Missouri is richly endowed with mineral wealth. The iron region around Iron mountain and Pilot Knob is unsurpassed in the world for the abundance and purity of deposits.

On the Maramec river and in some other localities are found small quantities of lead.

Copper is found extensively deposited, being most abundant near La Motte mines. It is also found with nickel, manganese, iron, cobalt, and lead, in combinations yielding from 30 to 40 per cent. All these metals, except nickel, exists in considerable quantities; also silver, in combination with lead ore and tin. Limestone, marble and other eligible building materials are abundant, especially north of the Missouri. The geological formations of the State are principally those between the upper coal measures and the lower silurian rocks. The drift is spread over a large surface; in the north, vast beds of bituminous coal, including cannel coal, exist on both sides of the Missouri river. When these mineral resources shall receive their proper development, they will immensely enlarge the scope of industrial enterprise.

The manufacturing establishments, in 1860, numbered 3,157, with a capital of $20,034,220, employing a large laboring force. The expense of production, including raw material and labor, was $30,519,657, the value of the products being $41,781,651, giving a profit of $11,261,994, or 55 per cent. on the capital. The articles produced were generally suited to home demands and restricted to the simpler processes. Facilities for the higher branches of the useful, and for the fine arts, however, are known to exist, and will soon be developed, their aggregates showing a very marked advance over the previous decennial results.

The position of Missouri, at the central point of the Mississippi river system, is admirable for the control of the commerce of the vast interior basin of the continent. Notwithstanding the very powerful competition of its neighbors, the State has secured a large proportion of this trade. To superior water communication there has been added an expansive system of railroad improvement. In 1860 its extent was 817 miles in operation. Late hostilities were destructive to such interests and property, but the injuries are being rapidly repaired by the renewing forces of peaceful industry. The position of Missouri in regard to continental railway lines is eminently favorable, one of the direct routes from New York to San Francisco passing through the State, which is destined to accommodate a constantly accumulating and extensive trade.

Jefferson City, the capital of the State, on the right bank of the Missouri, 128 miles from St. Louis, occupies an elevated site, with a commanding view of the river and of the opposite cedar-crowned cliffs. It contains the capitol building, other State edifices, and is well supplied with churches, schools and newspapers. Its present population is about 4,000.

St. Louis, situated on the right bank of the Mississippi, 174 miles above its confluence with the Ohio, occupies two plateaus, the first of which rises somewhat abruptly from the river, but the latter, gently ascending, expands into a large and beautiful plain several miles back from the city, which embraces a space seven miles in length by three in breadth. The streets near the river, following its meanderings, are irregular, the new portion being built upon a rectangular plan, presenting a cheerful and inviting appearance. In its public buildings, halls, churches, and schools a large sum has lately been expended under judicious and tasteful management. Benevolent institutions, upon both individual and State foundations, attest the intelligent philanthropy of its people, and the literary and professional ones are of high order. The periodical press, embracing some 25 publications, exercises a commanding influence upon public opinion, and religious and educational zeal is manifested by a complement of churches and schools fully equal to the average of American cities.

St. Louis is a great commercial and industrial emporium, commanding a largė portion of the trade of the Mississippi river system. Its railroad connections have expanded its influence, increasing its commercial transactions. The accumulations of capital, the splendid industrial enterprise, the social refinement and intellectual advantages render it one of the most attractive cities on the continent, its present population being considerably in excess of 200,000.

The State finances are comparatively easy, the administration economical, and the revenue amply adequate to the requirements of the State. There are yet to be disposed of in this State 1,800,000 acres of public land.

