Travels in the Interior of North America Part 2

On the morning of the 9th of July, the sky was gloomy, and the sea much agitated. On our left we had the coast of Long Island, which, in general, is not high, but has some more elevated parts, with an alternation of sand, bushes, and brushwood. Some very picturesque and diversified inlets run into the land. The channel becomes gradually narrower, and the beauty of the landscape increases in the same proportion. One narrow place is called h.e.l.lgate: there are here many rocky islets covered with sumach bushes (_Rhus typhinum_). At length, turning round a point of the continent, a new and most picturesque scene presented itself. We were in what is called the East River, an arm of the sea, open towards New York, which is connected with the Hudson or North River, one of the most beautiful rivers in North America. At the conflux [pg. 12] of both, lies the city. The banks of the East River are like an English park, shaded by beautiful copses and groups of lofty trees: the ground was clothed with the brightest and most luxuriant verdure, with tall tulip trees, planes, Babylonian willows, Lombardy poplars, and many others, alternating with green meadows, where there are neat, and often elegant country-houses; and the eye is charmed by many fine prospects and a great diversity of scenery. Pa.s.sing the Navy Yard, which is situated on a point of land, the great city of New York, with its innumerable masts, lies before you. As you approach and enter the broad and extensive piece of water formed by the conflux of the East and North Rivers, you see the whole ma.s.s of houses, with countless s.h.i.+ps, which line both the banks to a considerable distance, with a forest of masts, to which few other cities can present a parallel. The steamer landed us at a spot where, notwithstanding the heavy rain, there was a great crowd of people collected. Porters, black workmen, and coachmen in abundance, with loud cries, and much importunity, offered their services; and we immediately proceeded to the American Hotel, a considerable inn, in one of the handsomest squares in the city.

FOOTNOTES:

[17] Charles Lucien Bonaparte, prince of Canino and Musignano (1803-1857), a noted ornithologist, was the eldest son of Lucien, brother of the great Napoleon. In 1822 he married Joseph Bonaparte's daughter, came to the United States, and until 1828 resided with his father-in-law, near Philadelphia, making a careful study of the birds of that locality. Returning to Italy, he headed the republican forces at Rome in the Revolution of 1848, and from 1854 until his death, three years later, was director of the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris.

In the United States, Bonaparte published a supplement to Wilson's _Ornithology_, ent.i.tled _American Ornithology, or History of the Birds of the United States_ (4 volumes, Philadelphia, 1825-33), containing more than a hundred species which he had discovered. He wrote numerous articles for scientific journals both in this country and Europe.--ED.

[18] See Plate 1, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[19] According to the census of 1830, Boston had 61,392 souls, and with Charlestown, Roxbury, and Cambridge, about 80,000.--MAXIMILIAN.

[20] Vide Mrs. Trollope's "Domestic Manners of the Americans," page 106, where the auth.o.r.ess is probably right in many points.--MAXIMILIAN.

_Comment by Ed._ See Wyeth's _Oregon_, in our volume xxi, p. 44, note 24.

[21] Captain Benjamin Morrell was born on Long Island (1795), entered the service of a privateer during the War of 1812-15, was captured by the British and held in prison until the declaration of peace. After his release he was made captain of a whaling vessel, and in 1832 published a book of travels ent.i.tled, _A Narrative of Four Voyages to the South Sea, North and South Pacific Ocean, Chinese Sea, Ethiopic and Southern Atlantic Ocean, Indian and Arctic Oceans, Comprising Critical Surveys of Coasts and Islands with Sailing Directions_ (New York). A critical a.n.a.lysis of the book is given in _American Quarterly Review_, xiii, pp. 314 ff.--ED.

[22] The cattle in this part of the country are, in general, large and handsome: there are oxen with immense horns, almost as in the _Campagna di Roma_, in Italy; and they are also large and fat. Their colour is generally brown, as in Germany, but for the most part, a very s.h.i.+ning yellowish, or reddish brown, often spotted with white.

The horns of many are turned rather forwards, and round b.a.l.l.s are just on their tips, that they may not gore with them.--MAXIMILIAN.

[23] See preface to Nuttall's _Journal_, in our volume xiii.--ED.

[24] E. A. Greenwood having (1825) purchased the Columbian Museum, founded in Boston in 1795 by Daniel Bowen, erected a building on Court Street between Brattle and Cornhill, and started the New England Museum. The latter was purchased by Moses Kimball (1839), who seven years later constructed the Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts building on Tremont Street, near Court, at a cost of a quarter of a million dollars. The stock-company theatre operated in connection with this inst.i.tution was long regarded as the best in Boston.--ED.

