two hours after he had received his mortal wound.

Wild horses are found in immense droves on the prairies between the Arkansaw and Red river, they are very fleet and difficult to be taken, which is accomplished by expert riders, and swift tame horses, who throw a noose over their necks with amazing dexterity. Deer, elk, bear, wolves, panthers, and antelopes, are numerous; wolves and panthers follow the buffalo herds, and feast on the calves. The grizzly, or white bear, is found on the head branches of the. Missouri; it is equally ferocious as the

great brown bear, and often attacks the Indians. Cabree and moose are plentiful; but Rocky mountain sheep are the most common animals. Their horns are a great curiosity, shaped like those of the common sheep, but enormous in size, full of knobs, and measuring three feet in length, five inches in diameter near the head, and weighing twenty pounds and upwards. This animal is taller than a deer, and has a larger body; it is covered with soft dun-coloured hair, except on the belly, which is white. Its legs and feet resemble those of the domestic sheep, and it possesses uncommon agility, climbing cliffs and steep mountains with such ease that no other animal can follow it; its flesh is considered equal to that of the deer. Beaver abound from the Missouri river throughout the Sioux country, and in most parts of the territory. There are several species of wild cats; they are small, but very fierce, and often kill sheep and cabree, by leaping on their necks and eating away the sinews and arteries, until they fall, when they suck their blood. The lynx, marten, muskrat, and ermine, are common. The prairie dogs reside on the prairies south of the Missouri, in towns and villages, having an evident police establishment in their communities. The sites of these towns are generally on the brow of a hill, near some creek or pond, in order to be convenient to water, and yet exempt from inundation; their residence is in burrows, which descend in a spiral form. Into one of these holes 140 kettles of water have been poured, with a view to drive out the inhabitants, but without success. They never travel more than half a mile from their homes, and readily associate with rattlesnakes. They are of a dark brown colour, except their bellies, which are red. They are something larger than a gray squirrel, and very fat; supposed to live upon grain and roots. Their villages sometimes extend over two or three miles square, in which there must be innumerable hosts of them, as there is generally a burrow every eight or ten steps.

Civil divisions, towns, settlements, population, &c.In 1810, when the general census of the United States was taken, this territory was divided into seven districts, containing 20,845 inhabitants, including 3,011 slaves; in the seven years succeeding that period, the influx of emigrants had been so considerable, that in the year 1817, the population amounted to 50,000, of whom 6,501 were enrolled in the militia: at present the number of inhabitants is estimated at upwards of 72,000.