that of Montmorenci, is indicated by the high and dark walls of earth, behind which it is precipitated into the abyss below. This region of waters is girt about with hills, slopes, and plains, in great variety; with gardens, meadows, woods, and fields, all fruitful and well cultivated; while houses are scattered wherever the eye can reach. We drove through this picturesque country to the beautiful yet wild Falls of Montmorenci, ascended the citadel, crossed through the city, sailed over to Point Levi opposite, and had (next to Niagara) a feast of nature such as is rarely found, in the highest sense of the word, in North America.

It affords little pleasure to visit the fields of unimportant battles; but that of St. Abraham near Quebec deserves a much larger share of attention, and excited in me the liveliest interest. As Marathon decided for the Greeks against the Persians; Zama for the Romans against the Carthaginians; Tours for the Christians against the Mohammedans; so the heights of Abraham have decided that in America, aye and throughout the world, Germanic civilization and development shall for a long time lead the van. Both generals, Wolfe and Montcalm, fell, each bravely fighting for his country; and with noble feeling, Earl Dalhousie has caused to be erected in Quebec a monument to the memory of both, with this inscription

Mortem virtus communem,
Famam Historia,

Monumentum posteritas dedit.

Both of them, the victor and the vanquished, were happier in this heroic death, than Hannibal and the elder Scipio in their longer life.

On the 31st of July we paid several visits; took a long walk on the right bank of the mighty river; surveyed the city of Quebec, which lay in front of us, from many beautiful points of view at different elevations; and admired the rising, falling, and variously indented line of mountains, and the richly cultivated foreground. At 5 P. M. we embarked in the steamboat Lord Sydenham, and proceeded, partly in the day time and partly by night, to Montreal. On the first of August, at nine in the morning, we crossed the river in another steamboat to La Prairie, on the right bank. From here we went by railway through a level, monotonous region, to St. John's. Instead of wasting our time on a too early dinner, we walked about the growing town and over the long bridge that crosses the Sorel. At one we again

went on board a steamboat, and reached Burlington at seven in the evening; where, after long fasting, we sat down to a good dinner in the American Hotel. In twenty-six hours we must have passed over 240 miles. The flat, characterless country of La Prairie, and the level banks of the Sorel, afforded no enjoyment, and excited but slight hopes. These rose however when we entered Lake Champlain : and as we approached Burlington, the scenery improved so much, that I set it down among the most beautiful I had ever seen.

ALBANY, on the Hudson,
State of New York, August 6th.

My first favorable impression of the country round Burlington was confirmed the next day, the 2d of August. A morning walk-partly indeed through wet meadows-gave us charming glimpses of scenery; and from the top of the University, or rather College, we saw a rich and beautiful panorama. In the afternoon, Mr. W., the president of the College, very kindly accompanied us round the neighborhood, and showed us some delightful views. On one side we had the large lake, indented with green tongues of land, and dotted with islands of various size; while far off were seen the wavy line of the mountains of New York. In the distance rose, like a gently swelling bosom, the town itself, with its straight streets ornamented with trees; behind it, on the Vermont side, appeared hills of many forms and cultivated valleys, among which a winding stream found its way; while still further off, the horizon was bounded by the magnificent and rightly named Green Mountains of Vermont.

In addition to this enjoyment of nature, we had in Burlington a literary surprise. A Mr. M., a member of Congress, to whom Mr. W. introduced us, had an excellent Spanish and Portuguese library. His Swedish and Danish collection was still more richly furnished; and as to Icelandic lore, there was perhaps not a book relating to it that was wanting. He had completed an Icelandic grammar, the printing of which had only been prevented by minor considerations.

On the 2d of August, in the evening (there is unfortunately no day boat), we proceeded, in the neat and elegant steamboat Burlington, through Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga. As in St. John's all the beds were engaged by travellers, so that I was obliged to stretch myself out on a hard bench, I had hoped that I should be able to indemnify myself on reaching this place. But here too the only hotel was so uncommonly crowded, that I was forced to pass the latter half of the night in wretched guise

on some chairs, between open doors and broken windows. Accordingly the morning of the third of August found me very weary and broken down; and the view of the ruined fort of Ticonderoga (which is far behind that of Burlington) failed to raise my spirits to a very brilliant pitch,-since loud and low the news was repeated, that there would hardly come carriages enough at noon to convey us to Caldwell on Lake George! When at last they arrived, we took in great haste the worst but undisputed places on the top of the coach, while the people were quarrelling for inside seats. One stout lady told the driver she would pay for two, so that a gentleman who had placed himself next her should not touch the seat. In the evening we reached Caldwell in a steamboat. It is pleasantly situated on Lake George. This lake is much smaller than Champlain, and presents better defined prospects on both sides. Its shores are much richer in vegetation than those of the lakes of Scotland; but, owing to their steep declivities, they are less cultivated than many German and Italian lakes. On the whole, the scenery is finer than on any of the great lakes of the West. An unpromising morning was succeeded by a beautiful afternoon and evening; and I thought at intervals of the Berlin University celebration, without envying our friend L., who is probably entertaining his unlearned auditors with Latin, which they do not understand. This they call keeping up the ancient elevation and dignity of learning!

