divided into the territory of Orleans, extending to the 23° of north latitude, and the residue was styled the district of Louisiana. In 18«5 the district was erected into a territorial government, under the name of the territory of Louisiana, and in 1812 its name was changed to Missouri. In 1821 a part of this territory was admitted to the Union as the state oi Missouri, after much debate on the subject of slavery, which was allowed, oy its constitution, under certain restrictions.

The state is divided into sixty-two counties, and Jefferson city, on the M>uih bank of the Missouri river, fifteen miles above tLe mouth of Osage river, is the seal of government. The state presents a variety of surface and of soil. South of Cape Girardeau, with the exception of some bluffs along the Mississippi, it is alluvial, and a large portion consists of swamps and inundated lands, most of which are heavily timbered. From thence to the Missouri river, and westward to the dividing ridge between Gasconade and the Osage rivers, the country is generally rolling, and in some parrs quite hilly. Along the head waters of Gasconade and Big Black rivers, the hills are frequently abrupt and rocky, with fertile alluvion along the water courses. Much of this region abounds with various minerals, as lead, iron ore, gypsum, manganese, zinc, antimony, cobalt, ochres, common salt, nitre, plumbago, porphyry, jasper, chalcedony, buhrstone, marble and free-stone. The lead is inexhaustible in quantity and rich in quality. The iron ore of this region is sufficient to supply the whole United States for many thousands of years. Bituminous coal exists in inexhaustible abundance. The difficulty of transporting products to a market, is the only inconvenience.

The western part of this state is divided into prairie and forest land, tnd much of the soil is fertile. The whole is undulating, and aiong the Jsage it is hilly, abounding with good water, salt springs and limestone. North of the Missouri, the surface is diversified, and divided between timber and prairie land. From the Missouri to Salt river, springs are scarce, and in several counties artificial wells are dug, to be filled with ruin water from the roofs of houses. Between Salt river and Des Moines river is a beautiful country, with a fertile soil. In the middle counties north of the Missouri the surface is rolling, and there are bluffs and hills, with considerable good prairie, and much timber. To the west of this, and also to the north, the prairie predominates.

The lead region, the centre of which is seventy miles south-west ol :he Missouri, is seventy miles long, and forty-five wide, covering an area ol 3150 square miles. The greatest part of this country is situated in Washngton and St. Francis counties, but a part extends into St. Genevieve aai Jefferson counties. The ore is of the richest kind. It yields fror eigh:\ io eighty-five per cent, of the true metal. In the south-east part of Wash ington county is the celebrated "iron mountain," one mile broad at its base, and three miles long, and from three hundred to four hundred and fifty feet high, filled with micaceous oxide of iron, which yields eighty per cent, of the pure metal. There is another body of iron ore denominated Pilot Knob, three hundred feet high, and a mile and a half wide at its base, which is equally rich. Washington county is a perfect bed of metallic treasures.

The Mississippi winds along the entire boundary of the state, for a distance of four hundred miles, and receives the waters of the mighty Missouri, which crosses the state, and deserves to be regarded, on account of its length, and the volume of its waters, as the parent stream. The Missouri is navigable eighteen hundred miles from its mouth in the Mississippi, to the mouth of Yellow Stone river, for four or five months in the year. The Missouri receives La Mine, Osage, and Gasconade rivers oa the south side, and Grand and Chariton rivers on the north side. Sail river crosses the north-east part of the state, and enters Mississippi river eighty-live miles above the mouth of Missouri river.

The governor is elected once in four years by the people, but is ineii pible for the next succeeding four years. He must be a natural born citizen of the United States, at least thirty-five years of age, and have resided in the state for four years next preceding his election. The lieutenant-governor is elected at the same time, in the same manner, and must possess similar qualifications. He is president of the senate; and in case of the death, resignation, or removal from office of the governor, discharges the duties of that office, until it is regularlv filled. The senate consists of eighteen members, chosen for four years; one half the number being elected biennially. A senator must be at least thirty years of age, a citizen of the United States, have resided in the state for four years next preceding the election, and for one year in the district for which he is elected, and must have paid a state or county tax. The house of rep

resentatives consists of forty-nine members, elected biennially by the peo pie. A representative must be at least twenty-four years of age, have been an inhabitant of the state for two years next preceding his election, and have paid a state or county tax, and be a citizen of the United States. The governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, appoints the judges of the superior and inferior courts, and the chancellor, who hold their offices during good behaviour. They cannot be appointed before they have attained the age of thirty years, nor hold their office after the age of sixty-five years. Every white male citizen, of twenty-five years of age or upward, who has resided in the state for one year next previous to an election, and the last three months in the district in which he offers his vote, is entitled to the right of suffrage.

ARKANSAS.

Arkansas was a part of the Louisiana purchase. It was made a separate erritory in 1819, and was admitted into the Union, a sovereign state, in 1820. The capital is Little Rock, situated on the south side of Arkansas river, three hundred miles from its entrance into the Mississippi. The other principal towns or villages are Columbia and Helena, on the Mississippi, Batesville, on White river, Van Buren on the Arkansas, Fayetteville, in the north-west part of the state, and Fulton on Red river.