ARKANSAS presents features of soil, climate, and productions which naturally associate it with the southern States. Its length from north to south is 242 miles, its breadth varying from 170 to 229, with an area of 52,198 square miles, or 33,406,720 acres. The physical aspects present remarkable variety. The eastern portion, with a breadth from 30 to 100 miles from the Mississippi, is a low marshy plain, abounding in lagoons, and subject, with exceptions, to the annual overflow of the Mississippi and its tributaries. Towards the centre of the State the land rises into hills, enlarging into the Ozark mountains. This chain enters the State in the northwest, dividing it into two unequal portions, one of which, in physical character, assimilates to the northern, and the other to the southern States. A singular phenomenon in Hot Springs county, 60 miles southwest of Little Rock, has excited the marked attention of men of science as well as of the public. Overlooking Hot Springs creek is a ridge, 250 feet high, composed of beautiful novaculite, of chalcedonic whiteness, of the age of millstone grit, transformed from simple ordinary sandstone by being perme ated with heated alkaline silicious water. From this ridge issues a number of springs, varying in temperature from cold spring-water to a heat of 160° Fahrenheit. These extremes of temperature are so near each other that a person can place one hand in cold and the other in hot water at the same time.

The temperature of Hot Springs creek has been elevated by the infusion of these waters to such an extent that even in the coldest weather it furnishes a comfortable bath. Many chronic diseases have been cured by these springs, the virtues of which seem to result from varied temperature and chemical infusions. They are the resort of invalids from all parts of the country.

The population of Arkansas, in 1820, was 14,273;` in 1840, 97,574; in 1850, 209,877; and in 1860, 435,450, the present population being about 500,000. This State was settled by the French in 1685, but civilization made very little progress prior to the territorial organization in 1819.

The black mould

The soil of Arkansas presents a variety of characteristics. of the river bottom, though surpassingly rich in fertilizing elements, especially organic, is to some extent unavailable for lack of drainage. Where cultivation is effective the soil yields from 50 to 80 bushels of maize to the acre. There are lands of especial excellence found along White's and St. Francis rivers, but back of these are sterile ridges, the country north of the Ozark mountains being well adapted to grazing.

The climate of the northern and western parts of Arkansas is allied to that of the northwestern States, while the eastern and southern resembles Louisiana. The lowlands are not generally healthy, but the uplands are equal in salubrity to the most favored regions of the western States. The deposits of rain are very copious.

The agricultural statistics of 1860 showed a rapid enlargement of cultivated land and a sixfold improvement in the value of farms and farm implements over the preceding decade. The live stock averaged from 50 to 300 per cent. increase upon the returns of 1850. The cereal crops showed still greater

improvement. Butter, cheese, wool, slaughtered animals, honey, tobacco, cotton, peas, beans, potatoes, hay, and garden and orchard products manifested an equally gratifying development, both in quantity and value.

The minerals of Arkansas are chiefly iron, coal, lead, zinc, manganese, gypsum, and salt. The coal embraces deposits of the anthracite, cannel, and bituminous varieties.

Gold is said to have been found in White county. Near Hot Springs is a quarry of novaculite, or oil-stone, superior to any other on the globe, inexhaustible in quantity and of great variety of fineness. There is manganese enough in the State to supply the world's demand. In zinc Arkansas ranks next to New Jersey. It has more gypsum than all the other States, and is equally well supplied with marble and salt. The lead ore is largely associated with silver. Lead mines were worked extensively during the civil war to answer military necessities. Arkansas has not engaged in manufactures to any considerable extent, they having been restricted to the production of the simpler indispensable articles. In 1860 the State had 518 establishments, with a capital of $1,316,610. The annual product was $2,880,578. The cost of labor was $554,240, and of raw material $1,280,503, leaving a profit of $1,055,835, or eighty per cent. on the capital. Over three-fourths of this production consisted of lumber, flour, meal, and leather. Manufacturing enterprise was greatly stimulated during the civil but no statistics have been reported to show the amount of such improve

war,

ment.

The extensive and widely diffused internal navigation of the State has supplied so well the limited wants of a hitherto sparse population, that railroads have not been completed to any considerable extent. The eastern section of the Memphis and Little Rock railroad, thirty-eight miles, has been finished, and several hundred miles additional have been projected, which will soon be placed under construction. The State has a large trade with New Orleans. An internal navigation of over one thousand miles brings every part of the country in communication with the great streams of commerce. The settlement of the back counties will add very materially to the volume of this domestic trade.

