chief towns, railroads (finished or projected), schools, churches, prices of land, and number of acres of Government lands.

Special attention has been given the places of interest and centers of population in the State. Their advantages have been clearly pointed out, and whatever facilities they possess for future development have been fairly indicated.

Important chapters have been added upon the river ways, healthfulness, and educational system of Alabama. The two last named items are matters of important inquiry to the seekers of homes. They are entirely authentic, the chapter upon The Health of Alabama having been prepared by R. D. Webb, M. D., a native Alabamian, a gentleman of scientific research and an ex-president of the State Medical Association. The one upon The Educational System of Alabama was prepared by the recent Superintendent of Education of the State, Hon. Solomon Palmer.

The work throughout has been done with the most scrupulous and painstaking care. There has been no straining after facts, no guesswork, and no disposition to conceal the disadvantages of any section. The author begs to acknowledge his indebtedness to the latest Manual and Statistical Register of Hon. Joseph Hodgson; The Handbook of Alabama, by Saffold Berney, Esq.; The Geological Survey of Dr. Eugene A. Smith, State Geologist; and The Survey of the Warrior Coalfield, by Prof. Henry McCalley, Assistant State Geologist⠀⠀⠀

Indebtedness is also acknowledged to the many gentlemen who, from the different counties, replied. promptness to applications for information and for numerous expressions of encouragement while the work was being prosecuted. Arduous and protracted as the labor has been, it has been attended with the hope that it might contribute to the development of the resources of Alabama.

Marred as it doubtless is by defects, the little volume is sent upon the mission for which it was designed-that of guiding capitalists and seekers of homes to the investigation of the claims of Alabama.

ON OLD tradition represents an Indian warrior as having grown weary of the bloody strifes of some eastern region, and as having resolved to seek a more quiet abode in the far-off land toward the setting sun. Making his way over swollen rivers and through tangled forests, he came at length to the fertile lands and clear streams of Alabama. Charmed by the tokens of plentitude and the romantic scenery, pictured in the blooming valleys, the limpid streams, the boundless plains, and the high mountains, he resolutely struck his spear into the earth, saying, "Alabama!" which, being interpreted, is said to mean, "Here we rest."

Out of the mists of this favorite tradition there looms the truth of Alabama's greatness-her inexhaustible resources of soil and mine, of field and forest, her balmy climate, her wonderful healthfulness, and her sweeps of extended beauty.

It may be safely said that no portion of the globe, of the same compass, affords a greater diversity of resources, mineral, agricultural, horticultural and otherwise, and to a greater extent, than that embraced within the limits of Alabama. Her soils have never refused to yield any production known to the Temperate Zone, while along the shores which front the warm waters of the Gulf many tropical fruits are grown with the greatest readiness. And such is the capability of the soils that they yield, usually, in vast abundance, and sometimes even to the most indolent culture.

The developments which have been going on for a period of years in the mineral districts of Alabama have established the fact that, with respect to certain ores, she leads the other States of the Union. This is most notably true respecting her vast iron

deposits. Through the agency of capital and skill the State has come rapidly to the front as a great manufacturing centre. Side by side lie her fields of coal and her domains of iron. Thus, it will be seen, that the State has been most liberally endowed by Nature with all the conditions favorable to manufacture and agriculture. The profusion of her elements for the manufactory is simply marvelous, and her cotton fields have won a distinction that is world-wide. The staple grown upon Alabama cotton fields commands a dominant price in the markets of the world. Throughout the entire length of the territory, from the utmost northern limits to the waters of the Mexican Gulf, there are found the resources of a great commonwealth.

The magnificent wheat and corn valleys that lie along the base of the Cumberlands, or that follow the windings of the Tennessee; the high hills, with their treasures of ore; the orchards of delicious fruit; the plains of snowy cotton; the illimitable forests of giant timber, which have, for so many years, contributed to the lumber markets of the globe, and the groves of orange that dot her southern shores-all these attest the greatness of Alabama's

resources.