The eastern part of the state, for the distance of one hundred miles from the Mississippi, is low and wet, covered extensively with swamps and marshes, and much of it is subject to be overflowed at certain seasons. Near the St. Francis hills, and at Point Chico, the eastern front along the Mississippi is above the overflow. In the middle, the country is uneven and broken, and in the west it is hilly and mountainous. There are some extensive prairies and some heavily timbered land. On the margins of the rivers the soil is generally fertile, but back of this it is poor. The Ozark mountains, rising sometimes to the height of from 1,000 to 2,000 feet, cross its north-west part. A range of hills called the Black Mountains, runs between the Arkansas and White rivers. A little south-west of the centre of the state are boiling springs, the temperature of which sometimes rises nearly to 212° Fahrenheit, though subject to much variation. Wild animals, as the deer, elk, bear, and wolf, and wild fowls, as the wild goose, turkey, and quail, are found in abundance. Its mineral productions are extensive, consisting of iron ore, gypsum, coal, and salt. The constitution of the stale was formed in 1836. The governor is chosen by the people for four years, but cannot hold the office more than eight years in twelve. The members of the senate are chosen by the people for four years, and the representatives for two years. The elecLions are viva voce. The senate can never consist of less then seventeer

nor more than thirty-three members; and the house of representatives or less than fifty-four, nor more than one hundred members. The judges ot the supreme court are appointed for eight years, and of the circuit court for four years, and are all chosen by the legislature. The judges of the county courts are chosen by the justices of the peace. The legislature meets once in two years at Little Rock. Every white male citizen of the United States, and who has resided in the state for six months, possesses the right of suffrage. No lotteries can be established, nor lottery tickets sold. The legislature may establish one bank with branches, and one banking institution to promote the interests of agriculture. It cannot emancipate slaves without the consent of their owners. Slaves have the right of trial by jury, and suffer the same degree of punishment for a crime as white persons, and no other. Courts of justice are obliged to assigu counsel to the slaves for their defence.

ALABAMA.

This state was originally included in the territorial limits of Georgia, except the part which belonged to Florida. In 1802, Georgia ceded all her territory west of Chattahoochee river to the Mississippi river, to the United States, and in 1817 it was constituted the Mississippi territory, and Alabama continued part of this territory until it was admitted to the Unioa and became an independent state in 1820.

The capital is Tuscaloosa, situated on Black Warrior river. Mobile is the most populous and commercial place in the state. The other principal towns are Huntsville, Florence, Wetumpka, Montgomery, Cahawba, and St. Stephen's. Near the Gulf of Mexico, the country is low and level, with many swamps and savannahs; the soil is sandy, and the prevailing timber is pine. The central part is an elevated table land, with a deep, rich, and productive soil, and a mild and healthy climate. Towards the north, the country becomes hilly and mountainous, beyond which is the valley of Tennessee river, on which, in some parts, the bottom land is low, and, near the Muscle Shoals, unhealthy. Cotton is the chief production of the state, of which there were produced, in 1840, 117,138,823 pounds. Mobile is the principal river, and is formed by the junction of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, and enters Mobile bay by two mouths. The Alabama is navigable for vessels requiring six feet of water, sixty miles above its junction, and has four or five feet of water 150 miles, to the mouth of the Cahawba. It is traversed by steamboats as far up as Moctgomery, 300 miles; and to Tuscaloosa, 285 miles—and to Columbus, Miss. Mobile was incorporated a city in 1819. It has now near fifty wharves, and is, with the exception of New-Orleans, the greatest cotton-market is the United States. The exports of the city amount annually to about $16,000,000. Mobile bay sets up from the Gulf of Mexico 30 miles, and is 12 miles average width; on the point is a lighthouse the lantern of which is fifty-five feet above the level of the sea. Fort Morgan, opposite Dauphin island, defends the entrance.

The executive power is vested in a governor, elected biennially by the people. The legislative power consists of a senate and house of representatives; the former contains thirty and the latter one hundred members. The legislature meets annually at Tuscaloosa, on the first Monday in November. The secretary of state is elected for two years, and the comptroller and treasurer annually, by the joint ballot of both houses of the legislature. The right of suffrage is possessed by every male citizen of twenty-one years of age, who has resided within the state one year immediately preceding the election, and the last three months within \in county, city, or town, in which he offers his vote.

MICHIGAN.

The state of Michigan is composed of two peninsulas, formed by the great lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie, and is unsurpassed in advantages for commerce by any inland state in the Union. Michigan was visited by French traders as early as 1640. Detroit was settled in 1670. At the peace of 1763, this country was ceded by France to Great Britain, and at the close of the revolutionary war was ceded by Great Britain to the United States. They, however, held possession of Detroit until 1796, when it was given up to the United States. In 1605 the state was erected into a distinct territory, and received a territorial government. The British again obtained possession of the country, in iyi2-13, but were soon expelled by the Americans under General Harrison. In 1836, Michigan was admitted into the Union as a sovereign state.

