and many years ago was the scene of a desperate conflict between the Pottawattomies, and one band of the Illinois Indians. The latter fled to this place for refuge from the fury of their enemies. The post could | not be carried by assault, and tradition says that the besieged let down vessels attached to ropes of bark, from a part of the precipice which overhangs the river, but their enemies succeded in cutting off these ropes as often as they were let down. The consequence was a surrender, which was followed by a total extirpation of the band.*

On gaining the top of this rock, we found, says Schoolcraft, a regular entrenchment, corresponding to the edge of the precipice, and within this other excavations, which, from the thick growth of brush and trees, could not be satisfactorily examined. The labor of many hands was manifest, and a degree of industry which the Indians have not usually bestowed upon works of defence. We found upon this elevation broken muscle shells, fragments of antique pottery, and stones which had been subject to the action of heat, resembling certain lavas.

wanderings in these interminable passages (for such in their fatigue of body and mind they deemed them) seemed to be endless. Their alarm was very great, and their patience already exhausted, when the headmost of the party cried out, that he could discern the light at the exit of the passage, at a considerable distance ahead, but that he could advance no further, and that in his efforts to press on, in hopes to surmount the obstacle without complaining, he had squeezed himself so far into the reduced opening, that he had now no longer sufficient strength even to recede! The situation of the whole party may be imagined: their terror was beyond the power of direction or advice; while the wretched leader, whether from terror, or the natural effect of his situation, swelled so that, if it was before difficult, it was now impossible for him to stir from the spot he thus miserably occupied. One of the party, at this dreadful and critical moment, proposed, in the intense selfishness to which the feeling of vital danger reduces all, as the only means of escape from this horrible confinement,-this living grave,-to cut in pieces the wretched being who formed the obstruction, and clear it by dragging the dismembered carcass piecemeal past them! He heard this dreadful proposal, and con

tive size.

"How fearful

And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eye so low!

The crows and choughs, that wing the midway air,
Show scarce so gross as beetles."

The soil which results from the gradual disintegration of this rock, is nearly a pure sand. On descending, we found the prickly pear (cactus) covering a considerable portion of this soil, where scarcely any other plant is hardy enough to vegetate.

Of the height of this cliff, the estimate which we have given is merely conjectural. The effect upon the observer is striking and imposing. But we are disposed to think the effect of loftiness produced by objects of this nature is not so much the result of the actual, as of the comparative height. We have often felt, as we have on the present occasion, an impression of grandeur produced by a solitary precipice two or three hundred feet high, rising abruptly above a flat alluvial country or lake, more striking and imposing than at other times in traversing a region more elevated, and where "Alps on Alps arise." In the latter case, the eye constantly measures one elevation by another; in the former we have no standard of this kind, and hence undoubtedly Philosophically considered, the height of prominent points of a country is estimated above the level of the nearest sea. But the effect produced on the eye or the imagination begins to be felt only from that part of a mountain where it first makes a striking angle with the plain. The annexed view of this modern Oxus is taken from a position on the opposite side of the river, directly in front of the most precipitous face

overrate.

of the rock.

* Charlevoix.

A SCENE OF EXTREME HORROR IN THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT.

SOME French travellers attempting to explore the vaults of the Egyptian Pyramids, and had already traversed an extensive labyrinth of chambers and passages; they were on their return, and had arrived at the most difficult part of it,―a very long and winding passage, forming a communication between two chambers; its opening narrow and low. The ruggedness of the floor, sides, and roof, rendered their progress slow and laborious, and these difficulties increased rapidly as they advanced. The torch with which they had entered became useless, from the impossibility of holding it upright, as the passage diminished its height. Both its height and width at length, however, became so much contracted, that the party were compelled to crawl on their bellies. Their

reduced by a strong muscular spasm to his usual dimensions, and was dragged out, affording room for the party to squeeze themselves by over his prostrate body. This unhappy creature was suffocated in the effort, and was left behind a corpse.-Cabinet of Curiosities.

A SENSIBLE HORSE.

