274 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



are high banks, bluffs, and hills, but no mountains are seen in all this 

 distance. The shores are principally inhabited by various tribes ol 

 the aborigines, who claim the soil, and live chiefly by hunting and 

 fishing. Besides these, the British have, above the falls of St. An- 

 thony, several trading establishments, some of which are. within the 

 jurisdiction of the U nited States ; and below the falls the Americans 

 have some small settlements, which shall be noticed hereafter. 



The Mississippi, which, before its junction with the Missouri, was 

 clear and transparent, now assumes a muddy cast. In appearance it 

 seems little or no larger, after the ti'ibute of the rivers Illinois and 

 Missouri; but its channel becomes much deeper, and it is more ra- 

 pid. From the mouth of the Missouri, to that of the Ohio, a distance 

 of 193 miles, its bearing is nearly south-east. On its west banks are 

 situated St. Louis, the capital of Upper Louisiana, and St. Genivieve, 

 the former fourteen, and the latter eighty-seven miles below its con- 

 fluence with the Missouri. From the north-east, sixteen miles be- 

 low the last village, it receives the river Kaskaskias. 



The width of the Mississippi is but little increased by the waters 

 of the Ohio, but the channel deepens from fifteen to twenty-five 

 feet. The course of the river now becomes exceedingly serpen- 

 tine, and is interspersed with numerous islands. The appearance 

 of the surrounding country is considerably changed. Vegetation is 

 no longer checked by the severity of the climate. The shores as 

 far down as Point Coupee, a distance of nine hundred miles, are cov- 

 ered with thick forests of heavy timber, rendered almost impenetra- 

 ble by the closeness of the underwood. On the western shore, 70 

 miles below the Ohio, stands New Madrid, pleasantly situated, on a 

 rich soil. On the same side, 33 miles lower down, is a settlement, 

 two miles long, called Little Prairie. The Chickasaw bluffs com- 

 mence 176 miles below the Ohio, on the eastern shore, and are four in 

 number. The last is distant 65 miles from the first, and terminates 

 just below the mouth of Wolf river. They rise from 60 to 150 feet 

 above the surface of the water. At their lower extremity, in a com- 

 manding situation, stands fort Pickering. On the western side, about 

 65 miles lower down, comes in the river St. Francis. Six miles below, 

 is a beautiful natural meadow, called the Big Prairie. At a small 

 distance from the river, in this prairie, is a fine lake, five miles long, 

 and three wide ; it abounds with swan, and discharges its water into 

 the river, by a large bayau. About 35 miles below, enters White river 

 on the same side ; and about 20 miles further, comes in the Arkansas, 

 210 miles below the Arkansas, the Yazoo river enters on the eastern 

 side. Twelve miles further down are Walnut hills ; about 24 miles 

 below which, on the same side, commences the Palmira, a flourishing 

 settlement, extending about eight miles down the river. The distance 

 from the walnut hills to Natchez is about 120 miles. About 50 miles 

 below Natchez are Loftus' Heights. Fort Adams is on the side of 

 these heights, about one third of the way up ; four miles below which, 

 is the southern boundary line of Mississippi Territory. At a small 

 distance below the line, the river turns short, and forms a large bend 

 to the westward. At the extremity of this curve, Red river enters. 

 Three miles below, on this bend, the bayau Chaffalio runs out with 

 great rapidity, and is the first stream which leaves the Mississippi, 

 and falls, by a separate channel, into the Gulf of Mexico. The bend 

 is continued until it forms a semicircle ; the river then tends south- 

 ward some distance, then winding round to the eastward and north- 



