ointed out; and such indeed must be the
case, from the miasma created every fall of the year in these rich
alluvial soils, some portions of which have been worked for fifty years
without the assistance of manure, and still yield abundant crops. It
will be a long while before the drainage necessary to render them
healthy can be accomplished. The sickly appearance of the inhabitants
establishes but too well the facts related to me; and yet, strange to
say, it would appear to be a provision of Providence, that a remarkable
fecundity on the part of the women in the more healthy portions of their
Western States, should meet the annual expenditure of life. Three
children at a birth are more common here than twins are in England; and
they, generally speaking, are all reared up. There have been many
instances of even four.

The western valley of America, of which the Mississippi may be
considered as the common drain, must, from the surprising depth of the
alluvial soil, have been (ages back) wholly under water, and, perhaps,
by some convulsion raised up. What insects are we in our own estimation
when we meditate upon such stupendous changes.

Since I have been in these States, I have been surprised at the stream
of emigration which appears to flow from North Carolina to Indiana,
Illinois, and Missouri. Every hour you meet with a caravan of emigrants
from that sterile but healthy state. Every night the banks of the Ohio
are lighted up with their fires, where they have bivouacked previously
to crossing the river; but they are not like the poor German or Irish
settlers: they are well prepared, and have nothing to do, apparently,
but to sit down upon their land. These caravans consist of two or three
covered wagons, full of women and children, furniture, and other
necessaries, each drawn by a team of horses; brood mares, with foals by
their sides, following; half a dozen or more cows, flanked on each side
by the men, with their long rifles on their shoulders; sometimes a boy
or two, or a half-grown girl on horseback. Occasionally they wear an
appearance of more refinement and cultivation, as well as wealth, the
principals travelling in a sort of worn-out old carriage, the remains of
the competence of former days.

I often surmised, as they travelled cheerfully along, saluting me as
they passed by, whether they would not repent their decision, and sigh
for their pine barrens and heath, after they had discovered that with