ARKANSAS ARKWU1GHT. 



2(51 



of shittim-wood, and covered with the mercy-seat, 

 <alled also the propitiatory, as the Septuagint expres- 

 ses it, !\Kffrti(iav fxidr.fux., that is, the lid or cover of 

 propitiation ; because, in the typical language of 

 Scripture, those sins which are forgiven are said to 

 be covered. This lid was made of pure gold : at 

 either end was a cherub : these looked towards each 

 other, and embraced the whole circumference of the 

 mercy-seat with their expanded wings (Ex. xxv. 17, 

 22, and-xxxix. 1 9) ; between which the Shechinah, 

 or symbol of the divine presence manifested itself in 

 the appearance of a cloud, hovering, as it were over 

 the mercy-seat (Lev. xvi. 2). From hence the divine 

 oracles were given (2 Kings xix. 15 ; Isa. Ixxx. J). 

 The high priest once every year, on the great day 

 of expiation, appeared before the mercy-seat, to 

 make atonement for the people, (Heb. ix. 7). 

 The ark was placed in the sanctuary of the temple 

 of Solomon : before his time, it was kept in the 

 tabernacle, and was moved about as circumstances 

 dictated. At the captivity, it appears to have been 

 either lost or destroyed ; for the Jews universally 

 concur in stating that, among the things wanting in 

 the second temple, one was the ark of the covenant. 

 ARKANSAS ; a territory or district of country belong- 

 ing to the United States, bounded N. by the territory 

 and state of Missouri, E. by the Mississippi, which 

 separates it from the states of Tennessee and Mis- 

 sissippi, S. by Louisiana and Mexico, and W. by 

 Mexico ; length, from E. to W., 550 miles ; mean 

 breadth, about 220; square miles, abcut 120,000; 

 between Ion. 90 and 100 W.; lat. 32 40' and 

 36" 30' N. This is the usual statement of the size of 

 the territory; but the limits of what is properly 

 called A. territory liave been lately reduced, so that 

 it now contains about 45,000 square miles. Popula- 

 tion in 1810, 1062; in 1820, 14,273; slaves, 1,617. 

 It was erected into a territorial goyernment in 1819. 

 The number of counties, in 1820, was seven, and, hi 

 1828, fifteen. Little Rock is the seat of govern- 

 ment. According to a report made in congress, by 

 one of the committees on public lands, the popula- 

 tion of Arkansas, probably, would amount, in 1830, to 

 35,000. The Arkansas flows through the central 

 part; the Mississippi forms the eastern, and Red 

 river a part of the southern boundary. The other 

 principal rivers are White, St Francis, and Washita 

 or Ouachitta rivers. The Ozark (a provincial cor- 

 ruption of Arkansas) mountains traverse the country 

 from N. E. to S. W. The part of the territory be- 

 tween tliis range and the Mississippi is, in general, 

 low and level, and, in many places, liable to annual 

 inundation. To the N. W. of the mountains, the 

 country consists mostly of extensive prairies, without 

 trees, except on the borders of the streams of water. 

 The soil, on the rivers, is exceedingly fertile ; but, 

 in other parts, much of it is sterile. Throughout 

 most of the country, there is a great scarcity of 

 water. The climate is subject to great extremes of 

 heat and cold, and is unhealthy to new settlers. 

 Arkansas was discovered and settled by the French, 

 under the chevalier de Tonti, as early as 1685. In 

 i lie various transfers of territory, it followed the fate 

 of other parts of Louisiana, until February, J819, 

 when, by a law of congress, that part of Louisiana 

 between the state of Louisiana, or N. lat. 33, and 

 the southern boundary of Missouri, was erected into 

 a separate territorial government, and such it con- 

 tinues to the present day. Cotton and Indian corn 

 are the staple productions. The country is exceed- 

 ingly well adapted to the raising of cattle. Wild 

 iiniinals and fowls are abundant, as the buffalo, deer, 

 elk, otter, beaver, rabbit, raccoon, wildcat, cata- 

 mount., wolf, Ix-ar, &c. ; wild geese, turkeys, quails, 

 &c. Of minerals, there are iron, lead, coal, sa:l, i 



&c. There arc several salt springs, mid, 1SOO or 

 1400 miles up the Arkansas, is a tract called the sail 

 prairie, which, according to governor Miller, is 

 covered, for many miles, from four to six inches 

 deep, with pure, white, crystallized salt. About 150 

 miles N. W. Arkansas, are the famous hot springs. 