The surface of the lower or southern peninsula is generally level, having very few elevations which may be termed hills. The interior is undulating, rising gradually from the lakes to the centre of the peninsula, and is mostly covered with fine forests, interspersed with prairies. Along the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, are sand hills, thrown by the windi into innumerable fantastic forms, sometimes covered with stinted trees and scanty vegetation, but most generally bare; on the shores of Lake Huron, are some high cliffs. The point formed by Lake Huron and Saginaw bay is generally low and swampy. The forest trees are the same as in Ohio, with the addition of white and yellow pine; and fruit trees produce abundantly.

The northern peninsula does not promise much to agriculture, though there are doubtless fertile tracts; but in minerals it is rich. Iron, copper, and lead are abundant, and some surprising masses of native copper have been discovered in Ontonagon river. The climate is cold, but healthy; and though the summers are short, vegetation is exceedingly rapid. No part of the United States is better supplied with aquatic game and fish.

The powers of government are divided into three distinct departments; the legislative, the executive, and judicial. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representatives. Senators are chosen every two years, and representatives annually. The executive power is vested in a governor. Term of service two years. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, and such other courts as the legislature may from time to time establish. Every white male citizen of the United Slates, twentyone years of age, having resided in the state six months preceding an election, is a qualified elector.

FLORIDA.

Florida was discovered by Sebastian Cabot, sailing under the Englisn flag, in 1497: but he did not land to examine the interior of the country. Ponce de Leon, a Spanish adventurer from Hispaniola, to some extent explored the country in 1512, and a second time in 1516. In 1539 Hernando de Soto, who had greatly distinguished himself under Pizarro, in the conquest of Peru, sailed from the island of Cuba, and landed at Tampa Bay in Florida with an armed force, with which he overran the country, though his followers were mostly cut off, and himself died. In 1763, Florida was ceded to Great Britain by Spain. The Spanish re-conquered it in 1781, and it was confirmed to them at the peace of 1783; but in 1821 the Spaniards reded it to the United States in compensation for spoliations on their commerce. Florida was admitted into the Union on the 3d oi March, 1845.

The face of the country is uneven; but it is without mountains or high

hills. The whole extent of the sea-coast is indented with bays and lagoons. A large portion of the country is covered with pine forests, the trees of which, standing at a considerable distance from each other, without brush or underwood, affords an opportunity for the grass and flowers to spread with luxuriance over the surface of the earth during the whole year. The borders of the streams are usually skirted by hammocks of hard timber entangled with grape and other vines. The sea-coast is generally healthy, and in many parts remarkably so. The peninsula, which is the southern portion of the territory, presents a singular alternation of savannahs, hammocks, lagoons, and grass-ponds, called collectively the Everglades, which extend into the heart of the country for two hundred miles north of Cape Sable.

The legislative council is composed of eleven members elected for two years, and a house of representatives composed of twenty-nine members, elected annually by the people on the second Monday in October The legislative council meets annually, at Tallahassee, the seat of government, and the residence of the governor, on the first Monday in Januarv and its sessions are limited to seventy-five days. The pay of the members i3 four dollars a day, and four dollars for every twenty miles travel ling, to and from the seat of government.

TEXAS.

This state was admitted into the Union, after a very stormy debate, in 1845. It contains an area of 200,000 square miles, divided into three distinct regions, each of which invites the hand of man to an essentially different system of agricultural production. The Coast Plain, or ferei region, lies in the form of a crescent directly on the Gulf of Mexico, and extends from the Sabine to the Rio Grande—a distance of four hundreu miles. Each extremity of this plain narrows down to a width of perhaps thirty miles; but about the centre, at the Colorado, it expands, and runs back a hundred miles, in one vast flower-embroidered prairie, unbroken by rock or waterfall. The prevailing character, says Kennedy, of the soil of the level region of Texas is a rich alluvian, and singularlv free from those accumulations of stagnant water which, combined with a burnv ing sun and exuberant vegetation, render a large proportion of the southern parti of the United States little better than a sickly desert. The porous character of the soil, the gradual elevation of the level lands toward the interior, and the general rise of the banks from the beds of the streams, preclude the formation of swamps to any injurious extent. The returns of the soil are abundant, and the most valuable known to commerce. To cotton and sugar, already tested, may be probably added indigo and cochineal. Lemons and oranges grow well in favourable situations, and the fig, peach, prune, olive, almond, and all the fruits of the temperate zone will thrive in any part of the Gulf prairie.

Midland Texas consists of a large zone, nearly two hundred miles in width, from east to west across the country. This is the chosen home of the grain-raising farmer; timber of the best kind is plentiful, and so distributed that the settler can have on his farm a fair proportion of prairie ready for the plough.

Northern Texas, lying between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, has been little explored for settlement. At the close of 1833, and during the two subsequent years, emigrants were placed by a New-York land company, under an Kmpresario grant, at a settlement called Dolores, on lh# Rio Grande. The report of Mr. Egerton, the company's surveyor, reore sents the banks of the Rio Grande as well adapted to farming and de scribes the whole country between that river and the Medina as unsur passed for grazing.