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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ./ 'j'^i I -« m t { w ».i t 1 ^i V V <»*-" NORTH AMERICA ixa AGEICULTUKE AND CLIMATE. "h %■ ^^i^mmmm^mmmim''mi^ mmmmm^'^ mmm ti \ I ( '} i r • i I ! I •«;:n.. )■■ \ t * 1- / -11 ,.. lit' l-i ^ ^ I ft f «■: I'f- \\: W^ It-.'^ NORTH AMERICA ITS O AGEICULTURE AND CLIMATE COMTAUiniO v>^ ■ I I , I OBSERVATIONS ON THE AGRICULTURE ' AND CLIMATE OF CANADA, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE ISLAND OF CUBA. BY ROBERT RUSSELL, KILWHI8S. EDINBURGH: ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. \Tht .tiithor retains the right of tramjation.'] 7^ ■Mfai fifi^Vi rrtii^ I II iitiiiiiiiaiiiiiwiirriihiritr'nrtf i PRINTKI) BY B. AND R. CI^«K, lUINBUKaH. i ■ n mm TO PROFESSOR JAMES P. ESPY, WASHINGTON. MY DEAR SIR, I take the liberty of dedicating this Volume to you, in grateful remembrance of the kindness I received from you while in Washington. During the many agree- able hours I spent in your company, the climate of North America formed the chief topic of conversation. In the last chapter of this "Volume, I now give a fuller expo- sition of the views sketched out in the Lectures I delivered in the Smithsonian Institution, and which you honoured with your presence. The explanation of the laws which regulate the climate of North America may not meet with your entire approval ; but I feel sure that your zeal for the advancement of a science for which you have already done so much, will induce you to give the facts and opinions brought forward your ca. Al consideration. Believe me. With feelings of great regard, '''■■' z' Ever feithfully yours, ROBERT RUSSELL. >8»j; KiLwmss, 10 t, M- IM / ■Mi .r -I'^Vi.'/-'- • T^ / W i." -' ■-,. H'.' " : . ■ V- . i i ' i ■«,•• ' -■'11 • Ui NORTH AMERICA. ITS AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE. .... - — _ n* CHAPTER I. ^\ t LIVERPOOL TO BURLINGTON, VERMONT. The triumphs of steam have, in a great measure, deprived a voyage to America of its former tediousness and irregularity, and given to it much of the character of a ferry passage. This facility put it in my power to gratify a long-cherished wish ; and on the 5th Aufi;uBt 1854. I sailed from Liverpool^ on board the " America." one of the Cunard line ot steamers, for B oston, via Halifax. In common with the majority of landsmen, I experienced considerable discomfort during the first few days I was upon the restless ocean ; but the remainder of the voyage was rendered exceedingly agreeable by inter- course with a varied company of fellow passengers. The weather was more stormy than it usually is at that season of the year ; and when we reached the lower latitudes of the American coast, it was much colder than I expected to find it. On the gleventh day after leaving Liverpool, the coast of Nova Scotia became visible. The heated air from the vast continent cleared the atmosphere of the clouds which had almost constantly obscured it during the voyage ; and a glo- rious afternoon it was when we steered into the magnificent harbour of Halifax. The coast here is barren_a nd rocky, and covered with dwarf spruce trees. There are only small patches fit for cultivation, and the grain crops were quitQ green. b 2 |. . :/■ MASSACHUSETTS. f: Another day and two nights' sailing after leaving Hali- fax brought us at sunrise within sight of the heights o f Boston ; and in a short time, after threading her way among islands, ships, and curiously shaped steamers, the " America" reached her landing at East Boston. I soon found my way to the Revere Hotel, and was greatly surprised at the extent and splendour of its accom- modation. The town is built on a peninsula. Its closely packed brick houses, and its streets thickly crowded with omnibuses, reminded me of London . The streets are narrow and irregular, which makes it difficult for a stranger to find his way. On the north side of the town there is a large and fine common, which affords ample space for the recreation of the inhabitants. Three sides of this common are occupied by the dwellings of the most wealthy inhabitants, and in front of the houses rows of American trees, consisting of the sumach, maple, and acacia, beautify this quarter, and afford a grate- ful shade in the sultry heats of summer. In n o town in America can a stranger spend a few days more agreeably than in Boston , fiere there is a numerous class who are not engrossed with the all-absorbing pursuits jof co mmerce ^ The number of public institutions that are easily accessible impress one favourably with the progress which our western brethi'en are making in the refinements of modern civilization. The great increase of Boston, and the limited extent of the peninsula on which it is built, have forced many of the wealthy merchants to reside in the country. For seven or eight miles out of town the country is thickly studded over with handsome villas laid out in ornamental grounds and gardens. Though the land is o f the most sterile character , consisting chiefly of sand and gravel, and frequently of bare rocks, with polished surfaces, yet building sites, are worth from £200 to £300 an acre, even at the distance of ten miles from town. On first landing in America, I was struck with th e small, ^tature of the men and women, and also with the paleness of their fa ces. ^ The great extremes of temperature in the United States seem to deprive the Anglo-Saxon of that BOSTON. freshness of complexion which is so common in our own cool and equable climate. The day after my arrival I attended a " fair," held on the property of the late Daniel Webster, at Marshfield, in the neighbourhood of Plymouth, the spot where the Puritans first landed. The inhabitants, from a wide circle of country, had assembled to spend a holiday. There was a bazaar for the sale of ladies' work, with a band of music, which formed the chief amusement of the day. The modest mansion where Daniel Webster was wont to reside was thrown open to the public, and was so thronged with visitors that I could hardly elbow my way through it. All were well dressed, and many of the ladies were exceedingly good looking. At Winslow, a short distance from Marshfield, was buried the first white man born in New England. In the same retired spot are mouldering the ashes of Daniel Webster, whose memory is fondly cherished by the people of tlils district. The country betwixt Marshfield and Boston, a distance of thirty-six miles, is so miserably poor t hat little of it is fit for cultivation. From Winslow I walked down to the sea-shore through some fields which had been in pasture for several years. The grass was so completely withered that it crisped oeneath my feet, while clouds of grasshoppers rose at every step. Lar ^e boulders were thickly imbedded in it everywhere. Yet I was told this was good land, and in good condition. At first I was rather sceptical of my informant being in earnest, but subsequently I discovered that, comparatively speaking, this was not a bad soil for New England, where the granitic rocks predominate. In the salt marshes I saw a farmer load- ing a waggon with hay, which, though very coarse in quality, cost on the spot £2 : 2s. for a ton of 2000 lbs., and was to be conveyed thirteen miles into the interior. I paid a visit to B. French, Esq., at Braintree, about six miles from Boston, where also the soil was poor. It is rather wonderful, however, that it is so well adapted for orchards, for the apple trees were bearing abundant crops. Crushed bones are found to be a very beneficial application for fruit trees. The agriculture of this part of America is by no means interesting to one from the old country. The^farms are MASSACHUSETTS. gmall^ and the offices are usually under one roof. At Brain- tree they formed a high building of three storeys, with the hay in the upper, the cattle in the middle, and the manure in the under. The foundations were dug out of a sloping bank, and the floor of the upper storey was level with the ground on the outside. There is a great scarcity of straw in the New England states, and the cattle and horses lie on boards for the purpose of economising it. I spent a day in the manufacturing town of Lowell, which is twenty-six miles from Boston. The intervening country is still more ban-en, if anything could be so than what I had seen in my trip to Marshfield. The only attempts at cultivation were some crops of Indian corn and market vegetables growing upon sand almost as loose as that upon the sea shore. No rain had fallen for some time, and the air felt most oppressive, — hot as if it had come from an oven, and so opaque with dust that the horizon was hiafilk all round, just as it often is before a thunder-storm. To one newly arrived from the old country, the condition of the Lowell factory operatives is interesting, there being a great c o ntrast in their appearance to that of the same class in mir m anufacturinfy towns. The cotton mills at Lowell belong ito a corporation or joint-stock company, and furnish employment to about 10,000 hands, of whom 2000 are women earning from three to four dollars a week. These are generally the daughters of the sma ll farmers of New England. After paying their board, tney can lay aside about one-half of their earnings, which in three or four years furnish them with a little money, and it is seldom that they remain at the works for a longer period. They board together in private houses, built by the corpo- ration, and let to widows and others. Each boarding- house can accommodate about forty inmates, who are most comfortably lodged. From all that I could learn, the present condition of the Lowell operatives is quite as favourable to a high state of morality as that of the middle classes in Britain. The interest taken in the welfare of the operatives in the New England factories is highly creditable to the spirit of the corporation, and it is /I > I.- ♦ ■'' LOWELL FACTORIES. to be hoped that a system productive of such favourable results will not hereafter be broken in upon by the rude necessities of competition. " • "" I was informed by a commercial gentleman that one of the main elements in the success of the factory system, both at Lowell and at Lawrence, arose from the provident wisdom of the corporations buying the land in the neighbourhood of the sites upon which they were to build their works, and afterwards selling it at high rates for building upon. Thus new towns speedily arose to accommodate the population drawn together by the erection of the numerous mills, and imparted a high value to ground that was otherwise com- paratively worthless. The penin sula of ^ Nahant forms a favourite retreat for the Bostonians fdurinfij the heats of summer . The hotel at Nahant is still more splendid than the Revere at Boston. One night while I was there. Professor Ajgassiz gave an interesting lecture on the geology of the peninsula to a highly fashionable company in the large dining-room of the hotel. Spending the Sunday at this delightful spot, I attended the only church in the neighbourhood. To suit a class of hearers so miscellaneous as those who frequent the hotel or have villas in. the vicinity, ministers of the various Protestant denominations officiate alternately. A committee of laymen make the necessary arrangements for obtaining preachers from the Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist, Presby- terian, or Unitarian bodies. A preacher of the last-men- tioned denomination it fell to my lot to hear. No- doctr inal peculiarities could be detected in his sermon, which was prac- tical, and delivered with great earnestness. It is very difficult to draw lines of distinction bet ween classes of society in New England . At the hotel I had some conversation with a person who had all the appearance and manners of a gentleman, but who was no other than a working mechanic. He had driven down his wife and family from a village thirteen miles inland to have a day's recreation at Nahant. This way of spending a little spare money raises the moral and social condition of those who labour with their hands, and maintains a sense of self-respect. The / MASSACHUSETTS. , general^ diffusion of education among all classes in New Eng- /land has had the efrect of raising them in a great measure Nw.beyo nd the tempt atio n of indul^ng in drinkin g habits, which are more common where ignorance prevails, especially when combined with a high rate of wages. A Sheffield manufac- turer, carrying on business both in England and the Unit-ed States, informed me that in the majority of cases the high wages which he paid to his workmen in Britain did not improve their condition, as so much was squandered for spirits, whereas the educated mechanics of New, E^ngland were in general a sober and industrious class of men. . After travelling for some time in Massachusetts, one is impressed with the thorough diffusion of education among all classes, and with the universal politeness mingled with inde- pendence which prevails. Although American phrases are very common in ordinary conversation, yet in all the larger towns of this State the English lanepia^e is spoken with great purity. The legislature is making efforts to give a free (education to every one who chooses to accept of it. Boston and its environs contain a population of about 300,000, and in 1853 they assessed themselves to the amount of £60,000 for educational purposes. Leaving Boston, I took the cars to Brunswick in Maine. The country is very poor all the way, and small patches only are in cultivation. Over large portions the granitic rocks protrude, and gravels and sands are the common materials out of which the soils have been formed. Pines, elms, beech, and birch, grow vigorously in this rocky country, and here, as elsewhere in the northern parts of America, it was sur- prising to see such abundant crops of apples on tree s which grow in the roughest gravels. There is much similarity in the appearance of the New England villages . There are no si^^ns of pove rty, and none of great riches. The streets are very wide and unpaved, buT" broad side-walks made of planks afford good walking in the worst weather. Every house stands detached with a spot of garden ground around it, which gives to the streets a straggling appearance, while the acacia trees planted in front impart a rural aspect in summer. The houses are all made of / MAINE LIQUOR LAW. / .1- boards painted white, and the interiors are kept remarkably - clean. The school-house is always the principal building in the vil-age, and neatly-built churches are never awanting. Under the guidance of Dr. Hitchcock I visited the Con- gregational college at Brunswick, Maine. This body in America have a system of organisation similar to- the Presby- terian ; but though they hold stated meetings for the purpose of consultation and of giving advice, no dictation is used towards any individual church. The students lodge in the buildings which are attached to the university. One building accommodates about thirty individuals, who have each a separate room for the half-yearly rent of twenty dollars. -flt^/ This plan of boarding is similar to that which the young women have at Lowell. The system of livins; in boarding- houses, so common in all parts of the United State s, evi- dently arises from the circumstance, that a better table and better accommodation can by that means be got for less money than by taking up house and keeping servants. Might not this system of association, in an economical point of view, be worthy of a trial in our own manufacturing towns ? The Maine liquor law was still nominally in force while I was in that State, though in many parts it seemed to be in abeyance. I asked the boy at the bar of the hotel in Bruns- wick if I might have a glass of brandy. " I guess so," was the unhesitating reply. Professor Hitchcock seemed to regard its advantages as problematical. The temperance party were loud in its praise, but there were no data to show that it had much effect either one way or other. At first the law was very rigorously carried out, but afterwards it was much relaxed. In some of the towns through which I passed it was necessary to go to the cellar to obtain liquor, but in others it was sold openly over the bar with as much freedom as if no such law was in existence. This open violation of the law I found in Newbury, Vermont, where I saw people partaking at all hours, and where the good natured landlord was laughing at the legal prohibition. There is, in truth, no _ executive force here to carry such a law into operation . The temperance party, therefore, had not only to make the law, 8 MAINE. V l)ut also to become informers in order to have it put- into force. It is not to be wondered at that tbis state of matters did not continue long. The informers soon relaxed in their zeal after having drawn upon their own heads much ill-will, and thus, in many places, the law fell completely into abey- ance, which must have a bad moral e£fect, and tend to weaken the reverence for all laws. But how could any other result be expected, seeing, as my worthy informant assured me, one fourth of the population were opposed to the law and were continually brea^ng it. It is in the other States, where the temperance party are agitating for the adoption ot the liquor law, that its good effects in name are so highly extolled. The New Englanders^ on the whole, are, a very temperate people. But no doubt the temperate habits of the educated and well-to-do classes, the lawyers, clergymen, and merchants, have a more beneficial influence in promoting and diffusing habits of temperance among those who are beneath them in wealth than the much talked of Maine Law. In New Eng- land there is little or no drinking for the sake of sociality as is too much the case in Scotland. Indeed, it is not uncom- mon to find^neither wine nor spirits at dinner parties. Those, on the other hand, who are addicted to drinking in America, drink in earnest, for they begin in the morning taking a little, and continue repeating the dose at intervals throughout the day. It is almost incredible the quantity of spirits which some people consume who have habits of this kind, and who, at the same time, never appear the worse of liquor. Leaving Brunswick and returning south a few miles, I took taiy seat in the Atlantic Railway (connecting Portland and Montreal) as far as Gorham Station, which is within eight miles of Mount Washington, the highest mountain in the territories of the United States, east of the Mississippi. The country was only partially cultivated for the first part of my journey. A good many small farms were seen, but the occu- pants must certainly derive their subsistence from' other employments than that of cultivating the land. The soil appeared almost destitute of vegetable mould. There was an exceedingly small portion under cultivation, and the bam which contained all the crop and stock was seldom larger than the i\i KEW ENGLAND FORESTS. 9 liles, I |>Ttland eight in the The )f my occu- other 16 soil rasan I which the farm- hoiiBe. No fields were seen without numbers of granite boulders sticking out in the withered pastures. The country gradually becomes more rugged and hilly, and much of the level land in the valleys is s o thickly covered with b oulders as to defy all attempts at cultivation . The soil and climate of New England, however, are par- ticularly genial to the growth of timber. Fire seems to destroy wide tracts of the forest almost every year during the periods of dry weather ; but the burut surface soon renews its covering. I was shown a spot which had been destroyed by fire the previous year, and which was already occupied with young thriving birch saplings. However rocky and barren the soil may be, if it is not too precipitous, it is always covered by a dense growth of timba r ; and every little crevice in the rocks affords sufficient hold for some gnarled member of the forest to fix its roots in and obtain a subsistence. Before reaching Gorham Station, we entered the narrow valley of the Androscoggin. The hills are quite precipitous and thickly timbered. On a few spots of the interval land crops of Indian com, oats, and potatoes were growing ; yellow pumpkins also, many of them a foot and a-half in length, were lying thickly over the ground among the Indian com, which was parched and withered by the drought. It is rather curious how the broad succulent leaves of the pumpkins obtain sufficient moisture from their long trailing vines, out of a soil coiisisting of little else than loose sand. When I arrived at Gorham Station, which is 800 feet above the level of the sea, I found the spacious and elegant hotel newly erected there overcrowded with visitors. Luckily, however, I immediately got a seat in a coach which was just starting for Glen House, a distance of eight miles. Six active little horses were soon dashing along a very rough road recently cut out of the primeval forest. 1 was struck with the wanton luxuriance of nature, not so much shown in the size of the timber as in the number of trees which the soil was supporting. In the lower valley the forest was almost an impenetrable mass of tmnks in all stages of growth and decay, and under their dense shade not a blade of grass was seen. 10 NEW HAMPSHIRE. It appears to be a peculiarity of the primary soils of the New England States that the pine, the elm, the maple, the beech, and the spruce, grow together in social equality. In many places it would have been difficult to find out which of thes6 varieties predominated. In height, however, the pines towered above all the others ; and in all those parts of the forest which had been somewhat recently cleared by the fires, the birch was by far the most common. The birch is a rapid grower, but it soon attains maturity or limit of growth, so tkct, in the long run, it cannot compete with those which ultimately rise to a greater height, and, overtopping it, shut it out from the sun's rays. Thus, in the older portions of the forest, few birch trees are seen. Jt is the great variety of tre^B in tlye New England fores ts which aflFords such a gorgeous spectacle when autum n tmges the leaves with so many brilliant hues. ' " ' Glen House Hotel, 1600 feet above the level of the sea, is close at the base of Mount Washinpto n. which is 6300'. feet. At ihis hotel, no fewer than 350 persons can be accom- modated with board and lodging. The morning after my arrival I started with a party of fifteen ladies and gentlemen to ascend to the top of ^e mountain. The party were mounted on ponies, and though urged to follow their example, I preferred to walk up at my leisure, and I was afterwards convinced this was the more agreeable mode of ascending. Mount Washington is densely covered with trees to the height of 4500 feet. The usual varieties prevail at the base, but as you ascend there are fewer, and by and by nothing but pines are seen. These gradually diminish in size till the limit of their growth is attained, where there are some curious specimens of dwarfs less than a foot in height. The stones which afford them shelter from the violent westerly winds regulate their height, as they cannot at a certain elevation rear their heads above the level of their protectors. In the upper part of the mountain I walked over a con- siderable space where the forest had been burnt down five years ago. Every trace of vegetable matter had disappeared Ifr ■\^' MOUNT WASHINOTON. u / from the surface, and the granite stones at a distance looked nearly as white as chalk. There was no appearance of any pines or vegetation coming up to cover what was wasted hy the fire. The reclothing of the ground at this great elevar tion will evidently be a slow process. How different from what takes place below, where the fires seem actually to invigorate the vegetable kingdom. Like many other high mountains^ the summit of Mount Washington is covered with blocks of granite of g reat dimensions. A roughly built house hfw been erected on iCfe top calculated to accommodate 100 visitors for a night. On this occasion we met another party which had ascended from the opposite side of the mountain. At dinner we numbered about thirty ; some had brought up a good supply of cham- pagne, which was disposed very freely among Uiose who had made no such provision, and altogether our party was a very happy one. The view from the top was sadly marred by the qaa'j- tity of smoke which floated in the air, and which was cansed by the burning of some parts of the forest. Mount Wash- ington has not the wild sublimity of Ben Nevis and some of the other Scottish hills. It has, however, a grandeur of its own ; the high mountains surrounding it on all sides form magnificent ravines all densely covered with timber. As far as the eye could reach, not a spot was in sight under cultiva- tion, a prospect that afforded me some idea of the appearance which the whole country must have presented before the white man set his foot on the western continent. The blocks on the top of the mountain were covered with a light green lichen. A large lichen {Parmelia cen- trifuga) was seen on some of the stones, many of the specimens being upwards of a foot in diameter. In some respects, the habits of this singular plant resemble those of the fungi, which form the fau-y rings in our pastures, growing in a circle, and enlarging every year. In the larger speci- mens of this lichen, the vitality of the plant was confined to the outer portions, while the inner was decaying and rising from the stone ; in many cases, the centre was per- fectly bare and destitute of vegetable matter. The larger 12 NEW HAMPSHIUB. lichens seem to live upon the smaller, and probably the larger only have the necessary conditions of growth after the smaller have taken root on the bare surface and arrived at maturity. This day (the 80th August) was remarkably warm in the valley, but the thermometer was only 60" Fahrenheit on the top of the mountain. The road to the top was simply a rough footpath, but it was amazing how the ponies made their way up, scrambling over stones and roots of trees. It took me about three hours to ascend and one to descend. The ponies were shockingly lean, and no wonder, as it was close upon the end of the season, and some of them had made their fifty-fifth ascent. Next morning I took the coach to Crawford House, a distance of thirty-five miles ; the first eight miles lay over a road made two years ago through the forest. There were mere patches in cultivation, and that only for a small part of the way. The Indian corn was quite parched by the drought; but in the same fields pumpkins were in great quantities. On looking into some of the small farm-houses I was glad to see so many signs of comfort. Before reach- ing the hotel, I passed through the valley of the Saco. The hills on both sides rose abruptly from the banks of the stream to the height of more than 2000 feet, and were covered to their summits with wood. The accommodation at Craw- ford House is excellent, though it -is situated in the midst of a wilderness. Ist Sept. — Took the coach to St. Johnsburgh on the Brunswick River, a branch of the Connecticut, a distance of twenty-two miles. Very little is in cultivation, the sides of the hills being densely and beautifully covered with the original forest, in which the sugar maple is abundant. Passed a few hop gardens. The vines appeared to have fewer leaves and more fruit than those growing in England. Numbers of men and women were busy gathering them. However poor the soil might be, the orchards of apples were bearing fruit in great abundance. Oxen are used here very generally for the plough and the waggon. '/^:. (iV. NEWBURV, 18 I wa^raused with two pasaengers on the coach who used the word "gueas'' in almost every aentence. Both were polite and well (iressed. One nad ^en netting pigeons, which are found in great numbers in the woods at this season. The previous day he had taken one hun> dred and forty at one haul of the net. For these a ready market is got in the towns of the low country at a dollar a dozen. The other had been agent for the stage-coach at Glen House, and as the season for visiting the White Mountains was now nearly over, he was on his way to the low country to find out some other employment for the winter. One grand speculation he had just entered upon ; he had bought a large bear for the sum of five dollars. I happened to see the brute the day before ; it was black, with the exception of a cream-coloured muzzle, and measured when standing erect, as its exhibitor declared, five feet and a half in height. It had been trapped in the woods, and its former owner had cleared one hundred dollars by exhibiting it during the tourist season. My travelling companion was quite sanguine that he would make a larger sum out of this speculation. He was to take it to the low country and advertise a bear-hunt ; every one bringing a dog was to pay him half a dollar. He expected to obtain three hundred subscribers. But in addition, he was at the same time to advertise a horse-race, and offer fifly dollars as a prize, which he was quite sure of winning himself and pocket- ing the entry-money. There is a strong passion for horse- racing and hunting among the American s. The railway from St. Johnsburgh Inns due south, and we soon got into the valley of the Connecticut, but still there was little land in cultivation. The upland pastures were here, as every where, withered by the drought. Stopped for a night at Newbury, a handsome little town of two thousand inhabitants, where the valley widens out a little, and the wooded hills are considerably lower. I went over a farm which I had heard very much praised . Its owner assured me there was not a better in the valley of Connec- ticut, or even in New England ; and I believe this was not very far from the truth. Yet it was no great aflfair after 14 VERUOMT. •U. It oonsiBted of 700 aoreti, 600 of which lay back on the hills, and were wholly under pasture ; of the 200 acres iu the valley some 25 acres wore in Indian com, 85 in oats, and 10 111 potatoes, the remainder In pitslure and hay. It seems to pay much better to gvaze the land than to plough much of it. ¥he richest meadows here are over- flow M every spring when the snows melt on the White Mountains. These meadows yield about 8 tons of hay, and are worth 100 dollars per acre. When the original tiu:f is broken up, it is long until the grass becomes so q^ouJ c.1 it was originally. According to the season, frrra TjO 4..' 9/> bushels of Indian corn per acre are got from the br^at lands, while the ordinary sandy or gravelly land v.. this vai.. y does not produce more than from 30 to 40. ' 1 >> crop is culti- Tated in ridges 3 feet wide ; some 4 to 5 grains of com are planted on the ridges at a distance of 2 feet. Towards the latter end of its growth it is sligliUy earthed up. The pro- prietor conducted me through the farm-offices, which con- sisted of a huge building 250 feet by 45, another 250 feet by 20, and two 70 feet by 20. There were stalls for feed- ing 70 cattle, and 150 could be wintered in the yards. The r-attle get an allowance of Indian com mea! when fee<1uig on hay. It is considered good payment if they yield 10s. a month for their keep. South from Newbury the hills again come closer together, and there is consequently less land in cultivation. In the cars I met a farmer who told me that he possessed 200 acres, but he only had in cultivation 4 acres Indian com, 7 acres oats, and 4 acres potatoes ; he kept 7 or 8 cattle, and 74 sheep during the winter. The majority of farms in New Eng- land have not, perhaps, a much larger proportion of land in crop, for the soil ig ^ iq^ »|wr'i|^^ T p.mil<] im^gip e. capable of boiQg cultivatecT. TF v • ^ense ±< ' !k of the land be ing exhausted. ?or ovi^'faatij there never was antthin^ id exhaustT Gravels and sands full of huge boulders are tte characteristics of what goes under the name of ^'improved lands" in the schedule of the census commis- sioners. In my travels through New England I saw hun- dreds of acres in cultivation, and Mr. Horace Greeley assured land Mders le of Immis- hun- SBured / NIW BMGLAMD FARMS. 15 me he knew of thousands over which one might Almost step from one large boulder to another without ever touching the i>i1 I did iio t see a single far m which would be ranked higher jtlian a fourth-rate one either in the Lothians or in my own county of Fife; yet after 1 had completed my tour, I was told I had seen i fair average . The Now England farmers are active and indublrioiiR, and doubtlesB the soil admits of vast improvement, but I suspect cultiv.iti )U can never be generally carried on npon the large farm sj tern. Granite and gneiss form the basis of the whole country, ^^ < ich is covered with their debris, yielding the poor sofls that I have described. Volney was so far justified in sayiu/ " thai all North America above Loug Island is a rock of ^ nitt/' }^ut the poverty of the soil for agricultural pr Juce ^ be afterwards better exhibited by comparison with other disu c 's. After reaching the White River, a branch of the ralK / to Burlington turned up the valley in which it flows, country traversed was poor vet picturesque, and rend ^ pleasing by the frequent Tillas:es and beautiful villas, we got near Burlington the lanl became more level, and w < laid out in grazing farms, sonie of whijh appeared to li*- extensive. / v»* 9ii^- I /- w „%-('7'- ■ I ' ■ CHAPTER ir. BURLINGTON TO NIAGARA. [' ( M Sept. 1854. — Burlington has a population of 8000, and is finely situated on the steep shore of Lake Champlain , which is here nearly eight miles in breadth . Many of the houses on the high ground of the suburbs are handsome, and command a view of the lake. This being Sunday, the town was remarkably quiet, and the population turned out well to church. I went to the Catholic chapel in the morning, and found it pretty well filled with a congregation of about 600. The greater number of the audience were apparently of Irish descent, and in general were remarkably well-dressed, though a few of the men had still the long brown great-coat, tho peculiar garb of their native country. The bishop, a Frenchman, preached a most eloquent sermon, and from its tenor, it was evident that something more than the Maine Law was required to keep people sober. He had been preach- ing against intemperance on the previous Sunday, and now recapitulated the heads of his former discourse, and enforced his former exhortations. He told them it was a vice that existed to a fearful and lamentable extent, that he had warned them long, and remonstrated with them both publicly and privately, and if they still persisted, he would denounce the guilty by name in the church. One of the congregation had lately fallen a victim to intemperance, and he had felt it his duty to deny him the rites of Christian burial. The bishop had no notes. His voice, with a little of the French accent, was clear and musical ; and as every sentence was toned with deep earnestness, and he made long pauses now and then, as if to allow his words to penetrate into their hearts, his eloquence became most impressive, while breathless silence ■r.\ LAKE CHAMPLAIK. 17 / -'.'H. V >J reigned among his audience. The latter part of his discourse related to a different subject. He urged parents not to sen(t then* children to the free schools, " where their morals would not be attended to, and divine science was not taught." The following day a Catholic school was to be opened, and he entreated them to support it. Walking along the shore on Sunday afternoon, I saw some small farmers of French descent dragging the lake with a net for perch. This fish is very plentiful, but being worth little at this season, was to be given to pigs, as the drought had rendered Indian corn scarce and dear. The lakes throughout America swarm with fish of various kinds. -■ \ ■. ? During my stay at Burlington, I visited a factory organised upon a plan new to me, but one that is common enough in the United States. A company in town have erected a large house 400 feet by 60, and of three storeys. A steam- engine of 150 horse power is placed in it, and the rooms are let at so much a foot, with a specified amount of power. The chief work carried on is cabinet-making, and the number of ingenious machines for cutting up timber was astonish- ing, and no less so was the rapidity with which the work was executed. - Left Burlington in one of the gay white painted steamer s that ply upon the lake. It was nearly as long as the ocean steamer in which I had crossed the Atlantic. The fittings were superb, and the fare was excellent. On the west of Lake Champlain, the country is hilly, the shores are often precipitous, and chiefly covered with stunted pines and the never-failing birch. On the east side, however, there are con- siderable tracts of level land intervening between the lake and the mountains. The soil is a light-coloured clay, and similar in many of its qualities to the clay of the flats of the St. Lawrence opposite Montreal. There is only a small por- tion of the land in arable culture, the greater part being in hay or pasture. Small farms prevail in this district also, though some farmers have as many as 4000 sheep grazing in the woods and the low pastures. Landed at the Fort of Ticonderoga , and drove about four miles through a valley, the soil of which rests upon the Trenton StBB 18 NEW YORK STATE. limestone, a member of the Lower Silurian. The trees growing upon this narrow strip of limestone bounded by the granite rocks are chiefly oak and walnut, l^he steamer was waiting our arrival at Lake Georg e, which is about 200 feet higher than Lake Champlam, and" considerably narrower. The phy- sical features of the country on both sides of Lake George reminded me of those at Loch Ness in Scotland ; only the hills here are covered with a variety of broad-leaved trees. The scenery of Lake George is rendered still more beautiful by numbers of small wooded islands, and from the circumstance of no cultivation being visible on its banks. In the woods of this part of America, the rattle-snake is still very common. Landed at Caldwell's Hotel, at the south end of the lake, where I found a highly fashionable company from all parts of the Union. I remained here a day and ascended one of the highest mountains in the neighbourhood, but the view from its top only revealed a hilly and wood-clad country, where there were only a few spots under cultivation. In every direction fires were seen in the forests, and the air was dimmed by smoke. None of the hills appeared to be above 3000 feet in height, and all were covered from top to bottom with trees. An afternoon's ride by coach and railway brought me to the far-famed Saratoga Springs. The country, after leaving Caldwell's, gradually"opens out, and before reaching Saratoga no mountains are visible in the distance. A considerable portion of the land has been reclaimed, or what is termed improved, but there is only a small breadth under crops. The soils are sandy or gravelly, yet the oxchards of apple trees were everywhere, yielding abundance ofTruit. Sara- toga is a town of hotels, for almost every house was one ; and the largest, the "American," can accommodate 1200 visitors. I lodged at the " Congress Hall," where the waiters were all negroes, and dressed in black pants and snow-white linen jackets. In performing certain parts of their duties, such as setting down the dishes on the table, and lifting the covers, they did so, at a given signal from the master of cere- monies, with all the regularity of the movements of a regiment of soldiers under drill . i 'I t SARATOOA. 19 led rops. ^pple kra- )ne; L200 iters /hite ities, the [•ere- lent The weather was excessively hot while I was at Sara- toga, though there blew a stiff breeze from the south, yet the thermometer stood at 96° in the shade. A thunder storm came on at night with heavy rains, which cooled the air and rendered it more pleasant. Saratoga is near the junction of the primary rocks of the north-eastern sea-boar d and the secondary rocks which stretch westwards far beyond the Mississippi . The primary forma- tions north of Long Island and south of the St. Lawrence have an area of about 100,000 squai'e miles, or 64,000,000 acres. They embrace the north-east corner of the State of New York, and nearly the whole of the New England States, I. e., Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, . New Hampshire, and Maine, besides the larger half of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The soil, as has been stated, is very poor throughout these primary formations, but this fact will be more clearly brought out when its productive powers are compared with other soils. After spending two days at Saratoga, I took the cars for Albany on the Hudson. The country betwixt these two towns undulates in long stretches, no hills forming a feature in the landscape. No good land is passed, and where sands disappear coarse clays take their place. The Erie Canal terminates at Albany, and as it is the gi'eat channel through which the produce of the more fertile lands of the Western States finds its way to the eastern ports, this town forms a connecting link of an immense traffic, both of grain and merchandise. Huge steamers line the wharves, and flour barrels and piles of sawn wood cover acres upon acres. The town was orighially a Dutch settle- ment, many of the houses are old and the streets narrow, and elegant mansions now crown the top of the sloping bank upon which it is built. The chief formation in this part of the country is the Old Red Sandstone, which underlies an inferior class of soils. My next stage was from Albany to Rochester, a distance of 260 miles. After crossing the Mohawk the railway skirted along its narrow valley, which was the first stretch of good land I saw in America. This narrow strip of alluvial land T 20 NEW YORK STATE. ]/'' \ always regard as the inlet to the immense expanse of, com- ; paratively speaking, good land in the North-Western States and Canada West. For although I had often read of the general inferiority of the soil on the Atlantic sea-board, 1 had very indistinct ideas of its real character before I made a personal inspection. At first there is only a narrow ribbon of rich land a long the Mohawk, bounded on both sides by steep slopes covered with a shallow and stony soil. The appearance of the country, however, is beautified by the remains of the broad-leaved forest : tidy farm houses also, surrounded by orchards, are thickly placed along the banks. - Wheat is sown very early on the light lands, and it was already well brairded. The only crop on the rich land in the valley is Indian corn, whose stalks rise to the height of eight or nine feet. As the river is ascended, the valley widens, and there is less under crop, while the beautiful meadows support large herds of cows. Passed through the thriving towns of Rome, Utica. Syra- cuse^ Geneva . The railway is usually laid down the centre" of their wide streets. The engine, with its train of carriages attached, moves slowly through the most crowded thorough- fares, and a bell rings a death-knell to those who have not a good eye or ear. The only security or warning which the lieges have at the level crossings and in the streets, is a placard enjoining all to " Look out while the bell rings." The country now becomes level, though its surface is undulating, and the trees of the forest attain a larger size. Oak and hickory grow together on those descriptions of land which are well suited to the growth of wheat. T remained for a short time at Canandaigua, where the sections of the railway exhibit a great depth of boulder clay, which usually furnishes a better soil in America than in Britain. The surface soil is not rich in vegetable matter, but it has the fine healthy red tinge that is usually so favourable to the higher class of vegetables. Some of the soils which are esteemed the best for wheat did not strike me at first as being of great natural fertility. But I soon came to understand that a good wheat soil in Ameri ca is QJJI^i Lyery opposite in its charanters from a good wheat hoTI in Scotland. I shall afterwards show that the peciiliarities ••t '. I f (■/ ROGHESTEB. 21 )m- , ; ■ Eites •■'■v 1 the ' m had I ie a M )bon 1 . ! 8 by V The 1 1 1 the 1 also, i ( anks. 1 I •eady ^alley •nine f, there large centre ^ r, riages ough- 1 not a 1 h the B , is a S 9 B iace is B : size. B ' land B ' ed for B lilway shes a ■ is not B tinge 1 ables. ' m at did m But I B lerica of the climate in the two countries must modify our ideas on this question. The cars were crowded with passengers, and those who did not keep their seats at the difl'erent stations were sure to find them occupied on again entering, and would have to stand for a stage or two. A farmer came in at one of the stations, who had been attending a Methodist camp meeting, at which about 3000 persons of both sexes had oeen engaged in religious exercises for four days in the woods, living all the while in tents. According to his account, these meet- ings have a social as well as religious character. He had enjoyed himself greatly, and was altogether a type of con- tentment and good nature. Another of my fellow passen- gers whom I sat beside was a Michigan farmer, upwards of sixty years of age, who had left home more than two years ago, with a capital of 1300 dollars ; 700 were invested in a waggon and a pair of horses with which he crossed the coun- try to Oregon. When the horses failed, he bought oxen, and drove to California, subsisting during the latter part of his journey on the game which he shot in the woods. After visiting the gold-diggings he sailed to Panama and thence to New York, and was now on his way home with scarcely a cent in his pocket. Though he had suffered many privations, he considered himself well rewarded by what he had seen. Rochester is a fine city , more English in appearance than any town 1 had seen since leaving Boston. Thirty years ago it was scarcely worthy of the name of village, but now it has a population of 40,000. The houses are principally made of brick ; the streets are wide, the elegant shops and large hotels indicate progress and the general diffusion of a high scale of comfort. The mills for grinding wheat on the Genesee River were the nucleus around which this busy and thriving town first formed and rose so rapidly, but now various other manufactures have sprung up. The Erie Canal also passes through the town, and affords the means of transporting its commodities. The soil is somewhat stiff and stony in the vicinity of Rochester, but fruit trees also thrive remarkably well. The natural forest consists of beech, maple, walnut, and chestnut. NEW YORK STATE. \/' Towards Lake Ontario , which is six miles north of the town, the soil is ofa light sand, not approaching by any means to what would be called a loam in England. This kind of land forms a belt extending along the lake for some distance, and is well adapted to the peach; indeed it is said this tree grows here as well as in any part of America. In going through some of the orchards I was surprised at the crops which trees only eight years old were bearing. They were standards, and every branch was literally bent towards the ground with its load of ripe peaches. The best peaches of a delicious flavour were selling at four shillings a bushel, while secondary kinds might be had for half this sum. About 120,000 bushels would be gathered this year in a narrow strip along the banks of the river. An orchard of 25 acres would realise the sum of £400, which appears rather small, inas- much as the same extent of land in potatoes would yield more, for they were selling at a dollar a bushel. A peach orchard requires more attention than an apple orchard, as the ground is usually cultivated by the plough between the rows of trees. The ground, too, becomes sooner exhausted by, or unfitt;ed for, the growth of peaches than of apples. It is a lovely and novel sight to one from the old country to see a productiv e peach orchard when the fruit is ripe. I visited Hope Nurseries, which are the largest, I believe, in the world, extending over 250 acres of ground. Here one obtains some idea of the enormous number of fruit trees that are annually planted in the Northern States. Americajsa better fruit than grain country^ and horticulture is usually a favourite pursuit among those who are engaged in agriculture. The firm of Berry and Company, who own these nurseries, frequently supply single orders for 100,000 apple trees to the western nurserymen, who retail them in the newly-settled districts. Apples grow upon a great variety of soils in America, but those which are adapted to pears are not so common ; the latter require a rich soil containing a consider- able quantity of clay, but the former produce abundantly on certain kinds of poor sands and gravels, though they are by no means ungrateful for rich land. The Isabella and Catawba grapes are the only kinds that ripen in ordinary I i TOWNSHIP OF RiaA. leve, one that a is a ally a ture. leries, ,0 the ettled Is in ot so lider- lantly years in the north-western parts of the State of New York. A plant fitted for forming good hedges is greatly needed in America, as the zig-zag wooden fence is unsightly. I saw the Osage orange growing in the nurseries as a beautiful fence, but many still doubt whether it is adapted for this climate. The English hawthorn d oes not make a good fence in America , as it grows too rapidry and shoots up without thickening below. The circulation of agricultural newspapers and periodicals throughout the Northern States is remarkable, and exhibits the effects of the diffusion of education among the agricul- turists. The " Country Gentleman," at Albany , has a weekly circulation of 20,000; the "Rural hiew lorker," at Roches- the ter, 26,000 ; and in the same town, the " Genesee Farmer," a monthly periodical, has a circulation of 20,000. Besides these there are nearly a hundred agricultural and horticultural papers in the Northern States. In company with Mr. Harris, editor of the " Rural New - Yorker," from whom I received much kindness, I drove about twelve miles to the west of Rochester to visit some farms in the township of Riga. The sowing of wheat was going on ioutU ^ very briskly on many of the farms that we passed, and on SW'T some it was already finely brairded. Wheat is put in very early throughout Canada and the United States, and the plants tiller and are well rooted before the winter sets in. In this part of the country the farm horses are a superior class of animals, having a good deal of breeding, and being similar in figure and size to our carriage horses. They are very active, and a good team will sometimes plough 2^ acres of light land in a day . It is common to put three horses abreast in the plough, and to make a furrow irom 8 to 10 inches in depth and from 14 to 18 inches in breadth. The system of cultivation which is pursued is interesting. The land does not strike one as being particularly fertile, but rather of middling quality. It consists of a light-coloured sandy loam of considerable depth and having some boulders strewed over it. But this soil seems to be as suitable to the growth of red clover as the limestone gravels of Ireland are to the growth of grasses, and hence its fertility is maintained 24 NEW YORK BTATB. i-- by clover as our fields in Scotland used to be by grass. The rotation that is followed is usually clover one year and wheat the next. There are few or no soils in Britain upon which clover would grow with vigour every second year ; but were it not for this property of many of the American soils, much less wheat would be raised tlian at present. On the light soils in this region, I was astonished at the fine healthy plants of clover in the wheat stubbles. When the autumns are somewhat moist a considerable growth of clover takes place before winter; but the farmers do not like to pasture it too close. An intelligent farmer "informed me that the common clover would last for ten or fifteen years on these soils if it was cut early in the season and not allowed to seed. By the system at present pursued, the farmers in this district cannot ke-^p a large herd of stock, and the clover fields are worth little money, beinp; chieflv of use in renovating the land . The clover fields are prepared for wneat by "Being deeply ploughed in June , and the surface being afterwards worked by the harrow and the scarifier to destroy the weeds. Though this system sacrifices a vast quantity of valuable forage, yet, in the circumstances, it is perhaps the best that can be followed, for it admits of the wheat crop being frequently repeated, and involves but a small amount of manual labour, which is the element that determines! the agricultural systems of America. The farmers in the Riga district sow about one-third of the whole extent of their possessions with wheat every year. It is the best paying crop, and every one endeavours to have as great a breadth of it as possible. The ploughing up of the clover sod and the cultivation of the surface is called *' fallowing," which is a less expensive system than what goes under the same name at home. The winters are very severe, and field labour is then entirely interrupted ; but the short season for labouring and cleaning the land is more than compen- sated by the powerfiil influence which the h ot summer weather has in destroying the perenniaJ grasses and weeds! TKeseaSe readily killed by being ploughed up at that season and having their roots exposed to the heat and drought. In this way is the land kept clean byihiUbeat farmers in the north-western 1 of FP °^ Ipen- i TOWNSHIP OF RIGA. u part of the State of New York, which is perhapB the mos t productive region for whe r* in North Ameri ca. No clean fallows nor any expensive k jw crops, such as turnips, are necessary to keep the land in good condition and free from weeds. On one of the Riga farms which we visited, extending to 230 acres, we found 80 acres in wheat, 11^ in barley, 14 Indian com, 25 woods, the rest pasture and clover. In 1853, the . crops of wheat averaged 40 bushels to the acre ; in 1854, -M "t? only 25 bushels. As indicating the natural capabilities of the/^ '^*"*' ^^' land, we were shown a field on which a heavy crop of Indian corn had grown in 1852, it was sown next spring with barley, which produced 50 bushels to the acre, then sown with wheat in autumn, and this year it had yielded 40 bushels per acre. On this farm a field of clover was in course of being " ploughed up and sown with wheat ; it had been in wheat v this year, but the farmer was complaining that the plant of clover was bad, while in our opinion it was a most excellent one. Mr. Harris remarked that this was surely a mere excuse for getting a little more sown with wheat, while the prices were good : 100 sheep are kept on this farm, besides 10 or 15 cattle, which are reared and sold when two years old. On another farm of 208 acres there were 40 in woods, 12 permanent pasture, 7 Indian com, 12 oats, 10 pease, 65 wheat, the rest in clover. About 1000 bushels of wheat ? were thrashed this year, 500 last, and 2000 the year before. The seasons appear to influence the yield of wheat far more than they do in Britain. The flock of sheep yielded 400 dollars last year. Leicester sheep do not seem to thrive well where so much of the land is cleared, for frequently the whole flock are seen during the heat of the day standing crowded together with their heads all down. It is almost the universal practice to sow clover among the wheat in spring, and at the same time to give the field a dressing of 100 lbs. of gypsum, which has a wonderful efiect on some crops. The clovejxis benefited more than any other plant ; though pease, po^at^es, and Indian corn have often new life imparted to ttieinby a light dressing of this substance, which is almost th e only artificial manure used in the Western NEW YORK STATE. States. The manure of the fann is applied to Indian corn, which is perhaps more grateful than any other crop for liberal treatment. 12th September. — Took the stage-coach this morning for Geneseo, a distance of thirty-three miles up the Genesee river, over a rolling or undulating country, where the soil is generally light and stony. This is the well-known Genesee valley, which is one of the best districts for whea t in North America. Five members of the Silurian and Devonian formations crop out betwixt Lake Ontaiio and a little to the south of Geneseo. These consist of sandstone, limestone, and aluminous shales ; and having been subjected to the deuudating action of those agencies which have transported and heaped up such enor- mous quantities of drift materials over this part of the coun- try, there is often a complete mixture of the debris of these different members in the surface soil. The wheat soils to the south of Lake Ontario may be divided into three classes : — 1st, sandy loams ; 2d, gravel soils ; 3d, soils resting on the boulder clay. The Riga soils which I have already described belong to the sandy loams. The most of those over which I passed from Rochester to C(, leseo are derived from the decomposi- tion of the drift gravel. They had the appearance of being a nything but rich Hoils . for they are of no great depth, and full of water-worn stones. In the township of Caledonia, which is chiefly farmed by Scotchmen or their descendants, the soil is light and gravelly, and wide piles of stones lie around the borders of many fiel ds, monuments to the industry" of the owners! Notwithstanding appearances, I was told that wheat and clover are as sure crops in that township as in any other within the State ; and I can bear testimony that the young layers of clover were truly beautiful. The farmers here, as in Scotland, have learnod to j udge of the character and quality of the land by the k ind of stones that are strewed over it. In the Lrenesee country, hard ana fliiity stones are regarded as indicating that the soil is well suited for the production of wheat and clover. Soils which are derived ^,1 \H ■fi- ':ir VALLK ^)F THB Q £»££. from the boulder clay are capable of growing largnp rops of wheat and barley, but they require a great al more abour to cultivate them. These clay soils are h\ noaiu ich in vegetable mould, but have a fine healthy red tinge derived from the oxide of iron, which the eye of practical men look upon as being associated with something that promotes the . healthy growth of every crop that is cultivated. The valley of the Genesee, therefore, is not. as I had imagined, a wide, level, and rich champaign, but an undulating and rolling country, made up of hillocks of northern drift and of boulder clay, covered with a soil of very moderate fertility, but favourable in this climate to the growth of wheat and clover. As I drove along the stage road I had a peep now and then of the interval lauds along the margin of the river, which go under the name of the Genesee flats. This tract of rich level land, varying from a few yards to a mile and a half in breadth, is mostly in meadows, and when cropped is much better adapted for Indian corn than wheat, owing to the latter being liable to grow too strong or to rust on such rich land. I observed in my drive to-day that the wheat stubbles on the light gravelly soils were almost invariably well planted with clover, but in some of the clays it was otherwise, in consequence of the drought in the early summer being unfa- vourable to the germination and rooting of such small seeds as clover. When the clover fails, another crop of wheat is taken. There is still much fine wood left in this part of the country, and it imparts a rich appearance to the landscape, which is everywhere bounded by what appears in the distance an unbroken forest. But the picture is generally marred in the foreground by withered permanent pastures. r-i Geneseo is a neat little town of 1000 inhabitants, situated on the east or right bank of the Genesee, and commands a view of the rich flats and the finely wooded arable lands to the westward. Mr. Wadsworth resides near Geneseo, and owns about 30,000 acres, stretching from this town towards Rochester, the most of which he lets to tenants on annual leasep, but some of it he cultivates on his own account. The system of cultivation which is adopted on the wheat soils of this region 28 NKW YOBK STATE. Th the same as in the Riga district, whore wheat aud clover are sown alternately. ^he flats o f the Genesee are very fertile, so much so that crops of Unditui corn can be planted upon them f or twenty years in succession. If such land is let for wheat crops, 12 bushels are given as rent, but the produce is uncertain, vary- ing from 18 to 40 bushels to the acre. Largo plou ghs drawn by four oxen wore in a field of wheat stubble in the flats, (tii niing over a furrow 8 inches in depth by 14 in breadth. It was to be again sown with wheat, though in other fields the braird was already 3 inches in length. Early sowing is the most approved means for guarding against rust and mildew. Indian com would not produce more than 50 bushels this year owing to the great drought, but crops of 70 and 90 bushels to the acre are not uncommon. The meadows yield particularly fine pastures ; a hund red acres will graze seventy-five head of fou r-jy ear-old catt le from the 15th May to the Isl i)ccember. In one of Mr. Wadsworth's fields I saw a large herd of Durham cattle, the greater number of which were bred in Kentuck y. Some of them had travelled eight hundred miles by railway, at a cost of twenty-nine shillings (seven dollars) each. They can be driven that distance at half the expense and in as good order, but the railway has the advantage of saving time. Mr. Wadsworth's manager brought som e salt with him in his gig, and we were soon surrounded by the whole herd, which licked it up with great avidity when it vras thrown down upon the grass. Throughout the Western States and Canada, cattle and sheep are ver y fond of salt, and though they often run almost wild in tKe woods they return at in- tervals for a supply. The week previous to the time of my visit 120 cattle had been sold out of these pastures at jE17 a head . Among the natural grasses in the pastures, cocksfoot and timothy were conspicuous, and seem to be the most valuable grasses that have been imported from Europe. The best meadows yield three tons of hay per acre. For this land seven dollars per acre are charged when the crop is to be cut, and five when pastured. The value of these meadows is 120 dollars per acre, so the rental which they yield is but n '■t. OENBHEK VALLEY. 20 / a small return for Interest in a country where six per cent for money can bo got on good security. Cattle are not housed here during winter except those that arc fattening. They run about the meadows and find shelter among the woods. Store cattle have hay, straw, and the stalks of Indian com supplied to them ; while those that are fattening have Indian-corn meal in addition. Six pounds of meal a da y are at first allowed to each beast, and the quantity is gradually increased until eighteen pounds are given. Such high feeding, though often practised, does not, it is said, pay. Cattle are considered to remunerate the grazier if he has two guineas (10 dollars) a head for pasturing them in the uplands during the summer. One farm that I visited in the neighbourhood of Gencseo was 207 acres in extent, of which a considerable portion was rich interval land. There were 50 acres in wheat ; 50 in Indian corn ; 30 permanent pasture ; remainder clover. Another farm on the higher grounds, of 240 acres in extent, had 75 in woods ; 50 wheat ; 50 clover ; 6 Indian com ; 17 barley. The stock on the farm consisted of 11 cows ; 10 calves ; 6 year-olds and 11 two-year-olds. I was told by the owner that red clover was not sown in this district before 1829. Previous to that date no grasses were sown, but then the white clover always came up naturally in the wheat stubbles, and the land was allowed to remain two years in pasture. But since the practice of sowing red clover has become so general, the white clover does not come up 80 freely in the wheat stubbles when the red is not sown. The introduction of red clover has thus allowed wheat to be raised on these shallow soils once in two years instead of once in three. Oak and hickory are the principal trees in the forest, where the soil is most suitable for the growth of wheat. The butternut and the walnut are only sparingly distributed in the forests. In other parts of this region, again, where the sub-soil is of a compact sand, the maple and the beech divide the land betwixt them. Maple and beech land is not so good for wheat, as there is usually more accumulation of vegetable matter, which renders it too soft, so that the plants 30 NEW YORK STATE. ■/ r are more liable to be thrown out by the spring frosts, and the crop on such land is also more subject to rust and mildew. The beech and maple land, however, is well adapted for spring or summer crops, such as barley, Indian corn, and potatoes. The adaptation of soils to the growth of various kinds of trees is rather an interesting and curious question to which I shall have frequent opportunities of directing the attention of my readers. D r. Lindley . I believe, was the first to suggest that the distribution of forest trees over particular soils w as re gulated more by the physical condition than by the chemical composftion of soils . In the general truth of this opmion I quite concur, and it is amply borne out in the facts which I have just stated regarding the oak and hickory, and the beech and maple soils ; inasmuch as the adaptation of the first to winter wheat, and the last to spring crops, shows that it is the physical condition that determines the fitness of the soil for cultivated crops ; for we have only to bear in mind that winter wheat, barley, oats, and Indian com, are identical in chemical composition. In both varieties of soil the chemical constituents which are necessary to the growth of beech, maple, oak, hickory, wheat, barley, maize, and potatoes, are present, but the physical condition or mechanical texture of the two is different. This diflference in the texture of soils seems to have a corresponding influence upon the healthy functions of certain kinds of trees, with that which an undrained and marshy soil is well known to have in this respect. The universality of a system of cropping over a wide tract of country aflfbrds a strong presumption that it is about the best that can be followed under all the circumstances. The more I have thought of the Genesee system of cropping, the more have I seen cause to admire its economy in manual labour — a dear and scarce commodity in America. It would require one better versed than I am in the nature of the soil, climate, and markets, to suggest improvements upon it. It ought to be borne in mind that a few years ago the prices of cattle and sheep were low, and little encouragement was held out to rear and feed stock. Now, however, the high rates of butcher meat will probably have a tendency to restrict the l/V 'i f- GENESEE VALLEY. 31 [ wide about tances. [pping, lanual I would lie soil, It ices of is held lies of let the extent of land under wheat, by offering a premium for allow- ing the clovers to lie two years instead of one, and no doubt better crops would be obtained on a smaller area. But during the last few years the rise in the price of wheat has been as great as in the price of animals, which in the meantime serves to perpetuate the old rotation of clover and wheat in alternate years, and thus comparatively little atten- tion has been paid to the breeding of sheep and cattle on the wheat soils; though T believe the best farmers are now inclined to pursue a somewhat different course. Notwithstandmg the severe cropping to which the Genesee soils have been subjected, I think that they are not so much in need of extraneous manure as of proper cultivation. The diflference in the appearance of one farm from another, arising from the manner in which the mere acts of culture had been performed, was particularly marked. In the meantime, properly cultivating and cleaning the soil seems to be a very obvious means of increasing the produce on many farms, even although the land does not impress one with its productive capabilities. The rent of the best wheat land is from six to eight ^ J- /^ bushels of wheat per acre, but rent is only paid for what / is under this crop. The wheat soils that are planted with Indian corn usually let at one or two dollars an acre, but more frequently no rent at all is charged. Indeed, Indian corn on the common soils of the north-western parts of the State of New York is an expensive crop to raise, for it requires much hand labour ; but, on the other hand, the land is cleaned and fallowed during its growth as our own fields at home are under turnips. On none of the wheat farms did I find it cultivated to any extent ; and on my asking the reason of this at a farmer one day at Batavia, he assured me that one man and a boy would manage fifty acres of Indian corn as easily in Ohio as they would ten acres in this part of the country. He could not give me reasons for this assertion, and at first I thought it was much exaggerated, but after getting to Southern Ohio I found that it was pretty near the truth. This subject will be afterwards alluded to, for it will serve to show how the systems of farming in America 32 NEW YORK STATE. ■^ l> are regulated by the question of labour and difiPerences of climate. In the Genesee country, where from six to eight bushels of wheat are got as rent for land sown with this crop, the Iflnd in clover does not pay any rent. In one of Mr. Wads« worth's leases which 1 saw, the tenant was restricted from gjasturing the clovers until the Ist June, that is, until it was about the time that the tenant required to begin to plough the land in order to prepare it by " fallowing" for wheat. Thus no encouragement is given to pasture the land with stock, and, indeed, so far as the principle of strict economy in manuring is concerned, it is a ^und one, for the more tha t the clover grows, the more it must enrich the land when p loughed under. On the richest soils adapted for wheat in New York State, Indian com is often taken after the clover, and barley is then sown ; but, as already stated, Indian corn is only raised to a small extent on the lighter wheat soils. Those districts that are adapted to the growth of wheat are not economically adapted to Indian corn, though this crop is cultivated both on the poorest and on the richest land. The New England farmers find that it is more grateful for labour and manure than wheat when their soils are not genial to the growth of clover. .v In many of the rich valleys of the State of New York, such as the Mohawk, Indian corn is often cultivated on the same land for many yearis in succession. On these soils it is said to produce on the average of years double, or even triple the number of bushels on an acre that wheat will do, for the latter is a most uncertain crop on all rich and loamy soils, in consequence of its liability, in the hot and humid periods of this summer climate, to rust and mildew, from which diseases Indian corn is entirely exempt. Indeed, throughout the American continent, wheat only grows well upon soils of moderate fertility, and such as are rather deficient in vegetable matter. This inferiority of the climate of America for the growth of wheat upon rich soils, is counterbalanced, however, by the superiority of its gTowth upon second-rate ones. I- am quite satisfied, that with the same treatment, the light 1 1 BROOM CORN. 33 BS of \ York barley s only Those re not irop is I The ful for re not York, on the Is it is triple "or the soils, eriods which ghout oils of etable br the fever, 38. I light gravelly soils of the Genesee valley would be much less pro- ductive of wheat in England or Scotland ; but then I doubt if the resources of the American climate are so great as those of the British, for raising the produce of wheat on the Genesee light soils. The variations in the character of the seasons in America, as already observed, influence the produce of wheat to a great extent. In some years the yield will be as low as ten bushels an acre on the lighter lands, and in others as high as thirty-two. The productive powers of the wheat are no doubt more limited in America than Britain, for in the former, stimulating manures cannot be applied so freely as in the latter. In confirmation of this view, I may cite the opinion of Mr. Coleman, who justly remarks that the lower temperature of Britain is favourable to Lrge yields of wheat, in consequence of its growth being extended over a longer period, on the same principle that turnips grow to a larger size in a cool than in a hot climate. Considerable quantities of an ele gant variety of maizcj^ called broom com , are cultivated in the rich valleys of the State of New York. The seeds, instead of being large and clustered around the cob, and protected by a sheath as in the common varieties, are attached to the end of tough fibres nearly a foot in length. From the circumstance that hand- some and useful brooms are made out of these fibres, it has derived its distinguishing name. The seeds being too bitter for making bread, are chiefly used for feeding pigs and poultry. They have also been tried for distillery purposes, but the essential oil imparts an acrid flavour to the spirit. More hand labour is required for its cultivation, as in its early stages it is more delicate, but during the warmth of July and August it rushes up with great rapidity, and soon overtops the other varieties. To understand the spiri t of American fanning, the high pi-ice of labour roust be constantly borne in min^ T In the Genesee country, many of the farms have nearly one half of their arable land in wheat every year ; yet this large extent is obtained at little expenditure of labour. I heard some farmers maintain, that two men and six horses would , under this system, jiianage one hundred acres of wheat , that is, cultivate the land. Ik. SftVijfc; ■//.■ r\;,,' 34 NEW YORK STATE. thrash, and take the produce to market. This is certainly much more than is usually done, but the small number of hands on the Genesee farms is a characteristic feature of their manage- ment. If it had been necessary to have one-fourth of the land in turnips or any other equally expensive cattle crop, the value of these soils would have been greatly less than what it is. As already stated, the land is kept in good condition by sowing red clover, and also free from weeds by ploughing in summer, and afterwards scarifying the surface. By this system no expensive manures, with the exception of a little gypsum, are required, and the soil is kept almost as clean by one ploughing in June or July as if it were bare-fallowed for a whole summer in Britain. It is diflBcult to see how the present system can be greatly altered until the wages of labour are considerably diminished. Our common thifitle, called here the Canada thistle, is a great pest in the arable lands, which, when overrun with it, are bare-fallowed out and out for a summer. By a clause ^ in Mr. Wadsworth's le ases, his tenants incur a pe rmlty "f a dollar for e^ ory thistle allowed to run to seed ; but judging from the numbers growing over his property, this is surely never put in force. In the Indian com fields, an annual grass called June grass grows up with great rapidity during the hot season, which requires the hoe to be frequently used to keep it in check. On the whole, however, arable lands are far ♦ more easily kept free from weeds, perennial especially, than they are in the moist climate of Britain. Thft pTPfttftr pftrt. nf t.hft ^^Ate of N(>w York is exceedingly poor. The country immediately to the south of Geneseo gra- dually Becomes higher and more irregular in its surface, and by no means fertile. Being deficient in calcareous matter, clovers fjrow less freely, and weeds are more difficult to eradicate. The staple crops in that part of the State of New York, as in New England, are Indian corn, barley , and oa ts, but the land in tillage is limited, for dairy pastures are found to be more profitable. The soil is also generally poor in the eastern part of the State ; a gentleman, well acquainted with the agriculture there, assured me, that there was seldom more than one-tenth of the arable land in cereals, and the crops entirely r ;/:■ inch s on age- the », the what lition jhiDg r this little m by owed w the 68 of , is a ith it, clause \ idging surely annual uring 3ed to ire far • than Hngly gra- nd by lovers SIZE OF FARMS. 80 fail when a much larger extent is kept in cultivation. If our readers will take a glance at the map, they will at once see how limited the wheat region is in the State of New York. I was by no means impressed with the fertility of the soil in the township of Riga ; yet in consequence of the nature of the climate, and the adaptation of the soil for clover, a large quantity of wheat is raised on a very limited area. Though this township only contains 36 square miles, or 23,040 acres, it produces more wheat than the State of Massachusetts, which has 2,133,436 acres of what is termed " improved lands." The county of Monroe, of which Rochester is about the centfe, with a total area of 720 miles, or 460,800 acres, produced 1,441,663 bushels of wheat in 1850, while the six New England States, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, with a total area of 11,147,096 acres of " improved land," only supplied 1,090,845 bushels. Indian corn luxuriates on rich soils, but it is also more grateful than wheat for liberal treatment on the poor. The preference given to the culture of this crop on poor land is suflSciently indicated by the fact, that the New England States produqed 10,175,865 bushels of Indian corn, while the county of Monroe only produced 767,021 bushels. In the wheat region south of Lake Ontario, the farms are usually from 150 to 300 acres in extent , though many are much larger. The farm houses are roomy and comfortable, impressing vne favourably with the condition of the occupants. The female members of the family have ample employment in the cleaning and cooking departments, and the table at the different meals is loaded with a profusion of dishes. I ^ouse servants are dispensed with as far as possible. Butcher- meat appears at breakfast, dinner, and supper. The Ameri- c ans no doubt psit a vast deal too much of such stimulating food. Indeed, I do not think that any class in England con- sumes so much butcher-meat as all classes do here. It is a remarkable circumstance that farms have a ten- dency to decrease in size more rapidly where the land is poor, than where it is rich. The explanation of this seems to be that the families who are located on poor soils never attain 1/ 36 NEW YORK STATE. / .• to affluence however industrious they may be, and the value of their property increases but little. Labour is lietter rewarded on good land, which enables its owner to give his family an education suitable for other trades or professions. Tkus the tendency to subdivide the land is so far counteracted in productive districts. The average size of farms in the poverty-stricken New England states is about sixty-seven acres of " improved land," of which only a small proportion is under cultivation. This tendency soeuis at length, how- ever, to be arrested, for farms are now very seldom subdi- vided in these States on the death of heads of families. In the present condition of the country they seem to have nearly reached their minimum size. I took the stage-coach from Geneseo to Avon ; the road is on the east side of the river ; the soil is stronger and not so well cultivated as where it is lighter. Got the railway cars at Batavia Station, and reached Niagara village late at night. \-\ ■■ I ■ ■■ ..M ■?«> ', r Vi^ hu ]' CHAPTER III. UPPER CANADA. I5th September 1854. — On going out in tho morning, a deep thundering noise filled the air ; and I felt "oosiderably excited at the prospect of soon seeing the far-famed Niagara. The first view I got was of the American rapids above the falls. It was the largest body of fresh water I had ever seen dashing along at such a furious rate. Crossing by the wooden bridge to Goat Island, I soon had a full view of the mighty cataracts, which afford a spectacle far beyond any description of mine. I- would advi se those who vi sit the. Falls for the first time to do so from above, on the British side , where tRe rapids are seen in all their grandeur — a sfght only second to that of the Falls themselves. The great breadth of the river above the British fall, and the wild and tumul- tuous manner in which the water is broken in passing over the rocky bottom, resembles the Atlantic lashed by a storm. I can hardly imagine how any one can be otherwise than overawed by the extraordinary scene if he approaches from above, and looks from the Table Rock into the boiling cauldron. But probably he may be rather dis- appointed if he chance to get a first view from the suspension bridge about a mile below, for at such a distance the catar- ract is somewhat dwarfed, and the river is confined within a deep and narrow channel. After spending two days at the Falls, and viewing them from different positions, I was loath to leave the scene. The country is fippi^y gnpjfij in the Niagara district. It is part of the vast plateau which stretches westwards on 38 UPPER CANADA. both sides of Lake Erie, through Upper Canada, Ohio, In- diana, Illinois, Michigan, and even beyond the Mississippi into the state of Iowa, and territory of Mennesota. In Upper Canada the northern limit of this plateau is pretty accurately indicated by the boundary which I hav« given to the wheat region on the map. To the north oi this the country is granitic, and the soil as poor as in New England. The Niagara river has a course of 34 miles from Erie to Ontario, and in this distance it falls 322 feet. At the rapids the descent is about 60 feet in a mile, and at the Falls the river is precipitated over a ledge of rocks 160 feet in perpen - dijiiilar height . Geologists are generally agreed that the Falls were at one time at Queenstown, seven miles below, and that this recession has gradually taken place in conse- quence of the river undermining and wearing away the rocks over which it flows. The table land terminates at Queenstown in an abrupt escarpment, which forms the '* heights" where the battle of 1812 was fought, and in which General Brock fell. A level tract of land of about seven miles in breadth inter- venes between the town and the lake. This low-lying land is heavily timbered, and from the heights has the appearance of being an unbroken forest ; the soil is a tenacious clay, well adapted for wheat and clover, but somewhat difficult to labour. On the mountain, as the table-land is called here, the soil is usually light, and moderately productive. I paid a visit to several farms on the Canadian side in the neighbourhood of the Fal ls, and found the l^d to be of a lijght and useful descriptio n." Wheat is th e sta pI e~cro p, but it is not repeated so frequently as in Genesee, nor did the soil seem to be so genial to the growth of clover. The land is commonly pastured three years before wheat is sown, and during the last year timothy grass predominates over the clovers. The common practice is to break up the grass fields before winter ; to give two furrows during summer, and sow the wheat in autumn. Under this system the extent of wheat is much restricted, but cattle, and dairy produce form much larger items in the farmer's receipts than in the Genesee country. Indian corn is cultivated to a small extent ; all the farmers spoke of it as being a valuable crop. The well lenesee ttent ; The TORONTO. 39 oul only objectio n to it was, the great amount of manual labour that it requires to cultivate it and keep the land clean; and really many of the fields were overgrown with weeds. ' - ' • . . Got the Peerless steamer in the afternoon from Queens- town, and in little more than t hree hours we were alongside of the wharves of Toronto, which is the fi nest city in Canada. The wide streets, containing splendid shops, and numbers oi handsome churches, conspire to impress one with the thriving character of the place. With a friend I went over the schools, which rival those of the United States for efficiency. The College, too, has been liberally endowed, and provides the means of prosecuting more advanced studies than what the common schools afibrd. Toronto has increased greatly within a few years, and it now contains upwards of 45,000 inhabitants. The removal of the seat of government did not check its advancement, for after all, the mere residence of a number of provincial members of Parliament can do little to raise up a town. In fact, the progress of any of the towns along the Canadian shores of the lakes depends upon the agricultural capabilities of the surrounding country. Toronto is merely the exporter of the .produce of the district that lies betwixt Ontario and Lake Simcoe, and the importer of the necessaries and luxuries that the settlers require. Had the soil to the northwards been no better than the greater part of Massachusetts, Toronto would not have extended her wide streets so far into the bush. ' I started early one morning from Toronto, and went by railway to Lake Simcoe, a distance of fifty-five miles, and had a pleasant sail down the lake for another forty miles. The low banks are wooded to the water's edge with beech and maple, mixed with pine trees, the soil being in general too stony to form any inducement for settlers to clear it. Betwixt Toronto and Lake Simcoe, the white pine pre- dominates, which thrives upon a light sandy loam. The clays, on the other hand, are covered with the beech, maple, and birch, while cedars grow upon the marshy ground. The ;• 40 Ul'l'KK CANADA. regularity with which the various kinds uf trees have got possession of the different soils is remarkable. The clearing of the forest was everywhere going on, and was seen in all stages of improvement, from the black- ened stumps, standing as thickly over the ground as the trees had once done, to the well-ploughed wheat-field. To clear }and is not quite so formidable an operation as at first sight It appears to be ; and tbe settlers soon find out tne easiest methods for effecting this desired end. The trees are cut down, and the stumps, three feet in length, are left standing ; as much of the brushwood is then burned as possible, and the larger logs are afterwards piled into heaps and con- sumed. A combination of labour is requisite for this last operation, and the settlers in a district turn out and assist each other at this work, v/hich goes under the name of <* log- rolling." In this district Swedes or oats are sown on the charred surface for a first crop, all the labour that they require being merely to harrow in the seed with some bushes. A crop of wheat is also taken without any ploughing, and the land is sown with clover and timothy grass, and then pastured unti l the roots of the trees becom e so far decay ed as to allow 'the land to be ploughed. The length of time that elapses before a field is fit for ploughing after the trees are cut down varies much with the kind. In six years the roots of the beech and maple, which run along the surface, are so much wasted that the plough can go through them ; and though the roots of the oak are more durable, yet they run deeper into the soil, and allow the plough to approach nearer to the stumps. In many cases fields are often ploughed and sown when they are thickly planted with stumps. Owing to the quantity of rosin in the roots of the pine trees, they decay very slowly, and it is from twelve to s ixteen ye ars after the tree s are felled until the land" can be cultivaied. ' I met a iarmer, a naty^Pjof Devonshire, on the railway, who resided in the township of Georgina. He spoke highly of the country and its capabilities, and said that some of the best nasture-lAnd south of Lake Simcoe rents at ^i^ht shillings an acre. A great rise in the value of cattle and~ 1 1; V bhe m i HAMILTON. 