Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/86

78 Barton's mine, since the improvements made by Mr. Austin, is calculated to produce lead to the amount of twenty thousand dollars per annum. As the mineral is so easily obtained, the other mines, under proper management, might, doubtless, be rendered exceedingly profitable.

On the borders of the Mississippi, from Saint Genevieve to Cape Girardeau, there are scattered settlements and some considerable villages; but from the Cape to the mouth of the Ohio, there are very few settlers.

The face of the country in Upper Louisiana is somewhat broken, but the soil is generally fertile. "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 contiguous to the river is generally much higher than on the east side, 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 a 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;