[25] For the work of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, see Wyeth's _Oregon_, in our volume xxi, p. 71, note 47.--ED.

CHAPTER II

STAY IN NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, AND BORDENTOWN, FROM 9TH TO 16TH JULY

New York--Bloomingdale--Hoboken--New Brunswick--Trenton--Bordentown--Philadelphia--Fair Mount, with the water-works--Stay at Bordentown--Park of the Count de Survilliers--Excursions in the forests--Return to Philadelphia.

New York is but little inferior to the capital cities of Europe, with the exception of London and Paris. It has, at present, 220,000 inhabitants, and its commerce is so extensive, animated, and active, that, in this respect, it is scarcely surpa.s.sed by any. There are so many descriptions of this great city, that to say much on the subject would be merely repet.i.tion. The first impression that it made on me was very striking, on account of the beauty of its situation. In the interior the style of building resembles that of many English cities.

It has one remarkably fine street, called the Broadway, which traverses its whole length; other parts are old, and not so handsome.

In the Broadway, which is the favourite resort of the fas.h.i.+onable world, is an uninterrupted line of shops, but little inferior to those of London and Paris. The city is extremely animated, and people of all nations carry on business here. We were a.s.sured that the population had been diminished, in a few days, by the emigration of 20,000 of the inhabitants, who had fled to other towns for fear of the cholera.[26]

It is well known that this lamentable disease had been very fatal in Canada, and had now penetrated into the Northern States of the Union: it was raging in Albany, on the Hudson, at Detroit, and on the great lakes, so that it seemed as if it would defeat our project of beginning our journey to the interior by that route. This had been my plan, in which the recommendations of our worthy countryman, Mr.

Astor,[27] would have been of great service, as he is the founder and head of the American Fur Company, which has spread its trading stations over the whole of the interior of North America. I formed numerous interesting acquaintances, in a short time, in New York.

Several estimable fellow-countrymen, Messrs. Gebhard and Schuchart, and Mr. Iselin, did their utmost to afford us their counsel and a.s.sistance. Mr. Schmidt, the Prussian consul, contributed not a little to make our stay in this city agreeable; and so did Mr. Meier and other of our German friends. Mr. Schmidt has a country-house at Bloomingdale, [pg. 14] where we pa.s.sed some very pleasant days in the circle of his amiable family. Mrs. Schmidt, an American lady, had visited Europe and travelled in Germany, and remembered, with pleasure, the banks of the Rhine.

The house at which Mr. Schmidt resides in the summer, is charmingly situated on the banks of that picturesque river, the Hudson, seven miles from the town. The pretty dwelling-house, with a veranda all round, covered with pa.s.sion flowers, honeysuckles, the red trumpet flower, and other beautiful climbing plants, stands on a verdant lawn, shaded by lofty trees, among which we observed the finest kinds of this country, the trunks of which were slender, and straight as pillars. The park extends to the Hudson, where the tall sa.s.safras, tulip, oak, walnut, and other trees, protected us by their shade; while the large steam-boats, rapidly pa.s.sing on the bright surface of the Hudson, had a very picturesque effect. Mr. Schmidt had the kindness to afford us an admirable view of what is called the island of New York. Near Bloomingdale is a large and very well conducted lunatic asylum, from the lofty roof of which we enjoyed an inexpressibly beautiful, extensive, and interesting prospect of the whole country. From this spot we overlooked the East and North Rivers, the broad bend of the latter, and its high banks towards Albany; to the north, dark forests, with detached dwellings and country seats; and, in all directions, luxuriant green thickets, towns, villages, and handsome country-houses. At our feet, contrasting with that rich and n.o.ble view, full of variety and life, we looked down on the buildings and court-yards of the hospital, in which we could observe the patients; while, in another enclosed s.p.a.ce, Virginian deer were sporting and playing. This asylum is a very excellent establishment, and contains a great number of patients: the physician resides in the house, and was so good as to show us over it. New York has many such useful inst.i.tutions,--hospitals, poorhouses, and houses of correction, in which latter the young, who may still be reclaimed, are not mixed with the old, hardened offenders, but are kept apart. There is an asylum for the deaf and dumb, &c.

Our returning from Bloomingdale, in the evening, was extremely agreeable, the weather being delightful. In the dark thickets and woods were swarms of fire-flies; and from the marshes and pools came the croakings of the frogs, with which we were not yet familiar; but we did not hear that of the celebrated bull-frog.

