498 TERRITORIES OF THE 



die of March to the first of April. The soil, as has been already 

 noticed, is generally very fine. In the southern part, approaching 

 Florida, it is rather light and sandy, but the great body of the terri- 

 tory consists of very rich land, covered with forests of valuable tim- 

 ber, and cane brakes. The principal crop is cotton, which is the 

 only article of export of importance from the territory. At the set- 

 tlement on the Tombigbee, 30,000 bales, of 350 lbs. each, have been 

 raised per annum. Indian corn is raised in sufficient quantity for the 

 consumption of the country, but wheat does not thrive well ; the inha- 

 bitants bordering on the Mississippi receive their principal supply of 

 flour from the Ohio waters ; in some of the low grounds of the south 

 lice is cultivated, but not to any great extent. Sheep are becoming 

 numerous, and cattle, are plenty. 



Towns ...Natchez is the only town of importance in the territory. 

 It is situated on a high bluff of land on the Mississippi; it contains 

 about 300 houses, principally built of wood, generally one story high, 

 with many windows and doors ; the population is a motley mixture of 

 Americans, French and Spanish Creoles, mulattoes and negroes, and 

 amounts to near 1500 souls. Vessels of 400 tons ascend the river to 

 the city. It is 300 miles above New Orleans, north latitude 

 31° 33'; longitude 91° 24' west. It contains no public buildings 

 worthy ot notice. There are several other towns, but all of them 

 small ; Washington, the seat of government, is the largest, contain* 

 ins: about 450 inhabitants, one-third slaves. 



MISSOURI TERRITORY. 



Boundaries, extent, rivers.. ..The territory of Missouri is 

 bounded on the south by the state of Louisiana. On the west, it 

 may be considered as bounded by the Osage purchase ;* this line 

 runs from a place called the Black rock, about three hundred miles 

 up the Missouri, due south to stride the Arkansas. On the north, a 

 line was agreed upon in a treaty between governor Harrison, and the 

 Sacs and Foxes, which begins at a point opposite the Gasconade ri- 

 ver, and strikes the Mississippi at the Jaufloine river. The Missis- 

 sippi bounds it on the east. 



This embraces an extent of country nearly three times, as large as 

 the state of Pennsylvania, and which contains a much greater propor- 

 tion of tillable land. The section north of the Missouri, and the 

 one south of the Arkansas, are each sufficient to form a considerable 

 state; but the Osage Purchase constitutes the principal body of the 

 territory, and may be justly considered, next to the state of Louisiana, 

 the most valuable tract in the great valley of the Mississippi. 



The Missouri is much the most considerable of any of the rivers 

 which swell the Mississippi, and one of the most wonderful in the 

 world. It enters the Mississippi nearly at right angles in latitude 

 38° 55'; the confluence is by no means comparable to that of the 

 Ohio, principally owing to an island at the entrance. The course 

 of the river in ascending is little north of west to the Platte. Above 

 this, its course is nearly N. W. until we reach the Mandan villages, 



* Except on the south of the Arkansas, where there is no. western boundary* 



