The United States, generally speaking, do not present BOOK the beautiful verdure of Europe; but among the larger LXXIX. herbs which cover the soil, the curiosity of botanists has distinguished the Collinsonia which affords the Indians a remedy for the bite of the rattlesnake, several species of phlox, the golden lily, the biennial Enothera, with several species of star flower, of Monarda, and of rudbeckia. Southern It is in Virginia, and in the south and south-west states, Fora of that the American flora displays its wonders, and the sa- states. vannas their perpetual verdure. It is here the magnificence of the primitive forests, and the exuberant vegetation of the marshes, captivate the senses by the charms of form, of colour, and of perfume. If we pass along the shores of Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, groves in uninterrupted succession seem to float upon the waters. By the side of the pine is seen the paletuvier, the only shrub which thrives in salt water, the magnificent Lobelia cardinalis, the odoriferous pancratium of Carolina, with its snow-white flowers. The lands to which the tide reaches are distinguished from the lands which remain dry by the moving and compressed stalks of the reed (Arundo gigantea,) by the light foliage of the Nyssa aquatica, by the taccamahaca, and by the white cedar, which perhaps, of all the trees of America, presents the most singular aspect. Its trunk where it issues from the ground, is composed of four or five enormous bearers, which, uniting at the height of seven or eight feet, form a sort of open vault, from the summit of which rises up a single straight stem of eighteen or twenty feet in height, without a branch, but terminating in a flat canopy, shaped like a parasol, garnished with leaves curiously figured, and of the most delicate green. The crane and the eagle fix their nests on this aërial platform, and the paroquets, while leaping about, are attracted to it by the oily seeds inclosed in the cones suspended from the branches. In the natural labyrinths which occur in these marshy forests, the traveller sometimes discovers small lakes, and small open lawns, which present most seductive retreats, if the unhealthy ex BOOK halations of autumn permitted him to inhabit them. Here LXXIX. he walks under a vaulted roof of smilax and wild vines, among creeping lianas, which invest his feet with their flowers; but the soil trembles under him, clouds of annoying insects hover around him, monstrous bats overshadow him with their hideous wings, the rattlesnake musters his scaly terrors, while the wolf, the carcajou, and the tiger-cat, fill the air with their savage and discordant cries. The name of savannas is given to those vast prairies of the western region, which display a boundless ocean of verdure, and deceive the sight by seeming to rise towards the sky, and whose only inhabitants are immense herds of bisons or buffaloes. The name is also given to those plains which skirt the rivers, and are generally inundated in the rainy season. The trees which grow there are of the aquatic species. The Magnolia glauca, the American olive, the Gordonia argentea, with its odorous flowers, are seen here isolated, or in groups, open above, while the general surface of the savanna exhibits a long and succulent herbage, mixed with plants and shrubs. The wax myrtle appears conspicuous among many species of Azalia, of Kalmia, Andromeda, and Rhododendron, here widely scattered, there collected into tufts, sometimes interlaced with the purple Russian flower, sometimes with the capricious clitorea, which decorates the alcoves with rich and variegated festoons. The margins of the pools, and the low and moist spots are adorned with the brilliant azure flowers of the Ixia, the golden petals of the Canna lutea, and the tufted roses of the Hydrangea; while an infinite variety of species of the pleasing Phlox, the retiring and sensitive Dionea, the flame-coloured Amaryllis atamasco, in those places where the tide reaches the impenetrable ranks of the royal palms, form a fanciful girdle to the woods, and mark the doubtful limits where the savannah rises into the forest. The calcareous districts, which form the great portion of the region west of the Alleghanies, present certain places LXXIX. entirely denuded of trees, named barrens, though capa- BOOK ble of being rendered productive. The cause of this peculiarity has not been accurately examined. The parts of this Flora of region which are elevated three or four hundred feet, and lie the calcaalong deeply depressed beds of rivers, are clothed with the reous region. richest forests in the world. The Ohio flows under the shade of the plane and the tulip tree, like a canal dug in a nobleman's park, while the lianas, extending from tree to tree form graceful arches of flowers and foliage over branches of the river. Passing to the south, the wild orange tree mixes with the odoriferous and the common laurel. The straight silvery column of the papaw fig, which rises to the height of twenty feet, and is crowned with a canopy of large indented leaves, forms one of the most striking ornaments of this enchanting scene. Above all these towers the majestic magnolia, which shoots up from that calcareous soil to the height of more than a hundred feet. Its trunk, perfectly straight, is surmounted by a thick and expanded head, the pale green foliage of which affects a conical figure. From the centre of the flowery