up them deep and large, while others have tried to climb and insert them high in this book of fame. A few years since, a young man, being ambitious to place his name above all others, came very near losing his life in the attempt. After much fatigue, he climbed up as high as possible, but found that the person who had before occupied his place was taller than himself, and consequently had placed his name above his reach. But he was not thus to be discouraged. 9. He opens a large jack-knife, and in the soft limestone, began to cut places for his hands and feet. With much patience and industry he worked his way upwards, and succeeded in carving his name higher than the most ambitious had done before him. He could now triumph, but his triumph was short, før he was placed in such a situation that it was impossible to descend, unless he fell upon the ragged rocks beneath him. There was no house near, from whence his companions could get assistance. He could not long remain in that condition, and, what was worse, his friends were too much frightened to do any thing for his relief. They looked upon him as already dead, expecting every moment to see him precipitated upon the rocks below, and dashed to pieces. 10. Not so with himself. He determined to ascend. Accordingly he plies himself with his knife, cutting places for his hands and feet, and gradually ascended with great labour. He exerts every muscle. His life was at stake, and all the terrors of death rose before him. He dared not to look downwards, lest his head should become dizzy; and perhaps on this circumstance his life depended. His companions stood at the top of the rock, exhorting and encouraging him. His strength was almost exhausted; but a bare possibility remained of saving his life, and hope, the last friend of the distressed, had not yet forsaken him. 11. His course upwards was rather obliquely than perpendicularly. His most critical moment had now arrived. He had now ascended considerably more than 200 feet, and had still further to rise, when he felt himself fast growing weak. He thought of his friends and all his earthly joys, and he could not leave them. He thought of the grave, and he dared not meet it. He now made his last effort, and succeeded. He had cut his way not far from 250 feet from the water, in a course almost perpendicular; and in a little less than two hours, his anxious companions reached him a pole from the top and drew him up. 12. They received him with shouts of joy; but he himself was completely exhausted. He immediately fainted away on reaching the spot, and it was some time before he could be recovered! It was interesting to see the path up these awful rocks, and to follow in imagination this bold youth as he thus saved his life. His name stands far above all the rest, a monument of hardihood, of rashness, and of folly. 2 Note. The Alleghany Mountains are situated between the Mississippi river and the Atlantic Ocean; extending nearly parallel with the sea coast, 900 miles in length.Niagara river forms the communication between Lakes Erie and Ontario, and runs from south to north about 30 miles. Eighteen miles north of the entrance of the river, the waters rush down a stupendous precipice of 140 feet. THE ANDES IN SOUTH AMERICA. 1. AMONG the wonders, or uncommon phenomena of the world, may be classed stupendous mountains; and of these, the Andes in South America are the loftiest the most extensive, and, therefore, the most wonderful. Descriptions of objects which are striking, because they are vast, often fail of exciting appropriate ideas; and however accurate or poetical may be the accounts of this class of Nature's prodigies, no just notions of their vastness can be conveyed by any written or graphical representation. 2. The magnitude of an object must be seen to be duly conceived, and mountain wonders will be best felt by those who have visited Wales, Scotland, Switzerland, or the mountainous regions of America or Asia. The stupendous mountains, called by the Spaniards the Cordilleras, stretch north and south, near the western coast, from the Isthmus of Darien, through the whole of the continent of South America, to the Straits of Magellan. In the north there are three chains of separate ridges, but in advancing from Popayan towards the south, the three chains unite in a single group, which is continued far beyond the equator. 3. In the kingdom of Quito, the more elevated summits of this group are ranged in two rows, which form a double crest to the Cordilleras. The extent of the Andes Mountains is not less than four thousand three hundred miles. In this country, the operations of nature appear to have been carried on on a large scale, and with a bolder hand, than elsewhere; and in consequence, the whole is distinguished by a peculiar magnificence. Even the plain of Quito, which may be considered as the base of the Andes, is more elevated above the sea than the summits of many European mountains. 