UNITED 
STATES. 
457 
mass of intelligent beings, by the electric agency of the post 
and the press! With the united intellect and resources of a 
society framed on such a gigantic scale, what mighty designs 
will then be practicable ! Imagination is lost in attempting 
to estimate the effects of such accumulated means and pow¬ 
ers. One result, however, may be anticipated. America 
must then become the centre of knowledge, civilization, and 
power; and the present leading states of Europe (Russia per¬ 
haps excepted), placed on the arena amidst such colossal 
associates as the American Republics, will sink to a subor¬ 
dinate rank, and cease to exert any greater influence on the 
fate of the world, than the Swiss Cantons do at the present 
day.” 
The territory of the United States is situated between the 
25th and 49th degrees of north latitude, and between the 
67th and 124th degrees of west longitude from London. Its 
extreme length east and west is 2780 miles, its greatest 
breadth north and south 1230 miles, and its area, according 
to Mr. Mellish, 2,076,410 square English miles. It is 
bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by 
the British possessions, on the west by the Pacific Ocean, 
and on the south by Mexico and the Mexican, Guif. The 
Mississippi divides it into two parts nearly equal in extent. 
In the north-east angle of this territory, there is a space of 
more than 100 miles square, of very barren ground, inter¬ 
posed between New Brunswick and Lower Canada, the pos¬ 
session of which has long been the subject of negotiation 
between the British and American governments. 
Two chains of mountains separate this extensive territory 
into three great natural divisions. 1. The Atlantic region, 
or the country lying east of the Alleghany mountains. 2. 
The valley of the Mississippi, or the country watered by the 
Mississippi, Missouri, and their numerous branches. 3. 
The Pacific region, or the country lying west of the Rocky 
mountains. 
The Alleghany mountains commence in Lower Canada, 
below Quebec, and passing along the northern boundary of 
Maine, and through New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, 
Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the two Caroliuas, they termi¬ 
nate in the upper parts of Georgia and Alabama, preserving 
a south-west direction throughout. They consist of three, 
four, five, or more distinct ridges, with wide and fertile val¬ 
leys interposed. Their entire length is 1100 miles; their 
breadth varies from 110 to 150. In the northern half their 
height is greatest, but most unequal; detached peaks are nu¬ 
merous, and the ridges indistinctly marked. In the south, 
the ridges are lower, but better defined, and their summits 
are often.distinguished by a very uniform continuous level. 
The Rocky mountains are a continuation of the Mexican 
Cordilleras, and extend to the Polar Ocean. They pass 
through the territory of the United States, at the distance of 
500 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and consist of several 
elevated chains, occupying a breadth of 300 miles, with deep 
valleys between them. 
The Atlantic region was the first settled, and is the most 
populous and improved portion of the United States, but 
not the most favoured as to soil and climate. It may be 
considered as the eastern slope of the Alleghanies. Includ¬ 
ing all the countries watered by rivers flowing into the At¬ 
lantic and the Gulf of Mexico, east of the Mississippi, it is 
about 1700 miles in length, with an average breadth of 250, 
and embraces an area of 400,000 square miles. It includes 
three well marked varieties of soil and surface. 1. The allu¬ 
vial district, consisting of sand, gravel, and clay, compris¬ 
ing a stripe of level land, extending along the coast from 
New York southward, with a breadth varying from 20 miles 
to 100. The surface is level or slightly undulating; and it 
embraces large tracts of marsh near the coast. The soil is 
poor and sandy, producing almost nothing but pines, ex¬ 
cept in the alluvial tracts which skirt the rivers. About 
one-half of the surface of New Jersey, Delaware, and Mary¬ 
land, one-fifth of Virginia, one-third of the Carolinas, 
Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, fall under this description. 
