of rendezvous, and frequently are going out and coming in with their wagons and packed mules, at the same period of going and coming that is chosen by the Mexican traders. Lexington is therefore occasionally a thoroughfare of traders of great enterprise, and caravans of infinite value. The dress and arms of the traders, trappers, and hunters of these caravans, and caparison of the horses and mules they ride, present as great diversity as the general resurrection itself of all nations and ages can promise for the speculations of the curious. The county of Lafayette is well watered with springs and streams suitable for mills. The latter are the Terre Beau, the Little Schuyte Aber,* Big Schuyte Aber, and the Fire Prairie Creek; the last three of which cross the main road in their course to the Missouri, in the order they are mentioned, above Lexington. From authentic information, recently supplied, it appears that in Lafayette coal of good quality abounds. Sandstone, freestone, and limestone are likewise found in this county. Five saw-mills and five grist-mills are driven by water-power in the county of Lafayette. About one half of the county is timbered.

DOVER, situate in Terre Beau grove, is a new town, containing four good stores, with a general assortment of merchandise. In the short period of eighteen months this town has grown to its present considerable consequence; and the fertility of the well-settled country around it will make it a place of business, equal to the first class of interior towns. It is on high and healthy ground, well watered with springs and wells. Dover is two and a half or three miles from the river.

NAPOLEON, a new town, situate on table-land on the summit of a beautiful bluff, the base of which is washed by the Missouri, promises speedily to become a place of business. The landing

* The origin and orthography of this name deserve explanation. The word "Schuyte" is German, and signifies to cut off. This was made a part of a compound proper name by the following singular incident. An old trapper, whose name was Aber, who was ascending the Missouri, came to the mouth of this stream at high water, and mistook it for a slough, or cut-off, of the river; and turning the bow of his canoe up the stream, he continued to ascend until he reached the prairie, It thus received the name of Schuyte Aber, or the slough, or cut-off of Aber, pronounced Snybar.

is good at all seasons of the year, and the country which will contribute to its growth is exceedingly rich, extensive, and already well settled, and improving rapidly. This location is not far from the mouth of Terre Beau Creek, in the grove of the same name. The people of Johnson and Van Buren counties, as well as those of Lafayette, may derive great advantage from the location of Napoleon.

LEWIS COUNTY, "beginning at the northeast corner of Marion county, in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river, at a point due east of the termination of the township line between townships numbered fifty-nine and sixty; thence with the north boundary-line of the county of Marion, on the line between townships fifty-nine and sixty, to the range line between ranges nine and ten west; thence north with the last-mentioned range line to the corner of sections eighteen and nineteen, on the range line last named, in township sixty-three north; thence east with the line of sections eighteen and nineteen, through the middle of the township numbered sixty-three, to the Mississippi river; thence due east to the middle of the main channel of the said river; thence down the same, in the main channel of said river, to the beginning."

The county of Lewis is very advantageously portioned out by Nature into prairie and timber; and the soil is exceedingly rich. The springs of pure water are numerous, and the mill-streams furnish an abundance of power for sawing and grinding. These streams are the Wyaconda, the North Fabius, and the head branches of South Fabius. The Wyaconda falls into the Mississippi about the middle of the eastern line of the county, which is washed for twenty-four miles by this great navigable river. The Fabiuses empty into the Mississippi in the adjoining county of Marion.

This county was made out of territory north of, and formerly attached to, Marion county. The remainder of the territory north, and between Lewis and the Desmoines river, is now in the first stage of the organization of a county to be called Clark. This new county of Clark is very happily situated, having the Mississippi and the Desmoines on the east and northeast, and

being likewise well watered in the interior with the head branches of Wyaconda, and a large stream called by the abominable name of "Stinking Creek." The next general assembly will certainly have good taste enough to change the name of this fine stream, to accord with that given by the compiler, and accordingly inserted in his map-" Aromatic river."

The first town above the Marion line is LAGRANGE, situate on a beautiful shore of the Mississippi. The site is high and dry, and it is surrounded with a well-settled farming country. The first stream above this town is Fox river, a small stream; the timber on its banks is good. The next town on the river in ascending is Canton, likewise a promising place, and situate in a large prairie. From this prairie the country is generally timbered and exceedingly rich to the Desmoines. The fort for the protection of this frontier is situate twelve miles above the mouth of the Desmoines, on the bank of the Mississippi.

