﻿817 



MIXNIHIVE. 



MISSISSIPPI. 



E18 



from ice, Bteam-vessela arrire and sail daily, although the vicinity of 

 the town i^ stiU a wildernesa. In 1850 St. Paul had 1135 inhabitants; 

 iu the spring of 1853 it is said to have had above 2500. 



Minnesota has a legislature, consisting of a Council and House of 

 Kepresentatives, By the constitution, as framed by the territorial 

 legislature, citizenship is not limited to whites, but extended to "all 

 persons of a mixture of white and Indian blood who shall have 

 adopted the habits and customs of civilised men." Minnesota was 

 erected into a territory by Act of Congress in March 18't9; that 

 portion of it west of the Mississippi having previously formed a part 

 of the territory of Iowa, and that part east of the Miasissippi having 

 belonged to the territory of Wisconsin. 



(Stalutical Qazetteer of the United Slates ; Seventh Centiu of the 

 Vnited States ; American Almanac,\&5i; Oven, Report of a Geotogical 

 Survey of Wisconsin, loaa, and Minnesota ; Marcou, &c.) 



MINNIHIVE. [DcurEiESSHiBE.] 



MINORCA. [ME.NORCA.] 



MINSK, a government of European Russia, in the division called 

 West Russia (formerly Lithuania), lies between 51° 12' and 55° 50' 

 N. lat, 26° 18' and 30° 50' E. long. It is bounded N. by Witepsk, 

 E. by Mohilev, S.E. by Tschernigov, S. by Kiev and Volhynia,'and 

 W. by Orodno and Wilna. Its area is 34,330 square miles, and the 

 population in 1816 amounted to 1,046,400. The fsce of the country 

 is one vast plain, broken only here and there by a hill or by the high 

 banks of the rivers. In the north and east there are lai^e forests, 

 and on the south and south-west extensive marshes. There is a great 

 diversity of soil. In the north it is dry, and in some parts extremely 

 fertile, but traversed by heaths and barren sandy tracts : iu the south 

 it is generally wet and marshy, yet it contains large tracts which are 

 very fertile ; the marshes also are rendered productive with little 

 labour, and even the heaths yield to the efforts of cultivation. 



The principal rivers are the DUka and the Dnieper, both of which 

 however only touch the frontier ; the former flows for a short space 

 between this province and Wilna, and the latter on the south-east 

 divides it from Tschernigov. Among the rivers tliat flow into the 

 Dilna are — the Desna, which comes from Wilna, and joins it at the 

 town of the same name ; and the Ulla, which feedi the Beresina Canal, 

 which unites the Bi-resina, the Diiua, and the Dnieper. The NmcBB, 

 and its feeder the Vilia, both rise in the government of Minsk. The 

 Dnieper receives from this province two of its most important tribu- 

 taries — the Pripetz, which comes from Grodno, and the Beresina, which 

 rises in the circle of Desna, and having received several minor streams 

 falU into the Dnieper on the frontier of this province. There are 

 many other rivers of less note. The province has no great lakes. 



The climate in winter is so severe that the rivers are every year 

 frozen over for some time ; in spring there are frequently hard frosts 

 at night ; the summer is hot, and drier in the north than in the south ; 

 in autumn the weather is agreeable and not variable, but the nigbt- 

 froeta return in September, and winter begins at the end of October. 

 Qlie disease called ' Plica Polonica ' is common. 



Agriculture is the chief occupation of the inhabitants, but it is in a 

 most backward state. The grain generally cultivated is rye, of which 

 there is a considerable surplus for exportation. The peasants grow 

 also some barley and oats, and the nobles and great landownen grow 

 wheat Buckwheat is grown on the heaths. Flax and hemp of 

 excellent quality are important products. There are extensive forests 

 of fine trees, especially fir, which supply good timber for building, 

 planks, and masts, and yield likewise much resin, pitch, and potash. 

 All kinds of game abound in the forests, which contain deer, wolves, 

 bears, lynxes, foxes, beavers, otters, gluttons, ermines, martens, 

 and wild boars. The horses are of the Polish breed, and are 

 very spirited and hardy, but neither handsome nor large. The 

 aurochs, or wild bull, is sometimes met with in the deepest recesses 

 of the forests. Cattle and sheep are bred in great numbers; in 

 general the sheep are of inferior breed, and yield coarse wool. Ooats, 

 swine, and bees are kept everywhere. Though the rivers abound in 

 fish, they do not yield enough for the consumption, and great quan- 

 tities of fish are brought from the interior of Russia and from the 

 Baltic Polish cochineal is collected, especially in the south, in great 

 quantities, and manna is found in all the fields and meadows. The 

 minerals are lime, marl, and stone for building, but there is no metal 

 •zcept'bog-iron. 



The domestic industry of the country-people consists iu spinning 

 •nd weaving flax, hemp, and wool, of which they make linen, sail- 

 cloth, and coarse woollen-cloth for the peasantry, but their dwellings 

 are so small that they have scarcely room for a loom. They distil 

 brandy enough for their own consumption. The manufactories are 

 very few in number, and inconsiderable. The chief articles of expor- 

 tation are square timber for ship-buiUling, masts, spars, planks, pipe- 

 staves, and potash; besides flax, hemp, tow, linseed, com, honey, 

 wax, cochineal, and cattle. The greater part of the inhabitants are 

 of the Qreek Church; but the Catholics are very numerous ; and there 

 are also some Protestants. The Tartars have their mosques, and the 

 Jews synagc^es. This is one of the most miserable of the former 

 Polish provinces; the towns and villages are in general wretched, 

 chiefly occupied by Jews, who are almost exclusively the shopkeepers, 

 publicans, distillers, and even butchers. The petty nobility are 

 scarcely above the peasants, of whom only the Tartars are reckoned 



OCOO. DIT. TOL. UI. 



free, while the Russuiaks, Lithuanians, and gipsies are in the most 

 degraded state of vassalage, which is greatly_aggravated by the uou- 

 reaidence of the great landowners. 



