316 



ALABAMA. 



caloosa, or Black Warrior^ from the northwest, then form a junction with the Alabama, and under 

 the name of the Mobile^ this combined mass of waters terminates its course in the bay of the 

 same name, through 2 principal mouths, the Tensaw and the Mobile. Sea vessels go up to 

 St. Stephens, on the Tombeckbee, and to Claiborne, on the Alabama, and steamboats ascend 

 to a considerable distance above. The Chattahoochee, on the eastern border, and the Tennes- 

 see, on the north, receive no considerable tributaries from Alabama. The Conecuh, or Escam- 

 bia, in the south, runs through Florida, into Pensacola Bay. 



4. Bay. This State has but about 60 miles of seacoast. This contains the spacious Bay 

 of Mobile, which extends 30 miles inland. It has 2 principal entrances, one of which has 18 

 feet depth of water. To the west, it communicates by a shallow passage with the Bay of Pas- 

 cagoula, which lies within a number of islands, on the coast of this State and Mississippi. 



5. Climate. In the northern parts, the still waters are often frozen over in winter. In the 

 south, snow or ice is seldom seen. The climate, on the whole, is more favorable to health than 

 the neighboring regions under the same parallels. There is hardly such a season as winter ; and 

 the summer heat is exceedingly oppressive. Cattle require no shelter during winter. Where 

 the vegetation is most tardy, the trees are in full leaf by the 1st of April. Maize is planted 

 early in March. By the 12th of April, peas are in pod, and the fig-trees are in leaf. Green 

 peas are at table. May 2d. Mulberries, whortleberries, and others, as well as cucumbers, are 

 ripe by the middle of May. Maize is ripe for roasting by the end of June. In the hot months, 

 bilious diseases are common. At this season, none but the negroes, and those acclimated, can 

 remain with safety upon the low banks of the rivers, or among the swampy lands. The inhabi- 

 tants generally retire to the upper country, and among the pine forests, to pass the summer. 



6. Soil. More than half the surface of the State is what is called a pine barren. These 

 lands are very common in the Southern and Western States. They have a clayey soil, of a 

 gray or reddish color, and produce a coarse grass, with trees of a moderate size thinly scattered 

 over the surface. The quality of the land is never better than second or third rate, but is gen- 

 erally favorable to the growth of wheat. In the northern part, along the banks of the Tennes- 

 see, the soil is very good. The southern part has a thin soil, with much swampy land, covered 

 with cypress and gum trees. The central part is rather hilly and waving, and the uplands here 

 axe covered with the long-leaved pine. The borders of the Alabama and Tombeckbee, are 

 formed of wide alluvial tracts, which are extremely fertile. 



7. Vegetable Productions. These do not difi'er essentially from those of Florida. In the 

 southern parts, are groves of orange trees, affirmed by some to be indigenous ; but these were, 

 no doubt, planted by the early Spanish settlers. 



8. Geology. Minerals. The southern portion of the State, south of a northwest line pass- 

 ing near Fort Mitchell, Wetumpka, Tuscaloosa, and Columbus in Mississippi, is a vast plain 

 resembling that of the Atlantic States, of which it is a continuation. It is but little elevated 

 above the level of the Gulf, and the inequalities of its surface are occasioned rather by depres- 

 sions beneath the general level, than by any considerable rise above it. The rivers, and the 

 action of some former floods, have furrowed the surface with deep ravines, in which the exist- 

 ing streams wind their devious courses. Geologically considered, this plain has features simi- 

 lar to the portions further north, consisting of beds of sand and clay, and calcareous strata 

 referrible to the older tertiary and newer secondary or cretaceous periods, but chiefly to the 

 latter. North of this great plain, the surface becomes hilly ; and still further north, on both 

 sides of the Tennessee, mountainous, being here traversed by numerous ridges of the Cumber- 

 land Mountains, to which the Raccoon and Lookout Mountains appear to belong. The eleva- 

 tion of these mountain ranges is nowhere considerable, but we have no accurate information on 

 this point. This region consists chiefly of sandstones and limestones of the carboniferous 

 group ; and the rocky ledge which here marks the division between it and the plain, is sandstone, 

 and not gneiss, as in the more northern States. Coal, salt, and iron, abound in this section, but 

 we have little knowledge as to the extent and distribution of the iron and coal beds. The lattej 

 occur in Madison, Jackson, St. Clair, Tuscaloosa, Bibb, and other counties. Gold is found 

 m the northeastern counties, and as far south as Autauga ; probably nowhere, and certainly not 

 m the latter locality, in veins, but in deposit mines or alluvial beds. 