MONTICELLO is the seat of justice of Lewis county, and it is located in a central position. This corner of Missouri enjoys the local advantage of a market, created by the wants of those in the military service of the United States and the miners in Wisconsin. Although the mineral district is a rich farming country, its inhabitants are in the habit of searching for wealth beneath the surface of the earth, and consequently agriculture is neglected. If the winters were milder there, the northeast corner of Missouri would be a country more desirable than any portion of the earth. Those accustomed to the hard winters of the New England states would, however, feel no inconvenience in any climate in this parallel of latitude.

[MONTICELLO of Lewis should not be mistaken for the town of the same name in Jefferson county, and likewise the seat of justice. The name of one of these should be changed.]

LINCOLN COUNTY is bounded south by St. Charles and Warren counties; west by Warren and Montgomery counties; north by Pike county, and east by the Mississippi river. It was formed out of a part of St. Charles county, in 1820. It contains much good timbered and prairie land. A wide bottom extends along the Mississippi river, part of which is sometimes over

flowed, and in it are some lakes, the principal of which is King's Lake. The remainder of the county is rolling, some places hilly, and generally rich soil. There is a sufficiency of good timber, and much fine building-stone. Cuivre, with its several branches, drains and waters a large portion of the county. There is also good land on Bob's Creek, Sandy, and other streams. The water-courses afford some mill-sites, on some of which are grist-mills and saw-mills. There is a steam-mill at Cape aux Gris, on the Mississippi. A portion of the county has been occupied by Spanish grants, which have, in some measure, retarded the settlement of the country; but there is still a large quantity of good public land not entered. The Mississippi river always furnishes facilities for access to good markets. Louisville and Auburn are small towns in good settlements, in the northern part of the county. Alexandria and Monroe, the former county-seats, have ceased to be considered towns. Troy is the county-seat. It is near Cuivre, twelve miles from the Mississippi. The town contains a good brick courthouse and a jail, and it is a place of considerable business. It is on the spot where Woods' Fort once stood. Fort Howard and Stout's Fort, in this county, were places of note during the war. Near the former, at the chain of rocks on Rivière au Cuivre, a battle was fought between the rangers and Black Hawk. The early history of this country contains much interesting incident. The population of this county is principally from Virginia and Kentucky.

MADISON COUNTY. The boundaries of this county "begin at the northwest corner of section nineteen, township thirty-four, range four east; thence east to the dividing ridge between Castor and White Water; thence in a direct line to the dividing ridge between Castor and Crooked Creek; thence southwardly with said dividing ridge to a point where a west line will strike a place known and called the Cedar Cabin, on the west side of the river St. François; thence west to Black River, and up the same to the old Washington county line; thence northwardly with the said line to the beginning."

The county of Madison is one of the valuable mineral districts of Missouri, and contains iron and copper, as well as lead

mineral. The celebrated lead-mines called "Lamotte" are in this county, and situate four miles north of Fredericktown, the seat of justice, and are the property of four ancient French families, viz., Valle's, Pratte, and Beauvis. It was confirmed to them by act of Congress, A. D. 1827. The quantity confirmed to these families was four leagues. These diggings of mine à Lamotte are supposed to have been the earliest discovery of lead in Missouri. They were worked as early as 1765 or 1770, by the Indians and Spaniards. The mineral of these mines is not so rich as that of the Washington county mines, and is generally found in small lumps, although some veins have been found that yielded large bodies of ore, similar to the mines in Washington county. In these mines copper ore is found, but not in sufficient quantity to justify working it while the present prices of lead are maintained. Iron ore is discovered in great abundance throughout the county. There is no coal or salt in Madison. There is an abundance of limestone and sandstone in this county; and there is likewise a rock of suitable quality for millstones, and which is now in use for that purpose. It is believed that this stone, if properly wrought in the fashion of the French buhrstone, will be a valuable substitute for that costly material, and take place of it to a great extent. The experiments that have been made in grinding with this stone have proved the great value of the material, and placed it on the long list of the resources of Missouri. The head branches of the St. François river run through this county, and afford some valuable mill-sites; and nothing is wanting but enterprise and capital to apply this valuable water-power successfully and profitably in the manufacture of iron, flour, &c. There are several corn-mills now in operation, but these are badly constructed. There is nothing peculiar in the soil and products of Madison county. Abounding in iron and lead ores, the soil, except on the watercourses, is thin. It would be an unfair distribution of Nature's patronage to place mineral wealth beneath the fatness of our richest soil. The timber of this county consists of all the various kinds of oak in Missouri, and large bodies of yellow pine are handsomely interspersed throughout the county; and this is