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which has already many virtues. Take one o-rain of this, and triturate it again for anoth er hour, with 100 grains of sugar of milk, and thus continue till each grain of the pre paration shall contain only a quadrillionth part of a grain of gold, and we have then (says Hahnemann) a remedy in which the medicinal virtue of the gold is so developed, that it is only necessary to take one grain of it. and enclose it in a bottle, and cause it to he respired for a few minutes by a melan cholic, in whom the disgust of life has pro duced a tendency to suicide, and in the course of an hour the patient will be emancipated from the influence of his evil spirit, and ex perience a renewed desire for living. You know, Colonel, many a poor fellow has shuf fled off the mortal coil for the want of “ lucre,” but do you suppose the application of the fra grant dust to the olfactories would stay the suicide's hand 1 We doubt it. You remem ber what Chaucer says, “ For gold in physic is a cordial. Therefore ho loved gold in special.” More anon. Yours faithfully, In the bonds of physic, BAYARD-. Con. N. J. B . somc (Homsponfrcncc. For the Southern Literary Gazette. NEW-YORK LETTERS-NO. 20. Troy, New-York, ) September 14, 1848. j My Dear Sir: —From my address this week, you will perceive that I have bidden farewell to Lake George and have made no inconsid erable approach to the Metropolis. lam not vet, however, quite within “thesound ofßow bells,” and I cherish the hope of being spar ed their sweet jingle for some pleasant weeks yet to come. My journey hither, was via Horicon toTi conderoga, whither I led you in my last mis sive, and thence by the Lake Champlain steam er to Whitehall, and by the Champlain Canal to this beautiful city. Os the Lake Champlain stage I shall say’ nothing, since it was quite barren of incident ; and as it would be hardly fair to form an estimate of the natural attractions of that superb stretch of waters, from the very small and comparatively uninteresting portion through which my route lay ; the voyage not exceeding thirty miles, in a very narrow and shallow part of a lake, which elsewhere wi dens to an extent of not less than ten miles. Whitehall, at the foot of Lake Champlain, is on the high road from New York and the Eastern cities, to Canada. It derives its trade and importance from this eligible position, otherwise is it a place of no interest, built as it is, low and upon barren locks. It is 73 miles from Albany, with which city it is con nected by the Champlain Canal. Steamers depart thence daily and nightly for St. Johns at the head of the lake, from w-hich poinl, af ter a short rail-way ride and a pleasant voy age on the St. Lawrence, the tourist reaches Montreal. At some periods of the season the competition on this line of travel runs so high, that one may pass from New York to Cana da for the merest trifle: the rates not exceed ing twenty r -five cents between New York and Albany; twelve and a half cents thence by canal to Whitehall: twenty cents more for the passage of the lake, to St. Johns; and one dollar from the latter place—at w hich point the opposition ends—to Montreal: mak ing in all only $1,62 1-2 fare for the entire distance of 398 miles; or, stopping at St. Johns, only 62 1-2 cents, for a distance of 374 miles! Vive “opposition to the combined monopolies !” and furthermore, may it “ vive” next time, when I myself happen to pass a long, which unluckily, was not the case last week. That we might view- the scenery on our S©3) If Sa S3 & OtF& ft AIE ¥ 8A S S IT‘ff S * passage down the canal, w-e rested during the night at Whitehall, resuming our journey by the packet of the next morning. The weath er was admirably suited to our purpose ; the air cool, and the sky full of huge masses of quickly moving cloud, which pleasantly heightened and varied the beauty of the land scape, thus alternately displayed in “ Shadow dark and sun-light sheen.’ Though Nature appeared to us less beauti ful here, than in the vicinities we had but just left, yet now and then the eye w r as delighted by a sweet rural composition of meadow’ lands and mountain distance, and every where was detected abundant material for a painter’s study—now a beautiful bit of running brook or quiet lake gleaming in the sun-light; an isolated group of trees on the green lawn, sheltering a herd of grazing cattle; a fantas tic mass of rich foliage overhanging the stream and toying with its waters; a “ brave old oak a luxuriant elm, a stray pine, or a bit of mossy rock. At Cohoes Falls, near the end of the voyage, the Mohawk River pre sented a very interesting appearance. It is here that the Erie and Champlain Canals u nite; the former having within a short dis tance, no less than seventeen locks. Still water, a pretty village on the route, is one of the most antique places in the state. On Re mus’ Heights, at this point, Burgoyne was de feated by General Gates in 1777 after a des -1 perate conflict. Forts Miller and Edward al so on the Canal, boast each its historical rem iniscences. Our boat being well tilled with passengers of all sorts, and a recent • break’ in the canal having greatly lowered the water, of course we enjoyed our full share of the proverbial discomfort of this manner of travel; not ex cepting that terrible bore the 4 bridges.’ Ap ropos des ponts —w-hat an excessive nuisance they are to be sure, and how unnecessarily so; always elevated or rather depressed, as if with exact reference to the inconvenience of the traveller and the endangering of his noddle. Why can they not be built a little, only a very little higher, and canals be there by relieved of their greatest horror *? Pass ing beneath one of the lowest of the low- of these spiteful creatures, my friend G. thought it the most stooped, bridge he had ever encoun tered ! How excessively amusing it is to see pigmy ladies, crouching to the deck, w-hen standing upon tip-toe they can have no earth ly hope of their heads ever reaching the bridge! The sudden approach of a show-er having at one period of the day, crowded all our pas sengers into the cabin, the usual cry of ‘bridge!’ w-as followed from mere force of habit, by a general bobbing down of heads! As our trip approached its close, the break to which I have referred, caused us more and more trou ble, insomuch that we were quite uncertain that we should be able to reach our destina tion by water. We passed boat after boat dead aground, and the water being insufficient for the working of the helm, we were guided solely by poles. In this dilemma, a venera ble lady became extremely alarmed, made con stant inquiries touching present and coming danger, and seemed apprehensive of the ves sel’s being w-recked, and the crew and passen gers miserably perishing in the —mud ! As the Ettrick Sheppard would have observed, “O! but ’twas fearsome!” our precarious po sition amidst the horrors of the “ raging ca nawl.” At length the matron aforesaid, retir ed below, calmly to await the worst, and die if needs be, with Christian resignation and fortitude—noble woman I —while others of our luckless number incapable of this heroic self-command, stepped ashore and took a— walk. FLIT. AN ODD GRACE. Os rabbits young, of rabbits old, Os rabbits hot, of rabbits cold. Os rabbits tender, of rabbits tough. I thank the Lord Ive had enough. ©limj)of3 of Ncuj Books. —■ - THE MIRAGE, AND OTHER PHE NOMENA. The mirage, a beautiful phenomenon I have frequently mentioned as exhibiting itself up on our journey, here displayed its wonderful illusions, in a perfection and with a magnifi cence surpassing any presentation of the kind I had previously seen. Lakes, dotted with islands and bordered by groves of gently waving timber, whose tranquil and limpid waves reflected their sloping banks and the shady islets in their bosoms, la> spread out before us, inviting us, by their illusory temp tations, to stray from our path and enjoy their cooling shades and refreshing waters. These fading away as we advanced, beautiful villas, adorned with edifices, decorated with all the ornaments of sub-urban architecture, and sur rounded by gardens, shaded walks, parks and stately avenues, would succeed them, renew ing the alluring invitation to repose, by en ticing the vision with more than Calypsan enjoyments or Elysian pleasures. These melting from our view as those before, in an other place a vast city, with countless col umned edifices of marble whiteness, and studded with domes, spires and turreted tow ers, would rise upon the horizon of the plain, astonishing us with its stupendous grandeur and sublime magnificence. But it is in vain to attempt a description of these singular and extraordinary phenomena. Neither prose nor poetry, nor the pencil of the artist, can ade quately portray their beauties. The whole distant view around, at this point, seemed like the creations of a sublime and gorgeous dream, or the effect of enchantment. I ob served that where these appearances were presented in their most varied forms, and with the most vivid distinctness, the surface of the plain was broken, either by chasms hollowed out from the action of the winds, or by undu lations formed of the drifting sands. About eleven o’clock, we struck a vast white plain, uniformly level, and utterly des titute of vegetation or any sign that shrub or plant had ever existed above its snow-iike surface. Pausing a few moments to rest our mules, and moisten our mouths and throats from the scant supply of beverage in our powder-keg, we entered upon this appalling field of sullen and hoary desolation. It was a scene so entirely new to us, so frightfully forbidding and unearthly in its aspects, that all of us, I believe, though impressed with its sublimity, felt a slight shudder of appre hension. Our mules seemed to sympathize with us in the pervading sentiment, and moved forward with reluctance, several of them stubbornly setting their faces for a counter march. For fifteen miles, the surface of this plain is so compact, that the feet of our animals, as we hurried them along over it, left but little, if any, impression for the guidance of the future traveller. It is covered with a hard crust of saline and alkaline substances com bined, from one-fourth to one-half of an inch in thickness, beneath which is a stratum of damp whitish sand and clay intermingled. Small fragments of white shelly ro<*k, or an inch and a half in thickness, which appear ns if they once composed a crust, but had been broken by the action of the atmosphere or the pressure of water rising from beneath, are strewn over the entire plain, and imbedded in the salt and sand. As we moved onward, a member of our party in the rear called our attention to a gi gantic moving object on our left, at an appa rent distance of six or eight miles. It isvery difficult to determine distances accurately on these plains. Your estimate is based upon the probable dimensions of the object, and unless you know what the object is, and its probable size, you are liable to great decep tion. The atmosphere seems frequently to act as a magnifier; so much so, that I have often seen a raven perched upon a low shrub or an undulation of the plain, answering to the outlines of a man on