Tallahassee, in West Florida, is the seat of government, and has been incorporated as a city. The situation is salubrious, and the country around fertile. The place however is yet in its infaney. St. Marks, on the Gulf, is a small seaport in the neighborhood. The vil lage of Quincy, in the same quarter farther inland, is a flourishing place.

11. Agriculture. The greater portion of the country is yet in a state of nature. The articles of culture are maize, sweet potatoes, rice, sugar cane, tobacco, cotton and indigo. The land in many parts is well fitted for the cultivation of the sugar cane. The olive flourishes and bears well. Of fruits, the orange, fig, peach, pomegranate and lemon flourish. The cultivation of coffee and the date palm has been introduced.

12. Government. The government, like that of the other organized districts called territories, is vested in a legislative body chosen by the people of the territory, and a Governor, appointed by the President of the United States. The territory is represented in Congress by a Delegate, who is chosen by the legislature, and is allowed to sit and speak in the House of Representatives, but kas no vote.

13. History. This part of the country was visited by Spaniards in 1512, and the name of Florida was given it by the Spanish discoverer, De Leon. The French afterward attempted to form settlements bere,. and called it Carolina, from their King Charles IX. Both of these names: were at first applied to the whole Atlantic coast, but in process of time became restricted to narrower limits. The Spaniards destroyed the French colony in 1564, and afterwards retained possession of the country till 1763, when it was ceded to Great Britain. In 1783 it was restored to Spain, by whom, in 1820, it was ceded to the United States..

XX. ALABAMA..

1. Boundaries and Extent. Alabama is bounded north by Tennes see; E. by Georgia, and the river Perdido, which separates it from Florida; S. by the Gulf of Mexico, and W. by Mississippi. It extends from Lat. 30° 10′ to 35° N., and from Lon. 85° to 88° 30′ W. Length from N. to S. 330 miles; mean breadth 150; area 52,000 square miles

2. Mountains. The northern part of the state contains the souther extremity of the Kittatinny chain, which enters it from the northwest angle of Georgia. It is here merely a range of broken, precipitous hills, in which rise the head branches of the river Mobile, and which separates their sources from those of the streams which run into the Tennessee.

3. Rivers The Gulf of Mexico is the basin into which all the waters of this state, except a small portion in the north, are drained. The principal river is the Mobile, whose branches converge from the northern, northeastern, and northwestern parts of the state.. The Cooss and Talapoosa,, coming from Georgia, unite and take the name of the Alabama, which receives the Cahawba from the northern hills. The united waters of the Tombeckbee and Tuscaloosa, or Black Warrior, from the northwest, then form a junction with the Alabama, and under the name of the Mobile, this combined mass of waters terminates its course in the bay of the same name, through two principal mouths, the

Tensaw and the Mobile. Sea vessels go up to St. Stephens, on the Tombeckbee, and to Claiborne, on the Alabama, and steamboats ascend to a considerable distance above. The Chattahoochee, on the eastern border, and the Tennessee, in the north, receive no considerable tributaries from Alabama. The Conecuh, or Escambia, in the south, runs through Florida, into Pensacola Bay.

4. Bay. This state has only about 60 miles of seacoast, in which is comprised Mobile Bay, or the estuary of the river Mobile. It extends about 30 miles inland, and communicates with Pascagoula Sound, by a shallow strait, through which steamboats and small sail vessels, are navigated by an inland chain of lakes and sounds to New Orleans.

5. Climate. The northern part has an elevation of 2,000 feet above the low maritime region, producing a corresponding diversity of climate in the two regions. But even in northern Alabama, the rivers are rarely frozen over, and the southern part of the state can hardly be said to have a winter. The heats of summer in the latter section are allayed by the sea breezes, and the climate in general is healthy, except upon the low moist grounds.

6. Soil. Along the streams are tracts of very productive alluvion, bordering on which is what is called interval or hummock land, a sort of intermediate soil between the alluvial river bottoms, and the pine barrens. The interval land is of inferior quality, and the pine barrens, which comprise a large portion of the surface, are sterile. The natural productions of the soil are similar to those of Florida.

7. Face of the Country. The surface in the north is mountainous and broken, and in the centre undulating. As we approach nearer the sea, we find a belt of low, level land, from fifty to sixty miles in breadth, containing extensive swamps, and in many places subject to inundations.

