is and Shelby, are first
rate. The counties of Warren, Montgomery, Callaway, Boone, Howard, and
Chaviton, all lying on the north side of the Missouri river, are
rolling,--in some places are bluffs and hills, with considerable good
prairie, and an abundance of timbered land. Farther west, the
proportion of prairie increases to the boundary line, as it does to the
northward of Boone, Howard and Chaviton counties. After making ample
deductions for inferior soil, ranges of barren hills, and large tracts
of swamp, as in the south, the State of Missouri contains a vast
proportion of excellent farming land. The people generally are
enterprising, hardy and industrious, and most of those who hold slaves,
perform labor with them. Emigrants from every State and several
countries of Europe, are found here, but the basis of the population is
from Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. The natural productions of
Missouri are similar to those States already described, and the
agricultural productions are the same as in Illinois, except that more
tobacco is produced in the middle, and considerable quantities of cotton
in the southern counties.

_Towns._--The city of Jefferson is the political capital of the State.
It is situated on the right bank of the Missouri, a few miles above the
mouth of the Osage, and about 138 miles from St. Louis. It is a small
town, with little business, except what pertains to the government of
the State. A state house, governor's house and penitentiary have been
erected.

St. Louis is the commercial capital, and the most important place in all
this portion of the Valley of the Mississippi. It stands on the western
bank of the Mississippi, 180 miles above the junction of the Ohio, 18
miles below that of the Missouri, and 38 miles below that of the
Illinois. It is beautifully situated on ascending and elevated ground,
which spreads out into an undulating surface to the west for many miles.
Two streets are parallel with the river on the first bank, and the rest
of the city stands on the second bank; but very little grading is
necessary, to give the streets running back from the river, their proper
inclination. The old streets, designed only for a French village, are
too narrow for public convenience, but a large part of the city has been
laid out on a liberal scale. The Indian and Spanish trade, the fur and
peltry business, lead, government agencies, army supplies, surveys of
government lands, with the regular tr