The most beautiful spots and environs of New York are indebted for the attraction of their views, to the variety of the waters surrounding the city: thus, for instance, at the end of the Broadway, is the Castle Garden, formerly a circular fort, the walls of which are converted into a public walk. From the wall itself is a fine prospect of the n.o.ble harbour, the neighbouring city, the banks, the opposite coast, and the broad river, where s.h.i.+ps of every kind and of all nations are coming and going. Another favourite place of resort is the garden at Hoboken, the name of which indicates its Dutch origin, for it is well known that the Dutch founded the first considerable settlement in this place, numerous traces of which still remain.

[pg. 15] The communication with Hoboken is by means of a steam-boat. The garden extends along the banks of the Hudson, and the lofty trees and thickets are pleasing and interesting to the stranger. The tall hickory and other kinds of walnut trees had now their fruit half grown. Storax trees (_Liquidambar styraciflua_), with their maple-like leaves, grow very high and straight, _Gleditschia triacanthos_ and _inermis_, with wild vines, climbing round them; and many other fine forest trees afford protection against the heat of the summer. Many European trees and shrubs, too, have been planted here. Thus we saw a hedge of whitethorn, the growth of which, however, was stunted by other wood. Many birds, whose notes were unknown to us, were heard in these shades. On my first visit to New York, I was interested by some collections of natural history; for instance, two museums, one of which, belonging to Mr. Peale, is, however, much inferior to that of his brother at Philadelphia. Being anxious to see Philadelphia, I hastened to set out for that city, and left New York, where the cholera was daily spreading more and more.

On the 16th, at six in the morning, I embarked on board the Swan steam-boat, which was so crowded with pa.s.sengers that there was scarcely room to sit down. On our left we had Staten Land; but we soon turned to the right, into the river Raritan, on which New Brunswick is situated.

New Brunswick is a village, consisting of many straggling streets, where all the pa.s.sengers landed from the steam-boat, and took their seats in stage-coaches, drawn by four horses, which were standing ready to receive them. The heat was great, the company very mixed, and I had the misfortune to have noisy and disagreeable companions. A long hill, with steep sides, which appears to consist of a reddish clay, extends along the water-side to New Brunswick. On the eminence above the town it was naked and rather sterile; the road was bad, and we were roughly jolted as we drove rapidly along. Meadows, fields of clover, rye, oats, and maize succeeded each other in the vicinity of the habitations, as well as plantations of European fruit trees, full of large caterpillar's nests, but flouris.h.i.+ng in the greatest luxuriance. The beautiful red trumpet flower partly covered the sides of the houses, about which Italian poplars and Babylonian willows were frequently planted; the latter are often very high and spreading. The cattle are partly without horns. Sheep and swine were numerous.

While we were changing horses at Kingston, negro and other children offered milk, little cakes, and half-ripe fruit for sale, of which a great deal was bought. Some German peasants, lately arrived from Europe, who were welcomed by their relations, previously settled in the country, completely filled a couple of stages, and were not a little merry, in their low German language, at which Americans laughed heartily. From this place the country was rather woody. Here and there were fine forests, the shade of which was very refres.h.i.+ng in this hot weather. The growth of timber was very fine. A pretty wild rose blossomed among the bushes in the meadows. Oak, sa.s.safras, walnut, chestnut, plane, and tulip trees, displayed their luxuriant foliage of various and often glossy green. The tulip trees, when young, are distinguished by [pg. 16] their pyramidal shape and beautiful light green leaves; they were at this time covered with their seed vessels, which were full-grown, but not ripe. The branching phytolacea, and the thorn-apple with its large white flowers, which were now open, as well as several plants brought from Europe, grew in abundance by the road-side, also species of sumach, partly entwined with wild vine; and in the forest was underwood of _Rhododendron maximum_. We pa.s.sed rapidly through Prince Town, and arrived at Trenton, on the Delaware, a straggling town, lying among thickets, on the low banks of the river. A long, covered wooden bridge led to the opposite bank of this broad river, which was animated by s.h.i.+ps and boats. Such colossal, covered wooden bridges are very common in the United States; and many travellers have already described the construction of these useless ma.s.ses of timber. From Trenton, we hastened over a sandy tract to another place on the river, opposite to which is Bordentown, and at a short distance lay the steam-boat, Trenton, ready to convey us down the river to Philadelphia. We descended the fine river Delaware, the low, verdant banks of which are covered with many towns, settlements, and country houses; here and there, too, with forests of oaks, &c., and of a kind of pine (_pinus rigida_).[28] After taking dinner, at which we were waited on by negroes and mulattoes, we reached Philadelphia about five or six o'clock.

