A



             GENERlAL ACCOUNT

                          OF THE

   CO MMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY.




                        GEOGRAPHY.

  Positiozn. -The Commonwealth of Kentucky -situated
between latituLCde 36  o' and 39 o6' north, and longitude
50 oo' and I 2o' 3S' West, from \Vashington - includes about
forty thousand square mliles of area, extending for six hundred
and forty-twvo and a half miles along the south bank of the
Ohio River, from  its junction xvith the Mississippi to the
mouth of the ChatteraWah or B1ig Sandy. This river forms
the north er, nortlh-western, and north-eastern borders of the
State. A part of its north-eastern border, one hundred and
twenty miles, is formed by the Chatterawah River; a south-
eastern face of about one hundred and thirty miles lhas a
natural boundary in thie several rano-es which receive the
common name of Cumberlanci Mountains. The southern face
alone is an arbitrary lin(e of two hundred miles in length. The
western boundary of about fifty miles is formed by tle AMissis-
sppi lRiver.
  A glance at the accompanying map w-ill make it )lain that
the ren-ion occupicd by this Commonwealth has a position of
peculiar importance with reference to the great feature-lines
of the continent. The Mississippi-River system is t'le key to
the continent. Those parts which lie beyond its borders are,
by their limited area or their severe conditions of climate,
relatively of minor importance. In this system the State of
Kentucky, all things being considered, occupies a most im.
portant place. Its western border is only one thousand and