Minsk, the chief town, in 53° 40' N. lat., 27° 40' E. long., is situated 

 on the river Swistocz, one of the tributaries of the Beresiua. Like all 

 old Polish towns it is irregularly built, with narrow crooked streets. 

 It has a fine cathedral, a handsome theatre, a gymnasium, and an 

 abbey of the Greek Church. Minsk is the seat of a Greek archbishop 

 and of a Roman Catholic bishop, as well as of the government of the 

 province. There is some trade, manufactures of cloth and leather, and 

 a much frequented fair. The inhabitants number about 24,000. 



The other towns are : — liobrouisk, a fortress on the Beresiua, with 

 4700 inhabitants; Sluzk, with 5000 inhabitants; Daioidow, on the 

 Horyn, with 3500 inhabitants; Pinsk, which is siirroumled with 

 extensive marshes, and has considerable manufactories of Russian 

 leather, with 4500 inhabitants ; and Borissow, on the Beresiua : popu- 

 lation, 3000. 



MINSTER. [Kent.] 



MINYEH. [EoTiT.J 



MIOSEN, LAKE. [Chbistiania.] 



MIRAMICHL [New Bbdkswick.] 



MIRANDA. [Castilla la Vieja ; Tbas OS MosTta.] 



MIRANDa [Gers.] 



MIHANDOLA. [Modena.] 



MIRECOURT. [VosQES.] 



MIREPOIX. [AKiftoE] 



MIRZAPOOa [HlMDOSTAN.] 



MISENUM. [Naples.] 



MISKOLCZ. [HUHQABT.] 



MISSlONEa [CORBIENTKS.] 



MISSISSIPPI (or the "Great Water," as the term siguifles in the 

 native language), one of the largest rivers on the globe, which drains, 

 with its numerous branches, a surface of about 1,300,000 square 

 miles, and probably not less than one-fifth of the North American 

 continent. 



Its basin extends from 29° to 60° NT. Ut, and from 77° to 112° 

 W. long. It is widest on the west, averaging from north to south, 

 and west of 90° W. loug., about 1200 miles, whilst its average width 

 east of 90° W. long, does not exceed 5G0 miles. The gre.atcat length 

 of the basin from east to west is near 42° N. lat, where it measures 

 nearly 1500 miles. Its basin comprehends, besides the immense tract 

 of country along its western and north-western border, still in posses- 

 sion of the aboriginal tribes, the territory of Minnesota, which 

 contains its source and head streams ; aud that of Nebraska ; the 

 states of Iowa, Missouri, Arkansaii, and Louisiana, on the west ; and 

 those of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, 

 on the east of the river. It aUo contains the larger portiou of the 

 state of Mississippi, and parts of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, 

 Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. "The country comprising this 

 basin is described under these several states and territories : in the 

 fbUowing article we notice more particularly the valley of the river. 

 The remarkable fortifications and other antiquities found in the valley 

 of the Mississippi are noticed under America, and will not be further 

 alluded to here : for a full account of them see the large and elaborate 

 work ' Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley,' by E. G. Squier. 



The source of this river is a small lake, situated iu 47° 10' N. lat, 

 and 94° 64' W. long., called Lake Itasca, about 8 miles loug, and 

 about 1500 feet above the level of the sea. From it a stream 

 10 feet wide and from 12 to 18 inches deep issues in a northern 

 direction, which unites after a circuitous course of 50 or 60 miles 

 with a similar stream from Lake Usnwa, some distance west of 

 Lake Itasca. The united stream falls iuto Lake Travers, which is 

 about 12 miles long from north to south, and 6 miles broad, aud is 

 the most northern point attained by the river. Issuing from the 

 eastern side of this laike, the river flows southeastward to Lake Cass. 

 Lake Cass is 10 miles long, 3000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, 1330 

 feet above the sea, aud 182 miles from Lake Itasca, From Lake Cass 

 it still runs in an eastern direction to Little Winnipec Lake, issuiug 

 from which it takes a south-eastern course, which it maintains for a 

 considerable distance. Down to the Falls of St. Anthony its course 

 lies through a country studded with lakes, and united with each other 

 by channels full of rapids aud small cataracts. The surrouuding 

 country consists of an alternation of small eminences and swampy 

 ground. The elevations or ridges are composed of diluvial sand, on 

 which large granite boulders are scattered, and are overgrown with 

 pine-trees. In the swampy ground other trees grow, especially hem- 

 lock, elm, and ash, which are covered with moss. In some parts 

 small prairies occur. In other places the river is skirted by narrow 

 strips of alluvial soil, subject to inundation, aud in others it) bed is 

 already wide enough to form islands, especially above the Big Falls, 

 where twenty islands called the Beaver Islands occur in the space 

 of four miles. Nine miles above the place where the Mississippi is 

 joined by its first great affluent, the Minnesota, or St I'eter's River, 

 which falls iuto it from the west, occur the largest cataracts iu the 

 river, called St. Anthony's Falls. The Mississippi, though considerably 

 narrowed by the rocks, u about 640 yards wide at this point. In the 

 middle is an island about 100 yards wide, and covered with trees. The 

 fall on the eastern side is 230 yards and that on the western 310 yards 



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