and Little Osage, and Gasconade, flow into the Missouri. The great plains and sand desert, which stretch at the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains, lie west of it. It is not less than 200 miles in breadth. No part of the center regions of the Mississippi valley exhibits such a variety in its geological constituents, or such a striking mineralogical development. Its bodies of the ore of iron called iron-glace are unparalleled. These are particularly developed in the locality called Iron Mountain, at the sources of the St. François. Its ores of lead, zine, antimony, and manganese are remarkable. Its limestones abound in caves yielding nitre. Salt and gypsum are found in the plains, on its western borders. Its large blocks of quartz rocks, which are found north of the Arkansas River, particularly scattered over the formations crossing the Little Red, Buffalo, and White Rivers, about the Buffalo shoals, furnish indications of the diluvial gold deposit, which would justify future examinations."-Schoolcraft's Adventures in the Ozark Mountains, p. 113.

Notwithstanding that the Ozark range presents a rough, rocky, confused appearance in some portions, and that its perpendicular walls here and there attain an elevation of from 100 to 400 feet, overhanging the streams and valleys below, there are other portions of the ridge, especially in the western part of the State, where the slopes on either side are so gradual, and the table-lands upon its summit so extensive, that the traveler would pass entirely over it without any knowledge of this being the Ozark ridge, except that the elevation attained everywhere presents an extensive view of the surrounding country.

And here we would correct some erroneous impressions in regard to Missouri, and show their origin. Upon some of the first maps of the State, the "Ozark Mountains," have a prominence that would be no disgrace to the Alleghanies, and some map publishers of the present day still copy the information from these old editions, errors and all. The following article appeared in the St. Louis Enquirer, (Thomas H. Benton, éditor,) December 1, 1819, (in reply to an article from the National Intelligencer, in regard to the formation of the proposed State of Missouri.) The editor says: "After you get forty or fifty miles from the Mississippi, the arid plains set in and the country is uninhabitable, except upon the borders of the rivers and creeks." Again he says: "Take up Mellish's map-look for St. Genevievecarry your eyes west to Mine á Breton, and you are upon the confines of a desert; six miles farther, the inhabitable land gives out, and the naked and arid plains set in." Speaking of the country north of the Missouri, the same writer says: "The Grand Prairie,

a plain without wood or water, which extends to the northwest farther than hunters or travelers have ever yet gone, comes down to within a few miles of the town of St. Charles, and so completely occupies the fork of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, that the woodland for 300 miles up each only forms a skirt from five to twentyfive miles wide, and above that distance the prairie actually reaches the borders of the rivers in many places."

Such was the opinion held in 1819. Let us see what Professor G. C. Swallow says of these same portions, after a careful examination, forty years later.

The southwestern branch of the Pacific Railroad traverses the "naked, arid, and uninhabitable" country above spoken of. In his lengthy and able report upon the character of the lands of this company, the State Geologist says of the soil: "Almost every acre of the alluvial bottoms throughout this entire region has a rich, durable soil, which is usually well adapted to the culture of corn, wheat, tobacco, oats, and the grasses; some would yield good hemp. Where the silicious marls of the bluff are well developed, the upland soils are rich, fertile, and durable. This variety of soil prevails in all the best upland on the line of the road, particularly in the eastern and western extremities. In Oliver's prairie, Pool's prairie, and Sarcoxie prairie, in Newton; Grand and Kickapoo prairies in Green; Pleasant prairie in Webster; Dimond prairie in Jasper; and Ozark prairie in Lawrence, the soil is excellent. It possesses the same good qualities in some of the timbered portions of all the counties above named. There is a soil, somewhat inferior to the preceding, which covers large areas in the region under consideration. It also rests upon the marls of the bluff, where that formation is somewhat clayey, and where it has been injured by washing. This variety is found on the ridges and undulating portions of the country, where the white, post, and black oaks, and summer grapes abound, and white hickory, dwarf sumac, and hazle are less prevalent. This same soil also occupies the prairies, which are somewhat inferior to those mentioned above. It is also true, contrary to the opinions of some, that the central counties on the line of this road have large areas of most excellent land." Again he says: "The time is not far distant when the poor flint ridges and terraced slopes of Southern Missouri will be more valuable for vineyards than the best lands of the State for the other departments of agriculture."

Hence the reader has reliable information respecting the soils of the southern portion of the State. What is said of "the plain without wood or water, which extends farther than hunters or travelers

had ever gone" in 1819? The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad passes through very nearly the center of the northern half of the State. In a letter from the State Geologist, giving his opinion of the lands along the line of this road, he says: "By far the larger part of it is a high, rolling country, and about equally divided into prairie and timber; all well watered with numerous springs and streams. A small portion of the country is broken into ridges and knobs; and the larger streams are bordered by rich alluvial bottoms. Nearly all the soil of this region is based upon the fine silicious marl of the bluff formation. As this fact would indicate, they possess all the good qualities of the very best Western soils. Those in the valleys of the streams are not inferior in fertility to the very best alluvial soils; but those upon the ridges and knobs are of a lighter character, and much inferior for the ordinary uses of the farmer. It is, however, very probable that these soils will be more valuable for the cultivation of the grape, than even our richest soils for the ordinary purposes of agriculture; for the grape will succeed on the poorer ridges, when the soil has the proper composition. Thus it will be seen, that the lands of your company are located in one of the richest and most desirable regions of the West. The soil is scarcely surpassed in any region of equal extent, and yet the country is high, undulating, well watered, and salubrious. It is so divided into timber and prairie, as will render the opening of farms most convenient and profitable. The prairie is ready for the plow, and the best of timber at hand for buildings and fences. But the vast coal-beds, beneath the soil, give these lands a value far above all ordinary prices. According to Major Hawn's surveys, a large portion of these lands contain at least fine workable beds of good coal. These beds will contain an aggregate thickness of fifteen feet, which will yield not less than 20,000 tons per acre. The coal alone, at only one cent per ton, is worth $200 per acre. Good limestone, suitable for all building purposes, is abundant along the line of the road. Clays, of excellent quality for common and fine brick and pottery, are found in large quantities. The numerous streams which pass through this region afford a large amount of water-power, and many good sites for mills and factories."

