126 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



It is evident, he says, that the country through 

 which it runs, was formerly inhabited by a more 

 intelligent race than the natives now appear to 

 be ; for large mounds of earth are frequently met 

 with near the banks of the river, within which 

 are found the remains of pottery and other 

 articles of a superior kind to those now in use 

 amongst the Indians, who are in a very low state 

 of civilization, and but thinly spread over that 

 immense valley. 



The Mississippi rises, as he shewed us, in a 

 region of lakes and swamps, which are scattered 

 over a table-land extending from that great 

 ridge called the Rocky Mountains, nearly to Lake 

 Superior, between the 48th and 49th parallel of 

 latitude. In the first division of its course, it 

 passes slowly and smoothly through savannahs, 

 or low plains, covered with wild rice, rushes, and 

 other aquatic plants, the rank growth of which 

 is so great, that travellers say, that as they sat in 

 their canoes, the adjoining forests were com- 

 pletely hid from their view by the lofty fields of 

 waving grass. 



In the second division, begins the granite 

 country, with forests of elm, oak, and other lofty 

 trees. Then come the dry prairies, which are 

 the great resort of the buffalo and deer; and in 

 which sycamore and black walnut begin to 

 appear. 



