MISSISSIPPI 



MISSISSIPPI-MISSOUEI 



233 



Copyright 1891, 1897. nd 

 1900 in the L'. S. by J. B. 



l,i|p|.iinroit Company. 



missionaries. Buddhism fq.v.), especially in its earliest 

 period, and Mohammedanism (q.v.) have been grouped 

 with Christianity as missionary religions, in contradistinc- 

 tion to Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Br.ihmanism. See 

 Max-Muller's papers on missions in C/tipi from a German 

 Workshop, vol. iv. 



Mississippi, a state of the American Union 

 bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, lies west of Ala- 

 bama and south of Tennessee, 

 and is bounded W. by the Missis- 

 sippi. LengthN. toS., 335 mill-; 

 width, 150 miles. Area, 46,810 sq. m. The surface, 

 except in the Yazoo delta, is generally hilly, though 

 nowhere mountainous, the highest hills being only 

 800 feet al>ove the sea- level. There are three distinct 

 watersheds ; the eastern counties are drained by 

 the Toinbigbee and its tributaries ; the Pearl, Pasca- 

 goula, and Escatawpa with their affluents drain 

 the central and south-eastern portion ; and the 

 Homochitto, Big Black, and Yazoo carry the water 

 of the western and northern counties into the Missis- 

 sippi. The Orange-sand formation ( Post-Tertiary, 

 40 to 60 and even 200 feet thick ) characterises the 

 greater portion of the surface of the state, and 

 forms the main body of the hills and ridges. It is 

 usually coloured with hydrated peroxide of iron, 

 or yellow ochre, and presents an endless variety of 

 tints. Ferruginous sandstones, capping^ the tops 

 of hills and thereby preventing denudation, are 

 found in all sections covered by the Orange-sand 

 formation. Gravel beds also al>ound, as well as 

 beds of pipeclay, and of ochreous clays used for 

 paints ; and there are also vast beds of lignite of 

 excellent quality, and marls which are used as 

 ingredients of commercial fertilisers. There are 

 mineral springs in different portions of the state. 



Mississippi is essentially an agricultural state. 

 The north-eastern prairie region, 70 miles long 

 and from 15 to 20 wide, with its fertile, black, 

 calcareous soil, contains much of the best farming 

 and grazing land in the state. There are no 

 springs here, but cisterns dug in the rotten lime- 

 stone, bored wells, and artesian wells furnish 

 ample water. In the north the bottom lands along 

 the numerous creeks and rivers especially are well 

 adapted to agriculture ; while in the central 

 portion stock-raising is carried on, and in the 

 yellow-pine region large herds of sheep are raised. 

 The yellow pine ranks first amoirg the forest trees 

 of Mississippi ; it extends northward from the 

 coast for 150 miles. The Yazoo Delta, em- 

 bracing the elliptical area of alluvial bottoms 

 between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, extend- 

 ing from Vicksburg to the state line on the north, 

 has until within recent years been subject to 

 inundations ; but levees now protect the lands, and 

 the rise in the Mississippi in 1890 the highest ami 

 most prolonged ever known left the levees un- 

 broken except in four places which together were 

 less than a mile in extent. Less than 15 per cent, 

 of the delta was overflowed. The delta's drainage 

 Hows into lakes, small but numerous, which form 

 the head-waters of other bayous, and through them 

 after miles of meandering find outlets into the 

 Yazoo and other streams. The delta contains 4J 

 millions of acres of alluvial land, only 500,000 acres 

 of which are under cultivation. Virgin forests of 

 Imnhvoods cover the rest. For the state, the an- 

 nual production of cotton is about 1,150,000 bales, 

 of corn 28,000,000 bushels, and of oats 4,000,000 

 bushels. The fruits and vegetables shipped in 1890 

 were valued at 11,000,000. This industry flourishes 

 in the central and southern portions. 



The winters in Mississippi are short and mild, the 

 mean temperature 45" F. ; the summers are devoid 

 of intense heat, the mean 81, seldom reaching 

 100. Ice from one to two inches thick forms in 

 the northern part of the state. The elevation of 



the surface and the Gulf breezes render the climate 

 delightful during most of the year. The annual 

 rainfall ranges from 48 to 58 inches. The death- 

 rate is very low 12'9 in 1000. 