On the morning of the fourth, we first drove with two Americans and an Englishman to the falls of the Hudson. These precipitate themselves over picturesque rocks of dark granite; and their power, as at Rochester, is partly appropriated to useful purposes. We then left for Saratoga, the principal watering-place in the United States. In the new world as in the old, people go mad after these sour, salt, bitter, sulphurous waters,-when the stomach is too full, and the head is empty. It is looked upon as the triumph and highest enjoyment of the fashionable world, to spend their time here from morning to night, in play, gossip, and dancing, dressing and undressing, eating and drinking, &c.! Twice I held a special review of the ladies,-by daylight, as they were pouring out of the much frequented church; and by candlelight, when, after tea, they commenced in narrow file their endless elliptical procession. Were I a modist, what lengthy descriptions I would and could furnish on the subject of dress! But in this respect, it is just the same with America as with Europe. There is no "self-government" here, but a slavish subjection to the arbitrary sway of Parisian fashions.

From Saratoga, the rail-car conveyed us to Troy. We had a noble view from Mount Ida, but found neither a Helen nor an Andromache in this region. One thing, however, is certain;

that King Priam and his numerous family had no such "comforts, conveniences, and accommodations," as are at the command of every inhabitant of this modern, unpoetical Ilium.

Yesterday afternoon we arrived here, after an agreeable passage on the upper Hudson. Albany, the seat of government of the state of New York, is a considerable town, with handsome public buildings. From the Capitol and the City Hall, very fine views are obtained of the city, the river, and the adjacent country.

NEW YORK, 8th August.

The day before yesterday we spent very delightfully in Albany. The hotel, Congress Hall, is an excellent one; and Mr. O'R., Mr. H., a natural philosopher, and Mr. S., a reverend gentleman, accompanied us around, and gave us information concerning many things. Yesterday, we came down the Hudson, in the large and beautiful steamboat Troy, from Albany to New York. The scenery on the river is very celebrated, and has often been compared to that of the Rhine. Hills, perpendicular rocks, curved inlets, thriving towns, elegant country seats on the heights, all form such a delightful variety, that not a moment of weariness or exhaustion is experienced. There is much similarity and much dissimilarity between the Rhine and the Hudson The latter sometimes expands to the width of a lake; the former, with its more beautiful color, keeps within the bounds of a river. Woods here take the place of vineyards; and there is seen the elegant mansion of the gentleman of fortune, instead of the feudal castle. The Rhine is the more poetical, from its ruins. and manifold associations; and it is perhaps too readily forgotten, that the poorer sort there once suffered from noble freebooters, ill treatment such as can never fall to the lot of free American citizens. Even now the habitations of the poor vine-dressers are far meaner than those of the dwellers on the Hudson. Individual spots, such as West Point, can compare with the most beautiful on the Rhine; though on the whole, the rocks and mountains of the latter are bolder and more fantastic. To the enjoyment of this magnificent scenery there were not wanting, alas! the usual American dampers upon enthusiasm in travelling,-to wit, a hoarse hawking and cawing as if from a flock of crows, and a brown spring of odoriferous tobacco-juice whose supply knew neither failure nor diminution. The sea-sickness, against which no human will can aught avail, is natural and bearable in comparison with this voluntary, self-indulgent filthiness.

NEW YORK, 14th August, 1844. Among the youthful, luxuriantly thriving states of North America, there is scarcely a single city, that has retrograded, oppressed by the preponderating force of circumstances, like Venice and some other places in Europe. On the contrary, there is naught but progress, wherever the powers of the industrious men and wise institutions can be brought into play. But some few cities, among many that are making equal advances, are so favored by nature, that they already, or must very soon surpass all others. I reckon among these St. Louis, New Orleans, and New York. Boston, Cincinnati, Pittsburg, Rochester, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Buffalo, Charleston, Savannah, and others, have a definite, and as it were prescribed and limited sphere of operation; beyond which they cannot pass, without interfering with others, and encroaching or being encroached upon. But the three above named cities are, as I may say, the hearts, or pulses, which diffuse life and motion in all directions, and receive it from every side. Their destiny, their mission, is a natural one; and the more other states and cities advance, the more their greatness and importance must increase. Boston, though now connected with the Hudson by a railroad, has no large, navigable river, and lies too far north and out of the way, to be able ever to rival New York in business and consequence. Cincinnati, notwithstanding its wonderful development, has more or less formidable rivals in Louisville, Pittsburg, and Buffalo. Cairo, at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, seems, on the map, designed to be one of the first of cities; but its low situation, exposed to inundations, renders futile all these plans and hopes.

St. Louis, on the contrary, is a natural, indispensable central point of trade and intercourse, from the source of the Mississippi to its mouth. Every day the immense country around the Missouri extends in importance and increases in population. Finally, by means of the Illinois and the canals and railroads shortly to be constructed, its connexion with Chicago and the great lakes will be rendered as easy as it will be comprehensive. New Orleans is the starting-point or terminus of all the commerce of the immeasurable valley of the Mississippi. Although this river can present but slight claims to varied beauty of scenery, it is, or will be, together with its branches, the most important in the world. The restless activity of the people whose territory it drains must lead to unexampled prosperity; it will even remove more or less the insalubrity of certain spots, such as New Orleans, by means of dams, aqueducts, cultivation of the soil, &c.; and will produce, export, and import to a greater extent than the boldest. can now venture to anticipate. The St. Lawrence has more beauty than the Mississippi; but it keeps within the same degrees