and if this should be departed from, the scythe and the sickle will be laid down in the midst of harvest. There is a class of men throughout the Western country called "merchants," who, in the summer and autumn months, collect flour, butter, cheese, pork, beef, whiskey, and every species of farming produce, which they send in flats and keel-boats to the New Orleans market. The demand created by this trade, added to a large domestic consumption, insures the most remote farmer a certain market. Some of these

speculators have made large fortunes.

The

In the coal hills the mineral is found in a horizontal position. It is worked by adits or openings into the side of the hills, which draw off the water. stream being boarded over, the coal is wheeled out in barrows, and tripped from an over-hanging stage into one-horse waggons. The waggons are without wheels, and the horses, if blind, are preferred, the hills being so steep, that in case of the least start, nothing can save them from destruction. Labourers earn in the coal excavations, 31s. 6d. to 40s. 6d. per week.

The smoke at Pittsburg is extreme, giving to the town and its inhabitants a very sombre aspect-but it has been asserted by a medical gentleman, who had resided there some years, that there is not a more healthy place in the United States. There is of doctors, as of lawyers, too large a supply, and, of course, many of them very inefficient. A physician here is also a surgeon-prepares his own medicines, and practises in every department of the profession : generally, they are neither so well educated, nor in such respectable circumstances, as the medical men of England.

The nail, steam-engine (high-pressure,) and glass establishments, may be denominated first-rates here.

At Messers. Page and Bakewell's glass warehouse, chandeliers, and numerous articles in cut-glass, of a

very splendid description, were seen; among the latter was a pair of decanters, cut from a London pattern, price eight guineas. The demand for these articles of luxury lies in the Western States, the inhabitants of eastern America being still importers from the "Old Country." Not thirty years since, the whole right bank of the Ohio was termed the "Indian side." Spots in Tennessee, in Ohio, and Kentucky, that, within the life-time of even young men, witnessed only the arrow and the scalping-knife, now present to the traveller articles of elegance and modes of luxury, which might rival the displays of London and Paris; while, within the last half century, the beasts of the forest, and men more savage than the beasts, were the only inhabitants of the whole of that immense tract, peculiarly denominated the "Western Country," which is now partially inhabited by civilizerl men, possessed of the arts and the pursuits of civilized life. It is already the refuge of the oppressed from every other nation."

Having purchased horses, the party proceeded through the state of Ohio, towards Cincinnati. In Rose County are large prairies, from four to eight miles square; in them there is not a shrub to be seen. They produce a grass growing thick, and about four feet high, which makes excellent fodder. It is similar to Massachusetts upland grass, and is there called English hay. These prairies are filled with herds of cattle, fattening for the Baltimore and Philadelphia markets, which are sold in this state, on the hoof, for about three dollars per cwt. The chief expense of pasturage consists in a man's wages to look after the herds, twice a week giving them salt, &c.

The principal towns are situated on the banks of the river. There are no canals, and indeed not much occasion for them, the whole state abounding with rivers and creeks, which empty themselves into the Ohio river; produce is conveyed with little cx

pense by this means during the freshets or rise of the waters. Throughout this state there is but little under or brush-wood, caused, it is supposed, by the Leight and spreading tops of the trees, which prevent the sun penetrating to the ground, and nourishing inferior articles of vegetation. Wood for firing is sold in the towns from 1 to 3 dollars per cord, equal in consumption to half a chaldron of coals.

With regard to seasons, they are said to have severe winters of from three to four months, with a keen dry air, and cloudless sky; during summer, excessive heat.

Of the existence of minerals, and to what extent and variety, at present but little is known. Judging from the beds of the rivers, and the quality of the water, it is presumed coal must be abundant. Salt is found in several situations, particularly on the Kenhawey. The wild animals are neither numerous nor troublesome; though the wolf and the squirrel are still depredators: but the sport afforded in capturing them, and the addition which the flesh of the latter makes to the family stock of provisions, compensate for their lawless invasions of the rights of property.

Land is sometimes partially cleared by what is rather ludicrously termed a frolic. A man having purchased a quarter or half section, for the purpose of settling-down, his neighbours assemble upon an appointed day one cuts the trees; a second lops them; a third drags them to the spot upon which a log mansion is to be erected; others cross the logs, roof the habitation, and in three days the emigrant has “a house over his head :"-thus ends the American frolic. The raising of food is the next point with the new settler. In this he must rely upon his own resources. If he be strong-handed (has property) he has the trees felled about one foot from the earth, dragged into heaps, and made into an immense bonfire. Should he be weak-handed (poor) he is compelled to be con

tent with what is termed girdling; which consists in cutting the bark, thereby, of course, killing the trees; and he afterwards clears away the underwood, which is seldom considerable. These preliminary operations being effected, according to either mode, grain is sown, and the produce reaped with a fruitfulness of production, and a dexterity truly extraordinary, considering that these operations are carried on amidst stumps (that last from eight to twelve years) and stones, and surrounded by entire trees. The beauty of an Indian corn crop cannot be exceeded. When cut and carried home, the neighbours assemble to assist in husking: this is called a husking frolic. In some parts of the country the term frolic admits of a different application,-the religious females present the minister with a variety of gifts, each according to their taste or means: some send a coat, others a hat, and some a goose. They are invited to the preacher's house, to partake of a supper, as a return for their liberality; this is termed a knitting frolic. Very little agricultural labour is performed by women. The slender means of many settlers, not enabling them to purchase British goods at the high price at which they are sold, the females are therefore chiefly employed in making articles of domestic clothing.

Mr. Fearon divides the interior population into three classes-First, The squatter, who "sets himself down" upon land which is not his own, and for which he pays nothing, cultivates a sufficient extent to supply himself and family with the necessaries of life, remains until he is dissatisfied with his choicehas realized a sufficiency to become a landowner-or is expelled by the real proprietor. Second, The small farmer who has recently emigrated, with barely sufficient to pay the first instalment for his 80 or 160 acres of two-dollar land, cultivates, or what he calls, improves, ten to thirty acres, raises a sufficient "feed" for his family; has the females of it employed in

making or patching the wretched clothing of the whole domestic circle; is in a condition which, if compelled by legislative acts, or by external force to endure, would be considered truly wretched; but from his being his own master, having made his own choice, from the having no one to make him afraid," joined with the consciousness that, though slowly, he is regularly advancing towards wealth, the breath of complaint is seldom heard to escape from his lips.

The management of farms is far behind that of England. Cows are milked sometimes twice, sometimes once a day; at others, four times a week. Barns are erections which can hardly be known by that name; and which, no doubt, deteriorate materially the annual receipts.

Many persons in this state have people of colour which they call their property, in violation of the spirit of the Ohio constitution. They purchase blacks, and have them as apprentices; and some are so base as to take these negroes down the river, when their time is nearly out, and sell them at Nachez for life. Yet the first article of the Ohio constitution is, ALL MEN are born equally free and independent.

It is usual for a number of persons, or even for individuals, who have no business on land, to pass down the Ohio in "arks," of which hundreds are on the river, and may be had of various sizes suitable to the company. They are long floating rooms, built on a flat bottom, with rough boards, and arranged within for sleeping and other accommodations. You hire boatmen and lay in provisions, and on your arrival at the destined port, sell your vessel as well as you can, possibly at half cost. On the whole, when the navigation is good, this is pleasant and cheap travelling. Pittsburg is a cheap market for horses. The mode of selling is by auction. The auctioneer rides the animal through the streets, proclaiming with a loud voice, the biddings that are made as he passes along,