4t uheep had takuti place within a few years, in consequence of the opening up uf the markets by the railways. A sheep weighing sixtj lbs. the four quarters was worth £1 : 2s. ster- ling, and an ox of 800 lbs. £11 : 158. These high prices had already given a great stimulus to the improvement of the breed of stock. His faim was 200 acres in extent, of which 60 were in whe at (one-half autumn and one-h alf spring sown), 5 turnips, 1 potatoes, ^ Indian com, lb pease, 25 oats. After having had a very pleasant run of nearly 200 miles by railway and steamer, I returned to Toronto about nine o'clock. Yesterday evening (19th September) at this hour the thermometer stood at 66" in the open air, but to-night it is down to 46° with a northerly wind that has prevailed all day and made it piercingly cold. The frequent and sudden changes begin to give warning of the approach of winter. No sooner, however, does the southerly wind a^^ain blow than the air becomes delightfully warm in the evenings. Left Toronto on the 2lBt, by the steamer for Hamilton, another of the thriving to wns in Canada West. Sailing at no great distance from the shore, a good view is got of the coun- try, which almost appears an unbroken forest, for the land being covered with pines and rather poor along the shore little is cleared. Here and there, however, wide spaces have been cleared and extend from the lake into the interior, where the soil is more fertile. Shortly after leaving Toronto, the spray from Niagara Falls, with a cloud constantly hanging over the spot, was easily recognised, though forty-five miles distant. Hamilton is a prosperous town situated on the lake and extending to the foot of the steep escarpment of the formations that compose the mountain or table land, which I have already described as seen at Queenstown. From its sheltered situation, it is often oppressively hot in summer. My first stage, westward from Hamilton by the Great Western Railway, was as far as Paris , a distance of thirty-six miles. The railway gradually rises to the level of the plateau through a narrow valley finely wooded, but the sur- face is too broken to be generally settled. There is no great extent of cultivated land seen until Paris is reached, where 42 Uri'EU CANADA. a conBiderable tract is cleared in the pluius of DumfriuH, and forms the best district for wh eat that I saw in Canada West. This district, about eight mTTes in length by six in breadth, is entirely covered with vast beds of gravel and sand, derived from the primary rocks and the Silurian limestone. The M'hole is covered with a light sandy loam, which seems to have been formed by the decomposition of these materials. The soil appeared fully as good as that of Caledonia in the State of New York; but the clovers were rather inferior, though some were beautifully planted. Gypsum is used suc- cessfully here for clover and several other crops. Some of the farming is par ticularly neat and tidy ; hidced, I saw none more so in America. On the farm of Dudingston, possessed by Mr. Ballingal, better cultivated fields I could hardly imagine. The farms a re comm only about 200 acres in extent, and the liouses ana orcbards indicate that the occu- pants are industrious and thriving. The mode of culture is very similar to what is followed in the Genesee country, but the wheat crops are not in general taken so frequently. But here, also, alternate crops of wheat and clover are often taken ; the land, as in Genesee, is deeply ploughed in June and July, and the weeds are destroyed by scarifying the surface, thus avoiding the old and less economical system of fallowing out and out for a whole season. The crops on one farm of 140 acres arable land were 50 acres wheat, 16 in pease, potatoes, turnips, and Indian corn. Two men and four horses cultivate this extent of land, with a little additional labour at harvesting. I saw some excellent crops of Indian corn in this district ; but here again the complaint was, that it took too much labour, and therefore it was only a small extent that farmers found con- venient to cultivate. It is the more general practice, however, to allow the land to remain for two y ears in pastur e (artificial grasses and clover), to break up in J une, and sow in autumn. Below Paris I insp<'cted an excellent farm, consisting of 250 acres of clay loam, on which a good deal of stock was kept, and there were only from 30 to 40 acres usually in wheat. The land is pastured for three yeai's, and produces fine grasses that become W 8 "' Ki y UUMPRIKS I'LAINS. 43 Id a in- iliick and Htruugly routod. It is then prepared fur wheat by ploughing in autumn, Buwing with rape in May, and after thiH latit crop is eaten by sheep, it is fallowed and sown in autumn. llow far this system is preferable to the more frequent cropping with wheat, I do not pretend to decide. An excellent flock of South-Down sheep was kept, and this year the one-year-old wedders, weighing 22 lbs. per quarter, brought two guineas on the farm, but realized £2 : 8b. in the New York market — another striking instance of the advantage that Canada has derived from the opening of rail- way communication. Rust and mildew are the great enemies which the Cana- dian l^mcrencounters in raising wheat, and these diseases are far more common on pew thaiiold cultivated land. In Canada^ as well as throughout the United States, land becomes better suited for raising wheat after the richness is partly worn off. The best preventive of rust and mildew is to sow early, for if the crop is late, the heats of July are apt to ripen it prematurely at whatever stage of forwardness it may be. Though it is only the 23d September , the sowing of wheat is generally concluded in this district ; the greater part of it is already above ground , and in some fields the plants are tuienng and looking beautiful. The crops of wheat on the best light soils vary from 18 to 30 bushels to the acre, and on the clay laud 40 are sometimes got. The value of land has advanced of late very considerably in the plains of Dumfries. Seven years ago a farm, a few miles from Paris, consisting of 175 acres, long advertised at £7 : 10s. per acre, was sold this year for j£15. The usual increase, however, of value in farms worth £7 per acre three years ago, is that they are now worth £11 ; but of course the rise in the neighbourhood of the towns has been enormous. Large fortunes have been made by s peculating in land in Canada, but there are often disagreeable circumstances con- nected with this business, for poor emig rants squat down upon it, and great difficulties are experienced in removing tliem. One of the wealthiest lawyers in Canada confessed to me, that he had always found it advisable to compound with squatters. X i 44 UPPER CANADA. 1 \ 25 have settle- ments along its shores. Ac this season, immense flocks of ducks and geese frequent the lake, attracted by the rice. The surrounding country is poor and uninteresting, and, except a few clearings upon which the Indians have erected cabins, and raise some crops, the original forest seemed untouched. The frosts having been rather keen for a few nights, the leaves of the dwarf oak were now assuming a dirty purple colour ; those of the maple were changing to yellow, while the birch was still quite green. The railway is to cross the lake by a wooden bridge, three miles in length. There were very few passengers in the train, and the want of traflSc impressed me unfavourably with the prospects of this line as a pecuniary undertaking. Returned to Coburg just in time for the Kingston steamer. ^ 2d October. — Having been so lately in Toronto and other prosperous towns in the western part of Upper Canada, I was A < ! I 08 rather disappointed wi*h the dull and comparatively stationary appearance of Kingston . A few of the streets ai'e good, and the houses are substantially built of blue limestone , but the traffic in some of the wide streets is not sufficient to prevent the grasses from springing up. The appearance of the town would at once lead us to suspect that the agricultural capabilities of the country are more limited to the north- wards than they are at Toronto. Labour is better rewarded en a rich soil than on a poor one, and hence the amazing rapidity with which towns rise up in America in all those parts that are moderately fertile. Settlers soon find out what suits them best ; and one ')an judge pretty accurately of the fertility of a district by the state and appearance of its chief importing and ex^ orting town. A coarse clay rests upon the limestone here, and affords better land for grazing than cropping. Very little autumn wheat is sown. The Trenton limestone occupies only a narrow strip of land here. A few miles to the north the granitic rocks pre- vail. The limestone is often exposed over considerable areas, or only covered by so thin a crust of mould that nothing grows upon it but a few juniper bushes that send their roots into the crevices of the rocks. In the town of Kingston I saw the surface of the limestone most beautifully polished from the effects of ice or some oiher agent. About five ^eel ofstiff clay had been lately removed from the surface of the rock to get the limestone quarried, so a consi('3rable portion was newly exposed. The surface was a little inclined, but very even and almost as smooth to the touch as polished marble. The groovings or scratches were from north-east to south- west, and as straight and parallel to each otber as if they had been drawn with a ruler. In some of them you might have laid in your finger, while others were as fine as if they had been made with the point of a knife. Afterwards, at Montreal, Sir E. W. Logan gave me an interesting outline of his researches on these perplexing phenomena. He has laid down all the local variations in the directions of their groovings on his geological map of Canada, which he is about to publish at the expense of the government. After the opportunities I had of becoming fully ac- 54 UPPER CANADA. / /'..: ■ qiiainted with the geological formation of Upper Canada from conversing with Sir E. W. Logan and others, and hearing the accounts of the country from the settlers in various parts, I must confess I was somewhat disappointed to find that the region adapted for wheat raising is comparatively limited. In my agricultural map I have confined the wheat region which lies to the north of Lakes Erie and Ontario, south of a line running from Kingston through liake Simcoe to Lake Huron. The boundary, I need hardly observe, is not in this instance or in others by any means so well defined as it is represented on the map, being more serrated in reality, though it serves to show the regions that are best suited for certain crops. The line which 1 have drawn as the boundary of the wheat region in the Canadas corresponds pretty nearly to that which divides the Trenton limestone from the primary or hypogene rock (granite, gneiss, etc.), which occupies such an immense area in the British possessions. From the accounts that I got, the soil is very poor in the primary rocks, and the face of the country similar to that of the New England States. Squatters may obtain a subsistence in the granite districts, and export some dairy produce, but it is not to be supposed that, in the present circumstances of the country, they can raise more wheat than they require for their own use. Nor do I think the land which forms the wheat region of Canada West is better adapted for this crop than the average of the land which I have included in the wheat region of the United States south and west of the lakes. Canada West will no doubt produce considerably more wheat in a few years, for large tracts are still waiting for the axe of the backwoodsman to convert them into good wheat lands ; and those which are already cleared are capable of producing more abundantly when the mere acts of culture are more skilfully performed, and a rotation of crops adhered to. However, the agricultural capabilities of Canada West will be better seen when they are contrasted with those of Ohio and the North- Western States of the American Union. 'i' 7/ -/> CHAPTER IV. LOWER CANADA. Kingsto n, 2d October. — Travellers are often disappointed with the sight of objects of which they may have either heard or read exaggerated accountb, but the St. Lawrence with its "thousand islands" went far beyond my expecta- tpecta- ) eight tionSt Immediately below Kingston it is from six to eight miles in breadth, and numbers of steamers and sailing vessels were floating over its dark blue waters, which had more resemblance to an arm of the sea than a freshwater stream. The steamer threads its way among islands with precipitous sides and deep water all around, so that we can approach within a few yards of them. All are covered with broad- leaved timber, the foliage of which is now putting on its bright autumnal tints, and making a particularly gaudy scene. In some parts the rivei narrows to a mile and a half in breadth, and again swells Ov't into broad lakes, and, as we proceed onwards in our courb^. we are impressed with the majesty of the mighty stream that forms the outlet tO the vast chain of lakes to the westwaro , The rapids, too, of the St. Lawrence are a noble and most exciting sight. When I saw the white crests and waves of Niagara rapids above the Falls, I could not believe that the breaking and foaming of the water were consistent with great depth, but this false notion was quickly dispelled as the steamer dashed down the rapids of the St. Lawrence, tossed by huge waves that were worthy of the Atlantic, their crests being broken into white foam where the current was from thirty to forty feet in depth. As it is only a narrow passage through which the steamer has to be steered, consider- f. M LOWEIt (CANADA. iv ' r/ ablo Bkill and dexterity are reijuirod to avoid the rocky shoals. Four men were at the helrn, acd the vessel sceinod to be completely under control acuid Ihe boiling and surging of the current, which has a velocity in some places of fifteen miles nn hour. The cou ntry, on cither bank of the St. Lawrence, is fftr from being rich. The Potsdam sandstone, the lowest member of the ESilurian series, excludes the Trenton lime- stone. High mountains are seen in the distance towards the south, and gravels and boulder clay are strewed over an immense area in the low country. In some parts a coarse alluvial clay extends for a considerable distance from the river. In the steamer I met a farmer who resides twenty-three miles south from Ogdenburg, in the state of New York, who gave the following account of his farm and the country. He was a native of '*bshire, in Scotland, and had emigrated to that part of the country twelve years ago, when he bought g fa rm of 2 40_acres at £3 per a cre. He has about 100 acres cleared, and very lately refused double the price that he paid for it. All the laud worth cultivating has been long occupied in that district, and the most stony land with wood upon it now sells at 20s. Der_acre !! Someof the low land IS a strong clay, and the usual practice is to let it lie for three or four years in pasture, when it is ploughed up in autumn and sown in spring with oats or peas. The oat or pea stubble is then ploughed in autumn, and sown with wheat in spring as soon as the weather permits, and usually pro- fl livl;} lui duces from 18 to 25 bushels to the acre. Winter wheat 2u*U ^^<■ ^^^^ ^^^ succeed well, owing to its being liable to the attacks of wevil, as well as to be thrown out of the gi-ound by spring frosts. Spring wheat is sometimes sown as late as June , producing good crops that ripen early in August, while the autumn wheat ripens in the last days of July. This farmer comp lained of the severity of the winters and the quantity of iodder required lo keep cattle^over that season, and as an mstance of this severity, he had crossed th e St. Lawrence with his h orses on the ic e as late as the 15th Api-IT The crops that ne raisea on his farm this year were 25 acres wheat, 7 peas, 12 oats, ^ potatoes, i Indian corn ; in winter i' ^ liAlN STUUM. 67 18 lie in or icks ler as jnce Icres Inter nI/ ho generally keeps 18 cows and 60 sheep. One pair of horses du all the work of the farm. Ho told me ^liat some of his hjighbours take many crops of wheat iti succossio n, and yet obtain very fair returns. This btatomont ik in entire accordance witli the opinion 1 have formed, that the climate ot' North America permits wheat to be raised on miii;h poore r i ^ils ttia n in Hritain, owing to the high temperature of the season in wbicn it grows. I stopped over the night at Brockvillo, a thriving little town on the Canadian side, and got another steamer next morning at eight o'clock. A bright and calm morning was succeeded by a cloudy, squally, and rainy day, which caused the lower part of the river to be seen under disadvantageous circumstances. To me, however, this disagreeable weather had some points of great interest, as it was the first time that I had observed a uorth-ca ».. rainy storm in America. Its action was very similar r: oany respects to tlic north- cast rainy storms of Britain. At 7 A vi. cirrus clouds at a great elevation were jij ng rapidly iium the west with a slight breath of wind 1 om the north. At 8 o'clock, however, a breeze set in from south by east, while a middle stratum of air brought up a thick mass of blue clouds from the south- west. The wind gradually veered round to east, then to north-east, where it remained during the whole day, blowing strong as we landed at Lachine, nine miles from Montreal. The north-east wind was merely a thin stratum of air moving along the earth's surface, and was overlaid by a cloudy stratum moving in an opposite direction. A range of high hills runs south from Lake Francis, and from the shape and form of the clouds that c^tvP^d their summits, they were evidently under the influence of the south-west middle current. There is, however, the highest probability for believing that the west upper current prevailed over and above the whole as before. There is no doubt that the north-east wind often blows with a clear sky as it does in Britain, but unless meteorological observers analyse the conditions that determine the dry and the rainy characters of the north-east winds, assuredly no great benefits will accrue to science by merely recording their force and frequency, and then making them components i 58 LOWER CANADA. .:• 6: in yearly or monthly averages. The action of the American north-eastere will be fully discussed in the latter part of this ' work. ¥ , About La ke Francis^ the settlers are chiefly French on , the Canadian side, whose farms run back from the river in narrow strips ; consequently, the houses are thickly studded along the river, but are trim and neat-looking in the distance. Got the railway at Lachine, and arrived at Montreal late at night. There are now upwards of 70,000 inhabitants in Montreal, which has all the appe arance of a European city . Many of the houses are old but substantial, and none of the streets are regular or have such magnificent stores as are to be seen at Toronto. The fires, too, have been numerous over the town, and the naked walls are standing in many cases just as the devouring element left them several years ago. The majority of the inhabitants are of French extrac- tion, a race who do not amalgamate with the more enterpris- ing Anglo-Saxons. The situation of the town is pleasing, being built on the steep slope that rises from the river, while the hill of Montreal, covered with wood, rises to about 600 feet immediately behind. The St Lawrence here is about two miles in breadth, and ships and steamers crowd the wharves. The Victoria Railway Bridge at Montreal is a stupen- dous undertaking, and it is beKeved will cost about two millions sterling to complete it. The total length of the bridge is a little less than two English miles. The rails are to be laid in a series of tubes, as at the Menai Straits. The centre span is to be 330 feet, and the others about 100 feet less. The under surface of the tubes to be about 60 feet above theTnver. At present, commerce is suspended when winter sets in and seals up the river ; but this bridge will connect the Atlantic Railway and_ the Great Trunk Line of Upper Canada, and thus afford an uninterrupted line of communication from Toronto to the Atlantic towns in the depth of winter. That the bridge and Grand Trunk Line will be of immense benefit to Canada no one can doubt, but whether these great undertakings will ever yield an adequate remuneration to the shareholders is much debated, as the line MONTREAL. 59 traverses an Immense extent of poor country. It ought to be borne in mind that the success of the Great Western Railway of Upper Canada is, in a great measure, owing to its forming the nearest route by railway from New York to Chicago and the North- Western States. . . / y t ; That the masses are not so well educated in Montreal is apparent from the scarcity of booksellers' shops in town. The nature of the works, too, lying for sale does not indicate an intelligent and inquiring community. As for public libraries or reading-rooms, where a stranger may spend an hour if the weather is not favourable, you will probably ask a dozen of persons before you will obtain the slightest information where they may be found. In company with Mr. Evans, secretary to the Bureau of Agriculture, to whom I am under many obligations, I drove out to the country to a sale of farm-stock, about six miles to the north of Montreal. The stock belonged to a gentleman who came from East Lothian many years ago, and as he had imported some improved breeds of sheep and cattle from Britain, he was disposing of the surplus stock. The auc- tioneer spoke alternately in French and English. From the appearance of those persons who were assembled, it was evi- dent that they were chiefly small farmers, and could not afford to pay high prices for the better kinds of stock, for the same animals would have brought far more money in Upper Canada. Cows of the Ayrshire breed sold from £4 : lOs. to £9 a head, and the sheep from £1 : 10s. to £6 : lOs. The island of Montre al has been called " the garden of Canactt." The soil, however, can only be regarded as of seconda ry quality . On the farm that I visited, it is a ^ark* coloured sandy loana . Timothy grass grows well upon it, but the clovers only last one year. The Trenton limestone prevails over the whole island, as an isolated patch among the surrounding primary rocks, rendering the soil genial to the growth of grasses, though not of winter wheat. Oats, barley, and potatoes are the staple crops, with small quan- tities of turnips and mangold-wurtzel. The carrot seems to thrive as well in this climate as any other green crop. The winters are very severe, so all vegetables must be stored ' be tretch The farm- gling St. roads larrow 08 in taiu- )ur of [posed [ready lllows, )wing <0 from the effects of the sun and frosts, the brilliancy of the colours was extraordinary. The tints from deep purple, shading into fresh green and pale yellow, w^^re altogether surpassing belief or description. I was loath to leave so glorious a sight which I had little prospect of ever beholding again. Major Campbell is a most enthusiastic agriculturist , and is domg a vast deal to promote improved modes of farming among his contented neighbours the French settlers. The present generation are not likely to profit much by his example, nor is it easy to see how their stationary condition can be reached and rendered progressive, unless by educating the rising generation, and instructing them in the principles of agriculture. This course was recommended by the late Professor Johnston, and seems the only hope of effecting a general improvement in this miserably managed country. The soilj however, it must be confessed, is not naturally . good, having too much cla y in its composition, and being unsuitable to the growth of gi-ass. About St. Hilaire land sells at from £2 to £2 : 10s. per acre, and lets at five shillings per acre ; its value has increased very little for the last ten years. Major Campbell's property lies at a higher elevation on the sloping bank, and is not of good quality. He is an advo- cate for sowing^ wheat in autumn . His ideas and those of the late Professor Johnston coincide, that it is owing to the land being so much e:.hausted that the wheat plant is weak and predisposed to the attacks of fly during the flowering season. How far this opinion is correct I caanot say, but I did not see ten acres of autumn wheat in Lower Canada, and it never was grown to any ei.icnt. Whatever may be the capabilities of the climate for green crops, I saw few turnips or mangold- wurtzel, and none that could be reckoned good. 7th October. — I Keturned to Montreal by the railway through a por country, subdivid'^d in the usual manner, and drove out la the afternoon tc : ' = . Martins, Tsle of Jesus, a distance of twelve miles. The country is undulating, anl the soil often light and gravelly, though of . better descripiiou than what I saw in the flats this mornintj, M: any 1; li oi s; X- 64 LOWER OANAJ^A. mi * « !K5 I t I I bouMerb are scattered over the arable land, but grasses grow freely, and are still fresh on these limestone soils. The apple orchards are numerous, ap^ relieve the country of the monO" tonous aspect which prffvaiis ic the Oats of the St. Lawrence, where scarcely a tree is 'o be pean. The farmers have in some places clustered iogethcr inti* viilages, and go out into the countv;7 to c'ilti'ate flic ' >nd rii' .h'^y do in many parts of France. Barlev', oats, and a BiutA, quantity of spring wheat are the chief crcjjs. Farming is not pursued with ? vnY soil iA energy. rEe very cnangeab le nature of t' e ci5 nate of Canada in autumn may aguin be noticed.' Tvv'o~days ftgo the weather was so cold that a ihisk gieiii at was insufficient to make one comfortable when oxpo^:^dto the north wind; but to-day the south wind, with a bright sun, set up the thermometer to 74° in the shade, and this night is so warm that one might dispense with a coat altogether. The warm and cold periods, or spells as they call them in America, alternate with each other until the muidle of November, when the frosts get fully established. A medical gentleman, who is in extensive practice in the district that I visited to-day, described the peasantry as a pea ceable an d kind]y_ people, thoug h much under the influence of the priests. They are honest m their dealings, and make it a matter of honour and conscience to pay their debts when it is in their power. The smaller French cottages that I saw in the country in my afternoon's drive were kept very clean and tidy. The glass in the windows was bright and shining. The doors open at once into the rooms, which must I think render the houses cold in winter, unless the joints are very tight. As I drove through the suburbs of Montreal about dark, the cottage doors were all standing wide open, and the children almost naked were rolling about outside. ^ Among the many pleasant reminiscences which I har' of my short sojourn in 'i'iuada, I retain a lively recollfr- a of the time that I spe ■ the company of Mr. Vf. ] . Logan , provincial ge ^nffl't .vno has since been knighted by the Queen for th ..eut services that he has rendered to \ H I'i I" I fj m^^i very fright ^hich the fbs of iding ibout IT" of ■a of logan , [y the 3d to FARMBRU. 63 tl ^ the cause of science in this colony. I'he labour and per- severance with which he has pursued his investigations under difficulties of no ordinary character, have at last met with a suitable and well-earned acknowledgment. His intimate acquaintance with the geology and physical features of the country served to correct or confirm the information which I had previously gathered, from various sources, respecting its agricultural capabilities. On the night of the 9th October I went on hoard the steamer at Montreal for Quebec , and though the distance is 180 miles, I was landed in the morning, after a passage of twelve hours, during which I had a most comfortable night's rest. The breadth of alluvial soil along the banks of the St. Lawrence varies much ; indeed, for some miles west of Quebec little arable land is seen from the river. The banks are rocky and precipitous, and covered with small timber. A narrow strip of the Silurian formation runs down both banks, and sometimes the limestone is covered by a moderately fertile soil, but in many parts the rocks only present a bare} and polished surface. The extent of e^ood land in Canadjt East is very limited, and has all been settled long ago. No doubt a large area still remains to be appropriated and cleared, yet from its inferior quality there is little prospect of its yielding any grain for export. As in New England dairy produce must aflfbrd the chief article for sending to market in exchange for other articles needed by the far- mers. Even in the present day, there are a considerable number of French settlers on the poorer lands of Lower Canada who fare ery miserably. They usually sell the most of the spring crops soon after harvest, and rely upon gathering sugar from the maple in spring, to aflfbrd them the means of buying seed-grain. If the supply of sugar is scanty, as has happened in 1855, they are involved in difficulties, and the land is left unsown. There is great unwillingness among the French settlpira tn ^migrate to the west, where their labour would aflford them an amount of the pood things of this life that would be luxury itself compared o ith their present condition. They will rather occupy the most po verty-stricken soils that are only capable of furnishing F 66 LOWBR CANADA. a scanty and precarious subsistence, than leave their friends behind* '■*■..'■; - v': ;> - ,: ■'/.■^•■l':;' The sugar that is collected from the maple-tree Over Canada anotKe Northern States of America, amounts to a large quantity in the aggregate. But it is almost entirely consumed in the districts in which it is collected, and both the Ganadas import a considerable quantity of sugar from the West India Islands. The su^ar iA Job tained from the trees in ApriLby making incisions in the trunk . The sap being collected in wooden troughs, is bojled down to a certain consistence, after which it crystallizes on cooling. It is commonly used in a rough and unpurified state, and though retaining the peculiar flavour of the maple, is far from being disagreeable. During the collecting season parties go into the woods and camp out for several weeks, when the processes of bkeding the trees and boiling down the sap are jointly carried on. The maple is often seen growing on very barren soils, but its trunk is seldom more than a foot and a half in diameter. A single tree, on an average, yields abou t one pound of sugar in a season. At the junction of the St. Charles River with the St. Lawrence, Quebec is built, on the steep slopes and brow of a high and sharp promontory that points down to the Isle of Orleans, where the noble river begins to open out into a baylike breadth. The streets leading from the wharves are narrow and steep, and are at this season all bustle and activity. The § ^ Lawr e nce commonly free zes here by the end of Novembe r, anu business is m a manner suspende d nntil the following May . During the close season the town is" deserted by the labouring population, who then find Work in the country. In the town and neighbourhood theA'?^ are many spots of ^at histori cal interes t, and the view from the fortifi(»fcions is one of the mo st pictun^que in America. During the few days that FTemained in Quebec, I made some excursions into the country. One day I drove, in company with the well-known traveller. Dr. Kohl of Berlin, to the falls of Montmorenci, about six miles down the north bank of the St. Lawrence. The cultivated land, entireb'^ free Irom wood, rises in a long and easy slope from the ri> >■ CANADIAN FARMXIiS. F 67 towards the high grounds, which are covered with birch and pine. Along this slope lay our road, which was almost as thickly lined on both sides with farm-houses as the street of a New England village. The farms run north and south in narrow ribbons. This village-like cluster, I was told, extends about forty miles down the bank of tue river. The soil is comparatively good, and rests upon the Trenton limestone which crops out to the surface in many places. It was covered with as fine a carpet of grasses as any that I had seen in Canada, on land so light The red clover plants also were retaining a pretty fair hold of the ground, where they iiad evidently been pastured for several years. Some of the crops of barley and oats were still outstanding. We went into several of the houses, which are neatly built with wood, and in all got a hearty welcome. One of the largest and newest was sixty feet long by thirty three feet wide, with a cottage roof and atUc windows, and a verandah extending the whole length in front. There were three large windows on each side of the door. The interior was divided into two apartments : kitehen and parlour. There seemed to be a great deal more accomnodation than was necessary to the circumptances of its occupants, for the rooms appeared empty in consequence of the scarcity •■•■. rniture. In fact, these simple and peaceable people seem to have as much vanity in erecting large and stylii^-looking houses, in which they have little to put, as many display in other places in decorating their rooms with costly furniture. The farm buildings belonging to this family were com- modious and well contrived, and some taste was displayed in their erection. Part of the farm, which contained 250 acres in all, was unreclaimed. The usual produce was 100 to 160 bushels of spring wheat ; 50 -tej ; 400 oats ; 50 pease ; 600 potatoes ; stock, 3 horses and 6 cows. This was one of the largest farms in the neighbourhood, the generality appear- ing to be very small. Still, on going into the meanest- looking houses, the inmates had the air of being in circumr stances far above the reach of wan t. Dr. Kohl, who is well acquainted with the condition of the French peasantry in those parts of their native land from which the Canadians / / 68 LOWER CANADA. emigrated, was pleased with the advancement tlicy had made in this country. The falls of Montmorcnci are well worthy of a visit ; the river containing a cuiiHiderable body of water rushes over a ' precipice 250Ject in heigh t. Their situation is also fine, for an immense semicircular urea has been washed out of the precipitous bank of the St. Lawrence. A large section of the jtrata is exposed, exhibiting boulders of all sizes. Part of the Montmorenci has been diverted to the westward, and employed '^i driving machinery for cutting timber. The quauiity or v/ood which is sawn in the course of an hour suffices to give one an idea of the enormous trade in lumber which is carried on in this part of the world. We returned to Quebec, by way of the Lidian village of Lorette. As we left the high road, we passed through a poorer district nearer the hills, where there was much uncleared ground. Numbers of women were lifting potatcxs in the fields, aad, unless in the Slave States, this was the on l^ instance i n which _I saw women employed at field operations in America . The Lidians at Lorette have embraced the Catholic faith ; and missionaries are static d amongst die i, both to teach the children and dispense tiie ordinances o? -eligion. We visited the school, where upwards of thirty . jys and ^,nrl8 were taught. The boys had more pleasing featur s than the girls. In all the hair was particularly dark auu glossy, and the eyes were small, of a lustrous blackness, impart in an expression of great quickness and untameable ^\ildness. he Indiuas in the village, howe\'er, are completely civilized, have goo> houses, and are now acquiring habits of cleanliness, and cultivating the land in the same manner as the French settlers. Our road fi-om Lorette to Quebec lay down the valley of the St. Charles River, \u which the pastures were very fine. Throu 'out our drive to-day we passed numerous tall crosses, ich were erected five years ago, when the most of the inhabi- -Ui t.)ok upon them the vows of the tee-totallers. From vari- oas sources I was gratified to learn that they had kept their vows faithfully, and that a vast improvement has since taken place in their moral and physical condition. The weather was .1 I r / QUEBEC. ^ 60 )sse8, Ihabi- vari- their taken Was f i clear to-day, and though a brisk south wind had blown since morning it was exceedingly cold, showing that the north wind of the previous day had swept the country over an immense area towards the south. The eflfects of the higher latitude of Quebec are apparent in the leafless state of the ash and the elm, while the other broad-leaved trees will be also quite bare in the course of a week. The climate of this part of Canada, however, not- withstanding its extreme nature, Bceras as favourable to health as any other part of America, for the i nhabitants of Quebec are generally robust, and have comparatively rud dyand fresh complexions. I visited the Catholic seminary at Quebec, where about 200 pupils were boarded and taught all the branches of edu- cation that they choose to learn. The fees, with board, are only £16 per annum. There are, besides another 200 pupils . . who reside in town, and attend the classes. I found Professor vvcrxviOv j/>/yb Horan a most hearty and sociable gentleman, enthusiastically interested in agriculture, and the best means of promoting its advancement in Canada. He was hopeful that Canada would be more flourishing when the farmers were instructed in the principles of their art.. He caricatured their igno- rance, by mentioning that they frequently sold their hay for six dollars a ton, and allowed their cattle to become so low in condition in spring, that they looked upon the tail as a useful appendage for lifting them on their feet, when they could not rise through weakness. , . ^y. The news of the loss of the " Arctii :." one of the Collins' European steamers, with most of her passengers, arrived the last day I was in Quebec. Being long past due, serious apprehensions were entertained of her safety, but her fate now spread a gloom over the city. I was walking with Dr. Kohl when I saw the tulcgraphic news posted on the wall, and I vrell recollect his exclamation : — " Oh, well, the City of Man- chester was the right vessel after all." The day previous, when driving over the country he gave me an extraordinary account of the disgraceful management on board the " Man- chestff," during the voyage, and stated that before leaving Liverpool he had hesitated whether he would sail by this yo I.OWl^U CANADA. I: I ' i vessel or the " Arctic." ^ ' ;» liiendH in America had urged him strongly to take the latter, but the other sailing a few days sooner, determined his choice. I had frequent opportunities of conversing with Dr. Hall, geologist to the state of New York , who has devoted con- siderable attention to the relation oT geology to agriculture. He was then preparing a map of the geology of the United States, which he was so good as to show me, and point out the relation between the formations and the agricultural capabilities of the country over which I was soon to travel. The parti- cular nature of the soil, however, i n Canada West and the Un ited States depencTs upon the accumulations of drif t that cover so large a portion of the surface. It will one day form an interesting study for geologists to trace the extent of those accumulations, and the .fip urces from_ jghicb. their materia ls h ave been derived. Dr. Hall informed me that there are districts in the neighbourhood of Albany which formerly exported considerable quantities of wheat, but export little now. He admitted, how- ever, that the soil was similar in character to that of the flats of the St. Lawrence, and also to the flat lands along the east shore of Lake Champlain. But none of these soils we re re ally ^ood origina lly. I have no b elTet m land becomuig permanently exhausted by frequent crops of grain if the soi l was naturally good a nd has not been washed away. There are few or no instances of territories, rich in ancient times, 2-p/^J]^, being barren in the present da y. A want of security to the * peaceful occupation of a country may, indeed, convert it into a wilderness, which state, instead of rendering it barren, restores and husbands its native strength. By fertile soils, I mean such as are found resting upon our trap formations in Scot- land. There are no soils that I saw in Canada at all to be compared in naturaT fertility to what may be found in F ife ' or the Lothians. The best qualities of our Scottish soils,, how- ever much they may be temporarily deteriorated by crops of grain and weeds, are cleaned as well as enriched by lying for a few years in 'pasturage. The coarse clays on the flats of the St. Lawrence do not support so good grasses for pasture as the thin limestone soils in the island of Montreal, and '%i)' li'i f I ■ ) > « WHEAT CROPS. fP thus their solF-reatoring powers are compare! wol/ limited. The vegetable deposit, found on the BUi: when the land was first cleared, being much wasted, the soil has become less friable and less permeable to the air, and all crops now grow less vigorously. The railway embankments, formed of the light coloured clay of the flats, support little vegetation, and the unploughed banks of the rivers have but a thin covering of poor natural grasses — all indicating that the soil was not fertile original ly. At one time the flats of the St. Lawrence produced a considerable quantity of wheat, but in the present day they produce little. About twenty years ago, the wheat- midge attacked the crops whon in flower to such an extent that the farmers found it more profitable to sow oats. This insect also often destroys the wheat crops both in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where spring varieties are only sown. The later that wheat is sown in spring, or rather summer, in Nova Scotia, the less liable is it to the attacks of fly. From the Ist to the 5th June is the usual period of sowing, but it is sometimes delayed until the 10th. Previous to 1834, the common system that the Canadian farmers followed on the flats of the St Lawrence was to sow wheat every other year on the same land, without any other preparation than plougfiing once in autumn and sowing the seed in spring. No artificial passes were sown for pas- turage, and the cattle merely picked up those grasses and weeds that came up naturally. In many parts the same miser- able system is still pursued, only oats or barley is substituted* for wheat. It is worth bearing in mind that autumn-sown wheat was never raised with advantage on the clay loams of Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick. If the crop withstood the frost in spring, it was generally destroyed with rust and mildew in summer. I saw little or no autumn- sown wheat around Coburg or Kingston, in the eastern parts of Canada West, where the clay soils are richer than those of the flats of the St. Lawrence ; but in driving over the country from Bytown, on the Ottawa, to Prescott, on the St. Lawrence, wherever the soil was light and sandy, 72 LOWER CANADA. autumn wheat was the principal crop. The soils of Low er Canada seem to be unsuitable for autumn whea t, and the same class of soils is so, to a greater or less extent, over the most part of North America. Dr. Hall informed rae that there were districts in Ohio which would be better fitted for growing wheat after they were cropped for some time with Indian coru. In their present state they were too soft, in consequence of the vegetable matter that they contain, for wheat ripening upon them, without being liable to the atta(;ks of mildew. I had afterwards many opportunities of ' verifying this opinion in Ohio as well as in other western States. The hot and moist nature of the summer climate of North America renders the autumn varieties of wheat very liable to disease, and particularly so on soils that have any tendency to encourage grossness in the plant. Hence the physical nature of soils has a much greater influence in America on the growth of wheat than it has in our own cool and less forcing climate, in which it can be raised on all varieties, with the exception, perhaps, of peaty soils. I learned that the wheat soils only occupy a small area in Nova Scotia and New Bruns wick, that even on the best farms there is rarely more than one-tenth of the arable land sown with this cereal, and almost every farm has a consider- able extent of outfield that is allowed to remain in pasture. ^There is jittle prospect, in the meantime, of these provinces able to supply themselves with jvbeat. U rging Lower Canada. New Bfimswick, and^ova^ J jcotia, on the whole, have very poor soi ls. The lumber and mining operatio ns have contributed more to th^ir" we alth thaiTTlIglr agri cultural procluce. The immense rafts that are constantly passed when sailing" on the St. Lawrence or the Ottawa, show the extent o^' the lumber trade, and what the coun- try must owe to it. The lumber trade is carried on by capi- talists, who send men and horses into the woods in winter. The timber is hewn down and squared on the spot^ and ther hauled over the snow to the bed of the nearest stream thf»t will aflford as much water as floaf it down in single logs to the river when the prow melts in spring. The men camp out in the woods, and li.e in huts, which contain about II' i OTTAWA. 73 J twenty. One man is engaged as cook, and carries out the victuals to the others when they are at work. The life of the lumber-men is a very ejsciting: one , and leads to roving and unsettled habits. They live in the woods all winter, float down the rivers during the summer on the rafts, which requu-e twenty or thirty persons to manage them, and often fail to reach their destination before the winter again freezes the river. I had many inducements to prolong my stay at Quebec, and it was with some reluctance that I bade adieu to so many friends, and turned my face, on the night of the 11th October, towards a warmer region. Went by steamer up the Ottawa on the 14th, the fine scenery of which was marred by cold and rainy weather. The water of the Ottawa is muddy, and forms a great contrast to the deep blue of the St. Law- rence. Some good farms and orchards are seen as we enter the Ottawa on the east bank ; on the west the country is very rough and full of stones ; the limestone, however, sends up sweet grasses wherever there is earth at all. The first ten miles of the Ottawa are full of low islands, thickly wooded ; afterwards the east bank becomes rocky and precipitous, and covered with pine, birch, and maple. Afler a sail of forly miles in the steamer, and a drive of sixteen by coach to L'Orignal, I had not seen a single field on the west bank that could be ranked as medium land, and much of the poorest quality was under the plough. On the forenoon of the 16th October, SheriflF Tread- well drove me to Caledonia Springs, through a considerable extent of flat and wet clay land bordering on the Ottawa. Its value is only about thirty-five shillings per acre, and the settlers have not the appearance of being in a thriving state. The Caledonia mineral waters were at one time greatly frequented, but now are almost deserted. There are about 800 acres attached to the hotel, and the whole was now offered for £3000 — a sum, I thought, too large, as Ihe land was worth little or nothing until taken up by settlers. Weather rainy and cold, with the thermometer near the freezing point. In the afternoon I left by the steamer for By town, and found a large number of lumber- I ' ( u UPPER CANADA. \ 'j men on board on their way to winter in the woods. It was dark when the steamer reached the landing, and a rush as usual took place to get first over the gangway that was put out to the pier. Qne_poor fellow, with a trunk on his back, was pushed into the water'ttMldrowned. The little cg noern ^produced by this even t was shockj ag, for no one disturbed himself aboufths'lu&Cter until it was too late to render assistance. Js the head- gut ters _of the lumber-m en, and con- tains a population oflO,000. It is a dirty and disagreeable place, the streets were almost impassable to foot passengers, the hotels were mean, and the bar-room full of rude drunken fellows. I was informed there weiu 260 licensed spirit- shops in town. Early in the morning I left, and drove south about forty miles to Bellamy, where I had the railway train to Prescott, on the St. Lawrence. The country is undulating between Bytown and Prescott, with no mountains in the distance. Many of the rocks that crop out are limestone, but sand forms the chief ingredient of the soils, which are poor and atony, and have often numbers of boulders on the surface. To use a Yankee expression, the exportable produce of this region " don't amount to much." Stopping at a small inn on the roadside for a short time, I had some conversat'oa with a farmer who owned 165 acres, that seemed to be about the average quality in the district. Tho farm was about a mile and a qui^rter in length, and the sum he asked for it was £450. I have no doubt, however, he would have taken considerably less, as he was anxious to sell it and go to Wisconsin. His crops this year were — wheat, six acres; Indian corn, four ; potatoes, two ; and his stock consisted of six cattle and thirty sheep : the latter had just come from the woods to obtain their allowance of salt. On the " meadow " of this farm, the pine stumps were standing as thickly on the ground as the trees stood in the original forest, and there were great numbers of boulders. The soil is too poor in this district for the farmers to make money. But, as already noticed, I saw more autumn sown wheat on the light sandy soils than I had seen anywhere east of Toronto. ..m. :af^-9X.-XS V T'.X^K^^iaijC^. If - LAKE STEAMERS. . 75 Poor as they are, they possess the qualities which fit them for this crop. Wheat heing sown early, the plants had tillered greatly, and the fields had the appearance of an English meadow in early summer. r^ I got on board one of the Yankee steam boats for Ro- chester at night, and found the accommodation ^"rst rate ; everything was clean and tidy, which I much esteemed, after having so lately experienced the discomfort of the inns in the backwoods of Canada. A person going on board pays, and is booked for his passage, and then has th ejtey of his bedroom handed to hi m, where all his impedimenta can be securely locked up. On the morning of the 18th October the weather became very threatening, and soon there was a great swell on Ontario. Most of the passengers were sick, but unless during meals I kept my berth and enjoyed a good sleep after having been travelling constantly for two days. In the steamer I met a farmer fi-om the north-eastern part of the State of New York, on his way to the far west, with his wife and three children ; they were in the cabin, and eiitered as three full-grown passengers. He had also two horses, two waggons, and a buggy ; the distance they were to be carried on water was 1500 miles, yet he only paid sixty- eight dollars as passage-money for the whole, and a fortnight earlier it would have been fifteen dollars less. He complained very much of the pastures and other vegetables being destroyed in the district that he had left by enormous numbers of grass- hoppers. The lake boats are not built for rough weather ; so our captain lay over the night in the harbour of Oswego. The lake being ptill rough in the morning, and no appearance Of getting up the steam, I determined to proceed by railway. ">'■'- 'ik- ■"*' ' /r fi':', CHAPTEE V. OSWEGO TO CINCINNATI. Cincinnati, October 21, 1854. — I left Oswego yesterday morning, and my stages to the westward were, to Ro- chester, 90 miles ; to Buifalo, 60 ; to Cleveland, 183 ; Belle- fontaine, 140 ; Cincinnati, by Springfield, 117 miles. I • arrived here late at night, after a week's travelling. As a general rule, few trains a day are run upon the American railways, especially in the Western States, where the popula- tion is thinly scattered. This is no doubt the most econo- micaf system, but as the trains are by no_mean8 punctual in arriving at the stated time, passengers are often detained for several hours at those towns where the lines of the difierent companies join, and thus there is frequently a good deal of time lost. I travelled one night along the shores of Lake Erie, where all the carriages were so completely packed that many pas- sengers had to stand. There are special trains which convey the Epropean immigrant s at lower fares than the ordi- nary trains, but the Americans do not mingle among these foreigners. The Lake Shore Railway is one of the great lines to the western settlements, and I found myself chiefly sur- rounded with farmers and their families who had sold out " down east," and had bought land in the west. The English language is spoken with great purity in the Atlantic towns , bnt" some of the ^^o un g women in the train made use of a ridiculous ^mber'^f Americanisms , and had so much of the strong ^^al twang , tliat at iivsl one might have sup- posed that they were caricaturing this comical habit. The Americans are a good natured people, and fond of a joke. A lively merchant that sat Itoside mo threw in a few words now and then to stir up the conversation, which in Scotland BEECH FORESTS. ft ./ 1 am sure would have been taken amiss, and considered very- forward and impudent, but the young rural beauties to whom they were addressed were never at a loss for a happy and good-humoured rejoinder. I remained for a night at Bellefontaine, as the train by which I expected to get on to Cincinnati had run off the rails. Several passengers were waiting patiently ; none of them complained of the delay, but comforted them- selves that they had got on safely, and that a little time lost was not of much consequence. In fact, this was sound philosophy, with which I afterwards often consoled myself in like circumstances. Certainly railway ti |^ri^*^"*^^° ara very common in this part of America, for almost every paper reported some casualty, and this same day I met two persons in the train who had met with serious accidents on two diffe- rent lines. It is no wonder that the engines often run off t he rai ls, for the roadway is badly kept, and the jolting in the carriages is excessive and most disagreeable when the s'peed 18 considerable. The soil is sandy along the shores of Lake Erie, and not of very good quality. After reaching Cleveland, the railway takes a south-west direction through the State of Ohio. For a few miles south from the town it ascends over a slightly broken country, but it soon becomes very level with immense stretches, which have been cut as straig JaLaa an arrow throug^h Jjie forest . After getting six miles t>ut of Cleveland, I did not see a railway cutting fifteen feet in depth as far as Belle- fontaine. For about one hundred miles south of Cleveland, the greater pa rt of the country was under woo g. Beecb and elm were the principal trees, and their leaves were still on, showing a milder climate than I had left a week ago ; but their colours were neither so bright nor so varied as upon the trees of the primary soils at St. Hilaire. The soil on which the beech principally grows in this part of Ohio is a cream-coloured sandy clay of a close tex- ture. It usually contains little vegetable matter a few inches below its surface ; and it cannot be considered rich. The rojls of the trees only desceiided a very short way /■■ 78 OHIO. • '? I ■" into the ground, and seemed to run along near the sur- face. In all probability, the shallow rooting habits of the beech enable that tree to thrive on those compact soils, which the deeper rooting oak and hickory cannot penetrate in consequence of the air being so much excluded. In some parts, however, the beech was growmg where there was a considerable layer of black vegetable matter, or what is called " muck,*' that has no doubt accumulated from the yearly fall of leaves. This mould was most abundant where the soil was damp, and throughout Canada West and the north- western parts of the State of New York I was always told that the beech iE> the predominant tree on the soft surface- soils that are rich in vegetable matter, a description of laud better adapted for Indian corn than wheat But so far as I now recollect, the subsoils of the beech forests are generally compact, and not favourable to the roots of trees descending. From these factn, I am inclined to think that it is the nature of the subsoil which, in many instances, determines the growth of particular kinds of trees, that the mucky matter of the beech forests is a subsequent accumulation, and tbat its presence in quantity depends upon influences that retard its decomposition. The greater portion of the land south from Cleveland, though the beech grows upon it, is not well adapted for Indian com, for it does not contain much vegetable matter, and therefore green wheat fields were common, having many stumps of trees in them. At Bellefontaine the character of the land changes, and the oak and nickory are the chief trees in the forest. In some of the railway cuttings, the roots are seen thickly inter- spersed through the ground to the depth of from two to three feet. The soil upon which the oak and hickory grow is of a dark hazel colour; in fact, very much resembling the colour of the roots of these trees, or of their withered leaves. It appears to have been dyed during the lapse of ages by the decaying roots and leaves of the trees that have grown upon it. Oak and hickory forest covered large areas in Ohio, and where the land is cleared is productive of grass, wheat, and Indian corn. These soils, however, d^d not strike me as being particu- larly fertile ; they consist either of a light sandy loam resting 1 t ROTATION OF TREES. 79 iter- lOak the [dian Iticu- ^ting •1 Vi . upon limestone gravel, or of a friable drift clay, yet they are capable of raising excellent crops of Indian corn, which are often taken for several years in succession. From the enquiries that I made, I learned that if the oak and hickory forests are cut down or otherwise destroyed, the same trees again spring up and occupy the ground. This also holds when the beech forest is cut down, for the beech again occupies the soil which seems to suit it, but on which the deeper rooted oak does not find the conditions suitable to its growth. It would thus appear there is no rotation of trees in this part of Ohio. I was afterwards informed by Professor Mather, Columbus, Ohio, that there are certain districts in the south-eastern part oi the State where the soil is a cold clay and entirely under oaks, but on which pines at one time must have grown, as their resinous knots are found in the oak forests in such quantitiee that they are collected and used as fuel. I regretted that I did not see this soil upon which this rotation of trees had taken place. Bellefontaine is a small village, pnd the accommodation for travellers is by no means first-rate, but everything being clean, there was no cause for complaint. In this little country place the levelling of class distinctions seemed to be complete. One of the boarders in the inn, a polite fellow and fully better dressed than any of our company, I found y j was a sort of gentleman swine herd, who paid three dol- 12/ / lars a week for bej and board! After breakfast 1 took a / walk with him for a mile into the country, to see a lot of 300 pig s, which were enclosed in a field of about three acres m extent. The forest had been lately cut down, and the stumps were standing thickly over the ground ; the spot had been selected in consequence of a small stream of water running along one of its sides. A wooden_bin stood in the centre containing India n corn in the cob, which the feeder filled into & baskftt, anfT t.hpm, finftttfirgd gy^r ih(\ aiirfia^ of the ground twice a day. The hogs were of good sorts, lazy good tempered looking brutes, and getting into prime condition ; their average dead weight would be about 160 pounds. The usual allowance for one hundred pigs is eight bushels of shelled corn a day. It costs about thirty-five cents 80 OHIO. ) .' (Is. 6d.) a week to feed a pig. I was afterwards introduced to the owner of this herd, a much rougher looking fellow than his help, for his beard was of a week's growth, his face unwashed, and his pants a little tattered. He was a good hearty fellow, however, and put upwards of 20,000 hogs every year through his hands. He buys them from the farmers, feeds with corn, and then exports them to the Atlantic towns. The fact, however, of this hog merchant buying Indian corn and fattening pigs with it, and at the same time having no regard to the manure, shows that the value of Indian corn in Ohio is still regulated by the price which it is worth for feeding. The manuring of land is not yet appreciated^ or rather, perhaps, a man's labour is as yet more varuable in clearing and cultivating land than in collecting and applying manure to it. The soil is comparatively good in the neighbourhood of Bellefontaine, and rests upon drift gravel and clay. Oak is the principal tree in the forest. The wild grape is growing in great abundance, and throwing its vines over the tops of some of tho trees. The frost had scorched the leaves, some of which had already dropped off. The south wind bad once more brought a delightful temperature ; the thermometer was as high as 60° at sunrise, and the day very warm. The first snow that I saw this season was two days ago, as I travelled south from Oswego, where all the windward sides of the trees had a coating ; bat the air was so dry and bracing that I had no idea it was so near the freezing point. South of Bellefontaine the country becomes more rolling and covered with a sharp sandy loam, but in some parts it is too clayey for Indian corn being cultivated with advantage. To the eye of an agricult urist there ca nJie-£a ^more pleasing spots in Americathan the distric t aro und West Libe rty. The iarms are from ZUU to 3UU acres m extent, and^he houses have every air of comfort about them. The fields are of good size and well laid out, and tho cattle would not be despised in the best breeding districts in Britain. The principal crops are clo\o r, Indian corn, and wheat ; and a shorToutlii^^ 6f the peculiarities of their culture in Southern Ohio may be here given. ') ^•v \ ( F « \ i I \r ^•a f 1 ft CULTURE OF INDIAN CORN. 81 If the physical conciitions of the soil determine the kinds of trees which cover a country, the chemical conditions (over and above the mere presence of plant constituents) have much to do with the fitness of soils for th e growth of clove r and the grasses. The very genial nature of the soil and subsoil in the district around West Liberty, for the growth of clover and grass, is strikingly exhibited on some of the limestone gravels. On the railway embankments, amongst sand and gravel, I noticed plants of red clovcr which had from fortvi to fifty stalks from one raot 7and among the same materials tEe beautiful Kentucky blue stem grass was growing most luxuriantly. On the arable lands here the clovers were ;'emarkably well planted, while on the clay soils to the north of Bellefontaine the pastures were generally miserable, being overgrown with annual weeds that were now withered, and from two to five feet in height according to the richness of the land. The Kentucky blue grass affords excellent pasture on the more friable loams of Southern Ohio, and when the fields are seeded down with it, the most of the noxious weeds are kept under-, and the fertility of the land is soon restored after it has been reduced by cropping. Where wheat and Indian corn lands produce good grasses for pastur- ing, they may be considered as practically inexhaustible. It is common in this part of Ohio to allow the land to lie in pasture for several ^ears, and then to sow wheat and Indiac corn alternately for a number of years, without any manuiii •^ I first saw this mode of cropping in the neigh- bour^iood of West Liberty. The causes that lead to this change in the system of farming are worthy of being inquired into. Somewhat to the south of Lake Erie, the chmate admits of a difierent variety of Indian corn being cultivated. The kind chiefly grown in Canada and the Northern States is caVed Flint corn, and is extremely beautiful, its long cobs being filled with large yellow plump grains. It is culti- vated in rows, at intervals of thirty to thirty-six inches, and the plants are from a foot and a half to two feet apart in the rows. As already stated, the objection which the farmers in the Northern States and Canada have to the raising of Indian corn, is the great amount of hand labour that is required to G :i-,;.j /•' 82 OHIO. keep the crop clean. But in Souther '>(iio, the variety bofit Buited to the cUmato is the Dent corn, which in not so phimp aH the Flint ; indeed, the grain in the cob has the appearance of having been shri Ued by ripeninj^ prematurely. Here, however, and espec" ' in Kentucky, it is the most productive variety, and what is more important still, it requires little hand labour in its cultivation. The habits of the Dent corn admit of its being planted very wide, so that the horse hoe and the plough can be freely used to keep down weeds. This, it appears to me, is the secret of the economical culti- vation of Indian corn in Southern Ohio and Kentucky. The Dont corn is planted in squares of three fee t, or in what is called ' Vcheck rows " by the Ohio farmers. This allows the land to b e ploU'^hcd and horse-hoed both ways , so that great execution is done among the weeds, for all the ground is stirred during the gi vth of the crop, except a small space around each stalk. The few weeds that escape the plough are readily extirpated by a touch of the hand-hoe. The Dent variety of Indian corn is cultivated in all those States which export Indian corn or bacon to a great extent, and the " check-row " system of cultivation is universally followed. The farmer that I met at Batavia Station, after all, was not so far wrong when he told me, that a man and a boy would manage fifty acres of Indian corn in Ohio as easily as five acres on the wheat soils of New York State. From twenty to twenty-five acres of Indian corn is the com- mon quantity allotted to a man in Ohio, and he will do all the work required in ten weeks. I have met with some Yankee farmers, who boasted that they could cultivate forty acres of maize on the prairies. In consequence of the finer climate in Southern Ohio it is also highly probable that this crop requires less manure to grow a given number of bushels than it does in the Northern States. Indian corn is sown throughout the month of May in Southern Ohio, ar d ripens in the early part of September. Like the turnip, it thrives best in an easy loam, and frequent ploughings during the summer promote its growth, for a well- stirred soil abs orbs moistur e during the dewy nigh ts. The stronger clay soils &K hot so well adapted for Indian corn, ;• CULTURE OF INDIAN <^ OllN. 83 le for oil these it is apt to suffer more whoii the drought is pro- tracted. Indian com yields from forty to seventy bushels to the acre, on the sandy loams, in the vicinity of West Liberty. The natural yield of wheat is not so large in Southern Ohio OH in Canada West and the Northern States, but the smaller yic is obtained at less expense. 1 was quite astonished at the pasy way in which wheat is got in the neighbourhood of West r/iberty, and 1 afterwards learned that the same r n in iu''owed in all those districts in wh' ",. t}>a Dent con iltivated. The wheat which was r v iiier the fnt^ ,^1,! 13 already beautifully green, thou^- 'O*, quite t A art what had been sown after clover, but the crop ot Ij orn was still standing in round '' shucks," in the field. 1^ he corn had been cut, and put up in rows in these shucks, which were about three feet in diameter at the bottom, and tapering to the top, were tied with pieces of the stalks. In this state, the Indian corn is secure from the influence of the weather, and might stand uninjured till spring, as the cob is completely protected by its sheath. In many instances, the fields upon which the Indian corn was thus standing had only got some harrowing to prepare it for the wheat, which had been either drilled or sown broad- cast, and again harrowed to cover it, and the stubble of the Indian corn was seen over the fields from six to eight inches in height. By this system, the wheat is got early into the ground in autumn — a condition essential to its successful cultivation throughout America. The Indian com is removed from the wheat fields in winter, and the small spots of ground upon which the *' shucks" stood are sown with spring wheat. Large herds of fine cattle were grazing on the meadows along the rivers betwixt Bellefontaine and Cincinnati. The railway runs through a portion of the rich Miami valley, where Indian corn is the staple crop. I noticed a few sheds adjoin- ing the farm houses for drying tobacco. There are now upwards of 160,000 inhabitants in Cincinnati. " the Queen of the WeRt ." and the numbers are still rapidly augmenting. The streets are wide, with rows of trees along the side walks, and many of the private dwellings, shops, and hotels, are built in a style of great magnificence. The streets^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I l^|2^ 12.5 |5o ■^" H^H g U° 12.0 m 1.25 1 1.4 1.6 < 6" ► (^ ffh w^. '^-^^^ Photographic Sciences Corporation ^ ^ 4^^^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 '<*>"■ uVl^* u. \ 84 OHIO. however, have been long noted for their filthinees, and are still overrun with hungry pigs that feed upon the offal that is thrown out of doors. These brutes act the part of scavengers, and, belonging' to no one, those who choose may catch and kill. 'The most of them, however, are lean and hungry looking, and do not tempt even the Irishmen who abound in the city to reduce their numbers. Nothing shows more strikingly the absence of an indigent class in the west, than the existence of this herd of stray pigs which infest the streets of Cincinnati. I was considerably disappointed at the sight of the Ohio. The street by which I approached this river appeared to be a continuation of another in Covington, a town of 20,000 inhabitants on the opposite or Kentucky side ; and on first looking across, I had no idea that the Ohio lay betwixt the two ; but there it was confined within a narrower bed than usual, in consequence of the long continued drought. It did not seem to be more than 250 yards across, and though it had recently risen two feet, there was scarcely five feet of water , in its deepest part s. From the lowness of the water, business "^Qtt "tktU^ had been greatly suspended. The difference betwixt hig h {una U9 S*> and low water is abo">t sixty feet , and the houses along the tojf *L wharf are built about high water mark ; thus there was now a iV'wuvJ'V 1 !>*• great extent of the muddy banks sloping down to the channel ji^. ^6^* ^^'^y* * circumstance which rendered this part of the city by no means prepossessing. The water of the Ohio is muddy, and of a dirty cream colour. I had no distinct idea of the physical peculiarities of the valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries before visiting Cincinnati. The States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and a large portion of Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa, Wis- consin, Michigan, and Upper Canada, may be regarded as forming a vast plateau from 700 to 900 feet above the level , of the sea. As the Ohio river at Cincinnati is 432 fe£t love the level of the se a, it is therefore about 400 feet below the general level o{ the vast plateau that forms the surface of the States just mentioned. This table-land nearly cor- responds with the regions traced on the jigp prefixed to this volume as forming the wheat and Indian corn regions f '.8 n>i -1 MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 85 / ,/ jiat -^ 1 1 the ting a . / ions west of the Alleghany range. The Ohio and Mississippi have cut channels for themselves' out of this table-land, the strata of which are nearly horizontal, and consist of thin beds of limestone alternating with soft aluminous shales. At Cincinnati the formations belong to the Trenton limestone, a member of the Lower Silurian, the softness of which has favoured the Ohio in excavating a deep channel. The escarpments on the Ohio and on the Kentucky side form steep banks to the river of 400 feet in height. The action of the side streams that flow into the Ohio has further served to cut out the country, from two to four miles on both sides of the river, into an innumerable series of rounded hills and valleys, covered with magnificent forests or fine pastures. Cincinnati lies in a hollow of a semicircular shape, and is sheltered on the north by the steep escarpment of the table- land. To the east of the town the observatory is built on an out-jutting portion of the plateau, which approaches the river more closely than usual. *'In tracing the Ohio to its source," says Mr. Elliot,* " we must regard the Alleghany river as its proper continua- tion. This noble tributary rises on the borders of Lake Erie, at an elevation of 1300 feet above the surface of the sea, and nearly 700 feet above the level of the lake. This plain along which the river flows is connected with no mountain range at its northern extremity, but continues its rise with great uniformity from the mouth of the Ohio to the brim of the basin which encloses Lake Erie. The sources of the tributary streams are generally diminutive ponds distributed along the edge of the basin of Lake Erie, but far above its surface, but so slightly separated from it, that they may all be drained with littie labour down the steep slopes into that inland sea. From these remote sources, a bo" ^ "'"y fit»^*' wjj JL sufficient water within seven miles of Lake Eri e, in sight sometimes of the sails which whiten the approach to the harbour of Buffalo, and float securely down the Connewango to the Alleghany, down the Alleghany to the Ohio, and^Jhfifice uninterruptedly t,n fhfi G ulf of Mexico . In all this distance of 2400 miles the descent is gentle." \. * Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. m OHIO. The distance in a direct line from the mouth of the Mississippi to the source of the Ohio near Buffalo is about 1250 miles, showing the slope of the nniii?|;^rY to be, on an average, about afoot_in a mile . But the river in its sinuous course runs nearly double the distance. Its fall is greatest in its upper parts, and from Cincinnati to the sea, nearly 1700 miles, the average is scarcely three inches to a mile. By looking to the map it will be seen that the Alleghany river flows through the higher land that forms the terminating slope of the Alleghany mountains. On the other hand, the country due north from Cincinnati is so level, that — as Pro- fessor Twitchell, assistant at the observatory, assured me — there was scarcely a rise of 100 feet from the ground on which the observatory is built to the shore of Lake Erie; while to the west, as far as St. Louis, with the exception of the broken land arising from the denudation of the side streams, it is almost equally level. Tt is a characteristic feature of the table-land adjoining the large rivers flowing into the Missis- sippi, that it is everywhere broken into round hills by the action of the side streams. Nowhere in America was I mo re struck with the beauty and magnificence of the cou ot ry than from the broyy of the hill upon which the observatory is bu ilt. The Ohio itself, a diminutive object, is soon lost sight TIF behind the broken and steep banks which it has ■ formed in hollowing out its winding bed. The cr "^tless number of hills and dells on both sides of the rive? covered with a rich carpet of grass, wherever the forest has oeen cleared. It is on the southern slopes of these hills that the cultivation of the Catawba grape is so rapidly extending for making wine. The distant horizon was everywhere bounded by the natural forest, the leaves of which were fast fading, and the red, yellow, and green tints were changing to the dull brown. The richness of the country, its apparently boundless extent, and the soft beauty of the landscape, lighted up by the setting sun, have served to render the view from the heights of Cincinnati one that is still fresh in my memory. The few days that I remained in Cincinnati were spent among very agreeable company. I visited Mr. Longworth's i( r ili. (f^\ VINEYABDS. 87 wiue vault s, which have beuoiue oue of the aighte of the town . Great credit is due to this geutJemau for ms perseverance in introducing and promoting the cultivation of the native grape for the making of wine, which is now beginring to compete with the wines of Europe. As I by no means pretend to be a connoisseur, I cannot say how far the sparkling Catawba falls short of good champagne. To my taste it seemed to retain a little of the peculiar flavour which predominates to a disagreeable extent in the wild grape that is so abundant in the woods. The vineyards occupy the southern slopes of the rounded hills on the banks of the river. The soil is a tenacious loam, and is usually trenched two feet before the vines are planted. It only contains a moderate quantity of vegetable mould, which is said to be more abundant on the northern exposures of the hills than on the southern, in consequence of the accumulation being greater where the soil is less directly exposed to the action of the sun's rays. It was reckoned that there were 1600 acres in Ohio ex- clusively devoted to grape-growing in 1853, of which 300 to 400 acres are in the vicinity of Cincinnati. On the Kentucky side a considerable quantity of land is likewise devoted to the grape, and its culture is also extending along the banks of the rivers in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. Some of the vineyards yield from 7000 to 8000 gallons. The culture of :the pap ft, ^^H'Y^vftr, rftpftly furnishes a profitable mvestment for capital, if hired labour is wholly employed. The iiennari settlers realize a good income from this source, as their families all assist. A piece of land from fifteen to twenty acres, with a house on it, is given to a German family, on condition that they plant a certain quantity of grapes every year, and pay the proprietor one half of the proceeds of the vineyard. The rounded hillocks to the north of Cincinnati afford picturesque spots for residences, and many elegant villas and substantial mansions crown these heights. Among others, Mr. Buchanan's may be mentioned as laid out with great taste. Fine orchards of apples occupied the east- ern and western slopes of a lengthened ridge running out towards the Ohio, while the vineyard covered the rounded bank in front, and the elegant mansion overlooked the whole. 88 OHIO. The apples were fine and particularly large ; some of the varieties ripened in June, while others were not yet ready to be gathered. This good clay loam bore the best grass that I had seen in America, with the exception of the Genesee flats. There is something very fertile in the most of the soils that are formed from the decomposition of calcareous strata. I was informed by many parties that there is a great extent of land resting on the Trenton limestone in Kentucky, which affoi'ds the best pastures in the United States. It is rather re- markable that the region which produces the best grasses is also best adapted for Indian corn. Kentucky may be considered as the heart, nf the grass and ma ize region. The JJent variety of Indian corn, which is the most productive and most easily cultivated, appears to obtain in that State those conditions which are favourable to its yielding the greatest amount of grain. It is said that no less than 166 bushels of this grain have been raised upon an acre. No doubt the climate deter- mines the productive powers of the maize, for its yield rapidly decreases as we go farther south, even on the richest soils of the Mississippi. But the chemical properties of the limestone soils of Kentucky seem to bestow their grass-producing quali- ties. Jliieut. Maury informed me that the fine grazing lands in Ohio and Kentucky were confined to the limestone moulds, and he attributes their fertility to the power which the calcareous matter has of absorbing and retaining moisture. The elder Weld also, who travelled in America in the end of last (;en- tury, notices the bad grazing qualities of the land in Virginia, unless upon the limestone. Indeed, the best land in the same latitudes on the Atlantic coast affords very poor pastures. The fertility of all soils that grow good grasses is enduring, for when temporarily exhausted, it is easily renewed and recruited under pasturage. The forests are magnificent on the Trenton limestone formation of Southern Ohio and Kentucky. Where the soil is somewhat close in its texture, the beech predominates, but where marly and more open, there is a mixture of trees. The tulip-tree, the chestnut, the hickory, the beech, the oak, the elm, the locust, and the maple, grow in social equality, producing noble forests. The under-growth in these forests was cane-break when the country was first settled, but the (i PASTURES. 89 /■ 5» id le 3il ut leaves of the cane furniahed food much relished by cattle, and the cropping of them in summer had the effect of extirpating the cane. As it disappeared, fine grasses took possession of the soil, and afford what is known in Kentucky as " wood pastures." The powerful rays of the American sun render the grasses under trees not only nutritious, but palatable to cattle. I was also told by Lieut. Maury that the trampling of the ground in pasturing it with cattle had the effect of extirpating some kinds of trees in the wood pastures, fur- nishing an illustration of the influence of the physical condi- tions of soil in determining the growth of trees. Cincinnati has increased its manufactures very much of late years. There are several cotton and tobacco factories, and also of cloth and furniture upon a large scale, besides upwards of forty iron foundries with machine shops. The curing of bacon is also carried on to an enormous extent. As the slaying or packing season was just commencing when I left town, the whole country in Southern Ohio seemed to be swarming with pigs, and long trains of trucks filled with them wefe pouring into the " P orkopolis ," where upwards of half a million are slaug^htered m the autumn . The pork teaSe IS now a iarge on e in almost every f own in the southern part of the State. When I was in Cincinnati there was a run for gold on several of the banks, and the excitement was great, as three or four had already suspended payment. While a friend went into one to draw some money, I intended to remain on the steps of the door with another gentleman, until he should join us. But one of the clerks of the establishment came and told us to come in, if we required any money, and get it, but not to stand about the door, as one or two might be the means of collecting a crowd, and causing a run upon them. This I thought revealed a deal of weakness, and at once I left the steps as if the walls of the house were about to fall. A few days after leaving town, I learned that all the banks in Cincinnati had suspended payment. During the time I was in Ohio, I met several parties who had been severe sufferers from these failures. Others, again, were rejoicing at the crisis, and blaming the democracy for the disgraceful state of the currency laws. \ \\ tt^- J ; ' >^ V . ,/ .6!v: 'i-\\:: \ I '•.-r . CHAPTER VI. ^ V. . CINCINNATI TO OHICAQO. .,. Left Cincinnati, Ohio, on the afternoon of 24th October 1854, for Springfield, eighty miles to the north-east, where the National A gricultural Society held its annual exhibition. The country iiFthe neighbourhood is moderately fertile, and consists for the most part of a smidy loam , dyed into a dark hazel tinge, which is peculiar^to all those soils upon which oak and hickory are the predominating trees in the forests. The subsoil isusuallv gravelly, though often contain-^ ing clay. Indian corn and wheat are the principal crops which are cultivated, ine land is suitable to the growth of clovers, and produces good pastures when seeded with those grasses that are natural to the land. Springfield contains a population of 7000 inhabitants, and is in a very flourishing condition. Agriculturists were attend- this meeting from all niop . The secretary travelled from Boston, a distance of nme hundred miles, by railway ; other officials had come almost as far from the south and from the west, and even some of the judges from Canada. The greater number, however, were from the neigh- bouring states of Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. There was qothing shown b u t cattle, and the great majority were Short-horns , for whicn the soil and climate of Southern Ohio and Kentucky seem admirably adapted. I was surprised at the general excellenc e of the stock ; indeed, among the hundred and fifty Short-horns that were exhibited, there were few animals that could be considered second-rate. I am not sure if the Short-horned stock was so uniformly good at Windsor in 1851, though there might be some better animals. One bull had been lately imported from England, i^H 'f i'' /; KENTUCKY FAUMINQ. 