We do not think the records of Instinct ever con

tained a more extraordinary instance than we are now about to relate, and for the truth whereof we pledge ourselves. the parish of Ashelworth, in Gloucestershire, on his reA few days since, Mr. J. Lane of Fascombe, in turn home, turned his horse into a field in which it had horse had been shod, all-fours, but unluckily had been been accustomed to graze. A few days before this, the pinched in the shoeing of one foot. In the morning Mr. Lane missed the horse, and caused an active search to be made in the vicinity, when the following singular circumstances transpired:-The animal, as it may be supposed, feeling lame, made his way out of the field by the same farrier's shop, a distance of a mile and a half; unhanging the gate with his mouth, and went straight to which had evidently been standing there some time, adthe farrier had no sooner opened his shed, than the horse, vanced to the forge and held up the ailing foot. The farrier instantly began to examine the hoof, discovered fully-on which the horse immediately turned about, and the injury, took off the shoe, and replaced it more careset off at a merry pace for his well-known pasture.Whilst Mr. Lane's servants were on the search, they chanced to pass by the forge, and on mentioning their supposed loss, the farrier replied, "Oh, he has been here, and shod, and gone home again!!" which on their returning they found to be actually the case.-Ib.

THE POISONED VALLEY OF JAVA. It is known by the name of Guevo Upas, or poisoned Valley; and following a path which had been made for the purpose, the party shortly reached it with a couple of dogs and some fowls, for the purpose of making some experiments. On arriving at the mountain, the party dismounted, and scrambled up the side of the hill, a distance of a quarter of a mile, with the assistance of the branches of trees and projecting roots.

When a few yards from the valley, a strong, nauseous, and suffocating smell was experienced; but on approaching the margin, this inconvenience was no longer found. The valley is about half a mile in circumference, of an oval shape, and about thirty feet in length. The bottom of it appeared to be flat, without any vegetation, and a

the party, and went to his companion; on reaching him he was observed to stand quite motionless, and at the end of ten seconds fell down; he never moved his limbs after, and lived only seven minutes. A fowl was now thrown in, which died in a minute and a half, and another which was thrown in after, died in the space of a minute and a half. A heavy shower fell during the time that these experiments were going forward, which, from the interesting nature of the experiments, was quite disregarded. On the opposite side of the valley to that which was visited, lay a human skeleton, the head resting on the right arm. The effect of the weather had bleached the bones as white as ivory. This was probably the remains of some wretched rebel, hunted towards the valley, and taking shelter there unconscious of its character.-Jamaica Watchman.

At the distance of five versts to the North of Kherson, stands the original monument of the prince of Christian philanthropists, the illustrious Howard, who, after travelling fifty thousand British miles, to investigate and relieve the sufferings of humanity, fell a victim, near this place, to his unremitting exertions in this benevolent cause. It is situate a little east of the public road leading from Nikslaief to Kherson, near the southern bank of a small stream, which here diffuses a partial verdure across the steppe.† On the opposite bank are a few straggling and ruinous huts, and close by is a large garden, sheltered by fine lofty trees which have been planted to beautify the villa once connected with it, but now no more. The spot itself is sandy, with a scanty sprinkling of vegetation, and is only distinguishable from the rest of the steppe by two brick pyramids, and a few graves in which the neighboring peasantry have interred their dead-attracted, no doubt, by the report of the singular worth of the foreign friend whose ashes are here deposited. One of the pyramids

* A verst is about one mile and a half English

other over the grave of a French gentleman who revered his memory, and wished to be buried by his side.

The genuine humility of Howard prompted him to choose this sequestered spot, and it was his anxious desire that neither monument nor inscription, but simply a sun dial, should be placed over his grave. This cenotaph is erected at a short distance from the Russian cemetery, and close to the public road. It is built of a compact white freestone, found at some distance, and is about thirty feet in height, surrounded by a wall of the same stone, seven feet high, by two hundred in circumference. Within this wall, in which is a beautiful cast iron gate, a fine row of Lombardy poplars has been planted, which, when fully grown, will greatly adorn the monument. On the pedestal is a Russian inscription of the following purport:

Died, Jan. 28, 1790, aged 65, HowARD.

The sun dial is represented near the summit of the pillar, but with this remarkable circumstance--that the only divisions of time it exhibits are the hours from X to II, as if to intimate that a considerable portion of the morning of life is past ere we enter on the discharge of its active duties, and that, with many, the performance of them is closed, even at an early hour after the meri

destitute of inhabitants.

[From the Atlantic Souvenir for 1827.]

BIRD of the broad and sweeping wing,
Thy home is high in heaven,
Where wide the storms their banners fling,
And the tempest clouds are driven.
Thy throne is on the mountain top;
Thy fields, the boundless air;
And hoary peaks, that proudly prop
The skies, thy dwellings are.

Thou sittest like a thing of light
Amid the noontide blaze:

The midway sun is clear and bright;

It cannot dim thy gaze.