8. Divisions. Alabama is divided into 46 counties,* and contains a population of 309,527, in which number are included 117,550 slaves.

9. Railroads and Canals. The State has a fund for internal improvement, raised from the sale of public lands, and appropriations have been made for facilitating the navigation of the Tennessee, Coosa, Cahawba and Black Warrior. The Tuscumbia Railroad, from Tuscumbia, to Decatur, was constructed to avoid Muscle Shoals, in the Tennessee. A company has been incorporated for connecting the upper counties of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, with the Alabama, by a series of railroads, side cuts, and locks. A survey has also been made for a canal from Blakely to Pensacola.

10. Towns. The city of Mobile is the principal town in the state. It has a good, though shallow harbor, and is built on a dry and elevated

spot, but is rendered unhealthy by the surrounding swamps. It contains the county buildings, and four or five churches. Mobile is the commercial depot of nearly the whole state, and next to New Orleans, and Charleston, the greatest cotton market in the country. Steamboats run up and down the river, and to New Orleans, and there is an active coasting trade with the latter place. Population 3,194.

Blakely, on the opposite side of Mobile Bay, is built on a high, open and healthy site, with deeper water and a harbor easier of access than that of Mobile. St. Stephens, on the Tombeckbee, and Cahawba, on the Alabama, are small villages. Tuscaloosa, in the centre of the state, on the Black Warrior, is the capital, and contains the state house, county buildings, several churches, and the halls of the University. Population 2,000.

In the northern part of the state are Huntsville and Florence, on the Tennessee, flourishing towns, with an active trade.

11. Agriculture. Cotton is the staple production of the state, and upwards of 100,000 bales are produced annually. Maize is the usual corn crop, but the smaller grains succeed well in the central and northern parts. Tobacco, rice and some sugar are also produced.

12. Commerce. This consists chiefly in the exportation of articles of domestic produce, cotton, beef and pork, and naval stores. The annual value of the exported articles is above two and a half million dollars; of imports, $300,000.

13. Government. The legislature, styled the General Assembly, consists of two houses, a Senate and a House of Representatives; the former is chosen for the term of three years, the latter for one. The executive authority is vested in the Governor, who is elected for the term of two years. The elections are all by the people, and the right of suffrage belongs to every white male citizen, who has resided one year within the state.

14. Religion. The Baptists have 219 churches, and 130 ministers; the Methodists 44 preachers; the Presbyterians 27; Roman Catholics 9, and Episcopalians 2.

15. Education. The constitution enjoins it upon the General Assembly to encourage schools and the means of education within the state, and by act of Congress in 1819, one section of land (640 acres) was granted to each township for the support of common schools. Two townships were likewise granted for the support of a seminary of learning, the proceeds of which have been appropriated to the endowment of the University of Alabama, a flourishing institution founded at Tuscaloosa in 1828. La Grange Methodist college, near Florence, and a Catholic college in Mobile, are the other principal seminaries. There are a number of academies in the state.

16. Indians. The Choctaws amounting to about 16,000 souls, lately residing partly in Alabama and partly in Mississippi, have ceded their lands and removed beyond the Mississippi: the Creeks, about 20,000 in number, have also in part removed to the Indian district west of the Mississippi. Those Creeks who remain have become citizens of Alabama, and subject to its laws.

17. History. Some inconsiderable French settlements were made here, early in the eighteenth century. The country was afterwards comprised within the limits of the colony of Georgia. In 1802 that state ceded her lands west of the Chattahoochee to the United States,

and in 1817 Alabama was separated from Mississippi, and erected into a territorial government. In 1820 it was admitted into the Union as an independent State.

1. Boundaries and Extent. Mississippi is bounded N. by Tennes see; E. by Alabama; S. by the waters of the Mexican Gulf and by Louisiana, and W. by Pearl River, separating it from Louisiana, and the Mississippi, which divides it from Arkansaw Territory and Louisi ana. It lies between 30° 8' and 35° N. Lat. and extends from 88° 12 to 91° 40′ W. Lon. It is about 335 miles in length from north to south, by 150 in breadth, with an area of 48,000 square miles.

