he States of Ohio and Indiana.
Lake Erie, Detroit river, lake St. Clair, and St. Clair river, lie on
the east for 140 miles; lake Huron on the north-east and north, the
straits of Mackinaw on the extreme north-west, and lake Michigan on its
western side. Its area is about 40,000 square miles.

_Face of the Country._--Its general surface is level, having no
mountains, and no very elevated hills. Still, much of its surface is
undulating, like the swelling of the ocean. Along the shore of lake
Huron, in some places, are high, precipitous bluffs, and along the
eastern shore of Michigan are hills of pure sand, blown up by the winds
from the lake. Much of the country bordering on lakes Erie, Huron, and
St. Clair, is level,--somewhat deficient in good water, and for the most
part heavily timbered. The interior is more undulating, in some places
rather hilly, with much fine timber, interspersed with oak "openings,"
"plains," and "prairies."

The "_plains_" are usually timbered, destitute of undergrowth, and are
beautiful. The soil is rather gravelly. The "_openings_" contain
scattering timber in groves and patches, and resemble those tracts
called _barrens_ farther south. There is generally timber enough for
farming purposes, if used with economy, while it costs but little labor
to clear the land. For the first ploughing, a strong team of four or
five yoke of oxen is required, as is the case with prairie.

The _openings_ produce good wheat.

The "_prairies_," will be described more particularly under the head of
Illinois. In Michigan they are divided into wet and dry. The former
possess a rich soil, from one to four feet deep, and produce abundantly
all kinds of crops common to 42 degrees of N. latitude, especially those
on St. Joseph river. The latter afford early pasturage for emigrants,
hay to winter his stock, and with a little labor would be converted into
excellent artificial meadows. Much of the land that now appears wet and
marshy will in time be drained, and be the first rate soil for farming.

A few miles back of Detroit is a flat, wet country for considerable
extent, much of it heavily timbered,--the streams muddy and
sluggish,--some wet prairies,--with dry, sandy ridges intervening. The
timber consists of all the varieties found in the Western States; such
as oaks of various species, walnut, hickory, maple, poplar, ash, beech,
&c., with an intermixture of white and yellow pine.

_Rivers and Lakes._--In general