Little Rock, the capital, on the right bank of the Arkansas, three hundred miles from its mouth, is built upon a rocky promontory fifty feet above the river level, commanding an extensive prospect in all directions.

It contains a population of about four thousand, a number of fine public buildings, and church accommodations equal to the requirements of the population. Superior building clay, slate and granite are abundant in the surrounding country. These have attracted capital and enterprise from the North, which will form the basis of a considerable export trade. Lines of steamers connect with prominent ports on the western and southern rivers.

Arkansas Post, Van Buren, and Fort Smith, are thriving trading towns. Prior to the opening of the late civil war the financial condition of the State was very safe, the revenue being largely in advance of the expenditures.

The present financial condition is not found reported in any late statistics. There are yet to be disposed of in this State about eleven million seven hundred thousand acres of public land.

MISSISSIPPI, in shape approaching an oblong parallelogram, is one of the southern States on the left bank of the Mississippi river, from which it took its name. Its length from north to south is three hundred and thirty-four miles, with an average breadth of one hundred and fifty, the area being 47,156 square miles, or 30,179,840 acres.

From the elevated plateaus of the eastern and central portions the land descends gradually towards the west and southwest, whither all its water-courses The Mississippi bed is marked by two ranges of bluff, irregular in outline, sometimes closely approaching the river, overhanging it in cliffs two hundred

run.

feet high and then receding, leaving the intervening space a low flat plain overflowed by annual freshets and resulting in swamps, one of these extending from below the Yazoo river to Memphis, Tennessee, sometimes one hundred miles in width, occupying an area of seven thousand square miles.

This whole region is often covered with water, the northeastern part of the State being beautiful prairie. The southeastern portion is low but undulating, abounding in pine. The southern coast is a sandy level country, covered with heavy growth of pine interspersed with cypress swamps, prairies, and hills of slight elevation. Near Natchez are groups of ancient mounds of very remarkable construction. There are several medicinal springs in the State, among which is Cooper's well, in Hinds county, twelve miles from Jackson. The waters of this well are strongly impregnated with sulphur, also iron, and considered beneficial in cutaneous and intestinal diseases. Lauderdale springs, in the county of that name, are charged with white sulphur and chalybeate.

The population of Mississippi in 1800 was 8,850; in 1820, 75,448; in 1840, 375,651; in 1850, 605,948; in 1860, 791,305; and notwithstanding the ravages of war, may now be estimated at 900,000. The first settlements were made by the French. They were almost exterminated by Indians, but received a re-enforcement of French colonists driven out of Nova Scotia upon the English conquest of that peninsula. The admirable agricultural character of the country soon began to attract immigration from the British colonies on the Atlantic coast. The average fertility of the State is of a high standard. The northern and central valleys, though subject in places to severe sand washing, are very productive. Excessive cotton culture has injured the soil of this region, which is now devoted in general to lighter and less exhausting staples.

The prairie region of the northeast has a rich black adhesive mould, impregnated with lime and very prolific in cotton and maize.

In the southeast fruits flourish in sandy soil, which, with the exception of a few valleys, is not sufficiently strong to support the heavier crops.

Cattle also abound to such an extent that it is called the "cow country." The southern pine forests afford considerable trade in tar, pitch, and turpentine, but the land does not possess any especial agricultural capacity. The "bottoms" of the Mississippi, with their measureless depths of black mould, constitute par excellence the most productive lands of the State.

The establishment of permanent and sufficient embankments to protect them from the annual destructive overflow of the Mississippi is all that is requisite to make these lands a great planting region.

Their inexhaustible richness will bid defiance even to the appetite of the cotton plant, which has devoured the fertilizing principles of the soil of the central valleys.