This city extends a great way along the right bank of the Delaware, but has by no means so beautiful and striking an effect as New York.

It is large and regularly built; the long, straight streets crossing each other at right angles. The modern part of the city is handsome, consisting of lofty brick buildings, ornamented in the English fas.h.i.+on; but the older parts of Philadelphia consist of low, mean houses. It is very judicious that, in hot weather, an agreeable shady walk is formed by awnings spread before the houses, and that the streets are well watered. The water-works are at Fairmount, where there is a basin, from which pipes convey the water to every part of the city.

The streets which run at right angles to the Delaware are called by the names of different kinds of trees--Mulberry Street, Walnut Street, Chestnut Street, &c.: the streets which cross them are numbered, First Street, Second Street, Third Street, &c. Chestnut Street, without doubt the finest, is full of life and traffic. A part of it has, in the middle, a shady avenue of lime trees; and, besides, there are, in many of the streets, rows of trees which do not yet afford much shade.

Splendid shops, in almost uninterrupted succession, line the streets, and you find here all the manufactures and produce of the other quarters of the globe. The ancient, injudicious practice of having the churchyards in the towns is still retained in America. They are filled with great numbers of whitish monuments, of various forms, often planted with high trees, and lie quite exposed to view, being separated from the street only by an iron railing. Philadelphia has a considerable number of public buildings, especially many churches and meeting-houses of [pg. 17] different religious denominations, most of which are extremely plain brick buildings, without any external ornaments whatever. This country has no history like the Old World, and therefore we look in vain for the ancient Gothic cathedrals, and those awe-inspiring monuments of past ages, from which the traveller in Europe derives so much pleasure and instruction. Besides the churches, the princ.i.p.al buildings are the State House, where the independence of the country was proclaimed on the 4th of July, 1776, the United States Bank, the Bank of Pennsylvania, the Exchange, the University and the Medical College, the Mint, some hospitals, the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, and many others, which it would lead us too far to mention here.

Philadelphia would make a more striking impression if we could find a spot commanding a view of the whole; but as it lies in the plain between the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill, which unite five miles below the city, no such spot is to be found.

It is well known that this city was founded, in 1682, by William Penn, a Quaker, who concluded, under an elm tree, which recently fell down from age, a convention with the Delaware Indians, the proprietors of the soil, by which they ceded to him a tract of land. Philadelphia, literally "the city of the brethren" (Quakers), contains people from all the nations of Europe, especially Germans, French, and English. In some parts of the city, German is almost exclusively spoken. In the year 1834, the population consisted of 80,406 whites, and 59,482 people of colour. I arrived in Philadelphia at an unfavourable moment, for the cholera had already manifested itself also in that city.

Letters of introduction from Europe procured me a kind reception in some houses; but, on the other hand, I had not an opportunity of becoming acquainted with several scientific gentlemen, because, being physicians, they were now particularly engaged. Professor Harlan, M. D., well known to the learned world as an author, was of the number.[29]

Mr. Krumbhaar, a German, to whom I had letters, received me with much kindness, and introduced me to many agreeable acquaintances. He took me to the water-works at Fair Mount, one of the most interesting spots near the city, which are indeed worth seeing. The road led past the House of Correction, where young offenders, who are still capable of being reclaimed, are confined. On the bank of the river, there are buildings in which large wheels set in motion the machinery by which the water is raised to the reservoirs, on an eminence about eighty feet high, whence the pipes are carried to all parts of the city. The rocky eminence, from which a fine, clear spring rises, is provided with stairs and bal.u.s.trades, and adorned with elegant pavilions, which command a view of the water-works, and of the beautiful valley of the Schuylkill. It is a favourite promenade, and daily resorted to by numbers of persons, as they can have all kinds of refreshments there.

Beautiful plants, the catalpa, plantain, &c., grow among the rocks with great luxuriance, being watered by the springs. We crossed the great bridge over the Schuylkill, to return to the city, where I made but a short stay, because my fellow-travellers were still detained at New York, waiting for our baggage from Boston. As [pg. 18] all the roads were crowded with fugitives from New York, it was not a favourable moment for travelling; I therefore resolved on an excursion to Bordentown, in order to obtain some little knowledge of the forests of New Jersey.

