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which followed in 1763, the whole territory of France and Spain eastward of the middle of the Mississippi to the Iberville, thence through the middle of that river, and the lakes Maurepas and Ponchartrain, to the sea, was reded to GreatBritain. Spain having conquered the Floridas from GreatBritains during our revolutionary war, they were confirmed to her by the treaty of peace of 1783. By the treaty of St. Ildefonso, of the 1st of October, 1800, his Catholic Ma jesty promises and engages, on his part, to cede back to the French Republic, six months after the full and entire sexecu tion of the conditions and stipulations therein contained, relative to the Duke of Parma, the colony or province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it actually has in the hands of Spain, that it had when France possessed it, and such as it ought to be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other states.' This treaty was con- í firmed and enforced by that of Madrid, of the 21st March; } 1801. From France it passed to its by the treaty of the 30th of April last, with a reference to the above clause, as descriptive > of the limits ceded.

"Divisions of the Province..

"The province, as held by Spain, including a part of West- ¿ Florida, is laid off into the following principal divisions: Mobille, from Balise to the city, New-Orleans and the coun try on both sides of Lake Ponchartrain, first and second Genet man coasts, Catahanose, Fourche, Venezuela, Iberville, Galos vez-Town, Baton Rouge, Ponte Coupee, Atacapas, Ope23 lousas, Ouachita, Avoyelles, Rapide, Natchitoches, Arkand sas, and the Illinois.

"In the Illinois there are commandants at New-Madrid, Steaz Genevieve, New-Bourbony St. Charles and St. Andrews, albo subordinate to the Commandant-General. tow bang ob of

"Baton Rouge having been made a government subse or quently to the treaty of limits, &c. with Spain, the posts of q Manchac and Thompson's Creek, or Feliciana, were added tozito psy

Chapitoulás has sometimes been regarded as a separate command, but is now included within the jurisdiction of the cityo The lower part of the river has likewise had occasionally a separate commandant. MoD)

Many of the present establishments are separated: frontio each other by immense and trackless deserts, having no com-✅ munication with each other by land, except now and then say

Solitary instance of its being attempted by Hunters, who have to swim rivers, expose themselves to the inclemency of the weather, and carry their provisions on their backs for a time proportioned to the length of their journey. This is particu larly the case on the west of the Mississippi, where the communication is kept up only by water, between the capital and the distant settlements, three months being required to convey intelligence from the one to the other by the Mis-i sissippi. The usual distance accomplished by a boat in ascending is five leagues per day. The rapidity of the current, in the spring seasom especially, when the waters of all the ri vers are digh, facilitates the descent; so that the same voyage by water which requires three or four months to perform from the capital, may be made to it in from twelve to sixteen days. The principal settlements in Louisiana are on the Mississippi, which begins to be cultivated about twenty leagues from the sea, where the plantations are yet thing and owned by the poorest people. Ascending, you see them improve on cach side, till you reach the city, which is situated on the east bank, on a bend of the river, thirty-five leagues from the sea."

In addition to the foregoing limits, it may be observed, that some persons have asserted, with great confidence and appearance of probability, that the western boundary of Louisiana was the Pacific Ocean, and its northern limit was the British territaty or claim, reaching westward from Canada and Hud- 13 son's Bay to the South-Sea, in a direction from the Lake of the Woods to a spot somewhere south of Nootka-Sound; while the provinces of California and New Mexico, with thee! territories lying to the northward of them, and in actual pos session of, Spain, formed the southern frontier of this vast country. Louisiana was thus construed to extend quite through to the great water on the west, and to embrace all the spacers not actually claimed or possessed by Great-Britain on the one part, and by Spain on the other.

But this construction has been thought to be rather extravagant. Without straying through the immense regions which lie to the westward of the Shining Mountains that divide the rivers and streams, sending some to the Atlantic and others to the Pacific, we may content ourselves with a more moderate, and, perhaps, more rational estimate of the extent of Louisiana. It may fairly be considered as beginning at the Bay of St. Bernard, in the Gulf of Mexico, and running north-co wardly and eastwardly along it to the Bay of Perdido, which

is about half way between Mobille and Pensacola, and thence up the River Perdido to the 31st degree of N. lat. thence on that line to the Mississippi, and along the middle of that river to the White-Bear Lake, or other higher source of it. From this head of the Mississippi it may be understood to extend along the mountains or high grounds dividing the waters which run into the upper lakes and Hudson's Bay from those, which descend through the Mississippi to the Gulf; and thence along the great chain of Shining Mountains, or Back-Bone of North America, until it reaches the mountains of Santa Fè. Within these boundaries are included the Missouri, the Arkansas, the Black River, the Red River, and the other vast and unknown streams, with all their waters, which glide down the extensive side-hill or inclined plain situate between the before-mentioned chains of mountains and the bed or valley of the Mississippi. The mountains which divide the waters of the Red River from those of the Rio del Norte, or Bravo, are a formidable natural barrier, and extend eastwardly almost as far as the head of the Rio Adais, or Mexicano. Whether it will be just and politic to extend our claim from the source of the Red River across this ridge of mountains to the head of the Brave, and down its channel to the Gulf of Mexico, or to travel along, with more moderate desires, the northern foot of these hills, to the head of the Mexicano, and thence down its stream to the sea, are questions of a weighty nature. We shall not pretend to decide them at present, but leave them to be adjusted hereafter by treaties and national discussions.

