above that great stream, and the Merrimac, St. Francis and White River
below; the two last passing into Arkansas. Desmoines, which is only a
boundary stream, is navigable one hundred and seventy miles, and Salt
River, whose northern sources are in Iowa, and southern in Boone county,
and which takes its name from the salt licks or salines on its borders,
may be navigated by steamboats up to Florida (a small village); that is
to say, ninety-five or a hundred miles. The Riviere au Cuivre, or Copper
River, is also a navigable stream; but the navigation of all these
rivers is interrupted by ice in winter, and by shoals and bars in the
dry season.

The Missouri river flows through the state for a distance of about six
hundred miles; but although steamboats have ascended it two thousand
five hundred miles from its mouth, its navigation is rendered difficult
and dangerous by sand-bars, falling banks, snags, and shifting channels.

The bank of the Mississippi river, on the Illinois side, is not by far
so picturesque as the country I have just described, but its fertility
is astonishing. Consequently, the farms and villages are less scattered,
and cities, built with taste and a great display of wealth, are found at
a short distance one from the other. Quincy I may mention, among others,
as being a truly beautiful town, and quite European in its style of
structure and neatness. Elegant fountains are pouring their cool waters
at the end of every row of houses; some of the squares are magnificent,
and, as the town is situated upon a hill several hundred feet above the
river, the prospect is truly grand.

At every place where I stopped between St. Louis and Quincy, I always
heard the Mormons abused and spoken of as a set of scoundrels, but from
Quincy to Nauvoo the reports were totally different. The higher or more
enlightened classes of the people have overlooked the petty tricks of
the Mormon leaders, to watch with more accuracy the advance and designs
of Mormonism. In Joe Smith they recognize a great man, a man of will and
energy, one who has the power of carrying everything before him, and
they fear him accordingly.

On leaving Quincy, I travelled about seventy miles through a country
entirely flat, but admirably cultivated. I passed through several little
villages and at noon of the second day I reached my destination.

CHAPTER XLII.

Nauvoo, the holy city of the Mormons, and present capital of their
empire, is si