I left Philadelphia, on board the Burlington steam-boat, about noon, and arrived at Bordentown between four and five o'clock. At this place are the estates of the Count de Survilliers (Joseph Buonaparte), who had but lately sailed for Europe.[30] The pleasant country house, in the fine park, is about 300 paces from the village, near to the high road, and near, also, to the iron railway from Amboy to Camden, opposite to Philadelphia.[31] Workmen were employed in making this road, in doing which, advantage was taken of the hollow of the valley, so that the railway was much below the common road, or the street of the town. I found some interesting plants in the woods opposite the Count's park. There were three or four kinds of oak, among which are the _Quercus ferruginea_, with its large, peculiarly shaped leaves; the white oak, the leaves of which are the most like the European; also, varieties of walnut trees, chestnuts, and the sa.s.safras, a fine, tall tree, which was just then in blossom, the leaves of which often vary in shape. The undergrowth of this forest, in which pines were mixed with other trees, consisted of _Rhododendron maximum_ (Pennsylvania mountain laurel) and kalmia, the latter of which, in the deep shade, was already out of flower; but the former still had its large bunches of beautiful white or pale red blossoms, and was from ten to fifteen feet high. The stiff, laurel-like, dried leaves of this fine plant covered the ground, and crackled as we pa.s.sed along, which reminded me of the Brazilian forests, where this occurs in a much greater degree. On open, uncultivated spots, the great mullein (_Verbasc.u.m thapsus_), with its yellow flowers, and large, woolly leaves, grew in great abundance, and likewise the phytolacea. Among the thick blackberry bushes, entwined with vines, by the road-side, I observed the little striped squirrel, which doubtless climbs to get at the fruit.

At ten o'clock, the heat was already so intense that I returned to the inn, where I arrived very much fatigued. This house is very pleasantly situated on an eminence above the Delaware, at the place where the steam-boats arrive, and from which there is a fine view of the arm of the river, and the adjacent lowland, covered with woods and thickets.

A great ornament of this landscape is the white garden-pavilion of Count Survilliers, which rises above the thick groves on the left bank of the Delaware, above Bordentown. In the cool of the evening I usually went to this park. The house itself is a pretty building, on a lawn near the water-side, where oleander and orange plants are placed.

The park is very shady, and extends along the Croswick Creek, towards which the bank forms a steep, wildly wooded declivity. In this wood there was likewise a thick undergrowth of _Rhododendron maximum_, now in full blossom. On an eminence immediately above the river, stands a kind of tower, several stories high, upon a terrace, from the gallery of which is a fine and extensive view over the low, wooded country, and the arms of the river. From this place winding paths lead through the gloomy forest of [pg. 19] pine trees, of different varieties, where many birds, of kinds unknown to me, were flying about. The cat bird (_t.u.r.dus felivox_, Vieill.), whose voice has a slight resemblance to that of a cat, was very numerous in this place. From the top of the wooded bank a sort of bridge has been carried out, a great height above the river, and a square place furnished with seats, from which you overlook the whole country. An old Canadian pine stands at the edge of the bank, some branches of which we carried off, by way of memorial. The view from this place is remarkably beautiful; to the right and left extends the river, or rather broad brook, which, at the feet of the spectator, is covered with water plants. The yellow-blossomed _Nymphaea adversus_, and the beautiful _Pontederia cordata_ grow here in great abundance. There was plenty of occupation for the botanist and the ornithologist, and the sportsman would have reason to be satisfied, for in the neighbouring thickets there were deer (_Cervus virginia.n.u.s_), and hares (_Lepus America.n.u.s_), which frequently crossed our path.[32]

On my return to Bordentown, I found before the door of the inn a number of gentlemen lying in more than easy positions on the benches; the chief subject of conversation was the cholera, which filled the whole country with terror.

It was precisely the hottest part of summer, and it was scarcely possible to protect one's self against the swarms of European flies, which are very numerous. On this account there are, in the inns, negroes and mulattoes, who attend at table, and give the company rest from those troublesome insects, and, at the same time, cool air, by fanning them with fans, made of feathers, often those of the peac.o.c.k.

Fans are, in fact, an article of luxury, and are purchased in the towns; they are made of the tail feathers of the wild turkey, the crane, or the swan, of palm leaves, &c. It was so hot in the daytime, that it was hardly possible to leave the house; and the cholera, therefore, spread rapidly in New York. In this sultry season, the evenings were really refres.h.i.+ng, and gave new life both to men and animals. When it became dusk, luminous insects flew about, and the crickets chirped in notes like those in Europe, but in more rapid succession.

