79 



the land yields an abundance of all the necessa- 

 ries of life, and almost spontaneously ; very little 

 labour being required in the cultivation of the 

 earth. That part of Upper Louisiana, which 

 borders on North Mexico, is one immense prai- 

 rie ; it produes nothing but grass ; it is filled with 

 buffaloe, deer, and other kinds of game ; the land 

 is represented as too rich for the growth of forest 

 trees. It is pretended that upper Louisiana con- 

 tains in its bowels many silver and copper mines, 

 and various specimens of both are exhibited. 

 Several trials have been made to ascertain the 

 fact; but the want of skill in the artists has hith- 

 erto left the business undecided."* 



The Mississippi, from the junction of the 

 Missouri, has a strong current, which cannot be 

 stemmed by the force of wind on sails, without 

 the aid of oars. The width of the river is about 

 one mile and a half, and the water always thick 

 and muddy. A depth of fifteen feet of water 

 can be carried down, in low stages of the river; 

 but immediately below the Ohio it deepens to 

 twenty-five feet, and still increases to sixty feet. 



These waters are well replenished with fish of 

 different kinds. The largest are the cat fish, the 

 spatula fish, and sturgeon. The cat have been 

 taken weighing more than one hundred pounds, 

 and the spatula, of fifty pounds weight. The 

 smaller fish are the pike, buffaloe, perch, trout, 



* Appendix. — Ohio Navigator, page 133. 



