82    UNITED STATES GAZETTEER.

five judicial circuits into which the state is divided. The.se courts hold one or two terms an-
nually in each county ; and there are also County Courts, having general common law juris-
diction, both civil and criminal. Persons charged with offences punishable by confinement in
the State Prison may demand trial before the circuit judge, who in such case is to preside in the
County Court. The county judges hold office four years. Probate Courts are held in each
county, the judges of which, as well as those of the county courts, are elected by the people.

Education. — The subject of education has received a just share of public attention. The
common school system is generously supported, and many literary institutions of a higher
order have also been established and liberally endowed. At Ann Arbor is located Michigan
University, which has academic branches in various other parts of the state. There are
sundry colleges, maintained by different religious denominations, and generally in a flourishing
condition. In 1849, the number of scholars in the state, which derived benefit from the public
funds appropriated for purposes of education, was upwards of 125,000. There is a Board
of Education, consisting of eight members, chosen by the legislature, which has charge of a
well-endowed state Normal School, at Ypsilanti. Munificent appropriations have also been
made for the erection and maintenance of asylums for the deaf, dumb, blind, and insane.

Finances. — At the opening of the year 1850, the state debt exceeded the immediate
available means of payment by somewhat more than $2,000,000. During the year ending
November 30, 1850, the receipts into the treasury amounted to $429,268, and the expendi-
tures to $449,355. The revenue is derived not only from direct state taxes, but from specific
taxes, charges on sales of public lands, and other sources. It was estimated by the governor,
in a late annual message, that the assessment of property for purposes of taxation, instead of
being based, as heretofore, on a valuation of only about $30,000,000, would be more equitably
made if based upon a cash valuation ; in which case the value of taxable property, it is sup-
posed, must exceed $100,000,000.

Surface, Soil, fyc. — Michigan proper presents a diversity of surface. It is mostly either
level or slightly swelling, but is occasionally rough and hilly; and towards the central points,
between the eastern and western shores, is elevated to a height of some six to seven hundred
feet, forming rugged and irregular ridges. On the western side of this range of eminences,
the land slopes gently and smoothly towards the lake, but again rises on the coast into steep
and broken sand banks and bluffs. The northern half of this peninsula is as yet but sparsely
peopled ; and its soil is regarded as inferior to that of the southern portion, although most of
the lands in the interior are said to be, in general, well adapted to agricultural purposes. In
the settled parts, the soil is quite productive ; and flax, hemp, all the varieties of grains,
garden vegetables, &c., are raised in abundance. The forests yield excellent timber, of almost
every description known in this climate ; as, the oak, walnut, hickory, elm, ash, maple, syca-
more, whitewood, hackberry, cottonwood, poplar, butternut, cherry, &c. There are also large
tracts of pine, spruce, and hemlock-trees in the northerly parts of the state. Of the upper or
northern peninsula, no very great amount of knowledge has yet been obtained, beyond what
is, in some degree, connected with the recent geological survey of this region. It is but
thinly inhabited by permanent residents, its soil promising but poor remuneration to the culti-
vator. Mountains, valleys, hills, plains, forests, and rivers variegate the surface. The most
lofty of the elevations ascend to a height of 2000 feet; some of the forests embrace millions
of acres of pines and other evergreens; and a hundred rivers, large and small, affording
valuable mill sites, flow from the uplands into the lakes, on, either side of the Porcupine
Mountains, the grand ridge which towers as a sort of dividing barrier between Lakes Superior
and Michigan.

Rivers. — The high lands in the central parts of Michigan proper give rise to several large
etreams, which generally run into the lakes on either side. The principal of these are Raisin
and Huron, flowing into Lake Erie; the Rouge, Clinton, Black, Saginaw, Thunder-Bay, and
Cheborgan, emptying into sundry straits and bays on the east; and the still larger rivers, St.
Joseph, Kalamazoo, Monistic, Maskegon, and Grand, which connect with Lake Michigan on
the west, and are partly navigable. Small lakes, yielding plenty of fine fish, abound in the