Mississippi sends eight representatives to con- 

 gress. The state legislature is composed of 145 

 representatives and 45 senators, elected quadren- 

 nially. There are three supreme judges, ap- 

 pointed for nine years by the governor, and circuit 

 and chancery judges, appointed for four years. 

 The public schools are maintained four months 

 annually by the state, but forty towns and cities 

 maintain graded schools for ten months a year. 

 Separate schools are maintained for the coloured 

 race. There are enrolled 148,435 white and 173,552 

 coloured children : average daily attendance- 

 white, 90,716; coloured, 101,710. The state supports 

 the university at Oxford (1844), agricultural and 

 mechanical college at Starkville (1878), industrial 

 institute and college at Columbus ( 1884 ; for white 

 girls), a college for coloured youth at Rodney, 

 and a normal school at Holly Springs, for training 

 coloured teachers. There are also private uni- 

 versities and colleges, for both white and coloured 

 youth, besides 155 high schools and academies. 

 Institutions for the deaf and dumb (100) and the 

 blind (50) are at Jackson, the capital; there also 

 are the state penitentiary (500) and the lunatic 

 asylum (550). 



history. Mississippi was first settled by the 

 French, and constituted a part of Louisiana. Iber- 

 ville planted the first colony at Biloxi in 1699. 

 It was ceded to Great Britain in 1763; was ad- 

 mitted into the Union as a state, December 10, 

 1817; seceded January 9, 1861 (principal battles 

 during the civil war, Corinth, Baker's Creek, 

 Holly Spring, luka, siege of Vicksburg) ; was re- 

 admitted into the Union, 1869. In 1897 there were 

 2595 miles of railway in the state. Vicksburg, 

 Greenville, and Natchez are principal ports on the 

 Mississippi River, and Pascagoula and Biloxi on 

 the Gulf. Cotton-factories are located at Wesson 

 (value 3 millions), Columbus, Natchez, Enterprise, 

 Meridian, Water Valley, Carrollton, and Corinth ; 

 wood-factories at Jackson and Meridian. Pop. 

 (1820) 75,448; (1880) 1,131,597; (1890) 1,289,600, 

 over one-half of African blood ; ( 1900) 1,551,270. 



.Mississippi-Missouri. The Mississippi River 

 (Algonkin, Miesi tUpi, signifying 'Great Hiver') 

 is the largest river of North 

 America, and is wholly within 

 the boundaries of the United 

 States. It drains most of the territory between 

 the Rocky and Alleghany Mountains, embracing 

 an area of 1,257,545 sq. m., or more than two-fifths 

 of the area of the United States. This basin in- 

 cludes the minor basins : Lower Mississippi, 65,646 

 so. m. ; Red River, 92,721 ; Arkansas, 184,742 ; 

 \fissouri, 527,690 ; Upper Mississippi, 179,635 : 

 Ohio, 207,111. There are 41 other navigable tribu- 

 taries, and 200 more of moderate size. The total 

 length of the Mississippi is 2960 miles, of which 2161 

 are navigable ; but the Missouri affluent is longer 

 than the Upper Mississippi, and with the lower 

 river aggregates 4200 miles, the longest river in the 

 world, and in commercial facilities the greatest. 

 The total navigable waters amount to 16,090 miles. 

 The source of the Mississippi is Lake Itasca in 

 the north-west central part of Minnesota, about 7 

 miles long by 1 to 3 wide, which has, however, 

 several feeders, the principal being Elk or Glazier 

 Lake. The remotest springs of Itasca rise in 47 

 34' N. lat. and 95 20' W. long., and are 1680 feet 

 alxive sea-level. As it issues from this lake the 

 Mississippi is about 12 feet wide and 18 inches 

 deep. Through pine-forests and swamps for hun- 

 dreds of miles it winds from lake to lake, with 

 frequent rapids and picturesque falls, until, 1200 



Copyright 1891, 1897, anA 

 1900 in the I'. S. by J. B. 

 Lfpptncott Company. 