2. The upland country, extending from the alluvial tract to 
the feet of the mountains, with a breadth varying from 20 
VoL. XXIV. No. 1649. 
to 200 miles. The soil here is chiefly formed from the de¬ 
tritus of the primitive rocks, and is generally fertile, and 
well adapted for tillage. 3. The ridges of the Alleghanies, 
and the valleys between them, which bear a strong growth 
of natural wood, have generally a rich soil capable of tillage, 
wherever the surface is not rocky or too steep; and are al¬ 
most free from marshes. In part of Pennsylvania, New 
York, and in the six New England States, where the Alle¬ 
ghanies spread out into an irregular broken surface, the soil 
possesses a mixed character. The northern parts of New 
England are mountainous, the southern hilly or uneven. 
The soil, comparatively speaking, is rocky, has little depth, 
and is belter adapted for pasture than tillage, and improves 
generally as we advance inwards from the coast. 
The basin or Valley of the Mississippi, which extends 
from the Alleghanies to the Rocky mountains, is not so large 
as the basin of the Amazon by one-third, but being situated 
in the best part of the temperate zone, it may be pronounced 
the finest valley in the world. Its breadth east and west is 
1400 miles; its length in the opposite direction 1200, and 
its area 1,400,000 square miles. It comprehends a great 
diversity of soil, surface, and climate. 1. The basin of the 
Ohio, including the Cumberland, 700 miles long and 300 
broad, is a rich and beautiful country; the garden of the 
United States. The lower parts of the surface are from 500 
to 800 feet above the level of the sea, and are finely diversi¬ 
fied with round topped arable hills, rising 400 or 500 feet 
above their base. The rivers generally run in deep hollows, 
sometimes mere ravines, but often spreading out into valleys, 
which include lands of exuberant fertility. This district 
includes Kentucky, Tennessee, with part of Virginia, Penn¬ 
sylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. 2. The territory ex¬ 
tending from the basin of the Ohio north-westward to Lake 
Superior, including the country between the Missouri and 
Upper Mississippi. The surface is sometimes undulating, 
sometimes so level that the waters stagnate on it, till carried 
off by evaporation; and it is not broken by any notable 
elevations, except one long ridge extending between the 
Missouri and Mississippi, and two low eminences called the 
Ocooch and Smoky mountains. The soil is naturally rich, 
and covered with luxuriant herbage; but the climate is 
severe. 
The last and largest division of this great valley, extend¬ 
ing from the Mississippi and Missouri to the Rocky moun¬ 
tains, consists of two very different qualities of soil, which 
graduate into each other, but, on the great scale, may be 
conceived to form two parallel tracts of nearly equal extent, 
parted by the 98th meridian. In the middle of the eastern 
section, and, as it were, in the very bottom of the great 
basin of the Mississippi, lie the Ozark mountains, a chain 
like the Alleghanies, of great length and breadth, and small 
height. Their sides, which slope with gentle declivities, 
are deeply furrowed with streams, and partly covered with 
small timber. The Arkansas and Red River are the only 
streams which cut their way through this chain. On the 
east side of the Ozark chain is the Great Swamp, 200 miles 
long and 20 broad, which is converted into a lake by the 
annual overflow of the Mississippi, but is dry during the 
heats of summer. The country round it is rich bottom or 
meadow land, clothed with excellent timber. The country 
for one or two hundred miles west of the Ozarks is also good, 
but less wooded. 
The Pacific Region extends from the Rocky mountains to 
the ocean, and embraces an area of 300,000 square miles. 
It consists almost entirely of the basin of the Columbia river. 
A chain of mountains runs through it from south to north, 
about 150 miles from the coast, between which and the 
Rocky mountains there is a high valley, 300 miles broad, 
intersected by smaller chains, but well wooded and watered, 
and enjoying a pure air and a fruitful soil. The land be¬ 
tween the outer chain and the coast is nearly of the same 
description, but much lower, and overcharged with mois¬ 
ture from frequent and heavy rains. The climate is remark¬ 
ably mild and equable. 
The rage for emigration to the United States is at present 
4 Y on 