crown, which terminates its branches, a flower of the purest white rises, having the form of a rose, and to which there succeeds a crimson cone: this, in opening, exhibits rounded sced of the finest coral red, suspended by delicate threads six inches long. Thus, by its flowers, its fruit, and its gigantic size, the magnolia surpasses all its rivals of the forest. lands and A general Land Office exists at Washington, which is Public vested exclusively with the power of contracting with the agriculIndians for the sale of their lands. Private individuals are ture. not allowed to have any transactions of this description with the natives; and the law has been rigorously observed. In 1813 there were 148,876,000 acres of land, of which the Indian title had not been extinguished, on the east side of the Mississippi, situated chiefly in Michigan, the northwest territory, Indiana, Illinois, and in Mississippi. The lands are surveyed and set off into townships of six miles square, each of which is divided into thirty-six sections of one mile square, or 640 acres. The dividing lines run in the direction of the cardinal points, crossing one another at right BOOK angles. One section, or one thirty-sixth part of each townLXXIX. ship, is allotted for the support of schools, and in the country west of the Alleghanies seven entire townships have been given, in perpetuity, for the endowment of superior seminarics of learning. The lands are offered to public sale, in quarter sections, of 160 acres, at the minimum price of one and one fourth dollar per acre, and whatever remains unsold, may be purchased privately at this price. Formerly the minimum price was two dollars per acre, payable in four years, by four instalments; but by act of Congress, in 1821, it was fixed at one one-fourth dollar ready money. This new regulation was adopted to discourage the practice of speculating in land, and to lessen the litigation arising out of protracted payments. The title-deed is printed on a small sheet of parchment, with the date; the purchaser's name, and the topographical situation of the ground are inserted in writing. It is subscribed by the President of the United States, and the Agent of the Land Office, and delivered without charge to the purchaser, who may transfer the property to another person by a process equally cheap and simple.* It was estimated by Hutchins, that thirteen-sixteenths of the country east of the Mississippi (excluding Florida) are covered with a strong fertile soil, fitted, with a moderate degree of cultivation, abundantly to repay the labours of the husbandman. Of the remaining three-sixteenths, about 57,000,000 acres are covered with water; about 40,000,000 acres consist of a mountainous country, almost universally forested, and which, from the nature of its surface, rather than its soil, is unfit for cultivation; and about 29,000,000 acres are either sandy or covered with so poor a soil, as to offer slight encouragement, except to the most elaborate agriculture, when the general value of land shall be greatly advanced. Of 520,000,000 acres capable of advantageous cultivation, only 40,950,000 were estimated by Mr. *Warden's Statistical, Political, and Historical Account of the United States. 1819, III. 237. Flint's Letters from America. 1822. p. 153, 314. LXXIX. Blodget, to be under actual improvement in 1811. This BOOK is about 52 acres for each individual of the contemporaneous population. Taking the present population at ten millions, and allowing the same quantity for each person, the land under actual improvement must now be nearly 60,000,000 of acres, which is about one-twelfth part of the whole surface east of the Mississipp', including Florida. According to returns made in 1798, the land valued, and upon which tax was paid in sixteen States, was 163,000,000 out of 308,000,000 acres, or a little more than one half, and the estimated value was 479,000,000 of dollars. The population then being about five millions, the appropriated land amounted to about thirty acres for each inhabitant. The average value was about three dollars per acre, but in some of the old and thickly settled States, it was as high as fifteen dollars per acre. The value of the houses was about 140,000,000 of dollars, or two-sevenths of that of the lands. When returns were made a second time in 1814, the value of houses and lands jointly, was found to be 1,630,000.000 of dollars; if, therefore, the value of every species of property grew as rapidly as that of houses and lands, each 100 dollars must have increased to 253 in an interval of fifteen years. This implies an annual augmentation of 64 per cent. at which rate the capital of the country must double in eleven or twelve years-in other words, the capital is increasing with twice the velocity of the population. ture. In a country having so many varieties of soil and cli- Agriculmate as the United States, there is necessarily a considerable diversity in the agricultural productions. Maize, or Indian corn, is cultivated in all parts of the country, but succeeds best in the middle States. It is a most useful vegetable, fitted to a greater variety of situations than wheat, and yielding generally double the produce. Wheat is also raised in all parts of the country, but thrives best in the middle and western States. The cultivation of tobacco begins in Maryland, about the thirty-ninth or fortieth parallel, and continues, through all the southern, and par |