‘a

from Mr. Ball, a gentleman whoiformed one of the ,

ground asfllate as July, yield a plentiful harvest.

to 56°.
that’ as any I ever saw; during that time there was

rA_pril showers, but the amount of rain that has fallen

.-

,‘mi,les.in length and fifty in breadth, and a beautiful

: ties, forsettlers.

the whole ofit. will average with respect to fertility

dnztradinig don the coast, and in carrying supplies
fiogbc posts. 0 the north, along the coast, and

it :4

The:'I’r_'oy Press is publishing. a ‘series llrfilettersi 

party that crossed the continent a year or two since,
for the purpose ‘of settling on the shores of the Pa.
cific. We make a few extracts :

Face of the Coumry West of the Rocky Mann.
taz'n.c.-—'One immense priarie extends from the moon."
rains, with the exception of scattering trees, of the
pious genus, (mostly of the mountains,) to the Falls
of the Columbia. Along the streams are willows,
and oft. 11 rank grass. but as you recede from them, a
thin crop of rank grass and shrubbery succeeds, and
the soil generally becomes barren. At the Falls
commences a growth of oak, and at tide water, a
thick growth ‘of lofty trees of different kinds; still
the prevailing character of the country is prairie un.
til you get nigh the coast, where the growth of ve-
getables of all kinds is enormous.

A The Climate of 0regon.~—Here the farmer has not
to labor half the summer and all the winter to pro.
vide for his animals———he is not compelled to fence
and plough and sew his seed in one or two short
months—hc ploughs, and his cattle graze the: whole
year. The settlers in this valley have alremly-raised
one crop; which succeeded well. They have a few
cattle, horses, and hogs, all of which are in good or.
der, without any feeding through the winter. Al-‘
though we are in the latitude. of Montreal, the farm. 1
ers have been ploughing since J.-muary, the Vcgetn. 7
bles in the garden have i‘em;rine.d uninjured tlirough ‘
the winter. In favorable situations the grass is al. 1
ready springing up. On the Wallatneth, I saw two =
weeks ago, alders and willows in bloom, and leaving
‘out. S_trawberries_ and brier bushes had continued
green through therwinter. Crops that are put in the

I

 

There is a vast difference in the temperature on the '
two sides of the Continent. Here the summers are
long and fine, and everything can be raised, that can
be raised with you, or even in Virginia. I have al.
ready spoken ofthc vine and the peach : tobacco has
also been tried, and with success.

During November, Fahrenheit ranged at from 49°
One half of that month was as brightwea.

I
i

usually a white frost every night. I am informed
ithereifell that month 4 1.2 inches rain. in Decem-
ber 9 inches; frost but two or three times; thermo.
meter in the morning at 40° at noon from 40 to 50°;
rain from the S. and S. E. East and north winds
always bring fair weather. Halfof the month of Jo.
nuary the weather was as cold as has been known
in this region, there being a constant frost. At one
Iimcthe thermometer ranged as low as 17°; at noon
from 30 to 40°. The Columbia rix er frozzc over, but
the VVallsmeth did not. During the rent ol'.l:muary,
the weather was as usual‘; there fell but one inch of
rain. This month (February) has been cloudy part
of thetime. There have been what you would call

|

l
l
ls_ncz.,great. We have hadfrost a few times, though
an t_he”:no_'rning.the thermometer has usually stood tit
40°. undo: noon at 50°. Nigh the ocean, it is said,
' never freezes. -

P
‘ Valle of the f'vi'ultnomrz.7r..-—This week I have re.
turned ram an excursion up the River l‘v’Iultnomah
or Wallsmeth. It is far from -the stream laid down
on your maps, for its most distant source is not
probably more than 5200 miles in a direct course from
i,ts;ru_outh., Its general course is South and is fed by
a number» of branches from the Snow Mountains al.
ready spoken of, and a ridge running not far from the
coast on the West. The river at one point approaches
witbinjfilty oraixty miles ofthe sea.
Thevalley of the Multnnmah racy be two hundred

_.va~lloy it appears from what I have seen ofit. 
~tsnsiv.e*‘plains well clothed with grass, interspersed
throughogstiwith oaks crowned with missletoe and
lofty ‘fire and pines, altogether presenting great facili.
The soil is generally fertile, though
perhspsnot equal to some on the Mississippi and
Ohio. . its quality however, I should think, through

and the aspect of its surface. the lands of New.
England,
‘ Whereln then, do you ask, consistsita advantages
,--1 answer in climate. _
..W'lz‘ite Reu'dents.——Fort Van Couver is the general
depot of the Hudson’s Bay Company, West of the
mountains. An express arrives and departs from
this place once a year, for Hudson’s Bay, and a so
for Montreal. A ship arrives annually from England.
Besides’, ‘they have three smaller vessels employed

2:

alsoifur inland, lheyhave several posts. -In short,

l

_ AM’ERfICAN RAILROAD JOURNAL, 

their operations-—-trapping and trading for furs, are
extended from’Laliforr.ia to the Pole. You are
doubtless aware of the long standing of .his company
—-its great wealth and extended operations over a
region of country but little known to any but them.
selves. _ .