POSITION.

Alabama lies one-fourth the way around the globe west from Paris, France, and is in the same latitude as Northern Africa, Palestine, Central China, and Southern Japan.

OUTLINE.

The boundaries of Alabama may be described in the following manner Beginning where the parallel of thirty-one degrees north latitude crosses the Perdido river; thence eastward with this parallel to the west bank of the Chattahooche river; thence northward along the west bank of the last named river to the great bend, next above the mouth of Uchee creek, in Russell county; thence in a direct line toward the town of Nickajack, on the Tennessee river, to the parallel of thirty-five degrees north latitude; thence west along this parallel, to its second intersection with the thread, or middle line, of the Tennessee river; thence up the river to the mouth of Big Bear creek, thence in a line to a point on Buckatunna Creek, where the old Choctaw boundary-line inter

sects the same; thence in a line to a point on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, ten miles east from the mouth of the Pascagoula river; thence eastward along said coast, and embracing all islands within eighteen miles of the shore, to the mouth of the Perdido river; thence up the thread of this stream to the point of beginning.

AREA.

The State has an area of 50,722 square miles, which renders it larger than New York, Rhode Island, and Delaware combined. When measured from east to west, the general width of the State is 175 miles, while its estimated length from north to south is 275 miles.

POPULATION.

The increase of population has been so rapid within the last few years that it is difficult to state just now what it is. According to the census of 1880, it was 1,262,505. It will scarcely fall short of one and one-half millions now.

GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY.

The termination of the Appalachian mountain chain in Northern Alabama renders that portion of the State rough and rugged, but there are no mountains of any considerable height. The elevations rarely exceed 2,000 feet above the sea level.

In Central Alabama there are found prevailing the foothills of these northern ranges, together with the rolling prairies, and the upper belt of the pine barrens. In the Southern portion of the State there is a gentle slop along a sandy coast plain to the waters of the Gulf.

EXTENT OF SEA-COAST.

Alabama has about sixty miles of sea-coast.

SOILS.

The soils of this State are of every possible variety, ranging, in point of fertility, from the thinnest sandy land to the richest alluvial. Along the sand mountains in the north, as well as along the southern shore, the soils are thin, but by no means sterile,

while the famous Tennessee valley and the canebrake regions of Central and Southern Alabama have depths of marvelous fertility.

CLIMATE.

Favored in many respects, Alabama is, perhaps, most highly favored in her superb climate. Such is the temperature of the State that the extremes of heat and cold never prevail. The influence of the mountains in the northern end of the State tones into blandness the heat of summer, while for many miles inland, the cool breezes of the waters of the Gulf fan away the sultry breath of summertide. Snow but seldom falls, and only thin coatings of ice are seen. The exceptions to this statement are exceedingly rare. The streams of Alabama are not frozen over. Flowers blossom, fruits ripen, and vegetables prevail almost the year round. The mean annual temperature of the State is sixtyone degrees; the mercury but rarely ranges above ninety-five degrees even in July-the hottest month of the year. During the heated term the mercury ranges from sixty degrees to one hundred and four degrees; and during the cold season, from eighteen degrees to eighty-two degrees.

The question is frequently asked by Europeans and Northerners, "Can white men labor under a summer's sun in the States of the South?" The answer is found in the fact that thousands of white men do labor beneath the suns of the South, even as far down as Florida. And in addition to this, it may be said that white men labor with remarkable success in midsummer in the Northern States, where the heat is greater, and the days longer; and what is there to prevent them laboring in the South, where there is less heat, and the days are shorter, and the nights of more refreshing coolness. Observations on temperature, made by scientists since 1819, have been preserved in the Smithsonian Institution, and from time to time published. Of late years, these reports have been transmitted by its secretary to the Agricultural Bureau, and have been embodied in its report. From an examination of these tables, and a careful comparison, it will be seen that the climate is more favorable for the laboring man in the South than in the North. True, the Northern summer is short-much shorter than in the South-but it is much hotter