91 th- reat of I fed, 3d, te. ter id, ..-^: ■1'^ .£ip' 100 Mien la AN. ccaslou for applying any extraneous manure, s ave mm, for the clover or the Indian corn. The the surface-soil itself. If he ploughs deep, he considers that there is no occasj a little gypsum, condition of this farm, when contrasted with those adjoining, served to confirm the opinion I had already formed, that the wheat soi ls of Ame rica stand less in need of manure than of g25^fil fjilltiivft*'"", ^"^ '^ rnffttmn of crops of not too exhausting a character. The young layers of red clover on this farm were beautiful, even the plants in those fields which had been pastured for two years were thick and vigorous. The rotation which he prefers is three years in clover, followed by Indian corn, and then wheat . Amongst the latter, ciover 18 again sown. Nvheat, however, is generally sown after clover in this part of Michigan. As in other parts of the Northern States, wheat is sown early in September ; the long autumns causing a considerable growth before the frosts of winter set in with severity. Some of the fields of wheat had a remarkably healthy appearance : the colour was of the darkest green, and the plants were matted over the ground. For the first time, however, 1 noticed here the depredations of the Hessian fly, its larvae rendering the edges of some of the fields of a rusty red colour. Mr. Uhl farmed at one time in the Genesee district. New York State, and follows the Genesee mode of farming to a certain extent. The clover fields, when they are to be seeded with wheat, are broken up from the Ist May to the Ist of .July — a furrow from eight to nine inches in depth being given. The surface is then cultivated by the grubber until all the weeds are killed, and the wheat is sown broadcast from the 10th to 20th September. Indian corn is planted in square s, or check-rows, three feet apart, which system allows the land to be completely worked by the plough, so that little hand-hoeing is required. Potatoes are also planted in squares , or check-rows — a practi^q ^"Tn"^?P to-al Lthe Western State s, for the same reason. The climate of North America causes the potato to produce many more long and slender stems than that of Britain ; and when earthed up at the roots by the plough, little hand-weeding is required. Thus it Is seen the presiding genius of American farming directs her WHEAT CULTURE. 101 [uareB, FTTIie little Luares , Jtates, causes stems roots Is it is ts her votaries towards the ocopomisinfii of manual lahoj i'' '" BYfiry department of the art. Mr. Tjhns a great advocate for grazing more, and having less in cultivation ; and no doubt the great rise which has taken place in the price of butcher-meat will have a tendency to alter the modes of farming that are pursued in many districts. The cattle were good specimens of the Durham breed. Sheep are not favourites, because they are considered t.n fiat, ^jiflf invAra tn^ p.Iobp,, and the laud docs not improve so rapidly as when it is grazed with cattle. There were 55 acres sown with wheat, and 20 in Indian corn. All the labour on the farm is performed with the assistance of two servants and five work-horses. Some of his neighbours were sowing a larger proportion of their land with wheat. One farm, of 110 acres, not all arable, was pointed out where the land is very light, but on which 70 acres were sown with wheat, and on some of the fields several crops had been taken in succession. Under good management, thirty bushels of wheat are sometimes got to the acre over the farm ; but the average produce in Michigan is not one-half of this quantity. This year Indian corn had yielded Mr. Uhl seventy bushels per acre. He sometimes sows it broadcast, and obtains about four tons of hay to the acre by cutting it in a green state. Gypsum is attended with beneficial effects when applied to Indian corn, potatoes, or clover. Next day we drove on to Ann Arbour, a distance of ten miles, through an undulating country. The soil was light, and principally under wheat, which was very forward, though in some cases sickly, from the attacks of the Hessian fly. The Michigan University is at this town, where the more advanced branches of education are taught free to all. A large library and a museum of natural history are forming. An observatory is also erected in the midst of a stump-covered country, where stately trees had lately grown. In every township in Michigan a certain quantity of land is reserved for educational purposes, which affords the means of erecting and endowing free schools. There is no fear of over-educating a nation ; for although education may be free to all, the capacity of a people to receive 102 MICHIGAN. it depends upon the length of time during which the pdrenti are able to support their children at school. Left Ann Arbour in the afternoon, and reached Kalamazoo, a distance of 100 miles. This is a small town, of 4000 inhabitants, which has lately sprung up in the wilderness. The pumbers of people travelling on business to different part s of the^Tountrv were extraordinary ! In the hotel next morning I found myself seated at the breakfast-table beside a backwoodsman, with his wife and family. They had all a somewhat melancholy cast of countenance, and seemed to be regardless of the stir that was going on around them. The husband, about fifty years of age, was wiry, but not robust. He told me that he had felled and cleared , in different parts of the country, upwards of 100 acres ^ f heavily-timbered land, and had only got assistance at " log-rolling." As a pioneer in the desert, he spoke with great enthusiasm abou t h is occupation, which, he said, "was hard, but very-Egetty ^ work." _ Jn travelling over America one is surprised to find so large an extent of land cleared; but a few thousands of such men are certainly well calculated to change the whole aspect of a wide country, since every stroke of the axe tells. Drove out ten miles to the southward with Mr. Holmes, to pay a visit to the president of the State Agricultural Society, who farms in Prairie Rond, one of several little round prairies which stretch along the southern borders of Michigan. The small prairies in this State indicate that there is some- thing peculiar either in the soil or climate which is unfavour- able to the growth of wood. These peculiarities are still more fully exhibited to the westward, where an immense area of prairie land exists. The ph ysical c auses contributing to the formation of prairies have bg gn much discussed. 'I sKall hereafter give my reasons for supposing that the chief element that has operated in producing those treeless regions is climate. The road over which we drove was a plank one, through a thinly-timbered oak forest, growing upon sand or lime- stone gravel. The boundaries of Prairie Bond were as well defined as if it had been the bed of an ancient lake. It A-_. WHEAT CULTURE. 103 / Still ense ang I shief ions is about five miles in diameter, and almost asjevel as a bowling-green, though rather higher in the centre, which has made it quite dry. The upper stratum of vegetable mould is about sixteen inches in depth, and consists of a dark-coloured sandy loam ; the subsoil of a lighter coloured loam, resting upon gravel or clay. This kind of soil, being apparently rich in those earthy and alkaline matters which plants require, seems to be .well-nigh inexhaustible. Crops of Indian com, wheat, and oats, are raised for many years in succession, without any manure being applied ; but the soil gets loose when con- stantly kept under tillage. The president's farm is 160 acres in extent, and two young men performed all the labour. On this he cultivates 60 acres of wheat, and 60 of Indian corn every year. T hese crops_ are often takpn ftlt^rnately for a number of years. A peculiarity in the modeofrai8ingIridian~c6rn was seen on this farm, which admits of the land being thoroughly cultivated by the plough in summer. It was planted in rows, at intervals of 8 feet, and the distance between the plants in the rows from 6 to 8 inches. Wheat can be sown early in autumn, and grubbed or haiTowed in long before the Indian corn is harvested. In fact, while I was there, though the wheat was matted over the ground, I saw a waggon drawn by a horse betwixt the rows of corn, and a man on each side pulling ofif the ears, and throwing them into it. The stalks of Indian com were left standing as before, and would remain till spring, affording some protection to the wheat- plant against the high winds that sweep across this country in winter. Even where Indian corn was cultivated in three-feet rows or squares, wheat was growing among the withered stalks from which the grain had been gathered. Thus, although wages are high, and the crops of winter wheat do not average more than 14 to 16 bushels to the acre, yet they are raised at comparatively little expense in alternation with maize, which yields from 45 to 70 bushels. The young layers of red clover were thick and vigorous. When a field is seeded for grass, it is allowed to remain for two or three years, which serves to solidify the soil, and render it better adapted for winter wheat. Around some of the fields 104 MICUIQAN. the finer pasture-grasses were growing luxuriantly, and pro- ducing a fine herbage. The president was from home ; but his daughter, a pretty and intelligent girl, acted as hostess. As all rise early in Atneric a, dinner is usually served up about noon. The i^ericans are commonly good cooks ; and great mechanical skill has been displayed in adapting the kitchen stoves for cooking. I do not think our fair hostess had any help to prepare our excellent diuner, with its great variety of dcEH sert ; but things went on so smoothly that one could hardly believe that both the cook and the lady were combined in her person. After having had some good music and native airs from our entertainer, Mr. Holmes and I found our way in the dark to Kalamazoo, highly pleased with our visit to Prairie Rond. After bidding adieu to Mr. Holmes, to whom I feel myself under great obligations for his attention, I left next afternoon by railway for Chicago on Lake Michigan, a distance of 140 miles." The line runs through a long stretch of " oak openings, " which were the finest specimens of this peculiar kind of fores t growth that I saw ; and what made them more interesting was~ the circumstance of their being almost untouched by the axe of the backwoodsman. Where oak-openings occur, the soil is dry and gravelly, and the surface undulating — a feature which seems common to most of the gravels in Europe and America. The trees are thinly distributed over the surface, and the distance at whi ch they grow from each other seem ed so reg ui^pt hat one mig ht have supposed a skilful fore ster b M^en employed t o plant them. The crooked trunks are usually aDout a toot and a half in diameter, and bare from 20 to 25 feet from the ground ; after that they are forked, but having no great abundance of branches, have altogether a gnarled appearance. The soil seems to be too dry and gravelly to support a denser growth ; for on the ridges they were from 30 to 40 yards apart, while in the hollows, where the land was moister, the trees were more thickly planted. The contrast is very striking between the densely- wooded sands and gravels of New England, which are the veiy types of sterility, and the stunted growth of the trees on the was axe soil iture and face, Imed iter are trom ;ed, Ither and Iges IW8, ;kly |ely- 'eiy the OAK OPENINGS. 100 better soils of the oak-openiLgs. The climate of the Western States is not nearly so propitious to the growth of trees as that of the Atlantic sea-board, where the rains at certain seasons of the year are more abundant. Oak-openings, I believe, do not occur much farther to the eastward than Paris in Upper Canada, where the soil is somewhat similar to that of the oak-openings of Michigan. It is generally supposed that th e prairies a nd o ak-openings ce the result of th e Indians formerly having fired the country ly having The blac «^Yfry y^ar for huntings-bounds . The blackened mould of the prairies is no doubt partly owing to the charred vegetable matter from fires which so frequently ran over them. But in the oak-openings there is little evidence of fire being con- cerned in their formation, for the colour of the vegetable mould is of the same hazel tinge which prevails in the oak- forests of Ohio. These gravelly soils, it would appear, can only support a limited number of trees, and the waste of vegetable matter from decay has always been about equal to the annual growth ; so there is no accumulation. I have no doubt that soils of similar quality to those in Michigan would produce dense forests in Vermont. It is worthy of notice tiiat the deficiency of rains occurs principally in winter, which appears tol)e the most marked peculiarity of the climate of the North- Western States. The following figures, taken from the reduction of observations by the Smithsonian Institution, may help to throw some light on this subject : — Fall of rain at Gardner, in the State of Maine — average of sixteen years. Spring, Summer. Autumn. Winter. 10.6 inches. 10.3 10.6 10.1 Fall at Fort Snelllng, Minnesota Territory— fifteen years. Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter. 6.8 inches. 10.2 6.7 2.0 The North-Westem States are also more liable to pro- tracted periods of drought, which Dr. Henry suggested to me might originally have destroyed the forests with the assistance of fires ; and when grasses and various plants had once got possession of the land, they would prevent the seeds of the forestrtrees springing up. The best prairie lands, so far as ./ -% ■ r \ 106 MICUIOAN. I could judge, had an unctuous clay in the suhsoil, and Buch is, no doubt, most conducive to the growth of grasses. On the other hand, in the great western prairies there are usually stunted oaks, with the scrub oak as undergrowth, of the same character as in the oak-openings, growing upon all the gravelly eminences which are not favourable to the growth of the grasses. One generation of trees after another maintain their hold upon these knolls, which appear like islands rising out of the wide grassy wastes. On the prairie knolls, as in the oak-openings, there is no great accumulation of vegetable matter from the growth of timber; but where the soil is more propitious to the growth of grasses, an immense accu- mulation has taken place. I have often wondered at the enormous depth of mould even on some of the tops of the rounded wave-like eminences that prevail in the prairie region. The Swedish traveller Kalm relates that the prairies were, even in his time, less productive of pasturage, in consequence of the cattle having extirpated all the best grasses,,!^ which he tells us were annuals. The cattle, he remarked, did not allow the seeds to come to maturity, and hence they disappeared. I thought this was rather a curious statement when I saw it, as annual grasses do not predominate in natural pastures; and Professor Warder, of Cincinnati, assured mo that the statement of Kalm was not correct. But the perennial grasses of the natural prairies are rapidly disappearing under pasturage, as well as the great variety of wild-flowers with which they were at one time adorned in early summer. The prairie regions form a great feature in the natural vegetation of the American continent. A line drawn fro m ^e centre of Southern Michigan to St. Loms, and exte nding toT-'exas, would form a rough boundary bet wixt the woode d and the treeless count ry. West of this line, the trees ^e generally stunted, unless along the margins of the rivers, whereas the co untry eastw ard to the Atlant ic coast was almost rwhere^ densely croffied with timber w'll^ll disLuiei'ed \ . by Europeans." 'I'he sketch will show the prairie regions of North America with greater distinctness. The pheno- mena connected with the smaller fall of rain west of the ■v\ i m. i i..-iiu ' ^. | -"X!- ' CHICAGO. 107 in Mississippi during the cold months will be afterwards ad- verted to. Twenty miles before reaching Chicago the country became a dead level, rising only a few Feet above Lake Michigan. It is damp and marshy, and covered with coarse rank grass, which cattle do not touch in summer. It was rather late before I arrived at the town, and the night was very dark. The long withered grass was on fire in several places, and the flames, from four to five feet in height, advancing in a line several miles in length, formed a most magnificent sight. On arriving at Chicago there were upwards of twfinfy f)| nnibuses waitmg to convey th e pa8sengCT8_to different parts of the city, besides as many waggons for luggage. The town apparently had risen so rapidly that there had been no time to pave the stoeejis^-JEhicL-AKsiajglmost impassable, except one broad street covered with plani The hotelsare hug e ^d elegant structures, and vie in their managisment w it fa thf^ j]rf)t-nlnpg-g«^t^^^''B^^ entB in th e eaflterfS towns. The DgTiarvAw a\ r!l]ipAf;n waitp rrpwded wiUi Steamers, 108 ILLINOIS. and the immense piles of goods around the railway stations bespoke the general plethora in trade and commerce. Jj^dlAlL m m* whea t, wool, beef, and bac on are the chie f exports. For dome time m the autumn of 1855 one million of bushels of wh» ai were delivered weekly in the town. Several, ve ssels }j)tvA tjtlg^p pygoflH from fhia ht^^'^ >otU' ^»d gone direcT tft J.|vflrpnn]|, The greater part of the wheat is of secondary qu^ity, being nearly all sown in spring. I observed small steamers having machinery fitted up for taking grain out of one vessel and putting it into another. They were also made available for lifting it out of the vessels and i ji.ng it into granaries. The wages of common l8^1u•'w"li, '^o. g from 4b. ^<^.-t9 fis. a day , act as a grmi/" SThiTilltrarto economise manual labour. One afternoon I had a drive into ili" country for a few miles with a manufacturer of_re apmg-mac hines. He went out to make a trial of one in cutting the withered prairie grass, and it did its work remarkably well. H0 informed me that he had manufactured 700 of these machines last year, and would make as many this. T he level prairie s are ad mirablY suited for reaping by machiner y ; and where laBour is so scarce and high-priced, the reapers have been a great boon to the large farmers. Oa my way back to town I was surprised to notice so mani. ha ndsome villas in the suburbs along the shore of the lake. The best houses are made oF sandst one, which is the finest I ever saw : being close in texture, and IJ post as white as marb le. The rise of property around the town has bee6 enormous "within the last four years. Land two miles out along the lake shore sells at £200 per acre, and some in the suburbs as high afi£2000. /"The progress of Chicago has been remarkable ; indeed, excepting San Francisco in Cali- fomia, ^o town in Ai r^:ica ha s risen so rapidly . It only cent 1 'neS " 4479 inha^ETt arg . i . I'^^Qft.and ^'^^^ theie are nearly 80,000, about double ^^ o r^jvitition ot i'oronto in Upper Canada. This amazing growth has been stimulated by the formation of railways and canals through the immense tract of rich pr airie country, which oifftra tn ha thp. moHt. productive region tor grain In North America. The facilities wbicli now ■• 1 'li t.i . 'rM- CHIOAOO, 109 exist for transporting the produce of tho interior have already tapped its agricultural capabilities ; heDco the coramercial prosperity that has arisen in exportJDg that produce, and in importing and circulating the large supply of the necessaries and luxuricM f life, which the inhabitants of a rich and newly-settled country invariably require. Thus in the free States which possefs a good soil and an easy outlet for the produce, thriving towns rise up like mushrooms ; all classes l ive w< t he vast piajority dress well ; and if cou ntries evei: hj^vo ^ goldOT) age, Upper Canada and the^VTesterh jtates arcjiow ei j^ymg ■ ■'M^ ■■■■'■' : -'^'>%\ ''-^•hMV..., \ <, CHAPTER VII. CHICAGO TO BALTIMORE. 4th November 1854. — Left Chicag o this moming by the Galena Railway, and came out of the train at Wheaton Station, twelve miles to the west. The country continues flat and marshy for six miles after leaving Chicago, and then becomes undulating or rolling dry prairie. I drove south in the coach from Wheaton to Napierville, a distance of six miles. The prairies have a desolate appearance at this sea- ' son, as the natural grasses are withered, and impart a some- what barren aspect to the landscape. The air, however, is usually dry and bracing at this late period, and serves to render a run over these waste -looking champaigns far from being unpleasant. The scenery at first is novel and striking , though it soon becomes monotonous ; for the only changes in its features are portions that have been under crop, natural prairie, and thin oak plantations having the dwarf oak as undergrowth on the tops of the ridges. In some parts large fields were in oat- stubble^ which was more than a foot in height , and the crop was built up in nc^s without any thatching. The climate being so dry they would _D0t be thatched though they stood for several years. I saw few fields of autumn wheat on the prairies ; and those I saw were mere patches. Passed one small field that was very thick on the ground, and nearly a foot long; and from the fact of our driver " guessing," to a fellow-passenger who sat next him, that it would be a good crop, it would appear that forward wheat is preferred in this part of the country. It is owing to the nature of the soil of the prairies, and not to the climate, that so little wheat is sown in autumn. ■; / PRAIRIES. in This appeared quite evident from the fact of autumn wheat being sown on all the gravelly soils of the prairie knolls. The high winds, attended with intense frosts in winter, often destroy the wheat plants, and the spring frosts and thaws also are apt to throw them out of the loose and open prairie soils. These agents, and the tendency of the wheat to mildew, are the causes of so little being sown in autumn. Wheat succeeds well as a first crop wiien th e prairies are broken up, for the plants obtain a firm hold among the roots of the natural grasses and herbs, but as soon as the turf becomes mouldered down into a loose and friable soil, it is liable to suffer from the winter and spring frosts, and is then far from being a sure crop. For these reasons it is not probable that the prairies will ever produce much fine winter wheat, but I am greatly mistaken if they do not become the principal region for the growth of spring varieties, which can be raised with great facility. Since the natural grasses of the prairies have been pas- tured by cattle and sheep, they are not nearly so vigorous^ nor were they ever so productive as^ is commonly believed , for they are late of growing in sprmg, and do not support stock in this part of the country until the end of May, while they again wither by the middle of August. It requires from five to six acres of dry natural prairie to maintain an ox through- out the year. The treading of cattle is unfavourable to the healthy growth of the natural grasses, which, when closely cropped throughout the year, become thin upon the ground, and a small leaved variety of white clover springs up. When the prairie grasses become thin from the effects of pastur- ing, it is now the practice to sow timothy grass in spring, after the surface of the ground has been opened by the frosts. Timothy, when once rooted, keeps its hold in the prairies ; it remains green from the 1st of May till December, affording more pasturage than the natural grasses. But the dry prairiej. are by no means productive of grass , for, after many inquiries, 1 learned that their average produce would scarcely amnnn f; in a tnn nP hay to the acr e, even when sown with timothy. In the hollows or the low parts of the wave- like surface, where the land is moist enough to mainteiii a 112 ILLINOIS. I vigorous growth during the heats of summer, from two to three tons of hay may be obtained. The productive powers of the prairies are best brought out under cultivation, which renders the light and open mould absorbent of moisture. Indian corn and oats are therefore relatively far more abundant in their produce than grasses, or even trees. The dry prairie, which only yields annually a ton of hay to the acre after it has been seeded with timothy, will produce from six to seven quarters of oats for twenty years in succession without manure, and still show little falling off in quantity. The same land when well cultivated will produce from forty to sixty bushels of Indian corn, with upwards of two tons of stalks and leaves. I do not know of any instance in which the jiultivated procfuce ot" t he soil exceeds TR&t ot the natural growth to sucb an extent as it goes m tne prairies. As illustrating the influence of climate on the growth of trees and other plants, it is worthy of remark that the banks of the streams and rivers whicb run through the prairies are invariably clothed with timber, and the surface of the ground is comparatively destitute of the dark mould that is found in the naked prairies, and forms their deep fertile soil. Like the larger rivers, the smaller have also dug shallower beds out of the soft plateau, and their banks afford more moisture to the roots of trees. It is interesting to see how trees clothe the sides of the streams over such im- mense stretches of country in the prairie regions, furnishing strong evidence in support of the opinion that the prairies arise from a deficiency of rains. Dr. Hooker's remarks on the climatic conditions which favour the growth of trees in different parts of the Himalaya mountains are greatly in favour of this view. Indeed the Llanos and Pampas of South America are but extreme instances of the effects of a want of moisture at certain seasons of the year being adverse to the growth of timber. The thinly timbered lands of the oak openings in Canada West are the first symptoms as we go westwards, of the climate becoming less favourable to the growth of trees; and as we approach the Mississippi, the natural grasses that clothed the surface of the ground when round found ) soil. Uower more ,0 see im- ishing rairies ks on ees in .tly in as of a of a dverse of the as we to the i, the when I PRAIBIE FARMS. 113 the white man first took possession, indicate that their hahits are better suited than those of trees to a scanty and less regular distribution of rain. I visited several farms in the neighbourhood of Napier- ville. Ordinary laud, twenty-five miles from Chicago, with suitable farm-houses, is worth from 25 to 32 dollars an acre. I walked over one farm of 230 acres, which cost 25 dollars an acre four years ago, but was now worth 32. I saw a man ploughing a field of oat-stubble which had borne its twelfth crop last year, and that was too heavy. The plough was light, with a broad share, and cut a furrow eight i nches in depth and fully a foot in breadt h, and did Its work remarkably well. I took hold of the implement, and I certainly never before assisted in tuniing over such a depth of fine friable sandy mould of a dark colour, which was no doubt partly owing to the presence of particles of charcoal, resulting from the repeated burning of the prairie grass. There were no stones in it, and the plough-irons were almost as sharp as a knife. From the fact of the subsoil containing clay, which can be turned up as soon as the surface soil becomes wasted, the prairies may be rendered productive for many years, even though no manure is applied. The fertility of the prairies, however, is not so great where the vegetable matter is in excess, for in these cases they approach some- what in their nature to peaty soils, which aro too deficient in earthy matter to be permanently productive. There are few or no root weeds to be seen in the prairie lands, but annuals grow up with great vigour in summer ; and to keep them down, the frequent use of the plough among the Indian corn is required. Another farm I visited consisted of six hundred acres, but there was not a great deal of it in crop. Its owner had lately visited California by driving right westward in his own waggon, a journey of three months' duration. There were only 70 acres Indian corn, 30 wheat, 50 barley, and 50 oats. Formerly he used to raise 300 acres of spring wheat, but was now grazing more. There were 1000 sheep on the farm, which were partly grazed on other lands. The greater portion of the grain was given to pigs. A monster reaping- .■•/ Syi-JZ 114 ILLINOIS. / machine was standing near the bnildings and going to decay ; it required jj ght liorsea to work it, for it~was not only intended to^ut the cro]), but also to tlirasfi and sack it. Falso paid a visit to a fanner wlio came" out here from Dumfries with his family fifteen years ago. He bought 1200 acres, for which he gave JE300. Latterly, he divided this property among his sons and sons-in-law, who each had about 140 acres. On this extent they each kept a man-servant and two horses. The master and servant, without any assistance, managed the stock upon the farm, cultivated, harvested, and thrashed 25 acres of Indian corn, and 50 of oats and wheat, and took the produce to market. The yield of spring wheat varied from 10 to 30 bushels to the acre, and Indian corn from 40 to 60 ; average about 50. The c ereals are chiefly cut by machinery, and mowing machi nes foj fi^rass are also coming rapidly into us e. On the best managed farms little rotation is observed, the most approved mode of cropping being Indian corn, autumn wheat, spring wheat, oats. The prairie farmers have the idea, that " land has new life put into it by cultivating Indian corn." But no other crop possesses greater capacities for expanding under lil)eral treatment, and giving a good return for manure. On one of the farms of 140 acres, 30 cattle of diiferent ages were kept, which required to be foddered with hay for five months in winter. The fact of two men managing so much arable land shows how easily it can be cultivated. There is little manure, and what is collected is not greatly cared for, as a man's lab our is jiojloubt qu ite as well applied here in cultivating land asTn manuring it._ Qiie ofthe~implements which economiseilabour to the prairie farmer is the r ailroad thrashing machine . The whole apparatus is light ancT portable, and goes into so little compass that it is the most handy machine imaginable. Two men can work it and attend to the horses. Where labour is so'high priced, this is a most invaluable machine. If ever horse power be applied in Britain to the cutting of roots for stock, or other light work at present done by hand power, the rail- road principle will undoubtedly be adopted. The same mode of applying horse power is greatly used in America for sawing wood as well as for other purposes. There is I I PRAIRIE FARMS. 115 still a large quantity of grain trodden out by horses in Illinois. The cereals are nearly all cut by horse power on the larger farms in the prairies ; but everywhere there seemed to have been a great waste of grain in the harvesting. The oat stubbles were overgrown with what had been shed out in reaping, and were now aflfording pasturage nearly a foot in length. All the grain crops often ripen about the same time, and unless they are quickly cut down, immense quanti- ties are shed out. In dian co rn, however ^ is not liable to waste , though it is allowed to stand in the field long after it 18 ripe. I went into a large field which was still untouched, where the stalks were standing over the ground from ten to eleven feet high. The owner told me that the grain would not be injured though it was allowed to stand till January. The cobs containing the grain are protected from the rains, as they hang down from the centre of the stalks, and are thickly covered by folds of sheath. The stalks of Indian corn are not collected and used for manure ; in spring, a roller is usually put over them, when they are drawn together by a rake, and afterwards burned. On those fields on which wheat was sown, it had just been harrowed in amongst the stalks of Indian corn, which would afford some protection in winter. From the proximity of this part of the prairie to the shipping port of Chicago, a portion of the grain raised is every year sent to market, the quantity varying accord- ing to the price. The farmer from Dumfries informed me that, for the last fifteen years, the lowest price of Indian corn at Chicago was 28 cents, or Is. 2d. a bushel ; the aver- age price about 50 cents. Within the same period, winter wheat had been as low as 50 cents ; average about 80. The distance to the town was 34 miles, and the roads were often bad. Beyond this distance it is no t_so economical to send large quantities of Indian corn to the shipping p orts ; and as e centre of the State of Illinois is approached, the most of .this ^ain is consumed by cattle and pigs, by which means t he produ t^ft <>f t.hf> f.ni^nt,]-y' iH pnt into little compassrsn^ more easily exported. lai (;th y 116 ILLINOIS. The mode of feeding hogg in the central parts of the State of Illinois, w here the most ot the Indian com is what is called " bogged down," will be learned from the statement of Mr. Phelps of Peoria county, to the Commissioner of Patents at Washington : — " Hogs with us in the spring are turned into a clover field, with plenty of salt, and light feeding of corn, where they remain until about the 10th July, when they are turned into a field of oats to keep themselves. These last them a month or six weeks, when the feeding on corn com- mences. First, and for a time, it is cut and hauled to them when the stalk is green and juicy, and both stalk and ear are eaten with a high relish. During all this time the animal has been growing thriftily, developing in size, bone, and stamina, and is in the best condition, as the com ripens and hardens, to lay on fat with rapidity. The closing period of feeding, in November and December, upon ripe grain, gives to the flesh the purest and most desirable character. Thus, with comparatively little labour, at a cost of about eight or ten bushels of corn, or its equivalent in other food, for every 100 pounds, we produce pork in the open fields, with tem- porary shelter towards the close, and find it remunerative even at the lowest prices. Hogs properly cared for in this way will weigh, at twenty months old, from 200 to 400 pounds." The economy of consuming the maize that is raised in the central parts of the Western States, such as Illinois, by pigs and cattle, will be obvious when we reflect on the expenses of transportation. The average price of this grain at Chicago is 50 cents a bushel ; and according to Mr. Seaman, the ordinary cost of transporting a bushel of wheat or Indian corn by teams is 40 cents for a hundred miles. This state- ment of the cost of transportation approximates very closely to an estimate that I had formerly made. In the Western States, the price of th e labour of a man and a pair of horse s for a d a y is about nine shillings English money, or fully the value of four bushels of Indian corn at Chicago. If we sup- pose forty bushels a sufficient load for two horses on the prairie roads, the whole value of the load would be exhausted in a journey of nine days' duration — equivalent to a distance COST OF TRANSPOUTATION. 117 /' iian ite- sely ivn Irses the ^up- the Isted ice of about 125 miles. Wheat, of course, would bear to be transported double the distance. But it is estimated that a bushel of Indian corn weighing about 55 lbs. will, in fatten- - ^0 ing pigs, make 10 lbs. of pork,* which, at 4 cents a pound, \^f/ the common price of bacon in the west, would leave 40 cents /^ ^^'• for a bushel of Indian corn converted into bacon. In some districts in Illinois of great fertility^ the quantity of grain that is pr ndiicpf* ''° <>v'^'-t^nr^'' narv. The county of Sangamon in the centre of the State contains a total area of 750 square miles, and had only a population of 19,228 in 1853, of whom 6500 were in Springfield, the capital of the State, 230 miles from Chicago. The produce, by the census returns of 1850, was 3,318,304 bushels of Indian corn; 104,126 of wheat; 335,008 of oats; 120,868 pounds of wool ; and 377,272 of butter. These figures must furnish a very large return per head for those engaged in agriculture. The greater part ofjha jndian corn and oat crops , however, are noTlreape d, but consu me d on the^fields by hogs and cattle. More than three-fourths of the surface of Illinois con- sists of prairie. In many parts, not a tree or shr ub^s to be seen in the distance, a circumstance which has prevented its being cultivated . Wood for fuel and fencing is one of the first recjuisites to the working farmer , and he will rather hew for himself a farm out »f tli^ fn fest. than sit down upon the treeless prairies. I mmense beds of coal extend through the country, however, whi(!h will no doubt soon be made available, as they are often very near the surface. The locust tree also has been planted on many farms for shelter, and with the view of obtaining wood for fencing and fuel. It has been rapid in its growth, and holds out the prospect of being of great utility to the prairie farmer. Mr. Ellsworth of Napier- ville informed me that apple trees thrive well upon the prairies, but that they require to he well cultivated for six (yr seven years when planted. Thus it seems that the fertility of the * It is curious that this is very nearly the same increase that Mr, Huxtable obtained in feeding pigs with bean and barley meal and a mixture of pollard and bran, for 54,204 of this mixture made 1 0,152 lbs. of meat. — " Preaeni Prices" page 26. >< 118 ILLINOIS. soil does not make up for its peculiar physical coudition, because if mere fertility had only to do with the matter, it is altogether a mystery why the granites and sands of New England are so productive under apple orchards which are neither tilled nor manured, and yet are so unproductive under grain crops. Peach trees do not bear well on the prairies. The reason assigned is, that the blossom comes out too soon in spring, and is destroyed by the late frosts. One farmer told me that they grew so rapidly that the winters frequently killed them. I could also believe that the con- stitution of all trees that grow upon the " mucky" soil of the prairies must be weaker, and therefore more liable to suflfer from intense frosts, than those that grow upon sounder land. At home, many facts bearing out this principle are observed in our cultivated crops, and doubtless somewhat similar conditions are not without their influence in this extreme climate. Even at this immense distance from the ocean, the weather is far from being steady in its character. Though it never remains long damp, it undergoes great an d sudden nhftn gf^^ of temperature. At this season, the air is much longer in becoming warm than cold, or in other words the change from heat to cold is much more rapid than from cold to heat. On the morning of the 5th November there was a crust of ice an inch thick on the running water at Napierville, and after sunrise it blew a stiff" breeze from the south all day, but not- withstanding that the latitude is lower than that of Rome , it continued cold the whole day, not a cloud was seen, and the sun set as red and fiery as it does in Scotland when there is hard frost in winter. This instance again served to impress upon me the immense extent of territory over which the northerly winds of the previous two days had swept to the southwards, and diffused their cold breath. I could readily believe the statement of the prairie farmers, that the south winds are very cold in winter for the first day that they blow. Mr. Ellsworth, who has an extensive nursery at Napierville, said, that due west winds are tlie coldest in winter, at which I was rather surprised, but I subsequently found that this was the case over the United States, with the exception MAPIEUVILLE. 119 On ce an after not- oe, it the ■ere is press the the adily south they y at inter, that tion of those States bordering on the gulf of Mexico. This gentleman also maintained tL *;he climate was more change- able here than in New England, of which he was a native. In summer he had known the thermometer sink in the shade from 90° to 54° in half an hour. Napierville, though a small place of 1000 inhabitants, has already a good school and two churches, one belonging to the Baptist, the other to the Presbyterian denomination. The hotel at which I put up for a day or two was kept by a German, who had everything in good order, so that I did not grudge, by any means, ray bill of a dollar a day for bed an d board. The system of l arge numbers dining togethe r, goes on in the villages as well a» m the towns; for here, about f orty persons sat down to the diflFerent meals . The company consisted of mechanif ^^, Rhnpkfifipftrs, and hostlers , and though homely^ressed, and wanting the polish of the same class in the New England villages, they were civil and obliging. An election by ballot occurred on one of the days that I was here, but a very tame affair it was, for there was no excitement. It is the Presidential elections that call out the most voters ; the choosing of the local politicians does not create so deep an interest. 8th November. — Left Napierville this morning for Wheaton Station, from which I took the cars to Galena, about 160 miles west from Chicago. This line was recently opened, and the carriages were fitted up in a superior style. A large party were in the train on their way to celebrate the opening of the railway by a ball in Galena. The country through which we passed is prairie throughout, with some groves of stunted oak growing on light gravelly eminences. Frequently, how- ever, there was no object visible b u t the wild waste of p rairie ; no trees and no traces of cultivatioiT iJut betore reaching Galena, the road skirted along some valleys where the broken table land is again covered with wood, and the thick vegetable mould is awanting. Galena, situated upon Fever river, owes its prosper ity p artly to t^fi r]c}\ Inad minfts in the neighbourhoo d ; and contains a population of 12,000, who support two daily papers. 1 was 180 lULINOIS. surprised to hoo Huub hiigo custuUated Btructures of stcamera in the small river, which wus only two and a half feet doop in the channel. It is spanned by a peculiar suspension rail:^ \ya yJ britil gR th^t moved on a pivo t to all ow vessels to pass, r Next morning I set out on foot to see the MissiBsipp i. nve miles distant, and to inspect the load mines which ore worked in the magnosian limestone. The weather was remarkably fine, indeed too warm for walking, for the south wind which had been blowing fur nearly two days, once more brought up a high temperature. This, however, was the lost in this quarter of the reall y beautiful weather of the Amer i- can autumns. A native predicted that this would not last long, and that it would probably bo very cold in a day or two. A prediction that was soon verified. I also now learned, that in consequence oi many of the boats having ce&sed to run on the river, then was little prospect of getting down to St. Louis for a day or tvv o, so I determined to return to Chicago. The l oad ore is found in the veins of t he limeston e^ at no great depth from the surface, and contain ^about sevent y per cent of meta l. The miner's wages are from a dollar to a dollar ind a halTa day of eight working hours. The rent of the mines is fron. one-fourth to one-tenth of the produce ; averaging about on'i-sixth. From the facility with which the ore can be extracted, mining has been a very lucrative under- taking. At this distance from the sea the Mississippi is a noble river, and worthy of its title — the father of waters. It is three-fourths of _ft mi^ jp hranHth, with thirty feet of water ui its channel, and having a strong current. It is full of wooded islands, and its cliffy limestone banks are also clothed with trees. Here, too, the physical features of the country are very similar to those in the vicinity of Cincinnati, the river having excavated a bed for itself out of the plateau, and the country on both banks being broken into hillocks. The soil is destitute of the dark prairie mould, and consists of a rich loam ; but from the irregularities of the surface it is only the poorest settlers who occupy it. I crossed over the river to the Iowa side in a small boat ^^ ./ .:^: Mil 1R81FFI. propelled by paddle-wheel s, each of which w Mven ' a horse turning an ondleBS web, as in the ra il' <4 ♦iirn^|yyg jnacbines. The ci%w consisted ot two boys, aT)oat '' >ar- teen years of ago, and the other eight, who had all the airs of old men, and acted their part remarkably well, it was a frail vessel, however, and I was glad when I landed on the ' other side. I walked about five miles up the river bank, sometimes along the edge of the water, and sometimes through fields and woods. The oak was common, and where it was growing in the forest not too densely, the acorns that had recently fallen literally covered the ground. In my notes taken at the time, which referred to the trees growing along . the banks of the Mississippi, I find it stated : — " This rich Bj^il does not appear to be s o prnpitio^^ | j| t^ the growth of wood as the barren soils of New England , where the roots of the trees have nothing but rocks and stones among which to fix themselves.*' This inferiority, as already stated, there is every reason for supposing is owing to the drier climate of the Western States. There is also a great extent of prairie stretching through the State of Iowa ; and thither vast crowds of emigrants from the piSastem States have been flocking. I learned that no fewer than UOO,000 had gone this vea r. Indeed himdreds o f emigrants pass through Chicago dail y, in summer, to the vesteni terntones. The land has now risen so much in Upper Canada and the States south of the Lakes, that it can seldom be purchased by European emigrants, who can only become proprietors by going westward, to the confines of the untouched forest or prairies. From the accounts that I received, the prairie a-Am -Jiot so extensive in Wisconsin as in Illinois ; but the y are much be tter mixed with timbered jand , which circumstance fflflders them more tempting for settlements ; and plenty of such land can still be had a t ten an acre. The water of the Mississippi is here very pure ; it rises about fifteen feet in spring, when the snows melt in the upper country. The river freeze s usually by the 1st December, and remain^^clflSfid. till the 1st April. I crossed in a small steamer that only drew fifteen inches of water. The boiler I * 1ft ILLINOIS. >i- was placed on oue side atid the engine on the other. It was with some difficulty that we reached the opposite landing, as the wind blew pretty strong from the south. I had hardly got out of the boat before the weather changed very rapidly ; clouds came from the west, and rain soon began to fall with a damp and close atmosphere. Next morning (the 10th) the sky was overcast while the wind was blowing from the west, with the temperature only a little above the freezing point. This change was very remarkable ; and on going to Wash- ington, I examined into the state of the weather prevailing over the United States during a few days about this time. I found that if I had started from Galena on the afternoon of the 9th, and travelled due east to the Atlantic coast, a thou- sand miles distant, at the rate of ten miles an hour, I would have experienced hot and moist weather all the way. I lefl for Chicago on the morning of the 10th, and the weather was very cold all day, with hard frost at night. Leaving Chicago early in the morning of the llthfor In dianapoli s, I had breakfast at Michigan city, a small s traggling "tbwn. Frost very hard afsunrise, and the sky without a cloud the whole day ; sun very powerful, though cold in the shade. The northern part of Indiana is level, with a considerable extent of marshy ground. One part of the railway s outh of Michigan city is a sjraightjine, sev enty miles in length . When there is not too much vegetable mould, autumn wheat and Indian corn are sown alternately. The com stalks were usually still standing, and the wheat had been merely har- rowed or grubbed in. The southern part of this State is well wooded ; and the soil rests upon limestone gravel and is productive. The distance from markets keeps down the value of the land ; and the greater part of the Indian corn is consumed by hogs. The bottom lands along the Wabash are particularly fertile. I was surprised on looking out of the window of the hotel at Indianapolis on the morning of the 12th November to find the ground covered with snow. It continued to fall nearly all day, so that it lay four inches deep in the afternoon. All parties said this would not last long, as mild weather INDIANAPOLIS. f' 12a ler would soon return. Cattle are not stabled in winter in this part of the country, and the cows were taking shelter from the falling snow beneath the trees that lined the streets. The farmers aluQ y hn c ame to town to church merely tiedj or, as they say here, " hitched on," ^eir horses to the railing, where the animals stood exposed to the" weather all the time that their owners remained in town. Took the cars from Indianapolis to Columbus. Ohio, on the morning of the 13th, but from the irregularity of the trains, I did not reach my destination till late at night, though the distance is only 176 miles. I met a farmer and miller in the train, who resided in the southern part of Indiana. He informed me that the wheat crop this year would not yiel d ^ a^l^lnl^ more than ei/^ht or ten bushels to the acre . The average 6 Si^ h. produce of the best wheat soil in this part of the country was not more in ordinary years than eighteen bushels an acre, as it produces too much straw, though not one farmer in fifty applies any manure to his fields. However, Indian com averages seventy-five bushels to the acre. Four years ago the price of this grain was only ten cents a bushel in Southern Indiana, and the ordinary price was only about fifteen cents before the railway was opened. Barley is m OTe_ productive than wheat , often giving fifty-five bushels an acre, when the crop is winter sown. Farms of the best land on the river bottoms that sold six years ago at 17 dollars an acre, were now worth 30. A man with two horses will cultivate 30 acres of Indian com 4 and 40 of wheat if he obtains the assistance of a boy to plant the corn and to harvest the wheat. T was told of one instance in which a man and two boys had planted and cultivated 125 acres of Indian corn and 50 of wheat, and saved besides 80 acres of meadow hay. The ease with which these soils can be kept free from wee ds, and the fact of nojamaurebeing applied, render a given area much easier cultivated th an in the early settled parts of the country. In the cars I also . met a grazier, who buys cattle and puts them upon the prairie lands that have been taken up by speculators, but upon which settlements have not been made, and no one looks after them. He usually keeps 150 cattle, and is well pleased 124 OHIO. when their value is increased 10 dollars i SH) a head in twelv e yonths. OoTumbus is the capital of Ohio, a thriving town of 25,000 Inhabitants^ The State House will be a very hand- some building when completed; it is quadrangular, with many Corinthian columns in front, and is estimated to cost £400,000. The town is built on the east bank of the Scioto. The general level of the country did not seem to be more than 30 or 40 feet above the river. The surface undulates in long waves and is covered with tine timber, but the soil is rather stiflf and clayey. The alluvial or " bottom " lands of the Scioto are about three miles in breadth at Columbus, and extend about 190 miles from its junction with the Ohio, and form the most fertile tract in the State. In company with Professor Mather I paid a visit to a gentleman who owns a large extent of land, stretching eight miles to the west of the city, and averaging about two miles in width. There were about 5000 acres of this property cleared, and sometimes he farms it all himself, at others lets it out in shares. This year he had 2300 acres in Indian corn, and 250 acres in wheat. More than one half of the property was still under wood, which is thinned to allow the grasses to come up and afford pasturage for stock. Herds of lean- looking sheep were running in these wood pastures, and from 200 to 300 mules are reared every season. For several years this description of stock had paid better than any other ; a (Qi^ mule col t being worth from 50 to 60 dollars. The best soils yield two and a half tons of hay an acre, and three acres will support a bullock throughout the year. Hay sells at ten dollars (£2 : 1 : 6), but is not worth more than five for feeding purposes. It is considered good payment if an ox leaves the feeder a dollar a month all the year round. s5 S^r C- H^t^^ When the present proprietor of this land was at college, his father, who was one of the first settlers here, got no more than five cents (twopence halfpenny) for a bushel of Indian corn, and this was the only way he had of raising money. Five years ago beef was a cent and a half a pound, but now it ranges from six to ten cents. Yet this fine estate, in this really beautiful part of the country, had little attraction J&fev SCIOTO. 125 lan ey. to its possessor, for he was to let it to tenants and remove to the bleak prairies of Illin ois, where he had lately bought a farm nine miles in length by six in bread th, which he proposed to cultivate by hired labour. This prairie land , . was purchased at the government price, one dollar and a ^ CUtJacte. . quarter an acre. He calculated that Indian corn would yield / ' 30 bushels an acre for the two first years in that part of Illinois, which would be worth about six dollars, to feed hogs and cattle. The prairie land becomes more productive of corn after i t is cultivated for a few years . The best land on the Scioto bottoms lets at 20 bushels of Indian corn an acre, and only at seven bushels of wheat, in the latter case the proprietor giving the seed. While on these fertile lands the average produce of wheat is not more than from 15 to 18 bushels an acre, and 40 bushels are scarcely ever heard of, 150 bushels of Indian com are some- times got. I was shown a field that had borne Indian com for 56 years in succession, and yet did not show symptoms of falling oflf. The Scioto bottoms is a dark-coloured loam, easily cultivated, and retentive of moisture when tilled in summer. It is worth about 50 dollars an acre, and the heavily timbered land on the higher grounds from 20 to 40 dollars an acre. A man with two horses will cultivate 25 acres of Indian, corn on the Scioto bottoms, and can do all the labour that IS required in ten weeks. So little is the crop injured by the weather that it can be harvested in winter or fivpn j p spring if not found convenient to do it sooner. Indian corn IS so easily raised in this part of the country, that a bushel of it can be had in ordinary years for as little money as a bushel of potatoes. This is not a good climate, however, for potatoes, as it foices too many stems, and the tubers are SIT all and watery. Turnip and beet grow well, and the for- mer nQa;^^_be_rai8ed^w[e_8ame_2ea^^ of wheat has been take n, for wheat ripens her e by the 1st of , July . What a jproducJJve country this will become when labour can be profitably applied in cultivating those cattle crops which tend more surely to spare and husband the resources of this grateful soil ! / 126 OHIO. Ohio possesses a large extent of sandy loams, which would - ^''' be considered too light in Britain to rank as good wheat soils. The climate is warm and moist in summer , and all the lighter descriptions of soil are thus rendered fertile for wheat and "m^■^A^ maize. With the exception of the bottom lands of the Miami and Scioto, I was not by any means struck with the natura l fertility of any la nd that I s aw in this State. Indeed, the same observation may be made in regard to Canada and all the Free States. The prairies, no doubt, are capable of producing very heavy crops of Indian corn and spring wheat for many years to come, though no manure is applied. But still Jsawnowide champaigns of rich s oils in Americ a that, with respect to natural fertility, can 6e com paredto the m arly lo ams of the north of Franc e, which, were they in this^limate, would, like the Sciotobbttoms, be too rich for wheat. The northern half of the State of Ohio and the eastern borders are best suited for the growth of wheat : the southern for Indian com and for grass. There is comparatively little alluvial land along the Ohio, as it has cut a deep channel out of the table land, and, as already observed, feg_ whole country on both sides is broken into hillocks. A surface so irregular, Being less suited ibr cultivating on a large scale, naturally become sj)ccupied with smal le r^proprietors , who usually plant crops, such as tobacco and vines, which" require more hand labour than those that are more generally raised. The farms are larger on the more fertile descriptions of land. The county of Ross, having an area of 730 square miles, is inter- sected by the Scioto, and has a large extent of rich bottom lands. The relative quantity and kind of produce grown upon rich level land, and on that which is more broken, is not without interest. In 1850 the county of Ross produced — Indian Com Wheat Oats 2,840,443 bushels. 141,131 „ 80,926 „ The county of Brown has an area of 502 square miles, and is bounded on the south by the Ohio. Its surface is consequently very much broken in the vicinity of the river, MiiMii>iaii*iw»i M i >W ii i |Bii*ii » I w AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE. 127 "where the properties are smaller than on the more level and fertile portions of the State. If the soil is suitable, small farmers raise tobacco. The produce of this county in 1850 was as follows : — of Indian Com Wheat OatB . Tobacco 1,209,485 bushels. 192,065 180,810 „ 1,279,510 pounds. There is little unreclairaable land in Ohio, though a large proportion is still in wood. This State ( js about 200 miles i n length, and nearly as m any in lirfadth^ and covers an area of 39,964 square miles, or 25,576,960 acres, of which 9,851 ,493 were reclaimed in 1850. To show the particular direction that agricultural production takes north and south of the Lakes, the statistics of Ohio may be compared with those of the Canadas. In 1850 there were 7,300,839 acres of re- claimed land in the Canadas, out of 155,188,425 acres. The population of the Canadas was then 1,842,265; of Ohio 1,980,427. The amount of their chief products were : — Canadas. Ohio. Canadas. Ohio. Wheat 16,155,946 28,052,301 2,029,544 1597,849 14,487,351 15,981,191 59,078,695 3,942,929 Cheese LhB. 2,737,790 25,613,467 1,253,128 4,130,740 9,772,199 Lbs. 20,819,542 34,449,379 10,455,449 10,196,371 4,588,209 Other Cereals, > etc ) Butter Tobacco Indian Corn Sheep Wool Maple Sugar.... is The State of Ohio raises a greater amo u nt of agricultural produc e than th e whole of the British i:*ossessions in NortE AfTISnca, and in all prooaDility it will continue to do'so for many years to come. The grain exporting region in Canad a i s limited t o the soils that rest upon the secondary formations. "f he soirs^of the unoccupied lands of Canada rest upon th e pri mary rocks, and will onlv be slowly tak en up bv the poorest settlers obtaining free grants of them^ — — — — The statistics indicate the prominent place that Indian ■\': / 128 OHIO. corn occupies in the productions of Ohio, and the small quantity grown in the Canadas. As already remarked, I attribute this to the small amount of labour involved in its culture in Ohio in comparison to what it requires in the Canadas, or the north-west portions of the State of New York. The cultivated lands in the Canadas have the Lakes and the St. Lawrence stretching along their whole extent, which afford great facilities for transporting their produce. Ohjfl^ pnHRftKRqs ii pwar(^8 of 700 miles of canals, and 2000 miles of rail ways. The productive powers of Ohio for wheat cannot be said to be fully tested, as the farmers are induced by the expense of transport to cultivate more Indian corn and to consume it by hogs. For were the comparatively high prices of the Atlantic towns to be within reach of the Ohio farmer, doubtless a very large amount of wheat could be raised on land which is now devoted to Indian corn. 1 left C filumbus on the ] 5th November, and stopped all night at Pittsburg , having travelled 246 miles. It was late before we arrived, as our train got off the rails, which de- tained us foi" some time. Country very level until the Ohio is approached at Pittsburg, where the surface is again broken into hillocks. Passed over a large extent of a red- coloured sandy soil, upon which wheat was the principal crop. It was very forward, and much of it had been sown by drill. Pittsb urg is a dirty town, and for smok e may compete with any m Lancashire. It is built on the steep banks of the Ohio, and the strata here, through which the river has dug, belongtothe ^oal form ation, which covers an area almost i STartye _a8jhewhole of England . The coal beds are horizontal, and the river Tias cut through many of the upper beds, which are thus exposed along the banks, rendering mining a comparatively simple operation. Next day's journey to Harrisburg, a distance of 248 miles. Country broken after leaving Pittsburg, and about midday the summit level of the railway, far up the flanks of the Alleghan y range, was reached. The tops of the hills are covered with pines, and their sides, where the forest is not too dense, have a thick undergrowth of rhododendrons. The scg^ry was very grand. CHOPS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 129 / and in some parts the view from the carriages was terrific. As the line wound round the highest peak that we passed, the curves were very sharp , so much so that the sleepers were sometimes laid at a high angle towards the hill, and thus the lower sides were next the valley. The passengers instinc- tively rose and took the highest side of the carriage. The fifradients were steep , but the engines were powerful, and the road was kept in good order and well managed. The railway runs through deep valleys to Harrisburg, and the land is poor and stony. The farms ar e small in Pennsy l- vani a, and the soil is by no means so productive as that of , Oliia It contains upwards of 29 millions of acres, but little more than eight and a half millions have been reclaimed. This State, however, produces as much wheat as any other in the Union. The surface is much broken in the central parts by the Alleghany range. Where the soil rests upon the limestone rocks it is productive both for grass and grain. It has upwards of 1100 miles of canals for transporting coal and agricultural produce. It costs 20 cents (tenpence) a bushel to carry wheat by canal from the towns in the centre of Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, a distance of 200 miles. The country is level along the Atlantic coast, but it js very poor and sandy. fc^ir^iAnuuai^ ku^ tvo JkfjoUic t-vr^ ^ I met a Pennsylvania farmer who resided within twenty miles of Philadelphia. His land was worth 100 dollars or £26 sterling an acre, and it would rent at 400 dollars a year. He raised 10 acres of wheat, and 10 of Indian corn ; the average produce of the former is about 25 bushels an acre, and of the latter 60 bushels. After Indian corn oats are generally sown, then wheat, to which all the manure produced in the farm is applied. The rest of the farm is in grass and meadow, for when the land is sown down after the wheat crop, it is allowed to lie for six or eight years. The timothy grass is sown in autumn, and the clover in spring. The pastures are ploughed in autumn or in spring, and maize is planted in fon rfeet squares, which permits of the cropBemg thoroughly cultivated cturmg summer, and little hand hoeing is required. Twenty cows were kept, and their produce is made into butter and sold in Philadelphia. A cow, win t/tiO 130 PENNSYLVANIA. produce is disposed of in this way, will yield 35 dollars a year, and 55 when the milk is sold in town, but an ox will only yield about 25 dollars when fed throughout the year. A ton of hay with straw will winter a cow, and Indian corn meal is allowed in spring when she is giving milk. Besides himself, he employed one man servant, and kept three horses. He paid from 35 to 40 dollars in taxcb uvery year. Our agricultural map shows there is a small extent of land adapted for wheat on the more densely peopled seaboard States, and consequently supplies are drawn from the interior. Ir ordinary years the prices of wheat in the Atlantic towns ure double to what they are in the towns of many of the western producing districts, and it is the only grain thr,t will bear the expense of being transported. Oats and maize are mostly consumed in the districts in which they are grown. The enterprise of Americans was early directed towards the formation of canals, of which a large number of miles have already been completed. The following is a list of the j^rln - cipal canals in th e U nited States , now in use. New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Delaware Maryland Virginia South Carolina Ohio . Indiana Illinois The ordinary freight on the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany, a distance of 363 miles, is, in June and October, 20 cents (t^npence) for a bushel of wheat, and' in April, May, and November, from 20 to 37 cents. From Detroit to Buffalo eight to ten cents by vessels through. Lake Erie. The cost of transportation by railway is about two and a h tlf times more than by canals. According to Mr. Seaman, a gentleman well known for his essays on political economy, Indian corn in the vicinity of St. Louis can be transported to New Orleans, a distance of 1194 miles, in arks and steam- boats in a good stage of water for twelve and a half cents a 896 miles 160 1086 14 191 219 22 735 535 100 d k a si tl w tl PRICES OF PRODUCE. 131 bushel, and tuice as much from the Wabash river in Illinois, which floats only boats and arks of light draft. I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of this gentleman when I was at Ann Arbour in Michigan. He presented me with a copy of his essays, in one of which he has drawn up an estimate of the average price of wheat, Indian corn, oats, and potatoes, per bushel, from 1840 to 1846, in each of the United States. The prices have no doubt materially altered since that time, but the relative values of grain in the different States are so far still maintained, though in some it has been enhanced by the opening of canals and railways. The prices stated are supposed to be those given at the nearest market towns to the places of production, without any expense to the producer except his own labour and i'\e use of his teams. New England States . . . xr V 1 f Soutbem district New York I jj^^^^^^ ,, T> I • f Eastern dist. . Penn8ylvan,a|^y^^t^^^ „ Ohio Indiana and Illinois . . . Michigan Wisconsin Delaware and Maryland . . 17. . . f Eastern district . Virginia j^.^^^^^ „ Kentucky and Tennessee . . South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama Louisiana and Mississippi Missouri Wheat. Indian Com. OatB. PutatocB. *. d. *. (/. .«. d. *. e ip the most slovenlv manner . The farm buildings were erected with wood in the English style, and few cattle were kept ; and from the appearance of those that I saw in the yards, they seemed to fare poorly indeed. The management was far from being tidy, for immense quantities of straw and stalks of Indian corn lay scattered about ; and the oddity of the whole was increased by numbers of negro children rolling about amongst the rubbish. The Juiis-cfthenegroes looked plcja n d shabhj. The pastures were so thinly carpetea wit grass, that the withered stalks of annual weeds imparted a barren aspect to the fields. The only redeeming object was the house of the proprietor situated on a rising ground, and nicely shaded by trees and shrubbery. The alluvial soil along the south bank of the James River is not mo"e than a third of a mile in breadth, but of good natural fertility. It consists of a rich argillaceous loam, hav- ing considerai'le resemblance to the Carse soils in Scotland. The small produce of wheat, however, in comparison to that of Indian corn shows that the climate is better adapted for the one than the other. Little or no tobacco is raised on these rich soils, as the plants grow large and coarse leaves, which are deficient in those qualities which constitute fine tobacco. As already said, slave labour cannot be so economically applied in the culture of wheat and Indian corn as in tobacco. 154 VIRGINIA. /. >' The large surface over which the slaves must often be scat- tered in com cultivation is not favourable to the division of labour, which the cultivation of tobacco admits of. The natural increase of negroes on this large farm would do little more than pay the wages of an intelligent over- seer fit to manage such a farm. And unless a small pro- prietor give a corn plantation his constant superintendence, ruin must soon overtake him. Notwithstanding the large / number of small proprietors who farm their own land in Yir- ' fi;ini_aj the average size of farms in this State is nearly double to what it is in the New England States. The last census gives an average of 130 acres of improved l anr' *^ ^"^^ farm. Virginia is nearly the size of En gla nd prope r, but pos- sesses only a small proportion^ ^^n aturally fertile lan d. It is divided into the eastern and western districts. Out of a total area of upwards of thirty-nine millions of acres, little more than ten millions were improved in 1850. The eastern is also called the tide-water district, as the (tide runs up its rivers for abo ut sixty miles, and the general level of the country does noT average more than fifty feet above the level of the sea. The soil is derived from the tertiary formations, is generally poor, sandy, and easily exhausted. A good deal of tobacco is cultivated in this region, and the farms ais of considerable size. Some of the best soils for the growth of tobacco, however, are situated betwixt the Alleghany Mountains and the tide-water district, and there the influence of tobacco soils in maintaining a large number of slaves is also exhibited. In 1850, the county of Louisa produced 1,584,285 pounds of tobacco, and the numbers of the slave and free population by the two last censuses were — 1810. 1850. Slaves 9,010 . 9,864 Free 6,417 . 6,827 On the other hand, a considerable part of the middle and western districts of Virginia is hilly, broken, and un- suited for slave labour. The following counties, in the FREE AND SLAVE LABOUR. 155 Idle m- Ithe north-western part of the State, show an immense preponder- ance of free population — 1840. 1860. TT f Slaves...". 212 13,145 46 6,891 3 4,047 164 17,842 49 10,089 ha"«o'« iFree ..:.:..:: Ohio -f|>^^°' 1 Free Marshall •..{ Iree!';..";: ;;;:;: In the eastern district the numbers of the free and of the slave population are nearly equal, whereas in the western those of the slave are only about one-seventh of the free population. The exact numbers in 1840 and 1850 were — 1840. 1860. T, ' ' ' f Free 411,791 395,251 379,108 53,737 450,327 412,738 502,564 63,234 E'^»^=«^ {slaves ■wtr f Free Western { siav;;...;.::::::: The total number of slaves in 1850 was 472,528, or scarcely 3000 more than the number in 1830, as there was a decrease of 20,000 betwixt 1830 and 1840, but from some cause the numbers have been fully recovered by the last census. Perhaps, however, Virginia has now nearly her full comple- ment of slaves. It is supposed that the natural increase of slaves in this State is about 5 per cent a year. Even to take the number at 3 per cent that have been sold or exported to Southern States, this gives 14,000 for the Virginia planters to dispose of, and at the mo'^erate estimate of £140 each would amount to £1,960,000 sterling. It is right to observe, however, that the larger part of the natural increase of the negroes in Virginia and Kentucky emigrate with the sons of the planters to the newly settled States. It requires a large estate, on which maize and wheat are the staple crops, to support lirty slaves. If a planter's son obtain eight or ten slaves, and emigrate with them to 156 VIRGINIA. the rich lands on the Mississippi, and cultivate cotton, he will, with ordinary attention and industry, soon accumulate a for- tune. It is the emigration of the planter's sons which keeps up the great demand for slaves in Virginia ancf other States, which cannot employ many more slaves than at present. The two principal agents in operation leading to _the 1 <^owEfall of slaver v. are the increase of the slaveholders and the increase of the slaves. Were it not the southern demand for the surplus labourers of Kentucky, Maryland, and Vir- ginia, the institution of slavery could not exist many years in these States ; for if no check were put to the natural increase of the negroes, their numbers would depress the value of property in the same manner as the poor-rates do in England. So long, therefore, as there is abundance of new land in the United States to carry ofif the surplus labour, slavery remains as profitable as ever it was, even in the tul- ' ture of corn. In the ! ^ree_ Stat es, such as Massachusetts, admirable education al institutions exist, and are now spreading over the whole country. The inhabitants of Boston deserve great praise for the liberal manner in which they offer a free education to all. The educational system has had the hap- piest effects in raising the material comforts of the people. ■ Even in those districts in the Slave State s where slavery has little hold, the whites are poorly provided with schools, as it seems to exert an injurious influence on the enlightenment of the masses. Intelligence and wealth are concentrated in the large towns in the Free States ; whilst they are scattered over the country in the Slave States among the large planters. The small farmers are neglected, or, perhaps, do not value the blessings of education. Mr. Howison, a native of Vir- ginia, has drawn a sad picture of the condition of the poor whites in that State : — " It is with pain that we are compelled to speak of the horrible cloud of | gi;iorance that rests upon Virginia. In the eastern section there are ^9,863, and in the western 28,924, over twenty years of age who cannot read or write. This, however, is not all. It is computed that there are in the State 166,000 children between seven and sixteen years of ^i (/ RICHMOND. 167 age. Of these, about 28,000 poor children attend the free and Lancasterian schools, an average of twelve weeks in the year for each child. 12,000 more are sent to academies and classical schools. The remaining 126,!)00 attend no school at all, except what can be imparted by poor and ignorant parents. In the whole State of Massachusetts, containing, in 1C40, 737,699 persons, there were but 4448 white persons over twenty years of age who could neither write nor read."* Richmond is finely situated on the slope of the north bank of the James River. It has rather a stationary appear- ance, and none of the streets can be compared to those in towns of half the size in the Free States. Ver y revolting exhibitions are constantly taking pla ce here in selling negroes for the south. Wit hthe exception of New Orleans, this is _ the greatest market for slave s in the United States. The numerous offices of agents or dealers lead us to reflect that there must be much laceraticn of feelings in the way in which families are broken up and separated. So long as slavery exists in Virginia, the exportation of the natural increase of the negroes will take place ; for were it prohibited, the institution would be soon uprooted. As an example of the large inland traffic in slaves, it may be mentioned that one of the engineers on the North Carolina Raihoad stated, that on one occasion he had taken 600 slaves south in one train. " January 6, 1855. — I took the railway cars from Rich- mond, at 3 P.M., for Wilmington, North Carolin a, a distance of 248 miles, where we arrived next morning at 8 o'clock. A3 we proceeded sou thwards, the land gradually became Ijgorer, until we reached the famous p ine barren s, and there little cultivation is seen. The whole country is covered with the larg e-leaved pine , and the journey soon becomes mono- tonous. When we stopped during the night at the different "Nations, which were few and far between, a few splinters of the pine wg od > ere held lighted in t^T hands of the negroes, and gave ^blazing light which wou' : have dimmed many gas burners. • Do Bow's " Industrial Resources of the 8c;uv«. iind West." i i 1 II / 158 NORTH CAROLINA. The soil of the pine barrens belongs chiefly to the post- tertiary formation, which extends along the coast from Virgi- nia to the south of Florida, and also along the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, as fnr as the Mississippi. The brgadth, of this formation is about 130 milet? on an average, and the Boil of this immense area v^~^ tfie poc iL'jit description, little of it being fit for cultivalto;i. With t'i> exception of the >w "■ " ■ ■, — *— — • — — • — ' Swamps and rwrgins'TT Ub- rivo , pino" r^over its whole extenL, and funsish a considerable trade l u timber, tu rpentine, resin, tar.^,and^giU;h. ^^"Asoi. of rotation of trees taVes piaco throughout the pine barrens. When the pines arn i >it d^wn, the scrub oak commonly loakcw its; appearance, j.'ius seemed to be inva- riably the case Vthovo the suiul "is white, and did not con- tain much vegetable matter • but vdiere there was more, pines were usually replacing pines. Wilmington is on the north bank of Cape Fear River, and has a population of 10,000, of whom upwards of 4000 are slaves. The houses are chiefly built of wood, and a little plot of garden ground surrounds the best of them. There is only one street pavoJ, and the others are no better than the loose sand can make them. The numbers of mean negro huts, in some parts, are by no means a pleasing feature of the place. Nearly the whole trade of the town is derived from the produce of the pine forests. The wharves display immense quantities of pitch and resin barrels, and stills for the manufacture of turpentine are numerous. Pitch and turpentine afford an export trade of nearly one million ster- ling. With the view of checking intemperance, the authorities have raised the licenses to fifty dollars. Heavy penalties are also incurred if any party is convicted of selling spirits to slaves under any circumstances. But I was informed by an Englishman who had been in the town for several years, that although the raising of the licenses had the effect of restrict- ing the licensed houses to nine, yet upwards of fifty ol^ rs sold spirits "on the > Irk." To test the matter, he -aid have me to go intc; of the unlicensed to see ^ :>ve they managed matters; • ■ » jy a few signs from him that seemed WILMINGTON. 159 ;8 •e ;o d Id to be well understood, the spirits were produced. Several fine houses over the town were pointed out, and I was assured that their owners had made their fortunes by selling "tliree-cent drinks" to the negroes. So these restrictive measures seem as nominal in their effects as they are in the north. While we stood in the shop, the conversation turned upon a murder that had been committed this morning. Co- lonel , returning to town, had been shot in his gig ; and from the light manner in which the subject was treated, similar occurrences did not seem to be at all rare. The fellow who told the story was lame, and it seems that he had come by this mishap not long ago, when in the act of stealing some vegetables from a garden, the owner of which had been so good a marksman, as to lodge a musket ball in his thigh. Two days after this, a gentleman informed me that, stopping for a day in the principal hotel in this town, he was present when a dispute arose betwixt two of the company, one of whom drew a pistol and fired at his opponent, and the ball grazing his shoulder, lodged in the wall. The number of deaths that annually take place in drunken brawls over the Southern States must be pretty large. The general level of the country to the north of Wil- mington is only about twenty feet above the river ; and the sand in the surrounding country is as white as silver. To- day, for the first time, I saw the live, or evergreen oak, growing in the sandy soil. Some years, vhis tree bears great crops of acorns ; in others, none at all. The " mast " years afford a plentiful supply of food for pigs ; but they are uncer- tain. I took a long walk into the country to see the process by which the pitch ii gathered from the tree s. This has been a profitable branchlar industry ibr a few yeai's back, and some speculators have as many as iu"ty slaves in the woods engaged in it. The average siz e^^the jines through- out the barrens is little more than a foot in diamfjtn r. The bark and about an inch of the wood are cut off from one side of the tree with an tvxe, about three feet from the ground. A hole is made below to receive the turpentine and resin as it exudes and flows down. A negro usually attends to 1»' 000 trees, and goes round and collects the liquid into 160 NORTH CAROLINA. i r- barrels. The surface of the wound is also scraped now and then ; but what is thus got is inferior to that which is obtained in a liquid state. The one is called " s6rape/' the other " dip." In one part of the forest where the trees had been recently cut down, the scrub oak covered the ground entirely, and I only saw one specimen of the long-leaved pine springing up. Cape Fear River is ubout 300 yards broad at Wilming- ton, with 25 feet of water in the channel. On the south side of the river there is a vast swamp, which, at one period, was under rice culture, but the embankments have been allowed to break down, and reeds cover the whole. The trees that grow in the swamp are of great size, almost all deciduous, and their branches are covered with grey moss, which hangs from them more than a yard in length. Crossing over the river, I took a walk for more than a mile along a road that had been made through the swamp. I saw only one field, of about 30 acres, that had been in rice last year. A number of negroes, men and women, were cleaning out the ditches, and digging over the land, which consisted of a rich vegetable mould. An intelligent negro told me that one man was able to manage five acres of rice — to dig the ground, sow the seed, water, hoe, reap, and thrash the crop. As I was walking across the swamp I met a pine barren f yqer. usually called a " cracker." lie stated that he bad three negroes, one of them was hired in at 154 dollars (£39 : 15 : 8) a year, but last year the same hand cost him 181, and some particularly good hands were still worth 200 dollars. The soil being so poor, the collecting of turpentine is the most profitable business in this part orthe country. A good negro would collect 150 barrels of " dip " and 100 of " scrape " in a year. The first was worth three dollars a barrel, of 320 lbs. weight, and the last half that sum. Even if we allow 25 per cent for making barrels and transporting the produce to market, a large profit would still remain. This appeared to me by far too large a sum, but a highly respectable merchant in Savannah afterwards so far con- firmed this statement by telling me that, in one instance, he had heard of 600 dollars a head having been realised on h. i > i> PINE BARRENS. I, 161 A of a fen kg considerable number of negroes engaged in this br'ness. Such profits cannot last long, but they show how valuable slave labour is still in many kinds of out-door employments. This farmer mentioned that the soil of the pine barrens did not yield more than ten bushels of Indian corn to the acre, even when it was manured. I was rather surprised, however, when he told me that these dry barren sands would yield, with the same treatment, 20 buahels of rice. The rice crop requires a great deal more hand labour than the Indian corn, a circumstance which restricts its cultivation, although in going south I sav/, on the pine barrens, a good many patches which had borne crops of rice. This farmer raised no more cotton than was required for the wants of his family, by whom it was manufactured into clothirig. As Wilmington had few attractions, I took the cars at 8 P.M., and reached Charleston, a distance of 283 miles , next afternoon at 3 p.m. Pine barre n s nearly all the way, though we sometimes skirted along the edge of the older tertiary soils, consisting of a red sandy loam, with subsoil of red clay and beds of sand of the same colour. Large fields of cotton were passed, and the plants being killed down by the frost, they reminded mo of hawt horn plants stripped of their leave s. The soil was naturally poor, impoverished by cotton crops, and extensive tracts were Ij; , aste in coarse grass, whilst here and there the pine and tho avv'arf oak were making their appearance. A few neat planters' houses were seen in the distance, surrounded by the white-washed huts of the negroes. But the most of the dwgUigffp of the negroes, as well as the poor whites, were v ery meanj and usually without glass in the windows. The railway runs for six or eight miles through a part of Little Dismal Swam p. It is carried on piles, and raised about eight feet above the sui- j In the swamp are large deciduous trees, now quite bare ot foliage, and in many parts the water covered the surface from two to three feet in depth. Prostrate trunks also lay in the water, in all stages of decay ; and where the surface was somewhat dry, there was a thick undergrowth of cane and evergreen shrubs. A great change had now taken place in the temperature. 