2. Face of the Country. The surface in general slopes to the southwest, and to the south, as appears by the course of the rivers. There are no mountains within the limits of the state, but numerous ranges of hills of moderate elevation give to a great part of the surface an undulating and diversified character. Some of the eminences rise abruptly from the bank of a river, or from a level plain and bear the name of bluffs. The western border on the Mississippi is an extensive region of swamps, inundated by the river; and between the Mississippi and the Yazoo, there is a tract of 170 miles in length, by 50 in breadth, with an area of nearly 7,000 square miles, annually overflowed by the former. The southeastern counties are low, but waving, and on the shore of this state, the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, which further west is marshy, first begins to appear solid, dry, and covered with pines.

3. Rivers. The Mississippi washes the western border of the state, and receives the Yazoo, the Big Black river and the Homochitto from Mississippi. The Yazoo rises in the northern part of the state, and has a course of about 250 miles. The Tombeckbee flows from the northeastern corner of the state into Alabama. The Pascagoula which rises in the eastern part, and runs into the bay of the same name, after a course of 260 miles, is navigable for small vessels. The Pearl has its sources in the centre of the state, and, taking a southerly course, empties itself into the Rigolets between Lakes Pontchartrain and Borgne. Its navigation is impeded by rafts, shallows and sand bars.

4. Bays and Islands. Pascagoula Bay, or rather Sound, is 55 miles in length, by 8 in width, with from 10 to 18 feet of water. It communicates with Mobile Bay by Heron Pass, with Lake Borgne by Christian Pass, and is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by a chain of low, narrow, sandy islands. The Passes or straits admit the passage of vessels drawing 6 feet of water. Lake Borgne lies principally in Louisiana. Ship Island, Cat Island and Horn Island are sterile banks of sand.

5. Climate. The winters are several degrees colder than in the Atlantic states of the same latitude, and rarely pass without snow. The summers are long and hot, and long droughts often succeed excessive and protracted rains. Along the rivers, and stagnant waters it is unhealthy, but the settled districts are in general healthy, though even in these, bilious complaints prevail in autumn.

6. Soil. The greater proportion of the soil is highly fertile; the southwestern counties contain large tracts of excellent land, and the

rivers throughout the state are skirted by belts of a productive soil. The bluff lands are the richest, and the river alluvions are next in point of fertility. Pine barrens constitute a considerable part of the country.

7. Natural Productions. The native trees most commonly occurring are the pine, various species of oak, and hickory, black walnut, beech, persimon, and locust. Buckeye, which in the valley of the Ohio is a forest tree, is here a dwarf; dogwood, and papaw are also common, but the cane, which formerly abounded, has in a great measure disappeared.

8. Divisions. Mississippi is divided into 43 counties,* and has a population of 136,621, of which 65,659 are slaves.

9. Towns. Natchez, is the only large town in the state. It stands principally on a bluff, or high bank upon the Mississippi, 320 miles above New Orleans, and 300 feet above the common level of the stream. The streets are broad, and some of the public buildings are handsome. Here is a branch of the United States bank. The business is chiefly confined to the lower town, and this is the chief place in the state for the shipment of cotton. Great numbers of steamboats and river craft are continually arriving and departing. In the rear of the town, the country is variegated and delightful, and the hills are clothed with woods and vineyards. The opposite bank of the river in Louisiana is a vast cypress swamp. Natchez is incorporated as a city, yet the insalubrity of the climate has hitherto prevented it from becoming more than a town of moderate size. It is often visited by the yellow fever. Pop. 2,790.

Jackson, on Pearl River, is the seat of government. The situation is central, healthy and agreeable. Monticello, stands on Pearl river, and Warrenton, on the Mississippi. Vicksburg, at the Walnut Hills, on the Mississippi, has grown up within a few years, and exports much cotton to New Orleans. Steamboats regularly ply between the two places. It has a remarkably picturesque situation, being seated on the shelving side of several high hills, with the houses scattered about in groups upon the terraces.

10. Internal Improvements. A railroad from Woodville to St. Francisville in Louisiana, a distance of 28 miles, along the eastern side of the Mississippi, and another from Vicksburg to Clinton, Hinds county, about 35 miles, have been undertaken. A pass or outlet from the Mississippi, 30 miles below the St. Francis, to the Yazoo, is to be rendered navigable; this work will save a distance of 50 miles, and avoid the current of the Mississippi.

11. Agriculture. Cotton is the staple of this state, and is raised in every part. Hardly anything else is thought worthy of attention.