Northern Missouri.-From the facts given in the above extracts, as well as the information contained in the descriptions of the several counties, the reader will perceive that the portion of the State north of the Missouri River exhibits a desirable medium between a mountainous and a level country—a bleak prairie and a densely-timbered region. It is less broken and hilly than most of the Eastern and

Middle States, or the southern portion of this State, and less level or flat than portions of Illinois and many of the Southern States. As will be seen by reference to the map, this section is well watered, the principal streams running from the north to the south, and many of them present good facilities for water-power, (which, however, are less numerous than upon the streams in the southern part of the State.) The ridges or divides between the streams are generally sufficiently elevated to afford natural roads of the most perfect character, passable with heavy loads during all seasons.

The "Elk Knobs," in Macon County, are worthy of mention, and are fully described in the chapter devoted to "Natural Curiosities," where will also be found a description of the "Mamelles," the "Cedar Pyramid," and the "Rocky Cliff," in St. Charles County.

The Submerged Lands of Missouri.*-The portion of the State of Missouri that is inundated, comprises the counties of Cape Girardeau, Scott, Mississippi, Wayne, Stoddard, Butler, New Madrid, Dunklin, and Pemiscot, embracing, according to the returns made to the Surveyor-General's office (including all the swamp lands in the Jackson land district) 1,856,120 acres. "A portion of each of the above counties is covered with water, and possess an alluvial soil; the lands are low and marshy, interspersed by streams, rivers, lakes, swamps, bayous, bogs, and marshes; although a part of the swamps is not submerged by water the whole year, but the water remaining stagnant on these low and marshy lands during the hot summer, become very impure and putrid. The vegetation being very rank and abundant on this rich and marshy soil, mixes with the putrid waters, and when decomposed fills and renders the atmosphere imand unhealthy, which adds greatly to disease; and as the waters pure are dried up from these swamps, there is a sediment, stench, and poison left on them that cause disease and death, not only to those that live on their borders, but likewise to the inhabitants that live in the vicinity. A great portion of these swamps is not susceptible for the habitation of man, except a numberless group of islands interspersed, which are occupied during certain seasons of the year by hunters and trappers. It is a remarkable fact, that there is a chain of low, level, and marshy lands, commencing at the City of Cape

* In addition to our personal knowledge of this region, we have compiled many of the facts and estimates, made by actual surveys, from the able reports of F. A. ROZIER, Esq., Chairman of the Southwestern Convention, held at Memphis; also from the concise reports of Messrs. O'SULLIVAN and MORRELL, Engineers of the Iron Mountain Railroad; and from data furnished W. S. MOSELEY, Esq., of New Madrid.

Girardeau, Missouri, and extending to the Gulf of Mexico; and between these two points there is not a rock landing, except at the small town of Commerce, on the west side of the Mississippi; there is, furthermore, only one ridge of high land from Commerce to be met with on the west side of said river, which is at Helena, Arkansas. From the City of Cape Girardeau, running into the State of Arkansas, there is a strip or tongue, 350 miles long, of beautiful and excellent lands, along the western margin of the Mississippi, which is well inhabited, having an average of ten miles wide, and is entirely cut off and stands isolated from the interior of Missouri and Arkansas, by the great swamps lying west of it, and deprives and cuts off all communication from the interior southern part of Missouri and northern part of Arkansas, for the distance above mentioned to the Mississippi River."* The lands west of these swamps are very fertile and rich-the timber unsurpassed in size and quality.

"The earthquakes of 1811-'12 proved very injurious and disastrous to Southeast Missouri, and were felt far and wide. They changed the course of the streams and rivers, which occasioned the waters to spread in every direction; and made high land where it was low previous, and in elevated places sunk them, thus causing the rivers and streams to overflow a great extent of country. These earthquakes are still remembered by many of the oldest settlers; when the whole land was moved and waved like the waves of the sea, and the majestic oak bent his head to the ground like a reed, and the terrible fact that the waters of the mighty Mississippi (opposite the town of New Madrid) rolled up stream for ten miles, carrying on its bosom barks, keel-boats, and every species of craft, with a rapidity unknown, and causing destruction of property and life."+ There are four large swamps that originate in Missouri, to wit:The White Water or Little River swamps, the St. John's, the James, and the St. François swamps.

The following is from the report of Messrs. O'Sullivan and Morrell, before alluded to:

"The swamp lands of Southeast Missouri all lie southeast of a line drawn from just below Cape Girardeau, on the Mississippi River, to a point on the Arkansas State line, in range 3 east. This line is not straight, however, but starts from the Mississippi River, on a course. about 12 deg. south of west, and deflects gradually to the southward,

* Since the above report was made, the Cairo and Fulton Railroad has been constructed, and is now in operation some twenty-five miles west from the Mississippi, passing through Charleston, Mississippi County.

† See description of "New Madrid Earthquakes" in another chapter.