After an enumeration of the various stations and settlements from Chapitoulas, in the low country of Orleans, to the settlements of St. Genevieve, St. Louis, St. Charles, and St. Andrew, on and near the junction of the Missouri with the Mis sissippi, the narrator proceeds to describe Upper Louisiana in the following terms. (p. 8.)

“General Description of Upper Louisiana.

When compared with the Indiana Territory, the face of the country in Upper Louisiana is rather more broken, though the soil is equally fertile. It is a fact not to be contested, that the west side of the river possesses some advantages not generally incident to those regions. It is elevated and healthy, and well watered with a variety of large rapid streams, calculated for mills and other water works. From Cape-Girardeau, above the mouth of the Ohio, to the Missouri, the land on the east side of the Mississippi is low and flat, and occasionally

exposed to inundations; that on the Louisiana side, contiguous to the river, is generally much higher, and in many places very rocky on the shore. Some of the heights exhibit a scene truly picturesque. They rise to a height of at least three hundred feet, faced with perpendicular lime and free-stone, carved into various shapes and figures by the hand of nature, and afford the appearance of a multitude of antique towers. From the tops of these elevations the land gradually slopes back from the river, without gravel or rock, and is covered with valuable timber. It may be said with truth, that, for fertility of soil, no part of the world exceeds the borders of the Mississippi; the land yields an abundance of all the necessaries of life, and almost spontaneously; very little labour being required in the cultivation of the earth. That part of Upper Louisiana which borders on North-Mexico is one immense prairie; it produces nothing but grass; it is filled with buffalo, deer, and other kinds of game. The land is represented as too rich for the growth of forest trees.

"It is pretended that Upper Louisiana contains in its bowels many silver and copper mines, and various specimens of both are exhibited. Several trials have been made to ascertain the fact; but the want of skill in the artists has hitherto left the subject undecided.

The salt-works are also pretty numerous. Some belong to individuals, others to the public. They already yield an abundant supply for the consumption of the country, and, if properly managed, might become an article of more general exportation. The usual price per bushel is 150 cents in cash at the works. This price will be still lower as soon as the manufacture of the salt is assumed by government, or patronized by men who have large capitals to employ in the business. One extraordinary fact relative to salt must not be omitted. There exists, about 1000 miles up the Missouri, and not far from that river, a salt mountain! The existence of such a mountain might well be questioned, were it not for the testimony of several respectable and enterprizing traders, who have visited it, and who have exhibited several bushels of the salt to the curiosity of the people of St. Louis, where some of it still remains. A specimen of the same salt has been sent to Marietta. This mountain is said to be 180 miles long, and 45 in width, composed of solid rock salt, without any trees, or even shrubs on it. Salt springs are very numerous beneath the surface of this mountain, and they flow through the fissures and cavities of it. Caves of salt-petre are found in

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Upper Louisiana, though at some distance from the settle Four men, on a trading voyage, lately discovered one several hundred miles up the Missouri. They spent five or six weeks in the manufacture of this article, and returned to St. Louis with four hundred weight of it. It proved to be good, and they sold it for a high price.

"The geography of the Mississippi and Missouri, and their contiguity for a great length of way, are but little known. The traders assert, that one hundred miles above their junction a man may walk from one to the other in a day; and it is also asserted, that seven hundred miles still higher up, the portage may be crossed in four or five days. This portage is frequented by traders, who carry on a considerable trade with some of the Missouri Indians. Their general route is through Green Bay, which is an arm of Lake Michigan: they then pass into a small lake connected with it, and which communicates with the Fox River: they then cross over a short portage into the Ouisconsing River, which unites with the Mississippi some distance below the Falls of St. Anthony. It is also said, that the traders communicate with the Mississippi, above these Falls, through Lake Superior; but their trade in that quarter is much less considerable."

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The white inhabitants are chiefly French, Canadians, Acadians, Germans and Fredes. There are many negro slaves and free people of colour among them. The whole population of this extensive country, as respects civilized men, is supposed considerably to exceed 50,000, souls. Of these nearly one half may be estimated as slaves. The tribes of aborigines, or Indians, as we call them, are amusingly and particularly thus noticed. (p. 21.) "The Indian nations within the limits of Louisiana are, as far as known, as follows, and consist of the numbers hereafter specified..

"On the eastern bank of the Mississippi, about twenty five leagues above Orleans, the remains of the nation of Houmas, or Red Men, which do not exceed sixty persons. There are no other Indians settled on this side of the river either in Louisiana or West-Florida, though they are at times frequented by parties of wandering Choctaws mst b¬baud "On the west side of the Mississippi are the remains of the Tounicas settled near, and above Pointe-Coupee, on the river, consisting of fifty or sixty persons, 220tos borgimis sibal em sua abang om to notio erous spa i cili vd brustua bad

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