in a state of dissolution. During the shock, the river had been much agitated, and the men became anxious to go ashore: my opinion was, that we were much more safe on the river; but finding that they laid down their oars, and seemed determined to quit the boat for the present, we looked out for a part of the river where we might moor it in security, and having found one, we stopped during the remainder of the day.

"At three o'clock, another canoe passed us adrift on the river. We did not experience any more shocks until the morning of the 17th, when two occurred; one about five, and the other about seven o'clock. We continued our voyage, and about twelve this day had a severe shock, of very long duration. About four o'clock came in sight of a log-house, a little above the Lower Chickasaw bluffs. More than twenty people came out as soon as they discovered us, and when within hearing, earnestly entreated us to come ashore. I I found them almost distracted with fear, and that they were composed of several families, who had collected in order that they might pray together. On entering the house, I saw a bible lying open on the table. They informed me that the greatest part of the inhabitants in the neighbourhood had fled to the hills, on the opposite side of the river, for safety; and that during the shock, about sun-rise on the 16th, a chasm had opened on the sand bar opposite the bluffs below, and on closing again, had thrown the water to the height of a tall tree. They also affirmed that the earth opened in several places back from the

river. One of the men, who appeared to be considered as possessing more knowledge than the rest, entered into an explanation of the cause, and attributed it to the comet that had appeared a few months before, which he described as having two horns, over one of which the earth had rolled, and was now lodged betwixt them: that the shocks were occasioned by the attempts made by the earth to surmount the other horn. If this should be accomplished, all would be well, if otherwise, inevitable destruction to the world would follow. Finding him confident in his hypothesis, and myself unable to refute it, I did not dispute the point, and we went on about a mile further. Only one shock occurred this night, at half past seven o'clock. On the morning of the 18th, two shocks, one betwixt three and four o'clock, and the other at six. At noon, a violent one, of very long duration, which threw a great number of trees into the river within our view. In the evening, two slight shocks, one at six, the other at nine o'clock.

"19th. We arrived at the mouth of the river St. Francis, and had only one shock, which happened at eleven at night.

"20th. Detained by fog, and experienced only two shocks, one at five, the other at seven in the evening.

"21st. Awakened by a shock at half-past four o'clock: this was the last, and not very violent, but lasted for nearly a minute."

Description of the Missouri territory." It is necessary to observe, that Upper Louisiana was settled from Canada, not by way

of

of Orleans, but by proceeding along the Lakes, and descending the Illinois or Miami rivers, and may be considered as a distinct colony, the history of which, so far as may be gathered from themselves, does not present those horrid examples of treachery and in justice to the Indians, which will for ever digrace the memory of r those who first formed the lower settlement. The consequence has been, that although individual acts of injustice or aggression, committed against the Indians, have met with due and appropriate punishment, yet no general act has been committed of a nature so atrocious as to provoke general extermination; a thing extremely easy to have been effected by the Indians in the early part of the settlement, as there were several powerful tribes in their vicinity. The inhabitants of Kaskaskias say that it was coeval with Philadelphia, and the common term for Vincennes, (Old Post) shows that it must have been one of the first settlements, if not the first. Both these are on the east side of the Mississippi, as also are Cahokia and the small settlement of Prairie du Roche. Besides these four, on the west side, there were five villages originally settled, each of which, besides its proper name, has a nick-name given to it. St. Genevieve is Misère; Carondolet, Vuide Poche; St. Louis, Pain Court; St. Ferdinand, Florissante; and St. Charles, Petit Cote. These nine villages were scattered some more than 100 miles distant from each other, and no two of them were so situated as to be capable of rendering mutual aid, in case of attack from the Indians, and for

more than sixty years five of them existed, isolated in a wilderness, 600 miles at least from any other white settlers.

The villages were regularly laid out in squares of 300 feet on each side, the houses standing towards the streets, and the interior of the area composed of gardens and orchards. To each of these villages was appropriated a large space of ground, and fenced in the form of a parallelogram. In this space allotments are laid out, correspondent in number and relative magnitude with the town lots. These allotments extend the whole length of the field; but their magnitude is determined by the breadth, which is marked on one of the fences, being once, or once and a half, or twice, &c. the length of the side of a square arpent of land. In the common field belonging to Carondolet, these narrow stripes are more than a mile and a half in length. Besides the appropriation of land for cultivation, an extensive tract was laid out for each town as a forest, or demesne, from which each individual cuts what wood he thinks proper. All these appropriations have been ratified by the commissioners appointed by the government of the United States, since the cession of Louisiana, to examine into claims. The French, who are the descendants of the first settlers, are very indolent, and so much attached to the manners of their ancestors, and even their practices in husbandry, that although they see their American neighbours, by the application of improved implements and methods, able to cultivate double the quantity of ground in the same time, nothing can induce them to

abandon

abandon their old practices and if any one attempts to reason with them on the subject, their constant reply is, 'As it was good enough for our forefathers, it is good enough for us; whence it appears that even veneration for ancestry may become an evil. They cultivate maize, wheat, oats, barley, beans, (phaseolus) pumpkins, water and musk melons, and tobacco and cotton for their own use. Apples and peaches are very fine; the former abundant, and do not require to be engrafted. They pay great attention to gardening, and have a good assortment of roots and vegetables. Notwithstanding their want of industry, there is an appearance of comfort and independence in their villages, as, from the richness of the soil, and fineness of the climate, the labours attendant on agriculture, and attention necessary to their cattle, are comparatively trivial. They have abundance of horses, cows, and hogs, all which run at large on the prairies, as they have no inclosures but for the purpose of agriculture. They mow a little grass on the prairie, which they make into hay, and give it to their horses and cattle when the ground is covered with snow at other times they leave them to provide for themselves. The hogs sustain themselves on strawberries, hazle nuts, hickory nuts, acorns, and roots; and must be occasionally sought for in the woods, to prevent them from becoming entirely wild. On these occasions, the proprietor fills his saddle bags with the ears of Indian corn, with which he mounts his horse, generally with his rifle on his shoulder. If he finds them

