[10] See a valuable statistical article, by B. Drake, Esq., in the Western Monthly Magazine, for January, 1836, entitled, "Cincinnati, at the close of 1835."
CHAPTER XI.
ILLINOIS.
Situation, Boundaries, and Extent.
The State of Illinois is situated between 37° and 42°, 30´ N. latitude; and between 10° 25´, and 14°30´ W. longitude from Washington city. It is bounded on the north by Wisconsin Territory, north-east by lake Michigan, east by Indiana, south-east and south by Kentucky, and west by the State and Territory of Missouri. Its extreme length is 380 miles; and its extreme width, 220 miles; its average width, 150 miles. The area of the whole State, including a small portion of lake Michigan within its boundaries, is 59,300 square miles.
The water area of the State is about 3,750 square miles. With this, deduct 5,550 square miles for irreclaimable wastes, and there remains 50,000 square miles, or 32 millions of acres of arable land in Illinois,—a much greater quantity than is found in any other State. In this estimate, inundated lands, submerged by high waters, but which may be reclaimed at a moderate expense, is included.
Face of the Country, and qualities of Soil.—The general surface is level, or moderately undulating; the northern and southern portions are broken, and somewhat hilly, but no portion of the State is traversed with ranges of hills or mountains. At the verge of the alluvial soil on the margins of rivers, there are ranges of "bluffs" intersected with ravines. The bluffs are usually from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet high, where an extended surface of table land commences, covered with prairies and forests of various shapes and sizes.