the river, and presents a scene of uninterrupted plantations in sight of each other, whose fronts to the Mississippi are all cleared and occupy on that river from 5 to 25 acres with a depth of 40, so that a plantation of 5 acres in front contains 200. A few sugar plantations are formed in the parish of Catahanose; but the remainder is devoted to cotton and provisions, and the whole is an excellent soil, incapable of being exhausted. The plantations are but one deep on the island of New-Orleans, and on the opposite side of the river as far as the mouth of the Iberville, which is 35 leagues above NewOrleans.

Bayou de Fourche.-- Atacapas and Opelousas.- About 25 leagues from the last-mentioned place on the west side of the Mississippi, the creek or Bayou of the Fourche, called in old maps La Riviere des Chitamaches, flows from the Mississippi, and communicates with the sea to the west of the Balise. The entrance of the Mississippi is navigable only at high water, but will then admit of craft of from 60 to 70 tons' burthen. On both banks of this creek are settlements, one plantation deep, for near 15 leagues; and they are divided into two parishes. The settlers are numerous, though poor; and the culture is universally cotton. On all creeks making from the Mississippi the soil is the same as on the bank of the river; and the border is the highest part of it, from whence it descends gradually to the swamp. In no place on the low lands is there depth more than suffices for one plantation, before you come to the low grounds, incapable of cultivation. This creek affords one of the communications to the two populous and rich settlements of Atacapas and Opelousas, formed on and near the small rivers Teche and Vermillon which flow into the Bay of Mexico. But the principal and swiftest communication is by the Bayou or creek of Plaquemines, whose entrance into the Mississippi is 7 leagues higher up on the same side, and 32 above NewOrleans. These settlements abound in cattle and horses, have a large quantity of good land in their vicinity, and may be made of great importance. A part of their produce is sent by sea to New-Orleans, but the greater part is carried in batteaux by the creeks above mentioned.

Baton-Rouge and its Dependencies.- Immediately above the Iberville and on both sides of the Mississippi lies the parish of Manchac, which extends four leagues on the river, and is well cultivated. Above it commences the settlement of Baton

Rouge, extending about 9 leagues. It is remarkable as being the first place where the high land is contiguous to the river, and here it forms a bluff from 30 to 40 feet above the greatest rise of the river. Here the settlements extend a considerable way back on the east side, and this parish has that of Thompson's Creek and Bayou Sara subordinate to it. The mouth of the first of these creeks is about 49 leagues from New-Orleans, and that of the latter 2 or 3 leagues higher up. They run from north-east to south-west, and their head-waters are north of the 31st degree of latitude, Their banks have the best soil and the greatest number of good cotton plantations of any part of Louisiana, and are allowed to be the garden of it.

Pointe Coupee & Fausse Riviere.- Above Baton-Rouge, at the distance of 50 leagues from New-Orleans, and on the west side of the Mississippi, is Pointe Coupee, a populous and rich settlement, extending 8 leagues along the river. Its produce is cotton. Behind it, on an old bed of the river, now a lake, whose outlets are closed up, is the settlement of Fausse Riviere, which is well cultivated.

In the space now described from the sea as high as and including the last-mentioned settlement is contained three-fourths of the population and seven-eighths of the riches of Louisiana. From the settlement of Pointe Coupee on the Mississippi to Cape Girardeau above the mouth of the Ohio there is no land on the west side that is not overflowed in the spring to the distance of 8 or 10 leagues from the river, with from 2 to 12 feet of water, except a small spot near New-Madrid, so that in the whole extent there is no possibility of forming a considerable settlement contiguous to the river on that side. The eastern bank has in this respect a decided advantage over the western, as there are on it many situations which effectually command the river.

Red River and its Settlements. On the west side of the Mississippi, 70 leagues from New-Orleans, is the mouth of the Red River, on whose banks and vicinity are the settlements of Rapide, Avoyelles, and Natchitoches, all of them thriving and populous. The latter is situate 75 leagues up the Red River. On the north side of the Red River, a few leagues from its junction with the Mississippi, is the Black River, on one of whose branches, a considerable way up, is the infant settlement of Ouachita, which from the richness of the soil may be made a place of importance. Cotton is the chief produce of these settle

ments, but they have likewise a considerable Indian trade. The river Rouge, or Red River, is used to communicate with the frontiers of New Mexico.

Concord.- Arkansas.— St. Charles and St. Andrew, &c.— There is no other settlement on the Mississippi except the small one called Concord, opposite to the Natchez, till you come to the Arkansas River, whose mouth is 250 leagues above New-Orleans.