1G2 SOUTH OAnOLlNA. M Yesterday the weather was hot and bright at Wilmin^^ton,- and the southerly wind felt quite hahuy. After Huneel the ladies were sitting at the open windows of the hotel. To-day, at RunriHo, the thennoniet which they require for their negroes, as well as all the bacon. In all probability the prevalence of this prac- tice of buying in the most of the provisions, arises from the £vstem of managing by overseers , which frequently leads the owners of estates to aim at producing a large number of bales of cotton, when the net produce might be greater by a diffb- rent system of management. The quantity of sea-island cotton raised in the United States is only about 35,000 bales of 400 lbs. each ; and as the produce is not supposed to be more than 150 pounds to the acre, this would give about 100,000 acres as the extent of land devoted to this kind of cotton. i m lir H CHAPTER 1, RICE CULTURE. UL Having several introductions to the rice and cotton planters (^fjB)/lLOt,» in the neighbourhood of Savannah , I left Charleston for that town on the afternoon of the 11th of Jauuary 1855, in one of the mail steamers, which usually make the passage in ten hours. Before the sun set I had a view of some of the *' sea islands," upon which a portion of the famous long-staple cotton is raised. Their surface is only elevated a few feet above tide, and in general the soil is light and sandy. Where the land is uncleared, pines are the predominating trees of the forest. The Aveather was clo83 and foggy next morning as we sailed up the Savanniib ; but as we reached the wharf the sun broke through, and the air felt mild and genial. Many were considering it too warm for the season ; . for the thermometer was 68° in the shtjVi in the afternoon. Savannah is about eighteen miles 1j om the sea, and situ- ated on the south or right bank of the river of the same name. It is built on the sandy soil of the pine barrens, and is about forty feet above the level of the river. Its situation is dry and airy ; but, in consequence of the immense extent of rice ground to the northward and westward, it is very insalubri- ous in summer. Malignant fevers then frequently decimate the white population, more especially those who are not acclimated. The e ^orts are cotton, rice, lumb er, and a small quan- tity of §ug ar. Though the exports of cotton are nearly as large as those of Charleston, and a great amount of commerce is carried on, there is much less appearance of a wealthy class of residents. The population by the last census was only 23,000 souls, of whom upwards of 9000 were slaves. So SAVANNAH. 169 large a number of the population being slaves, whose condi- tion is nearly stationary, and inferior to that of the free labourers who have all their own earnings at their disposal, the town has not the vigorous aspect of the towns in the Northerr States. There has been no want of taste in laying it out. The streets are wide, and there are numerous squares planted with the live or evergreen oak and the pride- of-India tree. The thoroughfares, however, are unpaved, and vehicles of all kinds move about, almost unheard, over the soft sand. The houses of the wealthy classes are situated on the south side, at a considerable distance from the river. Camellias in flower were quite common in the gardens ; there were also a few small orange trees, wuich were far from being vigorous ; and the finest street was in close proximity to the sombre pine forest. There appeared so little traffic, towards the sterile interio r, that the town had the appearance of being a stranger in the wilderness. There is so much uniformity in the geological structure of Georgia and the Carolinas, that a description of the physi- cal aspects of the country on both sides of the Savannah will suffice for that of all the other rivers in these States. At the mouth of the Savannah the coast is low and sandy. It belongs to the post-pliocene formations , and forms a part of that iir MTieTi.se traet of sant^y sniU wftll known under the name of the " Fine Barrens^ which, as already stated, fringes the North American continent from Southern Virginia to the banks of the Mississippi, a distance of about 1700 miles. Its breadth ifs about one hundred miles in South Carolina, and it is almost wlioUy covered with pines. Along the coast it is only a few feet above the level of the sea ; but it gradually rhr^i towards the Blue Ridge Mountains. A belt of ter- tiary formation succeeds, consisting ol sands and clays, upon which the upland or short-stapled -^ftton is raised. This, in turn, is succeeded by soils derived from the primary rocks of the mountain range. Considerable quantities of cotton are also raised on these primary soils, which, unlike those derived from the same class of rocks in any part of the British islands, arc in many instunces of considerable depth, and derived from the de* omposition of gneiss and mica-schist in \ -it I 11 170 GEORGIA. situ. Indeed, the tertiary and the primary soils have ofteii 80 much resemblance in lithological characters, that, to distin- guish them, they must be examined with care. Where the land of the primary rocks becomes elevated, the culture of cotton gives place to that of Indian corn and wheat. The Savannah is navigable as far up as Augusta, which is 250 miles by the river from the s ea. The tertiary soils extend asTar as Augusta, where the primary formation begins. This formation forms the tenninus to the navigation of the most of the other large rivers which drain the Atlantic slope, because their beds then become hard and rocky, whereas throughout the tertiary formations they have excavated deep channels out of the softer materials of which the country is composed, and flow to the sea with a fall of a few inches to the mile. At the mouth of the Savannah and all the other rivers of the South-eastern States, the country beyond the tide-swamps is low and sandy ; but as one sails into the inte- rior, the banks or " biufls," covered with pines, become higher. At Savannah, the river, at low water, is confined within a channel of 300 yards in breadth, and is about thirty feet in depth. At high water, before the country was settled, the rich alluvial land which now forms rice-grounds, was covered twice a day by the tides, and was thus a vast swamp. The trees on the rich sw^^mp-lands throughout the Southern States are of great size, but are almost all deciduous, consisting principally of tupelo gum, ash, and cypress ; the undergrowth is cane and various vines. The swamps which now form the rice grounds were reclaimed by erecting embankment s along the sides of the river and preventing the overflow of the tides. i RICE CROUNDS f_? f ,; v v!h befor th ,» has time to ripen. But every se.u u 'ilk-r harv >ft dintrirta. In fact, according to all accounts, it requires good management on the part of the planters to keep up their numbers, so as to do away with the necessity of going into the market to buy. This circum- stance alone is a great drawback in the profits of rice culture, for on the cotton plantations, with ordinary care, there is a con- stant increase in numbers. The damp ground and the nature of the labour render the negroes liable to pulmonary diseases. The children, also, are particularly subject to measles and hooping-cough, which often prove fatal. One planter informed me that he now sends all the children born on the rice planta- tions to his cotton estates in the interior. Out of sixty children he had only lost four, and experience convinced him that the loss would have been at least four times greater had they remained on the rice-grounds. fl I 180 OEOBQIA. ^JflO So far as I could learn, I have every reason to believe that the negroes on the rice-plantations have a liberal supply of food and clothing . About half a pound of bacon a-day is the usual allowance for an able-bodied negro, with Indian-corn meal and molasses. They have the privilege of keeping pigs and poultry of their own, which they sell, and are thus enabled to buy tobacco, tea, and other groceries. A planter one day pointed out an old negro to me^ who had not done any work for t^n years, but who had got his rations regul arly with the others, and a few days before this he had sold two pigs for thirty dollars. The cost of providing the negroes, old and young, with food and clothing, is from 30 to 40 dollars a-head. The value of slave property has been gradually rising for several years ; but a slight reaction had taken place about the time of my visit, owing to the pressure in the money market. At the present time, the negroes in the rice plantations are worth upwards ofil ^e hundred pounds (500 dollars) all round ; some sales had been made as high as one hundred and fifty (750 dollars). Good field-hands bring considerably above 1000 dollars. Negroes were not worth much more than fifty pounds (250 dollars) twenty-five years ago. The discipline maintained on all the plantations is almost as strict as that of our military system ; and so long as slavery exists, a certain amount cf firmness seems quite necessary for maintaining due reg 'ty and authority. As we rode over the rice-grounds ao . >:5avannah, we came up to a gang of more than twenty negro men clearing out one of the main canals. They were up to the middle in water, and were throwing out a soft mud upon the bank along which we rode. Here for the first time I saw the black "driver ," with a Jong whip tied rou nd his_shouldere, superin- tending his brethren, who worked as methodically as machines. I believe, if they had got no orders to desist from their occu- pation till we passed, that we should have been bespattered with mud. A loud shout from the " driver " brought the whole to a stand, and we were then subjected to their vacant and complacent stare. In other parts of the ground the women were working with the spade and mattock in • RICE PLANTERS. M // repairing the banks — all being well clothed and provided against tho changes of the winter climate. Before going to the south, I had been led to believe that the planters were sensitive on the subject of slavery, ard that I should avoid the topic in conversation. But I soon found that they had no such feeling in the matter : with some of the Cuban planters it was different, for I came to under- stand that the physical condition of their slaves, and their treat- ment, were, as matters of etiquette, not to be alluded to. On the contrary, a large proprietor of rice-grounds on the Savan- nah told me "to go and inquire into the moral and physical condition of their negroes, with as much freedom as I would among the agricultural labourers in Lothian or Berwickshire, and to go home by Jamaica, and make a comparison between the emancipated neg^roes and their own slave s." At Savannah, on the 32° 05' parallel of latitude, some specimens of the animal kingdom, as well as of the vegetable, are found, which indicate that the tropics are not far distant. The alligator is often seen in summer in the river, but it buries itself in the mud during the cold season. Several species of turtles are to be found ; and a small terrapin, so much esteemed for making soup, disappeared into the canal of the rice-grounds one day as I rode along the banks. The larj,3 turkey-buzzards which belong to the vulture order were wheeling over the fields in quest of prey in all directions — at the quarters of the negroes, we set up a large flock of these birds, which had congregated around some carcass. Being seldom molested, they are very tame, and sat quite close to us ; they even frequent the streets of Charleston during the day, and pick up all kindi of carrion. The American rook, very like our own, but h xving a much more sonorous croak, was making himself heard in the leafless swamp-forest. The sky being without a cloud, and scarcely a breath of air stirring, the weather felt rather too warm for riding. A great disaster befell the rice crop of 1854 on several of the tide-swamps of Georgia and Carolina. One of the most violent hurricanes that has occurred this century happened on the 8th September 1854, when some of the crop was cut down, and the most of it nearly ripe. High tide occurred at 182 GEORGIA. the same moment that the easterly wind was blowing with its greatest fury, and the salt water of the sea was driven up the river far beyond its usual limit, and, rising above the level of the rice-grouiid embankments, deluged the fields. More than three-fourths of the rice on the Savannah swamps was thus destroyed. As I rode over the grounds, I saw evidence of the great loss of property which had taken place. In some of the comers of the fields the rioa in the straw lay over tlie ground from three to four feet in depth. Some of the grain did not appear to be greatly injured ; but as the medical men had given their opinion that it was not fit for food either to man or to beast, it was piled into heaps to be burned. Such accidents seldom occur, and no efforts are made to guard against them, as it is deemed almost impracticable to do so. Attention may now be directed to the effect of rice-cul- ture on the relative numbers of the free and slave population. The rice-grounds on the north of the Savannah are in the district or county of Beaufort, in South Carolina. This dis- trict is about 60 miles in length, and has an area of 1540 square miles. Scarcely any other produce is raised for ex- port than cotton and rice. The cotton is of the long-staple variety. The tide-swamps of the Savannah, the Coosawhat- chie, and the Combahee, afford a large area fitted for the culture of rice. As already stated, the nature of the works required for the culture of this crop tend to render the ave- rage size of the plantations large, and the disproportion of the numbers of the free and slave population very consider- able. From there being no large towns in this district, the disproportion is greater than in any other on the Atlantic sea-booid. According to the census of 1850, the population was 38,805, of whom 6526 werejree, and 32,279 slaves. The agricultural statistics collected by'the census com- missioners enable us to obtain an approximate estimate of the produce of the labour of this number of slaves. It is right to observe that a considerable number are employed in the pitch and lumber trade in those parts of the pine-forests where easy access is got to the shipping ports. At the same time, the production is 47,000,000 lb. of rice, which, at an average value of 5s. per bushel, amounts to nearly £210,000, UUSKINO RICE. 183 / and 12,672 bales of cottun, at £25 per bale of 400 lb., amounta to £317,800. These two suras give a produce of £527,800, or nearly £16 a head for the slave population. Besides these staple articles of export, about half a million of bushels of Indian corn, and as many potatoes, are raised for home consumption. The sum of £16 a head appears small in comparison with what is given in some of the retunis of the cotton districts in the bottom-lands of the Mississippi. But in the Beaufort district the numbers of slaves that are non-agricultural must be considerable, without reckoning those that are employed as domestic servants. Several mills arc built in the neighbourhood of Savannah and Charleston for preparing the rice for market. This pro- cess consists in drying the rough rice, then shelling it by grinding-stunes, as is done with oats before manufacturing them into meal. The small portions of the husks of the rice that remain on the pickles after the grinding, are taken off by pounding in large mortars with huge pestals driven by steam. The finishing process consists in polishing the rice by brushes made of hair. The rice which grows in the tide- swamps is of nmch better quality than what grows on dry land. The pickles of the irrigated rice are large and equal in size, and the husk is easily separated from the kernel ; whereas the upland rice, being smaller and more unequal, not only is the sample inferior, but there is a great deal more waste and labour in its preparation for market. During the time that I remained in the neighbourhood of Savannah, the weather was delightful. The days were soft and sunny, and the nights warm and exceedingly pleasant. The temperature at ten at night was sometimes as high as 64 degrees, with the sky perfectly clear. At the hotels some of the company were usually seated in the open air till late in the evening, and the crickets were heard out of doors. The thermometer was sometimes above 70 degrees during the warmest part of the day, and the atmosphere being almost still, it felt too warm for walking. To me there appeared to be a most unnatural contrast between the heat of the weather and the general deadness of vegetation. The rough and coarse grasses, which are natives of this southern region, were 184 UEOUaiA. quite withered, and showed no signs of vegetation. The rice, cotton, and sugar fields were all as uninteresting as our own fields of stubble or fallow are in March. The trees in the tide-swamps being mostly deciduous, were exposed to such a heat as would have made all our deciduous trees put forth their leaves in a few days in mid January. The ever- green pine was abundant enough; but pines are green in Norway in winter. The few Orange and evergreen shrubs in the gardens had rather an exotic appearance. This sus- pension of vegetation in the Southern States during winter, when there are often considerable periods of warm weather, arises from the frequent occurrence of frosts at^ nighty when the north-west winds prevail, and the temperature is then often lowered to freezing along the coast of the Atlantic, as well as that of the Gulf of Mexico. Indeed, 1 had personal experience some weeks afterwards of the severe cold to which these low latitudes are occasionally subject ; for a little to the north of Mobile the thermometer fell ten degrees below freezing at sunrise, and the mercury did not rise moi-e than one degree in the shade above freezing at mid-day with a bright sun. The mean temperature of winter at Savannah is about 53 degrees. This is nearly about the same as that of the month of May in London, and also of the winter at Cadiz, which is 4^ degrees of latitude further north than Savannah. But in consequence of the great extremes which make up the mean temperature of the American winter climate, a very different class of plants forma the predominant vege- tation from what prevails in the south of Spain, where frosts are comparatively rare. Y^getation is a much better guid e to a knowledge of the peculiarities of ^pHnmtfl ih^^ nn telTtperanires^ The orange trees are liable to be killed down bylhJBTTover the whole territory of the United States, with the exception of the southern parts of the peninsula of Flo- rida. But they are altogether exempt from such casualties in the south of Spain. The cotton plant furnishes a still more delicate test of the extreme climate of the low latitudes of the north-eastern American continent. In the south of S{)ain it is a perennial shrub ; but throughout the southern f\ yh CLIMATE. 185 parts of the cotton zone of the United States its stem and branches are killed down every year by frosts, so that the fields require to be planted every spring. The markets of Charleston and Savannah are pretty well supplied with vegetables in winter; but the variety was smaller than I expected. The vegetables are raised on poor sandy soils, which require to be highly manured ; and during the winter and early spring a considerable trade is carried on in sending such as do grow to Baltimore, New York, and other northern cities. I 8«a only turnips, cabbages, celery, and radishes, in the markets. I was told that no green pease are got until the beginning of March in the earliest seasons. A succession of crops is then got till June, but none in July or August, but again in September and October. Early potatoes are not ready for table before the latter part of April or beginning of May ; no sooner, in fact, than they are to be had at Land's End, in the south of England. Second crops are obtained in September and October; but the northern crop then comes into competition. The climate of the Southern States does not seem particularly well adapted for the growth of market vegetables at any season ; at least, I found some parties in New Orleans making complaints of this nature. The climate of the summer months is intensely hot, and very moist in the rice-grounds. On an average, about 23 inches of rain fall, and the temperature obtains a mean of 80 degrees. Such conditions give great force to vegetation. The early autumn is also hot, though drier than summer, and this seems to promote tho^. miasmatic emanations which are so iniurious to the white po^julation. Yellow fever often visits Charleston and Savannah during this season, and new cases generally occur until the first frosts, which seem to have the power of entirely checking its ravages. I ^ / If ^\^- n . Ill . ■ CHAPTER XI. T QUR IN CUBA. January 19, 1855. — 1 sailed from Charleston this morning at eight o'clock, in the steam-ship Isabel, for Havannah. A slight breeze from the north-west rendered the air cool and bracing. After taking on biard the mails at the mouth of the Savannah, we steered due south, and soon lost sight of land. The 20th was a most delightful day, a uniform tem- perature made it altogether most agreeable, for the thermo- meter stood at 69° at sunrise, and only one degree higher at 3 P.M. Though the sun bhone in a cloudless sky, it did not seem to have much influence in raising the temperature. In the afternoon there was not a breath of wind to ruffle the surface of the water, which was smooth as a mirror. A long swell, however, rolled in from the north-east, which I was told by the captain was occasioned by the blowing of the trade winds to the eastward, which are far more irregular in the proximity of the American continent, than in the same latitudes in the mid-Atlantic. Towards sunset, a stifle breeze sprung up from the south-east, and blew all the next day ; the thermometer rose to 75°, and the air became moist and oppressive. This breeze, our captain said, was the south-east trade ; though the idea of south-east being applied to any trade wind of the northern hemisphere is against all the theo- ries of the tropical winds that have been proposed. Before reaching Havannah, however, I was led to infer that the southerly gales of the Florida coast play an important part in the winter storms of the United States, an opinion which was fully confirmed when I returned to Washington and consulted the Smithsonian records. '-> .-> , OULF STREAM. 187 The steamoTB going north keep in the Gulf Stream, which flows at the rate of three or four miles an hour, but, in going south, keep out of its current, by sailing in the comparatively shallow water which intervenes between it and the land. Sometimes we were near enough the coast to be able to judge of the character of the vegetation, which consists chiefly of evergreen shrubs, fringing the shores, with pines in the background. The water was so remarkably pure, that we often saw the white cural rocks and sand in the bottom down through a great depth. There were thirty cabin passengers, chiefly Americans. Many travellers take the steamer to Key West, one of the islands of the Florida reefs, as the quickest way to the southern and middle parts ofthe State of Florida . According to all accounts, this is a ( femarkably poor State^^ its surface belonging to the post-pliocene formation ; and being nothing else than a continuation of the same class of soils which form the pine-banens of Georgia and the Carolinas. Indeed, wherever the land is dry, pines occupy the whole country. ; but as the highest parts of it are no more than 300 feet above the level of the sea, there is almost of necessity a large extent covered with SM'amps, which go under the name of ever-glades. It is, however, some compensation that the sandy soil along the Florida coast is suited to the growth of the valuable long- staple variety of cotton, of which good crops are got during the few years in which the land is fresh and unexhausted. Even along the banks of the rivers there is little fertility, for the common produce of the sugar cane, which is frequently cultivated here, is only about 400 lbs., with 12 gallons molasses per acre ; whilst on the best soils within the State the pro- duce di."^« not exceed 800 lbs. of sugar and 20 gallons molasses. The canes are planted in rows 5 feet apart, in the end of January or beginning of February, and the crops are cut from the 1st of November to the end of December. They are frequently injured by the frost in autumn, and seldom allowed to stand a third year. On the most fertile land along the rivers, the average produce of Indian com is seldom more than 20 bushels to the acre. My informant, an intel- ligent Florida planter, had 35 slaves employed in the lumber 188 FLORIDA REEFS. trade and in the culture of MUgar; and from his account, which appeared consistent and unvarnished, the climate of Florida is well suited to the constitution of the negroes, and the increase of their numbers is as rapid in this as in any other of the American States. On board the steamer, I had some conversation with a builder from Augusta, Georgia, who carried on business both in that State and in Florida. He represented the coloured masons and carpenters as inferior to the white, and that the one endured the hot season quite as well as the other. An ordinary negro carpen teL JB worth from 1200 to 1500 dollars , and will bring in as hire froJL.S-jlg]J§r tc ^a dollar and a quarter a-day to his master, the latter finding him food and clothing. White workmen were receiving two dollars and a half a-day. Early on the morning of the 22d, the mails and pas- sengers were landed at Key West, and we left immediately for the purpose of crossing to Havannah, which is within ten hours' sail ; but about six miles to the south, the steamer ran aground at Sand Key Lighthouse. W^e were not long upon the bank before the wreckers from Key West flocked around the vessel to render assistance, and, I daresay, they were somewhat disappointed that we required so little. A number of vessels are lost every year on the Florida reefs, and these daring adventurers make a considerable income in the enter- prise of saving the cargoes and lives of the crews. One of their vessels took out an anchor from our steamer, a service for which they claimed 5000 dollars. We sustained no injury by the accident, and got oflf at high tide, after lying about eight hours on the reef. It was fortunate that we made our escape so soon, as a " norther " set in shortly afterwards, and blew with great violence. After the deten- tion, it was judged necessary to return to anchor off Key West, no vessels being allowed to enter the port of Havan- nah after sunset. 4 When fairly off the reef, we presented our captain with an address, in which we took occasion to compliment him on the seamanship he displayed in getting the vessel again safely afloat. We said nothing about the blunder of running I KKY WEST. 189 on a sandbank within a hundred yards of tho lighthouse. I was amused at the manner in which one of the passengers made the best of a nickname by cordially appropriating it, and thereby adding to his dignity. He signed himself Judge. On questioning him how he came by that title, " Why," said he, " I got it at first as a sort of nickname, and I feel that I am now entitled to it, and I always sign my name so at the hotels just as I have now done." The sea is shallow around tho Florida reefs. When we lay upon the bank at Sand Key, the colour of the water varied much. When shallow, it was of a whitish green, becoming darker as it deepened, till the unfathomable witter of the Gulf Stream appeared in the distance as blue as indigo. The town of Key West has a population of 2000. Vege- tation here is tropical in its character ; for the cocoa nut was growing in the gardens, with its long graceful leaves waving in the breeze. The houses were well sheltered by ever- greens, and, in spite of the somewhat unfavt .rable state of the weather, the scene was agreeable and refreshing, after having been so long accustomed to the sombre aspect of the forests of Georgia and the Carolinas. The soil at Key West is sandy, rising only a few feet above the sea. Early this morning the wind changed to the north-west, and the sky was cloudy. At two p.m. the temperature had fallen to 63°, with loose clouds floating from the north-west ; but the upper clouds were drifting from due west by the compass. An old sea captain, who had been long familiar with this part of the ocean, called this the north-west trade wind, which at last satisfied me that the term " tr ade wind" j s applied here to every wind that blo ws. Setting sail again at 8 P.M., we were soon crossing the (aulf Stream. A violent " norther" blew during the night, and drove us so rapidly on our course, that we had to ride off the coast of Cuba in a heavy sea in sight of the light on Moro Castle, which guards the entrance to the harbour of Havannah. At daybreak the waves were seen dashing with tremendous force on the rocks below the fortifications, and throwing up the spray to a great height. At length the signal for entering the harbour was hoisted. 190 CUBA. aud we passed the cream-coloured walls of the Moro just as the sun peeped over the horizon. The high grounds to the south were studded with palm trees. The storm had now abated, and the bright atmosphere was soft and balmy. Havannah is compactly built on the sloping ground to the west, and has a curious appearance. The houses are of a castellated form, with flat roofs, and are often painted of various colours, white, yellow, green, and red. It is ^ Spanish in a ppe arance as Cadiz or Seville. The almedas around the magnificent basin, ornamented with trees now bearing beautiful flowers, show that taste is not neglected. I was disappointed with all the towns I saw in the Southern States ; but Havannah far ex ceeded my expectations in beauty and novelty. It was nearly nine o'clock before the officials got our luggage and passports examined. On getting on shore things looked as strange as they did from the vessel in the harbour. The streets are only about twenty feet wide, and the houses are usually of one storey ; but the walls are about six- teen feet high ; and for the purpose of favouring a free circu- lation of air, the doors and windows are large. The windows being without glass, have light iron bars for protection, and a linen screen is usually drawn across them during the heat of the day. At night, however, doors and windows are strongly bolted and barred. Along the sides of the streets are narrow footpaths, only two feet broad. The calesh, or volante, the vehicle peculiar to the country, has an odd appearance, with the negro driver equipped with large boots, and mounted on small horses, which hobble quickly past at a smart amble. There are several American hotels in Havannah, which are well frequented, and where English visitors can scarcely fail to find agreeable company. Property is of fi^reat value . The hotel at which I stayed, though a plain building of two storeys, with only fourteen apartments, rented at 3600 dollars a year. The bedrooms for gentlemen were large, but not more so than was necessary ; for as many as half a dt)zen were crowded into one apartment. With this exception everything else was as comfortable as could be desired. Like IIAVANNAH. 191 most of the other large houses in Havannah, o ur hoteljbrmed a square, the only entrance being by a door or gate sufficiently ample to admit a volante. All the bas emen t rooms opened \nto the cour t. The upper into the corridor or covered gal- lery, which extends around the whole building, and which is ascended from the court below by a broad flight of steps. Breakfast and dinner had a considerable resemblance to each other, there being at both light claret ; while coffee was served as a kind of dessert. At dinner there was a great profusion of fruits, and the bananas and oranges were deli- cious. In Havannah everythi n g indicates t hat there is a nume- rous class spending large incomes. Many of the Cuban planters have houses in town, where they reside in winter, and contribute largely to its gaiety. Immense sums of money have been expended in beautifying the city. The Paseo of Isabel, beyond the walls, is lined on each side by triple rows of palms, ai.'! other tropical plants, some of which were now in full flower, afibrdiug a most delightful place for a saunter in the cool of the evening. The scene is then specially gay, as the streets and paseos are crowded with volantes, in which the ladies sit dressed in white, and without bonnets. The sunsets were frequently most gorgeous. The balmy air of the evenings, free from all chilly sensations, renders existence in this part of the world most delightful. At a later hour, the Plaza de Armas, in front of the Governor-general's beautiful house, becomes the great point of attraction, as the military band play there till nine at night. After this hour the cafes and restaurants become crowded, and, though few drink to excess, yet great quantities of ardent spirits are con- sumed. The liquors are generally taken in the American fashion ; little at a Ti me, but at short mtervals , so that its effects are not so apparent as where more is often drunk in social meetings in a much shorter time. After landing I passed two days in Havannah most agree- ably, amid much that was new and strange. I also made several short excursions into the country, where, although this period of the year is what is called the dead season, I observed many plants in full vigour. The majestic palm. - y •V 192 / •• CUBA. standiDg erect to the height of sixty or eighty feet ; the cocoa nut, the plantain, and others, seemed to indicate that here there were a perpetual summer, and a never-ceasing vegeta- tion. On the second morning after my arrival, I went to pro- cure a passport for the interior. The office was besieged with a hundred applicants, and had not a little favour been shown to me, I might have, as a stranger, remained the whole day without obtaining one. I saw many who had been at the office as early as myself, who, late in the after- noon, had not got passports. The amount of time lost in this way would be intolerable in any other country, and would occasion grievous grumbling ; but making complaints of any kind is here considered little short of treason. The number of soldiers that are see n at all hours of the day in ^every street, reminds one of the high-handed system which prevails. January 26. — I left this morning at six o'clock by rail- way for Matanzas, a seaport town about fifty miles east from Havannah, but nearly double that distance by railway. At sunrise the air was cool, but soon became warm, with a refreshing breeze. I noticed many delightful villas in the suburbs. The carriages were built in the American fashion ; but here they have t hree classes for passengers. No restraint was put upoi^ smoking ; the most of the gentlemen had cigars, and a few of the ladies also were indulging in the cigarette . The windows were all thrown open, and by ten o'clock we were fanned by a delightful breeze. The Cubans are rat her a diminutive rac e of men, and somewhat e ffeminate m appearance. They dress in white linen clothes and broad straw-hats. In manners they are polite and agreeable. The fair sex have dark eyes, olive complexion, and pleasing features. They wear no bonnets, but a Yfi jl thrown over the he ad. We stopped at Guines, and had breakfast at a small inn, where a great variety of dishes was placed upon the table, most of them tasting strongly of garlic. Numbers of small farmers or yeomanry wpro nflin£r into the villasre mounted on ■)t r- -:jr. PLAIN OF QUINES. 193 monies, conspicuous among whom was the church beggar, having a little wooden box under his elbow with a glass front, in which was an image of Christ. In order to draw attention to his demands, he had a wooden rattle, which he used very freely. He accepted alms in " kind " as well as in money : in the former he had been rather success- ful ; for his panniers were well stocked with vegetables and poultry. The country immediately to the south of Havannah is somewhat hilly, but none of the hills which I saw appeared to be higher than 600 feet above the level of the sea. Much of the land was shallow, with the rocks protruding, but its quality is good and exceedingly fertile where there is suffi- cient depth. On many of the soils that appeared too shallow for cropping, orange trees, laden with yellow fruit, were growing wild. Sometimes a close shrubby growth of low evergreen trees occupied the waste ground, with a profusion of r-Teeping vines thrown over their tops. Among these, the morni»->g glory, a species of convolvulus, with its beautiful bell- shaped flowers of various colours, was in great abundance. Indeed, it often covers the railway embankments to the exclusion of almost every other plant. On both sides of the line of railway the aloe, with ita strong sword-shaped leaves, forms an impenetrable fence. For some miles to the south of Havannah nothing but common crops are seen. In many places copious springs flow from the limestone rocks, which afford a valuable supply of water for irrigation. The principal irrigated crop is Indian cor n, which is cut in a green sta te, and forms the staple feedingfor horses and cattle . A stranger soon learns to reco^ise~thi8 crop from a distance, by its light green leaves. Before reaching Guines the country opens out into a vast plain, where the soil is exceedingly rich, and the sugar-cane stretches far and wide. Here the level cane-fields have the appearance of boundless meadows thickly studded with the noble and stately palm. A small portion of the cane was cut and carried to the sugar-house, and the old roots were already sending up fresh shoots. The fields that had been cleared were covered with the decayed leaves of the cane. 194 y CUBA. The sugar-houses, with their wide roofs covered with pantiles, and towered over by a tall chimney stalk, did not, by any means, improve the magnificent landscape. Sugar boxes and barrels of molasses were piled up at every station, around which the ground is besmeared with this staple produce. From Union Station the railway runs in a northerly direction to Matanzas. The country again becomes more broken and hilly, but s till of great fertility , excepting in the neighbourhood of the townTwEere the sides of the valley are almost destitute of earth, but thickly covered with low shrubs. Matanzas, lies at the head of a finely sheltered bay, which opens out towards the north-east. There are i n Cuba , I believe, about 300 miles of rg lway, which have served greatly to develop its immense resources. The fares are about double those of the United States, and many of the roads, as well as the carriages, are in bad repair, so that travelling is both expensive and disagreeable. The engines are generally driven by Americans, while the firemen are chiefly Chinese , of whom it requires two to throw in the wood. Several of the breaksmen also are Chinese . The engine-drivers are well paid, the common wages being £26 (120 dollars) a-month. I saw many of them when on the island, and found them polite gentlemanly fellows. They were always ready to oblige, and to impart what information they had ; it was also pleasant to have one person on each train who could speak the English language . Matanzas has a population of 20,000, and a considerable business is carried on in exporting sugar and coffee. About 150 smartly-rigged vessels were riding in the bay. The scenery from the high grounds to the north of the town is highly picturesque. It is not to be expected that the signs of wealth and progress should be equal there to those which Havannah, the capital, presents. The cafes and billiard-rooms want the style and elegance. The bull-baiting circus has been allowed to go to ruins ; but the less expensive, though, perhaps, not less cruel amusement of cock-fighting, is general among the lower classes. A masquerade ball, for the benefit of the church, took place on the Sunday night that I was there. SOILS. 195 which, to a Presbyterian, appeared to be an odd enough arrangement. 1 visited several sugar estates in the neighbourhood of Matanzas. The soil is so fertile that the cane was very luxuriant, some of it rising to the height of twelve feet. One estate, which was formerly in coffee, had lately been converted into sugar-cane. Within the last ten years, the substitution of sugar-cane for coffee has taken place to a considerable extent on the island. Here, for the first time, I had an opportunity of seeing the manufacture of suga r, with all the severe labou r it involves, both to mM i a ncT beas t. This is a fine country. One estate occupied a valley about a mile in breadth, covered with sugar-cane, and almost wholly surrounded with low rocky hills, partially clothed with palm and maho- gany trees. The scene was altogether beautiful, suggesting an idea of w hat P aradise might have been. But what a den of suttiering and misery to the poor Afncans, " Whose hard task does not divide the Sunday from the week." As I rode over one of the estates with the planter, I saw two negroes ploughing a field that had been lying waste for some years. It was full of loose stones, and thickly overgrown with low naked-looking shrubs, which bore a yellow flower. There were two oxen to each plough, and the yoke, as usual, was fastened behind the horns. The ploughs were rude, primitive-looking implements, with only one handle, and, like the old Boman ploughs, having a round piece of wood shod with iron, which turned over, or rather merely loosened the soil. After holding it for a short time, however, I ceased to despise so simple an instrument of cultivation, as neither a Scotch nor an English plough, as at present constructed, could have been used with any good effect in so stony a soil. The soils of Cuba may be divided into four varieties, viz., the red or vermilion, the black, the mulatto, and the sandy loams. The Vermillion soils seem to result from the decompo- sition of the coral formations, containing a large quantity of oxide of iron, which imparts the deep red colour. On these soils coffee is generally grown, though they are also well suited for sugar-cane, especially in moist seasons. 196 OUBA. The black soils, on the other hand, are derived from beds of limestone, called '' soap-stone." This rock furnishes good building material* In the quarry it is soft, and can be readily cut with an axe into blocks of any size or shape ; but as soon as it is exposed to the weather it becomes perfectly hard. The detritus of this calcareous formation makes soils of great fertility admirably adapted for the cultivation of sugar. I noticed that the railway embankments composed of it were thickly covered with shrubs and vines ; and that in the cuttings of the railway tall grasses were growing out of every crevice in which their roots could obtain any hold. The mulatto soils are an intermediate variety between the black and the vermillion. The sandy soils are derived from the primitive formation, and are chiefly devoted to the growth of tobacco. On one of the plantations which I visited in this neigh- bourhood, there were 700 acres in sugar-cane, 1000 acres in Indian corn and vegetables.* There were about 3000 orange trees scattered over the grounds. As the sugar was not refined, the labour was performed by 145 negroes, who had been almost all imported from Africa. Two hundred oxen were used for draught. On the 29th January I left Matanzas for Cardenas^ which is also situated on the north side of the island. I had to take the train again to Union Station in the plains of Guinea. From Union to Cardenas I found the country level and fertile,- with coflFee plantations here and there. The cofiee trees, which were about six feet in height, were richly covered with white blossoms ; but the greater extent was under cane, and the groves of palm trees were most magnificent. Indeed, we never become weary as we gaze upon these lovely trees. Cardenas has a population of 2000 ; and although lying low, is said to be more healthy in summer than either Matanzas or Havannah. On the afternoon of the 30th January, I left Cardenas, and travelled by railway in a south-east direction, for the purpose of visiting some estates about thirty miles distant from the town. Beautiful flowering shrubs, with cocoa-nut trees, formed the predominant vegetation in the marshy CARDENAS. 197 grounds around Cardenas. In this part of the island there are no hills visible in the interior, and the ground rising by a gradual ascent of about four feet to the mile. In the centre of the island the summit-level is not a hundred feet above that of the sea, and the ground again slopes southward with a similar declination, thus forming a finely rounded ridge from sea to sea. About two-thirds of the country seemed to be in its natural state, covered with fine timber. The soils are of the richest description , chiefly of mulatto mould, a great part of it \gbout a yard in depth. The rail- way has been recently made, and now affords the means of transporting the produce of this fertile country. When I arrived at the San Martin plantation about sun- set, a violent thunder storm came on, which continued for about two hours. Numbers of the negroes, in gangs, were at work around the sugar house, apparently altogether heed- less of the war of elements. The frequent flashes of lightning rendered the whole scene a most extraordinary one. There were 1600 acres of sugar-cane on the San Martin estate out of a total extent of 7000 acres, all of the richest description. The greater part of it was still in the natural forest ; and complaints were made in this neighbourhood that the want of slaves was restricting the production of sugar. Only 200 acres were devoted to Indian com, so that large importations of provisions become indispensably necessary. The l abourers on this estate were 450 negroes and .110 Chinese. A^ neighbouring plantation that I visited was worked by 600 Chinese. The machinery on the large Cuban estates is of the newest and most approved description. I spent two days on the l^an Martin plantation, where I experienced great kindness from Mr. Duggan, the admini- strator. I then returned to Cardenas, and on the following morning left for the Santa Rosa estate, in the neighbourhood of Union Junction, belonging to Miguel Aldama, the largest planter on the island. He had 15,000 acres under sugar- cane on his five estates, an extent of land not far short of that under wheat crop in the county of East Lothian. Owing to the scarcity of labourers, however, this quantity is rarely all ground ; for as soon as the weather becomes moist, 198 CUBA. and the roads too soft for carting in the cane, it is cut down and left on the ground for manure. Upwards of 2000 able- bodied slaves are required for labouring this plantation, besides from 400 to 500 Chinese. About 2000 oxen are employed for draught. The mansion on the Santa Rosa estate was a very plain one. The room below extended the whole length of the house. The floor, which was composed of red and white brick- . tiles, had no carpets, and the chairs were made of split cane. The bedrooms were in the second storey. A long nar- row room, extending the whole length of the house, somewhat resembling a verandah, was appropriated for taking meals. In the country, breakfast is at 10 o'clock and dinner at 6 p.m. Men of business rise early, and the better classes indulge in a siesta during the heat of the day. Little care is bestowed on the planter's gardens, except for raising vegetables — every able-bodied man being in demand for the manufacture of sugar. On Santa Rosa the gardener, an old negro, was living in the garden in a small hut no larger than a pig-stye, formed of the leaves of the palm-tree. The vegetables con- sisted of beans, peas, lettuce, radish, and tomatoes, in all stages of growth. The orchard, however, having been com- pletely neglected, was a perfect wilderness. The lemon, the orange, and the citron, were loaded with fruit, and these, together with the almond, the fig, the cocoa-nut, the cotton- plant, bearing buds, blossoms, and woolly-seeds, made up a noble group of trees, and all unknown in our northern climes. Notwithstanding the kindness and attention which I was receiving at Santa Rosa — ^hospitalities of no ordinary charac- ter — 1 was anxious to spend the Sunday in Havannah, and resolved to leave. Taking the train from Union Junction, I again enjoyed a delightful drive in the lovely plain of Guines, and got back safely to my old quarters in Havannah, at the Hotel de Cubano. v 4th Fehruary— iSundcm — Before sunrise the soldiers were marching through the town with their bands of music. The Cubans go early to their devotional exercises, and give up the CHURCHES. 199 e c e rest of the day to recreation. I looked into some half dozen churches before breakfast, and found them all plain and anti- quated-looking buildings. Rude images of the Virgin and child, of Chriat on the cross, and of the twelve apostles, were in more repute than pictures. The finest churches were crowded with fashionably-dressed ladies, wearing a black or white veil thrown over the head instead of a bonnet. There are no galleries, neither are there fixed benches or seats of any kind, only a few movable chairs. The floors are laid with marble, and every lady b rought a fancy-wrought rug on which she knelt, or, at certain parts of the service, B&t h la Turk. In this latter posture the Cuban ladies had their graces shown off to advantage. Few of them, however, seemed so closely absorbed in their devotions as to be heed- less of the group of gentlemen occupying the aisles. The Cuban ladies are comely, and dress with great taste ; whilst their dark eyes and olive complexions impart a sweet and pleasing expression. In the church where military mass was performed, a number of soldiers occupied the aisles ; while the centre was set apart for the ladies. An a^ced priejtjpffi-^ ciated. Not a word wa sheard , as the band played all tha time of the service . TEe gpaniah soldiers^ are small, and exceedingly uglv. At breakfast I learned that some of our company had made arrangements to go on board the Boscawen, lying in the harbour, for the purpose of hearing the English service ; whilst others were bent on going to the cock-fight. I joined the former, and went down to the wharf, and was soon put alongside the noble ship of 70 guns by ^rjtish tars. There was a crew of 650 men, and the greater number were assem- bled on the second deck, waiting for the commencement of the service. The rosy faces of the ofiScers and m en were a remarkable c ontrast to the Spanish soldier s whom I had seen in church in the morning. To my no small surprise, I discovered that one of the surgeons on board was an old acquaintance — a circumstance which rendered my visit a happy one. After dinner I resolved to go to the bull-fights that take place every Sunday afternoon in the western suburb. On 300 CUBA. / , getting near the place, loud shouts apprised us that the exhi- bition had commenced. The building which is an amphi- theatre is entered by a wide door, and a flight of steps leads to the uppermost tier of covered boxes, the others being open. It is capable of containing 6000 spectators. About 4000 were present at this time ; but to the credit of the sex, there were not more than fifty ladies present. The men were dressed in white linen clothes, and wore straw hats with broad brims. The arena is about forty yards in diameter, covered with sand. The scene altogether was a gay one, though the s^ort was disagreeable, and, I may also say, disgusting . When I Tiad time to look about me, I saw standing in the centre of the arena a small bull, which was gradually becoming enraged by the various methods resorted to for that purpose by its tormentors, some of whom were on foot, and others on horseback. Those on foot were dressed in tight fancy clothes, of various colours, green, white, red, and black ; their jackets were decorated with gold and silver lace, and their hair was all tied back, as sometimes worn by women. They had each a scarlet cloak, from time to time held out in the hand to attract the attention of the animal, which often ran towards it. There were six men dressed in this fashion leaping about him. Equally fantastic in their dress were the two horsemen, mounted on mere ponies, which were blindfolded. The heavy riders, armed with long spears, and in huge iron boots, seemed quite a burden to the small animals. As the bull approached, he was received by spears on the tips of his shoulder, which commonly caused him to retreat. This feat must have been considered creditable to the horsemen, for it was always followed by loud acclama- tions. After the animal was teased for some time in this manner, a trumpet was blown, the signal for the horse- men to retire from the arena. The poor animal was now subjected to a new species of cruelty. A man entered, having in each hand a barb about two feet long, decorated with variously stained paper, cut into ribbons, which he brandished for some time over his head, till watching an opportunity, ran in before the animal, and stuck them both into its shoulder. The hooked points kept their hold, and <^: BULL FIGHT. 201 1 the barbs dangled on each side of the tortured animal. Other three footmen followed in succession, each also sticking in two barbs ; so that ultimately the unfortunate animal had his shoulders nearly covered with these fanciful instruments of torture. This appeared to cause most excruciating pain to the brute, and his strength soon became greatly exhausted. In one or two cases, this kind of torture was varied, and rendered still more inhuman, by the barbs containing com- bustible materials, which exploded on their insertion. The trumpeter now blew louder ; and the chief bull-fighter, drawing his sword, and flourishing it before the captain- general, made a short speech, informing him that ho was now to kill the animal in the name of the Queen of Spain ; a feat speedily accomplished by thrusting a sword between the shoulder-blade and the first ribs. In some instances, when none of the veins happened to be cut, the animal ran about for a considerable time, with the sword up to the hilt in his body, and the point protruding from between his legs. After the bull was despatched, a band of music struck up, when three asses were brought in, bedecked with gaudy trappings of red cloth, and with small flags and bells fixed to the harness. These being yoked to the carcass, drew it away. Another bull was now admitted, and subjected to the same sort of savage torture. Altogether, there were nine bulls jrought into th e arena , six of wnich we re kill ed in the manner above described. The other three would not fight, being of a " peace-at-any-price " disposition ; so they were disgraced by a cow being led in to conduct them out, amid the derisive shouts of the spectators. Half-a-dozen horses, at least, were disabled, some of them being ripped up by the horns of the bull as they stood blindfolded, and actually ran round the ring with their entrails hanging out. One horseman had his leg broken. Such was the spectacle which formed the after- noon's entertainment. The most extraordinary part of the afifair to a stranger was the circumstance of the Cubans enjoying the sport, and being in raptures of delight at the most unmanly and disgusting piece of brutality I ever witnessed or could have imagined. The box adjoining the one in which the governor-general was seated was occupied m CUBA. by a party of British officers ; and I could not help remarking >ho sober cast of thoir countonance s during a moment when the "hn])^ spectators were shouting at a consummate piece of tortur( I'hey were seated as solemnly with their eyes fixed below as if tlioy Ijad been at a funeral ceremony. The passion of tho people foi tli .ho scenes is further evidenced from there being paintings of tho roughest description on all the sign- boards in tho neighbourhood, exhibiting contests with bulls, and suificientl)' "manifest the direction of the tastes of a people where there is no education to draw them towards other objects. As a lady and gentleman were driving from the railway station on the day following, a negro leaped into the valant , and snatching a gold chain from the gentleman's neck, iiia^ t away with it. Judge also, who was a passeng '*• with us in the steamer from Charleston, came in from tbe sume quarter in a state of great excitement, as a negro, to whom he had given his portmanteau to carry, had run away with it ; but our Yankee friend gave him so hot a pursuit, that the fellow threw it down, and escaped without a caning. On the same morning, an infuriated negro, armed with a razor, killed two people in the vegetable market-place, and wounded severely a dozen others. These incidents show that, notwith- standing the larf^e military force, there is little security for property or pevsuu in Havannah. I visited the theatre, and was surprised as well as delighted with the magnificence of the scene, which seemed equal to Her Majesty's Theatre in London. The large pit was filled by well-dressed gentlemen ; the seats were numbered and divided. The boxes contained an array of beauty and fashion exceed- ingly creditable to Havannah. The acting, however, was poor, but the singing and dancing excellent. I sought the way to my hotel about midnight. At that time I scarcely met a person in the streets. It wr i Invsly night, the moon shining in a caiu, serene sky, w^v^e 'i :!r was .' and balmy. The number of people selling lottery tickets in Havannah attracts the notice of a stranger. Lottery drawings take place every month, and keep up the gambling excitement. V w,-^-; LUTTKBIE8. 2oa - inducing ovon the poorer classes to squander in this manner largo auii; i. A rather curious instance of luck happened to one of the engine-drivers, whom I met the first day I was in Matanzas. He hud taken out his engine, and ran down accidentally u negro, near Union Station, for which he was imprisoiif-l. Some of his lottery tickets a youngor brother, who had recently come from Now York, got hold of, one of which turned out to bo a prize of 40,000 Jollars. Such instances occurring now and then among the poorer classes, give a great stimulus to lotteries. The great number of Americans who reside on the island must exercise a considerable influence in diffusing free opinions among the Creoles or Cubans. They are, however, closely watched by the Spanish ofiicials, and by spies, who go about at all hours. Although the spjes^ are well known in the cafes by those who reside in the island, it is rather amuB ug to see how they follow strangers, and get within hearing distance. There was a vast deal of excitement during the last days I was in Ilavannah, for the ^ overnor-general had discovered, or pretended to have discovered, a conspiracy in the city, on account of which about c'j^hty persons were arrested. They belonged to the first fan. ilies in town ; and the governor-general's own secretary was among the number, and was afterwards garotted. To my great surprise and sorrow, ]\Ir. Esheverria, the manager of the li avannah railway , was also arrested, a gentleman to whom I was indebted for great kindness and attention. My limited circle of acquaint- ances being thus very unexpectedly broken in upon, I was very glad when the " Empire City," in which I was to sail to New Orleans, made her appearance oflf Moro C astle. i ! CHAPTEK XII. CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE OF CUBA. Temperature of Winter. The climate of Cuba is exceedingly fine in winter, and is becoming a favourite resort for_geople from the U nited State s who ar e threatened witE~pulraonary diseases. During my short stay on the island the temperatui'e varred at sunrise from 52° to 72°, and at 2 p.m. from. 66i° to 82°. The inhabitants, or those who have resided for some time in the country, are remarkably sensitive of the change of temperature, and complain of cold when the thermometer sinks to 60° in the mornings. At this temperature, the engine-drivers on the railways put on as thick overcoats as one does in Scotland in the coldest days of winter. It was affirmed that this was the coldest winter that had been experienced in the island for many years. In Cuba, during the winter, the fluctuations of temperature are occasioned by changes in the direction of the wind, which is more inconstant in this low latitude than I had formerly been led to believe. As in other parts of ihe northern hemisphere, the southerly winds usually bring heat, and the northerly cold. The influence of the wind on the temperature is most strikingly exhibited at sun- rise. Thus on 3d February the temperature at sunrise was as low as 52° with a north wind, and at sunrise on the 9th as high as 72° with a south wind. The cause of this is, that the south winds, in their passage over the Carribean Sea, become impregnated with moisture, which is the chief agent that maintains the high temperature at night. The north winds, on the other hand, being dry, permit the air to cool more rapidly after the sun has sunk below the horizon. I found that the dew point of the vapour, during the day, cor- i i NORTHERS. 206 responded closely with the temperature of the air at sunrise. As bearing on this subject, it is worthy of remark, that while the diflference between the warmest and the coldest morning is as much as 20 degrees, the difference betyreen the warmest and coldest day is only 15^ degrees. It is of much import- ance, as will be afterwards shown, to attend to the composi- tion of what is called the mean temperature of places, for the range of the thermometer has a most material influence on vegetation. The north winds that prevail from November to March, usually at intervals of about a week, are termed " northers." These winds are well known to navigators, as occurring in the Gulf of Mexico, and as being particularly violent on the Mexican coast, from the Rio Grande to Vera Cruz. They even cross the isthmus of Central America at Tehuantepec and Nicaragua, and blow with great violence into the Pacific Ocean. The ** northers " being the land winds from the territories of the United States, lower the temperature as they rush south over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Though they have a tendency to cool the air considerably in Cuba, yet they are greatly tempered by the large surface of warm water over which they blow before reaching its shores. I found the temperature of the sea from 77° to 80° at Havannah and Matanzas. On the other hand, the " northers " are felt in all their rigour along the States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, because these land winds sweep across them without meeting with any influence in their course to mitigate their coldness and severity. In Southern Texas, especially, which is alternately subjected to the warm south winds from the gulf, and to the cold "northers," the fluctuations of temperature are of the most extraordinary character. Than Texas, there is, perhaps, no country on the globe wh e re the inhabitants are expo sed to such sudden changes from heat to cold , and to whom the lines of Milton are more applicable. Tney " Feel by turns the bitter change Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce, From beds of raging fire to starve in ice." The temperature, along with the direction of the winds in Southern Texas, in latitude 80" 20", in January 1855, while I sailed from Charleston to Havannah, will give some idea of / 206 CUBA. the nature of the climate in these regions. The observations were obtained from the Smithsonian collection at Washington. 7 a.m. 2p.h. 9 p.m. 19thJauuary 20th 2lBt 22d 52° S. E. 44° Calm. 32° N. 18° N. W. 72» S. E. 81° S. W. 44° N. W. 56° S. 58° 8. E. 60° S. W. 32° N. W. 38» S. From these figures we perceive that the temperature fell from 81° at 2 p.m. of the 20th with the south wind, to 18° on the morning of the 22d with the " norther," making a diflference of 61 degrees in the course of 41 hours. And such great and sudden changes are rendered still more dis- agreeable by the " northers " frequently blowing with extreme violence. At Fort Brown, in latitude 25° 57', on the Rio Grande, which forms the southern boundary of Texas, the thermometer falls to 22° in the months of December and January, yet there the mean temperature of these months is 60° 9 and 59° 5 respectively., while that of Lisbon is only 52° 5 in January. Vegetation, however, is more vigorous at Lisbon than at Fort Brown in Texas, because its mean temperature is composed of more moderate extremes. These facts clearly indicate that mere mean temperature cannot be relied on as data upon which a correct climatology can be founded. But if we consider the great fluctuations of temperature during winter in the Southern States, bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, the causes by which vegetation is kept in check, notwith- standing their high mean temperature, are at once obvious. It may be interesting here to give an illustration of the changes that occurred at Sparta in Georgia, latitude 33° 17', from the 19th to the 22d January 1855, on the northerly winds displacing the southerly : — ^ 19th January 20th „ 2l8t „ 22d 7 A.M. 2 P.M. 9 P.M. 30- S.E. 48" S.E. 57° S.W. 2fi» N.W, 61° S.W. 64° S.W. 65° S.W. 37° N.W. 47° N.E. 58° S. 51° W. 30° N.W. nokt6ers. 207 rly j One fact is particularly worthy of observation, and I shall merely allude to it here as it bears upon the theory of the action of the " northers" of the Gulf of Mexico — a subject upon which there has been much discussion among meteoro- logists. At Texas the wind was blowing from the south at 9 P.M. of the 20th, with the temperature at GO", but at 7 a.m. of the 2l8t, the north wind was blowing, and had evidently been so for some time, for the temperature had fallen to 32°. But at Sparta in Georgia, it will be observed that the great fall of temperature, on the change of the wind to a northerly direction, did not take place till the morning of the 22d — a day later than it did in Texas. The changes in the State of Mississippi were intermediate, as to time, to those in Texas and Georgia. The "norther" began in Texas, and was propagated over the Gulf of Mexico from west to east. As described in a former chapter, I experienced the warm wind in the steamer, along the Florida coast on the 21st January, and the "norther" struck us at Key West early on the morning of the 22d, about the same time that it began to blow in Georgia, nine degrees of latitude farther north. The temperature, however, only sunk to 63° at Key West, as the north-west winds were warmed and moistened in crossing the large surface of water in the north-east part of the Gulf of Mexico. And as 1 sailed into the harbour of Havannah, on the morning of the 23d January, a meting lovely and balmy as any I ever beheld in Scotland in the month of June, the thermometer, with the " norther" blowing in a clear sky, stood at sixty-two degrees. Before leaving the island of Cuba, accounts reached me of a severe storm having occurred at Philadelphia on the 2l8t and 22d January 1855, a fact that drew my attention to the connection between the " northers" of the Gulf of Mexico and the winter storms of Canada and the United States. The " northers" of the Gulf of Mexico I now find correspond to the cold westerly winds of the United States, and the two are propagated simultaneously from west to east over the gulf, and the whole territories of the United States and Canada. As has been already shown, the northerly winds cause a great depression of temperature in all the Southern States in m ft m i i>/ IV I.) 308 CUBA. winter. The frdsts by which they are accompanied kill down the stalks of the sugar-cane and the cotton plant, rendering the fields as wintry in tiieir aspect as those of Britain during the cold season. But before the cold north winds from the vast continent of America reach the island of Cuba, they are, as already stated, so greatly tempered by the large surface of warm sea which they cross, that the thermometer rarely sinks to the freezing point, even at considerable eleva- tions in the interior. Very few of the trees in Cuba are deciduous, and where there is a suflSciency of moisture, this high temperature maintains a perpetually verdant vegetation. Winter, in the English sense of the term, cannot be said to exist in Cub a, for the temperature then is nigher than even that of the summers of the north of France. The graceful forms of the cocoa-nut and the palm are predominat- ing objects in the landscape ; and I can never forget the pleasant emotions I felt when first I sat under their shadow. Their broad majestic leaves waving in the soft breath of the trade-winds — the deep blue azure of the expansive sky over- head — ^the entire absence of cold or disagreeable winds- rendered a few wee ks* residence in the Queen of» the Antilles of the mos Tcharmingdiaracten . ~. T-,.. . J . - "'>;■?'" '"^''-^■ \'i.. jri. ..; '\. . ._ , •' !■,.•.■;:-■?: ' V^etahhs. . ^, , The winter climate is well adapted for all kinds of vege- tables. I found the common potato growing most luxuriantly in the vicinity of Havaunah. The sweet potato is also extensively cultivated as a winter crop, and its vines, bearing pretty blue flowers, were matted over the ground. Vege- tation in the island is very rapid. Beans are ready for use in about six weeks after being sown. Radishes are fit for the table in the course of three weeks. Lettuce, a plant naturally of rapid growth, attains a great size in an amaz- ingly short period; but owing, doubtless, to this cause, I found it wanting in flavour. Tomatoes are also raised during winter. . ■:. In summer, rain frequently falls about noon ; and under a tropical sun vegetation in consequence becomes very active t \ W rt ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE. 209 Neither tomatoes nor sweet or common potatoes are raised during this season, owing to the great heat and mois- ture. They are grown only in the dry or winter season, when rain does not fall for several weeks successively. I was surprised to see how luxuriant many of the succulent vege- tables were in the gardens, though no rain had fallen for some time, and the sun generally shone in an unclouded sky. On the San Martin sugar estate, I saw Indian com growing from six to seven feet in height that had not got more than one-sixth of an inch of rain since it was planted, and yet the crop did not appear to be suffering from want of moisture. The beans and peas growing in the adjacent fields were also vigorous. Showers are more frequent in winter on the coast ; but vegetation in the interior is chiefly sustained by the copious dews. The large amount of moisture in the atmosphere, even during winter, in Cuba, as indicated by the high temperature at sunrise, prevents all kinds of plants from becoming exhausted of their sap as they are in higher latitudes with the same dry temperature. Indeed, I am quite satisfied that the peas, potatoes, and turnips which I saw growing so fresh and healthy in Cuba, with the sun shining in an azure sky, would have become withered in a day or two in Scotland with a sky less bright, but with as high a temperature. This is a most interesting subject to discuss in detail, but I shall merely remark in passing, that the winter climate of Cuba furnishes a good illustration of the caution required in apply- ing the indications of the thermometer and the rain-guage in agricultural meteorology. ^-'■- '/. 8u,gar- Cane. Frosts, however, have sometimes occurred on the planta- tions in the interior of Cuba, and destroyed quantities of sugar-cane, which is very susceptible of frost; it kills the leaves, and forms acetous compounds in the juice of the cane that prevent the syrup fi*om crystallizing. But it is rare that cane suffers by frosts, even on the more elevated of the sugar estates in Cuba. The cane is a tropical plant, and altlioiigh it is 210 CUBA. \ V I cultivated in the Southern States of America, it does not flower in that climate, and it is also ( cultivated under other disadvantages. There are two powerful influences under which the life of the sugar-cane appears to be shortened, viz., a low tempera- ture in winter and poverty of soil. The cane, as is well known, is a perennial plant, and when its stalks are cut close to the ground every year, the roots, like those of the willow, retain their vitality, and send up fresh shoots for another season. On some of the richest soils in Cuba, it has fre- quently been known to last for twenty-five year s ; and it is said that there are instances on record of its lasting forty years without being renewed. But after the soil becomes somewhat exhausted, it is planted every five or eight years, according to the fertility of the land. On the other hand, the influence the cold winters exercise on the longevity of the cane is rather curious. The soil in the lower Delta of the Mississippi is perhaps as fertile as any of the soils in Cuba ; ■ yet there the canes are seldom got from the rattoons, or old roots, oftener than once, when the fields have again to be replanted. The life of the cane is thus evidently shortened by the cold winters. As we go farther north, such as in the central parts of Alabama, where the winters are still colder, it is found necessary to plant sugar-cane annually. The eflfects of a rich, soil in prolonging the life and vigour of the cane are well known in Louisiana, for an additional year's growth from the rattoons is obtained from crops planted on new land. But in general, two crops only are got from one planting in the sugar lands of Louisiana. From this circum- stance alone, it may readily be conceived that the cultivation of sugar-cane is much more expensive in Louisiana than in Cuba. And although the produce of sugar in the former is little more than one half of that in the latter, yet, strange to say, the sugar lands of the Mississippi are of far greater value than some of the best soils in Cuba. The reason why the value of land is higher in America, notwithstanding the dis- advantages of climate, is, as I shall attempt to show, owing principally to the circumstance of more economical -manage- liient. , •J ill. SUGAR-CANE. 211 to ,lue the dis- ing ,ge- I In Cuba, the sugar-cane does not flower on soils of ave- rage fertility until it has grown for nearly two years ; but as the laud becomes exhausted it flowers sooner. It is not uncommon to see a good many canes flowering on the poorer and shallower parts of the fields that have been long in cultiva- tion, while in the richer and deeper parts none are to be observed. It is a sure symptom of the land becoming exhausted when a number of the canes are seen in flower. But in the Southern States, cane does not flower, owing to the growth of the plant being so long interrupted by the frosts, which often happen in the end of November. The cane must be all cut down in Louisiana by the end of December, and if not crushed then it must be protected from the frosts ; whereas the harvesting in Cuba continues from the 1st of November to the 1st of May. The mere cultivation of the sugar-cane in the rich lands of Cuba is quite a simple matter. The trees of the forest are cut down and removed — the stumps and roots are allowed to remain undisturbed in the ground, the brushwood is burned, and the surface soil is then ready for ^lantin^ the cane. This operation is thus performed : — A hole, in a slanting direction, is made in the ground with a dibble, into which a short piece of cane is deposited and the earth gently drawn over it with the foot ; or a small shallow trench, not more perhaps than two or three inches deep, is made with a hoe, into which the canes are laid horizontally and then slightly covered. The canes are usually planted about three feet apart, and as this operation takes place during the hot and moist weather, shoots are soon sent out from every joint of the cane, and the growth is so rapid as to smother every weed that threatens to establish itself in the soil along with them. No plant impressed me so much with the luxuriant character of tropical vegetation as the sugar-cane. The administrator of the San Martin estate showed me a field that had been planted in July, about six months previous to my visit. In this instance the rows were seven feet apart, and three stalks of cane had been laid side by side in the bottom of the furrow. Such a host of shoots had been sent up, that the rows formed the densest growth I ever beheld. The broad gri ' asHv 212 CUBA. liill meeting over the wide intervals, and many of them were already seven feet in height, presenting the most perfect specimens of health and vigour that could be conceived. An ordinary field of sugar-cane is a complete thicket of stalks and leaves, which varies in height from six to twelve feet, according to the quality of the land. The stalks are gene- rally as thick as a man's wrist. The lower leaves die and hang down, then wither away, while fresh ones are constantly rising from the top, so that the surface of a cane field is always green as a meadow. In riding along some of the narrow roads that intersect the fields on the large plantations, I could not see over the tops of the cane, the dense mass of vegetation rising like a wall on both sides. The level and beautiful tract of country betwixt Guines and Cardenas, a distance of nearly a hundred miles by railway, appeared to be mostly under sugar-cane, fields of which, in many parts, bounded the view in all directions. On rich and new land very little care is bestowed on the cultivation of sugar-cane, as it occupies the ground so fully as to keep in check all noxious weeds. I have also seen it growing on the poorest sorts of soils, upon which scarcely any other cultivated crop would have grown at all. Indeed, it is well known to yield a fair produce on soils that are too poor for growing Indian com with advantage. As the land, however, becomes impoverished, more care requires to be bestowed on its culture. But as there is a large portion of the island still in a virgin state, new lands can be so easily obtained, that the exhausted are allowed to lie waste for some years to recruit their fertility. On the San Martin estate, where 1600 acres were occupied in sugar-cane, all the labour bestowed in the culture of this extent of laud was accom- plished by 200 hands in the course of six weeks. In general, the cane is not cultivated by the plough at all ; the earth around the roots is merely stirred by the hoe in spring. But labour is so scarce and land so abundant, that ajarge. porti on of the cane fields receive no culture at a ll. But the harvesting o f the cane and the ~manufacture of sugar, aremost la Wious Operations ! The negroes go into the fields with a large heavy knife, and after stripping oflf the f 1 CUU8HIN0 BUQAR-CANE. 213 withered leaves, grasp the stalk in the left hand, and cut it close to the ground by one blow of the kriife. A small piece is cut from off the top, in order to se, ite the leaves and the soft part of the stalk, which contain little sacchai'ine matter. Bands of men and women are employed at this work. The females are lightly clothed, and the males have usually nothing on but short trousers. Neither head nor back is protected with the slightest covering, while labouring under the broiling rays of a tropical sun. As soon as the cane is cut, it is thrown into waggons and drawn by oxen to the large sugar-house, where it is crushed. The sugar mill on the large estates is a very powerful machine, driven by steam. It consists of three iron rollers about one foot in diameter and six feet in length. The cane is delivered to these rollers by an endless web, about thirty feet long, made of wooden cross bars. The canes are thrown upon this web, and one hand levels them with a hooked pole. I have seen about thirty negroes, men, women, and boys, employed in supplying one of these crushing-mills with cane from a large heap. The juice of the canes, which contains the sugar, runs away in a stream from below the rollers, and is immediately conveyed to the evaporating pans. The crushed stalks of the cane fall from the rollers into a cart. They are then driven away to be dried in the sun, and afterwards used as fuel. The crushed cane, called " begasse," serves for all the fuel that is required on those estates where the sugar is not refined. Were it to be applied for manuring the fields, it would be more slowly exhausted ; but, in the meantime, other necessities determine the present practice. And, besides, the fertility of some of the soils is so great, that I was told there are estates on which cane has been growing for the period of one hundred and forty years. The sugar-house, where the refining process is carried on, is a very large erection, sometimes covering an acre of ground. Under one roof are placed the mill, the evaporating pans, the purifiers, the purging vessels, and the centrifugal pans. The juice is first boiled in open pans, with a small quan- tity of calcined lime to assist in coagulating the albuminous % A 214 CUBA. matters, and after it has boiled down to a certain degree uf concentration, it is turned out to cool and to crystallize. In this state it is called Byrup, and owing to the molasses which it contains it is semi-fluid. On many estates the produce is all sold in this form ; but the gi'eater number of the planters separate the molasses from the sugar, by putting the syrup into cone-shaped funnels with a small orifice in the bottom which allows the molasses to escape, while the sugar remains ' behind in a hardened state. In this form it is called Musco-_ vado sugar. When the sugar is farther refined, the juice, after being slightly boiled with lime, is filtered through charred bones to separate impurities, and afterwards boiled to the required degree of concentr ation in vacuum pans . By means of these pans the juice is ^led at a much lower temperature than in those exposed to the open air. This principle was first applied to the manufacture of sugar froci beetroot, but has been recently introduced into Cuba and I louisiana. It is \ well known to chemists that all the saccharine matter in the caiio is crystallizable sugar, but in the process of manufac- ture a considerable portion is converted into molasses. By over-boiling the ji ice, or adding too much lime, the quantity of molasses is much increased. The vacuum pans produce less molasses than the open ait ^ues, and the process is also rendered more certain, and fewer bad " strokes " are made. On those estates, too, that have been long in cultivation, the sugar becomes more difficult to crystallize, and the quantity of molasses increases. In these cases great economy has arisen from the use of the vacuum pans. On several of the large plantations of Cuba the centrifugal pans have been introduced for the purpose of separating the " ^l olaasc s from the sugar. The molasses are put into a cir- "ciilar vessel, whose sides are made of fine wire-cloth, through ,. it passes a verticle iron shaft, which is the means of giving it a motion of 1200 turns every minute. This speed has the effect of driving off all the liquid molasses, leaving the sugar quite dry in the pan in the course of a few minutes. The machinery on the sugar estates is of American, French, or British manufacture. Vast sums of money have, r\ WAGE8 OF l.ABOIH. 216 in many cases, been expended upon it. The new ap is no doubt sufficiently tested to compel us to admit its c iiui as an improvement on the old ; yet I heard good auth< i«« assert that those estates were ge nerally the most proiiiabUi which sold their pro duc e in its crudeat stat e. This opinion 1 think, under present circumstances, at first view at least, is a sound one. For since all the produce, sugar and molasses, is sent to market, there can be little carriage saved by refining it. And as the interest of capital and the price of labour is much higher in Cuba than in the countries in which it is consumed, I do not very well understand how it can bo pro- fitable to carry on the refining processes so extensively as many planters are now doiug. '■•■ ' Commercial interest at Havannah is 12 per cent , and many of the planters borrow money at rates varymg from 10 to 24 per cent, which is expended in machinery and in slaves. Machinery costs about double the amount of money in Cuba that it does in Britain. When an able-bodied slave is hired out to work on the sugar plantatu/fis, the common wages are 20 dollar s (£4 : 3 : 6) a montL Xlt therefore seems to me pretty evident that capital and the labour of slaves would be more profitably employed in raising sugar and send- ing it to market in its crudest state. And not only is crude labour higher in Cuba than in Europe, but skilled labour is also higher. In consequence of the want of education among the mass of Creoles or Cubans, they are virtually shut out from all occupations that require intelligence and skill. The engineers on the sugar estates, as well as on the railways, are, with few exceptions, foreigners, who are all paid higher wages than they can obtain at home, in order to induce them to reside in a more unhealthy climate. The engine-drive rs on the railways receive from £300 t o £400 a year» / 6n a sugar estate that I visited, where two engines were grinding cane, the head engineer had upwards of £400, and the other £360 a-year ; the assistant engineer, for six months, £130 ; the sugar-master, a French- man, had £380, and his assistant £190 ; the coppersmith £320, and the blacksmith £190; the overseer £150; the administrator or manager £1000 ; and, last of all, the i 216 CUUA. machinery, upon the most improved principle, was erected at a cost of £60,000. This is no doubt an extreme case ; but where capital and labour are so high, it is diflicult to see how refining can be at all profitable. The sugar-cane grows for nearly twelve months in Cuba ; for it is no sooner cut down than fresh sprouts arc sent up from the old roots. The crop is soonest ready on those soils that are shallow and dry ; and the grinding usually begins in the middle of November, and lasts till Muy. A hot and moist summer produces a bulky crop ; in fact, the length of the joints of the cane is a pretty good indication of the nature of the season. A period of dry weather always causes the joints to bo short, and of wet weather the opposite effect. Dry weather in autumn is desirable to ripen the crop and concentrate the juices. The richer planters, who are not in straits for money, delay the grinding season a little, as much less fuel is then needed to boil down the juice to the required degree of concentration. • 'I An acre of average sugar-cane in Cuba will yield about 3500 pounds of syrup. . |hat is, sugar and molasses. This is a very large quantity of sacchorine matter, when it is borne in mind that it is estimated there is 25 per ce nt of the ^hole amount of s ugar left in t he " be^asseT ^ The total quantity of sugar m an acre of cane is thus about 4375 lbs., which is a greater weight of pure saccharine matter than the weight of the grain of two of the largest crops of Indian corn in Cuba. Indian corn requires a richer soil than sugar-cane. The planter spoke of this crop needing fresh land to raise it with advantage. Many plans have been tried to extract a larger proportion of sugar from the cane, but none have been successful. More is got by increasing the pressure, or crushing it over again ; but the quantity of gum and other vegetable principles is so much increased, that in the separation of the impurities a great deal of the sugar is converted into molasses. / Tohojcco Culture. The culture of tobacco forms the other great source of agricultural wealth to the island of Cuba. The quality of the TOUAUCO. 