gens d'armest in vain were soldiers posted upon the top of the coaches, the robbers appeared in greaf numbers, and always gained the victory. At first, the robbers simply sought to make themselves masters of the public money, and took not the least thing from the passengers. They treated them, on the contrary, with the greatest civility, begged pardon for the delay, and very politely helped the ladies again into the conveyance. Only they who wished to offer opposition were ill-treated, and in several instances murdered,

But when the diligences carried with them the pub lic money no longer, the robbers began to plunder the travellers; and took from them, besides their money, their watches, rings, and snuff boxes, &c. But at the end, they always paid the usual day's expence of seven livres in which a due regard was paid to the route of every individual. In fact, never did rubbers display. such politeness and equity.

At this period, a number of anecdotes were related,, The robbers once stopped a courier, in whose company there was a traveller: the couriergave his fifteen louis without hesitation, but the other protested, he had only a few dollars by him. "Give us your boots, then," said they, and, at the same time, drawing them off, discovered a hundred louis therein. During this operation, one of them perceived on the clothes of the traveller a strong smell of musk.-" Ha! here is a fop," said their leader; "let him have the half, he will need it." And fifty lonis d'ors were actually repaid, and the robbers departed, laughing.

Another time, they stopped a diligence, in which were three gentlemen and a lady. The gentlemen were plundered according to custom; but when the lady's turn came-" what, gentlemen," said she, with the greatest presence of mind," will Frenchmen insult a woman?" "Certainly not, madam," was the reply; "we only wish to kiss you." They kept their word; and the lady escaped for half a dozen kisses. At a similar attack, a Swede was found in the diligence. When his turn came, he said, with the utmost_confidence and ease," I am a foreigner, gentlemen; I tra vel under the safeguard of French honour." They demanded his passport; and, finding it right, with

great politeness, said, “Get in, sir; you have nothing to pay." Another time, a Toulon merchant was in the diligence, who had with him a thousand livres in gold. When it was his turn, he handed the robbers a purse, containing two or three livres in small money, saying, in bis Gasconic accent-" Had you come a quarter of an hour sooner, there was a thousand louis d'ors therein.” His blustering and ludicrous accent made the honest folks laugh, and they let the " poor devil" go in peace. But of all, an Italian managed to get off the best; and, according to the national character most to his own advantage. He had sewed his money under his shoulders, but, at the same time, placed a large purse, to all appearance, full of louis d'ors, in his pocket. The diligence was stopped, and he delivered his purse, demanding the usual money allowed for the expence of the journey. "Certainly, that is under stood," was replied; " but will you have the goodness to take it in silver?" By this means. he obtained four-and-twenty dollars, and cheated the robbers: for the purse contained nothing but counters, the greatest value of which was ten or twelve livres.

to

The stratagems of many other travellers appear have been by no means ill-contrived. One for instance, concealed his gold in an apple; another, in a leaf; a third had hid it in a hollow stick; and a fourth fastened it under the belly of his spaniel.

Long were the robbers talked about; at last, nothing remained for us to do but to go quietly to bed: each in the mean time hastened to put his superfluous gold in his trunk; that is, no one kept more than two Carolines about him. Thus prepared, we all proceeded the following morning on our journey. But the dangerous places were past, and no trace was to be seen of the robbers.

Ramsbury, Wiltshire.

2

NOTES ON THE UNITED STATES.

BY AN AMERICAN.

Continued from page 168.

J.T.

Of the American soil it is impossible to speak justly, without being very minute. There is, perhaps, none

