number. The mutton is good, but the wool is coarse and hairy. Calves and hogs are often destroyed by the wolf and cougouar; pigs, by the wild cat and the alligator. Along the Mississippi, from the Yazoo river to the line of demarcation, land is from forty to fifty dollars an acre.

A large tract, situated in the district east of Pearl river, between the Chickesaha river on the west, the rivers Mobile and Tombigbee on the east, the 31st degree of latitude on the south, and on the north by the Santabogue branch of the former river, and the Bogue homo of the latter, was disposed of by public sale, at St Stephen's, on the Tombigbee river, in July 1817.

Slaves. The labour is generally performed by this unfortunate race. The best, from twenty to thirty years of age, will bring from 800 to 1200 dollars. One hand is able to cultivate three acres of cotton, which will yield a nett profit of from 230 to 260 dollars. The clear annual gain of the full-grown male' slave, making allowance for food and clothing, is, at an average, about 200 dollars.

Roads and Canals.-Five per cent. of the amount of the lands sold by congress, after the 1st day of December 1817, is to be reserved for making public roads and canals, three-fifths of which are to be applied to those purposes within the state, under the direction of the legislature thereof, and two-fifths under the direction of congress, for roads leading to the state; and this sum is not to be deducted for this purpose, until payment is made to the state of Georgia of 1,250,000 dollars, in consideration of the

cession to the United States; and, after the payment of the stock, to be created by an act providing for the indemnification of certain claimants of public land in the Mississippi territory.

The manufactures, in 1810, according to the marshal's report, were as follows:

Woollen, cotton, flaxen, and hempen cloths,

or mixtures, to the value of

Looms, 1330.

Carding machine, 1.

Spindles for cotton, 807.

Tin plate work,

Tanneries, 10,
Distilleries, 6.

267,515 dollars.

7,200

39,590

Commerce.-Natchez is the only place of considerable commerce. Beef, pork, and corn, are sent to Mobile and Pensacola, from the eastern parts, through the channel of the Tombigbee. The surplus productions of the western parts pass through the Mississippi.

Steam-boat.-A steam-boat plies between New Orleans and Natchez, a distance of 300 miles. The voyage downwards is very rapid; but it requires usually six or seven days to ascend.

Forts.-Fort Adams, on Loftus' heights, on the banks of the Mississippi, six miles above the 31st degree of latitude.

Regulations for a Constitution and State Government.-The convention, for the purpose of forming a constitution and state government, was composed of representatives from each county, chosen by all the

free white male citizens, of twenty-one years of age, who had resided within the territory one year previous to the election, and paid county or territorial tax. This convention, consisting of forty-eight members from the fourteen counties, met at the town of Washington, on the first Monday of July 1817. The constitution framed and established by this convention is as follows: The legislative power is vested in a house of representatives and senate, chosen by the free white males of twenty-one years of age, who have resided one year in the state. The members of both houses must be proprietors of a freehold estate, the former twenty-five, and the latter thirty years of age. The executive power is vested in a governor, elected, with the lieutenant-governor, every two years. This officer must be more than thirty years of age, and possessed of a freehold estate, and 1000 dollars of personal property, free from all debts. He has power to suspend judgments until the meeting of the legis lature, by whom the case is to be determined; to sign commissions; to send back bills to the two houses for reconsideration; to fill temporary vacancies; to provide and have a vote in the senate, during their sittings, as a council of appointment; which body he may convene on extraordinary occasions. In case of death or resignation, his place is filled by the lieutenant-governor, till the ensuing election. The first legislature, elected under this constitution, consisting of twenty-four representatives and seven senators, met in October 1817.

The constitution, by an irrevocable ordinance, have

disclaimed, on the part of the people, all right or title to the waste or unappropriated lands, which are to remain at the sole disposal of the United States; and every tract sold by congress is to be exempt from state taxes for the term of five years, from the date of the sale. Lands belonging to the United States are entirely free from taxes. The river Mississippi, and the navigable rivers and waters leading into the same, or into the Gulf of Mexico, are also to be free from all tax or toll, and to remain as common highways.

Military Force.-The militia have power to elect the platoon and field-officers, who afterwards elect the brigadier and major-generals.

Judiciary.-There is a supreme court, consisting of not less than three, nor more than five judges; and a circuit court, of one judge for each circuit, the circuit containing not less than three, nor more than six counties. Justices of the peace are to be appointed in each county, with jurisdiction in cases not exceeding fifty dollars. No person of avowed atheistical principles can be elected to any office.

Books relating to this State.

Bartram's (William) Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, 1773-78. Philadelphia edition, 1791.

Brown, (Western Gazetteer,) 1 vol. in svo. Article, State of Mississippi. 1817.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

ALABAMA TERRITORY.

THIS territory, including nearly one half of the former Mississippi territory on the eastern side, and situated between the thirtieth and thirty-fifth degrees of north latitude, was establishd by an act of the American Congress, dated the 3d of March 1817, with the following boundaries: From the point where the Perdido river intersects the thirty-first degree of latitude, in an easterly direction, to the western boundary line of the state of Georgia; along this line to that of the southern boundary of the state of Tennessee; thence westerly to the Tennessee river, and by its channel to the mouth of Bear creek; thence by a direct line to the northwest corner of Washington county; * and from this point, in a southern direction, to the Gulf of Mexico, including all the islands within six leagues of the

* This point or angle not being fixed in any map of this country, nor described in the act, we have not been able to ascertain accurately the true line of boundary between this territory and the state of Mississippi.