217 fiiio Ilavannah tobacco is the result of peculiarities of soil and of climate. In regard to climate, it is worthy of observation that tobacco is only cultivated jMrmy winter, when there is little rain. It grows most luxuriantly in summer with the increased neat and moisture ; but the leaves grown in this season are devoid of those qualities for which the weed is esteemed. The conditions of growth are less powerful in winter, when the temperature is ton degrees lower, and the fall of rain small. At the same time, there is more sunshine to impart those aromatic qualities which are so much relished by smokers of tobacco. In Virginia, the torrid heats and thunder showers during the summer months are by no means favourable for developing the mild aroma of a good smoking leaf. Such atmospheric conditions are better suited for cotton / and Indian corn than tobacco, which must have dry weather \ a nd sunsjiine to produce it in perfection ! Tobacco cultivatea^ \ m the United States can never be so good as that which is raised in Cuba, fur this reason : — In no part of the States is the climate fitted for producing the finest qualities of tobacco. But the quality of tobacco depends as much upon the nature of the soil as of the climate. That plant, as we have already said, requires peculiarities of soil to develop certain of its qualities. And these peculiarities are such that art cannot furnish the conditions to produce them where they are naturally wanting. The sugar-cane grows chiefly on soils derived from calcareous formations ; but few or none of these are fitted for tobacco, which is cultivated only on sandy loams. Both the Cuban and American planters concur in asserting, that a large quantity of siliceous matters in soils is essential for the growth of good tobacco. As already noticed, the rich clay loams on the banks of the James River, in Virginia, do not grow good tobacco ; while the less fertile siliceous soils in the county of Louisa produce it much . superior in quality. Small patches of tobacco are everywhere seen growing over the sugar-producing districts of Cuba ; but I saw no tobacco plantations in the calcareous regions over which I travelled. The culture of tobacco is extensively 218 CUBA. ■■I, carried on hi the western parts of the island, over a region of country along the south coast, about eighty miles in length by twenty in breadth. The soils rest upon the primary formation. Even in the tobacco district, the planters know the spots in the different fields that produce the various qualities of leaf. The planters whom I happened to meet did not consider tobacco a particularly e xhausting crop. Its culture is the same in Cuba as in the'United States. It may serve to give some idea of the enormous quantity of tobacco produced, I when I state that the Havannah Railway draws £60,000 , sterling a-year from the transport of this article alone. Strange to say, a considerable portion of the tobacco used by the lower classes in Havannah is imported from the United . States. This seems to indicate that the extent of soil capable of raising tobacco in Cuba is comparatively limited. A portion of the tobacco imported from America is used for wrapping up the inferior quality of the home-grown leaves. ^ fjJiouyt '^^® manufacture of sugar furnishes employment to the poorer • ^ class of Cubans and the freemen of colour. This indeed seems to be the chief source of industry, for in the meaner parts of Havannah and Matanzas people rolling up sugars are seen in almost every house. Coffee. Coffee was more extensively cultivated at one time than it is now. A immber of the coffee estates have been planted with sugar-cane, which is found to be more profitable. But as prices of coffee had lately undergone a considerable rise, I found that some of those who had made the change from coflfee to sugar were rather regretting that they had done so. The Vermillion soils are most esteemed for the gi'owth of the coffee plant. It rises to the height of six feet, and looks like a hardy slow-growing shrub. It is an evergreen, and is kept closely pruned. I saw it in the southern parts of the island in blossom, which at a distance made it appear quite white. The labour of the cofifee estates is light compared with what it is on the sugar estates. CHOPS. 219 Wax and Honey. Among the minor products of the island, wax and honey were at one time produced in considerable quantities for export. Throughout the entire year, the vegetative kingdom puts forth a great variety of flowers, so that there is no suspension of the labour of the bee. On one estate, I saw a great number of hives in the hollow trunks of the palm-tree, which were cut in lengths of about three feet, and laid hori- zontally over a few sods. It was the last day of January, and the colony were in a state of great activity, feeding upon the flowers of the orange and the banana. # M Wheat. A small quantity of wheat is raised in some parts of the island in winter ; but I saw none of it growing, and I was told that the farmers require a license from government for liberty to cultivate this crop. This restriction, it is said, is adopted by the mother country for the purpose of obtaining a revenue from provisions imported. Oats produce little else than straw, and are rarely sown except for gi'een food. Mice. Considerable quantities of rice are sown in summer on the ordinary soils of the country ; and the crops receive no more moisture than what the rains afford, but they sometimes suflFer greatly when the season is dry. Rice is largely imported from the United States. The Chinese labourers have an allowance of rice ; for having been accustomed to it in their native country, they still retain a preference for it over Indian corn. Indian Corn. Two crops of Indian corn are raised on the same laud in one year. The winter or " dry crop," as it is called, is usually sown in October and reaped in February ; and as scarcely any rain falls during this season, its growth is almost entirely maintained by copious dews. The crop at this season 220 CUBA. yields only about thirty bushels an acre on the richest land, as it requires to be planted wide in the rows ; and at the same time, the soil must be well cultivated, to promote the absorption of moisture. Yet I saw very few crops, in my journey over the island, that seemed to be suffering from the want of moisture, though there had been little rain for some weeks. The summer or " rain crop " is more abundant than the winter one ; but from all that I could gather, Indian corn is not nearly so productive in Cuba as it is in Kentucky or Ohio. On the best soils, it seldom produces more than forty bushels to the acre ; for the climate, as in the Southern States of America, has a great tendency to produce stems and leaves. In many parts of the island, especially in the beautiful plains of Guines, 1 saw large irrigated fields of Indian corn, that had been sown broadcast, producing thick and luxuriant crops. The stalks and leaves of Indian corn form the chief provender for stock of all kinds. t Plantain or Banana. The plantain is seen growing over the whole island, affording shade and shelter to every cabin, however small or mean. Though it wants the grace and beauty of the cocoa- nut or palm, its form is peculiarly tropical ; none more so. In good soil, it grows to the height of twenty feet. Its trunk, or rather fleshy stem, is hollow, resembling in outward appearance that of the lily of the Nile, seen in our green- houses. It is about nine inches in diameter at the base, tapering towards the top, where it sends out long broad leaves, and also a short stalk, bearing a heavy cluster of fruit. The plantain requires to be renewed on good land only once in forty years. It sends from the root a fresh shoot every nine months, and the old trunk dies as soon as the fruit becomes ripe. Little care is bestowed upon its culture, being planted in check-rows twelve feet apart. The ground usually receives only two ploughings during the season. It is not unfrequently seen, however, growing in the shallow soils of the coral formation, where there is little in which to fix its roots, excent in the crevices of the rock. PLANTAIN. 221 With a little attention, a constant supply of plantain fruit is obtained all the year round. It is largely used by all classes, and is commonly pulled when green, and cooked with grease or oil. In this form, it is seen at breakfast and dinner on the tables of both rich and poor. The slaves also have some plantains, or other green vegetables, supplied to them once a day ; but from the softening effects of these upon the system, and the laborious nature of their work, such food must be somewhat sparingly given. It is for this reason that the plantain, though easily raised, forms a much smaller part of the food of the slaves than might be supposed. Their chief food co nsists o f Indian corn, and dried beef fro m America ; and no more green vegetables are given than what are consi- dered necessary to counteract the heating qualities of the more substantial articles of nourishment. The banana is merely a smaller, but less productive variety of the plantain. It is usually allowed to become ripe before it is eaten, and is then found to be a most delicious fruit. Humboldt estimates that one thousand square feet of ground, which will only yield 38 lbs. of wheat, and 462 lbs. of potatoes, will yield 4000 lbs. of the larger bananas. The fruit of the banana and the potatoe contain about 75 per cent of water. He reckons, however, that a demi-hectane of plantains (1.23 acres) is capable of maintaining fifty individuals for a year ; while the same space cultivated and sown with wheat will only maintain two. I suspect, however, that the food-producing powers of the banana are considerably overrated. Humboldt has grounded his estimates upon the supposition that a hundred square metres (1076 feet) of ground may contain at least from 30 to 40 banana plants, or only from 35 to 26 feet to each plant. But in the finest banana plantations that I saw in Cuba, there were 144 square feet allowed to each plant ; and this space seemed no more than suflScient to maintain the most healthy growth. One day I rode through a field of bananas 60 acres in extent, and in which the plants were in 12 feet check-rows. Many of the large leaves were 20 feet in height, and meeting together in the rows. There were only 550 slaves and Chinese on the plantation, yet this extent of ground was too small to supply / 222 CUBA. the quantity of bananas that was needed ; and there was besides a considerable extent occupied in yams and other vegetables. I am of opinion that two acres of potatoes, of ten tons each, would yield more food than one acre of bananas. Humboldt has well observed, however, that we are struck with the small extent of land in cultivation around the dwellings of the inhabitants in the torrid zone. Small spots of land, under plantains, yams, and sweet potatoes, yield abundance of food for little labour ; and wherever the Creole or negro is squatted upon the land, there we usually find ease aud idleness. For although the banana cannot support the strength of the overtasked slave, it furnishes, when the work is light, a most wholesome, and at the same time delicious food. Cattle. Oxen are used in Cuba for all purposes of heavy draught. The yoke is fastened close behind the horns, and the pole of the waggon or cart is simply fastened to it by means of an iron bolt. This mode cl yoking cattle causes them to move with their heads close to the ground. I saw many fine oxen dragging the huge carts at Havannah ; but the most of those I saw on the sugar estates were of rather small size, and appeared to be over-worked. They are kept in the hot season on large grazing farms in the interior ; but during the crushing season, they are fed on the green tops of the sugar- cane. On the Santa Rosa estates, about 2000 oxen are employed in carting in the cane, and driving the produce to the railways. Before the introduction of steam, most of the cane was crushed by bullock-mills ; and much is so still. The price of cattle is about the same as in England. All kinds of vegetables and provisions on the island are high-priced, which renders living expensive in the large towns. A good fowl sells at 4s., and a turkey at 12s. A great deal of time is occupied in taking the produce of the fields to market, as most of it is transported thither on the backs of small horses, in consequence of the roads being so bad in the interior. The green stalks of Indian corn, which form the principal food of cattle and horses, are conveyed to town in this HORSES. 223 manner ; and under this burden the animal is so much covered as to render no part of it visible except the head and legs. Charcoal, fruit, market vegetables, and poultry, are packed in panniers, and carried away for sale by the same means. One . man generally contrives to manage half-a-dozen of these Ij carrying horses, which are in rather an odd way intimately interested in each other's progress. They travel in a row ; the driver sits on the first horse, to the tail of which is tied the halter of the second one, the third to the tail of the second, and so on, until all the half-dozen are thus connected. The Creoles, but especially the negroes, have a great predilection for managing horses in this manner. It is quite common at Havannah to see one man taking two dozen of horses to have them washed in the sea. He rides upon the front horse, which has the halters of other two tied to its tail ; and from these two is formed a double row. Instead of the cows being milked in the country, they are driven into the town, and milked at the doors of the purchasers^ us this is the only way to secure a genuine artic le. The ordinary rate for keeping a horse in livery stables in Havannah is £6 : 5s. per month. CHAPTEE XIJI. THE INHABITANTS AND SOCIAL STATE OF CUBA. Aborigines. The aborigines of Cuba were of a mild and inoifensive dispo- sition, but of a jaelancholy temperament , and being treated as slaves by the Spaniards shortly after the discovery of the island, their numbers rapidly decreased. A state of bondage, in which tht,/ were forced to work at gold-washing and other employments, being intolerable to their natures, many com- mitted sui cide; and the introduction of European diseases made so great a havoc, that in less than a century the rac^e becaipa extinct. Few or none of the American Indians seem to have the dispositions fitted for enduring a condition of slavery such as exists, or has existed, in the West Indian Islands. Negroes and Chinese, But what.jLa [onderful constitution, bodil y and mental, ^as _th e African ! Caught while roaming at Targe m ^is native country ; confined in the hold of a ship until he is transported 3000 miles across the seas, and then treated in all respects as a beast of burden, — however violent has been the change frcm freedom to bondage, and from ease to labour, he is found bearing up under his privations most won- drously. His frame becomes robust, and so far fitted hv the task demanded of him ; and so long as he is possessed of health, his merry heart does not forsake him in the depths of his degradation. I have often stood and wondered at the powerful young slave, born in Africa, applying himself so vigorously to his hard toil with apparent resignation and cheerfulness. He is capable of enduring enormous hardships, ■-•* SLAVES. 225 / le 18 ;d in been )our, von- the [ of 18 of the f so and hips, and making groat phys ic al exertion — qualities which have proved so valuable in cultivating the fields of the torrid zone, and have been so largely drawn upon to minister to the luxuries of the nations of the temperate latitudes. Therf' ar about 450,000 slaves in Cuba.* Their condi- tion with respect to physical comfort varies greatly, accord- ing to the work in which they are engaged. Probably rather more than one-third of them is employed in the production of sugar ; about another third in that of tobacco and coffee, and the remainder as domestic servants and labourers in the towns. The town slaves, though, no doubt, occasionally subject to c » pression, are in comfortable circumstances compared with those in the country. The scale of comfort also varies much, according to the kind of crops which they are occupied in cultivating. The labours of the coffee plantations are the lightest, and those of the sugar the most severe. Indeed, the labour of the sugar plantations is sometimes used to punish refractory slaves in the towns or on the coffee plantations, as bridewell or hard labour is used in punishing convicts in free countries. In one of the small towns at which I stopped for some time, my landlady, a Scotchwoman, had not only severely lashed her slave for absenting himself for a day or two, but had sent him to work on a sugar estate with chains on his legs. The season for crushing sugar-cane in Cuba lasts for six months at least ; and from aU I heard and saw, I am fully persuaded that the negroes are much over-tasked at this time on almost all the sugar plantations. Until I visited the sugar fields and factories, I had no conception that such severe and long-continued exertion could possibly be endured by any race of men. The common practice on all the estates which I visited, was that the able-bodied negroes begin the day's work at half-past four o'clock a.m., and at ten o'clock have an hour for breakfast. Then resuming work go on till sunset, when they get dinner and another hour's rest, after which they work on in unremitting toil till midnight, thus workin g eighteen hours ou t o f the twenty-four , and with only four * Some estimates make the numbers nearly double those we have given. 226 CUBA. hours for Bleep. Tlic system is so thoroughly organized, that no one can relax his efforts without being liable to punish- ment. On the majority of the estates there is one " driver," or under-overseer, for every ten able-bodied slaves, The slaves that take in the cane in waggons from the delds to the sugar-house, usually do so in com panies o f ten, over whom a Hronl^ "driver" is Bct, mounted on horseb ack, with a^whip in his hand and cutlass by his side . I was told by one planter, who was working his negroes on the Sunday, that a holiday was usually allowed once a week ; but I found others, well acquainted with the general system, who gave mo a very different account of matters. On one large estate which I visited, the practice was that, so long as the machi- nery held good, there was no stopp ing, Sun dayLjor Saturday, d uring the crus hing season. ^"^ '-y>uryi>(^ . * I well remember seeing twenty negro men pounding sugar, with short hand mallets, in largo wooden troughs, drawn out from below a shed. They had no other clothing than short trousers, and their bare heads and backs were ex- posed to the sun. There were two drivers set over them, the one a Creole and the other a negro. Both had whips in their handj, and the Creole had a cutlass by his side. The negroes were not suffered to relax their efforts for a moment, and, hard as they were working, still I pitied the negro. driver almost as much. The poor wretch was constantly /crying out to the others to work harder ; but this was done as nmch apparently for the purpose of keeping up a certain amount of excitement to prevent himself from falling asleep as to keep the others at their task ; for he seemed to be com plete l y tortured wi th sleep, as he leaned against the trough. I found parallel scenes enacted in the sugar-houses. Tn one an old negro, who was attending to the boiling pans, was constantly calling out to the negro who was throwing in the refuse of the cane or begasse, " no fire," " no fire at all." This was also done in order to keep up a certain amount of excitement, and to relieve the monotony of his work. I was assured by a working engineer that fatal accidents, arising from the negroes being overcome with sleep and falling into the boiling juice, were not uncommon. SLAVES. 227 Wo men, girls, and boys, are all taBkcd beyond their strength . The gangs that are seen about the sugar-houses are most emaciated creature s. At night they are usually found chanting some song to beguile the weary hours. The chil- dren do J, little hero ; for all who seemed able to run were sent out under the charge of an aged matron to gather up the dried cane that had been crushed, and to put it into heaps, or some other description of light work is assigned to them. To all appearance there will be no improvement in the physical conditioa— of the— negroes on the sugar estates of Cuba, ut looking at the difficult position of the Virginian planter, and the acknowledged improvement that has taken place in the coii lition of his slaves, surely no one would be inclined to advocate a return to treatment so severe, which by the numbers of the slaves would be kept in check by over- work, as is the case in Cuba. Mean as is the condition of I CONDITION OF bhAVES. 231 the Virginian slavo, thero is Btill a considerable margin of com- forts in his lot wliich miglit bo curtailed, and far more work exacted, before he was reduced to a state of physical suffering capable of wearing out a generation of men in tbo course of ten years. It is, so far, a mi»take to suppose that the increase of slaves on the Indian corn and wheat plantations can be a source of much profit. No doubt it acts as a premium on humane and liberal treatment. But it is surely too much to expect that a planter who has the humanity to treat his slaves well, should have also the generosity to manumit them. Adam Smit h has well remarked that the history of all ages and nations shows that the condition of th e slave is better under an arbitrary than under a free government. " In every country where the unfortunate law of slavery is established, the magistrate, when ho protects the slave, intermeddles in some measure in the management of the private property of the master ; and in a free country, where the master is, per- haps, either a member of the Colony Assembly, or an elector of such a member, he dare not do this but with the greatest caution and circumspection. The respect which he is obliged to pay to the master renders it more difficult for him to pro- tect the slave. But in a country where the govern racnt is in a great measure arbitrary, where it is usual for the magistrate to intermeddle even in the management of the private property of individuals, and to send them, perhaps, a T' ire de cachet if they do not manage it according to his liking, it is much easier for him to give some protection to the slave ; and common humanity naturally disposes him to 'do SO. The protection of the magistrate renders the slave less contemptible in the eyes of his master, who is thereby induced to consider him with more regard and to treat him with more gentleness."* This is no doubt the secret of the Spanish laws respecting the slaves being of a mild and humane character, and at the same wine favourable to manumission. They form a great contrast to the laws which existed in the English colonies at the time Smith wrote. But through corrup- tion and weakness in the Government of Cuba, the laws respect- ing the slaves are not put in force, and only prove a mockery. * Wealth of Nations. Book iv. chap. 7. / / 232 CUBA. cIwamAL' It is melancholy to think how little effect the progress of refinement and civilization among the upper classes in the island has had upon the condition of the slaves, and how little prospect there is of any improvement in this respect, until it becomes matter of necessity. But the demand for crude labour cannot be supplied by the slave trade, and the Cuban planters, imitating ours in the West Indian Islands, have imported Chinese labourers to work on the sugar estates. Vf^hen 1 was at Havannah, pro- posals were made to introduce 30,000 Chinese. I found as many as 500 employed on one estate, and nearly the whole work was carried on by them. A Chinese labourer, however, is i ^rior to a neffl-o for field work on the sugar estates, but he is su perior at thos e employments in the sugar-house that require skill and atten tion/ On all the estates on which new and expensive machinery has been put up, the Chinese are employed in purifying the juice and manufacturing it into sugar. The planters say that a negroisa pt to neglect hi s ■^ork if he is not constantly watched ; hutaChinaman pays I grea t at t ention, and can be relied upon as soon as he knows how the process must be conducted. For these kinds of work the Chinese have been of much service to the planters. They are apprenticed for eight years, and receive food and about four dollars a month as wages. The importation costs the planter 170 dollars, and none but men are imported. As a slave is worth from 700 to 800 dollars in Cuba, were the labour of the Chinese to be at all as effective, this imported labour would no doubt be a great deal cheaper. But the condition of the Chinese labourer is not much better than that of the slave so long as his apprenticeship lasts, for he is coerced as unsparingly, and he is not so well fitted to endure such treatment. I was told that large numbers of the Chinese, like the aborigines, had committed suicide ; and were the facts made known, it would be found that a small proportion with- stand the rigours of their treatment during the long appren- ticeship. This must be pretty obvious when it is borne in mind that the mortality among the negroes is from 6 to 10 per cent annualbr, and vastly larger in some cases. On some of the sugar estates I found as many as one-third of the jT CHINESE LABOURERS. 233 Chinese labourers in the hospitals, and one of the adminis- trators frankly told me that this was nothing uncommon during the crushing season. < , Another point connected with the apprenticeship system is worthy of a passing notice. I heard it affirmed by some that there was little chance of the Chinese being freed on the expiry of their term of service ; and certainly the probabilities are rather in favour of this view. The humane statutes regulating the hours of labour on the plantations, as well us those favouring the slave purchasing his liberty, are now totally inoperative. It is also well known that many of the negroes that were taken by our cruisers in the middle passage, were landed in Cuba, and the mixed Commission at Havannah set them free, but apprenticed them for a limited number of years to the planters, who have made the apprenticeship perpetual, and so their condition is no better than it would have been had they been landed on the island and sold at once. This disgraceful want of good faith on the part of the Spanish Government, arising either from impotence or con- nivance, has been the subject of interference on the part of the British Government. Thus while the demand for crude labour is such, it is scarcely to be expected that the Chinese will have justice meted out to them when the period of their service expires. It must be confessed that Cuba would be a much poorer country were it to free its slaves, for the principal wealth of the island depends upon their labour. The enormo us export s consist almost entirely o f^sug a r, tobacco, andcoiiee iC and were a sudden emancipation to take place, comparatively little of these products would be raised. Cuba, at the present moment, is in a much worse condition for manumitting her slaves than o ur West Indian Islands, i n 1832. ' ijetore our slaves were set free, the African slave-trade had been abolishcvl for twenty-six years, and the numbers of male and ^emale negroes were equalized. In some of the smaller islands, also, the negro population had become dense, and the land had risen greatly in value, so that it was all occupied by plantations. The denser the population, the less disastrous to the interests of commerce were the efifects of emancipation. Where there :/ CUBA. was no waste land to squat upon, and wVere a life of ease and idleness could not be led, and a subsistence obtained by cultivating plantains and yams, the emancipated negroes had no resource but to work upon the plantations. A few illus- trations of the eflfects of freeing the slaves upon the exports of the West Indian Islands, before and since emancipation, may not be without interest. Antigua is a small island of irregular shape, 20 miles by 18 at its greatest length and breadth. It contains a population of about 16,000. The sugars imported from it were, iu 1832 1853 Coffee imported from it in 1832 1850 143,336 cwts. 202,408 „ 49,888 lbs. none. 403 Portuguese. 95 Africans. 137 „ There have been no Coolies imported into Antigua. The only labourers which Antigua has received since 1848 up to 1852, were — From Madeira „ Sierra Leone „ St. Helena Barbadoes is the most fertile of all the West Indian Islands. Its total area is only about 766 square miles, or 106,470 acres. Of this area no fewer than 100,000 are under cultivation, and 40,000 are under sugar-cane. The population is about 123,000, being 734 persons to the square mile. This dense and redundant population has rendered the introduction of Coolies quite unnecessary. The exports of sugar have been more than doubled since 1832. , These were — 1832 . . . 266,464 cwts. 1853 . . . 580,050 „ The amount of coffee exported was — 1832 . . . 158,191 lbs. 1850 ... 235 „ K Jamaica has an area of 4256 square miles, of which about 110,000 are cultivated chiefly as sugar plantations. The population in 1848 was 377,433, yet the quantity of sugar exported in 1853 was only 441,197 cwts., being considerably / EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 235 less than that of the small and densely populated Barhadoes. The sugar crops in Jamaica were, in v«* " ^ 1832 1845 98,686 hhds. 47,926 „ The quantity of coffee imported into Britain from Jamaica, was, in 1832 1850 19,405,{,43 tt>B. 4,156,210 „ The total number of Coolies imported from 1848 to 1852, was 2116. The period of service was five years, at the end of which the island was compelled to give a free return passage. The thinly peopled colony of British Guiana, on the mainland of South America, shows a similar falling off. Its area is about 76,000 square miles, and in 1843 the population was 120,000. The imports of sugar, the produce of the colony, into Britain, were, 11 1832 1853 Sugar. 870,598 cwt3. 572,693 „ Coffee. 3,492,288 lbs. 8,472 „ Cotton. 1,491,736 fts. None. The immigi-ants that have arrived from 1848 to 1852 were, from — Great Britain Sierra Leone St. Helena . Bio de Janiero Madeira Azores East Indies . Total 21 1842 1610 296 3465 164 6867 14,265 Viewing the question simply as a com mercial one, the effects of abolishing slavery in those islands ot the Antilles wnicn were thinly peopled has not been euccess f /i. The history of Uayti shows us the disastrous effects upon com- merce of uprooting slavery by internal convulsion. Ihe revolution occurred in that island in 1791, and was attended with fearful violence. And, as a consequence, the organiza- tion of labour required for the production of sugar seems to have been entirely broken up. The statistics given below 236 CUBA. tell a carious tale, following years — fayed Sugar. 1789 47,616,631 Ifos. 1822 1841 The exports of that island were, in the Muacovado. 93,673,300 lbs. 200,464 „ 1,363 „ Coffee. 76,836,219 R)B. 24,236,372 „ 34,114,717 „ Cotto<:. 7,004,274 lbs. 692,368 „ 1,691,464 „ •:/ It will be observed that sugar, an article requiring much hard labour to send it to market, now scarcely forms an item in the exports of Hayti. Cofifee becomes the chief produce, as it is gathered from a perennial shrub, and the labours involved in its culture are comparatively light. The produc- tion of cotton is also diminished, and it would probably have been so to a greater extent if the cotton plant had not been a perennial shrub in that island. That the physical comforts of the coloured race in Hayti are improved since 1791, there is perhaps no ground for doubt. A free man in Hayti has an infinitely happier lot than a slave in Cuba. 1 often heard it stated that the negroes in Hayti are relapsing into barbarism and idolatry. But our feelings are lacerated when we find, in Cuba, society principally made up of two classes — the one subjected to the greatest degradation and cruelty — the other enjoying all the luxuries of civilization, and making no attempts to raise the helpless out of their appalling condition. Society, so consti- tuted, contains within itself explosive elements which may burst forth in a moment, when unheard of excesses may be perpetrated. Cuba has an area of 32,000 square miles, nearly equal to that of Kngland proper. The total population is said to be about 1,500,000, or scarcely 50 individuals to a square mile, while -Barbadoes has 734 to the square mile. Cuba is no doubt inferior to that island in natural fertilitv, but were it to be chiefly cultivated for elementary plants it is difficult to determine the population which it would suppvu't. At the present moment, too, there is a large extent of land of the most fertile character lying in its natural state. All experi- ence, therefore, seems to show that the abolition of slavery in Cuba would be attended with great sacrifice tc the planters. / CREOLES. 237 There are about 1500 sugar, 1600 coffee, and upwards of 9000 tobacco plantations. The whole amount of sugar pro- duced on the island in 1848 was estimated at 280,000 tons, and of coflfee about 8000 tons. In 1847, there were exported from Bavannah 860,000 tons of leaf tobacco, the whole of which is the produce of slave labour. At one period the Spanish laws operated more favourably for the manumission of slaves than either the English or American ; and consequently there are upwards of 200,000 free people of colour in Cuba. The larger number of this class are in the towns, and live in comparatively comfortable circumstances. CreoUa. The white population of Spanish extraction now requires more particular notice. They are commonly called Creoles, to distinguish them from the whites who have been born in Spain. Their numbers amount to about 600,000. A large portion of the poorer class of Creoles are a sort of small farmers, who cultivate Indian corn, vegetables, fruits, and rear poultry. The Creoles who live on the land do not seem to find it advantageous to raise coflfee, though it does not involve much labour, nor even tobacco, unless for their own consumption. Sugar-cane, under the present state of things, is in a great measure out of the question. Were there no slaves, perhaps these small farmers would find it to be their interest to cultivate the sugar-cane ; for its mere culture is not so laborious as that of Indian corn. The manufacture of sugar can only be economically carried out by a combination of labour. The present state of society, therefore, in Cuba, is unfavourable for these small farmers improving their condition in the slightest degree. A large number of them are employed in the plantations as slave " drivers :" and their common wages are eight dollars a month, with food ; whereas a good field negro is worth twenty dollars a mouth. This shows that the Creole has no better way in which he can employ himself than in this most degrading occupation ; and while he may be far above the negro in the scale of society, his • 238 CUBA. II !! i labour is of much less value. Through ignorance, also, he is shut out from all hose employments on the estates that are highly paid. A common engine-driver on the Cuban railways receives about as much for his services as fifteen Creole slave- drivers. The Creoles in the country who are not engaged on the plantations seem to lead an easy and idle life. Eveiy- bodv ric|es in Cuba . It is not common to see a white person on footTT'Kehorses are small but hardy animals ; and all of them have the amble, which is an easy motion for the rider. Few of the horses are handsome, having a somewhat ragged appearance from their leanness. The Creole rider wears a broad straw hat, light linen clothes, and a sword by his side. His rank among his brethren is in some measure determined by the value of this warlike appendage ; for though he be poorly mounted, his sword often costs him a hundred dollars or more. The Creole is of a slender make and engaging manners. In travelling over the island, it is soon seen that cock-fighting is his favourite amusement, as almost every day one meets with cock-fighting parties, having bands of music, going to spend the day in the villages. The great majority of the Cuban planters are Creoles, who usually reside with their families in the towns in winter. The highly profitable nature of sugar culture, and the complete system of organization of labour that prevails, allow the pl antations to be rpann^pA ^y^admi nistrators or overseers , le Creole planters are well educa ted, and possess an mti- mate knowledge of the politics of Europe. Most of them receive a part of their education in the United States, Eng- land, or France ; and they usually speak the French and English languages. After having tasted liberty in other countries, they feel more bitterly the restraint under which they live at home. The town houses of the planters are almost all built on one plan, however much they may differ in style and ornament. A short description of one which I visited in Havannah, belonging to a wealthy planter, may be taken as a sample of the better sort. The house of two storeys, with a flat roof, forms a square building by no means imposing in its style of architecture, rattier looting plain and massy. The windows, CREOLES. 2S9 without glass, are wide and high ; and those in the basement are protected by iron railings, like the other houses in town. The walls are plastered ovei* of a light cream colour, which has a fine efiect in this glorious climate. The entrance is by a porch at one of the sides, ^n which there is a strong door that shuts up the establish la 1/ 240 CUBA. been a short time on the island, ho becomes persuaded that there are good grounds for watchfulness on the part of the mother country. The prize, though a valuable one, consists almost entirely in the produce of the labour of the slaves. For were slavery to be suddenly abolished in Cuba, the island would not be worth much to Creole or to Spaniard. Besides the military, there are about 35,000 Spaniards in the island who fill lucra- tive officcH connected with the government and the customs. At present, the island aiTords an outlet for the members of the old Spanish families. It is said that the government officials are very corrupt, and no doubt they have many opportunities for peculation. Upwards of twenty millions of dollars are raised in taxes. Sugar pays 2\ per cent when exported, and fruits 7. All other agricultural productions 10 per cent when gi:,thered. Live stock, when sold, 10 per cent; and slaves, rural and town property, 6 per sent, besides the expenses connected with registration. Heavy import duties are also levied on provisions and other necessaries. The governor-generals all get the credit of conniving at the slave trade, and of deriving enormous sums from the traffic. The Creole planters make these exactions their chief complaints, and are watching an opportunity to overthrow the Spanish nile ; but I do braeve that these exactions would be comparatively tolerable, were there not another matter, which they consider of deeper importance, that urges them on to rebellion. The Creoles are haunt^*^ with the idea that France and England will, in no long time, compel Spain to free her slaves. This feeling, I believe, is the mainspring of the dis- content which so generally prevails among them, and which keeps up the fiUibustering movements in the United States. It is also this which makes the politicians of the Northern States of America so jealous of English interference in Cuban affairs, and which led to the proposal of the United States to Spain to purchase Cuba. The sugar planters of Louisiana are not favourable to the annexation of Cuba, as it would certainly be detrimental to their own interests had they to compete with Cuban sugars admitted free of duty. But not- VALUE OF LAND. 841 cd that t of the entirely slavery not be nilitary, 11 lucra- :u8tom8. nbers of ernment e many in taxes. 7. All fathered, iiral and Dnnected jvied on lerals all deriving 3rs make hing an [) bcxieve )le, were deeper nee and free her the dis- id which i States. !^orthem n Cuban States to jouisiana it would they to But not- withstanding this drawback, the planters of the South cannot tolerate the idea of Cuba being m ^de free ; and they all | declare that the United States would be quite justified in J making war against Spain were she to free her slaves. ' The islp-'id of Cuba cannot afford a great revenue to Spain, after deducting the expenses of maintaining so large an armed force. But it would be worth a vast sum to the United States, could it be peaceably obtained. From the want of labourers, the resources of its rich soil can only bo slowly developed in the hands of the Spaniards ; but they would be very rapidly developed in the hands of the Ameri- cans, who have many slaves whose labour could be profitably employed in Cuba. In the hands of the Americans, a small armed force wor.id be sufficient to maintain order, and the large extent of rich virgin soil woti'i find purchasers in a few years. When Humboldt visited the island in 1804, the price of sugar estates in the plains of G nines was from 30 to 90 dollars an acre, and adult acclimated slaves from 450 to 500 dollars each ; bozal slaves about 100 dollars less. The price of slaves, however, is now nearly doubled, while that of land has fallen greatly. The San Martin estate, about thirty miles from Cardenas, contraning 7000 acres of land of the most fertile description, with a railway intersecting it, and a branch running into the sugar liouse, was valued, shortly before my visit, at 20 dollars an acre ; and the admini- strator, Mr. Duggan, informed me that he considered th*? too high ; for plenty of land as good could be bought at five dollars an acre, or little more than one pound sterling. The cause of the fall in land is, no doubt, partly owing to the rise in the price of slaves ; but it must be chiefly ascribed to the large area now made available for sugar planting, by the extension of railways giving facilities for transporting the produce. The .Creoles^ would, no doubt, prefer to rule the island without the interference of any foreign power ; but a suc- cessful rising of unarmed Creoles is hopeless. Therefore, rather than remain in their present state, tl a^y eagerly chaWa annexation to the United States. The fillibustering expedi- 242 CUBA. i i ! '! IE i :< tions wero all concocted in Cuba and supported liy Cuban money ; and to the first expedition under Lopez about three millions of dollars were subscribed in the island. Among all the candid planters and politicians that I conversed with in the United States, I did not meet with one who sympa- thized with the fillibustering expeditions ; on the other hand, they are not without fears lest the slaves should obtain their freedom in such attempts to grasp the island from Spain. 1 England ond France, from motives of the purest philanthropy, wish Spain to hold the island rather than the great American confederacy, under the idea, as I imagine, that slavery as an institution is less firmly maintained by Spain than by the United States. Thiy is, no doubt, true ; and the number of slaves that Cuba could support, were it cultivated by American planters, is beyond calculation . It is undeniable that t he emancipati on in our own colonies has given a great impul t? ;? to slav erY in other parts of the world! The mode of carrying out 'emancipation oughtto have varied according as the islands were densely or thinly peopled. Tf it be right and proper to entail land at home, it would certainly have been right to have entailed it in Jamaica ; or some other scheme should have been devised with a view to prevent squatting. It is vain for us to think that our sentiments of humanity will diffuse themselves among the plaiiters of Cuba or America, so as to lead to any such sacrifice as that which many demand of them — total and immediate emancipation. The ][ioman Catholic church ha s now lost all influence for good ovr r the inhabitants of this lovely island. A great laxity of morals prevails. I never could have imagined such a total want of religious feeling and disregard for sacred things. Though slavery deadens the moral sense, and has an unfavourable influence on society, yet it is far better to have slavery with religion than without it. If the Roman Catholic church had maintained its hold on the affections of the people, it would surely have helped to soften the lot of the slave, which is now a disgrace to humanity and the age in which we live. CHAPTEll XIV. IIAVANNAH TO NATCHEZ, LOUISIANA. February 14, 1855. — After nearly four days' sail from Havan- nah wo becran to look anxiously for indications of the mouths . ■■ ■III I -■ *-J • of theV MissisHJpp i ; but none were observed until we were within twenty miles of the delta. Before this, discussions had been going on among the passengers, whether the sea still retained its dark blue colour, or was becoming tinged by the muddy waters of the great river. At last, however, at a long distance a-head, the sea appeared of a light green, and as we drew near this differently coloured water, a very remarkable line of demarcation existed. On one side of the line the water, as in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, was of a dark blue, and on the other of a light green. This line, stretching from east to west, was so distinct, that you could fancy you might step from the one kind of water to the other, and even the waves at the point of junction seemed to be composed of two kinds of water. The sea, however, was of the same purity ; the strange difference in its appearance arising from the water being comparative!} shallow on the one side, and very deep on the other. It would seem that the action of the currents of the gulf have the effect of rolling out the materials brought down by the river into a vast mound around the delta, while the surface-water remains quite pure. The weather had been wet and stormy, which rendered the voyage very disagreeable, more especially as our steamer, the " Empire City," rolled so much, that it was impossible to walk on deck. The warm south wind was again displaced 244 LOUISIANA. by a norther, which blew with a clear sky and low tempera- ture as we approached the Misbissippi. After sailing for moro than an hour after getting into this differently coloured water, the muddy floods of the MiHsissippi at length appeared on the horizon, and imparted a peculiar yellow tinge to the sky ; and soon afterwards reeds were seen growing in the low lands of the delta. The muddy water did not extend beyond six miles from the land, for the gi'cater part of the sediiiient falls down before it reaches that distance. Ik'fcre entering the south-east pass, the sea, towards the east and west, was of a dirty cream-colour, apparently having as much mud suspended in it as our rivers have when in flood. On looking to the south, the crests of the green waves were just visible on the horizon. The Mississippi, near its mouth, does not strike one with its majesty and grandeur. ' he channel through which we sailed did not appear to be moro than />00 yards in width, and the v yater on the bar was no t ^""'•" M]-'^" ei ghteen fee t in depth. In consequence of this shallowness of the water on the bar, navigation can be carried on only by vessels drawing little water, and they frequently strand in the mud, through which they are often literally made to plough by the force of as many steam-tugs as may be required. As there are similar bars on all the channel s by which it dis- charges itself into the gulf, no^vessel of war can ascend the Mississip pi. It was about the time of high water when we entered, and no sandbanks were visible. Drift timber, however, was seen in immense quantities, lying half exposed where there was little current. Indeed, for some miles up the river, it literally lined the banks. Reeds are the pioneers of the land plants, and were growing in the water ; and for several miles from the mouth nothing was seen but their withered stems. It is s eldom that the tide^ enters the M is- siseippi, in consequence of the great current of fresh jater, but the sea is now and then driven over the surface of the lowest part of the delta when strong winds prevail from the south. This has the effect of preventing the growth of trees, as there are no varieties in the Southern States that do not ^ ' UULTA OF MISSlSBll'ri. M6 sufTor by brackish water. Tho first trees that appear in ascending tho river are a narrow fringe of willows. Wo had scarcely entered tho (channel and got the Bwamp reeds on both sides, before we passed some habitations, erected on piles of wood. The difficult character of the navigation renders the services of a largo number of pilots necessary, men of great intelligence, and highly paid. The most of them reside at the western pass, or Belize, whero there is a population of 500 souls. It was said that as many as twelve copies of an American Review were subscribed for by this small community. To form gardens in this swampy wilderness, earth hus been dug from tho banks and trans- ported at great expense. Not only is the swamp inhabited by those engaged in the navigation of the river, but settlers have already taken possession of the extremity of the delta. Considerable numbers of cattle wee browsing among the reeds, and at intervals the cottages of their owners formed specks in the dreary landscape. It will greatly assist us in obtaininj^ a clear view of the physical peculiuiities of Loui' iai . , if we attena to the manner in which tho formation of tLj delta takes place. Before tho Mississippi was settled by Europeans, it, like the Nile, ( overflowed its banks every yea r, and that, too, up to a distance of more than 1000 miles above its outlet. Its banks being covered by a dense forest and a thick under- growth of shrubs, the muddy water was deprived of its sedi- ment as soon us overflowed, and filtered towards tho interior. By this process a layer of alluvial soil was annually added to the land near the stream, which was thus considerably raised above tho general level. The clear water flowed to the inte- rior swamps and found iir- way to tho sea by a channel of its own. This action of the river is still seen in the lower delta where it is not protected by embankments. By glancing at the map, it will bo observed that the delta terminates in a narrow tongue of land which carries out tho Mississippi far into the Gulf of Mexico. After entering one of the channels, and sailing a short way up tho river, the sea is observed on both sides, and we become sensible that the river is considerably above the level of the sea. During the / 246 LOUISIANA. : / time the Mississippi is in flood, the lower part of its delta, where there are no embankments, is converted into a vast month. A thin sheet of water finds its way to the sea through the reeds and coarse grasses, which, as already ob- served, arrest the earthy matter and raise the borders of the river. Near the mouths of the different channels of the Missis- sippi, it is obvious that there can be little diflfercnce in the height of the river at the high and at the low season ; be- cause the proximity of the gulf prevents any accumulation of water taking place. The difference betwixt high and low water increases as we ascend the river. It was the low sea- son when I sailed up to New Orleans, and the mud-bank at Fort-Jackson, thirty miles from the mouth, appeared to be only about two feet in height, and, of course, as soon as the water rose higher, it flowed directly towards the sea across the neck of land. At New QrlftanR, 110 miles from the mouth, the difference betwix t hi ^h and low wate r is 10 feet; at Natchez, 40 feet: and at me t^^nctionQf the Q hio, 50 feet. The delta of the Mississippi is two hundred miles in length, averaging about seventy-five in breadth. Its esti- mated area is fifteen thousand square miles, and it is only a very small portion of this extent that is capable of being cul- tivated ; for the interior is a vast swamp covered with trees, whose tops only are sometimes visible during the flood season. The Mississippi sends several smaller channels, called " bay- ous," through its delta in more direct courses to the sea than the one pursued by the main stream. Many of these contain little water except during flood. The banks of these subsidiary channels are also higher than the interior, having been formed by the overflowing of the sedimentary waters in a similar man- ner to those of the main stream. The cultivated land t>f the delta is entirely confined to the banks of the river and those of its bayous ; indeed, rarely extending beyond a mile from the channels. And these have only been reclaimed by the formation of embankments, or " levees," to prevent inunda- tions. The physical peculiaritiefi of the Mississiijpi have formed I '#/ •" • FOUT JACKSON. 247 the subject of considerable discussion amoQg A merican en gineers , and some curious results have been elicited^ In the first place, it is necessary to observe, that although the river is only 600 yards in breadth at New Orleans, it is con- siderably more than 100 feet in depth. The bed o f t he river at New Orleans is thus more than 100 feet below the level ol tlie se a ; and as the water on the bar is scarcely 20 feet in (ieptfi", the water in the bottom of the river appai'ently flo ws up-hil l towards the sea. It is a peculiarity of most of the ' large rivers in the Southern States, that they spour out for themselves deep channels towards their mouth s. The ffl'cater- part of the river is nov ; ^mbanked as lar up as St. IjOujh . a distance of 1300 miles. Before it was so, the floods con- verted the delta into a vast lake ; but since the embankments have prevented the water from flowing into the swamp, it has been found that the river does not rise much higher in its lower course than it did before the extension of the levees. This is a result not looked for by the engineers ; it was thought that the levees would require to be raised so much higher below in proportion as they were extended up the river. The greater body of the water being kept within these levees during floods has increased its motion, and given it greater power of forming for itself a deeper channel. The same height of levee has been found sufii- cient to prevent inundation in the lower parts, as existed before the Mississippi was kept so much within its banks above. In a similar manner the bayous have had their channel deepened by their banks being protected by levees, and they also carry an increased quantity of water to the sea during floods. Before reachi-jg Fort Jackson, a belt of trees, perhaps 100 yards in breadth, occupies both banks along the river. It consists of willows, elms, alders, and fan palms, which last are from six to ten feet in height. Several full-sized and beautiful orange trees, heavily laden with fruit, were growing within the ramparts of Fort Jackson. After passing the fort, the river is embanked on both sides, and the land is chiefly in the possession of small proprietors. There are many orange groves along the river. The fruit was all gathered ; / '/■ 248 LOUISIANA. but the dark-coloured evergreen leaves relieved the dreary wintry aspect of the scenery. The willow alone was putting forth its light green leaves ; for, with the exception of a few live oaks, the trees in the swamps are all deciduous. For thirty miles above Fort Jackson, small rice-planta- tions are very common on both banks. It is strange, and well worthy of observation, that these settlements are com- paratively healthy for white persons, who, in many cases, cul- tivate the crop with their own hands. Here the cultivation of the rice crop is effected by a very different process from that which is followed in the tidal swamps of Carolina. The Mississippi usually begins to swell in the delta about the end of February, and continues to rise till the 1st of June, when it again gradually subsides. It is thus in flood during the hot season. A ditch, having a sluice at its mouth, is dug from the river towards the swamp. The land immedi- ately behind the levee being the highest, is cropped with Indian corn and potatoes. But at a little distance from the river, where the land is lower and can be flooded, it is laid out in narrow rice-fields parallel to the river, somewhat in the manner indicated in the sketch. These narrow strips of land are banked all round, so that they can be laid under water after the rice is sown. The land is ploughed in March, and shortly afterwards sown and harrowed. As soon as the young plants appear above ground, the water is admitted from the river, for the purpose of keep- ing the land-weeds in check. The crops grow rapidly, and the depth of water in the fields is gradually increased, by raising the height of the dam over which it flows towards the swamps, so as to keep the tops of the plants just above it. There being a constant current of water from the river to the fields and over the swamp, there is no stagnation, and the fields are not laid dry till the crop is ready to be cut. The only labour bestowed in the culture of the crop is to pull up by hand the weeds, which are mostly grasses ; and / UIGE PLANTATION. 249 this operation is efiFected by men going into the fields knee- deep in water. The produce varies from 30 to 60 bushels of rough or unhusked rice, which is separated from the straw by the treading of horses. The quality of the Louisiana rice grown on these small farms is inferior to the Carolina, less skilful management being bestowed upon its culture. These small properties under rice culture may, perhaps, throw some important light on the labour question ; for this cluster of white settlers on the lower delta of the Mississippi indicates that it is not so much the mere feeling of the degradation of free labour that prevents the whites being more engaged in agricultural operations, as that the culture of sugar does not afford a proper field for uhem. Two causes seem to conspire in producing this result. First, the more unhealthy nature of the sugar-fields ; and, second, that free labour can- not compete, in the manufacture of sugar, with the better organized slave labour. At the present time, however, there is a tendency towards these small rice-plantations being absorbed by sugar plantations, and cultivated by slave labour. Notwithstanding the swampy nature of the country at the mouth of th e Mississi ppi, it is, as already observed, more healthy to the white inhabita nts than any other part of the delta. The small rice-plantations, even in the lower parts of the river, are more salubrious than the sugar and cotton plan- tations which are under dry culture. Indeed, in hot coun- tries, it seems to be the universal experience that the clearing and cultivating of rich alluvial lands render these districts more unhealthy than they were when covered with the natu ral vegetation. The swamps of the Mississippi, Savannah, and all the other Southern rivers, as well as the interior swamps, such as in the Carolinas,* were not unhealthy ia their natural state ; they have only become so since they were brought under cultivation. * It is to be remarked that the climate, in the interior of the swamps, is far from being unhealthy. Lumber-men, who spend great portions of the year in it, cutting shingles and staves, testify to the general salubrity of the air and water. The opinion prevails among them, that the quantity of pine (?) and other resinous trees that grow there, impart a balsamic property to the water, and impregnate the air with a healthy resinous fragranco. which causes it to be an exception to the usual rule of tnc unhealthineBS of swampy land.—" Dred, a Tftlo of the Great Dismal Swamp." By Mrs. Stowe. / .ing- the peculiar tinge to the water in the Jheels, kav'2 as close a raismblance to our peat-mosses as the diff(.^reufc cii)Taatio conaU'ons will admit of. Tbo decaying process is arreriteii in loth ctisfis, and hi nee it is pro))able tiiit this -/rcumstance is the cause of the Jheck. as woii ir of tb^ t^wamps of the Southern States in their natural condition, being comparatively he>^\thy, like the peaty districts in Scv '• '.ami On the other hand, the cultivation of damp soil, by which it is exposed to ihe atmosi'heric <\.iluencos of a hot c-limato, invariably gives rise to malana. Even the first efiect of drill tiing marshy grounds is to render them less salubrious .uan they were in their natural state. For this reason the Campagna in Italy became more unhealthy after its drainage, as Dr. Arnold states in his Roman History. As already observed, the sugar and cotton plantations in the bottom lands of the Mississippi, are loss healthy than the undrained swampy lands in the lower parts of the delta. The malaria of the rice-fields of Italy, and of the tidal swamp of Carolina, is of a very deadly character. The practice adopted in these parts of laying the fields dry at intervals during summer and autumn, and exposing them in a moist state to the sun, seems favourable to the production of deleterious exhalations. But as Captain Smith very justly contends, in his excellent work on Italian Irrigation, when referring to the experience of India, there is nothing deleterious in the mere culture of rice, except in the mode in which the irrigation is managed. Where there is no stagnation of water, the licj-fields are not unhealthy. This opinion, I may here remark, is confirmed by the fact that the rice-grounds at the mouth of the Missis- sippi, on which the water is not allowed to stagnate, are far more healthy to the whites the..; the sugar and cotton planta- tions on the rich alluvial landi; As we sailed up the riw s . j air was cold, and at night f / NEW ORLEANS. 253 niglit became frosty. Next morning, when we landed at New OrleanB, the hoar-frost was lying white on the wharves. During the day, however, the sun shone out with great brilliancy, and the temperature was pleasant and bracing. The wintry aspect of vegetation in the swamps of the Missis- sippi, and the dingy houses of the Crescent City, appear uninteresting, nay, almost depressing, compared and contrasted as they were in memory with the scenery of gay Havannah and its lovely neighbourhood. The wharf extends for two miles along the eastern bank ; and the immense area covered with cotton bales indicates the enormous interests connected with the staple produce of the South. A fleet of steamers painted white, and having double funnels, line the landing. It is estimated that there are now 1500 steamers on the Mississippi and its tributarie s. " In the early part of August, the cotton crop begins to arrive at New Orleans. The business season then commences, and from 20,000 to 30,000 white labourers are attracted from the Northern States by high rates of wages. The cotton continues to arrive at the city till the beginning of summer, when the fliuctuating population again returns to the North, where the climate is more salubrious. Yellow fever makes its appearance nearly every summer at New Orleans, and commits great ra vag es among those who are not natives of Louisiana. The last severe visitation of this pestilence occurred in 1853. According to Dr. Bennet Dnwler, the population of the city was 150,000 when the epidemic broke out in June, but 30,000 fled to the country ; and up to the 1st of November, the aggregate mortality from yellow fever was 8451. At no former peJod did the malady spread so far into the country as in that year ; for all the small towns in Louisiana and Mississippi suffered. If, as is generally believed, cleanliness mitigates the ravages of this fearful pestilence, as it certainly does in other epidemics, the city authorities are blameable for the 51 thy ctate of the streets, the sewers are open, and the putrid exhalations offensive '^-ven at this cold season : a state of things which is the more inv3xcu8able, as even when the river is low, an abundant supply of p.; re water might be easily raised from the MiRsis- sippi to sweep the filth of the streets towards the swamp. If > ( 254 LOUISIANA. I went to the St. Charles Hot^ l. one of the ..finest^ establishments in the United States, so large that one thous and visitor s can be accomm odated. Notwithstanding this, I found all the rooms engaged when I arrived in the morning ; but a large number of departures soon put me in possession of a good bed-room. The bells a real l rung by ejectricUx ; by slightly pressing a small knob wTth the thumb, the number of the bed-room is made known in the office below. The most of the waitera_4re Irish, and no c oloured servants are Considerable employed. Considerable difficulties are found to arise in hiring m so many slaves, and it would require too large a capital for the hotel proprietors to own them. White servants are therefore employed in the large establishments in the South. The ch amber-r gftidH nrp also nftarly all Irish ; and I was assured that they are i^kigularly trustworthy and virtuous in the midst of the mai y temptations to which they are exposed. By a rather curious coincidence, I here met a gentle- man very unexpectedly about whom I had formerly made inquiri' 3. When at Charleston, I was interested with some essays on Southern agriculture that appeared in the news- papers, but could not then learn anything of their author. I had taken down his name in my note-book, with the intention of enquiring after him when I got to the South-western States, for his writings reminded me more of those of Cato than any that I had ever read. One can therefore imagine my surprise the first morning that I landed fromHavannah, when a few minutes' conversation with the stranger r^ my right hand at the breakfast-table, where about 200 gentlemen were seated, made me aware he was the man I was so anxious to see. The making of his acquaintance was a decided hit ; for he was a Scotchman, and had been in the country for upwards of twenty years. Of all the parties to whom I had introduc- tions in the United States, on none, somehow or other, did I consider I had so great a claim to attention as upon the one whom I had thus so unexpectedly met. He resided in the neighbourhood of Natchez, where I had introductions to several large planters, who happened to be from home, so that I after- wards gladly availed myself of my countryman's hospitality. SALE OF SLAVES. 255 are The New Orleans newspapers contained advertisements almost every day of sales of slaves to take place in town cr country ; and wishing to see how the Southerners managed this business, I devoted a forenoon to it. No slaves were advertised to be sold in town in the morning papers of that day ; but on going into the rotunda of the St. Louis Hotel, I saw a group of about twenty men, women, and children, seated on a low bench in front of the stall of an auctioneer, who was then selling some town property. While this sale was proceeding, I walked about in the elegant building, which also serves as a bar-room to the hotel. It is perfectly circular within ; and its domed roof, 60 feet in height, beautifully painte'd, is su.-^ported by Corinthian columns round the sides, where auctioneers' stalls are raised about four feet from the ground. The bar, having a fine marble counter, occupies about one-third of the side-space. The transition from selling one kind of property to the other was sudden. The first slave to be sold was put up for sale standing on the platform beside the auctioneer, and the bidding went on very rapidly among a crowd of about a hundred persons. He was a stout young mulatto, well dressed, and with so little of the appear- ance of a slave about him, that I was looking for the object of this active competition among those vho sat below. At length he was knocked down at 1300 doll?^" ''^265), after which he stepped oflf the platform. The n. , ^vas a young woman, whose qualifications were well rehearsed as being a good cook, could speak French and English : she sold for 1130 dollars. Two other household servants at 900 dollars each, one of whom could ipeak English, French, and German. A man and wife, who were put up as field-hands, brought 1900 dollars. An old woman sold at 340 dollars. She wae the only one who appeared to be much concerned about this strange scene, for she began to wee '^-^en the bidding slackened. The rest of the slaves were koi sold, as the prices were deemed too low. However, the auctioneer, a Frenchman, speaking alternately in French and English, did his part with great energy. Often would he seize " the boys " by the arm, and maintain that " such strong chunky field-hands " were going far below their value. Among the slaves for sale was 256 LOUISIANA. a fair mulatto boy, about seven or eight years of age, neatly dressed in green pants, brown surtout, and white hat, with a band of crape around it. Altogether he looked quite a littlo. poutleman, and as he romped about during the sale appeared porfectlv happy amid all that was going on. His mother and »L Cyy Idves who wore not sold were ordered to go to the " o*P' e of the auctioneer, and the littlo fellow went away dancing round her as merrily as if ho had been at school. w\ Jliil lit February 17, 1855. — T left New Orleans to-night in one of the first-class st'^'^mers for Natchez. There were 120 passengers uu boartl ; but Ihis number made no appearance of crowding in the large saloon, which extended nearly the whole length of the vessel. The berths were large and airy, affording an amount of comfort that we never look for in a steamer at home. The sumptuous and prodigal display at the different meals was astonishing. The most of the Southerners with whom I came in contact were polite and well-informv;d ; and among this class th(> use either of tobacco or spirits is not nearly so prevalent as is commonly believed. The scenery on the lower Mississippi is very poor, especially in winter, when vegetation s almost as '^' !vd as it is at the same season in our own northern cUmatc. 'hero is exceedingly little v a riety in tho_ aspect of the co- 'ry. Along the banks ot the river, the forest is nearly all crt down ; while tall trees, having an immense quantity of ui , of a dull-grey colour, hanging from every branch, occupy the swamps in the background. The cultivated land along the margins of thi river varies from half a mile to a mile in breaui.n. Thi water being still low, the steep mud-banks gradually became higher as we ascended the stream ; but I ob+"ined almost a bird's-eye view of the country by going up mto the look-out, house oi" the steamer, which was sixty feet above the surface of the water. The plantu 'ms are almost excUisively devoted to the culture ot" 'gar- ane as far up as the 31st degree of latitude. After thi . ito plantations begin to take the place of sugar, and in their turri occupy both sides of the river as far as the northern parts of Tennessee. a n i i " NATCUEZ. ry- "cvt On tilt oiling of the following daya fitcr leaving New Orleans, \N in>tpTT7Ml >init]iv(rj^ (imtsino cTof 284 jiiles by. water. This was" accompliBlied in 24 hours, though a "ftumber of stoppages were made either to take on board or to laud goods and passengers. The driving-wheels were 44 feet in diameter, and propelled by two high-prcssuro engines, reckoned at 850 horse-power each, by which a speed of 17 miles an hour against the current was sometimes attained. Above New Orleans I saw no wharves at any of the small towns on the river, as the soft mud-banks ahnost every- where afford facilities for passengers landing. The produce of the plantations on the river is therefore shipped from the levees — -a circumstance which is of great importance, as all land-carriage is saved. It was dark when we reached Natchez. A considerable quantity of rain having fallen, it rendered the mud-banks so slippery, that it was with the utmost difficulty I scraii Jed up to the conveyance waiting to take passengers to the hotel. I found the features of the country much changed at Natchez. At Baton Rouge, 129 miles above New Orleans, the east or left bank of the river is about 25 feet higher than the recent alluvial deposit, and belongs to a different geolo- gical formation. This formation consists of a compact sili- cious clay, containing fresh-water shells of the same as the existing species. The raised land at Baton Rouge is the first appearance on the Mississippi of the vast plain or table- land that stretches towards the Lakes, with an easy ascent of less on an average than one foot to a mile. At Natchez this formation rises about 300 feet above the river, and forms, from being undermined by it, a precipitous bank of that height, whilst the west bank is so low, that the plantatioua SWAMP NATCHEZ POSTTERTrARY DEPOSIT — are protected by levees. The figure will show this formation more clearly. 268 LOUISIANA. ■r- The top of tho high bhifl" or ba,)l,' i t NUohez coinniands a view of tho wiiidingB of the MissiKoijjpi, which Ih soon lost ainid the iininciiHo cedar Hwanip that BtretchuH towards tho west. Hero tho river was narrower than at any other place I had seen. Its breadth did not scum to be more than 500 yards, but its depth is considerably above 100 feet, and tho current is rapid. The high table-land, as in other Northern States, forming the precipitous bank at Natchez, is broken in the vicinity of the river into a series of rounded eminences, by the action of the streams from the interior of the State. The face of tho country, from this cause, is somewhat irregular in the neigh- bourhood of Natchez, but it becomes less so a few milcB inland. Natchez i s the principal town of the State of Missis- sippi, but it does not contain a population of more than 6000 souls. The houses are chiefly built of red brick ; the streets wide, and planted with trees along the side- walks. In the suburbs are numerous fine villas, with flower- gardens ornamented with statuary. I believe there is as refined society to be found in Natchez as in any other p art of tne u nited States. The American system of slavery, however, is hy no means favourable to the growth of the inland towns. In fact, the poorer part of the white popula- tion in such towns as Natchez, and Baton Rouge in the South, are placed in anything but a favourable position. Many idlers are to be seen in all the towns, and 1 found the chief frequenters of the best hotel in Natchez low drunken fellows ; and though the accommodation was indif- ferent, the charges were as high as at the St. Nicholas in New York. The overseers of the plantations are selected from the lower grade of whites, and are naturally enough looked down upon by the best society of the South. An overseer has often a large amount of power delegated to him. 1 was informed that some successful planters, who hold several estates in this neighbourhood, make it a rule to change their overseers every year, on the principle that the two years' service system is sure to spoil them. This must, no doubt, aggra- --•<( NAKMIKZ UPLANDS. 259 vato tho condition of tho slavo, for it is generally allowec' that the negrooH are better eared for under the eye of maHter than of an overneer, especially when his connectioi; with tho latter is of so temporary a character. The cultivation of cotton and its preparation for market are comparatively simple processes, and capitalists find un investment in cotton estates profitable even when they are managed by overseers. But it is more diflicult to manage a sugar plantation in the Southern States, for which reason a sugar plantation can seldom be profitable unless the planter resides upon and superintends it himself. Tho same formation found in tho bluffs at Natchez ex- tends for upwards of twelve miles to the east of the Missis- sippi, and the surface-soil over this region is one of the finest for the growth of upland cotton in the Southern States. It is upwards of 150 miles from north to south, and was originally covered by a magnificent forest of hard-wood. Naturally very fertile, it consists of a friable vegetable mould, from a foot to a foot and a half in depth. Indeed, it is one of the richest and most easily cultivated soils that I ever saw. Rich as these uplands are when first broken up, they are subjected to certain deteriorating agencies of which wo hardly know anything at home. This deterioration does not arise so much from the exhausting system of culture as from other circumstances peculiar to the soil and climate. As formerly mentioned, the subsoil is a compact sandy clay, which does not crack with drought, and is in a measure impervious to air or water, for which reason, per- haps, it is far from favourable to vegetation. It must bo remembered that rain in this region generally falls in heavy thunder-showers; there being sometimes as much as from three to four inches of a fall during one prolonged thunder- storm. These deluges of rain surcharge with water the beau- tiful surface-soil, rendered loose and free by cultivation ; and as the water cannot descend into the subsoil, it at length bursts in torrents down the slopes, and carries large quantities of the fertile mould into the streams, and thence to the Mississippi. Thus the land would suffer more waste under fallow than under crop, for vegetation assists in checking the 260 LOUISIANA. destiniction. From Natchez to Washington, a distance of six miles due eastward, '-he country is irregular, and all the slop- ing land is ruined, for t he fine soil has been as completely - c arried off by washing, as if it had b een carted away. Little remains but the subsoil, which is nearly as unproductive as the pine barrens of Carolina. In America the quality of the soil is generally indicated by the kinds of trees growing upon it. The first settlers found these uplands covered with a magnificent forest, con- sisting of liquid-amber, elm, ash, white and red oak, cherry, magnolia, mulberry, and the wild grape, with now and then a solitary pine. The greater part of this fine forest is cleared away, and the land is now under cotton cultivation, or abandoned as exhausted. Here and there, however, a patch of the original forest is to be seen to attest iis former grandeur. When the land is first cleared, and the brushwood burned, the stumps are allowed to stand till they moulder by natural decay. With the slightest scratching with the plough, this virgin soil has in many instances been taxed by from fifteen to twenty crops of Indian corn or cotton in succession. Not only is the exhaustion of these soils exhibited in the inability of the land to produce cotton or Indian corn, but the oak, the magnolia, and the other broad-leaved trees that flourish on such land in its natural state, now no longer find there the conditions which are favourable to their growth. It is a curious fact, that if the primeval forest be cut down, and the soil not wasted by washing or cropping, the same trees will again spring up and occupy the ground. But it is still more curious, that totally different trees make their appear- ance in all cases in which the land has been exhausted by tillage, and afterwards abandoned to nature. In the latter case the pine and dwarf-oak alone occupy the ground. These facts are din^ctly opposed to Decandolle's theory of rotation of crops. The substitution of the pine for the oak and mag- nolia in the exhausted soils of the Natchez uplands is evidently owing to the altered physical condition of the soil. Horticultural experience favours this view of the matter. Fruit trees do not grow well on those exhausted soils, and this cannot be ascribed to mere pterility, for the apple-tree PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE SOIL. 261 flourishes and produces abundance of fruit on the granitic gravels of New England, which would certainly be too poor for cotton, even though the climate there were as favourable as in Mississippi State. It is probable that the barren nature of the subsoil, arising from its being so compact, can- not maintain the magnolia and peach in healthy growth, both of which must have their roots where there is a sufficient supply of moisture during the torrid heat of summer. I was informed that neither the peach nor any other fruit tree would thrive on the exhausted soils, however well they were manured, unless the ground was cultivated by the plough or the spade. If the cultivation be neglected, many of the leaves drop oflF during dry weather ; and when the rains again set in, the fruit becomes dropsical, and falls off also. The same kinds of fruit trees do well on unexhaueted ground without any cultivation or manure. These facts all point to the view I have already expressed — that in these instances it is the physical condition of the soils which determines the par- ticular kinds of trees that flourish on exhausted and unex- hausted soils. The pine, it is probable, evaporates less than the broad-leaved trees, and can therefore thrive in dry sandy soils, where other trees cannot live. Sir Humphry Davy says, in some of his lectures on agricultural chemistry, that plants with glossy leaves do not evaporate so much as others. Perhaps this will explain the reason why we find the live oak, with its thick glossy leaves, the only hard-wood tree growing beside the long-leaved pine on the dry sands of the pine barrens. I CHAPTER XV. EXCUllSION ON THE MISSISSIPPI. February 20, 185.5. — This forenoon I dined at -i friend's at Washington, about six miles to the eastward of Natchez. A party were dining with him ; and although he had treated me to some catawba at New Orleans, there was no wine on the table. The customs are much changed within a few years with respect to the use of wine, for it is now common to dispense with it altogether. He was largely engaged in horticulture, and pos- sessed about twenty slaves, for whose instruct ion he was doin g a go od deal. He read and explained to them a portion uf cripture twice a week. He had also worship morning and evening in his own family, and I found him a candid and earnest man. At the same time he was a mof-^t rigid disci- plinarian with his slaves. Having an introduction t(. a cotton-planter, whose estate lay about eight miles south of Washington, I set oflf early next morning in a one-horse buggy with a negro to drive and show me the way. The air at daybreak was cold, and the ground covered with hoar-fros t ; but it became warm and pleasant by mid-day. Little rain had fallen for some weeks, and the roads were dry and good, though their condi- tion must be wretched during the rainy season, as no mate- rials are used for road-making. Wherever the road was much inclined, the rains had excavated deep cuttings, which had all the appearance of having been made by pick and spade; for the sides of the deep gullies cut out of the compact subsoil were quite perpendicular. The traffic on the roads is trifling, consisting of little else than the carrying of the cotton to the COTTON PLANTATIONS. 