276 Expedition to the 



Numerous settlements have heretofore been formed on 

 the lands contiguous to White river; and several in the por- 

 tion above the Chattahoochee mountain on the south side; 

 but all these lands having by treaty been surrendered to the 

 Cherokces, many whites have been compelled to withdraw, 

 and leave their farms to the Indians. A small portion only, 

 of the lands granted to the Cherokees, by the treaty is adapt- 

 tedto the purposes of settlements. Some of the tributaries of 

 White river have extensive and fertile bottoms, but the 

 greater part of the country watered by this river is moun- 

 tainous, and unfit for cultivation; at M'Neil's ferry, where 

 the road from Little Rock on the Arkansa, to Davidson ville 

 in Lawrence county, crosses White river, the bottoms are 

 wide and as fertile as any of those on the Arkansa. Here 

 the miegia and the pawpaw attain their greatest perfection, 

 and the soil is found well adapted to the culture of corn, 

 cotton, and tobacco. At the point formed by the confluence 

 of White and Black rivers, is a portion of land of a triangu- 

 lar form, and bounded by sides about fifteen miles in ex- 

 tent, which, in the excellence of its soil, as we were inform- 

 ed by the surveyors, is surpassed by none in the western 

 country. There are considerable portions of the upland soil 

 of* White river, where the profuse supply of streams and 

 springs of excellent water, the elevation and comparative 

 healthfulness of many situations, and the vicinity of navi- 

 gable rivers and other local advantages, make amends for 

 the want of exuberant fertility in the soil. The same re- 

 mark is applicable to the country south of the Arkansa, 

 where are extensive tracts of hilly and rocky soils, whidi 

 seem admirably adapted to the culture of the vine and the 

 olive. In every part of the Ozark mountains there are val- 

 lies, and small portions of land within the hills, having a 

 deep and fertile soil covered with heavy forests of oak, ash, 

 hickory, and in some places with the sugar maple, and 

 abounding in excellent water. The labor of a few years. 



