10 . VIEWS OF LOUISIANA. 
At the upper end of the town there is a considerable stream, 
of which I have already spoken, and might, at most seasons, be 
navigated to its source; at New Madrid it is called the Bayou 
St. John, and affords an excellent harbor. Below the town there 
is a beautiful lake, six or eight feet deep, with a clear sandy 
bottom, and communicating with the St. Francis, and the Mis¬ 
sissippi, in high water. On the bank of this lake, about four; 
miles from New Madrid, there is one of the largest Indian 
mounds in the western country : as near as I could compute, it 
is twelve hundred feet in circumference, and about forty in height, 
level on the top, and surrounded with a ditch five feet deep and 
ten wide. In this neighbourhood there are traces of a great po¬ 
pulation. 
The country in the vicinity of New Madrid, is a vast plain 
of the richest soil, handsomely diversified with prairie and wood¬ 
land. There is not much business done at this place; two or 
three mercantile stores are established, but not extensively; yet 
I should think this, a situation extremely eligible for a person of 
enterprise. 
New Madrid is considered healthy, and from my own expe¬ 
rience, l am convinced of the justice of this character. There 
is nothing more delightful than a promenade in a summer 
evening, on the smooth green along the bank. The climate is 
mild and agreeable; in the hottest days of summer, a cool and 
refreshing breeze is felt from the river. The spring is compa¬ 
ratively early. I ate strawberries here the twentieth of April, 
and at St. Louis in June. New Madrid deserves to be noted 
for having the first gardens in the territory. 
ARKANSAS. 
This place is situated sixty miles up the river, and contains 
four hundred and fifty inhabitants; it has a few stores, and 
seems to be improving. There is a considerable trade with the- 
Osages up the Arkansas, and witii the Indians, who live in the- 
White river country. This is also a French establishment, and 
with about the same proportion of Americans as in the other 
towns. 