 They are much resorted to by invalids, and are useful 

 in chronic and paralytic affections. The tempera- 

 ture, in the driest seasons, is at the boiling point, 

 but subject to considerable variation. The principal 

 tribes of Indians, in this territory, are the Osages, 

 Cherokees, Quapas, Choctaws, Cadoes, Camanches. 

 &c. Arkansas ; a river of North America, which 

 ises in the Rocky mountains, about N. lat. 40, near 

 the sources of the rio del Norte, and near the borders 

 of the territory of the United States and Mexico. 

 It forms a part of the boundary between the Missouri 

 territory and Mexico, flows tlirough the central part 

 of Arkansas territory, and unites with the Mississippi, 

 lat. 30 40' N. Its course is E. S. E. It is navigable 

 for boats, at some seasons, 1980 miles; its whole 

 length, following its windings, is 2170 miles. Its 

 channel is broad, and its navigation safe, unobstruct- 

 ed by rocks, shoals, or rapids. Silver is found on 

 this river, and much of the land on its banks is of 

 the first quality. 



ARKF.BCSS. See ffarguetun. 



AKKWRIGHT, Sir Richard, famous for his inventions 

 in cotton-spinning, was bom at Preston, in Lanca- 

 shire, in 1732, ot parents in humble circumstances. 

 He was the youngest of thirteen children, received 

 but a very indifferent education, and was bred to the 

 trade of a barber. In the year 1760, he had estab- 

 lished himself in Bolton-le-Moor, where he exchang- 

 ed the trade of a barber f or that of an itinerant hair- 

 merchant ; and having discovered a valuable chemi- 

 cal process for dying hair, he was, in consequence, 

 enabled to amass a little property. It is unfortunate 

 that very little is known of the steps by which lie 

 was led to those inventions that raised him to dis- 

 tinction, and have immortalized his name. Ilia 

 residence in a district where a considerable manufac- 

 ture of linen goods, and of linen and cotton mixed, 

 was carried on, must have given him ample oppor- 

 tunities of becoming acquainted with the various 

 processes that were in use in the cotton manufacture, 

 and of the attempts that had been made, and were 

 then making, to improve them. His attention was 

 thus naturally drawn to this peculiar department ; 

 and, while he saw reason to conclude that it was 

 likely to prove the most advantageous in which he 

 could engage, he had sagacity and good fortune to 

 invent and improve those extraordinary machines by 

 which, unlike most inventors, he amassed vast wealth, 

 at the same time that he added prodigiously to the 

 demand for labour, and to the riches and comfort of 

 the civilized world. The spinning-fenny, invented 

 in 1767 by Hargraves, a carpenter at Blackburn, in 

 Lancashire, gave the means of spinning twenty or 

 thirty threads at once with no more labour than had 

 previously been required to spin a single thread. 

 The thread spun by the jenny could no., however, 

 be used, except as weft, being destitute of the firm- 

 ness or liardness required in the longitudinal threads 

 or warp. But Mr Arkwright supplied this deficiency 

 by the invention of the ipinning-frame that wonder- 

 ful piece of machinery, which spins a vast number 

 of threads of any degree of Cm-ness and hardness, 

 leaving to man merely to feed the machine with 

 cotton, and to join the threads when they happen lo 

 break. It is not difficult to understand the principle 

 on which this machine is constructed, and the mode 

 if its operation. It consists of two pairs of rollers, 

 turned by means of machinery. The lower roller of 

 ach pair is furrowed or fluted longitudinally, and 



