Excursion to St. Louis.—Face of the Country.—Sketch of the State of Missouri.—Return to Trinity.

The steam-boat, the Pioneer, having come up to Trinity the following day, on its way to St. Louis, Mr. B. and I resolved to take a trip to the latter place, as the best chance that offered to get away as soon as possible. We started at ten o’clock in the morning, turned round the fork, and ascended the muddy Mississippi. The first town we saw was Hamburgh, on the Illinois side, consisting of nineteen frame dwellings and cabins, and four stores. On the left, in the state of Missouri, is Cape Girardeau. The settlement mostly consists of Frenchmen, and German Redemptioners. The town has not a very inviting appearance. One hundred and six miles above the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, we landed at St. Genevieve to take in wood. This town is the principal mart for the Burton mines; it has a Catholic chapel, twenty stores, a printing office, 250 houses, and 1600 inhabitants. Twenty-four miles farther up the same side, is Herculaneum, with 300 inhabitants, a court-house, and a printing office. The town had been laid out and peopled by Kentuckians. There are several villages on the right and left bank, and some good-looking farms. On the third day, at twelve o’clock, we reached the town of St. Louis, 170 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and thirteen miles below the junction of the Mississippi, and the Missouri. This town extends, in a truly picturesque situation, in 38° 33' north latitude, and 12° 58' west longitude, for the length of two miles along the river, in three parallel streets, rising one above the other in the form of terraces, on a stratum of limestone. The houses are for the most part built of this material, and surrounded with gardens. The number of buildings amounts to 620, that of the inhabitants to 5000. Its principal buildings are, a Catholic, and two Protestant churches, a branch bank of the United States, and the bank of St. Louis, the courthouse, the government-house, an academy, and a theatre; besides these, there are a number of wholesale and retail stores, two printing offices, and an abundance of coffee-shops, billiard-tables, and dancing-rooms. The trade of St. Louis is not so extensive as that of Louisville, and less liable to interruption, as the navigation is not impeded at any season of the year, the Mississippi, being at all times navigable for the largest vessels. An exception, indeed, occurred in 1802, when the Ohio and other rivers were almost dried up. The inhabitants of St. Louis and of Missouri, have therefore a never-failing channel for carrying their produce to market. This they generally do, when the rivers which empty themselves into the Mississippi, are so low that they have no apprehension of finding any competition in New Orleans. Last year, the market of New Orleans was almost exclusively supplied with produce from St. Louis and Missouri. Eighty dollars was the general price for a bullock, which at a later period would not have obtained twenty-five dollars; flour was at eight dollars, whereas, two months afterwards, abundance could be had for two and a half dollars. In the same proportion they sold every other article. It is this circumstance which contributes to the wealth of St. Louis, and of Missouri in general, to the detriment, on the other hand, of the Ohio States, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. At the time of our arrival at St. Louis, there were in its port, five steam vessels, and thirty-five other boats. St. Louis is a sort of New Orleans on a smaller scale; in both places are to be found a number of coffee-houses and dancing rooms. The French are seen engaged in the same amusements and passions that formerly characterised the creoles of Louisiana, with the exception, that the trade with the Indians has given to the French backwoods-men of St. Louis, a rather malicious and dishonest turn—a fault from which the creoles of Louisiana are free, owing to the greater respectability of their visitors and settlers, from Europe, and from the north of the Union. The majority of the inhabitants of this town, as well as of the state, consists of people descended from the French, of Kentuckians, and foreigners of every description—Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Irish, &c. Kentucky manners are fashionable. Not long before my arrival, there occurred a specimen of this, in an open assault and duel between two individuals in the public street. For the last five years, men of property and respectability, attracted by the superior advantages of the situation, have settled at St. Louis, and their example and influence have been conducive of some good to public morals. The enterprising spirit of the Americans is remarkable, even in this place and state. Within the twenty-three years that have elapsed since the cession of this country (part of the former Louisiana) to the Union, much more has been achieved in every point of view, than during the sixty years preceding, when it was in possession of France and Spain. Streets, villages, settlements, towns, and farms, have sprung up in every direction; the population has augmented from 20,000 to 84,000 inhabitants; and if they are not superior in wealth to their neighbours, it is certainly to be attributed to their want of industry, and to their passing the greater part of their time in grog-shops, or in dancing-companies, according to the prevailing custom. Slavery, which is introduced here, though so ill adapted to a northern state, contributes not a little to the aristocratic notions of the people, the least of whom, if he can call himself the master of one slave, would be ashamed to put his hand to any work. Still there is more ready money among the inhabitants, than in any of the western states, and prices are demanded accordingly. Cattle that fetch in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, ten dollars per head, are sold in Missouri for twenty-five dollars, and so in proportion. The country about St. Louis to the north, south, and west, consists of prairies, extending fifteen miles in every direction, with some very handsome farm houses, and numerous herds of cattle. Though in the same degree of northern latitude as the city of Washington, the climate is more severe, owing to the two rivers Missouri and Mississippi, whose waters coming from northern countries greatly contribute to cool the air. The cultivation of tobacco has not succeeded, and the produce chiefly consists of wheat, corn and cattle;—equally important is the profit from the lead mines, and the fur trade. The most improved settlements are those along the Mississippi, and on the Missouri they are beginning to be formed.Missouri was received into the Union in 1821, and is, with the exception of Virginia, the largest state of the Union, its area exceeding 60,000 square miles. To the north and west it borders on the Missouri territory; towards the east the Mississippi is the boundary between this state, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; the Arkansas territory lies to the south. It extends from 36° to 40° 25' north latitude, and from 12° 50' to 18° 10' west longitude. The country forms an elevated plain, sloping considerably to the south, where it is crossed by the Ozark mountains. Marshes and mountains prevail more in the southern parts, high plains in the northern. Along the Mississippi and Missouri, the bottom lands are generally extremely fertile. The soils, however, cannot be altogether compared with that of Illinois. The possession of slaves is allowed by the constitution of this state, and their number amounts to 10,000; that of the rest of the inhabitants to 70,000. The form of government approaches very nearly that of Kentucky. We remained one day at St. Louis, and returned in the steam-boat, General Brown, to Trinity, where we took on board the ladies and some new passengers, returning from thence to the Mississippi. We passed several small islands, and a large one (Wolf’s Island), and landed at New Madrid at midnight, for the purpose of taking in wood. This place is the seat of justice for the county of the same name; it has, however, no court-house, and is a rather wretched looking place, containing about thirty log and shattered farm houses, with 180 inhabitants, Spaniards, French, and Italians. The two stores being open, we visited them. They were but poorly provided, having about a dozen cotton handkerchiefs, one barrel of whiskey, and a heap of furs. Two Indians were stretched on the ground before the door, and in a sound sleep, with their guns by their side. The Mississippi is continually encroaching upon the town, and has already swept away many intended streets, as the inhabitants say, obliging them to move back to their no small disappointment. The surrounding country is highly fertile, and in the rear of the town there are several well cultivated cotton and rice plantations. A rich plain stretches along to the west, behind New Madrid, as far as the waters of Sherrimack.