The gentlemen of the company appear generally
intelligent, especially Mr. Mo-Lru,gh’in, who is the
acting Governor. Governor Simpson himself is at
present tHudson’s Boy. There is also residing
hcrca Mr. Douglass, a naturalist; but apprchcu ling
they might be a little jealous .-,~f impar.ing their hard
earned intelligence about this region of country, I
have not felt myself free to make many inquiries.

It is seven years since they comrne:-need an cstab.
lishmeut here, and having loundit very expensive to
furnish the number of persons they employ with
provisions from England, or elsewhere, they have
been induced to go quite extensively into agricul-
tural pursuits. Mr. Mcliaughlin, having obtained a
few cattle from California, has increased them to
about 400. He raised the last year about 1200
bushels ofwhsat, barley, peas, Indian corn, potatoes,
and garden vegetables.’ This year he is extending
his operations. Fruit trees have been planted;
among the T6:-l. the vine and the peach. They have
sheep and hogs. Their horses they obtain from the
Indians. The pursuit of agriculture seems to pros.
per well in. their hands, though begun with dillicul.
ty. Mr. McLaughlin eiiooiiraged a few men (some
of whom came out here. with Mr. Astor-’s concern)
to settle on the Multnomah, where, as 1 said, I in-
tend also to settle.‘ He has liberally engaged to
lead me a plough, an mic, oxen, cow, &.c.

Idrobrzlile Di_fl~’dsion of .Oria'ina.l Population.-—Eve

2.

.

traditions, language, and occupancc of the different
races at the present day. Sir William Jonés found
only three great original languages to exist--A»m1;ic_
Sclavonic, and Sanscrit; and these three all issue
from one point, Central Asia, whence, by consent
of the most ancient records and traditions of the
great primeval nations, their original ancestors
spread.~—[Howi us History of Priestcram]

 

Ma/;’s Body a Moo/rinc.—-Now grant that man’;
body is a machine, where are the points of réaist.

-..:Il(.‘.8? are they not in the ground he stands upon?

This leads us to inquire by what property we stand.
is Itby the weight of the body, or, in other words,
is it by the attraction of the earth? The terms at.
traction, or gravitation, lead at once to the philoso.
phy of the que-lion.‘ We stand because the body
has weight, and a resistance. in proportion to the
matterof the animal iramc, and the magnitude or
the globe itself. VVe wait not at present to observe
the mljustrnem of the strength of the frame, the re.
sistancc of the bones, the elasticity of the joints,
and the power of the muscles to the weight of the
whole. Our attention is directed to the relations
which the frame has to the earth weare placed upon.
* '* 9" By such considerations we are led to con.
template the human body in its different’ relations.
The rmrgnitude of the earth determines the strength
of our bones, and the power of our muscles; so
must the depth ofthe srmosphere determine the con.
duct of our fluids, and the resistance of our blood
vessels; the common act ofbreathing, the transpire '
tion from the surfact-s, must bear relation to the
weight, moisture, and temperature of the medium
which surrounds us. '_

A moment's reflection on these facts proves to us,
that our body is formed with a just correspondence

ry system of heathen mythology had its origin in the

l

sion at Babel. There the whole. family of man was
collected in the descendants of Noah’s three sons,
Shem, Ham, and Japhct; and thence, atlhat time.
they were scattered abroad by the hand of God, over,
the world. Iaphet colonized the whole of Europe ;,
all those northern regions called Tartnry and Sihe-I

