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Show ' 36 EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. • bour is completely sheltered from the storms, or sudden attack of an enemy by v.r:1ter. The cot nt.ry in it:; rear is unsettle~l pine woods. .There ~re no ex-ten~ ivesettlcments nearer than Washmgton or Baldwm counttes, above the 3 1°N. Iat. Many very seri'tms impediments oppo.se themse.lves to th~ advance <>f M(lbile, but tht- most effectual is the nse of a nval town m a more C<Jnvenient situation for commercial transactions. BLAKELY stands upon the east side of Mobile bay, in 30° 43' N. ]at. T his town has been only est::tblished a litt~e more than a . ye~r. It IJ l:ls some pre-eminent advantages over Mobtle; ?ne of wh.'ch IS, tbal the same wind that enables a vestiel to euter Mobile bay, wall carry her tn the wharfc; of Blakely, which is n?l th~ case ~·especti n g Mobil£:• ; another is, an opeu road to the rapidly 1mprovmg country on the Alabama river. Bh kely , it is most likely, will become the mart of .Mobile river ( there is a vigorouc:: rivalry between the two towns at pre~ent, but the obvious superiority of the position of Blakely will probably be deci- sivt:- in its favour. FORT ST. STEPHENS is established on the west bank of Tom-higbee, at N. lat. 31° j3'. This town stands at the head of schooner navig;ltion, and is in a state of rapid improvement. The amount of the commercia] business, already done at this town, exceeds $500,000 annually. hl its vicinity is the most wealthy and best populated. country on the waters of the Mobile. Baldwin, Washington, and Olarke counties, have all received great accessions of population within three years past. Property continually rises in value, notwithstanding the interminable quautity of public lanu opened for settlement. The advantage of occupying the point between boat and ship navigation confers great importance on this place. Whatever towns may arise, ·either C\bove or below, yet thi~ place must maintain its relative rank. It is, b.y act of congress, the seat of government for Alabama ter· ritory, until otherwise directed by the legislature thereof. It has been found, in a great number of instances in the United States, that nothing but commercial facility can augment, to any considerable extent, the wealth or inhabitants of towns ; -and that their being selected for the se~ts of legi slatures, or courts of justice, gives but trivial comparative ad vantage. lt is, therefore, of very little consequence to the people of St. Stephens, whether or not it remains the seat of government. FORT CLAlBORNE, on Alabama river, occupies the same relative position un that stream, tlut Fort St. Stephens does on Tombig· bee . The former town bas entirely risen since the end of the last war between the U niteu States anJ Great Britain. Like all oth~r pl<~ces in tbe vetllty of Mobile 1 it is in a state of prosperous advance. 'l'~e tuwn uf Fort Claiburnc is alsu at the head of schooner navigation; of course thE:' chances of its permanency re::st upon the same principles of calculation which we have applied to Fort St. Stephens. It would be difficult to state t~t! numu~r of houses or people in a~y EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. ' 3rt of the~ new towns. . In reality, the numbers change so rapidly, that no e.stnnate can rem am one year correct. It would be useles! to attempt any precise enumeration of the component parts of a mass so incessantly accumulating. The co~nt_ry in the vicinity of the junction of the Tombigbee and Alabama IS m some respects most admirably situ;:\ted to become a ~Jeasant and profit~ble residence. It will probably, at no very distant time, be the centre of a great thoroughfare between New Orleans and the southern states upon the Atlantic. Should the vine and olive be success t~ully cultivated, and the_re is but little reason to doubt a prosperous assue to the att~mpt to mtroduce those useful plants, then will the :~lley of t?e ~ubal~ b~come the American Italy : there will the dechmng constitutiOns, smkmg under the severity of northern winters tind warmth, health and menta! enjoyment. ' h The following list of roads will shew the distances from St. Ste .. p ens to the respective places around that town. _ No.3. St. Stephens to New Orleans by Madisonville. Fort Stoddert • Pascagoula. ril-·er Greene C. H. • • •. ' • • ' • • ' • • • • • • • Pear) river • • • • • • • C. H. parish of St. Tammany in the state of Louisia~a • Madisonville . . . . ' Fort St. J obn (over lake Pontchartrain) New Orlean! r • • • • No.4. • • S . St. Stephens to Natchez. mtabogue river Eastern ~- branch of Pas~agoul~ Winchester MonticelJo Natchez • • • • • • • • • • • • ... •· • • • • ... No.5. Fort Claiborne Milledgeville in Georgia. • • • Hurri cane Spring • • · • Fo~t Decatur on Tallapomea river Pomt Comfort Chatahoochy • Fvrt Lawrence Fort Hawkins • l\iilledgevilJe .. .. • • • • • • •, •. • • • • ·- • • • • • • • • • • • • • .. No.6. • • • • • • • • .. • • • • Fort Claiborne F ort J <tckson Huntsville Tennessee line Nashville in Tennessee by HuntsviUe. • • .. • • • • • • • • • • .• • • • t • • • ., 1!. t .. • ,, .. • • • • • ;; . .. • • • • • •.. . • • • ' M£les. 401 40 65 105 20 125 4.5 170 25 195 30 225 22 247 5 ~52 12J ·~ 21 33 11 44 ~05 149 90 239 25 25 43 68 56 !24 12 136 30 l96 45 241 50 291 45 336 25 25 90 liS 200 315 14 329 |
