ALABAMA, a state and constituent member of the North American republic. It is bounded by Florida and the Gulf of Mexicoon the south, the state of Mississippi on the west, Tennessee on the north, and Georgia on the cast. Its length is 275 miles, breadth 185, and area 50,800 square miles. The couιltry, to the extent of more than 100 miles from the coast, consists of uneven lands, of a poor sandy soil, bearing little except pines, but interspersed with marshes and alluvial tracts on the sides of the streams, which are extremely fertile. Higher up, the country becomes fertile and beautiful, and it bears that aspect as far as the mountains occupying the northern part of the state. These mountains are about. 50 miles in breadth, and are supposed to exceed 1500 feet in height, but have peaks rising much higher. They are covered with a stony soil, but on their southern side are many rich and beautiful valleys, clothed with forests of oak, hickery, walnut, gum, and maple. Under the surface are mines of iron-ore. The climate is very hot in the parts below the latitude of 32½, but comparatively temperate in the upper districts. At Fort Stodart, in latitude 31. the mean heat by day was 84° Or 86° in July, and from 43° to 79° in February. The principal river in the state is the Alabama, which is formed of two branches, the Tombeckbee, and the proper Alabama. The former rises in the state of

Mississippi, and after being joined by several streams, joins the Alabama at Fort Stodart. The Coosa and Talapoosa rivers united, compose the proper Alabama, which, after being joined by the Tombeckbee, falls into the Gulf of Mobile at the latitude of 30½. All these rivers are navigable to a great distance from the sea. Steam-boats ply on the Alabama as far up as Montgomery, which is nearly 400 miles by water from Mobile Bay, but only 150 by land. The great employment of the people is agriculture. The soil yields wheat, maize, rye, barley, oats, and rice, and sugar-canes; but the principal object of culture is cotton, of which the state exports large quantities. The imports in 1824 amounted to 91,000 dollars, and the exports to 460,000. The number of inhabitants in 1820 was 127,901, of whom 41,859 were slaves,’and 571 free blacks. In January 1828 it was estimated at 254,000, including 93,000 slaves. This is exclusive of the Creek Indians, who were estimated at 20,000 in 1818. A great portion of the population consists of emigrants from Georgia. Cahawba, a small place, is the seat of government; but the only considerable town in the state is Mobile, which is situated on the west side of the bay of the same name, 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and, in 1826, contained 5000 inhabitants. In 1816 some exiles from France re-cèived a grant of lands on the banks of the Tombeckbee, in this state, with the view of introducing the culture of the vine; but the project 1 did not succeed, and the new settlemeht, named Demopolis, was abandoned in a few years. Alabama has very few made roads, and no canals, but by means of its numerous rivers it enjoys a great extent of inland navigation; and Mobile, the great centre of its trade, now communicates by steam-boats with all the considerable places on the Tombeckbee and Alabama rivers, and by sea with New Orleans. Alabama was admitted to the rank of a state and member of the American union in 1819. Its government is vested in a house of representatives elected annually, a senate elected triennial-ly and renewed by thirds, and a governor elected for two years. The right of suffrage belongs to every white citizen of full age. The judges in this state hold their offices during good behaviour. Owing to the thinness of the population, education is yet in a backward state; but as a fund for its promotion, 640 acres of land are set apart in each township. In 1827 the public revenue amounted to 67,000 dollars, and the expenditure to 82,000. The country is healthful, except in the neighbourhood of wet grounds; and, upon the whole, Alabama possesses advantages over some of the other southern states, and is one of the most prosperous and rapidly progressive in that part of the union. (p.)