518 



MISSISSIPPI. 



above Miller's Bend, on the .attei river, a distance of 85 miles. The Florida and Montgorti' 

 ery Railroad, from Pensacola up the valley of the Conecuh to Montgomery, is in progress ; 

 length, 170 miles. The Selnia and Tennessee Railroad, designed to connect the Alabama at 

 Selma with the Tennessee near Gunter's Landing, a distance of 170 miles, is considerably ad- 

 vanced. The Wetumpka and Coosa Railroad, another projected connexion of those two great 

 rivers, is not yet commenced. 



4. .Agriculture. Commerce. Agriculture is almost the sole occupation of the inhabitants, 

 and cotton absorbs nearly all their attention ; the cotton crop of 1837, was about 330,000 bales, 

 or 130,000,000 pounds, of the value of nearly 15,000,000 dollars. Some sugar, principally 

 for domestic consumption, is made in. the southern part, and some tobacco is raised in the north- 

 ern. Indigo was formerly produced, but the cultivation has been abandoned. Indian corn is 

 the principal grain crop, but corn, beef, and pork are imported from the Western States. 

 There are several cotton-mills, iron-works, and tanneries in Northern Alabama, and some iron- 

 works in Bibb and Shelby. These, with a few saw and grist mills, some salt works, distille- 

 ries, potteries, and marble quarries, constitute the only attempts at mechanical operations. The 

 commercial transactions are chiefly managed by northern merchants and foreigners. 



5. Government. The legislature is called the General Assembly, and consists of a Senate 

 and House of Representatives. The senators are chosen for 3 years, and one third are renewed 

 each year. The representatives are chosen annually ; their number cannot exceed 100, nor 

 that of the senators one third of the representatives. The governor is chosen for 2 years, 

 and is eligible 4 years out of 6. The right of suffrage is given after one year's residence. 

 The State sends 5 representatives to Congress. 



6. Religion. The Baptists and Methodists are the prevailing sects ; the Presbyterians, the 

 Catholics, and the Episcopalians are also numerous. 



7. Education. The University of Jllabama, at Tuscaloosa, was founded in 1820. It has 

 6 instructers, and 100 students. La Grange College, in the county of Franklin, incorpo- 

 rated in 1830, and Spring Hill College, near Mobile, are useful institutions. There are 24 

 incorporated academies in the State. 



8. History. The southern portion was originally a part of Florida, and the northern was in- 

 c.uded in Georgia ; the latter was ceded by that State to the United States government, and 

 formed a part of the Mississippi Territory. It was made a territorial government, in 1817, 

 and in 1819 it was admitted into the Union as an independent State. Its increase of population 

 since that period has been very rapid. . 



CHAPTER XXV. MISSISSIPPI. V - . 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



1 . Boundaries and Extent. Mississippi is bounded north by Tennessee ; east by Alabama , 

 south by the waters of the Mexican Gulf and by Louisiana, and west by Pearl river, separat- 

 ing it from Louisiana, and by the Mississippi, which divides it from Arkansas and Louisiana. 

 It lies between 30'^ 8' and 35"^ north latitude and extends from 88° 12' to 91° 40' west longi- 

 tude. It is about 335 miles in length from north to south, by 150 in breadth, with an area of 

 48,000 square miles. 



2. Face of the Country. The surface in general slopes to the southwest, and to the south, 

 as appears by the course of the rivers. There are no mountains within the limits of the State, 

 but numerous ranges of hills of moderate elevation give to a great part of the surface an un- 

 dulating and diversified character. Some of the eminences rise abruptly from the bank of a 

 river, or from a level plain, and bear the name of blulfs. The western border on the Missis- 

 sippi is an extensive region of swamps, inundated by the river ; and between the Mississippi 

 and the Yazoo, there is a tract of 170 miles in length, by 50 in breadth, with an area of near- 

 ly 7,000 square miles, annually overflowed by the former. The southeastern counties are low, 

 but waving, and on the shore of this State, the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, which further west 

 is marshy, first begins to appear solid, dry, and covered with pines. 



3 Rivers. The Mississippi washes the western border of the State, and receives the Ya- 

 zoo, the Big Black River, and the Homochitto from Mississippi. The Yazoo rises in the north- 

 ers part nf the State and h^^ ;i rnnrsp of aboiit 250 miles The Tomherkhfe flnvv<5 from thp 