horseback. But this object was so enormously large, consid ering its apparent distance, and its movement forward, parallel with ours, so distinct, that it greatly excited cur wonder and curiosity. Many and various were the conjectures (se-’ rious and facetious) of the party, as to what it might he, or portend. Some thought it might be Mr. Hudspeth, who had concluded to follow us; others that it was some cyclo pean nondescript animal, lost upon the desert; others that it was the ghost of a mammoth or Megatherium wandering on “this rendez vous of death others that it was the d—l mounted on an This, &c. It was the general conclusion, however, that no animal compos ed of flesh and blood, or even a healthy ghost, could here inhabit. A partner of equal size soon joined it, and for an hour or more they moved along as before, parallel to us, when they disappeared, apparently behind the horizon. As we proceeded, the plain gradually be came softer, and our mules sometimes sunk to their knees in the stiff’ composition of salt, sand and clay. The travelling at length be came so difficult and fatiguing to our animals that several of the party dismounted, (myself among the number,) and we consequently slackened our hitherto brisk pace into a walk. About two o’clock, p. m., we discovered through the smoky vapor the dim outlines of the mountains in front of us, at the foot oi which was to terminate our day’s march, if we were so fortunate as to reach it. But still we were a long and weary distance from it, and from the “grass and water” which we expected there to find. A cloud rose from the south soon afterwards, accompanied by seve ral distant peals of thunder, and a furious wind, rushing across the plain and filling the whole atmosphere around us with the fine particles of salt, and drifting it in heaps like the newly fallen snow. Our eyes became nearly blinded, and our throats choked with the saline matter, and the very air we breathed tasted of salt. During the subsidence of this tempest, there appeared upon the plain one of the most ex traordinary phenomena, I dare to assert, ever witnessed. As I have before stated, 1 had dismounted from my mule, and turning it in with the cabnllada , was walking several rods in front of the party, in order to lead in a di rect course to the point of our destination. Diagonally in front, to the right, our course being west, there appeared the figures of a number of men and horses, some fifteen or twenty. Some of these figures were mount ed and others dismounted, and appeared to be marching on foot. Thei r faces and the heads of the horses were turned towards us, and at first they appeared as if they were rushing down upon us. Their apparent distance, judging from the horizon, w-as from three to five miles. But their size was not cor respondent, for they seemed nearly as large as our own bodies, and consequently were of gigantic stature. At this first view 1 supposed them to he a small party of In dians (probably the Utahs) marching from the opposite side of the plain. But this seemed to me scarcely probable, as no hunting or war party would he likely to take this route. I called to some of our party nearest to me to hasten forward, as there were men in front, coming towards us. Very soon the fifteen or twenty figures were multiplied into three or four hundred, and appeared to be marching forward with the greatest action and speed. I then conjectured that they might be Capt Fremont and his party, with others, from California, returning to the United States by this route, although they seemed to be too numerous even for this. I spoke Jo Brown, who was nearest to me, and asked him if he noticed the figures of men and horses in front 7 He answered that he did, and that he had ob served the same appearances several times previously, hut that they had disappeared, and he believed them to be optical illusions similar to the mirage. It was then, for the first time, so perfect was the deception, that I conjectured the probable fact that these fi gures were the reflection of our own images by the atmosphere, filled as it was with fine particles of crystalized matter, or by the dis tant horizon, covered by the same substance. This induced a more minute observation of the phenomenon, in order to detect the deeei>- tion, if such it were. I noticed a single fi gure, apparently in front in advance of al! the others, and was struck with its likeness to myself. Its motions, too, I thought, were the same as mine. To test the hypothesis above suggested, I wheeled suddenly around, at the same time stretching my arms out to their full length, and turning my face Bidr wise to notice the movements of this figure. If went through precisely the same motions. I then marched deliberately and with long strides several paces; the figure did the samr. To test it more thoroughly, I repeated the ex periment, and with the same result. The fact then was clear. But it was more fully veri fied still, for the whole array of this numer ous shadowy host in the course of an hour melted entirely away, and was no more seen. The phenomenon, however, explained and gave the history of the gigantic spectres which appeared and disappeared so myste riously at an earlier hour of the day. The figures were our own shadows, produce 1 and reproduced by the mirror-like composition im pregnating the atmosphere and covering the plain. I cannot here more particularly ex plain or refer to the subject. But this phan tom population, springing out of the ground as it were, and arraying itself before us as we traversed this dreary and heaven-con demned waste, although we were entirely 155