and state in the Union; with the whole valley of the Ohio; with many of the Atlantic States, and with the Gulf of Mexico.

"Ay, gather Europe's royal rivers all

The snow-swelled Neva, with an Empire's weight
On her broad breast, she yet may overwhelm;
Dark Danube, hurrying, as by foe pursued,
Through shaggy forests and by palace walls,
To hide its terrors in a sea of gloom;

The castled Rhine, whose vine-crowned waters flow,
The fount of fable and the source of song;
The rushing Rhone, in whose cerulean depths
The loving sky seems wedded with the wave;
The yellow Tiber, chok'd with Roman spoils,
A dying miser shrinking 'neath his gold;

The Seine, where fashion glasses the fairest forms;
And Thames that bears the riches of the world;
Gather their waters in one ocean mass,

Our Mississippi rolling proudly on,

Would sweep them from its path, or swallow up,

Like Aaron's rod, these streams of fame and song."

By the Missouri River she can extend her commerce to the Rocky Mountains, and receive in return the products which will come in the course of time, by its multitude of tributaries.

The Missouri River coasts the northwest line of the State for about 250 miles, following its windings, and then flows through the State, a little south of east, to its junction with the Mississippi. The Missouri River receives a number of tributaries within the limits of the State, the principal of which are the Nodaway, Platte, Loutre and Chariton from the north, and the Blue, Sniabar, Grand, Osage and Gasconade from the south. The principal tributaries of the Mississippi within the State, are the Salt River, north, and the Maramec River south, of the Missouri.

The St. Francis and White Rivers, with their branches, drain the southeastern part of the State, and pass into Arkansas. The Osage is navigable for steamboats for more than 275 miles. There are a vast number of smaller streams, such as creeks, branches and rivers, which water the State in all directions.

Timber.-Not more towering in their sublimity were the cedars of ancient Lebanon, nor more precious in their utility were the almung-trees of Ophir, than the native forests of Missouri. The river bottoms are covered with a luxuriant growth of oak, ash, elm, hickory, cottonwood, linn, white and black walnut, and in fact, all the varieties found in the Atlantic and Eastern States. In the more barren districts may be seen the white and pin oak, and in many places a dense growth of pine. The crab apple, papaw and persimmon are abundant, as also the hazel and pecan.

Climate. The climate of Missouri is, in general, pleasant and salubrious. Like that of North America, it is changeable, and subject to sudden and sometimes extreme changes of heat and cold; but it is decidedly milder, taking the whole year through, than that of the same latitudes east of the mountains. While the summers are not more oppressive than they are in the corresponding latitudes on and near the Atlantic coast, the winters are shorter, and very much milder, except during the month of February, which has many days of pleasant sunshine.

Prairies.-Missouri is a prairie State, especially that portion of it north and northwest of the Missouri River. These prairies, along the water courses, abound with the thickest and most luxurious belts of timber, while the "rolling" prairies Occupy the higher portions of the country, the descent generally to the forests or Lottom lands being over only declivities. Many of these prairies, however, ex

hibit a gracefully waving surface, swelling and sinking with an easy slope, and a full, rounded outline, equally avoiding the unmeaning horizontal surface and the interruption of abrupt or angular elevations.

These prairies often embrace extensive tracts of land, and in one or two instances they cover an area of fifty thousand acres. During the spring and summer they are carpeted with a velvet of green, and gaily bedecked with flowers of various forms and hues, making a most fascinating panorama of ever changing color and loveliness. To fully appreciate their great beauty and magnitude, they must be seen.

Soil.-The soil of Missouri is good, and of great agricultural capabilities, but the most fertile portions of the State are the river bottoms, which are a rich alluvium, mixed in many cases with sand, the producing qualities of which are not excelled by the prolific valley of the famous Nile.

South of the Missouri River there is a greater variety of soil, but much of it is fertile, and even in the mountains and mineral districts there are rich valleys, and about the sources of the White, Eleven Points, Current and Big Black Rivers, the soil, though unproductive, furnishes a valuable growth of yellow pine.

The marshy lands in the southeastern part of the State will, by a system of drainage, be one of the most fertile districts in the State.

POPULATION BY COUNTIES IN 1870, 1876, 1880.

Classification of Rocks-Quatenary Formation-Tertiary-Cretaceous-Carboniferous-Devonian -Silurian-Azoic-Economic Geology-Coal-Iron-Lead-Copper-Zinc-Building Stone -Marble-Gypsum-Lime-Clays-Paints-Springs-Water Power.

The stratified rocks of Missouri, as classified and treated of by Prof. G. C. Swallow, belong to the following divisions: I. Quatenary; II. Tertiary; III. Cretaceous; IV. Carboniferous; V. Devonian; VI. Silurian, VII. Azoic.

"The Quatenary formations, are the most recent, and the most valuable to

man: valuable, because they can be more readily utilized.

St. Louis city and county separated in 1877. Population for 1876 not given.

† Including 92 Chinese, 2 half Chinese, and 96 Indians and half-breeds.