Note 138 — XVII

In his description of the barrens, Flagg follows quite closely J. M. Peck, Gazetteer of Illinois (Jacksonville, 1837), pp. 11, 12. The term barrens, according to the Century Dictionary, is "a tract or region of more or less unproductive land partly or entirely treeless. The term is best known in the United States as the name of a district in Kentucky, 'The Barrens,' underlaid by the subcarboniferous limestone, but possessing a fertile soil, which was nearly or quite treeless when that state began to be settled by the whites, but which at present where not cultivated, is partly covered with trees." See a good description in our volume iii, pp. 217-224.—Ed.