FACE OP THE COUNTRY, &C.-BQOK II. 10 7 
a more minute description of particular parts will prove the 
contrary. Even in these places there is abundance of line grass, 
affording excellent pasturage. 
For thirty miles above Cape Girardeau, (with the exception 
of some places near the Mississippi) and extending back to the 
St. Francis, there is a country not unlike that around the head 
of the Ohio; though not quite so hilly. The timber nearly the 
same, hickory, oak, ash, walnut, maple, and well supplied with 
springs and rivulets. 
North of Apple creek, there is a tract on the river, of very 
unpromising aspect, extending to the Saline, within nine miles 
of St. Genevieve. It is scarcely fit for tillage, badly watered, 
with woods of a poor and straggling growth; but to make amends 
in some degree, for the sterility of the upland, there is a fine 
bottom (Bois bruie) terminating just below the Saline, of twen¬ 
ty miles in length, and on an average three in width. In the 
neighbourhood of the Saline creek the land is exceedingly bro¬ 
ken and hilly, though tolerably well timbered, and not altogether 
unfit for cultivation. On the a Vase,* there are many fine tracts, 
and extensive platts. 
From St. Genevieve to the Maramek, and extending back, 
the same description will apply, except that the country is more 
rough and broken, but generally better watered, being travers¬ 
ed by la riviere Habitation, Big river, the Mineral Fork, the Pla- 
tin, and the Joaehin. In some places the country is exceeding¬ 
ly wild and romantic. Ledges of limestone rock frequently 
shew themselves on the sides of hills, forming precipices of 
twenty or thirty feet high, and have much the appearance of re* 
gular and artificial walls. What is somewhat singular, they are 
generally near the top of the hill, which gradually slopes down 
to the vale of some rivulet: a view of great extent and magni¬ 
ficence is presented to the eye; rocks, woods, distant hills, and 
* Apple creek--rthe Saline—and the A' Vase, are. considerable 
streams, which rise, as well as Big river (a branch of the Maramek) and 
some other streams, in a high ridge, about fifty miles west of the Mis¬ 
sissippi, which separates these waters from those of the St. Francis. 
