254 ALTON MISSISSIPPI. 



person who dreads such accommodation as the country affords, 

 will do very well with the aid of a clock to wrap himself in 

 during the night. 



The country from Springfield to Alton, by way of Jackson 

 ville, is a succession of prairies of a different character from 

 those formerly seen, their surface being almost perfectly 

 level, and in many parts indicating wetness. The soil did 

 not always appear rich, more especially towards the conclu 

 sion of the journey. Darkness prevented me seeing much of 

 the country around Jacksonville, but I saw a small patch 

 of clover, which w r as the only instance I observed this plant 

 in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, 



Alton stands on the east bank of the Mississippi, about one 

 mile above the junction of the Missouri, and sixteen below 

 that of the Illinois. It consists of two irregular villages, 

 called Upper and Lower Alton ; the population is stated at 

 about 700 souls. This place is likely to become the chief 

 port of Illinois on the Mississippi, and is already the seat of 

 considerable trade. 



On leaving my bedroom, on the morning after arriving at 

 Alton, the Mississippi was seen flowing before me at a few 

 yards distance, and my first proceeding was to fetch part of its 

 water in a jug for morning ablution, the number of travellers 

 in the house rendering some exertion necessary to get washed 

 and shaved in time for breakfast. On leaving the hotel, I 

 walked down to the junction of the Missouri, and returned to 

 Alton, where I crossed the Mississippi in a horse ferry-boat. 

 The stream is more than a mile in breadth, flows at the rate 

 of one or two miles an hour, and is slightly turbid. The 

 situation of Alton, from the opposite side of the ferry, is beau 

 tiful. An island divides the river, which, being land-locked 

 above and below, has the appearance of a lake. The western 

 bank is low, the eastern high and rocky, terminated by wood 

 on the summits of the bluffs, as the projecting knolls or hills 

 on the banks of some American rivers are called. The rocks 

 are partly sand and partly limestone. 



Here I observed a steam grist-mill ; the under part of the 

 building was composed of stone, as high as the water of the 

 river would reach in floods, the upper part being of wood. 



