85 



on the state of vegetation. The sameness of view 

 along the banks of the river, as far down as Pointe 

 Coupee, a distance of nine hundred miles, is 

 scarcely interrupted, excepting by a few settle- 

 ments, and some high bluffs, on the eastern side. 

 The land appears to be one continued level, 

 clothed with large timber, and an under growth 

 of cane brakes, and small shrubs. 



Opposite the mouth of the Ohio is a small set- 

 tlement consisting principally of men whose em- 

 ployment is hunting. Five miles below, on the 

 east side, is fort Jefferson, which is evacuated. 

 On the west side, sixty-five miles further down, 

 is New Madrid. This settlement was made by 

 Col. George Morgan, of New Jersey, about the 

 year 1790. It is pleasantly situated, on a *rich 

 soil, and was intended for a large town. After 

 building a small number of houses, the people 

 became extremely sickly, and no further progress 

 was made in the settlement. On the same side, 

 thirty-three miles below, in a bend of the river, 

 is a settlement, two miles long, called Little Pra- 

 irie. This tract of land is exceedingly rich and 

 productive. 



The first high lands t* be seen on the river are 

 the Chickasaw bluffs, on the eastern side. These 

 bluffs are four in number, the first of which are 

 one hundred end seventy-six miles below the 

 Ohio, and continue about a mile on the river. 

 The second are eleven miles below the first ; the 

 third twenty-one miles below the second, and 