Thy pinions, to the rushing blast,
O'er the bursting billow spread,
Where the vessel plunges, hurry past,
Like an angel of the dead.

Thou art perched aloft on the beetling crag,
And the waves are white below,
And on, with a haste that cannot lag,
They rush in an endless flow.

Again thou hast plumed thy wing for flight
To lands beyond the sea,

And away, like a spirit wreathed in light, Thou hurriest, wild and free.

Thou hurriest over the myriad waves,
And thou leavest them all behind;

Thou sweepest that place of unknown graves,
Fleet as the tempest wind.

When the night storm gathers dim and dark,
With a shrill and boding scream,

Thou rushest by the foundering bark
Quick as a passing dream.

Lord of the boundless realm of air,
In thy imperial name

The hearts of the bold and ardent dare
The dangerous path of fame.
Beneath the shade of thy golden wings,
The Roman legions bore,

From the river of Egypt's cloudy springs,
Their pride to the polar shore.

For thee they fought, for thee they fell,
And their oath was on thee laid;

To thee the clarions raised their swell,
And the dying warrior prayed.

Thou wert, through an age of death and fears,
The image of pride and power,

Till the gathered rage of a thousand years
Burst forth in one awful hour.

And then a deluge of wrath it came,

And the nations shook with dread;

And it swept the earth till its fields were flame, And piled with the mingled dead.

Kings were rolled in the wasteful flood,

With the low and crouching slave;

And together lay, in a shroud of blood,
The coward and the brave.

And where was then thy fearless flight?
"O'er the dark, mysterious sea,

To the lands that caught the setting light,
The cradle of Liberty.

There, on the silent and lonely shore,

For ages, I watched alone,

And the world in its darkness asked no more

Where the glorious bird had flown.

But then came a bold and hardy few,
And they breasted the unknown wave;

I caught afar the wandering crew,
And I knew they were high and brave.

I wheeled around the welcome bark,
As it sought the desolate shore,
And up to heaven, like a joyous lark,
My quivering pinions bore.

And now that bold and hardy few

Are a nation wide and strong;

And danger and doubt I have led them through, And they worship me in song;

And over their bright and glancing arms,

On field, and lake, and sea,

With an eye that fires, and a spell that charms, I guide them to victory."

ITEMS OF NEWS.

The fleet of Don Miguel has been captured by that of Don Pedro, and consequently we may now soon expect something decisive on land.

A law of Virginia allows the retailing of spirituous liquors at proper places in the different counties. The magistrates of one of the counties have decided that there are no such places within their jurisdiction.

Col. R. M. Johnson has been re-elected to Congress from Ken tucky. He has lately lost ten of his family by the cholera.

The amount of coal delivered from the Schuylkill Company during the week ending the 17th inst. was 152,903 tons.

The amount of the canal tolls accruing from the various canals in this State during the last month was $147,899 33, exceeding by $42,282 02 the receipts in the same month last year.

In Alabama, Gov. Gayle has been re-elected, and John Murphy chosen to Congress.

Joseph L. Frothingham, a student of the Oneida Institute, who was supposed to have been robbed and murdered last April in or near Utica, has been heard from. Severe study had impaired his reason; he supposed that he was flying from a volcanic mountain that had suddenly erupted at his side. He passed through Montreal, and shipped at Quebec for Liverpool. He recovered his reason at sea, and has advised his friends of his safety in a letter from Liverpool.

The great law case between the Orthodox and the Hicksite Friends in New Jersey, has terminated in favor of the former. Lieut. T. R. Gedney, of the United States Navy, has invented an improved method of raising vessels upon an inclined single rail-way, for the purpose of cleansing their bottoms, repairing,

&c.

CAUTION TO THE PUBLIC.

THE public are cautioned against purchasing a note signed by the Editor and endorsed by G. V. H. Forbes, amounting to One Hundred Dollars. Said note was intended for discount at the Brooklyn Bank; but inasmuch as it has not been discounted there, and has not been returned, and no clue can be obtained whereby it can be found, the Editor has reason to suspect that some fraud is in the wind. Said note was due to no one, but ran payable to the endorser, after the usual mode of drawing notes intended for discount. This is therefore to give timely notice, that the public may be on their guard against purchasing it, and that the holder, whoever he may be, may be induced to look to the matter without delay.

LOCAL AGENTS.

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Editor of the Germantown Telegraph, Germantown, Pa. D. A. M'Farlan, Plymouth, Wayne Co. M. T.

John A. Weed, Norwalk, Ct.

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