THE WESTERN COUNTRY 265 



lettered, but by mettle and intrepidity they make up 

 for what, in the stern conditions, must perhaps be 

 lacking in the items of good manners, peaceableness, 

 order, and the social virtues. Hardened by their man- 

 ner of life and not accustomed to particular comforts, 

 they are best adapted to offer resistance on the occa- 

 sions of inroads by hostile Indians ; and often the re- 

 mote countryman thanks them for the safety and quiet 

 in which he farms his acres. 



The trade of these new colonies will be perhaps not 

 inconsiderable after a time. The raw products of their 

 soil, for the most part good, must supply them with 

 what they need from abroad. The former they will 

 send down stream, and the latter they will most con- 

 veniently have brought them from above. For the 

 navigation up the Mississippi and the Ohio is extraor- 

 dinarily tedious and difficult. The Spaniards have 

 long since made attempts, but without result, to make 

 easier the navigation against the current of the Mis- 

 sissippi. Considering how immense is the interior 

 country, the Ohio and the Mississippi are not sufficient 

 to distribute wealth and plenty everywhere alike. 

 Populous and powerful states these western parts will 

 likely see arise, but the weightier advantages of the 

 foreign trade, producing wealth more rapidly, will re- 

 dound only to the profit of the colonies along the coast. 

 Besides, at the present time there are reasons why 

 the trade of this interior country should be greatly 

 hindered, the mouth of the Mississippi (the single 

 great stream flowing through that immense land), 

 being wholly in the hands of the Spaniards.* The 



* Contention with Spain, over the shipping and duties on the 

 Mississippi, has already begun, in the year 1784, and still 

 continues. 



