ries, here grow wild.
Limestone abounds; and salt, copper, and coal have all been found in
this district.

The seat of the territorial government is _Kaskaski_, a town which
stands on a plain, near the western bank of the Mississippi, and
contains about one hundred and fifty houses. This place has been
settled somewhat more than a century, and its inhabitants are chiefly
French. Some parts of the district of Illinois are occupied by Indians.
The other inhabitants are, first, what are here termed "squatters,"
persons half civilized and half savage; and who, both in character and
habits, are extremely wretched: second, a medley of land-jobbers,
lawyers, doctors, and farmers, a portion of those who traverse this
immense continent, founding settlements, and engaging in all kinds of
speculation: and third, some old French settlers, who are possessed of
considerable property, and who live in ease and comfort.

About seventy miles north of Kaskaski, and on the opposite side of the
river, is a town or large village, called _St. Louis_. It stands on a
rock or bank of considerable height, in a beautiful and healthy
situation, and is surrounded by a country of exuberant fertility. The
inhabitants of this place are chiefly employed in the fur-trade, and
seldom occupy themselves in agriculture.

_Narrative of a Voyage from St. Louis to the source of the
Mississippi. By_ ZEBULON MONTGOMERY PIKE.

Major Pike, at that time a lieutenant in the American army, was employed
by the government of the United States, to make a survey of the
Mississippi, from the town of _St. Louis_, upwards, to its source. In
pursuance of his instructions, he embarked, in a keel-boat, at this
place, on the afternoon of Friday the 9th of August, 1805; and was
accompanied by a serjeant and seventeen private soldiers of the American
army.

As far as the mouth of the river Missouri, he says, the eastern shore of
the Mississippi consists of a sandy soil, and is covered with
timber-trees of various kinds. The western shore is, for a little
distance, composed of high land, bordered by prairie or natural
meadow-ground; after which bottom-land occurs, with timber similar to
that on the eastern shore. The current is rapid, and, at low water, the
navigation is obstructed by sand-banks.

Beyond the entrance of the Missouri, the stream is gentle, as far as the
mouth of the _Illinois_; but there, owing to extensive sand-bars, and
many islands, it becomes extremely