SALT LEAD. 423 



sufficient protection against fire for a Kay stack in the midst of 

 the prairie ; and the inhabitants either save their buildings by 

 this means, or by burning the grass immediately around them, 

 before the general conflagration takes place. The burning, in 

 all probability, is conducive to health, by consuming vegeta 

 tion, which would otherwise putrify on the surface, and by 

 checking the luxuriance of its growth, which the un consumed 

 matter would produce by natural decay. There is a ruling 

 Providence in every thing ! 



The mineral productions of the state have been imperfectly 

 explored. Salt is manufactured in many situations. Near 

 Shawneetown is the most extensive establishment, where about 

 138,000 bushels are made yearly. Salt is also made in the 

 neighbourhood of Brownsville, in Madison county, and in 

 other parts. The saline reservations given to the state, by the 

 general government, consist of 206,128 acres. One of the 

 most remarkable gifts which bountiful nature has lavished on 

 the valley of the Mississippi, appears to me to be the inex 

 haustible supply of salt water. The government of the country 

 seem fully to appreciate the gift, and have wisely made the 

 springs public property, by which the community will obtain 

 the indispensable article of salt at the cheapest rate. 



Lead abounds in the north-east angle of the state, in the 

 neighbourhood of Galena. The mineral is found on both 

 sides of the Mississippi, and supposed to extend over several 

 thousand square miles. The ore is found in detached masses, 

 and not in veins, which renders the digging a matter of 

 chance. The quantity of lead manufactured here, in 1829, 

 was 13,343,150 Ibs. ; and the population of the region is 

 stated at 10,000.* There are also lead diggings in the State 

 of Missouri, about 70 miles south-west of St Louis, and 

 which were wrought by the French about a century ago. The 

 price of lead, at Galena, is from 2 to 3 cents per Ib. When 

 at Springfield, I met a young gentleman from Leith, in Scot 

 land, who had travelled by way of New York, the Erie canal, 

 and lake Michigan, provided with a considerable quantity of 

 shot, which he imagined the country could not furnish. 



* Guide to the valley of Mississippi. Philadelphia, 1832. 