263 nearest spot on the banks of the Mississippi, and bringing I'ack some provisions for the negroes. In this region the most of the plantations are of con- siderable extent, as is generally the case wherever the soil is rich. The planters' houses are made of wood, with a verandah in frc.it, and flowers and ornamental shrubs in the gardeub. The country is well cleared, for there is only a small extent of the original forest to be seen. The cherokee rose forms an admirable fence, through which, when fully grown, cattle cannot pass. Its bright-green glossy leaves were refreshing amid the general deadness of the vegetable world. The stem is armed with prickles like the briar, but grows like the bramble, forming a finely rounded hedge, from eight to ten feet in breadth, and from six to seven in height. The plantation I visited was about 3000 acres, consist- ing of the rich sandy loam which I have already described as prevailing in this part of the country. The surface, still undulating in long stretches, is less broken, however, than m the vicinity of the Mississippi. The fields are upwards of one hundred acres in extent, enclosed by the cherokee rose. I had a good opportunity of examining the nature of the soil in a long walk over the plantation in search of the owner. On one part of the estate the fine forest of oak and magnolia had been recently cut down, and the blackened stumps of the trees were standing; but the burning of the branches and brushwood had cleared the surface so as to allow the soil to be scarified by the shovel plough , and Indian corn or cotton to be planted. In this dry soil the ro ots of the hard-wood t rees^ complete ly d ecay in the course of eight or ten years . The negro, a tine lively" fellow, who conducted me over the plantation in aearch of his master, was about thirty years of age. 1 was somewhat amused at the matritaonial arrange- ments to which he had been a party. He was " raised " in Missouri, and for several years was on boara one of the St. Louis steamers ; and, about three years ago, was sold " down south." At that time he had a free negro woman as his wife, but he had heard nothing of her since he left the North. This appeared a hard case so far as he waa concerned, but he added that she had formerly been united to a free man, and had run 264 LOUISIANA. I 'i 'II away from him. He confessed that he was now happy and thought nothing about her, as he had married a wife belong- ing to the estate, who was only sixteen years of age. There were about 240 negroes, old and young, on this plantation, and it is customary to reckon the number ef effective hands at one-half of the whole . The women, as well as the men, hold tbe ploug h, which is usually drawn by a mule, ploughing being comparatively light work on these friable soils. T he pegroes s eemed well cared for on this estate, and to enjoy ^^consmeiaBle amount of physical comfort . Their cabins, made of sawn wood, were twenty feet in length by eighteen in breadth, white-washed without and within, and the floors laid with wood raised a few feet above the ground. The interior had a naked appearance, as there was no furni- ture except the beds and a few chairs. The bed-clothes were clean, and though the domestic comforts might not be great, their humble furnishings were not untidy. The cabins, as usual, formed a kind of street, each being built at a little distance from the other. The hospital, standing by itself, was under the charge of an old negro woman, and there was only one patient in the establishment during my visit ; but the autumn is the unhealthy season. Every arrangement is made to obtain as much labour as possible from the negroes without overtasking them. The young children are left, durinjrr the working hours, in charge of an old woman, and the mothers of those who are at the breast come from the fields three or four times a day to nurse them. The older children are also put under the charge of a woman during the day, but lodge with their parents at night. It is not usuabfor negro children to do any work until they are nine or ten years of age. In going over the " quarters," and other buildings, with the planter, we were surrounded by a score of negro children, apparently the happiest beings imaginable, and on very familiar terms with then master. The weather is subject to groat changes here, as in other parts of the continent, and th'^ cold is often considerable ; indeed, the thermometer was down at 25° this morning. Wi*rm clothing, therefore, requires to be provided in winter for the negroes, as well as light clotliiiig in summer. The 1(1 III ■!i| ii PLANTATION MANAGEMENT. 2G5 cloth used on the plantations of the South is almost all home- made; and its manufacture affords suitable employment to the infirm hands. On this estate I found two small hand- machines ginning and spinning cotton at one operation, and a web of " linsey-woolsey" was on the loom. It is considered to be the acme of plantation managem ent to buy no articles which are required by the negro es or in the working of the estate. I was assured by a gentleman who has made southern agriculture the subject of much study, that if the crop of cotton formed the nett produce of a mode- rately fertile and well managed estate, 24 per cent might be cleared upon the capital invested. Strange to say, it is more difficult to raise the requisite quantity of provisions for a Sorthern plantation, than to manufacture waggons, ploughs, harness, and articles of cloih- ing. The bacon is almost entirely imported from the Nor- thern States, as well as a considerable quantity of Indian corn. This is reckoned bad management by intelligent planters ; and in one case I found it forming the subject of lamentation by a slave-dealer, who maintained that planters could not possibly thrive while they bought their bacon and com at such high prices, and sold their cotton so low. When provisions are cheap, a great impulse is given to the extension of the culture of cottci, more especially on the inferior class of soils, which are not equally well adapted for Indian corn. It is said that planters who cultivate little else than cotton, which has hitherto fluctuated much in value, and who make it a practice to buy the greater part of their provisions, seldom do well. On this plantation as much Indian corn was raised as was needed ; but Httle bacon, which is imported f rom Oh io. The average sum annually expended on this article was upwards of £800. Large plantations are not suited to the rearing of hogs ; for it is found to be almost impossible to prevent the negroes stealing and roasting the young pigs. This is one of the disadvantage^ in raising certain kinds of produce incidental to a system of slaver3^ The number of cattle which can be raised on the large cotton plantations, do little more than replace the draught oxen that are required. 266 LOUISIANA. ''I! !| i The sheep only supply the wool needed for clothing ; and the mules used for ploughing are bred in the Northern Ptates. The bad qualities of the soil and climate for produc- ing the finer grasses, and the great expense of cattle food cul- tivated by slave labour, render the raising of stock for expoitation, under present circumstances, in a great measure undesirable. As the result of many inquiries among planters and negroes, I believe the latter are, in general, liberally fed and well clothed. It would, perhaps, not be economical to do otherwise ; but, at the same time, the treatment of the negroe s with respect to food, and to many privileges which a re granted, is regarded, by the better class of planters, as a mjatter of personal honour. The common allowance for an able-bodied negro is half a pound of bacon a day, with Indian corn, molasses, and vege- tables of different kinds in their season,, Formerly the supply was dealt out to each negro once a week. This system, however, is pretty generally abandoned, because it was found that, however liberal the allowance might be, it rarely served until the day of distribution again came round. The food of the negroes is, therefore, commonly cooked in one kitchen, and dividea at every meal. Less time is thus wasted in cooking, and the health of all is better maintained, than when each family had their food to cook after coming in from the fields. The hours of labour on the cotton plantations are from sunrise to sunset, and in summer an hour for breakfast, and two, and even three, are sometimes allowed for dinner. The increase of negroes on a cotton plantation forms, under good management, not an inconsiderable item in the profits. So far as I could learn, the increase varies from two to six per cent throughout the cotton region. This holds out a premium for humane treatment, as it almost amounts to the interest of the capital invested in slaves. The quantity of cotton which c:*.! be produced on a plan- tation, is limited by the number of hands that can be turned into the fields during the " p icking," or harvpsti'^p r "f ^ba crop. Like some other agricultural operations, this is a simple one, though it does not admit of being done by machi- I FKJKING COTTON. 267 / nery, as a certain amount of intelligence must direct the hand. Here, the cotton seed is put into the ground in April, and the ridges are made from three to seven feet in width, accord- ing to the poverty or richness of the land. The plants are singled out from one foot to three feet apart on the ridges ; and in rich land they form strong shrubs, which sometimes rise to the height of eight feet. The stem and branches of the short staple cotton are killed every year, in the Southern States, by the frosts of winter, and the crop thus requires to be planted annually. The lower branches are the first to put forth blossoms and to bear ripe pods, containing the fibre attached to the seeds, which open out of the husks, and appear as round balls of snowy whiteness of the size of apples. While the lower branches are bearing ripe cotton, the upper are putting forth fresh buds and flowers, which ripen seeds at a later part of the season. As soon as a negro can pick from forty to fifty lbs. of cotton from the husk in a day, harvesting commences. The "picking" season usually begins about the middle of August, and often continues until the Ist of January. Frosts, however, frequently kill the plants in November, and the yield of cotton is dimi- nished, as they would grow all winter were the temperature sufficiently high. As soon as the cotton is picked from the plants, it is carried to the gin-house, and, if dry, ginned at once; if not, it is spread out in the sun. Whitney's saw gin is now universally used for separating the fibre from the seed of the short staple variety of cotton, and though a simple machine, its invention gave a great impetus to the culture of cotton in the United States. It is often driven by a small steam- engine, but more frequently by mules. It consists of a drum, on which a series of circular saws are fixed, and the edges of the saws enter a hopper, into which the cotton in the seed is put. The saws are tightly fitted, and the drum, which revolves rapidly among the seeds, pulls off" the cotton fibre, which is swept from the teeth of the saws by a brush, revolv- ing at a still greater speed than the saws. The cotton falls from the gin as loose and as pure as snow. It is then packed into bales, which weigh about 400 lbs. each, and in LOUISIANA. this state it is sent down to New Orleans to the commission agents. Some of the land on this plantation has been cultivated for forty years, and is still in good condition. A large extent, however, was temporarily abandoned to recruit itself under weeds and rough grasses. The ridges of the Indian cora and cotton are made quite horizontal, with the view of preventing the rains washing away the soil. Horizontal cultivation was introduced into this district about forty years ago by a Scotch farmer, and has now extended over the greater part of the cotton region, where the soil is liable to be washed by the rains. Though there is no regular rotation followed on the cot- ton plantations, it is common to take two crops of cotton and then one of Indian com, by which the land is kept free from weeds ; and these crops are usually repeated until the produce of both is small. The land is then abandoned to nature for a series of years ; and it is not easy to say how a better system could be followed, as labour is high, and the grass-growing qualities of the soil are bad. On this planta- tion there are usually 1200 acres in cotton, 400 acres Indian corn, 1400 acres in woods, roads, and waste grounds. The quantity of cotton which this extent of ground yields is from 800 to 1000 bales of clean cotton, of 400 lbs. each. The most fertile soils of the uplands produce a bale of cotton to the acre, and the bottom-lands of the Miississippi, a bale and a half in dry seasons. Good authorities, however, con- sider that the average produc3 of the cotton lands east of the Mississippi is scarcely 200 lbs., or half a bale, to the acre. The cotton seed to which the fibre is attached resembles a small bean in shape. It is commonly estimated that 1500 pounds of seed cotton, as it is picked from the husk, will yield 400 lbs. of fibre, and 1100 of seed. An enormous quantity of seed is thus raised, if we reckon the total cotton crop of the United States. The seed is used , in the Southern States, both for feeding cattle'an^Tormanure. Several mills have also been erectedior extracting its oil ; but the trials have not been successful, as the oil is found djflScult to purify . I often saw large quantities oT cottoiT' ^ ;ed in the fields lor SOUTHERN OitASSES. 269 manure. Some planters eRtimatcd the cotton seed as worth nearly £4 a ton f or manuri ng Indian corn or cotton . Tho cotton seeds are easily aestroyed by being buried a lew inches below the surface of the ground, and they rot when covered by the plough. Indian corn docs not average more than 25 bushels to the acre on tho best soils of this plantation. The hot and moist climate is by no means so favourable as that of the North for its production. The whole quantity raised on the 400 acres devoted to this crop scarcely suflBces for what is required by the negroes and the working animals. About 70 mules are almost constantly employed throughout tho year, besides 36 yoke of oxen for draught. Eight or ten of these animals are frequently seen in one waggon ; and 6000 lbs. is the utmost weight they can draw over the bad roads of the neighbourhood. The fine upland cotton soils of the State of Mississippi have the great defect of being unsuited to the growth of good grasses for pasturage. The same may be said of the land in the cotton region in the States of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas. This circumstance renders the cotton lands easily exhausted, and of little value unless undci crop. There are no good perennial grasses native to these soils, and none have yet been found that grow well upon them. The chief grasses are annuals, which spring up in summer with great luxuriance in the cotton fields ; but in winter their withered stems imp irt a thriftless appearance to the country. The growth of aai.-ial grasses in the fields is a peculiarity of American far^uing. In the uplands, crops of hay are got by ploughing a field in summer, and merely harrowing it smooth. The Bermuda grass {Gynodon dactylon), a native of the valley of the Gangis, is the most valuable one for the Southern States, though it does not mature its seeds. Owing to this, it is difficult to obtain a sward, which can only be done by breaking up the land where it has got possession, and by planting small piecep of sod, and these spreading, soon fill the ground. It must have the full blaze of the sun for its growth, and perishes in the shade of other plants. On rich land it 270 LOIIIHIANA. I! i\ is cut tliroo tiinuH (turiiiji; Huiiirnor, and Iiuh boon K in to yiold olovon tons of hny to tlu) aero in v.\w Hciwon. 'IMio bittor or blacjc c oc o giuj H {(h/pnuia hifdra) Boon P.:'h llio jj^romui whon oncouriigoil. and ronuH a pn^tty <;'0(mI pasture in Hununor ; but it Ih n i'o: < punt to thu cotton and 8n4!;a" plantiT. In lai't, wlicn tbo u[)land8 ai*o inf'cMtud with tins grass, tliey aro uscU'88 for cotton, tlMiUf^h thoy may bo prolitably kept in pasture. It is not indi^'iMions, and its native country has bocn tbo Hubjoct of dispute. Some supposo that it was brouj^ht by tlio sUvves fn.in Africa to Louisiana for nicdicuud purposes. It has ah-oady spread over Texas, and ah)n<; the rich soils of th(^ h)wer parts of the Mississippi and its tributaries. In every case in which it has taken an extended flipjht, it has been traced from New Orleans, where it abounds in the nurseries ; and the seeds becomin^j; attached to the roots of fruit trees, have s|)i' id the nuisance far and wide. It })ro{)a<) in 18.50. The vuriubleneHH of tho winter climate, and no ' i'^' tt .i.su of heat and nioiHtiue in Hpring, oncoura^je ruMt uiu disrascb. It is rarely cultivated on It vi't i,ti tho bottom landB. On tho veu a good many paUihcs of Egyptian iiugo for cuttle. 'J'ho Heed \h howii in Septendter, and tlic crop is ready to cut by the first week of May, after whii^h u croj* of j)eaHc or Indian corn may bo got from tho same land. I'oasi! and beans, according to all accounts, thrive well in tlu- 8oiilh ; and some of the varieties, such as the cow-iiea, [jroduce an enormous (|uantity of green vegetable nuitter, us their growth is extended over the whole Bunnner. The value of tho best cotton plantations on tho uplands of Natchez is about £4 per acre, which is little more than liulf of thttt which soils of similar (piality nre worth in Canada ^Vest. The bad grazing (pialities of the land in the Southern .States detract unicli from their value, us the pastures nre compara- tively worthless. Tho rer»ovation of the land, too, after it is exhausted by cropping, is not ( asily ellected, the process being hero greatly slower than in tho fine grazing lunds of Ken- tucky and Tennessee. In the neighbourhood of Natchez I met a young cotton planter who was driving a pair of line horses in his buggy. lie had lately returned from California, where he had been suc- cessful ut the gold diggings. He expatiated on its fine climate, and would have gone there if he had been allowed to take his slaves. I had an invitation to go and see his plantation on the river bottoms, which he maintained were 80 much superior to the uplands, that he would not cultivate the latter though he got the land for nothing. This year he IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) %.. // A4 '^ 1.0 I.I l££ ■^ U£ 1122 ui Hi 140 IIII2.0 us ^ 1.25 III 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" ► '/ Photographic Sciences Cbrporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145S0 (716) 872-4503 <1> ■<^ if\e C 4> 272 LOUISIANA. / had given up the culture of cotton entu^ly for that of Indian corn, considering that the latter, at a dollar and a quarter a bushel, would pay better than any other crop. Having a large extent of uncleared land adjoining the river, he was cutting it down for the steamers ; and his slaves, who were good wood choppers, would yield him £166 each during the year. .----.-.^ : •. , . February 22, 1855. — I got on board a steamer at Natchez for New Orleans, this afternoon, and found it full of pas- sengers, and the aceommodation as good as in the one in which I had ascended the ri\er. Calls at different plantations were frequently made to take in cotton and sugar. As many as forty labourers, one-half Irishmen, the other half negroes, are kept on board to save time in taking in the produce of the plantations. During the night we left the cotton plantations behind, and the sugar again occupied the rich bottom lands on both sides. Next afternoon I was landed in the parish of St. James, where I had an introduction to a planter, and I had no more to do than to walk over the bank into the com- fortable mansion of a French family, from whom I had a kind reception. Adjoining the river the soil of the Mississippi bottoms, con- sisting of a sandy loam, is very fertile ; but at a little distance it is a tenacious clay, abounding in vegetable matter, which gradually increases as we recede from the river, until the peaty soil of the swamp is reached. The drainage of the land is imperiect, and nothing but the open-ditch system is followed. The general slope of the land from the bank of the river to the swamp is about eight feet to a mile, which is no more than sufiScient for drainage where the surface is somewhat irregular. I saw a number of Irishmen^ employed by a contractor in digging drains. Tney were on piece-work, earning fully six shillings, English money, a day, and were provided with board besides. High as their wages are, this kind of work could not be done so cheaply by slave labour, I as a negro would scarcely do more than dig one-half the ex- I tent of drains which an Irishman does. The Irish labourers return to the North during the warm season, when the sugar t\ TREATMENT OP SLAVES. 278 plantations become unhealthy for whites, more especially for those who labour with their hands in the fields. In sailing on the Mississippi, one is led to believe that the condition of the negroes is much better on some plantations than on others, if it may be judged of from the appearance of their huts or cabins. On one plantation the cabins appear well white-washed and tidy ; on the next, dirty and dilapi- dated. The cottages on this plantation were roomy and nicely whitewashed, and the floors raised about three feet from the ground. Each family had a small garden with a pigsty, and fowl-house on the top, in one of the corners. The negroes had many privileges, and could easily save considerable sums of money, which enabled them to purchase tobacco, tea, and fancy clothing for Sundays. Negroes of the strongest class are required in the culture of sugar ; and about three-fourths of a pound of bacon is the common allowance for an able- bodied negro, with Indian com ad Ubttum. The food is all cooked in one kitchen. I was told by the overseer that the negroes were not treated well on some plantations ; and in running over the particulars of his own management, he stated that his negroes " were fed three times a-day," as if the Cuba fashion of feeding only twice were practised on some estates. The negroes are generally tasked up to their strength during the c rushing season , when some planters, I was told, work them on the ^undays as well as other days of the week. However, I believe it is quite the exception to work on Sun- day. The grinding season commences in the end of October, and lasts till the end of December. It cannot be prolonged over a greater period with advantage ^ us the cane is not ripe sooner than the end of October, ard frosts are apt to set in with severity by the first of January. The leaves of the sugar-cane are as susceptible of frosts as those of the potato, and if the juice is frozen, the constituents are so much changed that the sugar does not crystallize. The quantity of sugar that can be produced on the Louisiana estates is limited by the number of hands that can be turned out during the crushing season, to carry on the harvesting and the manufacture. But during the rest of the year, especially in July, August, and September, there being no pressure of work on the sugar T 1 i % 274 LOUISIANA. ■I- J estates, the negroes are put on task work, and usually leave oflf working for their masters early in the afternoon. The value of land and slaves in the sugar districts of Louisiana, shows the hold which slavery has upon the indus^ trial resources of the country. In 1854, the nggroeg. old and young, on several estates that changed hands, broughK.£2£|8, (1000 dollars) a head , but the price had now fallen to £166. The high price of slaves has not had the eifect here as in Cuba, of depreciating the value of land, for it had also been steadily rising. Land on this part of the Mississippi is wor th from JE12 to £17 an acre, and uncleared land having an easy access to the river, £iO. A cotton plantation opposite Natchez was lately sold at £19 an acre, but this was con- sidered too high. The crops on this plantation were, 800 acres in sugar cane ; 450 Indian corn ; 200 hay and pasture. About two- thirds of the cultivated land is constantly in sugar cane, and as only one crop is got from the rattoons, one-third is planted every year. I saw the negroes planting the last field for this season ; it had lately been ploughed and laid off in furrows six feet apart, into which the negr oes were laying three rows of aiifi;ar canes. The canes, which had been stored in a heap in the field and covered with straw, were cut into lengths of 18 inches by a heavy knife and then slightly covered with earth. Shoots soon spring up from p^ery joint, and the earth is gradually ridged up to the roots o; plants by the plough, and hand-hoeing is required to kue^; the weeds in check. These wide furrows serve to drain oflf the immense quantity of rain which falls in summer. By the first of August the cane fields exhibit an immense mass of vegetation of the most luxuriant character. On rich land the first year's cane grows to the height of 12 feet, but about three feet of the top is so watery, that it is not worth crushing. The stubble or rattoon cane is less luxuriant, but the juice is richer in sugar. It is a mere make-shift to allow the cane to stand for the third year on land which has been for some time in cultivation. This is sometimes done, however, by going over the fields and putting in fresh cane where the old roots have given way. In Louisiana and all the Southern States, only two crops are '.;. i\ PRODUCE OP SUGAR. 275 r'- TOt from the cane before it requires to be planted afresh. (Jane has been cut the fitW year on newly cleared land, but in this case the growth is small. Rich land prolongs the li'e of the plants, and dressing with guano bus the same effect. This manure is no w largely UBe ^^^tffbt. Louisiana sm^ar plaq- "tatiaJiS; ^ ^^^ * person who had applied thirty tons last year, and. was to double the quantity this season. Guano appears to be applied with more advantage to sugar-cane than to any other crop cultivated in the South. Experiments have shown that 400 lbs. of this manure applied to the stubble cane increases the yield by thirty per cent ; the crop also ripens earlier ; and' by repeating the application, an exti'a crop of stubble cane has, in several instances, been obtained. This fact is a most important one, as the frequent planting of the cane renders its culture more expensive than in the West India Islands, where, on medium soils, it usually lasts for eight years, and takes one acre of cane to plant four acres. Sugar-cane is only cultivated on the rich alluvial soil along the banks of the Mississippi, and the land fit for the crop is very limited. Some planters say its extent could only be slightly increased by encroaching on the swamps, which, being inferior in productiveness, are easily exhausted. A.fter having so lately seen the manufacture of sugar in Cuba, I was pleased with the arrangements of the sugar-house on this plantation. The sugar is fully refined, and greater economy is followed in every department of the process. The engineer, an Englishman, was paid £15 : lOs. per month for superintending during the grinding season ; but he looks over several other estates at the same time. The sugar master and all the other inferior functionaries were negroes, who were, from the trust which was committed to them, evidently possessed of considerable skill and intelligence. The crus hed cane, or " begasse, " is of little use to the Louisiana planter for fuel, owing to the moistness of the climate during the grinding season. At one time the sw^amp betwixt every frontage on the river furnished abundance of fuel ; but now the wood is all cut down on some estates, and recourse must be had to the drift-wood of the river or the crushed cane. On several plantations the planters keep 276 LOUISUNA. a man or two constantly gathering the wood that floats down the river. I saw large erections for drying the crushed cane to render it fit for burning. The gradual exhaustion, also, of the land from such severe cropping is causing some of the planters to use the begasse for manure, though it is found somewhat difficult to incorporate it with the soil. „■ f v The common yield of sugar in Louisiana on an acre of land well managed is about 1700 lbs. of sugar and 60 gallons molasses. The ordinary produce of this plantation was 1400 hogsheads of sugar, 1000 lbs. each ; and 2000 barrels of molasses. From 200 to 300 cords of wood, worth twelve shillings a cord for fuel to the river steamers, are required to manufacture this quantity of sugar. The cotton plant does not succeed well so far south as the parish of St. James on the rich lands of the Mississippi bottoms. It grows to the height of twelve feet, but rust and worms are so destructive to the crop that it rarely yields more than 200 lbs. of fibre. Indian corn likewise will sometimes grow to the height of fifteen or eighteen feet on new lands, but the produce of grain is comparatively small. I was told that not more than thirty bushels an acre can be got on the best managed fields, and that the average produce in the sugar lands was not more than fifteen bushels. The hot moist climate is not favourable for this crop, and no encouragement is therefore offered to cultivate more of it than is actually required for home consumption. It is often warm during the day in winter in Louisiana, but the trees are slow in showing signs of reviving vegetation. Indeed, vegetation here requires a higher temperature to sti- mulate it into growth than in our northern latitudes. It is, perhaps, for this reason, that the white clover, considered by American botanists to be a native of Europe, is now more advanced than any of the pasture plants. The coco grass, however, which is such a terror to Southern planters, had been brought up by a few warm days, but it was cut down by the sharp frosts. The Bermuda grass had not begun to spring. It is much valued for hay on the Missis- !\ // SLAVE BOOTHS. 277 IS as lana, tion. sti- [t is, by lore 'ass, had cut not tssis- n sippi bottoms, and yields, in two cuttings on ordinary land, about four tons of hay. On this plantation, 20 yoke of oxen and 110 mules are required for cultivating the land. A good many sheep and cattle feed in the pastures and swamps. The value of the land, machinery, working animals, and slaves, amount to a large sum. I heard that many of the planters are deeplj in debt. The planter whom I visited informed me that , he had a loan of £40.000 from one house in London, for which he paid mx per cent , and considered it Very^ode- rate ; and enormous sums are also said to be held in mortgage by English and Northern capitalists in Louisiana. After spending a day very agreeably in St. James's parish, I returned to New Orleans and again visited some friends to whom I was formerly introduced. One day I met a very intelligent planter, but with some eccentricities of charac- ter, who gave me a distinct account of the formation of the delta of the Mississippi and the cotton zone of the south. After an hour's conversation, he said that he was obliged to go away on some business. At length he told me that he was going to buy three women for his plantation, and if I wished to have a peep at the " dark side of slavery," I might go with him, and see how they manage such matters. To this I willingly assented, and setting out together we soon arrived at one of the " trader's " booths. Before entering, he cau- tioned me not to say a word, but merely to listen. The dealer was a short thick man, very illiterate apparently, and from the horrid conversation which ensued as we inspected his " lot," I could scarcely believe that it was real. There were about sixty slaves in the room, which resembled a country school with its forms. As soon as we entered they were ordered to stand up, and they arranged themselves into four classes — the men on one side and the women on the other. The tallest stood at the top, and there was a regular gradation to the shortest at the foot. The most of them were from Vir- ginia, and seemed anxious to get masters. " Buy me, master, r I am a good field hand, and can work at anything," was I addressed to me by every one on whom I cast my eyes ; and I • have no doubt they must find the confinement irksome. The • 278 LUUIUIANA. prices oaked were from 900 to 1800 dollarB, but no bargain was made. At the top of one class stood a woman with a child in her hand, and who was pregnant, and had bQcn separated from her husband in Alabama. Slavery , 1 must confess, was never brought home to me in a form s ^apulsive as at this exhibition. I was glad when I got into the street. It is surely worth the serious con- sideration of those who are so deeply interested in the insti- tution to devise means by which the transference of slaves from one master to another might be accomplished with more decency. I have heard some of the most zealous advocates of slavery freely express the same wish. Are the churches become so weak as to be unable to lift up their voices against the separation of husband and wife ? Those who palliate or excuse instances of the separation of husband and wife, say that it seldom takes place imlcss either party has been guilty of a criminal offence. But slaves, when innocent, have no legal protection against such an injustice, and it is actually done daily. So far as the feelings of the slaves are concerned, the American slave-laws furnish I a good illustration of Adam Smith's doctrin e, that the slave j is less contemptible in the eyes of his master under arbitrary than under free governments. All must admit that the spirit of the American laws is exceedingly harsh to the slave. But Mrs. Stowe explains this by observing that, '* It has been a problem to many how the system of slavery in America should unite the two apparent inconsistencies of a code of slave-laws more severe than that of any other civilized nation, with an average practice at least as indulgent as any other ; for, bad as slavery is at the best, it may yet be admitted that the practice, as a whole, has been less cruel in this country than in many. An examination into history will show U3 that the cruelty of the laws resulted from the effects of indulgent practice." A circumstance that pleases one in travelling through the Southern States is, that all parties are anxious to impress upon you that the slaves are in general humanely treated, and that " Uncle Tom " is a gross exaggeration of the state of Southern society. In almost every company I entered, this celebrated n. / PUBLIC OPINION. 279 book became the topic of conversation. My defence of it woH that it iH a capital story, and that Mrs. Stowe had taken no more liberty with facts than novelists usually do; and if such instances of cruelty as she portrays really occurred, why not expose them to the light of day, and use every means to prevent their recurrence ? To this I never got any other than a courteous answer. We may despise the churches that allow certain practices to exist within their pale, but they have served to diffuse and maintain sentiments of humanity, which have been the means of softening the lot of the slave. Had the religious element been weaker than it is in the South, " Uncle Tom " would not have been so much felt. In Cuba I found no one possessing slaves that owned Mrs. Stowo any grudge ; but some, who had immense powers delegated to them, entirely scoffud at the religious aspect of the question, and told me that it was now only entertained by " women and fanatics." It is hopeful when slave -owners do read the Bible, as it forms a good directory for dealing with those who are so much in their power. The religious element has so far acted on public opinion as to have induced more humane treatment throughout the country; and it is the only element to which we can look for further improvement. Not only is the standard of the treatment of slaves regu- lated by a sort of public opinion among the planters, but the laws are held subordinate to this opinion. In fact, the spirit of Judge Lynch prevails generally in the South ; for it does not matter much what the law may bo, as * s not enforced unless it harmonizes with the sentiments that pr ivail. As an exam- ple, I may relate an anecdote told me by a Mississippi slave- owner. One night he learned that an Irishman was about his premises ; and as this was not the first offence, he loaded his gun with slugs, and went out and fired at the fellow as he was endeavouring to make his escape, and wounded him severely. For this act he was taken before the local court, charged with assault and batteiy. The presiding judge heard the case attentively, and gave judgment that the accused should stand his trial at the assizes. But this 280 LOUISIANA. sentence was only the easiest way of diBinissing the case ; for no sooner did the judge deliver it, than he turned round to the assaulted party and addressed him in a low voice, ** You blackguard, had it been myself, I would have shot you through the heart." The case was allowed to drop. On stating to him the evils that must flow from such a state of matters, he replied to the effect that, in present circumstances, it was the system best calculated to protect society. ■■*<< ?:<• i • 1:1'- ■■ •\ r • ' / • V * T'. ^ ■ r ::^ ■i;';p ' I case ; 'ound roice, tyou On ite of inces, 1 CHAPTEK XVI. n NEW ORLEANS TO WASHINGTON. February 23, 1855. — I left New Orlea ns for the North this afternoon by the railway, which runs (to Lake Pontchartrain . and there getting on board a steamerj ^eached Mobil e early next forenoon, where I remained till next day. There is only one handsome street in the town, the houses of which are built in the English style, with abundance of shrubs in the gardens. The leaves of the orange and other evergreen trees were blasted by the frosts. The houses of the main street are built with bricks ; and, except a new hotel, none of them attract attention. The large slave population renders the suburbs mean and untidy. Mobile appears to be sta- tionary, and this is not to be wondered at, as the yellow fever often rages with great virulence in summer, and perhaps the quantity of cotton cannot be much increased in the country drained by the rivers that find an outlet to the sea through the Bay of Mobile. It was Sunday, and the town was quiet, though numbers of idlers were standing at the comers of the streets. In the Southern Sta^gs the temperance party are making efforts to introduce Ibe wain Liquor Law , and they seem to be stronger in the small towns than in the country. In Mobile they have shown their strength by closing the gin-shops on Sun- day, and this was the first day that the new regulations came into force. The experiment did not seem to be quite successful in preventing drunkenness, for I saw many per- sons the worse of liquor. One fellow came staggering into the hotel, and on asking him how he managed to get spirits since the shops were shut, he replied that he had / 282 ALABAMA. bought half a gallon last night, with which he treated himself and friends this forenoon. The shutting of the gin-shops on the Sabbath in the towns of the South may not have all the beneficial effects which the temperance party anticipate, still ' it must be viewed as a favourable symptom of the progress of sobriety and decency. All accounts concur in representing that a great improvement has taken place within tho last ton years in' the drinking habits of tho better clasHCS, and their ' example evidently extends to the lower. Tho east bank of tho Alabama at Mobilo is a vast swamp, covered with reeds where the tides overflow it, and by a dense forcHt a little further north. Tho west bank, upon which the town is built, is tho tertiary sands of tho pine barrens ; and here, as along tho whole shore of tho Gulf of Mexico, it is covered with the long-leaved pine. The soil of these tertiary sands is of a very sterilo character, and littlo of it is cul- tivated. ■(.,.' :,:.■: ' .: ^ I took my passage in one of the cotton steamers, in the -, aflernoon of tho 25th February, for Montp:omery, Alabam a, which I reached after a sail of fifty hours . Tho water in tho river being still low, owing to tho protracted drought, the • steamer ran great risk of being " snagged ;" and, indeed, an accident of this kind had occurred two days before. The speed of the vessel was always slackened over tho shallows, and as we stuck several times on eand-banks, our progress was far from rapid. The scenery on the Alabama is of the most_jHiinvitin|i[ an d monotonous cliaracterj for tho river has cut a narrow channel, trom two hundred to three hundred yards in width, through beds of clay, gravel, sandstone and hmestone shale. The banks, in many parts, are precipitous, exposing the whole strata to view ; in others, more sloping, and covered with trees and tall canes. There are no rich bottom-lands on the Alabama, and, unless one mount to the top of the banks at the landings, no idea can be formed of the nature of tho country. -^ r ^ -; During my sail up the Alabama, I had proof of the extremely cold weath er to which these low latitudes are occa- sionally subject, even in the end of February. In the after- r* ALABAMA ItlVEU. 288 the occa- ifter- iioon, when I left Mobile, tho mud in tho stroots remainod iiard frozen in tho shade. At sunriio, on tho 26th and 27th, the thennometor Btood at 22°, while it only rose to 82° and 80° at noun, on these days, with a bright sky. A broozo prevailed from the north, and tho dripping springs on tho south bank wore converted into solid masses of ice. Among the passengers was a planter from Marengo county, situated in the western part of Alabama, nearly half way betwixt the shore of the Gulf of Mexico and the northern boundary of the state. Tho soil of this county, he stated, rests upon the cretaceous formation, and is very fertile. H was thinly wooded in its natural state, but covered with canes, which were from twenty to thirty feet high. These ** ciane brakes " were easily brought into cultivation, by being fired in winter, which so thoroughly cleared tho ground that a scratch of the hoe was only necessary for putting in the first crop of Indian corn, and no more labour was bestowed upon it than to keep any cane shoots in check which might spring up from the old roots during summer. The " cano-brako soils," in fact, are always spoken of as possessing great natu- ral fertility. I observed cattle browsing on the leaves of the cane, which is almost tho only green food to be seen in win- ter. It must be allowed to grow freely in summer ; for it rapidly dies out if the leaves are plucked off at that season. The scarcity of winter food for cattle is a great obstacle to the rearing of them in the Southern States, as well as to tho improvement of the land when it becomoH oxhausted. The soils in Alabama, with respect to natural capabilities, are similarly arranged to the soils in Georgia and the Caro- linas. The region adjoining the Gulf of Mexico, as already remarked, is composed of the tertiary sands which are known as the pine-barrens. Tho middle region in Alabama is prin- cipally occupied by the cretaceous formation, which yields fertile soils. By looking to the agricultural map, it is seen that the most of the cotton in Alabama, as in Georgia and the Carol inas, is grown in this middle region. The northern part of these States is occupied by primary rocks ; the sur- face is hilly, and there are many fertile valleys; but the i/ 284 ALABAMA. climate is unsuited to the culture of cotton. A glance at the agricultural products, and at the social state of each of these three zones, affords us material for obtaining a know- ledge of the circumstances which favour the extension of slave labour, and those which favour that of free. I may here mention that I met a German settlor in the steamer on the Alabama, on his way to Philadelphia, in pur- suit of a runaway female slave, who had managed to get on board a vessel at New Orleans bound for that northern port. He had telegraphed to an agent in Philadelphia, and con- sidered that his property was quite safe. Along with a number of his countrymen, he had emigrated some years ago, and settled on the uplands in Yazoo county, Mississippi State. This district is quite in the heart of the cotton zone, and when the settlers arrived, they obtained land at the Govern- ment price, and, by cultivating cotton, soon found themselves in a prosperous state. From the fact just mentioned, I think that had negro slavery never been introduced into the Southern States, a considerable quantity of cotton might now have been raised by free labour on the dry and healthy soils of the cotton zone. But it is difficult to imagine how this could take place under any other than the small-farming system, which is less productive of this staple than the organized labour of slaves on large estates. This German settler confessed that nearly all his country- men who emigrated with him were now slave owners. They were poor on their arrival in the country ; but no sooner did they realize a little money than they invested it in slaves. Thus those who flee from the despotism of European govern- ments, commonly find the temptation to possess slaves so strong, that almost all do so as soon as it is in their power. This is the process by which poor immigrants who settle upon moderately fertile land in the Southern States, quickly come into a possession of considerable property. To obtain the first slave is the prime difficulty ; for the possession of one seems to afford security for obtaining another on credit. This was the German's statement, which was corroborated a few day's afterwards bjt a slave dealer whom I met, who told n of edit, cd a told '{'\ me that on receiving payment in cash for one slave, he gene^ | anotner on ere may mention that the greatest calamity which befell the friends of my German fellow-passenger, since their arrival in the country, was the pestilence of 1853. After the yellow fever had committed great ravages that year in New Orleans, it spread over the northern part of the State of Mississippi. The account he gave of the panic which prevailed in Yazoo city was frightful. More than half the inhabitants fled into the interior. He was seized by the disease, and during his illness there was scarcely a neighbour in a fit state to give any assistance. On his recovery, he found that more than a third of the population that had stayed behind had been carried oflf by the pestilence. If these German immigrants had settled on the poor soils of the pine barrens, it is not probable that ihey would have been holding eluves. Their own labour would have been so much less productive, that it could not have enabled them to purchase slaves. Neither could slaves have been hired in and employed in the raising of cotton on soils so poor. It is worthy of remark, however, that a good deal of cotton is cul- tivated throughout the pine barrens, and the larger portion of it seems to be raised by free labour. The climate of the pine barrens, it may also be kept in mind, is even wanner than that of the middle cotton zone, which is more elevated. This shows that, had there been no means of obtaining slaves, a considerable quantity of cotton might have been produced on small farms by free labourers, because the fertile soils would certainly have been preferred to the barren, and the climate of the upland cotton zone is not so hot and moist as to have precluded the application of free white labour to the culture of cotton. At the same time, it must be confessed, that a given number of slave population on the large plantation system will produce, in the present circumstances of the country, a much greater quantity of cotton than the same number of free. As already stated, the slaves, male and female, work in the fields, and their numbers admit of that org^anization and division of labour which render slavery so serviceable in ■/ 286 ALABAMA. I the raising of cotto n. If the climate had admitted of the growing of coiton on both banks of the Ohio, we should have seen that slavery possessed as great advantages over free labour in the raising of this crop as it does in that of tobacco.* The rich upland soils of the cotton zone afford a profit- able investment for capital, even when cultivated by slaves left to the care of overseers. Th e^ natura l in crease of the s laves, from two to six per cent, goes far to pay the interest of the money invested in them. The richest soils of the uplands are invariably occupied by the largest plantations, and the alluvial lands on the banks of the rivers are so unhealthy forjwhite labourers , that slave owners occupy them without competition. Thus, t h» bank s of the western rivers TakT are now becom in g the great cotton-produClTlg' dii^tri ctsr ing these i'acts mto consideration, it appears that the quantity of cotton which would have been raised without slave labour in the United States, would have been comparatively insigni- ficant to the present supply. The comparative density of the free and of the slave popu- lation, under the different circumstances of soil and climate to which I have alluded, will be rendered sufficiently plain by a few returns taken from the census. By obtaining accurate views of the principles involved in this matter, we shall cease to wonder at the slow progi'ess of the Southern States. The county of Washington, Mississippi State, lies between the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers Its area is about 1520 square miles, and the soil is chiefly alluvial, though a consi- derable portion is swampy and liable to be flooded. It affords a striking instance of the influenc e of fertile and unhealthy l and in favouring tho prfinonderance^of slave population oye r t — rj^'ljg numbers, in 1850, were — Fi°,e SlavQ 553 7836 In the same year, this county produced 26,178 bales of cotton ; 424,600 bushels of Indian com. This gives 3 J bales of cotton for every soul reckoned in the census ; and if we only allow eight cents a pound for the cotton, this would give £22 sterling as the net return from every slave. We need * See Ghftpter viii. 1/ IW- iween 1520 consi- Fords ealthy over 1^^ ) ■. FREE AND SLAVE POPULATION. 287 1 follow these figures any farther ; for we obtaiu at once a .^w of the productiveness of slave labour, where circum- stances are so favourable as in this case. But I shall now select another instance, to show an opposite state of things. The county of Coffee, having an area of 900 square miles, in the southern part of Alabama, and adjoining Florida, is only forty miles north of the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and its surface is little more than one hundred feet above the level of the sea. It is intersected by several rivers, and all the dry soil belongs to the tertiary sands of the pine barrens. The poverty of its soil renders slave lab onE-aQ^ rofitable, and therefore compels the " poor whites,' who are called " crackers," to cultivate the land with their own hands. The returns of the census of this county are, therefore, in strong con- trast to the county of Washington, Mississippi. The produce, in 1850, was 1408 bales" of cotton, 136,610 bushels of Indian corn, and 65,863 lbs. of rice. And when we bear in mind that the soil is of the poorest description, and that this pro- duce must be gathered Over a compiaratively large area, the greater part of it must be raised by free labour, for tho population, at the same date, consisted of — Free 5383 Slave 557 But this disproportion betwixt the numbers of slaves and freemen in the pine barrens is reversed when we take any of the fertile counties in the centre of Alabama. Thus, Marengo county, hftving an area of 1166 square miles, and where the celebrated " cane-brake lands" cover a; large portion of its surface, produced, in 1850, 32,295 bales of cotton, 1,242,460 bushels of Indian corn and 94,540 bushels of oats ; and the population was then — Free ..... 7,138 Slave 20,693 On the other hand, in Northern Alabama, where the eleva- tion of the country renders it unsuited to the growth of cot- ton, the great majority of the population, as in the Northern Slave States, which are not suited to the growth of tobacco, are freemen. Thus, Hancock county, bordering on Tennessee, having an area of 600 square miles, traversed by the high "0$ I ALABAMA. ridges of the Blue Mounteins, is not favourable to the employ- ment of slave labour, though its valleys are said to be fertile. The produce, in 1850, was 26 bales of cotton, and 39,624 bushels of wheat ; and the population — Free 1480 . •: Slave 62 ; . The influence of the adaptation of the soil for different agri- cultural systems on the disproportion betwixt the numbers of the free.and slave population, is seen in all the cotton-growing states. In Georgia and the Carolinas, the three zones — the lower, the middle, and the upper — are scarcely less marked in their effects on the social condition of the inhabitants than they are in Alabama. Three counties, selected from the three zones in Georgia, may be taken in illustration. Irwin county, in the pine barrens, in 1850, produced 89,000 bushels of Indian corn, 112 bales of cotton, and 37 hogsheads of sugar. The population was : — Free 2884 -i Slave 45U Jones county, in the centre of the State, and producing 9006 bales of cotton and 402,360 bushels of Indian corn, had a population consisting of — Free 3945 Slave 6279 Gilmer, bordering with Tennessee, and having a hilly surface, and a considerable population engaged in mining; the numbers in 1850 were : — Free 8240 Slave 200 On the narrow belt of land along the coast of the Caro- linas, upon which the sea island cotton grows, the slave population greatly preponderates. The culture of rice on the tidal swamps in these States being entirely confined to large plantations, favours the excess of slaves. As I have formerly shown, when treating of rice culture, the population of Beau- fort district, S. Carolina, consists of — Free 6526 Slave 32,279 The value of slaves, being regulated by the produce of their labour on the fertile soils of the cotton zone, cannot be PLANTATION MANAGEMENT. 289 Caro- slave jn the large [merly iBeau- ke of lot be profitably employed in raising cotton on the sterile soils of the pine barren s. Th 3 immense tract of land, forming a broaa fringe to the Southern States east of the Mississippi, is a barrier to the extension of slavery. Poor as the soil is, it is still capable of supporting a considerable population under a system of small holdings; and I do not think that it can ever be cultivated by slave labour. On the other hand, also, it is unprofitable to maintain slaves on the wheat and Indian corn lands along the flanks of the Alleghany moun- tains in Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia, where tobacco is not raised. Thus the slave population being h emmed in by the highlands on one side and the poor soils of the coast on tbe o ther, is confi ned to t he mi ddle belt which I have laid dow n on the map as the cot ton re gion. _ m traveiimg through a fertile district in any of the South- ern States, the appearance of things forms a great contras t to that in similar districts in the Free States! During two days' sail on the Alabama river from Mobile to Montgomery, I did not see so many houses standing together in any one spot as could be dignified with the appellation of village, but I may possibly have passed some during the night. There were many places where cotton was shipped and provisions were landed ; still there were no signs of enterprise to indicate that we were in the heart of a rich cotton region. Nor is this to be wondered at, for American slavery , in its most productive state, has all the worsj features of absenteeism , more particularly where the plantations are managed by overseers. In fact, the more fertile the la"^ tl^A pmra /IPHtij;^ te js the country of vill^es and towns. And how can it be otherwise!' TEe system of management which is recommended as the most economical and profitable, is to raise and to manufacture on the plantations every thing which the slaves require. Though this is seldom accomplished, yet a great part of the clothing is home-made ; and the chief articles imported are bacon and mules from the Northern States. The only article sold is cotton, which is conveyed to the nearest point on a navigable river, and consigned to a commission agent in the exporting town ; while the bacon all comes in through the same channel. Of such articles as are in daily use among the rural iuhabi- 290 ALABAMA. tants in the poorest districts of the Free States, the slaves are a non-consuming class. An element so essential to rural prosperity is in a great measure wanting in the Slave States, and thus few villa p ^es are see n. The planters sup - pl y th ems elves with their own necessarie s ana luxuries of life direcciy tnrough agents in the large towns, and com- paratively little of the money drawn for the cotton crog ^ iH apftnt, in the Southern States . Many of the planters spend their incomes by travelling with their families in the Northern States or in Europe during the summer, and a large sum is required to pay the hog-raiser in Ohio, the mule breeder in Kentucky, and, above all, the northern capitalists, who have vast sums of money on mortgage over the estates. Dr. Cloud, the editor of the " Cotton Plant," assured me, that after these items are paid out of the money received for the whole cotton and sugar crops of the south, there did not remain one-fourth part of it to be spent in the Southern States. Hence the Slave States soon attain a- comparatively stationary condition, and further, the progress they make is in proportion to the increase of freemen, whose labour is rendered comparatively unproductive, seeing that the most fertile land is pre-occupied by slave-owners. When the valued exports and imports of any of the Southern States are compared, it is found that the former invariably exceed the latter, in consequence of the want of a consuming class. The commerce of a few of the principal towns that export the cotton crop may be taken as illustrating the condition of Southern society. It is a common theme for the Southern politicians to lament the want of enterprise among the merchants in conducting a foreign import trade. " One of the chief drawbacks to New Orleans," says Mr. Robb, an influential gentleman in that city, " is the absence of an im- port trade ; and why are we without imports ? Why is it that a city exporting 80 or 90 millions of dollars annually, is so insignificant in that important branch of commerce? Because of the remoteness and uncertainty/ of our markets, or being without a speedy, rapid, and cheap communication with the interior country that seeks New Orleans as a market for its agricultural productions J*^ But the truth is, there are ■\/ EXP0UT8 AND IMPORTS. 291 the long One an im- lis it is Irce? or for are few imports required, for every Southern town tells the same tale. In 1851, the valued exports at Mohile were 14,555,366 dollars, and the imports' only 620,892 dollars. This town, with the exception of New Orleans, exports more cotton than any other in the union. In 1852 the valued exports at Charleston were 12,899,620 dollars, while the imports were only 1,767,343 dollars. The imports of Charleston in 1820 were nearly equal to one-half the exports, but now are only about one-seventh. This evidently indicates that the condition of the whites of South Carolina has not been improving. Perhaps the lowering of the status of the free population by the division of pro- perties among families, has so far contributed to this result. Free labour also, as we have already shewn, is very unpro- ductive when applied to the cultivation of the soil in the Slave States, for it is virtually excluded from the fertile lands, and can therefore purchase comparatively few of the luxuries of life. The commerce of the Northern States furnishes a great con- trast in regard to the amount of exports and imports. They show that there are stronger bands holding the Northern and Southern States together than any which politics are likely soon to break. Not a little of the great prosperity of the Northern States is owing to the labour of the slaves, which is as productive as any in the United States. As Adam Smith has pointiid out, labour applied to the culture of the soil is always dou bly valuable in new countries : and were we to deduct the produce of tlie labour of the slaves from the industry of the United States, it would be a com- paratively poor country. This forms no excuse or palli ati on for the existence of slavery. The Northern States should bear in mind, however, that protection to manufactures serves to add strength to the fetters of the slave by withdrawing labour from the cultivation of the soil, and fostering an unnatural condition of things. The value of the exports of agricultural produce raised by free labour is little more than a third of that raised by slave. The leading articles of ex- port for the fiscal year 1852, were : — 202 ALABAMA. 2,282,342 dollur*. 7,864,220 6,328,439 26,210,027 87,966,732 It "' 10,031,283 7,672,151 18,862,931 Products of the Fisheries — free labour, . „ „ Forest — free and slave, . Products of the Agriculture (animal) — free, „ „ „ (vegetable) — free and slave. Cotton — slave, Tobacco — slave, Manufactures of Cotton — free, „ Miscellaneous — free, . . . . Notwithstanding tho immense breadth of land under wheat, the valued exports of tobacco were as great as those of flour during the three years 1850-1-2. The valued exports of rice were within one-fourth of those of flour, though the rice grounds occupy mere patches on the map, and those of cotton were nearly ten times greater. It is only when the prices of wheat are high in Europe that the United States export much of this grain. By the map it may be seen that the wheat-exporting district is limited on the sea-board, where the population is increasing rapidly ; indeed, the supplies for the larger towns are chiefly drawn from the interior. So bulky an article as wheat cannot bear the cost of transportatio n from the Western States, unless the prices are high on the sea-board. The cotton crop, on the other hand, being a compara- tively high-priced arti^tgj^ bears the expense of a long carriag e. In the Southern States it is not uncommon for cotton to be conveved 150 miles by wag^gons before it is put on board the river steamers. To transport wheat an equal distance by the same means would cost more than its own value. For this reason the cotton cro p, by balancing the exchanges with foreign countries, Contributes more than any other to the pros- perity of the United States . Great facilities exist for transporting the cotton crop from the interior to the coast towns. The larger rivers in the Southern States draining the Atlantic slope- are navigable by steamers from their mouths to the granitic or primary forma- tion, which is laid down on the map, and which is distant from the coast from 100 to 150 miles in a straight line. Those rivers, also, which flow into the Gulf of Mexico, are navigable for steamers through a great part of their course. On the Alabama 600 miles, and on the Mississippi and its tributaries no less than 25,000 miles are navigable by steamers. ) I / ■ t VALUE OP SLAVES. 293 from the by ■trma- stant hose gahle the tarics Though slavery impoverishes the Southern States, it enriches the Morthern . Almost every traveller from the old country is s truc k with the numbers of Southern planters and t jieir families frequenting the hotels in the Nortnem StatesT It IS m the South that the Ohio farmers find a ready martet for their bacon and mules, which products require compara- tively little labour; and the northern capitalists, who hold such vast sums in mortgage over slave plantations, are in reality absentees of the Southern States. These circumstances serve to explain how the imports so greatly exceed the ex- ports in the Northern towns. Thus in 1852 the valued -imports and exports at Philadelphia and New York were — Philadelphia, New York, Importa. 14,785,917 dollars. 127,441,394 „ Export!. 5,828,671 dollars. 71,523,609 „ Until the institution of slavery be weakened, as it was in Europe, by the redundancy of the predial population, I have as little hope of slavery relaxing its grasp in the United States for many years to come as of people denying them- selves the luxuries of cotton, sugar, and tobacco. I have failed to discover a single element in active operation which points to a diiferent conclusion. At. n ipnf1pirfl|n PRtim^ffi, \\\{\ slaves in the United States are worths at the present moment, £450,000,00()X This is sufficient to show how firm a hold the institution has upon the vested interests of the country. No scheme of emancipation has been proposed that would c" not be attended with a sacrifice of property which it is vain ^ for us to expect to be made. Thus slavery, 1 fear, will not loosen her grasp till labour, which is at present obtained by coercion, can be otherwise commanded through the force of cbcumstances. The most hopeful fact connected with this subject is, that the area capable of being profitably cultivated by slave labour in the United States is not so great as is commonly supposed. And were no new territory to be added to the federal dominions, slavery would before long be confined to only the most fertile lands in the South. Professor Tucker of Virginia, and others, greatly overrate the capabilities of the Southern States of supporting a slave population-. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee, seem to have \ \ I 294 ALABAMA. \ all nearly obtained their full complement of filaves. The Caroliuas and the States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico pos- sess but a small area of good land in proportion to their extent South Carolina, for example, containing about 21,000,000 acres, is as fertile as the average of those just mentioned ; yet there are little more than four million acres improved, and there are only about a million and a half in cultivation. ' Besides an immense extent of swamp s, there are six millio n acres of pine barrens, which, though capable of being culti- vated in smau I'arms, cannot be profitably cultivated by ' slave labour. Florida, nearly as large as En p ;land. consiata almost entirely ofpine barrens and swamps , and never can sustain a dense slave population. Texas, T believe, contains a considerable extent of unoccupied sugar land, which is no doubt capable of maintaining a dense slave population ; but the interior is poor, and many of its cretaceous soils are not suited to the growth of cotton.* The vigour of slavery in the Northern Slave States depends less upon the money value of \ the slaves than upon the obtaining of an outlet for their natural increase, which otherwise would soon act as an incubus on landed property, in the same manner as a redundant population has in some of the strictly agricultural counties in England. As soon as the value of slaves reaches a low sum in Virginia, in consequence of the Southern demand falling off, cheap and abundant labour will be readily commanded, and the value of land will rise as that of slaves falls. If the Mississippi had forraea the boundary of slavery on the west, perhaps Maryland and Virginia might have been free long before now, and Kentucky and Tennessee, in their turn, would soon have been forced to abandon the institution. But as to the time when the void beyond the Mississippi is likely to be filled up by free and slave immigrants, it is difiicult to form an opinion. If Walker succeed in establishing himself in Nicaragua, the effects will be far more disastrous to the cause of freedom than the admission of Kansas as a slave State. His triumph * Though the rich "cane brake soils" of Alabama rest upon the cretaceons i'urmation, they do not generally contain a large percentage of calcareous matter. Where they do, the cotton plant will not thrive. Qrcat tracts of Texas, it is said, abound in calcareous matter, and are unfit for cotton. fv SLAVE LABOUR. 295 ft over the Costa Ricans will be equivalent to the annexation of that part of Central America to the federal dominions. This would prepare the way for the occupation of the yalley of the Amazon, to which some are already looking as an outlet to the surplus slave population of the United States. If the surplus slave population is to overflow into the tropical latitudes, the prospects of freedom are truly melancholy. The opponents of slavery in the North should strongly resist the acqu iaitrpn of new t erritory to the fe deral dominions, and 1 never s^rliplyd to argue with the Southern planters that Englishmen were actuated by the same sentiments which led them to emancipate their slaves in the West India Islands in desiring to see slavery confined within its present limits, and \ to die out in the United States. Throughout the South, vigorous attempts have been made to employ s lave labour in cotton factorieB. Qn the whole, the experiments would seem not to have been success- ful, though the accounts I received were various. An intelli- gent Now Englander, who had spent the winter in the South, informed me that he had made particular inquiries into the subject, and had found that the slave factory system was in a declining state. The reasons he gave were, that the pur- chase of slaves involved too much capital, and the hiring of them in by the month or the year was attended with great inconveniences. It would really be a sad thing if the surplus labour of the slave population were to overflow into such channels. But experience has so far demonstrated that free labour is not only more productive and economical, but far more convenient. In fact, slave labour has no advantages o ver free in the factory system where tliere is a pretty numerous class of poor whites.^ It seems also that this kind of employment is not, like field labour, considered demeaning to the white female population. The following appeal on this subject, by a Southern gentleman, will show the feeling that prevails : — " It is not only the benefit to be derived in a direct manner to the individual manufacturer that holds out a strong inducement to the South to go largely into cotton-spinning, nor yet alone the prospect of enriching a community as a body. Motives of humanity and philan* $dQ ALAUAMA. W tiifop/ enter into the calculation, . and these should not be disregarded This is a subject on which, though it demands aUt^iition, we woahl apeak with delicacy. It is not to be disguised that a d^^gi of poverty and destitution oxiBte in the Southern States, among a certain class of pt'oplo, almost unlciidwn in the manufacturing districts of the Morth. The poor wliife mai' will endure the evils of pinching poverty rather than engu^e in servile labour under the existing state of things, oven were employment otTered him, which is not general. The white female is not wanted at service ; and if she were, she would, however humble in the scale of society, consider such service as a degree of degradation to which sho could not condescend ; and she has therefore no resource but to suffer the pangs of want and wre ,cheHao.;i. We know from personal acquaintance and observation chat poor Southern persons, male and female, are glad to avail themselves of individual e£forts to procure a comfortable livelihood in any employment deemed respectable for white persons. They make applications to cotton mills, where such persons are wanted in numbers much beyond the demand for labour." — {De Rma Review). Slaves are worth more in the South than in the North ; but crude white lo^our is, owing to the want of employment, virtually worth luss in the South than in the North. Where slave and free labour come into fair competition, as they do in the Southern factories, free labour will be well rewarded if it merely obtain an amount of remuneration equal to the hire and maintenance of a slave on the cotton plantations, which regulate the value of slave labour in the South. The poor whites having comparatively few sources of employment open to them, will work for even less wages than the hire and maintenance of a slave. This t nd^ to prevent slave labour being extensively employed in coin n [ 'ntories. I reached Montgomery, the ca; ' i v . ,*i)ama, on the night of the 27th February, and started early next morning by the train for the east. The temperature was several degrees below the freezing point, and a thick hoar-frost covered the ground. I got out of the train about six miles to the ast of the town ; and leaving my portmanteau in the BOILS. 297 no the houHO of one of tho plantation overseers, walked about eight miles to tlie south to visit I ^r. Cloud, tho editor of the " Cotton riunt." Tho Moil in tins disinct is frir ft(\!ti b6ihg' rich, and the moKt if the plantations I passed were Bmall. The usual umber ol working hands was from six to twelve, but in some cases there were even frwor. Small ,'lantationK, as has been alread} pointed out, are iuvariubly found on the secondary descriptions of land. The soil in tho neighbourhood of Montf^omerj' rests upon I ( the cretaceous formation, which is succeeded by tho primary, a few miles to the eastward. While the soils over the .. , immense area of the granitic formations in the New England States and the British Possessions are stony and poor, the J j larger extent of the same class of rocks in the south r o covered by soils of moderate fertility. This arises from tlie fact that the primary rocks in the Southern States having decomposed in situ, and not having bee subjected to denu- J dation, afford an immense depth of cay and sand. The primary and tertiary soils have a considentble resemblance to each other in lithological character. The iirface soil on both formations is often somewhat sandy, from a foot to n foot and a half deep, and contains only a small quantity of vege- table matter. It is remarkable, that the si. bsoil consists of a siliceous clay, which is thus covered by the sandy soil over an area as large as the whole of England. The geological question arises. How could such an immense stretch of country have become covered with this thin stratum of sand, while the subsoil is so opposite, and, at the same time, homogeneous in its character? I remarked to It. Cloud that it had apparently arisen from the washing awa; of the clay out of the surface soil by the rains, the sanci which the clayey subsoil contained in abundance, being left behind. I have since observed, however, that Sir CI. irlea TiVell discusses some interesting phenomeimxft^necte geology of Alabama and Georgi a.;''ttiia the peculiar features of the soil and subsoil which I have just described may assist in supporting certain views he puts forth respt cting the condition of the surface of the country as it was gradually raised above the ocean. 298 ALABAMA. Sir C. Lyell alludes to the singular phenomenon in the neighbourhood of Milledgeville, in Georgia, of gneiss and mica schist decomposed in situ to an immense depth, and also to the surprising extent of some of the modern ravines excavated by the rains since the country has been cleared of timber and cultivated. One of these measured no less than 65 feet in depth, 300 yards in length, and varied in width from 20 to 180 feet ; yet, strange to say, twenty years before it had no existence. The walls of this chasm consist of " beds of clay and sand, red, white, yellow, and green, pro- duced by the decomposition in situ of hornbleydic gneiss, with layers and veins of quartz, as before mentioned, and of a rock consisting of quartz and felspar, which remain entire, to prove that the whole mass was once crystalline." " 1 infer, from the rapidity of the denudation caused here by running water after the clearing or removal of wood, that this country has always been covered with a dense forest, from the remote time when it first emerged from the sea. However long may have been the period of upheaval required to raise the massive tertiary strata to the height of more than 600 feet, we may conclude that the surface has been pro- tected by more than a mere covering of herbage, from the effects of the sudden flowing off of the rain water." " 1 know it may be contended that, when the granite and gneiss first rose as islands out of the sea, they may have con- sisted entirely of hard rock which resisted denudation, and therefore we can only affirm that^ the forest has been contin- uous from the time of the decomposition and softening of the upper portion of these rocks. But I may reply that similar effects are observable, even on a grander scale, in recently excavated ravines, seventy or eighty feet deep, in some newly cleared parts of the tertiary regions of Alabama, as in Clarke county, for example, and also in some of the cretace- ous strata of loose gravel, sand, and clay, in the same state at Tuscaloeza. These are at a much greater height above the sea, and must, from the first, have been as destructible as they are now." This, it appears to me, is sound reasoning. In fact, as these tertiary beds were gradually raised above the sea, they WANT OF GOOD GRASSES. 299 were quickly covered by land plants, which protected their soft surface from denudation by rains, a process which is now found, in many regions, to take place to a great extent where the land is brought under the plough. Might not the sandy surface soil which covers such an immense area havo formed the beach as the waters retired, the clayey particles being then washed out by the tides and waves of the sea ? Pines are the chief trees in the forests where the sandy | soil prevails ; but when it approaches more to a loam, oak I and hickory also make their appearance. In all cases in which » the soil has been washed and exhausted, the hard-wood trees, as under the same circumstances in the Natchez uplands, cease to spring up ; but pines occupy the ground. This fact fur- nishes another instance of the influence of the physical condi- tion of soils on the growth of different kinds of trees. Betwixt Montgomery and Atlanta, in Georgia, oak and hickory predo- minate in many places in the natural forest ; but none of the land seemed to be at all equal in natural fertility to the uplands of Natchez. Dr. Cloud's plantation is about 800 feet above the level of the sea. He was sanguine that the soil in his neighbour- hood admitted of great improvement by ploughing deep and bringing up a portion of the clayey subsoil to the surface ; and the cotton plant is said to be productive on such land when well manured. But the radical defect of the soils, in this district as well as throughout the cotton region in Georgia and the Carolinas, is their unfitness for growing good yi'asses. This renders the raising of stock of all kinds expensive ; and when the fields are allowed to lie waste for some years to recruit their productive powers, they are, during the time, in a great measure worthless. On some of the waste lands here the grasses were from two to three feet in height ; but their hard siliceous stems had been untouched by cattle in summer, and, being now dry and withered, imparted a most thrift- less aspect to the country. Agricultural information is well diffiised among cultivators in the United States. All of them, both in the North and South, read agricultural pap ers, and the matter of one journal is commonly transferred to the Others. A great uniformity of 300 ALABAMA. // r management thus prevails, where the soil and climate are similar. Horizontal cultivation is as universal in Alabama as it is in the uplands of Natchez, where it was first adopted. The compact subsoils here cause washing, and the rapid dete- rioration of the natural capabilities of the land ensues, unless it is naturally level or laid carefully oflF in level ridges. I was well pleased at the skilful manner in which a negro, with one mule in his plough, was drawing horizontal ridges, of about four feet in width, on a slightly undulating field. Little wheat is yet raised at this elevation above the sea ; one small field, of about an acre, was on the plantation ; the frosts at night were keeping it in check ; but it was about six inches in length, and would be ready for harvest by the end of May, and a crop of Indian com might be afterwards got. Having spent an agreeable and instructive day with Dr. Cloud, I left early next morning for the railway, and makinsL a signal for the train to stop, got into the cars for Washing- ton, a distance of upwards of 900 miles. This j nnrnp y nr.fiu- p ied three days and three nights. The appearance of the country was most monotonous. The soil about Atlanta seemed co be poor and shallow, and cotton, wheat, and^ndiaii com are grown upon the plantations, where the elevation is 1000 feet above the level of the sea. After reaching Branch- YJlle, in South Carolina, I got upon the line by which I had gone south — then swamps and pine-barrens to Virginia. At Charleston I gathered, from a good, easy-looking fellow that sat on the seat in front of me during the last long stage, that he was a " tra der." He seemed to have no more shame of his calling than It ne had been a dealer in horses. He turned off at Branchville for Columbia, and I was some- what sorry that I had not picked up a talking acquaintance with him a little sooner, so as to learn the particulars of his mode of doing business ; for he was by no means backward in giving information. He had been south with a lot of fifty slaves, whom he sold in Georgia. At the same time, he'mentioned that it was against the laws of that State to import any more slaves ; but such laws were not regarded. It had taken abo ut three months to sell that number. He said that he rarely got cash for one slave without giving another on credit ; and he did SLAVE DEALBK. 301 t'l ^ f- not charge his customere more than six or eight per cent interest. According to his account, the profits of the trade must be considerable ; for he did not think it was good pay- ment unless the slaves yielded him 200 dollars a-piece, besides the expenses. This he confessed, however, he did not always get. A slave dea ler is very mu ch look ed down upon, eveni n_SoutEern s flciet ^; and thl5"fflt^account for^the high protitsof the trade. This corresponds pretty well with the answer which a waiter in my boarding-house at Washing- ton gave me when I asked his price : — " Eight hundred dol- lars here, sir, and one thousand at New Orleans." The dreary journey through the pine barrens was enliv- ened by the conversation of a gentleman from one of the Northern States, who had spent the winter in the higher parts of Alabama and Georgia. He had been selling instru- ments of various kinds, and having disposed of his whole stock, had made a successful trip. As an instance of the bad feeling that exists towards Northerners, even in the upper districts of these States, where free labour predomi- nates, I may mention that he had found it expedient to travel under the guise of a Southerner. After we had talked for 1 sometime together, I asked where he resided, and he, imagin- 1 ing I belonged to the South, replied, " New Orleans." But as soon as he knew that I was from England, he told me that he had only said so to me as he had done everywhere in Jho South, for the purpose of ingratiating himself with his cus- tomers ; for had he told them he was from the North, he would have been set down as an Abolitionist, and have done no busi- ness. He gave a sad account of the state of the poorer c lass of •^it^p in t h ftsa pnrts, bothas regards knowledge trnd morali^ Slavery seems to put a stop to the diflfusion ot education" among the poor whites throughout the South. In the lower country they are thinly scattered over the sterile soils of the pine barrens ; and the general ignorance of the parents in the grain regions along the flanks of the Alleghany mountains, makes them attach no value to the education of their children. The l arye towns in the South, where society is exclusiv e, and in a great measure destitute of the public spirit that prevails . in the Northern States, have not aided in promoting educa- 3G2 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. tional institutions for the benefit of the poorer whites. Thus, in South Carolina, the number of schools, in 1849, was 1023, and the number of scholars, in a population of 250,000 whites, was only 9112. North Carolina exhibits a similar want of education among the whites. According to Mr. Wheeler, her own historian, one out of every seven white persons over twenty years of age could neither read nor write ; and by the United States census of 1850, there were 71,150 white per- sons over twenty years of age in that state of ignorance. Every philanthropist, therefore, must regret the introductio n or sTavery into Kansa s; for as it is very improbable that Kansas can ever support a dense slave population, slavery will form an incubus on the moral and physical advancement of the country. At Washington I remained about a month, and during that time was occupied in studying the climate of America, and writing a few lectures on that subject, which I had been requested to deliver at the Smithsonian Institution. These lectures were published in the Appendix to the Secretary's Report to the Regents, and the concluding chapter on the climate of North America is an extension of the views which were then sketched out. Leaving Washington on the last day of March, I returned to Boston, stopping some days in Philadelphia and New York. Sailing from Boston in the Asia, on the 13th April, I arrived at Liverpool, having been nearly nine months from home. rt i I :>■.'- / ■■f:\-''ri ' if \ ■ / /> CHAPTER XVII. CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. Tropical Winds. " Nothing can equal the beauty and mildness of the climate," says Humboldt, "of the equinoctial region on the ocean. The charm of the lovely climates bordering on the equator can be fully enjoyed only by those who have undertaken the voyage from Acapulco, or the coast of Chili, to Europe in a very rough season. What a contrast between the tempes* tuous seas of the northern latitudes and the regions where the tranquillity of nature is never disturbed I In the passage from Santa Cruz to Cumana, as in that from Acapulco to the Philippine Islands, seamen are scarcely under the necessity of working their sails. We pass those latitudes as if we were descending a river, and we might deem it no hazardous under- taking if we made the voyage in an open boat." * Within the Tropic of Cancer, this tranquil state of the ocean exists on the Atlantic from the African continent to 60th degree of west longitude. The north-east trade winds blow there with great regularity, and storms are rarely experienced. In order to understand the agents which impart such diver- sities to the climate of Europe and of North America, it is necessary to take a cursory view of these winds and the theory of their action. '. * * , , It is well known that the north-east trade winds of the Tropic of Cancer and the south-east trade winds of the Tropic of Capricorn blow obliquely towards each other. The space that intervenes betwixt these two opposite winds forms a broad belt at the equator, where it is almost constantly calm, and where it rains almost uninterruptedly. " Old sailors tell / ... * Travels, chap. iii. . i f. • . w 304 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. US," says Lieut. Maury, " of such dead calms of long con- tinuance here, of such heavy and constant rains, that they have scooped up fresh water from the surface of the sea." The existence of this belt of equatorial calms, towards which the north-east and south-east trade winds are constantly blow- ing, indicates that these winds ascend in this region and flow back as upper currents towards the poles. It is also espe- cially worthy of observation that, notwithstanding that the "outh-east and north-east trade winds are constantly blowing towards this calm and rainy belt, the barometer at a mean is ai>out one quarter of an inch lower there than it is on the outer edge, or polar limits of the trade winds. On the other hand, at the polar limits of the trade winds, the mean height of the barometer is greater than at any other part of the earth's surface. By looking at Plate 1st, it will be seen that the limit of the trade winds in both hemispheres is about the 30th parallel of latitude, where two belts of calms also exist — the calms of Cancer and of Capricorn. The atmospheric conditions existing in these two belts are entirely diflferent from those in the belt of calms at the equator. There the sky is generally without a cloud, rains are very rare, the barometer stands above the mean ; and it is moreover evident, when the facts are fully considered, that there must be a descent of air from the higher regions of the atmosphere to supply the north-east and south-east trade winds. This proposition, first propounded by Espy, and now generally assented to by men of science, forms a part of his beautiful and simple theory of the trade winds. Not only must there be a descent of air in the belts of high barometer — the calms of Cancer and Capricorn — sufficient to supply the trade winds, but suflficient to supply the winds that blow towards the poles in the extra- tropical latitudes of both hemispheres. The south-west wind, for example, has been shown, by the valuable labours of Maury, to prevail on the Atlantic, north of the calms of Cancer, with wonderful regularity during summer. And in the southern hemisphere, the north-west wind springs up in the polar border of the calms of Capricorn, and the south-east trade wind on its equatorial border. These facts therefore indi- i A 1 \ con- they / \f 1 1 ■^' >, . -i.r ,,-?