The climate of Mississippi partakes very strongly of some of the characteristics of the torrid zone. Its winters, however, like those of Louisiana, have an average temperature a few degrees below the same seasons on the Atlantic coast, in the same parallels. The protection of the southwestern "bottoms" from overflow will soon dissipate the error that the climate of that region is naturally unhealthy, and attract a large population.

The agricultural capacity of Mississippi is incalculable. In the amount of land reduced to cultivation the returns of 1860 show an increase in the number of acres of sixty per cent. in ten years, and in the value of farms and agricultural implements of over two hundred per cent. The live stock have on the whole enlarged their numbers, and more than doubled in value. The animal products of butter, cheese, wool, slaughtered animals, and honey, have increased their volume in some cases fifty per cent. The cereal crops, with tobacco, cotton, peas, beans, potatoes, and hay, have had a still greater increment.

The products of orchards and market gardens have tripled and quadrupled. The reorganization of labor will require time after the struggles of the late

civil war. With an entire revolution in the theory of the industrial system of the State, it is beyond doubt that the agricultural interests of Mississippi will yet be one of the great productive powers of American civilization.

No mineral deposits of any great extent have been developed in the State; some gold was found in Marion county, but coal and marble have as yet been discovered only in small quantities.

The presence of iron is attested by the existence of a few iron foundries in the State.

The manufacturing enterprise of Mississippi has been limited, the statistics of 1860 showing nine hundred and seventy-six establishments, involving a capital of $4,384,492, producing articles valued at $6,500,687; and deducting from this an expense of $4,764,956 for raw material and labor, there remains a profit of $1,735,731, or nearly forty per cent. on the capital.

The free development of the American industrial system will soon establish manufactories near the centres of original production, thus saving unnecessary transportation of the raw material. This diffusion will open to all the States of the Union a thriving future of industrial enterprise. The avoidance of all unnecessary processes of manufacture, transportation, and mercantile exchange, seems to be the tendency of modern civilization.

The commerce of Mississippi is mostly carried on through the ports of New Orleans and Mobile. The facilities of internal navigation are scarcely less extensive and valuable than those of Louisiana. The same causes have retarded the development of railroad enterprise as in that State. In 1860 there were but eight hundred and seventy-two miles of railway completed and in operation. The great railroad spirit of the age, however, is now advancing in this State, giving reason to expect in the future great expansion.

Jackson, the capital of the State, on the right bank of Pearl river, is a prominent cotton depot; it is situated in the midst of a fine large plain; its population is about four thousand. Natchez, on the Mississippi, two hundred and eighty miles above New Orleans, is situated on a bluff two hundred feet above the river, and is the centre of a large cotton trade. Vicksburg, one hundred and twenty miles above Natchez, is also a great cotton mart. Columbus, Aberdeen, Holly Springs, Canton, and Grenada, are important towns. There are yet to be disposed of in this State about four million nine hundred thousand acres of public land.

ALABAMA, one of the Gulf States, derives its name from the aboriginal language, signifying "here we rest." Its extreme length from north to south is 336, and the breadth ranges from 148 to 200 miles. Its area is 50,722 square miles, or 32,462,080 acres.

The

The Alleghany mountains terminate in the northeastern part of Alabama, subsiding into low hills. From the north the surface gradually declines towards the coast, which is depressed and level, with hilly country in the centre. limited sea-coast is broken by Mobile bay, a beautiful sheet of water, 30 miles long and from 3 to 18 broad, with depth of 15 feet on the entrance bar at low tide. The southward deflection of the general level causes the rivers to run in the same direction. These are numerous and of very considerable length and volume.

The population in 1820 was 122,901; in 1840, 590,756; in 1850, 771,623; in 1860, 964,201. Even after the desolations of war the present population cannot be less than 1,250,000.

The first white men that set foot upon the soil of this State were the adventurers under De Soto in their famous march to the Mississippi. They found the aborigines a formidable obstacle, evincing a more intelligent manhood and higher social orgonization than their compatriots further north.

The first settlement was made by the Freuch under Bienville, who built a fort