Here there are but a few families, who are more attached to the Indian trade (by which chiefly they live) than to cultivation. There is no settlement from this place to New-Madrid, which is itself inconsiderable. Ascending the river, you come to Cape Girardeau, St. Genevieve, and St. Louis, where, though the inhabitants are numerous, they raise little for exportation, and content themselves with trading with the Indians and working a few lead mines. This country is very fertile, especially on the banks of the Missouri, where there have been formed two settlements, called St. Charles and St. Andrew, mostly by emigrants from Kentucky. The peltry procured in the Illinois is the best sent to the Atlantic market, and the quantity is very considerable. Lead is to be had with ease, and in such quantities as to supply all Europe, if the population were sufficient to work the numerous mines to be found within two or three feet from the surface in various parts of the country. The settlements about the Illinois were first made by the Canadians, and their inhabitants still resemble them in their aversion to labor and love of a wandering life. They contain but few negroes, compared to the number of the whites; and it may be taken for a general rule that, in proportion to the distance of the capital, the number of blacks diminish below that of the whites, the former abounding most on the rich plantations in its vicinity.

General Description of Upper Louisiana.-Wnen compared with the Indiana territory, the face of the country in Upper Louisiana is rather more broken, though the soil is equally fertile. It is a fact not to be contested that the west side of the river possesses some advantages not generally incident to those regions. It is elevated and healthy and well watered with a variety of large, rapid streams, calculated for mills and other water works. From Cape Girardeau, above the mouth of the Ohio, to the Missouri, the land on the east side of the Mississippi is low and flat and occasionally exposed to inundations;

that on the Louisiana side, contiguous to the river, is generally much higher, and in many places very rocky on the shore. Some of the heights exhibit a scene truly picturesque. They rise to a height of at least 300 feet, faced with perpendicular lime and freestone, carved into various shapes and figures by the hand of nature, and afford the appearance of a multitude of antique towers. From the tops of these elevations the land gradually slopes back from the river, without gravel or rock, and is covered with valuable timber. It may be said with truth that, for fertility of soil, no part of the world exceeds the borders of the Mississippi, the land yields an abundance of all the necessaries of life, and almost spontaneously, very little labor being required in the cultivation of the earth. That part of Upper Louisiana which borders on North Mexico is one immense prairie; it produces nothing but grass; it is filled with buffalo, deer, and other kinds of game; the land is represented as too rich for the growth of forest trees.

It is pretended that Upper Louisiana contains in its bowels many silver and copper mines, and various specimens of both are exhibited. Several trials have been made to ascertain the fact; but the want of skill in the artists has hitherto left the subject undecided.

The salt works are also pretty numerous: some belong to individuals, others to the public. They already yield an abundant supply for the consumption of the country, and, if properly managed, might become an article of more general exportation. The usual price per bushel is 150 cents in cash at the works. This price will be still lower as soon as the manufacture of the salt is assumed by government, or patronised by men who have large capitals to employ in the business. One extraordinary fact relative to salt must not be omitted. There exists about 1,000 miles up the Missouri, and not far from that river, a Salt Mountain! The existence of such a mountain might well be questioned, were it not for the testimony of several respectable and enterprising traders, who have visited it, and who have exhibited several bushels of the salt to the curiosity of the people of St. Louis, where some of it still remains. A specimen of the same salt has been sent to Marietta. This mountain is said to be 180 miles long and 45 in width, composed of solid rock salt, without any trees or even shrubs on it. Salt springs are very numerous beneath the surface of the mountain, and they flow through the fissures and

cavities of it. Caves of salt-petre are found in Upper Louisiana, though at some distance from the settlements. Four men on a trading voyage lately discovered one several hundred miles up the Missouri. They spent 5 or 6 weeks in the manufacture of this article, and returned to St. Louis with 400 weight of it. It proved to be good, and they sold it for a high price.

The geography of the Mississippi and Missouri, and their contiguity for a great length of way, are but little known. The traders assert that 100 miles above their junction a man may walk from one to the other in a day; and it is also asserted that 700 miles still higher up the portage may be crossed in four or five days. This portage is frequented by traders, who carry on a considerable trade with some of the Missouri Indians. Their general route is through Green Bay, which is an arm of Lake Michigan; they then pass into a small lake connected with it, and which communicates with the Fox River; they then cross over a short portage into the Ouisconsing River, which unites with the Mississippi some distance below the falls of St. Anthony. It is also said that the traders communicate with the Mississippi above these falls, through Lake Superior; but their trade in that quarter is much less considerable.

Canal of Carondelet.- Behind New-Orleans is a canal about miles long, which communicates with a creek called the Bayou St. Jean, flowing into Lake Ponchartrain. At the mouth of it, about 24 leagues from the city, is a small fort called St. Jean, which commands the entrance from the lake. By this creek the communication is kept up through the lake and the Rigolets to Mobille and the settlements in West Florida. Craft drawing from 6 to 8 feet water can navigate to the mouth of the creek, but except in particular swells of the lake cannot pass the bar without being lightened.

St. Bernardo. On the east side of the Mississippi, about five leagues below New-Orleans and at the head of the English bend, is a settlement known by the name of the Poblacion de St. Bernardo, or the Terre aux Bœufs, extending on both sides of a creek or drain, whose head is contiguous to the Mississippi, and which flowing eastward, after a course of 18 leagues and dividing itself into two branches, falls into the sea and lake Borgne. This settlement consists of two parishes, almost all the inhabitants of which are Spaniards from the Canaries, who