4. In different places the Andes rise more than one third above the famous Peak of Teneriffe, the highest land in the ancient hemisphere. The cloud-enveloped summits, though exposed to the rays of the sun in the torrid zone, are covered with eternal snows, and below them the storm is seen to burst, and the exploring traveller hears the thunder roll, and sees the lightnings dart beneath his feet. 5. Throughout the whole of the range of these extensive mountains, as far as they have been explored, there is a certain boundary, above which the snow never melts, which boundary in the torrid zone, has been ascertained to be 14,600 feet or nearly three miles above the level of the South Sea. The ascent to the plain of Quito, on which stands Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Pichincha, &c. is thus described by Don Juan de Ulloa 6. "The ruggedness of the road from Taraguaga, leading up the mountain, is not easily described. The declivity is so great in some parts, that the mules can scarcely keep their footing; and in others the acclivity is equally difficult. This trouble of sending people before to mend the road, the pain arising from many falls and bruises, and the being constantly wet to the skin, might be supported; but these inconveniences are augmented by the sight of such frightful precipices, and deep abysses, as excite con stant terror. 7. "The road, in some places, is so steep, and yet so narrow, that the mules are obliged to slide down, without making any use of their feet whatever. On one side of the rider, in this situation, rises an eminence of many hundred yards; and on the other is an abyss of equal depth; so that, if he should give the least check to his mule, and destroy the equilibrium, both must inevitably perish. 8. "Having travelled nine days in this manner, slowly winding along the sides of the mountains, we began to find the whole country covered with a hoar frost; and a hut, in which we reposed, had ice in it. At length, after a perilous journey of fifteen days, we arrived upon a plain, at the extremity of which stands the city of Quito, the capital of one of the most charming regions in the world. Here in the centre of the torrid zone, the heat is not only very tolerable, but, in some places, the cold is even painful. 9. "Here the inhabitants enjoy the temperature and advantages of perpetual spring; the fields being constantly covered with verdure, and enamelled with flowers of the most lively colours. However, although this beautiful region is more elevated than any other country in the world, and it employs so many days of painful journey in the ascent, it is itself overlooked by tremendous mountains; their sides being covered with snow, while their summits are flaming with volcanoes. These mountains seem piled one upon the other, and to rise with great boldness to an astonishing height. 10. "However, at a determined point above the surface of the sea, the congelation is found at the same height in all the mountains. Those parts which are not subject to a continual frost, have here and there a species of rush growing upon them resembling the broom, but much softer and more flexible. Towards the extremity of the part where the rush grows, and the cold begins to increase, is found a vegetable with a round bulbous head. Higher still the earth is bare of vegetation, and seems covered with eternal snow. The most remarkable of the Andes are the mountains of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Pichincha." Note. Wales, in the west of England, lies south of the Irish Sea, and is 120 miles long, and SO broad.-Scotland, or North Britain, is 270 miles in length, and 150 in breadth. It is situated north of England.-Switzerland, country in Europe, between 40 and 45° north latitude, is 215 miles in length, and 83 in breadth. It lies east of France. a ANECDOTE OF JUNIUS BRUTUS. Govitrings 1. BRUTUS, and Collatinus, the husband of Lucretia, were the first who were raised to the dignity of consuls in Rome. They immediately revived the laws for assembling the people, which had been discontinued during the late tyrant's reign; but, that their newly acquired liberty should be prevented from degenerating into licentiousness, several officers relative to the priesthood were appointed, and new sacrifices ordained, in order to strengthen the civil power by the firmest sanctions of religion. 2. This new republic, however, which seemed so grateful to the people, had nearly been destroyed in its very commencement. A party was formed in Rome in favour of Tarquin. Some young men of the principal families of state, who had been educated about the king, and had participated in all the luxuries and pleasures of the court, undertook to re-establish monarchy. They were naturally disgusted with the gloomy austerity of a republican form of government, in which the laws, inflexible and severe, make no distinctions of birth or fortune. 3. Their party secretly increased every day, and what may create our surprise, were it not known that political animosity absorbs every feeling of nature, even the sons of Brutus, and the Aquilii, the nephews of Collatinus, were among the number. Tarquin, who was informed of these intrigues in his favour, resolved to advance them by every art in his power, and accordingly sent ambassadors from Etruria to Rome, under a pretence of reclaiming the crown, and demanding the effects which he had left behind him; but in reality with a design to give spirit to his faction, and to draw over to it as many as he possibly could. A 4. They accordingly went on with spirit and success, holding their private meetings at the house of one of the conspirators, and already the restoration of the king and the death of the consuls was resolved upon, when the whole fabric of their hopes was at once levelled in the dust. slave, named Vindicius, who had accidentally hid himself in the room where the conspirators used to assemble, overhearing the conversation, laid open their designs to the consuls, who gave orders to have the conspirators secured and brought to justice, and among these were found the |