within three or four miles of his house, he thinks himself fortunate; but it sometimes happens that he is two days in hunting them up,' as they term it. When he finds them, he throws down an ear of corn, which they devour, and he rides gently towards home, with the whole herd screaming after him. When they are almost inclined to give up the chase, he throws down another ear, which practice he continues until he brings them into his yard, where he shuts them up, and feeds them. Here they remain until the morning when he again feeds them, marks the young pigs, sets them at liberty, and probably does not see them again for a fortnight or three weeks. That each planter may identify his own hogs, he marks them in the ear, and in each township an office is established, in which these marks are registered; they are either holes or slits, or both, differently arranged; so that no two marks are alike; and it is against the laws of the territory to expose the carcase of a hog for sale without having the ears upon it.

"St. Louis, the capital of this territory, is very pleasantly situated on the Mississippi, about eighteen miles below the mouth of the Missouri, in latitude 38° 5' and longitude 89° 55′ W. It has a decided advantage over any of the other towns, on account of its being situated on a rock, but little elevated above the high floods of the river, and immediately on its border. Such situations are very rare, as the Mississippi is almost universally bounded either by high perpendicular rocks or loose alluvial soil, the latter of which is in continual

continual danger of being washed away by the annual floods, to such an extent, that a whole plantation, situated on the border of the river, has been known to have been swept away during one flood. Fort Chartres, erected at a vast expense by the French government on the border of the river, prior to the cession of Louisiana in 1763, is now almost entirely swept away. The fur trade of the Mississippi and the Missouri, together with that of the tributary streams, almost wholly centers in this town; and after the return of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke from the Pacific Ocean, a fur company was formed for the purpose of trading with the nations on the head waters of the Missouri, which, from a variety of untoward events, but principally from the hostile and bloody disposition of the Indians, has miscarried."

weather. The sledges are brought out, the horses harnessed, and all the world, before sluggish and inactive, at once is set in motion. Figures innumerable are seen gliding over the white carpet of snow, with a pace so quick and yet so silent, that it appears to a stranger as an exhibition of enchantment. The cart of the peasant, the carriage of the noble, shoot by as swift as lightning: you hear nothing but the safety bell, which tinkles in your ear as it passes, and declines in the distance, before you have yet well recognized its sound. The gladdening ray of a bright sun, and a sky perpetually serene, lend so pleasing a variety of colours to the view as to render a picture of Stockholm, in the month of November, one of the liveliest prospects in nature.

The gay season now commences, as the chief families arrive from the country to winter in the metropolis. Early hours are still preserved here in spite of French fashions, and a dinner at two o'clock, or a profuse supper at ten, are the usual offers of Swedish hospitality: but neither are the private parties frequent, or yet the public amusements very numerous. An Italian opera-house, and a small Swedish theatre, alone, were open during our stay: for the company of French comedians, who had lately attracted so much notice, had been dismissed, by order of the Crown Prince. There were, however, several clubs and institutions. The first of these, the Society, or Selskapet, was regulated on a plan similar to that of a club in London. The others were lodges, that held assemblies

and

and balls at stated times; the Amaranth, the Innocence, the Narcissus, &c. The Amaranth is by far the most fashionable, and the best attended, and includes several associated establishments in the larger towns of Sweden. There was formerly an order of knighthood, instituted by Queen Christina, under this title, to perpetuate the memory of her lover, Pontus de la Gardie; but having afterwards fallen into disuse, it was nominally revived in this spurious shape about 70 years since by a private association.

The ceremonials of inauguration are conducted with all the due forms of chivalry. On the ballot for a new member being declared, the elect is introduced by a lady, and a procession arrayed to the strains of solemn music: when this is concluded, she decorates him with the ribbon and insignia of the Amaranth, and he receives on his shoulder the sword of the president, who is usually one of the first officers of the state. The grand cordons, and grand crosses and collars, are distributed in profusion-mock honours, that give, nevertheless, a strikingly gay air to the whole assembly. In the midst (not the least conspicuous) shone the Marechalls of a late noble marriage, wearing, in similar knightly guise, the garters of the bride; which, according to custom, are the prize of those who light the bridegroom to his chamber on the nuptial night. But ceremonious decorations, so universal on the continent in general, are objects of a nature particularly captivating to the ostentatious mind of a Swede. At a meeting even of this description the full

dress is ordinarily worn by all that are entitled to it; and exceptions can only be few, when the members of every rank and profession, from the highest civil officers of the crown to the Royal Academy of artists, have their distinctive and appropriate uniform. The citizens, too, have their regular gala habit; a Spanish cloak and hose of black, being the same in colour, and not differing much in shape from the common dress of the court. It is but fair to add that, among other accomplishments, the young of both sexes all dance extremely well, and in a style inferior perhaps only to the beau inonde of Paris.

Among the lower classes the first indication of the approach of winter gives them the hint to lay up their stock of eatables for the frozen market; the provisions lasting, in a congealed state, unhurt during the whole season. They next pile their stocks of wood for firing, and light up the stove of their wooden cabin, that is never suffered to grow cool, or even to undergo ventilation, from this day till the arrival of the genial month of May.

One of the most pleasing sights of this time was the return of the seamen, discharged for the winter, to their bostellars, or apportionments of land. We saw a division of hem on their march, carrying

eir families, with all their little store, in light Swedish waggons from the port to their homes: here they were housed, each with his hut and plot of ground, in separate ranges, according to the gradation of their respective ranks; the habitation of the commander

of