On the following day I visited other places and woods in the vicinity of Bordentown. The town itself is built in the country fas.h.i.+on, with regular, broad, unpaved streets or roads, and the houses lie detached from each other, shaded by rows of trees: this is very necessary, for now, at 10 o'clock in the morning, Fahrenheit's thermometer, in the cool pa.s.sage of the inn, was at 73. The avenues of trees in the town consisted of robinia, paper-mulberry, large-leaved poplars, which exude an aromatic gum, weeping willows, and Syrian mallow, which latter grow to the height of ten and even fifteen feet. These plants, with their beautiful flowers, flourish here in much greater perfection than in Germany. In the gardens we observed monarda (Oswego tea), [pg. 20] the Indian cress (_tropaeolum_), purple convolvulus, buckthorn (_Lyc.u.m Europeum_), the climbing trumpet flower, vine, catalpa, larkspur, &c.

From Bordentown I sometimes pa.s.sed beyond the iron railroad, and penetrated into the neighbouring forest. Five or six species of oak, several kinds of walnut trees, beeches, chestnuts, and dogwood, formed the thick wood, the undergrowth of which consisted of _Rhododendron maximum_, kalmia, rhus, and tall juniper.

On the 23rd of July I left Bordentown, and returned to Philadelphia, as our baggage had not yet arrived from Boston. I made use of this interval to examine the museum of Mr. t.i.tian Peale, which contains the best collection of natural history in the United States. There is the fine large skeleton of the Ohio elephant (_Mastodon, Cuv._), and likewise most of the animals of North America, pretty well stuffed.

Among them I noticed, especially, the bison, the bighorn or wild sheep of the rocky mountains, the prairie antelope (_Antilocapra Americana Ord._), the elk (_Cervus major_, or _Canadensis_) the grisly bear (_Ursus ferox_), and others. Mr. Peale, the owner, accompanied the expedition under Major Long to the Rocky Mountains, where he procured part of these specimens himself.[33] There are likewise many specimens of foreign animals; for instance, a rhinoceros; and the collection of Indian dresses, utensils, and arms, is, I think, the most important that I have yet seen. I was particularly interested by some oil paintings of Indian villages and scenery by Seymour. This artist also accompanied Major Long's expedition. Mr. Peale's collection deserves precedence above all the public museums in the United States, for its more scientific arrangement, and because fewer trifling nicknacks have been admitted into it. Mr. Peale has also travelled in South America, and his health was still suffering from his visit to that country.

As the study of the aboriginal nations of America had peculiar attractions for me, I searched the shops of all the booksellers and printsellers, for good representations of that interesting race; but how much was I astonished, that I could not find, in all the towns of this country, one good, that is, characteristic representation of them, but only some bad or very indifferent copper-plates, which are in books of travels! It is incredible how much the original American race is hated and neglected by the foreign usurpers. Only a few eminent men, who have felt this reproach and defect, are now exerting themselves to rescue from oblivion the neglected materials, scarce as they now are, after it has become next to impossible to collect anything complete respecting the history of many exterminated Indian tribes. Messrs. Morse, Smith Barton, Edwin James, Say, Duponceau, Schoolcraft, Ca.s.s, McKenney, and some others, are an honourable exception in this respect. A fine work, with coloured lithographic plates, was contemplated at Philadelphia, which deserves encouragement; it was to give the history of the several Indian tribes, with portraits of their chiefs, for which the Government was ready to furnish all the materials in its possession. It seems that this important publication has at length been carried into execution.

FOOTNOTES:

[26] The first recorded death by cholera, in North America, occurred on June 8, 1832, at Quebec. The epidemic began raging in northwest India in 1827-28. It reached the sh.o.r.es of the Caspian Sea (1829), spread throughout Russia (1829-30), reached England (1831), and spread to the United States by way of Detroit the following year. Rapidly extending throughout the union, it counted its victims in nearly every state and territory.--ED.

[27] For a brief sketch of Astor, see Franchere's _Narrative_, in our volume vi, p. 186, note 8.--ED.

[28] The Americans report of this pine that, if it is cut down, oaks and other trees immediately grow up in its place; and if these are cut down, the pines grow up again, and so continually alternating in the same manner!--MAXIMILIAN.

[29] Richard Harlan (1796-1843) graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania (1818), practiced medicine in Philadelphia, and later occupied the chair of comparative anatomy in the Philadelphia Museum. He was a member of the Cholera Commission of 1832, and of many learned societies both in this country and abroad.