-co-tah.

[2] Darby.

CHAPTER II.

GENERAL VIEW OF THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

(CONTINUED.)

Productions.

_Minerals._--But few mines exist in the Lower Valley of the Mississippi.
_Louisiana_, being chiefly alluvion, furnishes only two specimens,
sulphuret of antimony, and meteoric iron ore. It is supposed that the
pine barrens towards Texas, if explored, would add to the number.

The only minerals in _Mississippi_, are amethyst, of which one crystal
has been found; potter's clay, at the Chickasaw Bluffs, and near
Natchez; sulphuret of lead in small quantities, about Port Gibson; and
sulphate of iron. Petrified trunks of trees are found in the bed of the
Mississippi, opposite Natchez. In Arkansas Territory are various
species. Here may be found the native magnet, or magnetic oxide of iron,
possessing strong magnetic power. Iron ores are very abundant. Sulphate
of copper, sulphuret of zinc, alum, and aluminous slate are found about
the cove of Washitau, and the Hot Springs. Buhr stone of a superior
quality exists in the surrounding hills. The hot springs are
interesting on account of the minerals around them, the heat of their
waters, and as furnishing a retreat to valetudinarians from the sickly
regions of the south. They are situated on the Washitau, a large stream
that empties itself into Red river.

The _lead mines_ of Missouri have been worked for more than a century.
They are distributed through the country from thirty to one hundred
miles southwest from St. Louis, and probably extend through the
Gasconade country. Immense quantities of iron ore exist in this region.
Lead is found in vast quantities in the northern part of Illinois, the
south part of the Wisconsin Territory, and the country on the opposite
side of the Mississippi. These mines are worked extensively. Native
copper in large quantities is found in the same region. Large quantities
of iron ore is found in the mountainous parts of Tennessee and Kentucky,
where furnaces and forges have been erected. Also, in the hilly parts of
Ohio, particularly at the falls of Licking four miles west of
Zanesville, and in Adams and Lawrence counties near the Ohio river. With
_iron ore_ the West is profusely supplied.

_Bituminous coal_ exists in great profusion in various parts of the
Western Valley. The hills around Pittsburg are inexhaustible. It extends
through many portions of Ohio and Indiana. Nearly every county in
Illinois is supplied with