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Show .. 32 EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. The Mobile is the Rhone of North America. ~he valley of t~li3 river is sh Jtered on all sides by considerable elevatiOn~, and by thtck fore sts, except tow ards he s~uth, ~be.re it is open to tlw warm winds from the tropics . A ndge ot h11ls leaves ~he. northwestern parts of Georgia, and following a course ne~rly stmtlar to that of T ennessee river, diviJes the waters that flow mto t.hat stre~m .from tbo~e th at flow into the confluent water· of the Mobile. Thts ndge, though not very high, is clothed ~ith a thick forest, a~d. ~orm~ a line of demarkation between two clnnates, as well as a dtvtdmg hne separating different ri ve rs. . . Nearly upon the line between Georgia and Alabama, lhts ndge divides itself; one branch, as has been remarked, winding parallel to the Tennessee river crosses the Ohio a' short distance below the former river. The se~ond branch takes a direction a little south of southwest, and terminates near the junction of Coos::1. and ,..~alla~oosa. The fall i.n Coosa, above Fort J ackson, is, perhaps, a contmuat10n of this last ridge ; if so, it is merely broken through by th~ C l>~sa, and continues nearly the mouth of that river, 21nd gradually smks mto the low lands ne ar Mobile bay. Leaving the northwest etngle of South Carolina, and intersecting Georgia in nearly a southwe.st direction, a branch of the Alegha~y mountains directs its course between the Chatahoocbe and Mobtle rivers , and gradually lowering, as it advances to the southwest, finaJiy terminates in the bluffs of the Mobile bay, near the town of Blakely. Near the northeast angle of the state of Mississippi, a ridge di verges from the one alreauy described, as Jividing the waters of Tennessee and Mobile rivers. 'fhis diverging ridge pursues nearly a south course. crosses two degrees of latitude, diviuing the waters of the 'l'ombigbee from tbo~e of Yazoo and Big-black ; then turns a little east, ~P-parates the treams that !1 w into the Pascagoula river, and is terminated by the high banks upon which Mohile town is built. There is, in the basin of the Mobile, still another distinctive ridge, lying between the waters of the Cahaba and those of the Blackwarrior rive.rs, ami which, below the respective mouths of these latter streams, desce nds t11 the sout hw~tru, and forms the apex of the Peninsula between tl.le Tombigbee aud Alabama rivNs, and is imperceptibly merged into the low bnds near their junction. Almo~ t on the 33° N. lat. and near the source of the Big-black, Peart anJ Pa(;cagoula rivers , the chain of hills. west of the Tomhigbee . sends out two ernhranchments ; one winds southwardly, di viues the water::; of the Pearl and Pascagoula, sl'lwly deprt>~~e:o; as it approaches the sea-coast, and ends in high banks near the bay of St. Louis. The second pursues a south€asl. course, separcttes the w ;:~ ters that flow into the .Mississippi river from those that flow into Jakes Maurpas, Pontchartrain, and Borg:ne, and terminate!:) abruptly in high hills, called Loftus' heights, on the east bank of the Mississippi, about eighteen miles above the mouth of Red river. There are hills of more or Jess elevation between all the minor water courses in the -Mobile basin, but the foreg0ing are the most important, and the only claims that have a ~ensibJe influence over the EMJGRANT"S GUIDE. ·cJimate. It will be seen that the valley or basin of the Mobile is in form of a triangle; the base of which lies parallel to the Tencessee river. The surface of this valley is about 40,000 square miles- 25,600,000 American statute a'Cres. The soil is extremely varied. The far greatest part of the surface ~s bar~en, ha~i~g pi~e as its principal growth. The productive soil JS agam subdtv1ded mto two portions; the first and mo~t valuable is t~e alluvion upon t?e rivers ; the second is composeu of the slopes of h1~ls, and. usually m the country called hammock land ; the soil of th1s latter 1s generally mixed sand and clay ,-timber, pine, oak, hick· ory, sweet gum, and dog· wood. , .If ever_ extensive vineyards are established in the United States, it WI1.l b.e upon t~0se dry sandy slopes. The position, exposure, and Jes- cnptl~n of sOil, correspond~ almost exactly with the places where, a.ccordmg to the French authors, the finest vineyards of Europe are ....SJtuated. There are manJ:" places, also, where small grain can be cultivated, and where good m1lls can be erected. This outline will no doubt prevail towards _the sources of the streams to where the tr;nsportatio~ flour would be d1fficult and extensive. It will, however, in the first instance, and for a considerable time to come, be upon the rich alluvion that the settlements will be made. It is here ~hat new farms, towns and villages will rise with rapiJity. Cotto~, matze. potato~s, and other staples and neceRsaries of human life, wJII precede the vme. Men will, in the first instance cultivate that product that with certainty will yield speedy emolume~t. The whole country i.ncluded in the basin ~f the Mobile apparently rests. ~pon secondary hmestone. This fossil, in many places, forms prec1p1ces along the banks of the rivers and as far as correct informa• tion has been received, is the rock ov~r which the various waters are precipitated in the falls of rivers. . There are many parts, particularly the banks of the Alabama, Coha· ba, Coosa. and Ta1Japoosa, where the olive will find a conJ;enial soil and situation. The foJiowing is a list of the most common timber trees found in the basin of the Mobile, and indeed on all the waters from the Atlantic ocean to the Mississippi, in the same parallel of latitude. Pinus rigida, Pitch pine,-}£. Pinus taeda, Loblolly~ or water pine,t Q.uercus tinctoria, Black oak, Quercus rubra, Red oak, Quercus virens, Live oak ; only near the sea, Quercus ferruginea., Black jack, Q.uercus alba, White· oak, * This tree forms far above one half of the entire mass of the forests. It occu,. r>ies exclusively immense tracts, and mingles with other trees in every part or the country. It is only wanting in the very richest alluvial soil, or in the lowest swamps . t This tree is less frequent than pitch pine, even in low grounds, where tlte two trees are found growing together. .') |