quite so bad as as the heaths of Brabant, Westphalia, and Lower Saxony. There is a great deal very good some fields unexhausted by the constant harvests of abcentury without manure. To speak, however, as nearly as may be iu general terms, if beginning where Hudson's river enters the sea, a line running south of Philadelphia along the falls of Susquehannah, Potomack, and Rapahanock be continued through North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, the lands east of it, are of indifferent quality, although there be many large tracts of excellent soil. West of this line to the mountains, the land is generally good but yet large tracts may be found which are bad. From New York to Boston the land between the mountains and the sea is rocky, and, in some places, the soil, generally fruitful, is meagre. There are fine valleys between the different ranges of mountains; and some of the mountains have excellent soil to the top. The great western valley from Quebec to New Orleans, is perhaps unequalled for extent and fertility. In ascending the St. Lawrence and descending the Alleghany and Ohio, the mountains on the left recede, and at length subside; those on the right lie at a vast distance beyond the western shore of the lakes. At the head of the St. Lawrence is that congeries of inland seas, whose wa ters, almost as transparent as air, preserve in this magnificent stream its constant fulness. Those lakes, of which Ontario, the last, and by no means the largest, presents a surface of more than five thousand square miles, are of such vast extent, that no supposable quantity of rain can make any important change. Moreover, all the rivers they receive would not supply in a year the waste by evaporation in a month. They are unquestionably fed by springs, and, as their sur face varies very little, so the supply of water which they pour into the St. Lawrence is constant. Many inconsiderable streams, which sometimes overflow and are at other times much reduced, flow into that river; but the amount of what they furnish is so small, compared with the volume from Lake Ontario, that in a space of fifty leagues from Cadaraqui to the mouth of Attawa river, the depth of water seldom varies a foot in a year. bolgantas 3d Hoda

F

The climate of this immense valley is uncommonly regular: fenced by a bot the ocean, its seasons are d rampart of mountains against the mutability

determined by the advance and recess of the sun; and, as causes must precede effects, the warmth of spring, in the latitude of forty-five, (which is the northern boundary of the United States,) is seldom completely established before the first of May; neither does the cold reign of winter commence until the middle or end of November. A well known fact deserves to be noted here. During the storm which on the 23d and 24th of August, 1806, made such dreadful ravage along the sea coast, from New Hampshire to Georgia, it was calm and pleasant beyond the first range of mountains. In going from St. Regis southwardly, up the river for forty miles, there is little change of latitude or climate; but there, having ascended the rapids, the influence of the lakes becomes perceptible. The winter is less cold, and the summer more mild. Keeping on, east of the lakes, for about five hundred miles, through eight degrees of longitude and three of latitude, the climate is nearly the same. All the fruits of a temperate climate flourish, and come to great perfection in the open air, except the peach, which has not yet suc ceeded, heyond the latitude of Niagara, but at that place it is abundant. After getting on further south, losing the influence of the lakes, the climate is governed by the latitude, till, at length, in the neighbourhood of New Orleans, are found the orange and sugar

to live by contrivance, will be greatly disappointed. The market is already overstocked with this last commodity. Labourers and mechanics cannot fail of suc cess, if they be sober, honest, industrious, and steady. But such men seldom emigrate. The idle and dissolute are better pleased than at home, because wages are high, and ardent spirits cheap; so that, with tolerable management, they can be drunk three days in the week. But this rogues' jubilee is almost over. The great demand for labour must cease with the war; and even while it lasts, it would be better for such fellows to enlist in Europe. They can be as idle, will enjoy better health, and may live longer; for rum and whiskey are as fatal as the gun and bayonet. We frequently see an old soldier, but an old soť is very rare.

The influence of exaggerated description has in nothing been greater than in what relates to the land of America. Those awful forests, which have shaded through untold ages a boundless extent; those streams, compared to which the rivers of Europe are but rills, streams, which, deep and smooth, meander many han dred leagues, through a soil wanting only the hand of culture to produce luxuriant abundance; those forests, streams, and plains, dazzled the eye of reason, and led the judgment astray. It should have been considered, that great labour must be applied to destroy the forest before it can yield a harvest. That harvest too must with labour be gathered and prepared for market. At length, embarked on the bosom of the flood, it must traverse extensive regions before it can be sold. It must pay, in freight, not only the expence of a voyage to the sea, but that of the boatmen on their return. Foreign articles, also, must bear a great charge of transportation; so that if the inhabitants can obtain from their produce the supply of their wants, little, if any thing, will remain to pay for the land. He, there fore, who traces along the map the course of those majestic rivers, should calculate a little before he counts on the advantage of their downhill navigation. The time will come, and perhaps it is not remote, when manufacturing towns will be established in those regions. The produce of the farmer will be then consumed by the artizan, and the articles he prepares will