^iv,, 3/^- u IS ■■■.■:M""'M Vl • ^ II TRADE WINDS. 305 cate that there is a descent of air, in the 'jalms of Cancer and Capricorn, from the higher regions of atmosphere, to maintain the high barometer and currents forming the winds which blow from them on both sides. Espy a Theory of the Trade Winds. The mean pressure of the atmosphere at the level of the sea varies little throughout the globe The motions of the air or winds are the effects of agents which disturb the equilibrium of pressure. The law that regulates the motion of water is, that it seeks its level. The corresponding law that regulates the motions of the atmosphere is, that air, at equal elevations above the sea, flows from a high towards a low barometer. To this law there are no exceptions — the motions of the air in the sea-breeze and in the hurricane are alike in conformity to it. In accordance with this law, the north-east and south-east trade winds blow from the high barometer in the calms of Cancer and Capricorn to the hw barometer in the calms and rains of the equator. Like air that rushes towards a chimney in which a fire has been lighted, the two trade winds blow towards the equator to restore the equilibrium of pressure. The draft in a chimney is caused by the air being expanded and rendered lighter by the fire ; the light air is forced up- wards by the colder air on both sides of it. The latent caloric set free by the condensation of the elastic vapour which supplies the copious rains falling at the equator is the agent that heats the. air, and, causing it to expand and flow away above, the barometer must necessarily stand lower than where there is no precipitation. It must be kept in mind that the amount of caloric which is set free in every inch of rain that falls, is capable of heating the air from the bottom to the top of the atmosphere to the extent of 10 degrees. This fact has been clearly established by the independent researches of Espy and of Regnault. The condensation of vapour in the belt of rains and low barometer has effects precisely similar to those which would take place were the trade winds to contain a certain quantity of inflam- mable matter, which was ignited on reaching this zone of low barometer. ; / 806 CLIMATE OF NOIITU AMERICA. The aaceni of the trade winds in the belt of low barometer at the equator t!s the cause of the copious rains. The law which determines the precipitation of rain, when air satu- rated with moisture ascends from the surface of the earth to the higher regions of the atmosphere, was discovered by Dalton. It is now well known that when air saturated with moisture is suddenly expanded, its temperature falls, and it cannot maintain the same quantity of vapour. A depo- sition of moisture is the consequeace. Moist air ascending from the surface of the ground, and thus coming under less pressure, expands, and becoming colder, precipitates a part of its vapour as clouds and rain. Rains avo chiefly produced by the ascent of air. That rain must necessarily be produced when moist air is forced from the surface of the ground to the higher regions of the atmosphere, thjt facts furnished by Mr. Walsh, in one of his balloon asceuts ^rom Kew Gar- dens, may be adduced to prove. At the time of his ascent the barometer stood at 30 inches at the surface of the earth, with a dew-point of 61°, or 6.06 grains of water in every cubic foot. At the height of 18,370 feet the barometer stood at 15 inches; the temperature of the air and dew-point being 7° and 2° 8' respectively. The quantity of water which could exist in a cubic ioot of air at this tempera- ture would be only 0.8 grains. But air at this elevation having its volume doubled by being under half the pressure, the same quantity of air which a cubic foot at 30 inches of pressure would contain, is 1.6 grains of water. Wore air, therefore, at the dew-point of 61°, to ascend to the height of 18,370 feet, and to have its temperature reduced to the normal temperature for that height, it would precipitate 4.46 grains of water. On the other hand, were the air to descend from the higher to the lower strata of the atmosphere, it would have its temperature raised and become dry. It is for this cause that clouds are formed when air ascends from a lower to a higher level, and dissolve when it descends from a higher to a lower. The dry and almost cloudless regions, in both hemispheres, under the parallel of the 30th latitude, are, as Espy has pointed out, in beautiful harmony with the law regulating the 1 ' r\ / DELT OF HIGH BAROMETKll. 30 grains from I would ^r this lower [higher 3heres, jy has ig the dryn«88 nocessarily arising from the descent of air to s^ ply the winds that blow from both sides of them. T*tc air in those regions being drier and colder in the higher beds of the atmosphere, weighs more, and causes the barometer to stand higher at the level of the sea. On the other hand, the ascent, near the equator, of the north-east and south-east trade winds, occasions the clouded sky, with constant rains, which prevail in that region. The evolution of latent caloric in the formation of cloud expands the air in the region of clouds, and causes it to spread out above and roll away towards the poles. The air being heated in the higher beds of the atmo- sphere, is rendered lighter by expansion, and consequently the barometer stands lower in the belt of equatorial rains. If the earth had been at rest, the northern trade winds would have blown from north to south, and the southern from south to north. Air, however, coming from the north in the northern hemisphere, or from the south in the southern, is constantly arriving at latitudes where the diurnal velocity of the surface of the earth is greater, and from the nature of inertia, it will not at once acquire this new velocity ; and therefore become a north-east wind in the Tropic of Cancer, and a south-east wind in the Tropic of Capricorn. Some have objected to Espy's centripetal theory of storms, on the ground that the barometer should rise in the centre of storms if the winds were to blow towards it. But the belt of low barometer and rains at the equator, to which the north- east and south-east trade winds are constantly blowing, demonstrate the truth of the principles upon which the theory is founded. . ,. ;• , Influence of the .Belt of High Barometer in Africa. It would appear that the belt of calms, which occurs about the 30th latitude, is often maintained over continents, with its attendant phenomena of high barometer and cloudless skies. This is more especially the case when there are large masses of land on both sides of the belt. The north of Africa, for example, is crossed by the calms of Cancer, and it is well known that in summer no rains fall. The soil, as in 806 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. Egypt, is only rendered fertile by the irrigation which the rivers afford. Even the south of Europe obtains so scanty a supply of summer rains, that few summer crops are raised except by artificial irrigation. Thus the Indian com lands of Spain are almost entirely confined to its irrigated valleys. It is also worthy of observation, that it is in the rainleiss belts of high barometer guano deposits are found — the droppings of sea-fowl being preserved where little rain falls. . > The Belt of High Barometer does not usually exist in the proximity of the North American Continent. Espy justly remarks that " the wind at the surface of the earth, in the temperate zones," (and I may add in the tropical zones) " cannot blow towards the belts of high barometer, but, on the contrary, must blow from them ; " that is to say, that a northerly wind cannot blow across the calms of Cancer from the northern temperate zone, nor a southerly wind across these calms from the tropic of Cancer, if the barometer constantly stands higher there than on both sides of it. Because, at equal elevations, air can no more flow from a lower towards a higher barometer, than water can run up hill. Wherever this belt of high barometer is maintained, it acts as a wall in preventing the winds of the temperate zone from crossing into the tropical. In the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the influence of the con- tinent of North America, the calms of Cancer with their clear sky, low dew-point, high barometer, and winds blowing from them on both sides, afford a fine example of the regularity and permanence of the aerial phenomena in those regions. But it is a fact well worthy of the attention of meteorologists that the nicely adjusted forces which exist in the belt of high barometer on the middle of the Atlantic, are usually absent in the proximity of the American continent. For it is well known that both southerly and northerly winds blow across the 30th latitude with great violence, that the sky is often obscured with clouds, and rains are abundant Indeed, the atmospheric phenomena of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico form a remarkable contrast to those of the same lati* tUUCO 111 ■■■h ■TJCW^S^'- VOLNBY 8 VIEWS. 8oe across often led, the ^ulf of same It appears that west of the 60th degreo of longitude the winds in the Tropic of Cancer are frequently from the south- east, and crossing the 30th latitude, flow over the continent of North America as southerly winds. The curving of these winds, in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, in their course across the 30th latitude, and how they diffuse them- selves over the continent, is sketched in Plate 1. It is a curious fact, that an examination of Mr. Redfield's charts, representing the course of storms in this region, shows that few or no storms cross the calms of Cancer east of the 60th degree of longitude. Betwixt this longitude, however, and the western shores of the Gulf of Mexico, is the gateway through which the hurricanes and American winter storms. are supposed by Reid and Redfield to drift from the West India Islands northwards over the American continent. Indeed, without a broad aerial current, such as we have indicated in Plate 1, a vast body of air in a state of rotation could not be translated over the course which has been laid down by these advocates of the rotatory theory of storms. This, Mr. Redfield so far admits, for he justly observes, ** That the pro- gression of rotatory stonns is caused by the predominating current in which they are imbedded appears nearly a self- evvlent proposition, and there is much evidence of the pre- valence of aerial currents which correspond to the courses pursued by the several storms." * He further allows that the fertility of the American continent arises from the copious rains brought by the winds from the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. This latter view, however, seems to have been first adopted by Volney, an outline of whose opinions I shall now give, as they refer to the current which forms such a distinctive feature in the climate of those parts ; for the warm south wind from the Gulf of Mexico is not only the source of fer- tility, but the great disturbing element in all seasons of the year. Volnei/^s Views. The physical geography of North America has a most important influence on its climatology. An almost unbroken chain of mountains extends from the Isthmus of Panama * Hurricanes of the Atlantic, etc., p. 110. / 310 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMEHICA. northwards, as far as the Arctic Circle. Tiiis compiehends the Rocky Mountains of North America, having an average height of from 10,000 to 12,000 feet ; the mountains in the interior of Mexico attaining an elevation even greater ; and the high lands of Central America, which, however, are not above 5000 feet. Two important breaks occur — the one at Lake Nicaragua, near Panama, and the other at the Gulf of Tehuantepec. At both these places the elevation of the land which separates the two oceans is inconsiderable. This vast natural wall acts as a complete barrier to the easterly trade winds, which, as Volney first pointed out, do not cross into the Pacific Ocean. This observer also showed that it deflected these winds, and caused them to take a course parallel to its direction. He has stated the question so lucidly, that I cannot do better than give his own words. " Mariners," says Volney, " relate that from Cape Vela, a projecting point of the Gulf of Maracaybo, the winds vary and swerve into a course parallel to the stream which flows into the Caribbean Sea. On entering the bay of Honduras it veers a little, and blows from the south-east. The bank of sand called Yucatan is interposed between the two bays, but it is so low and level that it is no obstacle to its progress. Bernard de Orta, who has published some useful information on the winds of Vera Cruz, tells us, that south-east winds prevail in those parts."* Volney further remarks that the trade winds are at length deflected by the table-land of Mexico and Rocky Mountains, so that they become south winds in passing over the northern parts of the Gulf of Mexico, and form the south winds of the Mississippi valley. These views are fully borne out by observations. Mr. Phelps, in a communication to Dr. Henry, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, writes, with regard to the winds at Fort Brown in Texas, on the Rio Grande, 26° 10' north latitude : — " The prevailing winds at Fort Brown are from the souths or probably from a point or two east of south. This is more particularly the case during the spring and * Volncy's View of tho Soil aud Clinmto of United States. I III I IIAINS OF THE UNITED STATES. 311 i earlier part of summer. At that season, they are usually pretty constant, especially during the day time, blowing at the rate of fourteen miles an hour, or upwards of five degrees of latitude per day. They always l)ear along with them large masses of glowing clouds, called *gulf clouds' by the people of Texas." Owing to the direction of the table land of Mexico, the south-east winds of Vera Cruz thus become the south winds on the Rio Grande. These winds, in conformity with Volney's views, are found to prevail with great constancy in the States and Territories west of the Mississippi river. Pro- fessor Coffin, in his admirable treatise on the " Winds of the Northern Hemisphere,"* referring to the line of military forts whi(;h extend from Texas to Minnesota, says: — "The most peculiar feature in this region is the line of southerly winds on the western borders of Arkansas and Missouri, xi seems to form a connecting link between the winds of this zone and the south-easterly ones that we find south of it." : and Rains in the United States. In consequence of the continent of North America being powerfully heated by the rays of the sun in summer, the southerly winds are more prevalent during that season. This fact is well established by the researches of Professor Coffin. The United States and Canada thus owe their fertility to the abnormal course of the tropical winds. These aerial currents, hot and moist from the equatorial zone,after crossing the Carib- bean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, flow northwards in summer over the continent almost with the regularity of a monsoon. Indeed, from the Gulf of Mexico to the British Possessions in America, the country is liberally watered by summer rains. There is no break about latitude 30° in this vast rainy region. Unlike the climates of corresponding latitudes in Europe and Africa, the West India Islands have their hurricanes and their luxuriant cane-fields ; the Mississippi Valley its summer tor- nadoes, and its cotton and maize fields. The following * " Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge." 312 CLIMATE OF NOUTH AMERICA. observations even show that latitude 30° is the most rainy on the American continent : — Louisiana, New Orleans. Alabama, Mobile Florida, Key West Georgia, Savannah Missouri, St. Louis Ohio, Cincinnati New York, Rochester... • Minnesota, Fort Snclling Maine, Gardiner Latitude. Bain in Inclici. ' ' » 1 Spring. Summer. Antunin. Winter. 30° 0' 10.3 17.4 10.1 15.6 30'42 12.6 19.3 12.1 16.9 24''33 6.5 9.2 11.5 4.5 32°05 11.9 23.4 9.7 8.4 38°37 12.1 13.3 9.2 7.1 39°06 11.3 9.8 8.5 13.4 42°45 7. 8.9 9.1 5.6 44''58 6.8 10.2 5.7 2.0 44"'10 10.6 10.3 10.5 10.1 The summer rains usually fall in thunder showers during sultry weather. The autumn rains are sometimes protracted for a day or two. The winter rains and snows are accom- panied with violent winds and great fluctuations in the baro- meter. The winter storms sweep the whole continent east of the Rocky Mountains. At all seasons the rains and snows are preceded by southerly winds from the Gulf of Mexico. But in winter these warm and moist winds are invariably succeeded by cold winds from the w'est, which render the fluctuations in the temperature of the most extreme character. I think that the principal phenomena of the American storms can be accounted for by the action of these two winds — the south and the west. The cold wind in Canada and the Northern States is usually from the north of west, in the latitude of Washington from the west, and on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico often due north. The manner in which the two winds — the south and the west — of the most opposite characters, alternately displace each other, involves the whole theory of American storms. y Mode in which the South displace the West Winds. Before proceeding with our illustrations on this subject, I shall give Mr. Phelps' graphic description of the effects of the /l' :/ CHANGES OF TEMPERATURE. 1 1 ai8 "northers" of Texas displacing the warm winds from the Gulf of Mexico. Writing from Fort Brown on the Rio Grande, in latitude 26** 10^ which is as near the equator as Thebes in Egypt, he says : — " To show the character of the * northers,' an extract from my diary will suffice. February 27, 1851. — Until this moment, a quarter past 5 p.m., the wind has been blowing from the south for sixty hours, bearing along lai'ge masses of clouds, at a rate, to all appearance, of at least thirty miles an hour. But now, while we are weltering from heat and dust, the wind changes in an instant. The weather-cock jumps round from the south to the north ; the cold wind whistles through the key-holes and crevices ; down comes the rain, and we are making haste to kindle a fire upon the hearth. At 3 P.M. on the 26th February, the thermometer stood at 84** ; at a few minutes before, the norther at 70" ; but at 9 o'clock on the morning of the 28th, it was down to 36°. Duration of this norther, forty hours. It blew a stiff breeze from the time it set in. Rain of short continuance. Northers are always preceded by a wind from the south for several days, during which the barometer falls, and the thermometer rises until the moment in which the norther comes. The norther is explosive, like a thunder gust, instead of driving a largo body of warm air before it, as might be supposed, coming with all its coldness suddenly and at once. During northers, ice occasionally is seen in tubs and other vessels to the thi(;kness of several inches." The climate of the American continent is characterized by great and sudden changes in temperature during the colder periods of the year. As stated in ihe sixth chapter of this work, I was surprised at the sudden change of the weather on the 10th November 1854, when at Galena, in Illinois, near the Mississippi river. I have, therefore, selected the weather, during a few days about that time, to show how the warm and cold winds, with all their attendant phenomena, are propagated over the continent. On the 9th November 1854, the weather was warm and moist for the season over the whole country to the west of the Mississippi. On the same day, however, it was unusually .'/ 814 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. y cold and dry throughout the Atlantic States. For the purpose of showing that the state of the weather could not in any way bo ascribed to the influence of the sun, I have left out of view the readings of the temperatures during the day, und only taken those observed at sunrise and at 9 p.m. WEST OF MIBSlSSirPI. ATLANTIC STATES. Sunrise. 9f.x. Sunrise. 9p.k Dcg. Ueg;. ., , ^«B- Deg. JortUrown, lat. 26*10 72 75 E. Flonda lat. 30»15 60 63 Fort Smith „ SS'SO 52 64 N. Ctirolina „ 36''20 33 38 M^HBouri „ 38°37 44 59 Vermont „ 44""29 23 22 Fort Snelling „ 44-53 42 58 Montreal „ 45°32 14 25 At Fort Brown on the Rio Grande the wind and clouds were from the south throughout the 9th, but no rain fell. At Fort Smith, in Arkansas, the south wind was high from 10 A.M. to 8 P.M., and bearing clouds from the same quarter all day. The wind was also S.E. in Missouri. At Fort Snelling the sky was overcast and the wind from the south. At 1 1^ A.M., the wind was very boisterous, with thunder. One-third of an inch of rain fell from noon to 9 p.m. I well remember the beautiful day which I spent on the banks of the Mississippi, near Galena, on the 9th, with a warm wind from the south, and a shower in the afternoon. The distance from Fort Brown on the Rio Grande, to Fort Snelling, near St. Paul's, on the Mississippi, is about 1400 miles in a direct line. Still we have traced the southerly wind throughout the whole extent. The compara- tively high temperature during the morning and evening over this region was only an illustration of the scripture proverb, that " out of the south cometh heat." It is worthy of particular notice that the barometer was below its menn throughout the whole extent traversed by tlie southerly wind on the ^th November. In the Atlantic States, on the 9th November, the winds were westerly or northerly (generally from the north-west) and the temperature was low and the sky almost free from clouds. The barometer also stood above the mean throughout the Atlantic States on the 9th November. Indeed, if the tetnperatures had been put down on a map as observed throughout the United States on the 9th, one / 9 P.M. Deg. 63 38 22 25 .:/<7: W-'''-'- *%: (.-■ A- SS / PLATE 2. TEMPERATURES AT SUNRISE ON THE 9V NOVEMBER 1864. PA^ C IT I C TEMPERATURES AND WINDS AT SUNRISE ON lOV NOVEMBER 1854. I Om/tiJkman ^c . Pub'idied Ijy A-A CBlank^Edmbur^. 4 V 30 iA I C TvdLa 1 SOUTU WIND. 315 /f could Bcarcely have failed in coming to the conclusiun that a southerly wind was blowing west of the Mississippi. It is altogether difficult to imagine, on any other supposition, how such a high ♦?mperature could exist there on that day, seeing the weather was so cold two days previous. We are not left to conjecture, however, for direct observations show that an aerial current, about 600 miles in breadth, was flowing from the Gulf of Mexico, and raising the temperature of the air over the territories to the west of the Mississippi. The arrows indicating the directions of wind on the 9th, and the figures the temperatures,. are laid down in Plato 2, at a few stations on til 3 small chart of the weather at sunrise. it may be here observed, also, that since the cold weather prevails over such large tracts of the American continent, the change from cold to warm weather must be much less sudden in the North- Western territories than from hot to cold — the north-west winds at once lowering the temperature. Thus, as Fort Snelling, in Minnesota, is about 1400 miles from Fort Brown, in Texas, on the Rio Grande, the warm air at the southern station could only be translated to the northern in thirty-five hours, though it travelled at the rate of forty miles an hour. Owing to this cause, we need not wonder that the south winds are very cold on the Illinois prairies for the first day they blow. In these regions, the thermometer therefore, usually rises much slower than it falls, and it will also be found that the barometer rises much faster than it . falls. But, on the 10th November, some very remarkable changes took place. At Fort Snelling, in Minnesota, the most northerly and westerly station, snow seems to have begun to fall at 1 A.M., and continued till 8 a.m. The temperature fell from 58" at 9 p.m. of the 9th, to 22° at sunrise of the 10th. At two stations in Iowa, west of the Mississippi, the tempera- tures also fell to 27° and to 24°. St. Louis, in Missouri, being farther to the eastward than Fort Snelling, the temperature was 46° at sunrise, but fell to 35° by 9 p.m. Though Fort Smith, Arkansas, is about 700 miles distant from Fort Snelling, and about one degree of longitude farther west, yet the change of temperature and wind seem to have been simultaneous 316 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. at both places ; for at 1 a.m., a thunder Htorm with wind and rain burst over Fort Smith, and the thermometer fell 2V from 9 P.M. of the 9' V . .^' ;x/; f I i / y PLATE 3. TEMPERATURES AT SUNRISE ON THE IIV NOVEMBER 1854 TEMPERATURES AT SUNRISE ON THE 12^" NOVEMBER 1854. li i ' - r fet*.. / w/.»w Sc . PuiWAed lcr^.& C,BlarJt,] - November bring out tbe fact that the north-west wind re- duced the temperature at sunrise of the 13th both at Jack- sonville in Florida and at Savannah in Georgia, while along the coast to the north, the temperature was still higher than it was the day previous. I shall afterwards have occasion to show that a most erroneous interpretation, with regard to the direction in which atmospheric changes are supposed to be propagated, has by many been put upon the fact of the change of the wind and the lowering of temperature taking place sooner in Florida than in Maine. The reduction of temperature did not take place at Key West until the morning of the 14th, when the thermometer indicated 63°, or 14 degrees lower than the previous morning. But, with the exception of the State of Maine, which was still under the influence of the southerly stream of warm air, the temperature was greatly lowered throughout the Atlantic sea-board. At sunrise of the 14th, the following temperatures were noted : — Dcp. Key West 63 Maine, 53° at 7 p.m, 47" at 9 p.m., E. Florida 39 and 33° at sunrise of 15th Nov Georgia 32 N, Carolina 35 Virginia 34 Washington 33 New York 39 V Massachusetts 37 The space over which the southern current is supposed to have extended in the Atlantic, and to have maintained the high temperature in Maine at the same time that the cold winds swept the whole of the coast south of it, is marked in the small chart of the weather of 14th November, in Plate 4. The " norther," with its low temperature, was thus pro- pagated along the northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico, as the cold westerly wind progressed in the northern States. The high barometer, also, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Lakes, is propagated along with the cold and dry air. On the other hand, the line of low barometer is nearly co-extensive with the warm and rainy south winds. A great quantity of rain fell along the Atlantic coast from the night of the 10th to *he 13th November. At Spring- field, Massachusetts, there fell 4.16 inches ; London, Massa- 820 "^-> CIJMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. :iy "^ chusetts, 4.9 inches ; London, Connecticut, 3J inches ; Bloom- field, New Jersey, 1.957 inc'ies; Philadelphia, 2.1 inches; Maryland, 2.1 inches ; Alexandria, Virginia, 2.98 inches ; Savannah, Georgia, 2.05 inches; Cedar Keys, Florida, 1.4 inches. At the same time as the wind changed to the N.W., a considerahle quantity of snow fell in different parts of the United States. But it would he out of place here to enter further into such particulars. It is thus seen that the rains commenced over the coun- try to the west of the Mississippi, and were gradually ex- tended towards the Atlantic coast, where they were very- copious. This quite agrees with Espy's generalization, that "the rain and snow storms, and even the moderate rains and snows, travel from the west towards the east in the United States, during the months of November, December, January, February, and March, which are the only months to which these generalizations apply." Although Espy has restricted his generalization to the five coldest months, I shall afterwards endeavour to show that there are no good grounds for supposing that similar phenomena are not in operation during the warmer months. That the winter storms travel or are propagated from west to east, as we have seen was the case in the storm which continued from the 9th to 14th November 1854, are amply borne out by the investigations of Loomis and Espy. Of tioohundredandsixty winter storms vihxcAi have been examined by the latter, all began by a long line of low barometer west of the Mississippi, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Lakes. This line of low barometer and atmospheric disturb- ances was invariably propagated from west to east. Before shortly stating my views as to the manner in which the rains and line of low barometer are propagated from west to east, I shall attempt to answer some important queries which have been put by Dr. Hare to American meteorologists regarding the restriction made by Espy as to the course which rains follow at different seasons of the year. Dr. Hares Queries. This gentleman is well known to be a great opponent of I P •^a-B^a^w DR. HARE S QUERIES. 321 kner m jagated )ortant lerican ly as to |e year. lent of ! i the opinions of those who have supposed that storms are vast whirlwinds. With the physical objections he has urged against the idea of rotation and translation of great bodies of air, I quite concur. It is singular, however, that such a distinguished physicist has failed to discover that the error which Benjamin Franklin made is the grand mistake, or blunder, as it may be called, of the rotatory theorists. The following queries of Dr. Hare are quite reconcilable with the fact of the progression of storms being from icest to east. "9th, Whether, agreeably to the observations of Franklin, and general experience confirming them, our storms pro- ducing north-eastern gales do not travel from south-west to north-east ? " 10th, Whether their travelling thus does not warrant the opinion that they commence in the Gulf of Mexico, and are propagated gradually to tht, north-east along the Atlantic States, and the neighbouriug portion of the Atlantic Ocean ? " 11th, Whether the observations of Redfield do not establish, so far as they are reliable, that certain storms travel from the Gulf along the coast of the United Statt^s, and of course from south-west to north-east, and how these results are to be reconciled with the generalization in Espy's report, or with the evidence adduced by Loomis ? " 12th, Whether any absurdity, which Redfield's infer- ences involve, respecting the interior phenomena of his suppo- sititious whirlwinds, justify distrust of the correctness of the route which they are represented to have pursued ? " 14th, How can the observations of Franklin, confirmed by a very general impression that they were sagacious and well-founded, be reconciled with those made by Loomis, also highly esteemed, unless there be two kinds of storms, one of which travels from north-west to south-east, the other from south-west to north-east f " The fact of storms being sooner felt in the State of Florida than of Maine is easily reconciled with the views of Espy and Loomis, that storms accompanied with a depression of the barometer near the central line of the storm, are of great length from north to south, and move side foremost towards the east. "S.. tV CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. / If observations are merely confined to the Atlantic coast, every winter storm must have an apparent progression from simih-weM ' o north-east. Thus, during the November storm, the southerly wind set in, and the barometer began to fall twenty- four hours earlier in Alabama than it did in North Caro- lina. The north-west wind with its low temperature reached Jacksonsville in East Florida about thirty-six hours sooner than it did the north-eastern parts of the State of Maine. The cause of this is readily seen by looking back to the small charts of the weather from the 9th to 14th November. The phenomena, having a progression from west to east, reaches the Atlantic coast first in Southern Georgia, not because it is the most southerly portion of the coast, hut because it is the most westerly. We have only to remember that the cold winds set in seventy-two hours sooner both at Fort Smith in Arkansas and at Fort Snelling in Minnesota than at Savannah in Georgia. If the line of the Atlantic coast had run from north-west to south-east, and if observations had been merely confined to the coast, storms would have had an apparent progression from north-west to south-east. Before visiting America, I was not aware of the fact that a long line of low barometer, west of the Mississippi, and stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Lakes, invariably preceded the winter storms of the coast. On the first opportunity I had of discussing this subject with Espy, I made the remark, " If the line of the Atlantic coast had run due south and north instead of south-west and north-east, in all probability the rotatory theory would never have been applied to the storms of extra-tropical Atlantic latitudes ?" " No," replied he, " I do not think it ever would." Dove, Reid, Milne Home,* and others, who have examined the storms of Europe, have committed an error corresponding to the one that has been committed i America. In their attempts to explain the veerings of the wind on the rotatory hypothesis, they have assumed that the phenomena have a progression from south-west to north-east, when the progression is only apparent from that quarter. The fluctua- * I may mention that, in a communication to the author, Mr. Milne Hoi e seems now disposed to abandon the rotatory theory of storms. i , I'- TJNB OF LOW BAROMETER. 323 tions of the barometer in Europe, which have been laid down in curves by Daniell, in his " Essays on Meteorology," are quite sufficient, though they have been strangely overlooked, to establish the fact of the westerly precession (a little to the north of west according to Espy) of the storms of Europe. As an example of this error we may refer to our short analysis on the storm of the 6th and 7th February 1856, in the Edin- hurgh Philosophical Journal for October 1856. the le of id of rtory ks of I do the jtna- IHov e Caiiae of the Long Lvm of Low Barometer first observed West of the Mississippi. The progression of the changes of the weather from west to east during the storm of November will be rendered appa- rent by comparing the fluctuations in the temperature of the air with those of the barometer from the 8th to the 14th. The barometer stood below the mean on the 9th from Fort Brown on the Rio Grande to Fort Snelling, a distance of about 1400 miles. Indeed, I have no doubt that the depres- sion of the barometer was co-extensive with the south wind. It is a general law in the northern hemisphere that the barometer falls with southerly and rises with northerly winds. Dalton's theorj' of the fluctuations of the barometer is the most simple that has ever been proposed, and for extra- tropical latitudes especially, is remarkably consistent. Dal- ton referred the variations in the height of the mercurial column to variations in the density (or temperature) of the air at the earth's surface. In other words, warm air being lighter than cold air, the warm south wind will depress the barometer because it weighs less, while the cold northerly winds, being heavy, will cause it to rise. In fact, as the thermometer rises the barometer falls, and as the thermometer falh the barometer rises. This simple law explains the greater uuinber of fluctuations of the barometer in extra-tropical latitudes. Professor Espy was the first who traced the Une of mini- mum pressure, extending from south to north, west of the Mississippi. This depression of the barometer in the west. BU CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. he states, occurs iV winter for some time previous to the depression of the baiuineter and storms en the Atlantic coast.* As I differ with Professor Espy in regard to the cause of this extended line of low barometer, I shall merely state my own views. On examining Espy's charts of American storms, I was at once struck with the fact that the long line of mini- mum pressure corresponds with the course which the hot and moist winds from the Gulf of Mexico must pursue over the American continent. Thus the line of minimum pressure on 9th November (see Plate 2) extended from Fort Brown on the Rio GraLJe to Fort Snelling, that is, over the whole country swept by the southerly winds. This was a fine illustration of the truth of Espy's generalization, and Dal- ton's theory of the rise and fall of the barometer being due to the changes of density of the air at the earth's surface. I have already given my reasons for supposing that the south winds of the United States are merely the trade winds diverted northwards by the high grounds of Central America and Mexico. The trade winds are limited to the lower regions of the atmosphere, and the south winds of the United States are also confined to the lower strata. It is highly probable that the south winds of the United States do not usually extend much above 10,000 feet from the earth's surface. The diagrams on Plate 5 are constracted on the supposition that the south winds of the United States are 10,000 feet in depth. The principle upon which these diagrams are constructed is very simple, and some remarkable truths are, by their means, graphically represented ; so much so, that after the principle upon which they are constructed is understood, the beautiful harmony of causes and effects is seen at a glance, as well as the course which the disturbances pursue over the continent to the east of the Rocky Mountains. On looking at the chart of the weather on the morning * 2d, Winter storms are accompanied with a depression of the barometer near the central line of the storm. 8d, This central line of minimnm pressare is generally of great length from north to south, and moves side foremost towards the east. — E«py^$ Second Beport on Meteorology to the Secretary of the Navy. ■■^ .. Ur J PLATE 5. Tmtp. I "1 185 -P |rning pmeter from 824 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. ♦ *■ he states, occurs in winter for some time previous to the depression of the barometer and storms on the Atlantic coast.* As I differ with Professor Espy in regard to the cause of this extended line of low barometer, I shall merely state uiy own views. On examining Espy's charts of American storms, I was at once struck with the fact that the long line of mini- mum pressure corresponds with the course which the hot and moist winds from the Gulf of Mexico must pursue over the American continent. Thus the line of minimum pressure on 9th November (see Plate 2) extended from Fort Brown on the Rio Grande to Fort Snelling, that is, over the whole country swept by the southerly winds. This was a fine illustration oi the truth of Espy's generalization, and Dal- ton's theory of the rise and fall of the barometer being due to the changes of density of the air at the e^th's surface. I have already given my reasons for supposing that the south winds of the United States are merely the trade wi^ds diverted northwards by the high grounds of Central America and Mexico. The tiude winds are limited to the lower regions of the atmosphere, and the south winds of the United l^tates are also confined to the lower strata. It is highly probable that the south winds of the United States do not usually extend much above 10,000 feet from the earth's surface. The diagrams on Plate 5 are constructed on the supposition that the south winds of the United States are 10,000 feet in depth. The principle upon which these diagrams are concL;ucted is very simple, and some remarkable truths are, by thrir means, graphically represented ; so muoh so, that after the principle upon which they are constructed is understood, the beautiful harmony of causes and effects is seen at a glance, as well as the course which the disturbances pursue over the continent to the east of the Rocky Mountains. On looking at the chart of the weather on the morning * 2d, Winter storms are accompanied with a depression of the barometer near the central line of the storm. 3d, This central line of minimum pressure is generally of great length from north to south, and moves side foremost towards the east. — Etpy^t Second Report on Meteorology to the Secretary of the Navy. \ PLATK 5 ( the last.* f this own ms, I mini- )t and er the ire on \fin on ■whole a fine d Dal- ng due • Eice. hat the e wi-\d8 America regions 4 ^, bates probahle usually surface, pposition ,000 feet ,;ucted Dy thfir after ihe ;ood, the a glance, over the morning barometer length from py'« Second e^yM/ii,//! Sc, TublisliBd bvA.i C.JJlark.Eainbur^. w t f 1 ( w 1 J '\'Hl W: FLUCTUATIONS OP BAROMETER. // /•J 325 sr ■ II w o o -r--""-' u. ■o" of the 10th November (Fiato 2), we see that the warm and moist current from the, Gulf of Mexico is banked on both sides by cold and dry air. The figure on this page represents a section of the atmosphere resting on the country from beyond the Mississippi to Massachusetts on the Atlantic coast, a dis- tance of about 1000 miles. If the relatively high temperature of the valley of the Ohio, as seen in the sketch, had extended to the top of the atmosphere, then the barometer must have stood much lower in Eastern Illinois than in Iowa or on the Atlantic coast in Mas- sachusetts, because the temperature of the air was 32** higher. It is well knowii that air expands l-480th part of its volume for every degree of increased tempera- ture, consequently the air in Illinois was 32-480ths, or l-15th lighter than in Iowa or on the Atlantic coast. The baro- meter should have been l-15th of its whole height less where the air was warm, or, in other words, it should have shown a depression of two inches of mercury in the country swept by the southerly winds. Had the differences of temperature ex- tended to the top of the atmosphere, the mercury of the barometer should have h^^^^S^^ fallen S-lOths of an inch for every five degrees of increased temperature. But the changes in the weight of the atmo- sphere do not by any means accord with these quantities, which indicates that the variations of the barometer are confined to the lower strata of the atmosphere, as Dalton argued. But if the aerial Gulf Stream was 10,000 feet in height on the morning of the 10th Is— Tt- 4=-- --:3:-f_-E- te — o._.3r__ ---3-_:?--o- a o o November, the variations which the diffareaces of tempera- 8fe CLIMATK Ob- NORTH AMEitlCA. ture would ocoasion can be readily estimated. Under ordinary circumstances, a column of 10,000 feet of air at the surface of the earth will weigh nine inches of mer- cury. Accordingly, on the morning of the 10th, a column of 10,000 feet high of air would be GlOths of an inch of mercury heavier in Iowa and on the Atlantic States than in Illinois. Or, what is the same thing, the barometer should stand G-lOths of an inch lower in Illinois than in Iowa. This difTerouce is nearly equal to 1-lOth inch of mercury for every 5° of heat. The fluctuations of the barometer from the 10th to 14th November correspond very accurately with the scale of 1-lOth inch of mercury being equal to a variation of five degrees of temperature. I have left out the day tei '^eratures, and compared the fluctuations of the barometer ui 7 a.m. and at 9 r.M. with the changes of temperature at these hours in most of the States of the Union. In order to exhibit more strikingly the relation of the temperature and the pressure of the air, the continuous lines in Plate 6 representing the pressure is inverted, so as to show their correspondence ^\ith the fluc- tuations of the thermometer, represented by the dotted linesi The figures on the right hand margin indicate the heights of the barometer in tenths of an inch ; those on the left hand side of the thermometer, in degrees of Fahrenheit's scale. By observing the fluctuations in the barometer and ther- mometer at the stations west of the Mississippi — at New Weld in Texas, Fort Smith, Fort Suelling — we find that they are almost simultaneous, though more than 1000 miles apart. The changes in temperature and pressure are also simul- taneous at Montreal and North Carolina, though upwards of nine degrees of latitude apart. On the other hand, if the fluctuations at the stations on the Atlantic are examined, the westerly precession of these changes are no less conspicuous. But, as formerly stated, if observation had been confined to the Atlantic, the storm would have had an apparent progression from south-west to north-east, whereas the curves clearly show that it is nearly from west to east, in conformity with the views expressed by Professors Espy, Hai-e, and Loomis. w.:-- I'LUCTUATIONH OK DAltOMETKR. 327 lew )art. of is on Ibhese jd, if Itorm at to (early kby The correspondoncp between the fluctuatioDH of toinpera- tiiro and pressure is less exact in the State of Maine, from the 11th to 14th, tiian in any other State which I have exaniinod. This exception indicates that the stratum of warm air did not extend to so great a height in ]\Iaino. But the parallelism between the inverted curve of the barometer and the curve of temperature in Alabama is remarkable, and it forms as perfect an explanation of the fluctuations of the baronioter as has ever been offered. The rate at which the storm of November travelled over the United States can be approximately arrived at. The first traces of the cold westerly and northerly wind were observed in Iowa and Minnesota on the norning of the 10th November; but were not experienced at ''oston, >^ wsachusetts, in the same latitude, till the morning of the 14r). The dis- tance between these two stations is rather iiuie than 1000 miles, which exhibits an average rate of progression fron; west to east of about ten miles an hour, lint a more minute examination would show that its progress was intermittent ; for the surface wind from the west was almost at rest on the night of the 10th, and during the day time of the 11th, in Illinois and Indiana. I think that it must be sufHciently evident that the storm and rains did begin to the west of the Missis- sippi on the 9th, and were gradually propagated towards the east ; and in the words of Espy, the mhiimum barometer, extending in a long line from north to south, ** moved, side foremost, towards the east " But the question arises. How is the storm, with all its ati/ u ' mt phenomena, propagated from west to east ? I do not hesitate to confess that I have slightly changed my views on this important question. The larger chart, Plate 6, exhibits the state of the weather at sunrise on the 10th November. The figures show the temperature in degrees of Fahrenheit's scale. The feathered arrows, the direction of the wind at the earth's surface ; the naked arrows, the middle current in which the clouds are often borne along ; the dotted arrows, the course of the upper current which prevails with so much regularity from a wes- terly quarter throughout the United States and Canada. 828 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. ^♦y ' " f ; On the Atlantic coast the temperature, on the morning of 10th November, was low, as shown by the figures. This cold patch was about 800 miles in length by upwards of 100 in breadth. The winds there were somewhat irregular, as exhibited by the arrows, indicating the change that was approaching. To the west of the Alleghanies, and as far as the Missis- sippi, southerly winds prevail, and each arrow head points to the high temperature which it has brought from the south. No doubt, the direction of the winds vary from S.E., and Bven E. to S.W. ; buu this is no more than is to be expected in consequence of the irregularities of the surface, as well as of the local adjustments of disturbing agents, which will afterwards be discussed more particularly. We find three cases, for example, in Michigan, in which the arrows show that the clouds are moving from the S.W., while the wind is due south. But this action is equivalent to a translation of the air from S.S.W. It is worthy of observation, that the temperature gradually decreases in this south current of 700 miles in breadth as we approach the east coast on any of the parallels of latitude below the Lakes ; but the decrease of tem- perature is very abrupt as soon as the Mississippi is crossed to the westward. It has already been seen that the southerly winds pre- vailed at all the western stations on the 9th, with their cha- racteristic high temperature. But at sunrise of the 10th, the due west winds, and the north-west winds, have made their appearance, and just crossed the Mississippi, in the States of Wisconsin and Illinois; while every aiTOW-head of the southerly winds points to its high temperature, every one of the north-westerly winds points to its low temperature. These north-westerly winds have begun to take possession of the territories of the United States in one broad current, and to clear the whole continent of the warm winds from the Gulf of Mexico. To understand how this process takes place, and how the storms of the United States are propagated from west to east, we must become acquainted with the nature and origin of these cold westerly winds. The west winds form a most . ff ■ 'U; **y il 838 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. On the Atlantic coast the temperature, on the morning of 10th November, was low, as shown by the figures. This cold patch was about 800 miles in length by upwards of 100 in breadth. The winds there were somewhat irregular, as exhibited by the arrows, indicating the change that was approaching. To the west of the Alleghanies, and as far as the Missis- sippi, southerly winds prevail, and each arrow head points to the high temperature which it has brought from the south. No doubt, the direction of the winds vary from S.E., and even E. to S.W. ; but this is no more than is to be expected in consequence of the irregularities of the surface, as well as of the local adjustments of disturbing agents, which will afterwards be discussed more particularly. We find three cases, for example, in Michigan, in which the arrows show that the clouds are moving from the S.W., while the wind is due south. But this action is equivalent to a translation of the air from S.S.W. It is worthy of observation, that the temperature gradually decreases in this south current of 700 miles in breadth as we approach the east coast on any of the parallels of latitude below the Lakes ; but the decrease of tem- perature is very abrupt as soon as the Mississippi is crossed to the westward. It has already been seen that the southerly winds pre- Tailed at all the western stations on the 9th, with their cha- racteristic high temperature. But at sunrise of the 10th, the due west winds, and the north-west winds, have made their appearance, and just crossed the Mississippi, in the States of Wisconsin and Illinois; while every aiTow-head of the southerly winds points to its high temperature, every one of the north-westerly winds points to its low temperature. These north-westerly winds have begun to take possession of the territories of the United States in one broad current, and to clear the whole continent of the warm winds from the Gulf of Mexico. To understand how this process takes place, and how the storms of the United States are propagated from west to east, we must become acquainted with the nature and origin of these cold westerly winds. The west winds form a most I \ « J *• Wifut -^ Midd WEATHER AT SUNRiSE OF lOV NOVEMBER 1*864. PLATE VI, Publislifd hyA.le C.UI,-u;lf,]ldinb\y>v;//;-://;/;:7 A ci>aen)yr4at; PubHuhfid by A.*C,]31«ck,K 18" 5()'> 38' 33" CC* 18" 338 climate' OF NORTH AMERICA. 19th 20th 7 S 9 7 2 9 A.M. P.M. P.H. A.M. P.M. P.M. E E E I N* N N 40° 60° 33° 30°* 34° 32° SW SW SW I SW SW S 44 60 54 66 65 63 IOWA STATE. January 1856. 21st 7 2 9 A.M. P.M. P.M. E E N 16" 8° 6° 22(1 23d 7 2 9 7 2 9 A.M. P.M. P.M. A.M. P.M. P.M. N W W I N W ... 6° 12' 8° 2° 18° 14° MISSISSIPPI. W» W NW I NW W SW 1 SW SW SW 53* 83 26 16 31 30 31 40 32 ... W W 22 32 SO SE SW NE 80 61 47 GEORGIA. S 35 58 OHIO. NW* I N W W 28 46 84» 32 36 34 WWW 13 20 8 W 18 SE SW S 48 64 58 GEORGIA. SW SW W I NW»NW NW I NW S S 67 66 61 26* 37 30 28 41 38 FLORIDA COAST. KEY WEST. HAVANNAH. S ...SI SE SE SE I NW»NW N I N N N 69 70 76 76 63* 62 PHILADELPHIA. NW NW NW I NW SW W 1 NE NE NE 80 36 30 30 35 33 33 35 42 SW W» W 44 36* 27 V\' NW W 22 26 26 CONNECTICUT. NW W NW I NE E E I NW W W I S SWNW* I W W NW 33 31 29 I 27 33 32 | 30 29 34 | 49 39 28* 1 i; 26 20 An examination of these figures indicate that a warm body of air was propagated across the territory of the United States from the 19th to the 23d of January, at the rate of more than 30 miles an hour. The change of wind occurred from 24 to 36 hours later at Key West than in Texas. The distance is fully 1000 miles. As already stated in a former chapter, a " norther" with a bright sky blew at Kavannah qv% the morning of the 23d ; but the wind was NE. in the afternoon, the usual direction of the trade winds at that season. N&rth-Easters. In almost all the winter and autumnal storms of the United States, there is a development of north-east winds in some parts of the territory. These winds are not nearly so com- mon in the Southern States as they are in the Northern. NORTH-EASTERS. 339 / During a residence of nearly two months in Washington, during the winter of 1854-5, I had no opportunity of examining the action of the north-easters in that latitude. But in travelling through Canada and che north-western parts of New York State, in the autumn of 1854, three north-east storms occurred which were similar in their character to the north-east storms of the British Islands. The greater frequency of the north-easters in Canada and the New England Slates is, in all probability, owing to the physical features of the country, which must be kept in view in considering the minor phenomena connected with the great aerial currents. The north-easters of the Uuited States are merely a local development of winds. They are, no doub\ sometimes propagated from south-west to north- east along the coast of the United States ; but notwithstand- ing this, it appears to me pretty evident that the influences by which the air at the surface of the earth is put in motion from the north-east, travel, or rather are propagated, from west to east, as part of the storms of winter. The disturbing influences reach ihe southern part of the coast of the United States first, in the same way as the north-west winds in winter storms, i>ot because these parts are further south, but because they are further west. To illustrate the action uf the nurth-easters in their most simple form, we shall now turn to the large map of the weather on the morning of 10th November, Plate VI. There are only three instances to be seen in which the arrows show that a north-east wind vN'as blowing at the surface of the earth. These are at Chapel Hill, in North Carolina, at Mount Calm, in Virginia, and at Montreal, in Lower Canada. It is worthy of particular attention that tbf- tiorth-east winds at Montreal, at Chapel Hill in North Carolina, and Mount Calm, in Virginia, were blowing from a cold quarter, and bringing the cold air which existed towards the north and east ; and yet the temperature rose at both places. At Montreal, the temperature was 21° on the morning of the 10th, and at 44° on that of the 11th. At Chapel Hill the temperature was 44° on the mori ing of the 10th, but rose to (( r i: 340 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. 62° at 9 P.M., and a fall of rain sot in at 4 p.m. The obscrvor at Montreal has not put us in possession of the course of tho currents in the cloud-bearing strata of the atmosphere, which must have brought the warmth, aa the cold was intense in the quarter from which the toind was Mowing. At C'hapel Hill and Mount Calm, however, the naked arrows indicate that a current from the south-west overlaid the north-east wind. I'his middle current, which brought moisture and warmth from the Gulf of Mexico, raised the temperature, and at the same time caused the north-east winds to become rainy and stormy. Had not a warm and moist current overlaid the north- east wind in Carolina, it could not have had its temperature raised to such an extent, and at the same time have become charged with moisture. This development of a north-east wind was merely a north-easter on a small scale. At the meeting of the British Association at Belfast, in 1852, I read a paper on the action of British north-east storms. Their action appears similar to that of those of the American continent. It is known that north-east winds, in Britain, are often very dry ; but it is also known that those winds are sometimes attended by great falls of rain. The barometer almost invariably rises when these winds are dry and cold, and almost invariably falls when they are wet and stormy. A fall of the barometer usually precedes the north-easter in Britain. The depression of the mercury in this case is owing to the higher current being warmer, and consequently lighter. The barometer falls with the rise of temperature in the upper strata, as it would do if a south-west wind were to blow at the surface of the ground. By looking at the map of the weather during the morn- ing of the 10th November, Plate VI., it will be seen that the surface winds in North Corolina and in Northern Georgia were blowing right towards each othc. Similar phenomena frequently occur in Britain ; for south-west winds often blow in Devon and Cornwall while north-east winds prevail in the south of Scotland. There can be no such thing as two winJs meeting at the surface of the earth ; and therefore it I" ill) f NOliTH-KAHTPl.o. - 341 > •# becomes a highly interesting question to understand the action which takes place between the winds that blow towards each other from opposite quarters, and yet never meet. It is easy to see that the facts cannot be explained on the rotatory hypothesis ; for winds could not blow riyht towards each other if they loere revolving in a circle. With Professor Mitchell, North CaroUna, I agree in thinking that the north-easters are similar in their action to that of the sea breezes of summer. The sea-breeze, for example, is often felt on the eastern coast of Scotland during the warm season ; but it does not reach the west coast, on which a west wind often blows, at the same time as the east wind is felt on the opposite coast. The easterly sea-breeze rises into the upper current, and is again swept towards the cast by the westerly wind that prevails above. The sea- breeze, therefore, may be regarded as a rotation between the lower and upper currents, in which the axis of rotation is horizontal. I was not aware, before it was pointed out to me by Professor Henry at Washington, that Professor Mitchell, North Carolina, had explained the north-easters of the United States as being merely a rotation between the north-east wind below and the south-west wind abo\e. Professor Mit- chell's views are clearly stated in Silliman's Journal for 1831. Various objections have been made to his mode of explaining the action of the north-easters, and certainly the particular manner in which this action has been described by him is so far liable to certain objections. A South West North Hast D The arrows A B represent t>>c south-west current, which overlies the north-east wind C D. The north-east wind is imagined to rise at one pointy A C, and to descend at one point, B D. Ur. Halley attempted to explain the action of the trade winds on the same principle. 342 That w / CLIMATE OF NOUTH AMERICA. the sea-breeze rises over the land, and is carried away in the upper current which flows in an oppo- site direction, all admit. And that the action of the north-easters are, in many cases, similar to that of the sea-breeze, I have every reason to believe. I entertain, however, views difierent from those of Professor Mitchell as to the man- ner in which the upper current descends and the lower ascends. I consider that it is highly impor- tant that the exact modus operant?/ should be under- stood, as the same principle of action applies to the north-easters, and a modification of it to the winds in other st< rms. In the case of the sea-breeze, the wind that blows over the land does not rise in a column into the upper current at the particular spot where the breeze terminates ; but as it gradually dies away as it reaches the interior, it clearly shows that it is as gradually absorbed into the upper current over the entire distance that it traverses. Thus, let the side figure represent the sea-breeze on the east coast of Scotland : — The breeze as it touches the land is strongest — say twenty miles an hour ; then it lessens to fifteen, then to ten, and, last of all, there exist a calm at a certain distance from the shore. The breeze never reaches this spot ; for it is absorbed into the upper current betwixt A and B. The sun heats and expands the air as soon as it touches the land ; and thus it rises until it is rubbed oflf by the current that prevails above. This principle of a gradual rising is the only one by which the gradual diminution of the sea-breeze, as it travels towards the interior, can be explained. In like manner, the air descends from above over the sea in the same gradual way. There is no focal area to which the wind rushes and rises in a body ; for the focal area may be considered to extend as far as the breeze extends. It is quite clear that if the .y SEA-lUiE£ZE. 343 / whole depth of the breeze rose in a body into the upper cur- rent, the velocity or strength of the wind would be the same over the whole land that it swept until it reached the parti- cular spot at which it ascended. So far as my observation goes, the sea-breeze only occurs on the east coast of Scotland when the upper current pre- vails from the SW. This seems essential to the action of the sea-breeze on our coasts. The air over the land is heated during the day in summer to a greater degree than that over the sea. The one is rendered lighter than the other, and the colder and heavier air forces the lighter air resting upon the land to rise and flow away in an opposite direction. At the same elevation the barometer will stand lower on the land than over the sea. The difference in the weight of the two columns of air is the propelling power of the sea-breeze. Though the barometer stands lower on the land than on the sea, the air is constantly rushing towards the land, where it becomes heated and expands, and part of its column is swept off by the upper current. Thus the sun, by heating the air to a greater degi'ee over the land, maintains a lower barometer on the land than over the sea. This well-known fact of a lower baro- meter being constantly maintained over the spot to which the winds blow, like the trade winds blowing towards the belt of low barometer, only requires to be borne in mind to understand the important principle which comes into play in storms, during which the wind blows towards a low barometer, and actually maintains the low barometer by the extrication of latent caloric when the vapour of water is condensed. The air that rushes towards the land in the sea-breeze rises into the upper current as fast as it flows towards the land. The rapidity with which it rises is regulated by the power of the rays of the sun ; as the heat increases the breeze increases, and vice versa. These simple principles are similar in their action to those which propel the winds in storms. When treating of the theory of the trade winds, we showed that the air at equal elevations above the level of the sea flows from a higher towards a lower barometer. The sea- CLIMATE OF NOUTII AMElllCA. breeze, it is universally admitted, is set in motion iti obedience to the same law. Could we find, therefore, the cause of the barometer standing lower at one place than at another, and why it often remains low though the wind is blowing towards a certain area, we should be able to explain nearly all the phenomena of storms. We have seen that this same law holds in the case of the belt of low baro- meter at the equator and in the sea-breeze, and we shall now trace it in the north-easter of North America. The north-easters of Britain and the United States are precisely similar in their action to the sea-breeze. At the surface of the ground, a lower barometer exists to the south-west, which is the cause of the air being put in motion towards that quarter. The cold north-east wind flows towards the warm south-west for the same reason that the cold air resting upon the sea flows to- Avards the land heated by the rays of the sun. The large map of the weather of the morning of 10th November brings cut this principle very clearly. The figure, however, exhil)its the action of the north-easter in North Carolina. The north-east wind does not rise at any particular spot in a body, but is gradually absorbed into the upper current A B, and is then carried towards the NE. The warm current that flowed from the SW. raised the temperature along the Atlantic coast on the 10th, for the air as a middle current was translated from Florida, where its temperature was 72°, towards Virghiia, where the temperature was little above the freezing-point. Need we wonder, then, that the thermometer rose from 35° at Thornbury in North Carolina on the morning of the 10th, to 61° at 9 p.m., with a north-east wind. The north-casters which ar acveloped along the Atlantic sca-l")ard are more siufuce currents, which, NOKTIl-EAHTEKS. 345 h though blowing in the direction of the Gulf of Mexico, do not reach it, because thoy are gradually absorbed into the upper current, in the same way as the sea-breeze which flows into the interior. By the ligure, we perceive that the gveat difference in the temperature between the Atlantic coast of iVorth Carolina and the States of Georgia and Alabama would bo quite sufficient of itself to cause the cold air at the surface of the ground on the north to flow southward. The barometer stood about two-tenths of an inch below the mean for the month at '"uscaioosa in Alabama, while at the same time it stood about two-tenths of an inch above the mean at Thornbury in North Carolina. The air at the surface of the ground was thus, in accordance with the universal law which propels the winds, forced to flow towards the low barometer. But while the air at the surface of the ground in north- east storms travels towards the S(mth, the air at a certain height travels towards the north-east. Were the theory just indicated correct, the barometer should stand higher at the earth's surface in North Carolina, and lower at a certain height in the atmosphere where the current was SW. (or the reverse of the under), than at the same elevation hi Northern Georgia. This v^as no doubt the case, and, as it will be shown, admits of complete demonstration from the well-known properties of air. But before dis^a-'-sing the subject, I may again point out the place which tLj north-easters of America occupy in the widely extended aerial disturbances which begin to the west of the Mississippi, and are propagated to the Atlantic coast. The south-west current that overlies the north-east winds of the north-easters is a modification of the south wind which flows from the Gulf of Mexico. Both the surface north-east wind and the south-west middle current are overlaid by the upper current which flows so constantly from the west or north- west. In winter, the north-easters are invariably succeeded by a strong west or north-west wind. The change of wind from NE. to NW. is brought about in the same way as the change of wind was effected wost of the Mississippi in Iowa (see Plates 2 and 7) from SW. to NVV. in the morning of the 10th by 346 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. the lower and colder NW. wln'^1 (lowing in below and idising the south wind into the upper current. The north-west v' 1 (.iiLors below the north-east wind, and thus oltcn cuubes the wind to change tVoiu NE. to N^ V As the soutiierly winds are prc'^ju^ated from west to east ovc the United States, they reach the Atlf. itic coast of the Southern State of Georgia sooner than the Northern State of Maine ; but the former is more to the westward than the latter. Hence the north-easters sometimes begin in the south, and are propagated along the Atlantic coast from SW. to NE. ; and like the NW. wind is also first felt on the Atlantic coast of Florida and Georgia, because tluit part of the sea-board is farthest west. I have already said that noiUi-east winds are much more common in the New England States and Lower Canada during the passage of storms from west to east than they are in the Southern States.* Thifc" circumstance I attribute to the pv'jculiar physical features of the country. The physical features of any country must be considered in accounting for the minor and local courses of the winds on the ap- proach of storms. T.'.e large map (Plate VI) of the weather of 10th November, as already mentioned, shows that the wind was north-east at Montreal, and blowing right towards i\xi- south-west winds which were prevailing in the Ohio valley. The direction in which the clouds were moving at iiontreal is not given, but in the north-western part of the State of New York the clouds were coming from the south- west, as represented by the naked arrow in the chart (Plate VI). The rise of 23 degrees of temperature in twenty-four hours at Montreal could only be accounted for by the warmth and moisture brought from the south and west by the current which overlaid the NE. wind. The figure (p. 847) is an ex- aggerated section of the elevation of the country between the mouth of the Mississippi and Montreal. The distance is about 1400 miles in a straight line. The direction of the winds and the temperatures as at 7 a.m. of the 10th November * This agrees with Espy's 18th Generalization. "In the northern parts of the United States, the wind generally in great storms sets in fron> the north of east, and terminates from the north of west." — Beport to the Navy. N0UTU-EA8TKUH. 847 are givon. The height of the barometer at Warrington Navy Yard, near the mouth of the MissiHHippi, was 29.98 inches, while at Montreal, 1 1 8 feef above the level of the sea, it was '50.11 invhes; i ^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 ■ 45 1^ lii^ 1^ Ilia 2.0 m 1.8 11.25 nil 1.4 V] % /I V /^ Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 848 CLIMATE OF NOIITII AMICUICA. !. in tho figure, the height of the barometer at 10,000 feet at the two places will bo 20.25 inches and 20.98 inches respec- tively. The lower barometer at the hiyhcr elevation cauBCH the middle current to flow towards the NE., while the higher barometer at the surface of the earth causes the air to rush over the land towards the south. This is only the same forces which are seen in the case of the sea-breeze. The physical features of the country are favourable to the development of north-east winds in Lower Canada and the New England States during the passage of storms from west to east. The southerly winds from the Gulf of Mexico are drawn over a vast slope of 1200 miles, in consequence of the barometer in winter generally standing higher at a certahi elevation in the Southern States than in the north, owing to the diflerence of temperature. This has the eifect of causing the middle current to be southerly in Canada, while the lower is reactionary, or from the north-east. The same reasoning applies to the North Atlantic coast, where NE. winds are very common in whiter during the passage of storms from west to east. Though there had been no other forces in operation than those arising from the difference in temperature at the two places, West Florida and Montreal, on the 10th November, there would have been sufficient to have produced the winds that were prevailing betwixt them on that day. But there are other causes which give great local intensity to the action of north-east winds, and which will be afterwards considered. Many of the north-easters of America are the effects of the lower winds rotating with the higher currents. The wind at the surface of the earth does not rise at any particular spot, but gradually rises, and is carried away by the higher current. Strictly speaking, there is no focal area, for the wind at the surface of the earth probably rises over the whole extent over which clouds form in the higher current. Not only does this gradual ascent of the lower wind into the upper current take place in the case of " north-easters," in which the motion of the air above is diametrically opposite to that below, but the same mode of actiin takes place at all angles. On this principle, nine-tenths of the south-east winds . / I I^V -iifrurJ r — \ N011TI1-EA8TER8. 849 \ lu Britain are overlaid by south-west currents, into which they ascend. I shall soon come to notice the gradual rise of the southerly winds from the Gulf of Mexico into the cold and dry current which constantly prevails from the west in the higher strata of the atmosphere over the United States. There is always a development of north-east winds in some part of the Northern States in almost every winter storm. Dr. Hare puts the query : — " Whether there is not • another distinct kind of storm known and recognized as the * north-easter,' or ' north-eastern gale,' which has been distinguished from the ' south-easter,' so called by its direc- tion, its longer endurance, lesser violence, and by its not being usually followed after a brief lull by a north-wester, nor any violent wind in a direction directly opposite to that in which iti)lew at the beginning of the storm?" iifi It is highly probable that there is little or no material difference in the action of the long continued north-easter and the ordinary storms of winter, further than that as the north- west or terminating wind of the American storms often travels much more slowly, or, in other words, is less violent during the warmer season, and thus the action between the NE. wind and middle current from the SW. continues longer. Thus, the NE. wind might have continued to rotate with the middle SW. current from the morning of the 10th November to the morning of the 13th along the Atlantic coast, as the NW. wind was only progressing from Fort Snelling, Minnesota, at the rate of 10 miles an hour, whereas the NE. could not have blown more than 30 hours in the January (J855) storm, when the cold current progressed from the Western States at the rate of considerably more than 30 miles an hour. Indeed, I esteem it a most important fact to be kept in mind, that storms are propagated from west to east with much greater rapidity in winter than in summer. To this 1 would particularly call the attention of Espy, for I rather think it is sufficient to show that there ought to be no distinction drawn between the course which rains pursue in winter and in summer. The north-west wind is almost invariably the ter- minating wind in storms at all seasons in the Northern States, but it rarely blows with violence in summer over a great area of 350 CLIMATE OP NORTH AMERICA. country as it does in winter. This wind being warm and elastic in summer, cannot violently overturn, as it does in winter, the hot and moist winds from the Gulf of Mexico, when it is denser, and when the diflference betwixt its tem- perature and that of the south winds is far greater. The great difference in the temperature of these two winds in winter is the chief propelling power of the winds in the American storms. At this point of the outline, we shall now glance at -* The Thunder Storms and Tornadoes of the United States. In summer, the west and north-toest winds of the United States are distinguished by a sky of dazzling brightness. Not a speck of vapour is usually seen in the firmament ; as Mrs. Stowe * with great poetic beauty writes : — " The sky of that firm clear blue, the atmosphere of that crystalline clearness which often gives to the American landscape such a sharply- defined outline, and to the human system such an intense con- sciousness of life^^ The atmosphere retains its purity until the south winds blow ; when it first becomes more opaque, then clouds fortA in the upper current, and drift from west to east. For this reason the thunder storms and tornadoes of the United States, north of the 35th parallel of latitude, have a course from west to ec a the Northern States and Canada it is usually from the n^ . of west to the south of east^ as the upper current has this course in these latitudes. In summer, the difference of the temperature of the south and of the west winds being much less, it is more difficult to trace the atmospheric changes ; but, in fact, there is much less to trace, as the atmosphere over the United States is not disturbed in the same violent manner as in winter. No doubt, some of the disturbances, such as the tornadoes, are of a very violent character, but, like the " white squalls " at sea, they are very local. The atmospheric phenomena of the summer, however, are deeply interesting to tiie meteorologist ; and their study tends ;:vi: • Bred, chap, xxiii. B FLUCTUATIONS OF BAROMETER. 351 to throw great light upon the conditions which impart the peculiar features to the winter storms. In the Southern States, the temperature varies little in summer, as they are not subject to the eruptions of northerly winds at that season. The barometer is also remarkably steady. Professor Espy's charts show that the variation at Key West is then only that of the four daily fluctuations which take place with so much regularity within the tropics.* >t In the Northern States, the temperature and barometer fluctuate much less in summer than in winter. We do not find any such contrasts prevailing over the United States as at lOth November 1854. But the fluctuations of tempera- ture and pressure are still very considerable in the north even in summer. The facts bear out Dalton's views of the fluctua- tions of the, barometer being caused by the fluctuations in the temperature or density of the air at the earth's surface. The following statement of results of observations for 1854, made at St. Martin, Isle Jesus, near Montreal, by Charles Small- wood, M.D., brings out the law very strikingly : — : , January... February., March April May June July August .... September. October.... November. December . Mean Mean Range of Bange of Barometer. Temperature. Barometer. Thenuometer. 29.516 10.92" 1.619 78.8'> .520 12.20 1.148 71.7 .024 25.84 1.076 60.4 .440 37.75 0.991 52.2 .731 67.17 0.708 60.7 .814 63.80 0.636 46.6 .916 76.20 0.665 48.5 .910 68.31 0.682 48.2 30.001 68.01 0.847 64.2 29.949 48.40 1.162 65.5 .764 32.99 1.542 60.6 .540 7.36 1.534 78.1 As the range of the thermometer increases, that of the * Espy accounts for the daily fluctuations of the barometer as follows : — " When the sun rises, the air begins to expand by heat ; this expansion of the air, especially of that near the surface of the earth, lifts the strata of air above, which produces a reaction, causing the barometer to rise ; and the greatest rise of the barometer takes place when the increase of heat in the lower parts of the atmosphere is most rapid — that is about 9 or 10 a.m. The barometer from that time beginx to fall ; and at the moment of maximum heat, when the air is neither expanding nor contracting, the barometer indicates the exact weight 852 CLIMATE OP NORTH AMEniCA. 'A barometer also increases. The mean height of the barometer at Montreal during winter is also rather remarkable, for it is nearly half an inch less at that season than in summer. The upper current from the west prevails with great constancy in summer. The south surface winds are also much more common at that season. In fact, the great fer- tility of the Mississippi valley, as already stated, is to be ascribed to the trade wipds being diverted northwards over the United States and Canada. As m winter, the barometer falls with a southerly and rises with a westerly wind. In a communication, dated 14th July 1855, Professor Henry writes me : — " We have had a remarkable summer with the preva- lence of NW. wind. The wind from thfe south sets in at intervals with a gradual diminution of barometric column, and an increase of moisture, a tottering equilibrium is pro- duced. A b&ukversement then takes place, and the whole breaks up with a thunder-storm. This state of things has existed a number of times during the last two months." There are some curious facts connected with the meteoro- logy of the summer months of the United States. According to the passage from Mr. Phelps' communication already given, the clouds that bring the rains on the Rio Grande are called " gulf clouds," and^oa* in the southerly wind. I also learned from the planters in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, that the thunder clouds float in the south winds. This is quite the same as occurs in Britain ; but the thunder clouds, as already indicated, in the latitude of Washington (38"), drift from west to east at the very same time that the southerly wind is blowing at the earth's surface. Mr. Peale, the of the atmosphere. The barometer continues to descend on accoHnt of the diminishing tension of the air and consequent sinking upon itself as the evening advances, and its greatest depression is about 4 or 5 p.m. At this moment the barometer indicates a less pressure than the true weight of the atmosphere. The whole upper parts of the atmosphere have now acquired % momentum down- wards, which, as the motion diminishes, causes the barometer to rise above the mean. This takes place at the moment when the diminution of the motion downwards is the most rapid. This maximum of rise, which takes place about 10 P.M., is small when compared with that at 9 or 10 a.m. As the barometer now stands above the mean, it must necessarily descend to a mean at the moment when the air is neither increasing nor diminishing in temperature, which is just before sunrise." — Jieport to the Navy Department. -• • ? ' - / - / THUNDBR-ST0BH8. 