His son Gomer seems clearly to have been the father.
ofthosc who were originally called Gomerians; and.
oy slight variations, were afterwards termed Conizhi
rians, Uimmerians, Cymbri, Oumbri, Cambri, and:
Umbri; and, in later years,Cclts, Gauls, and Gaels.
These extended themselves over theregions north:
of Armenia and Ilactriana; thence over nearly all
Europe, and firs: planted Britain and Ireland. Ma-_l
gag, Tubal, and Mssech, as we learn from Ezekiel,
dwelt fin" to the north of Judas, and became the an...
cestors ofthe Sclavonic or Sarmatian families; the‘
name of Magog still existing under the appeilations
of Mogli, Mongulu, and Mongolians; those oi"Tn.bal'
and lvlesoch, in Tobolslti,’ Moschici, and Moscow
and Moscovites: Madai was father of the Modes,
and Jay-an of the original inhabitants of Greece,
where we may trace the names of his sons Elishzrh,
Taralnsh, Kittim, and Dodanim, in Elia, Tarsus,
Cittium, and Dodona. The posterity of Shem were
confined to Southern Asia; founding by his sons
Elam, or Persia, Aahur, or Assyria, a province of
Iran, or Great Assyrian empire of Nimrod, whose
son Cush appears to have subdued these descendants
of Shem. Arphaxad became the father -of the He.
brews and other kindred nations ; his descendant
Peleg founded Eabylonia ; and Joktan, stretching
far towards the east, probably became the father of
the Hindoos. Ophir, one of the sons of Joktan, is
often mentioned in the Scripture as dwelling in a
land of gold, to which voyages were made by ships
issuing from the Red Sea. and‘ sailing eastward ; but
Elam and Cush occupied the whole sea coast of Per.
sia, as far as the Indus. This, therefore. brings us
to the great peninsula. of Hindustan for the seat of
Ophir. laid, the fourth son of Shem, is presumed
to be the founder of Lydia; and Arum, the fifth,
the father of Mesopotamia and Syria. Ham was at
first mixed with Shem throughout Southern Asia”
and became the sole occupant of Africa. Of hlsl
sons, _Cusi1 became the founder of Iran, or. Central
Asia, the great Assyrian empire, and the progeni.
tor of all those called Cushitn, Cashes, Curbs. Goths,
Scythe, Scots, or Gziuls, El/liirairn peopled Egypt;
Phut, the western frontier of Egypt, and thence
passing west and south, spread over the greater part
of Africa; and Canaan. it. is well known, peopled
the tract niterwarcls inhabited byths lsmelites.-~
Thus, it is said, was the world peopled; and that
itwas thus peopled, we learn not only from Moses,
but from profane writers ; and find both accounts

to all these external inilue-nces.-—[Sir C. Bell's

"corruption of patriarchial worship before the diaper Bricigcwatcr Treatise on the Hand.]

Love of Life.-w—Ths‘re is an indescribable. some.
thing that ties us to life, For thispurpose it is not
giecessary that we should be happy. Though our
life be almost without enjoyment, we do not consent
to part,with it. lvithout going to the yxtremei of

 

l

iris; and, in process of time, by the easy passage ofiylldazcenas, who said, ‘though my hand, my foot,
1Belmng’s Straits, the entire continent of Amcritza."

my hip, should refuse to do their functions, though
’I should have a mountain on my back, and my teeth
be loosed in their soclmts, nay, nail me, if you will,
upon a cross, still Idesire to live :” without this,
there is nevertheless a sentiment that stirs within us,
that produces an undofinable aversion to the thought
of ceasing to be, “ to lie in cold oblivion and to rot."
It was this that inspired Robinson Crusoe, or who.
ever was his actual prototype, and every shipwreclt.
ed mariner,‘ when he has found himself thrown on 8.
coast without human inhabitants. It is a dreary
thing to he cut off lrotn the society of fellows and
the accommodations of civilized life. ‘We should
almost expect anindividual so circumstanced, to
climb a neighboring promontory, and cast himself
back info the eleinent from which he had been res.
cued. But it is not so. He loolts round, and begins
to collect‘. the fragments and broken planks of the
vessel irrwhich he had been embarked. He is like
the wretch who watches a dying flame. He gathers
together every combustible material that offers it.
self to his view‘, that he may detain the celestial vi.
siter. He caste about and consider: how he may
supply himself with nourishment and shelter. He
meditates persvverizzgly, and counts up all his re.
sources. H shrinks from no labor. He in ‘appalled
by no privas ons. Life, life is the inexplicable thing
we cling to ; and however we may pretend to hold
it cheap and to brave death when at :2 distance, we
all of us, withivery few exceptions, and those aria.
ing from a prcternatural tension, verify the apoph.
iliegrn of the Scripture, “Skin for skin, yes, all
that a man hath will he give for hialife.” The mind
of man bends itselfaftera abort struggle to the yoke
of necessity- “Things without all remedy,” are
found to be “ without regard.” We shut ourselves
up within the compass of possibilities, and become
reconciled to what cannot be avoided. There are
indulgcnces without _which a man thinks. he cannot
live ; there are benefits that seem to constitute the
core and soul of our existence; but, when these can
no longer be had, we make the best of what is still
w" hin our rcach.-[Godwiu’s Deloraim}

Sensibilizfy of fire 8'/l-in.-—Thio fuller the consider.
ation which we give to this subject, the more con.
vincing are the proofs that lite painful sensibility of
the skin is a benevolent provision, making us alive
to these injuries which, but for this quality of the
nervous system, would bruise and destroy the intern-
al and vital parts. In pursuing the inquiry. W°‘l9l-“'11

confirmed by abundant evidence‘ in. tha mamas,

with much interest that when the. bones, joints, and