} 
On the Prairies and Barrens of the West. 31 
slope is covered with a coarse tall grass called sedge, which 
requires a partial inundation every tide, or twice in twenty- 
four hours to bring it to maturity. 
2. Adjoining the salt meadows, on the same level, and at 
the farthest extent which the salt water flows at spring tides, 
fresh meadows commence, by an almost imperceptible line 
of distinction; and they generally extend to the upland, but 
sometimes there is wet ground covered with bushes or a 
swamp between them and the upland.—These meadows are 
wet and soft, and few will bear a waggon.— They are some- 
times found several miles from any salt meadows. or salt 
water, and generally at the heads of rivers, where the face 
of the country is level. The general appearance of all these 
meadows is the same: being covered with wild grass of 
different kinds from twelve to thirty-six inches high, accor- 
ding to the quantity of water in the soil of the meadow ; and 
the more water there is, the coarser and taller the grass will 
be, until flags and rushes take its place. 
These meadows are much lower than the upland, and 
were evidently formed by the agency of water; which has 
deposited an alluvial soil, composed of the firmer particles’ 
from the upland, and decayed vegetable substances. 
If they are drained by a large ditch round them at the 
foot of the upland and one through the lowest part of them, 
so that the water from the upland may soon run off; then 
the same meadows become hard, will produce cultivated 
grass, and even trees; and will in a few years lose all their 
former features except their comparatively low and level 
situations. 
3. The Prairies of the Western country seem to me to 
exhibit the same general appearance as the fresh meadows 
east of the Alleghany mountains, and evidently were formed 
in the same manner. 
The prairies are generally found in the level parts of the 
country, on the banks of small rivers and creeks, and fre- 
quently extend to their sources. ‘They are level, generally 
wet and soft, and are covered with a tall wild grass.—They 
are much lower than the upland; and when well drained by 
‘ditching, they will produce cultivated grasses, grain, and 
trees; and exhibit every appearance of level upland, except 
their comparative depression and greater fertility.—The prai- 
ries of the west are much richer and more productive than 