353 naturalist at Washington, informed me that this phenomenon is so constant, and the course of the thunder-clouds is so nearly from west to east, that in going out there to walk, he never thought of taking an umbrella, if the thunder-clouds were a little to the south or to the tiorth of duo west ; but if the clouds were due west, he was sure to have rain. On the other hand, in the New England States and Canada, the thunder-clouds usually drift from a point or two north of west to a point or two south of east^ at the same moment that the southerly wind blows at the earth's surface. In the first thunder-storm that I encountered in the United States, I was rather struck with the phenomenon of the clouds drifting in the upper current from the west, while the wind blew from the south. It occurred at Saratoga on the 6th September 1854. At sunrise the temperature was 70° with a dew point of 69°; the thermometer at 2 p.m. reached 96°. Notwithstanding the great heat, the wind blew strongly from south by weSt, but thunder-clouds floated in the upper cuiTent from the north of west. Thunder with much rain occurred at night, and next day the wind changed to the north of west, and the sky became beautifully transparent, with the thermometer at 82° at 2 p.m. . The cause of this peculiar action of the thunder-clouds floating at a higher elevation, at right angles to the warm southerly wind, is easily explained. So long as the wind is west or north-west in summer, the sky retains its transpa- rency ; but when it changes to a southerly quarter, it does not blow more than a day or two before clouds begin to form. The clouds do not often float in the south wind, but almost always in that upper current which prevails so con- stantly from the west. This clearly shows that the upper current rubs off a portion of the moist and hot wind from the Gulf of Mexico, and forms clouds, for they only appear after the southerly wind blows for some time, and these clouds reveal the existence of the upper current. This action of the upper current robbing the lower is constantly taking place, both in summer and in winter, when clouds form and drift in the upper current. - , As the heat and moisture increase in the south winds 2 a 354 CLIMATB or NORTH AMERICA. below, the clouds increase above, and at last produce thunder- storms. Dr. Dwight, well known in this country from his theological writings, has given a most accurate description of these storms in his " Travels in New England." On one occa- sion, he says, " The meridional line upon which I stood was crossed by the storm several miles to the south. During the whole day the wind had blown from the south, and continued to blow in the same direction on the surface throughout the afternoon, without a moment's intermission. But had the wind," says he, " which carried the cloud when it passed over the meridian, swept the surface, the wind, for a time at least, must have been entirely stopped. This, however, was not the fact, even for a moment." On another occasion, 1809 — " a thunder-storm passed over New Haven, from the north- west, with great rapidity. It continued, I judge, from an hour to an hour and a half. But though the clouds moved rapidly to the south-east, a south-west wind blew the whole of that day, and wlitle the thunder-storm was overhead, with great violence" The increase in the strength of the south-west wind, as the clouds drift overhead from the north-west, shows that the lower and upper current influence each other on the passage of the clouds. The increased strength of the south- west wind does not extend beyond the cloud. This clearly indicates that part of the south-west wind ascends into the cloud, and that the air had so far descended on the borders of the cloud. The mode in which clouds, floating in the upper current, influence the air at the surface of the earth, must now be noticed. The mode also in which the winds are driven in thunder-storms is peculiar; though in more widely-extended storms, they are influenced by the same law. ; r- Humboldt, in his celebrated voyage from Europe to South America, relates, "In reaching the latitudes of the trades, the wind fell gradually the farther we receded from the Afri- can coast : it was sometimes smooth water for several hours, and then short calms were regularly interrupted. Black, thick clouds, marked by strong outlines, rose in the east, and it seemed as if a squall would have forced us to haul our top- sails ; but the breeze freshened anew, there fell large drops of rain, and the storm dispersed. Meanwhile it was curious to SQUALLS. a55 ■I . observe the effects of several black, isolated, and very low clouds which passed the zenith. We felt the force of the wind augment or diminish progressively, according as small bodies of vesicular vapour approached or receded. It is by the help of the squalls, which alternate with dead calms, that the passage from the Canary Islands to the Antilles, or southern coast of America, is made in the months of June and July." In these squalls there was a calm both before and after the passage of the cloud. The motion of the air at the sur- face of the sea must have been much the same as if the whole air under the cloud were in a state of vertical rotation around a horizontal axis. There is a great resemblance between the motion of the air under the cloud and that in the sea breeze. Illustrations of the same principle are met with every day in showery weather, as it is well known that a gust of wind and a shower of rain or snow accompany each other. The sea- breeze is produced by the difference of temperature in the air over the sea, and of that over the land. In squalls the dis- turbance arises from the evolution of latent caloric, by the con- densation of watery vapour expanding the air, and rendering it lighter. As the squall or thunder-clouds drift over the surface, they tend to draw up the air. The formation of clouds, and con- sequent precipitation of moisture, are chiefly produced, as Espy has demonstrated, by the ascent of comparatively moist and warm air from below. Expansion from diminished pres- sure lowers the temperature, and the watery vapour is preci- pitated as clouds and rain. I'he condensation of vapour sets free a large amount of lat mt heat, which expands the air within the cloud, and thus produces an increased buoy- ancy. The temperature of the air within the cloud being higher than that on the outside, in consequence of the evolu- tion of latent heat, the passage of a thunder-cloud over any place almost invariably disturbs the air at the earth's surface. The extrication of heat is a motive power which constantly causes the air to ascend in the front of the storm as the clouds drift along in the upper current. Unless thunder-clouds were constantly replenished by vapour being condensed by the rise of air from below, it is 856 CLIMATE OF NORTU AMERICA. physically impossiblo that they conld continue to throw down such large quantities of rain over extensive tracts of country, a&thoy are sometimes known to do. At no time, even within the tropics, is the air over one spot capable of precipitating more than three inches of rain. I find, from personal intercourse, that Espy, Qibbes, and Redfield all admit that the air beneath thunder-clouds has a motion somewhat resembling a vertical rotation, with a hori- zontal axis. And I think the gradation is easy towards apply- ing a modification of the same principle to the action of the eastern storms. It also must be regarded as a moving power in the case ofOie south winds of the United States^ both in sum- mer and winter, at every spot over which clouds are forming in the upper current. That it is so in thunder-storms, when the upper and lower currents are at right angles to each other, Dr. Dwight's observations incontestably prove. The tornadoes of the United States seem to be a more intense development of the same forces that produce the thunder-storms. These terrific disturbances have long occu- pied the attention of naturalists. They are usually confined within a very limited area ; but their violence is such that they uproot all the trees in the paths they pursue through the i American forests. Their breadth is not more than a few hundred yards, and the air, except in that narrow track, is little disturbed. In the Southern States, along the shore of the Oulf of Mexico, the tornadoes have usually a course from south-west to north-east ; and in the Northern, from north- west to south-east (Hare). These courses are the same as the thunder-storms pursue in the same latitudes. >:> The tornadoes have been ably investigated by Hare, Espy, Redfield, Henry, and Bache. Mr. Redfield con- siders that the observations indicate a spiral, but, at same time, inward motion of the air. The others that the motion is chiefly directly in-blowing. But the rise of air in the cen- tre is admitted by all. The condensation of moisture as the air rises, and becomes cooled by diminished pressure, is held by Espy to be sufficient to account for all the phenomena. The violence of wind, as the tornado cloud passes over any spot, is merely the intensified a«5tion of the agents that all "WEST INDIA aUBOlOANES. 857 parties admit come into play in thunder-storms, and which have been so accurately described by Dr. D wight.* The ascending currents in these storms are sufficiently demon- strated by the large quantities of rain which fall over the tracks which they pursue. Branches of trees have also been sometimes carried up to great heights in the atmosphere, and have descended to the ground covered with ice. '. » \'\ Hurricanes of the West India Islands. A few weeks' study of the meteorology of the American continent will satisfy one of the great area over which atmos- pheric disturbances are propagated at all seasons. Thun- der-storms and tornadoes are merely local manifestations of general disturbances of the equilibrium. The accounts given in the newspapers of the violent thunder-storms which occurred in the beginning of September 1854, in the United States, drew my attention, in the first place, to the great area over which they were manifested ; and, in the second, to the connection between the thunder-storms of the Northern States and the hurricanes of the West India Islands. In one of the lectures which I gave at Wash- ington, I called the attention of the American men of science to this subject in the following terms : — -, i ;, uv , "During the first days of September (1854) the wind was generally from the south ; the weather became excessively hot and oppressive ; and the newspapers in all parts of the country were recording the high temperatures, when, on the 6th, thunder-storms took place nearly simultaneously in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Eng- ' * 'riie samo atmospheric conditions seemed to exist before the occurrence of the tornado whicli desolated part of the city of New Brunswick 4n New Jersey, in Juno 1835, as those described by Dr. Dwight as prevailing during thunder- storms in New England. Professor Johnston, in his paper read before the Academy of Natural Sciences, says, " The air of the morning, and indeed tho whole of the day, up to tho time of the tornado, was unusually sultry. At four o'clock the sun was still unobscurcd at Princetown ; but within half an hour, a cloud from the north-west had reached that place, and a shower of rain, accom- panied by a brisk wind from the south-west, had commenced. The evening con- tinued tranquil until ten o'clock, when another shower of rain fell, accompanied with some wind." 358 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. land States, and Canada. Large quantiiieB of rain fell in various parts of the country. The storms were in several places somewhat locally developed. At some places the north-west upper current reached the surface of the earth for a time, but the south-west again blew as before, until a general change of the wind to the north-west took place, and caused a great fall of temperature. At Saratoga the ther- mometer stood at 96° in the shade on the afternoon of the 6th, and at 46° on the morning of the 9th at Rochester. It is a fact worthy of attention, that a severe storm, amounting to a hurricane, swept the north-eastern coast of the United States just about the time that this great change was taking place in the north and west. It is certainly well worthy of the investigation of American meteorologiata to ascertain whether any connection exists between the weather in the North- Western States and the hurricanes of the West India Islands^ for in this instance the coincidence was remarkable.*^ \ I was led to suspect that the hurricanes of the West India Islands were but the autumnal variety of the same dis- turbances which take place in the winter storms. Professor Espy was then inclined to draw a distinction betwixt the manner in which the autumnal and winter storms were propa- gated. 1 had occasion to express my doubts to him on this subject more than once, from the facts which I gathered con- cerning the hurricane that occurred at Charleston on the 8th September 1854. On reaching Charleston, Professor Gibbes put into my hands a printed memoir, containing his investigations of the hurricane, which had deluged a large extent of rice-grounds* in that neighbourhood. He and Mr. W. C. Redfield, New York, had arrived at the conclusion that this was a rotatory storm, and that the course of its axis was along the coast from Florida to Newfoundland. But from my observations of the weather at that time, in the Northern States and Canada, I was led to infer that these autumnal West India hurricanes are like the winter storms consequent on certain changes which take place in the north-western territories of the United States. With all deference to Espy, for whose . . * See Chapter X. r\ T,* 'f CUBA HURRICANE. 360 profound knowledge of the phyNics of metoorology I enter- tain the greatest respect, I still believo that the modus oper- andi of the two is similar. This opinion has been con- tirmed since I have had an opportunity of examining the valuable observations collected by Mr. Iledfield on the cele- brated Cuba hurricane of from 4th to 7th October 1844. I am much indebted to this gentleman for presenting mo with the interesting results of his investigations of this widely- extended atmospheric disturbance, although I do not think that the facts, by any means, support his particular views. It appears to me, after further investigation and reflection, that the chief difference betwixt the winter and autumnal storms consists in the propagation of certain of the attendant pheno- mena, from we»t to eaat, being from three to four times more rapid in the winter than in the autumn storms. The deve- lopment of ceitain of the phenomena is also more intense in the low latitudes. ■ Both Espy and Redfield have collected a vast number of observations relating to the particular phenomena of the Cuba hurricane of 1844. According to the observations which Mr. Redfield has furnished, a "norther" set in at Vera Cruz at 4 p.m. of the 2d October, and continued till the 6th. Now, it is well worthy of remark, that the ** norther" did not set in at Western Yucatan until the 3d, a fact which demon- strates that it was propagated from west to east in that low lati- tude. The other observations which have been given by Mr. Iledfield also indicate that the " norther" was propagated over the Gulf of Mexico from west to cost, as in the winter storms. In the Cuba hurricane, Mr. Kedfield supposes that the centre of a vast whirlwind of 1000 miles in diameter, passed from the Honduras coast in a straight line over Cuba, and along the coast of the United States. But there are innu- merable objections to such a supposition ; and even the obser- vations which he has furnished are entirely against it. The observations are easily reconciled with the views we have indicated in discussing the atmospheric changes from the 9th to 14th November 1854. The northerly icinds which were observed by Mr. Red- field, and which he imagines were the left-hand side of a vast 360 CLIMi' : OF NORTH AMEBICA. rotating gale, were merely a continuation of the cold winds prevailing at the same moment west of the Mississippi, from the shore of the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Superior. On the other hand, the southerly and easterly winds that prevailed in the eastern parts of the Gulf of Mexico were merely those constituting the trade drift current, which was diverted by the " norther " in the west of the Gulf, in the same man ner as on the 12th November 1854. (See Plate 3.) We find similar contrasts existing during the time that the hurricane was raging in Cuba, betwixt the temperature of the air to the west of the Mississippi and on the Atlantic coast. The following temperatures at sunrise of the 4th October are taken from Mr. Redfield's collection of observations : — WEST OF MISSISSIPPI. Fort Snelling Fort Crawford Fort Smith Fort Towson Fort JesBup Deg. 34 43 49 45 52 ATLAHTIO CMABT. Deg. Halifax, Nova Scotia . 52 Hampden, Maino 54 Boston, Massachusetts . .59 New York . . .60 Charleston, S. Carolina . . 67 St. Augustine, Florida . . 70 Key West .... 76 On looking at Professor Espy's chart of the weather for 4th October 1844, I was somewhat surprised to find a black line drawn through the Western forts, to show that the barometer stood high there at that time ; and a red line on the north-eastern coast of the United States, to show that the barometer stood low there. As in the weather of November 1854, the cold air in the west caused the barometer to rise, and the warm air caused it to fall, below the mean. The warm and moist weather which prevailed on the At- lantic (joast on the 4th October 1844, was first felt west of the Mississippi, and was subsequently propagated from west to east over the continent, as in the weather from 9th to 14th November 1854. Thus, at the Western forts the temperature was comparatively high on the 2d October, and at the same time comparatively low on the Atlantic coast. At Fort Snelling, Minnesota, the temperature on that day was 48" at sunrise, and at Fort Brady, on the south-east end of Lake Superior, it was 50" ; but it was no more than 21° at Hanover, New Hampshire, and 27° at Hampden in Maine. At the two last- )r "♦I--"' CUBA UUBRICANE. 361 Deg, 52 54 59( 60 67 70 76 mentioned places, a rise of temperature and fall of barometer took place as the warm current from the south was esta- blished on the Eastern States. But the observations which have been collected jointly by Espy and Redfield, further show that the low temperature with the high barometer first took place west of the Mis- sissippi, in a long line from north to south, and travelled from we»t to east. Thus, at Fort Snelling, the temperature fell from 44" at sunrise of the 3d to 34° at sunrise of the 4th October ; but at Fort Brady, on the Lakes, which is consi- derably farther east, the temperatures were 46° and 45° at sunrise on the 4th ' and 5th respectively. The temperature was exactly the same at Detroit, Michigan, on these days, and still stood at 46° at sunrise of the 6th, when it had fallen to 34° at Fort Brady. The temperature was 33° on the morn- ing of 7th at Detroit, being later in falling, as the station is moixj easterly. At Toronto, Canada West, the thermometer indicated 44° on the 4th, 13° on the 5th, 48° on the 6th, and 33° on the 7th.^ Indeed, all these observations show that the cold weather travelled from west to east. Mr. Redfield has not given any observations of temperature beyond the 7th October, and therefore I am unable to trace the time at which the low temperatures occurred at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The curves of high barometer, as traced both by Espy and Red- field, establish the fact that a long line of high barometric pressure, extending from north to south, travelled from west to east, and kept pace with the low temperature. It also shows the parallelism between certain of the pheno- mena of the winter storms and of the autumnal hurricanes, that the temperature in the Cuba hurricane of 1844 fell sooner at Charleston, South Carolina, than at Boston, Massachusetts, At the former, the temperature was 60° at sunrise of the 5th October, and only one degree lower at Boston, which is 800 miles to the north-east. In fact, Espy's chart* of the 5th October indicates that the north-west wind had cut oflf the south-west wind as far north as New York, while the south-west wind was then blowing in Maine and in Nova Scotia. The action seemed to be precisely similar to that * Espy's Report to the Secretary of the Navy Department. 362 Climate of north amebica. which took place on the 12th November 1854 in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. In the lectures I delivered at Washington, I threw out the hint, that as " striking changes in the temperature of the weather are produced in autumn by the colder wind from the west descending and bearing the moister stream before it; when this hot stream is extended along the Atlantic coast, it in all probability becomes the vehicle of the hurri- / canes which proceed from the West India Islands." On exa- '', mining the phenomena of the Cuba hurricane of October 1844, I find they entirely bear out this view, inasmuch as the cold north-west wind, as has been stated, made its appearance at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on the 4th, while the hurricane began to blow with fury at Key West in the afternoon, and a high range of temperature prevailed along the Atlantic coast. Coincident with the low temperatures to the west of the Mississippi, a "norther," according to Redfield's observa- tions, prevailed on the west coast of the Gulf of Mexico. This cold air from the continent displaced the warm air rest- ing on the Gulf of Mexico, and produced the " norther " at Tampico and Vera Cruz. Vera Cruz is 2000 miles south of Fort Brady, Michigan, and the winds seemed to have been westerly or northerly over this immense area on the morning of the 4th October. Opposite conditions with respect to temperature and moisture extended from Key West Reef, south of Florida, to Halifax, in Nova Scotia, a distance of 1700 miles. The parallelism, indeed, in the outlines of the general phenomena of the Cuba hurricane of October 1844, and the weather from the 9th to 14th November 1854, is ap- parently so close, that the alterations of a few figures in the smhll charts which I have given of the weather of 11th and 12th November (Plate 3), would represent with great truth the atmospheric conditions for the 4th, 5th, and 6th October 1844. The hurricane was developed in its greatest intensity when the cold westerly wind reached the Atlantic coast. This is a point that now requires consideration. No doubt the intense action of the West India hurri- canes has a progression from south-east to north-west over the PIJLTE 8. i\» OCTOBER 1844. r '^JigH^rt e^\iiJt>nMn ■»■;-, PubliAirf. y^JLk C,BlBdc,ldiBbur|h. I ! M 73 t t- r..|f -«2 CUBA HUBRIGANE. 363 Lesser Antilles. The intense action of these disturbances is confined to a comparatively limited area. The thunder-clouds and storms, as well as the hurricanes, drift in this direction over the West India Islands. Their course in these low lati- tudes is owing to the abnormal nature of the tropical winds, as represented in Plate 1, and which was first pointed out by Volney. It will be remembered also that the thunder-storms and tornadoes of Texas, Louisiana, and Florida have a course from south to north, because the clouds float in the southerly wind, and propagate the disturbances in that direction. In the Middle and Northern States, on the other hand, the thunder and tornado clouds float in the westerly upper current, and hence they propagate the disturbances from west to east. The hurricane clouds of 5th and 6th October 1844, drifted in the lower latitudes in the southerly current which prevailed off the Atlantic coast from Florida to Nova Scotia. But it must be observed that this warm and light current caused the barometer to attain its minimum depression along the Atlantic coast before the great depression occurred on the 5th at Key West, Florida Reefs. From Espy's reduc- tion of the barometer, it appears that the pressure was below the mean in a straight line from Key West to the State of Maine. This line was evidently near the western edge of the warm current from the tropics. This current floating the hurricane clouds in the low latitudes of Cuba and the Florida coast, caused the intense action of the hurricane to have a course to the north-east after passing Key West, as is apparent in Plate 8, the charts of which are copied from Espy's report. On the 6th October a stormy condition of the atmosphere extended from latitude 28° to 42", and from the Florida coast to Bermuda. The great extension of the storm on that day evidently arose from local manifestations of the disturbed equilibrium arising from the diminished pressure caused by the current from the tropic. The storm was propagated to the east of Key West as well as to the north- east. The manner in which this propagation takes place in this and in the winter storms will be afterwards considered. The terrific hurricane that occurred in Cuba and at / / 864 CLIMATE OP NORTH AMERICA. Key West on the 5th October must be regarded as a local development of disturbed equilibrium, which was consequent on a descent of the dry and cold upper current in the Western States, displacing the warm in the western parts of the Gulf of Mexico. The upper current is also westerly in the Gulf of Mexico, and the heating of this current by the ascent of air warmed by the extrication of latent caloric must tend to lower the barometer in the eastern parts of the Gulf and draw the air from the Caribbean Sea. In regard to the interior phenomena of the West India hurricanes, I think that Espy's theory of their action is con- sistent with all the facts. Violent winds are often observed to blow right towards each other, as the winds sometimes do in north-east and other storms. It is evident that these con- trary winds, like the south-east and north-east trade- winds in the belt of low barometer, must ascend over the space which intervenes betwixt them. As they ascend, the cold arising from expansion of the air from the pressure being diminished, causes a precipitation of moisture, and a consequent extrica- tion of latent caloric. By this means the air is heated in the region of clouds, and ascending, stretches out above as fast as it rushes in below. The power of a hurricane is thus main- tained and propagated from one part to another. Professor Espy maintains that the whole force of the winds generated during hurricanes can be accounted for by the effects due to the extrication of latent caloric, while Pro- fessor Hare holds that part is due to electrical agency. In the case of the sea-breeze, a considerable body of air is put and kept in motion by slight differences in the weights of adjoining columns of air which are unequally heated. Were such differences in the atmospheric conditions to arise within a short distance of each other, as on the 10th November 1854 at the mouth of the Mississippi and at Montreal, tre- mendous disturbances would ensue. When the distance is great, the force is diffused in moving the whole body of air betwixt the stations. The expenditure of power in this diffused manner may be compared to the flow of the Mississippi over the last 1400 miles of its course, where the descent is less than three inches to the mile. On the other hand, when \/ 'I I ,t;;.. LATENT CALORIC. 365 the Niagara tumbles over its groat precipice, it expends much power at once. The hurricane may bo regarded as an aerial cataract, only the air is forced upwards. Since a slight fall of rain often produces such a remarkable disturbance as is noticed on the passage of the squall cloud, what must be the power evoked by the evolution of latent caloric in hurri- canes ? Six inches of rain have been known to fall during the passage of the hurricane clouds. The caloric set free by the condensation of this amount of water over every square mile is equal to that which would be generated in the burning of 2,620,000 tons of coal, allowing 1 lb. of coal to evapo- rate 13 lbs. of water. The clouds of the hurricane thus often interrupt the ominous calm as suddenly as the smooth flow of the stream is changed at the brink of the cascade. The grand exception to Dalton*s law, that the fluctuations of the barometer are occasioned by fluctuations in the tempera- ture or density of the air at the surface of the earth, occurs in the West India and tropical hurricanes. In these atmospheric disturbances a depression of two inches of mercury is some- times observed when the temperature at the earth's surface is not increased but rather lowered. Espy's theory, however, of this depression of the barometer being due to the heating and consequent expansion of the air in the higher beds of the atmosphere, as all must admit is the case in the belt of low barometer at the equator, afibrds a ready and simple explana- tion of it, and the only one that has been proposed, which is consistent with all the facts. It would be inconsistent with this outline of the laws which regulate the atmospheric disturbances of North America to enter minutely into the interior phenomena of the Cuba hurricane of October 1844. It may be observed, however, that the arrows as laid down on the small charts of the weather for 5th and 6th October 1844 (see Plate 8) do not indicate that the winds were revolving round a centre where the barometer stood lowest, as has been contended by Mr. Redfield. He has supposed that the winds were revolving round a spot near A at 3 p.m. of the 6th October, but accord- ing to Espy, the hurricane was most severe at B, and the barometer stood lowest at C. In many instances, however. • /■ 366 CLIMATE OF NOHTH AMEUICA. the arrow8 indicate that the winds were blowing towards each other, and as at the belt of constant ruins at the equator, still maintained a low barometer. The minimum barometer had not reached the 30th parallel of latitude on the afternoon of the 6th, nor does it appear to have progressed much farther in a northerly direction. The intense action of the hurricane was somewhat local, like the tornadoes of the summer months, which are only developed after the southerly winds have blown for some time and disturbed the general equilibrium. In like manner the general disturbance which took place on the Atlantic from Bermuda to the State of Maine seems to have so far restored the disturbed conditions, that the intense action observed along the Florida coast could not be propa- gated into higher latitudes. The formation and the drifting of the thunder and the hurricane clouds in low latitudes in the current from the tropics arise from the abnormal course of the tropical winds in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. On looking at the small chart of the weather of 6th October 1844, in Plate 8, westerly and northerly winds aro seen prevailing on the land at D ; and, indeed, from Florida to Maine. These were the concluding dry winds, which, as in tho winter storms, were reducing the temperature over the whole continent from %oest to east. This cold current sweeping the whole States, but with less violence than in winter, and causing the barometer to rise, reached the coast, while the warm current stretching from the tropics to Nova Scotia prevailed in the Atlantic. In this warm current was the hurricane developed as well as the high winds which blew on the Atlantic on the 6th as far as the 42d parallel of latitude. The area over which the stormy conditions existed, extended from north to south in a long and broad belt, in a manner exactly similar as they did on the 10th Novemlwr 1854. Modb in which Storms are propagated from West to East over the United States and Canada. In tracing the temperature of the air from the 9th to 14th November 1854, I left out the dai/ temperatures. This was IIYOUOMRTUY. im dono for tho purpose of obtAining nn cHtiinnto of tho (|unntity of moisture in the nir. Tho Sinithsoninti niotoorolo^ioul ohwM- vations are made throughout the dilVorcnt States, at 7 a.m. 2 P.M., ami 9 p.m.; those takou at the Military Korts, at sinuisc, 7 A.M. and 9 p.m. Now, it ought to be kept in juind, that Or. Andoreon, St. Andrews, showed that the teiiijwi'otuiroftfudi'r at tmnn'm is in general a closo approximation to llie iivtr-poinf of the vajwur of the air thtriiuj the ifai/.^ The ol)S(»rvat ioiiH which Mr. Rodfiold has given connected with the Vuha hurri- cane of October 1844, show the close connection betwixt the dew-point and temperature of tho air at sunrise, for at tho Northern Forts tho wet and tho dry bulb thermometer often indicate tho same dogroo of heat, showing that the air was at tho time saturated with moisture. Therefore it is the amount of moisture in the air which determines tlie temperature of the nights. In showing the connection between the rise of teiiqierature and fall of the barometer, and viee versa, I have left out tho day temperatures altogether, and taken those at 7 A.M. and 9 p.m. Tho amount of moisture in the air being tho chief element which regulates tho morning and night tempera- tures, is actually tho olomont which causes the rise and fall of tho barometer, as seen in Plate 5. Tho hygrometer and thermometer have been too little studied when treating of atmospheric disturbances, as they often indicate the course in which tho groat body of tho air is moving, however irregular the winds may bo at tho earth's surface. It may hero bo kept in mind, that the air is capable of containing doublo the quantity of moisture with every increase of 20 degrees of heat. On tho 10th November 1854, for example, when the temperature of tho air at sunrise (7 a.m.) was 51° in Ijxliana and Michigan, it contained 4.68 grains of water ; while in some parts of Now England, where tho tompcratnro was 11°, it could not contain more than 1.25 grains. There was little moisturo in tho air in Michigan and Indiana a few days lM3foro this date, for tho temperature was low, and consiMiucntly we would have had little hesitation in inferring that the soiith wind must have been blowing, for it is well known that mois- ture does not increase with a north or a west wind, and it * Edinburgh Plnhmnphical TrnnHnclioiiR, vol. xi. p. 161. 368 CLIMATE OF NOllTU AMERICA. ^ could not possibly have corao from the Atlantic, for tho air romainod cold and dry on tho coast. In this case we are not left to conjecture, for all the arrows on the large map (Plato 6) show that tho winds throughout the eastern portions of the Mississippi valley were southerly on the morning of the 10th November. This south wind being hot and moist, and consequently light, caused the mercury in the barometer to stand lower than on tho Atlantic coast, where tho air was dry, cold, and heavy. Thus there is an intimate relation subsisting betwixt the winds, temperature, moisture, and weight of tho air. Let us keep this relation in mind. i Before storms and hurricanes occur on the Atlantic coast of the United States, the wind seems invariably to blow from the south over Texas and the country drained by the western tributaries of tho Mississippi. (See Plate 2, representing the tropical trade drift for 9th November.) The south wind can only be supplied from the western part of tho Gulf of Mexico, which again must be supplied from the Caribbean Sea. When the southerly wind blows immediately after the cold westerly and northerly winds have swept the territories of the United States, a great rise of temperature ensues ; for the warm air from Yucatan and Vera Cruz will reach Texas in a day or twO; and the air which rested on Texas will in the same time be carried as far north as Lake Superior, and the air to the north of the Lakes might be translated to the confines of the Arctic circle. The barometer will fall over the whole extent swept by the warm south winds. We need not speculate about the cause of the south winds blowing to the west of tho Mississippi, as no hypothesis can be verified before obser- vations are extended much further to the north. It is sufficient for our present purpose that observations prove the fact. The existence of this warm and light current affords a simple explanation of the long line of low barometer which was first traced by Espy as occurring west of the Mississippi before the winter storms on the Atlantic coast. If the slight difference of temperature, and consequently of the weight of the air over the sea and over the land, is sufficient to create brisk winds on our coast during summer, -■^I'.'jxi' "v.i^'if I I CUANUU OF WIND. 300 known as Hca-breezcs ; and if tho slightly lighter air existing at tho 0([uatorial belt of low barometer, calius and rains (hoo Plato I.), forms tho moving power of the trade winds of both tropics, we should naturally expect, when tho barometer falls about three-fourths of an inch of mercury lower in tho Mis- sissippi valley than on the Atlantic coast, as it did on the Uth November (and, according to Espy, in every winter storm),* that the air should flow from the high barometer on the coast to tho low barometer in tho MissiHsippi valley. Now, it is a remarkable fact, that as the line of low barometer, with its attendant storm, is propagated from the Mississippi to tho Atlantic, tho winds in the Eastern States begin to blow from an easterly direction.f Though the winds usually spring up from the east, they vary from south-east, cast, and north- cast, according to locality and other circumstances, of which wo shall now give a short outline. According to Mr. Phelps, it appears that the change in the direction of the wind on the passage of winter storms is more regular in Texas than in any other part of the con- tinent. The south wind which causes the long lino of low barometer west of tho Mississippi, and supplies moisture for tho snows and rains, is displaced by the cold winds from tho north or north-west. Thus tho change of wind is almost invariably from south to north in Texas. In the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico the wind during storms usually begins to blow from east or south-east, as in tho November storm which we traced, and gradually veers round to south and south-west^ with the temperature increasing and barometer falling. The wind then changes to north-west^ when the temperature falls, and the barometer rises. |: * It appears very extraordinary that Lieut. Maury, in his " Physical Geo- graphy of tho Sea," has taken no notice of tho diHcovery of Espy, a discovery which has been verified by Hare and Loomis, and which must form tho starting point of all discussiona on the climatology of North America. t Espy's Second Report to tho Secretary of the Navy. X Professor Espy, in his second report, says : — " In tho southern parts of tho United States the wind generally sets in from the south of east, and terminutes from the south of west." We so far agree with the first part of this generaliza- tion, though wo have qualified it in drawing a distinction between tlje western and eastern parts of the Gulf of Mexico. The latter part of tho generalization 2b i 370 CLIMATK OK NOHTH AUIRICA. If 1 If This particular veering of the wind is easily accounted fur. tty tinning bade to Plato 2, it will bu seen that the wind was Houtli-oa»f at Key West on the morning of the P*h Novem- ber. Thu air was then flowing towaids the line of ' " baro- meter, west of the Mississippi. Inieod, the wind at Key West only formed part of the vast aerial current which was raisii " the temperature, and lowering the barometer from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Superior. It has been shown that a warm southerly current was propagated from loeat to east over the United States in November. In accordance .itl. this fact, we find the wind at Key West gradup"y '"crinf, round from the smth-eaat on the 9th, to south on tho 11th and 12th (see Plate 3), when the hot and Ti.oist w'lu from the tropic was sweeping the coast of the Un' / States. Tho wind changed to north or north-west at Key West, shortly after tho cold west current cleared the State of Florida of tho warm southerly winds (see Plate 4). In tho centre of the Gulf of Mexico the temperature and pressure of the air in winter vary comparatively little. The warm and moist south winds of the United States, being supplied from the trade or tropical winds, create great dis- turbances in winter. Thus, after they raise the temperpture, and (Muse a diminished pressure to the west of the Missis- sippi, tho air to tho east of the Mississippi will be forced westwards, as south-east winds, in obedience to the law that air flows from a high towards a low barometer. When the south-east wind blows from the Gulf of Mexico over the South-Eastern States, it becomes warmer, and as soon as it becomes as warm as the south wind, which at the same moment is to the westward, it will have no farther tendency to blow in that direction, and will naturally become a south wind. It is for this rea' n., \\\dX after the south-east wind blows fjr some time it vot.8 -o '^d to tb'^ "-^uth oi south- west, and becomes a .nvL 1 t ' i ; southerly current, which, by being lighter, in its turn draws the air on its eastern bank towards it from the south-east. Hence the manner in which {h evidently erroneous, for the terminating cold wind in the winter storniB is more northerly along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico than in any other part of the United States. I i 80UTU WINDS. 371 the winds aro propagated, and vocr along the nurth-castoru Bhore of tlic Hulf of Mexico during storms. TIju r,».mtherly wind docs not blow long boforo manifesting thftt '? ionlaiiis within itttelf elements which incrcast> its motion. Clouds form by the ascent of a portion of the air of the lower moist wind into (he upper cun">nt, which prevails almost constantly from the west. Tho upper westerly cur- rent, therefore, is constantly rubbing off a part of tlM udurm surface wind from the Gulf of Mexico. There aic go. 1 grounds for believing that this process is carried on ovei tho whole breadth and length of the southerly wtmis and forms a powerful motive force, which is vastly increaseu w soon as rain or snow begins to fall. The more it sni y and rains, the more is the air heated by the ( \tricat 'i of latent caloric, and the lower the barometer fails. The southerly winds blow with great tury in winter, as they rapidly lose their moisture, and have a p< tion of their upper surfac( continually swept off by the prevailing westerly upper cur rent. The southerly winds, it should b' ' remembered, do not blow to i. focal area, and rise in a body into he upper •urrent, but, like the sea-breeze, rise gradually over the whole area in which they prevail. In fact, the gusty and irrejjular manner in which winds blow at the earth's surface shows that the cuiuse of propulsion in part is locally developed. As Dr. Dwight has so well described the violence of the south winds of sum- mer when thunder-clouds drift across them from the north- west, so when the sky is overcast, as i usually is after the south winds blow for some time, it is only a manifestation of the action which is going on in the regi^ ^n of tho clouds, and propelling the winds below. By the ondensation of the watery vapour of the south winds hea ing the air in the upper beds of the atmosphere, these wind carry the material —the elastic vapour — which creates a comparatively rarified space, into which they are violently forced, on the same prin- ciple that cold air rushes into a chimney where a fire has been lighted. The veerings of the wind during storrns are more irre- gular in Canada and the Northern States ; but tho mode in 872 w o kj f*l k. ^ ^ !^ CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. which the southerly current, supplying the copious rains and snows that fall during winter, is propagated, is somewhat similar' to that which takes place along the Gulf of Mexico. Indeed, west of the AUeghanies, the action appears to be quite similar. Owing to the circumstance, however, of the southerly cur- rent often being a middle one (which is again overlaid by the west upper current), the sur- face wind is often from the north-east, for reasons already given when illustrating Plato VI. The following figure, representing a sec- tion of the storm of 10th November 1854, in the Northern States, will exhibit more clearly the veering of the wind as storms progress from west to east: — A B represents the cold wind which had just crossed the Mississippi on the morning of the 10th November. The cold air there causes the barometer to rise, because it is heavier. B C the space occupied by the southerly winds, at that time about 700 miles in breadth, which being warm, are light, and cause the barometer to stand low. The cold and heavy air A B is forced towards the lighter and warmer air B C, for the same reason, that the colder and heavier air, resting on the sea, is forced towards the land in the sea breeze. The difference in the temperature and weight of the westerly and of the southerly winds, forms the propelling power of the westerly winds. The gradual manner in which the temper- ature decreases from the western to the eastern edge of aerial Gulf Stream BC is remarkable. On the Atlantic coast the southerly winds have just set in, and the air is still cold and dry ; whereas, in the oustern parts of Illinois, the temperature and niuibiuro have attained VEEttlNa OP THE WTND. 373 ft thoir tnoximura, in conscquenco of tho southerly wind having blown there for some time. But in looking back to the chart and figures of the 12th, the southerly winds, it will be seen, have raised the temperature, and increased tho quantity of moisture in the air, even to a greater extent on tho Atlantic coast than they did in tho same latitude in tho valley of the Ohio on the 10th. The southerly current con- tinued longer on the Atlantic coast ; and thus, notwithstand- ing the immense quantity of rain which fell from the 11th to the 13th, the air became not only warmer but moister. This fact, viewed in connection with the progress of the cold air, is sufficient of itself to show that the diverted trade lotndfi'om the Caribbean Sea was propagated from west to east across tJie continent. Immediately to the cast of the southerly current, as at C D, the air is cold, dry, and nearly calm. The barometer also stands high. This was the case in tho November storm ; and, according to Professor Espy, it is a characteristic of tho storms which visit the Atlantic coast in the cold season. At D, whore the line of minimum temperature and high baro- meter exists, the air at the surface of the ground moves both towards the west and east.* I concur with Espy in holding that the air which supplies these outward winds is derived from the upper current. On the approach of winter storms from tho west, tho wind in the Atlantic States often begins to blow from tho nortli-east, as represented in the last figure. A south-west middle current overlies the north-easter as formerly described. The north-easters are partly owing to the physical pecu- liarities of the Atlantic coast, and partly to the existence of the cold air on the east causing the warm southerly current to flow above while the wind below becomes reactionary (sec page 344). So long as the air below is relatively colder for its height than the middle current above, the north-easter continues ; but as it becomes moistened and warmed by tho current above from the south, it tends to veer round to east. • " In tho northern parts of tho United States, the wind genonilly, in prcat Btorms, sets in from tho north of cast, and terminates from tho north of west." — EspiJ$ Second Report. 374 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. south-east, south, and south-west,* when it is raised into the upper current by the cold westerly wind flowing beneath it and causing the sudden changes of temperature. In this way, then, is the warm and moist current from the Gulf of Mexico propagated from west to east (a little to north of west to south of east ac(;ording to Espy) over the United States and Canada. That a broad southerly current of about 700 miles in breadth was maintained in the November storm, notwithstanding the variations of the wind at the earth's / surface, is evident from the fact, that an immense quantity of rain was precipitated over the whole territory north of the Gulf of Mexico as the storm progressed from west to east. In the first place, the air in the Mississippi valley became warm and moist, while the air on the Atlantic coast remained cold and dry. And notwithstanding that the fall of rain as the storm travelled from west to east was copious, the moisture of the air, indicated by the temperature at sunrise, increased. This fact \ of itself is sufficient to demonstrate that there is a constant i translation of comparatively warm and moist air from the south towards the north, because, on any other supposition, it is physically impossible that condensation of moisture could take place, and the air become still more charged with moisture. The increase of moisture as the November storm travelled eastwards was evident; and I believe this takes place in all the American storms, at least such is the case in all that I have examined. This fact so far bears out one which has been stated by Espy, that the storms of winter have often a slower rate of progression from west to east when they reach the Atlantic coast. The southerly winds continue longer, and thus not only furnish more moisture and rains, but cause greater fluctuations in the temperature and density of the air, and consequently of its weight. This explains one of Espy's generalizations, that " the fluctuations of the baro- * Though I do not agree with some of the views of Professor Loomis regarding the storm of December 1836, in his interesting paper in the " Trans- actions of the American Philosophical Society for 1841," I am pleased to think that oar explanation of the veerings of the wind just given is in entire accord- ance with his observations. He writes : — " At a certain distance from the line of minimum pressure, the courses of the winds are uniformly south-east. As this line is approached, the wind veers to the south, south-west, west, and north-west." RECAPITULATION. 376 meter in winter are generally greater in the eastern than in the western parts of the United States." This also explains why less rain and snow fall in the north-western territories in winter, a circumstance to which the prairies, or treeless regions, probably owe their origin. But why southerly winds blow longer on the Atlantic coast than in the western territories is a phenomenon which I am not prepared to explain. In the United States, then, the winds may all be regarded as modifications of the south and of the west wind. The modi- fications of the south are the north-east, east, south-east, and south-west, which, after blowing for some time, are characterised by a rising temperature and a falling barometer. The modifications of the west wind are the north-west and north, which are characterised by a low temperature and high barometer. Indeed, the difference of temperature betwixt the cold Arctic current which flows down Baffin's Bay and along the Labrador coast, and the Gulf Stream as they meet off the coast of Newfoundland, is not nearly so great as the difference of temperature betwixt the west winds of the United States and the south from the Gulf of Mexico. It is some- what curious that, while the aqueous current or Gulf Stream has been so ably investigated, the aerial current, which has produced so grand a result, has been comparatively overlooked ; at least, the connection between the tropical winds of the Caribbean Sea, and the south winds of the United States, has received little attention since Volney wrote. ^ Recapitulation. The calms of Cancer, with belt of high barometer and rainless regions, under the 30th latitude, do not exist in the proximity of the American continent. The rainy and stormy character of the Gulf of Mexico and Southern States of America, is owing to the abnormal course of the tropical winds in those regions. The southerly winds of the United States are more pre- valent during summer, as the heated continent draws the air 376 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. from the Gulf of Mexico in the 8ame manner as the sea-breeze or monsoon occurs during the hot season. The winds of the West India Islands being often from the south-east, the thunder and hurricane clouds float in them, and the atmospheric disturbances have thus a progression from south-east to north-west. At the same time, however, it must be borne in mind that the hurricane clouds could not drift in such a current before it was established over the Unitud States, and before the disturbed equilibrium took place / as far as the south wind prevailed. The thunder and tornado clouds drift in the south wind over the States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, and thus propagate the disturbances from south to north. On the other hand, in the Northern States and Canada, the thunder and tornado clouds drift in the westerly upper • current which prevails constantly from the west in the Middle States and from the north of west in the Northern States and^ Canada. Hence the rains during thunder and tornadoes^ travel from west to east at the same time that the south wind, which supplies the moisture, is blowing at the surface of the ■ earth. In the United States, rains only occur in summer after the south winds have blown for some time and furnished moisture. The rains are thus chiefly derived from the Gulf of Mexico. The winter rains are produced by the south wind first blowing over Texas and the country west of the Mississippi. The south wind occasions a gi'eat rise of temperature, and consequently a rarefaction of the air which causes the baro- meter to stand low in a long line from north to south. The existence of the long line of low barometer west of the Mississippi causes the south wind to blow with greater strength the longer it blows, as the air flowing as an under current is always becoming warmer, and causing a greater fall„of the barometer. ^ ^ The temperature and pressure of the air vary compara- tivelylittle in the Caribbean Sea in winter ; and as the baro- ' meter is constantly higher there than in the States swept r. RECAPITULATION. 377 by the south wind, this is the power which propels the air from the high towards the low barometer. The existence of the line of low barometer west of the Mississippi causes the air to the eastward to flow towards it as east winds, and the comparatively high pressure of the moist air in the Caribbean Sea gives rise to south-east winds in the lower latitudes of the United States. From the fact of the south winds first blowing in a broad current west of the Mississippi in winter, and being rapidly propagated fi'om west to east, the rains may be said with Espy " to travel from west to east," at the same time that the moisture supplying them comes from the south. The southerly and easterly winds of the United States gradually rise into the upper current over the whole space throughout which they prevail. The winter storms are virtually a rapid propagation of the southerly winds from the tropics over the eastern continent of America. . 5^' ? . . The west and north-west winds of the United States being derived from the dry upper current, the sky is of dazzling brightness so long as they prevail. In summer, the north-west wind seldom blows with vio- lence, because, being then warm and light, it does not rush into the southerly wind with much force, for the difference of their temperatures is small. The difference of temperature between the two winds, the south and west, being less in summer than in winter, the fluctuations of the barometer are also less in summer. In winter, the north-west winds of the United States clear the whole country of the warm south winds by flowing underneath them and raising them into the westerly upper current. In this way the cold weather and rising barometer are first observed in the north-western territories, and these phenomena are propagated from west to east. In winter, the storms are often propagated from west to cast at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour ; while in the warmer Tseason in autumn, the rate, as in the November storm of 1854, is sometimes not more than ten miles an hour. It is also probable that the rate of progression is often less y 378 GLIMATB OF NORTH AMERICA. when storms reach the Atlantic coast, a circumstance wliich causes the southerly winds to blow longer, to produce more rain or snow, and to cause greater fluctuations of tempera- ture and of weight of the atmosphere. The atmospheric disturbances are sooner observed in Florida than in Maine, owing to the former being more to the westward. The " northers" of the Gulf of Mexico only blow during the cold season when the westerly winds sweep the United States. The " northers " are merely the west winds drawn into the Gulf by the comparatively warm south winds, which they : displace by flowing beneath them, and raising them into the westerly upper cun-ent. The "northers," like the cold winds of the United States, ^ are propagated from west to east. The "northers" gradually lose their force when the conti- h nent to the north becomes heated and draws the winds from ^ the Gulf of Mexico. The extraordinary lowering of the temperature which ensues when the north wind displaces the south wind in winter, in the Gulf of Mexico, is totally inconsistent with the supposition that the northerly and southerly winds form ^ opposite sides of rotatory gales. The northerly winds sometimes prevailing in the western pftrts of the Gulf of Mexico, and the southerly in the eastern, have some resemblance to the parallel currents of Dove, but there is no evidence of rotation. The cold westerly winds in the Northern States have no resemblance to the parallel currents of Dove, as they blow at right angles to the south wind, and corresponding changes of phenomena take place at the same moment on the same meridians at stations more than 1000 miles apart. *< The winter storms on the Atlantic coast of the United States are preceded by a cold atmosphere and a high baro- meter ; and as they are invariably preceded by the south winds flowing west of the Mississippi, they may now be anticipated by electric telegraph. As the cold air which displaces the warm south winds y KROAPITUI.ATION. 870 .1 I that begin Brat to blow west of tho M isHiBsipp), move slower in autumn, the hurricanes of tho West India Islauds might 1)0 anticipated by telegraph, when tho cold winds are observed in the west, for tlioy appear to Ix) developed under conditions similar to those of the winter storms. The long lino of low barometer, with its attendant atmo- spheric disturbances, is often, no doubt, propagated from west to east, during winter, across tho Atlantic to Europe. At tho present moment we have no means of anticipat- ing the approach of some of the winter storms of Britain, beyond twelve hours before they burst upon our coasts ; but as soon as the telegraph is laid down across the Atlantic, it is probable that tho sudden irruptions of our high winds in winter may be known for threo days or more before they occur. Such, then, is an outline of tho more important features of the climate of North America. I have endeavoured to give my explanation of certain well-marked phenomena as concisely and as clearly as possible. These views further observation and reflection may lead me to modify ; but whatever may be tho change in this respect, I shall always retain a lively and constant impression of the kindness, the hospitality, and the liberality which I experienced, in tho course of my researches, from the American men of science who have devoted attention to this branch of study. ;,,"yi; The meteorological observations which enabled me to examine into the climate of North America were, through the politeness of Dr. Henry, obtained from the Registers of tho Smithsonian Institution. A few were obtained from tho registers kept at the military forts, and on the next page are given those relating to the weather from 9th to 14th No- vember 1854. METEOROLOGICAL REGISTERS. KegWe»iBairadt$,Florula. IjOt.iA' 82" N. Long.Bl'iTM" iV. AU. >■" I INDEX. Qnan- Aborigines of Cuba, 224. Absenteeism of planters, 280, 290. Agricultural banquet at Springfleld, 03. Agricultural exhibition, London, Canada West, 40, 60. Agricultural exhibition, Springfleld, 90. Agricultural implements, 49. Agricultural infonnation, diffusion of, 299. Agricultural newspapers, 23. Agricultural produce, prices of, 131. Agricultural produce of UUo, 127. Ague, causes of, 250. Ague, prevalence of, at Dunnsville, 44. Alabama, 281-302. Alabama, seology of, 298. Alabama river, 282. Alabama river, scenery on, 282. Alabama, soils, 283, 297. Albany, 19. Alleghany county, 144. Alleghany mountains, 128. Alleghany river, 85. Alligators, 181. , Aloe, the, 193. Americanisms, use of, 76. Androscoggin, valley of, 9. Ann Arbour, 101. Apple orchards, 18, 62, 64, 87. Apple>paring machine, 49. Apple trees, growth of, on the prairies, 117. "Arctic" steamer, loss of, 69. Atmospheric moisture of Cuba, 209. Babbage, Mr., on the division of labour, 141, Bacon, importation of, into Che Southern States, 265. Baltimore, 133. Baltimore, neighbourhood of, 148. Baltimore to Washington, 133-149. Banana, culture of, in Cuba, 220. Banks in Cincinnati, 89. Banquet, agricultural, at Springfield, 93. Barley, 69,64. ' - . , Barley in Indiana, 123. .'; ^ Barometer, fluctuations of, 825-328. ^ \ Barracoons, 229. Baton Rouge, 257. Beans, culture of, 208, 209, 371. Beech forests, 77, 78. Beet-root, 126. Beggars in Cuba, 198. Belize, 246. Bellefontaine, 78-80. Belt of high barometer, 807-309. Bermuda grass, 269, 276. Bitter or black coco grass, 270. Boarding-houses, Lowell factory, 4. Bostou, Massachusetts, 2. Boston to Brunswick, Maine, 6. Boulder clay, 20, 66. Bozal slaves, 227. Braiutree, 3. Brock, General, 38. Brockville, 67. Broom corn, 83. Brunswick, Maine, Congregational Col- lege, 7. Buchanan's, Mr., mansion, Cincinnati, 87. Buckland, Professor, 60. Buckwheat, 48. . BuU-flghts, 199. Burlington, 16. Buriington, Catholic Chapel, 16. Burlington, foctory at, 17. Bytown, 74. Bytown to Prescott, 74. Caf^s, Havannah, 191. Caldwell's hotel, 18. Caledonia springs, Canada, 73. Caledonia township, 26. Camellias, 169. Campagna, effect of drainage of, 262. Campbell's, Major, agricultural improve- ments, 63. Campbell, Miyor, mansion of, at St. Hil- aiie, 61. 382 INDKX. ( ' Camp meetinga, Methodiat, 21. Canada, climata of, 04. Canada soils, 70, 71. Canada wheat crops, 71. Canada, Lower, M-78. See also under " Lower Canada." Canada, Upper, 37-M, 74, 7ff. See also under " Upper Canada. Canadian farmers deKribed, 50. Canals, 129, 13a Canal. Erie, ISO. Canal, Welfand, 44. Canandaigua, 20. Cane brakes, 88, 89, ?83. Canoes, 44. *''"' '" Cape Fear River, 130. Canlenis, 196. Carolina, North, 167-161. Carolina, South, 162-167. Carolinas, education in, 802. Carolinas, geological structure of, 169. Carrots, 40, 69. CaUwba trrape, 86, 87. Catholic Chapel, Burlington, 16. Catholic Seminary at Quebec, 69. Cattle, 80, 83. Cattle in the cotton regions, 270. Cattle of Cuba, 222. Cattle, Durham, tOl. Cattle, feeding of, in winter, 92. Cattle, shorthomed, 49, 00. Cecil, county of, 144. Chambla^, 60, 61. Champlain, Lake, 17. ' Charleston, le?. Charleston, exports, 162, 163. Chiirleston, Sunday at, 162. Charleston to Havannoh, 186. - Cherol'r;e rost, 268. Chicago, 107. Chicago, exports, 108. Chicago, labourers' wages, 108. Chicago, prices of grain, 115. Chicago, progress of, 108. Chicago, value of land, 108. Chicago to Baltimore, 110. Chinese In Cuba, 194, 197, 198, 232. Church bC'^gars in Cuba, 193. Churches in Havonnah, 199. Cincinnati, 83. Cincinnati, banks in, 89. Cincinnati factories, 89. Cincinnati heights, view from, 86. Cincinnati Observatory, 86, 86. Cincinnati, pork trade of, 89. Cincinnati, scavenger pigs, 84. Cincinnati, wine vaults, Mr. Long. worth's, 86. Cincinnati to Chicago, 90-109. Clay, alluvial, 66. Clearing of the forest, 40. Cleveland, 77. Climate of Canada, 64. Climate of Cuba, 204. Climate of Georgia, 186. ,, ' Climate of Montreal, CO. Climate, influence of, on tlio growth of trees and plants, 1 12. Climate of North America, 803. Barometer, fluctuations of, 820-828. Belt of high barometer, 807-809. Espy's theory of the trade winds, 305. Hare's, Dr., queries as to the course of storms, 821. Hurricane in Cuba^844, 869-368. Hurricanes in the West Indies, 857, 862-866. Low barometer, cause of the long line of, 828. Meteorological registers, 880. Xorth-easters, 888-349. « Northers" of the Gulf of Mexico, 886-338; displacement of south winds by, 818. Rains in the United Stotes, 811-312. Recapitulation, 876. Sea-breeze, 342, 348. South wind, 815-317. fouth-east winds, disappearance of, nss. S lutherly winds, 871. •Squalls, 356. {jtvnr.s, propagation of, (h>m west to east, 866-875. < Thunder-Storms and tomndoes of , the United States, 860-S54. Temperature, general reduction of, 810, 820. Temperature, sudden changes of, 818. Trade winds, 806. Tropical winds, 303. Veering of the wind, 373. Volney on trade winds, 310. ' - Westerly winds, 329. Wind, change of, 369. Winds, warm and cold, 886. Cloud, Dr., editor of the " Cotton Plant," 297, 299, 800. > Clover, 23, 26, 27, 67, 81, 92, 100, 103, 270,276. Coal, 117, 128. f^ ^ Coburg, 51. *-• X Coburg, farms in the vicinity of, 61. ' Cock-tighting in Cuba, 194, 238. Cocoa-nut trees, 189, 192, 196, 208. Coco grass, 276. Coflce, county of, Alabama, 287. Coffee culture in Cuba, 218. Coffee trees, 196. College, Congregational, Brunswick, Maine, 7. Col..mbus, Ohio, 124. Columbus, farm to the west of, describeil, 124. Connecticut, valley of the, 13. Connewango Kiver, 85. ; ' Cooking stoves, 104. Cotton, cultivation of, by fi-ee labour, 284 286. Cotton culture, 164, 166. Cotton culture in Florida, 187. "» / wtli of Cotton factories, 152. Culw, wage*, 21u. Cotton ginning, 2(i7. Cuba, wax and honey, 2U< ' Cotton picking, 266. Cuba, wheat culture in, 2lt* iA.S2H Cotton planUtions, 164, 268-272. Cuba, winUT in, 20H. 109. Cotton plantations, value of, on Natchez Cubans, the, described, 1 Is, 305. a the nplands, 271. Cotton plHnts, eflVfct of frost on, 267. Dairy produce, 120. Cotton, preparation of, 166. Delaware, 14U. -368 Cotton, price of, 164. Delaware, number of slaves in, 140. 18, 867. Cotton, produce of, in Louisiana, 208,276. . Cotton, sea-island, 168, 166, 167. Delta of the Missiisippi, 246. Dent corn, 82, 88, 90. e long Cotton seeds, 268. Detroit, 07. Cotton, transportation of, 202. Detroit, Sunday in, 07. Cow-milking at UaTaunali, 223. Devonian formations, 26 Cow-pea, 271. Crawford House, 12. Dismal Swamp, Great, 260, 251. oxico, ' Dismal Swamp. Little, 161. BOUtIi , Creoles in Cuba, 237. Division of labour, Mr. Babbago on, 141. Cretaceous fumiation, 288, 207. Division of labour in slave States, 141. 1-312. i , Crimes in Cuba, 202. Division of land, tendency of, to extin- Crops in Pennsylvania, 129. guish slaver^■, 189. Cuba, 186-242. Drainage in Louisiana, 272. •* Cuba, aborigines of, 224. Drift-wood, 275. ice of, 1 . 1 Cuba, atmospheric moisture, 200. Dumfries Plains, 42, 43. ' Cuba, catUe of, 222. Dumfries Plains, mode of culture, 42, 48. Cuba, Chinese labourers, 232. Dumfries Plains, value of land, 43. Cuba, climate of, 204. Dunnsville, 44. WAftfr Cuba, cock-fighting, 104, 238. Durham cattle, lOL )ea of ; Cuba, coffee culture in, 218. i Cuba, cost of machinery in, 216. ' I ' Cuba, Creolea, 237. Dutv on provisions imported into Cuba, Ml of. Cuba, engine-drivers, 194. Cuba, fillTbustering expeditions, 241. Education in the Carolinas, SW. Education, provision for, in Michigan, PS of, ' ; Cuba, flruite of, 198. 101. Cuba, Government offices, 280. Education In Virginia, 166. Egyptian nata, culture of, 271. \ Cuba, Governor-General, 280. Cuba, hurricane of 1844, 369-368. Emancipation of slaves, effects of. ' . Cuba, Indian com, 219. 233-237. '} Cuba, management of horses in, 223. Embankments of the Mississippi, 247. ^' Cuba, manumitted slaves, 237. Emigranto, influx of, 96. Engine-drivers, Cuba, 194. " - ' Erie Canal, 18, 21, 130. ^ , * Cuba, negroes in, 224. Cube, plantain culture, 220. ant," Cuba, ploughing in, 196. Espy's theory of the trade winds, 306. ' ' Cuba, price of fowls, 222. Evergreen oak, 169. 103, ; Cuba, price of land, 241. Exports of Charleston, 162. . > Cuba, price of provisions, 222. Exports of Chicago, 108. i Cuba, price of slaves, 228. - Exports of Savannah, 168. Cuba, produce of slave labour, 237. Exports and imports of the Northern States, 291, 292. Cuba, railways, 194. ' Cuba, resources of, 241. Exports and imports of the Southern Cuba, rice culture, 210. States, 290, 291. Cuba, robberies, 202. Cuba, Roman Catholic Church, 242. Factories at Cincinnati, 89. Cubn, San Martin estate, 197, 209-212, Factories, cotton, 152. 241. Factories, slave labour, 206, 296. ITIf'lc Cuba, Santa Rosa estate, 197, 222. Factory at Burlington, 17. VIL.I\> Cuba, slaves in, ?24-232. Factory at Lowell, 4. Cuba, soils of, 105, 196. Fan palms, 247. illAll Cuba, Spaniards, 230, 240. Farm buildings, 153. LUOlly Cuba, sugar-cane, 209-216. Farm near Columbus, 124. Cuba, sugar estates, 196-107. Farm near Of;denburg, 56. ' , Cuba, taxation, 240. Farm near Quebec, 67. Cuba, tobacco culture, 21'<. Fanners, Canadian, their appearance, 50. Cuba, town houses of planters, 238. Farmers, northern, 93. our^ Cuba, transportation of produce, 223. Farming in Kentucky, 91, 92. Cuba, vegetables, 108, 208. Fanning in Michigan, JOO. - Cuba, vegetation of, 191, 192, 193. Farming in Virginia, 163. ._..»- 884 INDEX. / Farms near Cobnrg, 51. Farnu near the Qrand Hirer, 40. Farm* In New Englunil, lfl-10. Farms in Pennsylvania, 120. Farms, size of, 'SlS, M. Farm-stocic, sale of, near Montreal, 00. ' FilUbustering expeditions, !I41. Fire insurance in Canada, 48. Fish, 96. FlaU of the Oene«««, 28. Flint corn, 81. Florida, 187. Florida, cotton produce of, 187. ' Florida, Indian corn, 187. Florida reefs, 188, 181). , Florida, sugar-cano, 187. Fly, Hessian, 100, 101. Forests, autumnal appearance of, 63. Forests of Canada, 80. - Forests, hickory and oak, 78, 79. Forests of Now England, 9, 10. Foresto of Now York SUte, 29. Forests of Ohio, 88. Fort Jackson, 247. Fowb, price of, in Cuba, 922. Francis, Lake, 68. Free and slave population, 286. French cottagniL Lower Canada, 64, 67. ■ French settlers in Lower Canada, 08, 61, 64,60,67. Frosts, effect of, on cotton plants, 267. Frosts, effect of, on sugar-cane, 200, 273. Galena, 119. Galena lead mines, 119, 120. Genesee flats, 28. Genesee valley, 27-84. Genesee valley, culture of Indian com, 31. Genesee valley, rent of wheat land, 81. Geneseo, 27, 29. Geneva, New York SUte, 20. Geology of the Carolinas, 169. Geology of Georfjia, 169, 298. George, Lake, 18. Georgia, 168-180. Georgia, climate of, 185. Georgia, geology of, 168, 208. German settlers in the South, 284, 285. Gilmer county, 288. Glen House, 9. Glen House Hotel, 10. Gorham Station, 8, 9. Government offices in Cuba, 239. Governor-General of Cuba, powers of, 289. Grain, prices of, at Chicago, 110. Grand Kiver, 40. Grand River, farms in the neighboiur- hood of, 40. Grand Trunk Railway, 58. Granitic rocks, 03. Grape, Catawba, 86. Grasa, Bermuda, 269. Grass, bittor or black coco, 270. Grass, Kentucky blue-stem, 81, 92. , Grasacs, 01, 270, 200. Grasses, natural, 2H. Ill, 160. Grasses, Southern, 260. Grasshoppers, depredations of, 70. Gravels, 56. Great Western lUllway, 50. Guano, 134, 105. Guinea, 102. Guinea, nlair. of, 198. Gulf of Mexico, currents or 248. Gulf of Mexico, - northers * of, 886-888. Gulf Stream, 187. Gypsum, use of, as a manure, 20^ 42, 100, 270. Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1. Hall, Dr., geologist tu the State of New York, 70, 72. Hamilton, Canada West, 41. Hancock county, 287. Hare's, Dr., queries as to the course of storms, 821. Harrisburg, 128. Harvesting on the prairie farms, 115. Havannah, 190-192, 198-208. Havannah, American hotels in, 190. Havannah, ca,U», 191. Havannah, churches, 199. ^, Havannah, country to the south of^ 103. Havannah, cow-milking, 228. Havannah, insecurity of life and pro- perty in, 202, 208. Havannah, interest on loans, 210. Havannah, lotteries, 202. Havannah, Paseo of Isabel, 191. Havannah, passports, 192. Havannah, Flaza de Armas, 191. Havannah, restaurants, 191. Havannah, spies in, 203. Havannah, Sunday in, 198. « Havannah, theatre, 202. Havannah to Natchez, Louisiana, 243. Hay, 28, 00, 92, 111, 124. Hay, value of, in the Southern States, 271 . Hemp, 146. Herd of pigs, 70. « Hessian fly, 100. ' Hickorv and oak forests, 78, 70. Hogs, rattening of, in Illinois, 116. Hogs, fattening of, in Ohio, 79, 80. Hooker, Dr., on the influence of swanips, 251. Hope nurseries, 22. Horan, Professor, 69. Horizontal cultivation, 268, 300. Horses, Cuban, 238. Horses, Cuban, management of, 223. Horses in New York State, 23. Hotels, American, Havannah, 190. Hurricane in Cuba in 1844, 359-363. Hurricane in Georgia and Carolina, 181. Hurricanes in the West Indies, 357, 862- 366. Illinois, 107-122. Illinois, fattening of hogs, 116. '! INDEX. 385 96.888. ia.100, >f New urae of 115. ' 90. tt, 103. d pro- ,243. 58,271. ramps, 23. i3. 1, 181. ', 362. Illlnoiit, pritlriM, 110-113. Illinois, tompcratiiro of, IIH, Illinois, traimportatlon of pro 390 INDEX. ^ ■ 1 • ^^' ' Washington, Mount, 10, 11. Wlteat^owing, 28. ■.■;; Wax and houev, prmUiction of, in Cuba, Wheat, transportation of, 21)2. "i 219. Wheaton station, 110. Webster, the late Diiniol, jjravo of, 8. White Kiver, valley of the, 15. Webster, tlie Into Dnniel, mansion of, 3. Wliitnov's saw gin, 207. Welland Canal, 44. Wilmington, 158. • < . West India hurricanes, 3(>2-.%6. Wilmington, country to Uio north of, West Liberty, Ohio, 80, 81, 80. described, 161). J Westerly winds of North America, G29. Wilmington, selling of spirits In, 168 Wheat crops in Canada, 71. Wilmington, social condition of the in- 1 Wlieat culture, 32, 83, 36, 71. habitante, 169. Wheat culture in Cuba, 219. V/'ind, change of, 3fi9. Wheat cutturo in Michigan, 101, 103. Wind, south, 316-317. Wheal culture in Miasis.sippi, 271. Wind, 8outh-e«}it, 833. 1 / Wlieat culture in Ohio, 8a. Winds, siiutherlv, 371. Jl' Wheat cul ture on tlie prairies. 111. Winds, tropical,* 803. ' y M'heat culture in Riga district, 24, 26. Wind, .eering of, 373. Wlieat culture in Upper Canada, -13, 4(5, Windsl warm and rold, 336. ' 47. Winds, westerly, 320. Whoat-raidge, the, 71. Wine vatdt.s, Mr. Longworth'a, (Mncih- 1 * Wheat, price of, 131. nati, 86. Wheat, price of, at Chicago, 115. Winslow, 8. Wheat produce in Indiana, 128. Winter in Cuba, 208. Wheat produce in Kentucky, 92. Wreckers of Florida Keofs, 188. Wheat, produce of, in Pennsylvania, 129. Wheat, produce of, in Virgiiiiji, 163. Wheat region of Canada West, 64. Wheat soils to the south of Lake Onta- Yo/.oo countv, Mississippi, 284. Yellow fever, 186, 263, 285. Ypsilanti, »8. \\ rio, 26. Ypsilanti Normal School, 08, 09. 1 1 1 ■■II- / Hill of, 158. the iii- I (Mnciii- \ III liuiHM'itil Kiilit), itrioo 10s., ATLAS OF NORTH AIERIOA; Willi Maps of (lio vurlouH I'roviiicoH, SlutvH, luid (^muliioH of that CoiitiiK'ut, and I'luiis of llio City of Now York, tlio lOiivinniH of Monlrcttl, and Paimiiia Kail way, coiiHlniotiMl from llio jiiohI rocoiit uuthorilioN. By JOiIN BAIITIIOLOMKVV, F.K.CJ.S. 1 rincipnl CouleiitH ; — No. I. NiHiTii Amkuica ; II. Ukitihii, HiiasiAN, ani> Danihii Amkkioa — Poi.AK Ui-.uioNs; III. Ui'i-r.u Canaka ; IV. Lowich ('anada, Nkw Hiu!N8wi(!K ; V. to XVIII. Sioi'Auati; Ktati:h AND Teuuitouikb or Tiiu Uniti:!) Btatkh ; XIX. Mr.xico, CicNTnAii Amkkica, and Wk8T Inpikh; XX. Stkamiik IIouti.h AND Oceanic CoiiitKNTa. Wirii Dkhimuitivk Livitkui'kk.hh, aind an Indkx of 21,()()() Nami.h. "Tliis IB nn AtlaH of Nortli Amorictt aH coniploto an any KiiKlinlniiuii oau iiooil." — Examttier. 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Sir John Leslie, late Professor of Na- tural Philosophy in the ^'niversity of Edinburgh. Sir John Barrow, Bart. John Playpair, F.R.S., late Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Univer- sity of Edinburgh. The Right Hon. Sir James Mackintosh, LL.D., &c. Duoald Stewart, F.R.SS. L. and E. Sir James E. Smith, F.ll.S., late Presi- dent of the Linnean Society. Jean Baitiste Bioi, Member of the Royal Institute of France. Flight Rev. (jeorue Oleuj, D.I). Lieut.-Col. Chaiu.es Hamilton Smith, F.R.S. E. G, Sqoikr, forinorly Charge D' Affaires of the United States to Uki Republics of Central America. / • ENCYCLOPEDIA BUITANNICA LIST OF ilONTftrBUTOnS. W Sir John Guaiiam Dai.yei.l, Bart, RoDERT Jamkhon, F.U.S., lato Eoghis ProfcsBor of Natural History in tho UnivorBity of Etliiibiirpli. Alan Stevenson, Es(j., F.R.S.E., C.E. EuwAun Edwards, Esq. John Ciuwfurd, Esq., F.R.S., Author of " A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands." J. Y. 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SouMiTZ, F.R.S.E., Rector of the High School of Edinburgh. ;, KlfOYOLOPJCDlA BRITAMNIOA.— PRINCIPAL SUBJECTS. )r of By by in 8 and IKBON ) and iserra- ■v-Ti. , and ratorjr, Jd by VOLUME iy.—C(mtinutd. ATMOMETER, BAROMETER, and BAROMETRICAL MEA- SUREMENTS. By Sir JoiiM Lulib. WiUi SupplemenU. ATMOSPHERE. By Thomas Thomson, Ute Profesfior of Che- mUtry in Uie University of Glasgow. ATTERBURY. By the Right Hon. Thomas BABmoTON Macadlay. ATTRACTION. By James Ivory, F.R.S. AURORA BOREALIS. By Robert Jameson, F.E.S., late Pro- fessor of Matuial History in tlie University of Edinburgli. AUSTRAL.^SIA & AUSTRALIA. By Sir John Barrow. With continuation by Samuel Mossman, Autlior of the " Gold Fields of Australia," etc AUSTRIA. By Emerio Szabad, Author of "Hungary, Past and Present* AVERAGE. By John Wabraok, Average Stater. BACON. By Wiluau Spaldino, Professor of Logic in the Univer- sity of St Andrews. BAKING, BLEACHING, etc. By James Stark, M.D., F.R.S.E. BAILLIE, BARBOUR, BALLAD, BARCLAY, etc. By David Irving, LL.D. BALANCE OF POWER and BIBLIOGRAPHY. By Macvey Napieb, late Professor of Conveyancing in the University of Edinburgh. BALLOT, BANKRUPTCY, and BENTHAM. By J. H. BuitToN, Author of the " History of Scotland," etc BASKET-MAKING. By Sir J. G. Dalzell. BATHING, BECCARIA, etc. By Thomas Young, M.D. BENGAL. By Edwabd Thornton, East India House. BEAUTY. By Lord Jeffrey. > BEE. By James Wilson, F.R.S.E. BEETHOVEN. By Geobge Farquhar Graham. BELGIUM. BELL, (SIR CHARLES.) By Sir John M'Neill. BIBLE and BIBLE SOCIETIES. By Rev. James Taylor, D.D. BLACK SEA. By Lawrence Oliphant, Author of " The Russian Shores of the Black Sea." BLASTING. By Robert and Thomas Stevenson, Civil Engineers. BOHEMIAN BRETHREN. By James Montgomery, Author of " Greenland and other Poems." BOLIVIA.. Babylon — Baptism — Bemouilli — Blind — Block-Machinery — Blowpyte. A BHCTCLOP^DIA HHITANNICA, — PHINOIPAL 8UDJRCTI. VOLUME V. BOOKBINDING. By Charles Maiitkl. BOMBAY, BURMAH, etc. By Eu. Thornton, Eiist India Uoim. BOOK-KEEPING. By Joseph Lowe. BORNEO and BORNOU. Revised by Auoubtus ^RTRiiMANN, F.R.O.S., etc. BOTANY. By John Hdtton Balfour, M.D., Professor of Botany in the Univenity of Ediuburgh. BRAHMINS. By James Bro^tne, LL.D. ' v ; BRASS. By Charles Sylvester, C.E. BRAZIL. . , . V BREAKWATER. By Sir John Barrow, Bart. Revised by JoHif Barrow, Admiralty. BREWING. By James Stark, M.D., F.R.S.E. ' v^ BRICKMAKING. By Samuel Holmes, Liverpool. BRIDGE. By Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.S. BRITAIN. By James Browne, LL.D., with Continuation. BRUCKER. By Sir William Hamilton, Bart. BUILDING. By William Hosking, Author of " Architecture." BUNYAN. By the Right Hon. Thomas Babington Macaulay. BURMAH. By D. Buchanan and E. Thornton. VOLUME VL • , . , BUTLER (BISHOP.) By Henrt Rogers, Author of the " Eclipse of Faith," etc. BURNING-GLASSES. By George Buchanan, F.R.S.E. CALENDAR. By Thomas Galloway, F.R.S. CALIFORNIA. . ; f CALVIN and CHANNING. By Rev. W. L. Alexander, D.D. CAMPBELL, THOMAS. By W. E. Aytoun, Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in the University of Edinburgh. CANADA. By J. R. Brown, Author of " Views of Canada." CANARY ISLANDS. By J. Y. Johnson, Madeira. : ; CANNON. By Colonel PoRTLoCK, Woolwich. ■ .U v . CAPILLARY ACTION. By James Ivory, F.R.S. ^ CARTHAGE. By Jambs Browne, LL.D., and Dr. Schmitz. CARPENTRY and CHROMATICS. By Thomas Young, M.D. CAVAN and CLARE. By Henry Senior. CENTRE. By John Robison, late Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. If i\ ENOYCI/)PilDIA nniTANNICA. — PRINniPAT. flUIMRCTfl. VOLUME yi.~ Conthwd. CEYLON. By J. Cappbb, Ceylonese CoiiimiBsioner to the Orent Exhibition of IMl. CHALMERS, (THOMAS.) By Rev. Wilmam Manma, LL.D. CHEMISTRY. By William Greoort, Profeseor of CliomiBtiy in the University of Edinburgh. it..;. CHESS. By Jambs Donaldson. CHILL By C. B. Black. CIHNA. By Sir John Barrow. CHIVALRY. By Sir Walter Scott, Bnrt. CHLOROFORM. By J. Y. Simpson, M.D., Professor of Midwifery in the Univertity of Edinburgh. CHRONOLOGY. CIVIL LAW. By David Irving, LL.D. CLIMATE. By Sir John Leslie. Vr . VOLUME VII. »v CLOCK and WATCH WORK. By Edmund Beckett Dknison, M.A., Q.C. COHESION. By Thomas Youno, M.D., F.R.S. COINAGE. By Robert Mushet of the Royal Mint. COLD and DEW. By Sir John Leslie, late Professor of Nutunil Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. COLLISION, COMBINATION, CORN-LAWS, CORN-TRADE, and COITAGE SYSTEM. By J. R. M'Culloch. COLLIERY. By William Alexander, Mining Engineer. COLONY. By James Mill. COLOUR-BLINDNESS. By George Wilson, M.D., F.R.S.E. COMET. By Thomas Galloway, F.R.S. . - .: COMMUNISM and CORPORATION. By J. H. Burton. CONIC SECTIONS. By Wilmam Wallace, LL.D., lute Professor of Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh. CONSTRUCTION. By William IIoskino, Author of " Archi- tecture." CONSTANTINOPLE. By Edward Sano, late Professor of Mechanical PhiloHophy in th« Imperial School, Constantinople. COPPER SMELTING. By James Napier, Glasgow. CORK. By Henrt Senior. COTTON MANUFACTURE. Revised by Thomas Bazlet, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Manchester. COWPER. By A. Smith, Author of " A Life Drama," etc. CRIMEA. By James Laurie. 8 ENCTCLOPJSDIA BRITANNIOA. — PRINCIPAL SUBJECTS. VOLUME VIL-CofUMwaA CRUSADES, CUVIER, DAN'ION, and DEFOE. By Jambs Browke, LL.D. CRUSTACEA. By John Flemino, D.D., Professor of Natural Science, New College, Edinburgh. CUNNINGHAM, DALRYMPLE, and DEMPSTER. By David Ibvino, LLD. DAIRY. By John Wilson, Author of " Agriculture." DEAF and DUMB. By P. M. Roget, M.D., F.R.S. DEMOSTHENES. By William Spaldino, M.A., Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in the University of St Andrews. DENMARK. By Emkrio Szabad, Author of the Article "Austria." DIALLING. By Henry Meikle, C.E. Commerce — ConstantmopoUtan History — Copyright-— CrystcMzaiion^ Deluge. \ I VOLUME vin. DIPLOMACY and ENTAIL. By John Hill Burton. DISTILLATION. By James Stark, M.D., F.R.S.E. DIVING and DIVING BELL. By George Buchanan, F.R.S.E. DOCK and DOCK- YARD. By Sir John Barrow, Bart. Revised by his Son, John Barbow, Adniiralty. DOLLOND, DOLOMIEU, and DUHAMEL. By Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.S. DONEGAL, DOWN, and DUBLIN. By Henry Senior. DRAINAGE of TOWNS. By W. Hosking, Author of "Archi- tecture," etc. DRAINAGE of LANDS. By J. Wilson, Author of " Agriculture," etc. DRAMA. By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. DRAWING and ENGRAVING. By W. H. Lizars. DRY ROT. By Sir John Barrow, Bart. DUMONT, LORD DUNCAN, etc. By James Browne, LL.D. DUNBAR, (WILLIAM,) and ENGLISH LANGUAGE. By David Irvino, LL.D. DYEING (Calico Printing.) By F. Craoe Calvert, Professor of Chemistry, Royal Institution, Manchester. DYNAMICS. By John Robison, late Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. ECONOMISTS. By James Mill. EDINBURGH and EDINBURGHSHIRE. EGYPT. By R. Stuart Poole, of the Department of .Antiquities, British Museum. ': f BMOYOLOPiBDIA BRITANNIOA. — PRINCIPAL SuDJKCTS. VOLUME VllL— Continued. ELECTRICITY. By Sir David Bkewsteu, K.H., M.A., D.C.L., eto. EMBANKMENT. By J. C. Loudon. EMIGRATION. By J. R. M'Cullooh, Author of " Commercial Dictionary," etc. ENGLAND. By Jambs Browne, LL.D., with Continuation. VOLUME IX. ENTOMOLOGY, FISHERIES, and EDWARD FORBES. By Jambs Wilson, F.R.S.E. EPHRAEM SYRUS. By Rev. Henry Buugess, LL.D. EPISCOPACY. By Rev, George Gleio, D.D. ERASMUS and FEUDAL LAW. By David Ibvinq, LL.D. EQUATIONS. By James Ivory, F.R.S. ETHNOLOGY. By R. G. Latham, M.A., M.D. ETRUSCANS, EUGENE, FENELON, etc. By James Browne, LL.D. EUROPE. By Charles Maclarbn, F.R.S.E., and Jamks Laurie. EVIL. By Rev. W. L. Alexander, D.D. EXAMINATIONS. By J. F. Maolennan. EXCHANGE, EXCHEQUER BILLS, and EXCISE. By J. R. M'GUUXKJH. EXTREME UNCTION, FATHERS, FEDERAL GOVERN- MENT, etc. By Rev. J. Taylor, D.D. FABLE and FALLACY. By William Spalding, A.M., Professor of Logic in the University of St Andrews. FALCONER, FARQUHAR, and FAIRFAX. By Robert Cabruthkbs. FASHION. By Dr. Doran, Author of " Hab' t« and Men," etc. FERMANAGH. By Henry Senior. FEZZAN. Revised by Augustus Pbtermann. FICHTE. By John Colquuoun, F.R.S.E. FIFESIIIRE and FORTH. By Thomas Barclay. FIGURE of the EARTH. By Thomas Galloway, F.R.S. FILTER. By George Buchanan, F.R.S.E. FLINTSHIRE. By John Girdwood. FLORIDA. By J. Smith Homans, New York. FLUXIONS. By William Wallace, LL.D. FONTANA, FOSTER, and FOURCROY. By Thomas Young, M.D. FOOD. By Thomas Lindlby Kemp, M.D. I 10 ENCYCLOPiBDIA BBITANNICA. — PBINCIPAL BUBJECTd. VOLUME IX Continued. FORFAR. By James Cowie. FORTIFICATION. By Colonel Portlook. FOSTER. By J. E. Roland, M.A. FOX, C. J. By John Allen. Exhibition — Fanaticism. i> VOLUME X. FRANCE. By A. V. Kir wan, of the Middle Temple, Rarrister- / at- Law. ' FRANKLIN, (BENJAMIN.) By Alexander Nicholson. FRANKLIN, Sir JOHN By Sir John Richardson. FUEL and GAS LIGHT. By Charles Tomlinson, Editor of "Cvclopaedia of Useful Arts," etc. FULLER, ANDREW. By J. E. Rtland, M.A. FUNDING SYSTEM. By D. Ricardo, supplemented by J. L. RiCAROO, M.P. FURNACE. By George Buchanan, F.R.S.E. GALILEO. By James Browite, LL.D. GALWAY. By Henry Senior. \ GANGES. By Edward Thornton, India House. GASSENDI and GIBBON. By Henry Rogers, Author of = V? " Eclipse of Faith," etc. GEOGRAPHY. By Rev. John Wallace, D.D. GEOMETRY. By William Wallace, LL.D. GEOMETRY, ANALYTICAL. By Rev. P. Kelland, M.A., Professor of Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh. GERMANY. By W. Jacob. Revised by James Laurie. GLACIER and FRESNEL. By J. D. Forbes, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. GLASGOW. By John Strang, LL.D. GLASS. By James Ballantvne. GNOSTICISM. By John Tulloch, D.D., Primarius Professor of Divinity, St. Andrews. GOETHE. By Thomas DE QuiNCEY. GOLDSMITH. By the Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay. CAPE of GOOD HOPE. By B. C. Pine, late Lieutenanl- Govemor of Natal. , GOTAMA BUDDHA. By Rev. R. Spence Hardy, Hon. M.R.A.S., Author of " Eastern Monachism," etc. GOTHS. By Leonard Schmitz, LL.D. GOVERNMENT. By P. E. Dove, Author of the « Theory of Human Progreasion," etc. GRAMMAR. By Bishop Gleig. Revised by W. Spalding, Pro- fessor of Logic in the Univeraity of St. Andrews. ENCYCLOPiEDIA BRITANNICA. — PRINCIPAL SUBJECTS. 11 ■Jarrister- Iditor of by J. L. ►r 0^ r'.fi D, M.A., feasor of ►feasor of sutenant- [.R.A.S., heory of m, Pro- VOLUME XL . GRAY, HERRICE, and HOGG. By Robkrt Carruthers. GREECE. By Charles Maclarun, F.R.S.E. Revised. GREEK CHURCH. By W. M. Hethbrington, D.D., LL.D. GREGORY of NAZIAJ^ZUM. By John Tulloch, D.D. GREGORY (Dr. JAMES.) By W. P. Alison, M.D. GUINEA and HOUSSA. By Agdstus Putermann, F.R.G.S., etc. GUN-COTTON, GUNPOWDER, GUTTA PERCHA, and HAT-MAKING. By Charles Tomlinson. GUN-MAKING. By P. E. Dove. GUNNERY. By Colonel Portlock. HALL (ROBERT.) By Henry Rogers. HARBOURS. By Thomas Stevenson, C.E. HARE (C. J.) By W. L. Alexander, D.D. HaRVEY. By Thomas Laycock, M.D., Professor of the Practice of Physic in the University of Edinbui-gh. HEAT. By T. S. Trails , M.D., Professor of Medical Jurisprudence ' in the University of Edinburgh. HELMINTHOLOGY. By James Wilson, F.R.S.E. HEMP. By T. C. Archer, Author of " Popular Economic Botany," etc. HERALDRY. By T. W. King, York Herahl, Herald's College. HEYNE. By Sir William Hamilton, Bart. HIEROGLYPHICS. By R. S. Poole, M.R.S.L., etc. HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS. By Joseph D. Hooker, M.D., F.R.S. HINDUSTAN. Revised by Edward Thornton, India House. HISTORY. By David Masson, M.A., Professor of English Litera- ture, University College. HOLLAND. Revised by the Rev. James Ingram, M.A. HOMER. By John S. Blackie, Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh. HOMCEOPATHY. By W. T. Gairdner, M.D. HOOD (THOMAS.) By Richard Monckton Mtlnes, Esq., M.P. HORACE. By Theodore Martin. HORSE, HORSEMANSHIP, and HOUND. Revise'' by W. H. Lanolbt, Editor of " Bell's Life in London." HOIiTICULTURE. By Charles Macintosh, Author of the "Book of the Garden." HOWARD (JOHN.) By Hepworth Dixon. HOUSEHOLD (ROYAL.) By Samuel Redgrave. 12 ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITAMNICA. PRINCIPAL SUBJECTS. VOLUME XII. HUME (DAVIL.) By Henry Rogkrs, Esq., Author c ut "Eclipse of Faith," etc. ' n liNGARY. By Emekic Szabad, late Secretary under the Hun- garian National Government of 1849. HUNTER (JOHN and WILLIAM), and JENNER. By Thomas Latoock, M.U., Professor of the Practice of Medicine in the University of Edin- burgh. HUNTING. By Nimbod. Revised by W. H. Lanqlbt, Esq., Editor of " Bell's Life in London." / HYDRODYNAMICS. By Sir David Brewster, K.H., LL.D. " HYPATIA an. LUTHER. By C. C. J. Bunsen, D.D., D.C.L., D. Ph., etc. MADAGASCAR. By Rev. W. Ellis, Author of "Polynesian Researches," etc. MADEIRAS. By J. Y. Johnson, Author of a "Handbook for Madeira. ^-