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u3e the boatman's language, “the waters
boil.*’
But we saw nothing of this, for scarce a
ripple disturbed the placid surface. The
magnificent basin was skirted with water
lilies, “ the Naiad’s loveliest wreathj” and,
scarcely had the oars shaken olf their broad
o-ieen leaves, when our little bateau floated on
water a hundred feet in depth. It was like
magic- We seemed suspended in the air,
with a heaven above and a heaven below.
The water was as transparent as air, and yet
it seemed air consolidated, for, like a prison,
it separated the rays of light, and gave us
from the lowest depths the richest hues.
“ Rainbows lay imprisoned there.”
Metallic substances, which were thrown
from the boat, glittered in varied hues like
<rems of Golconda. Fish, at the bottom of
the water, at the distance of more than a hun
dred feet, were distinctly seen. We observed
them only at rest, as if unwilling to break
the charm which bound them in this crystal
basin, this paradise of fish. Some have seen
them at sport in these waters, brilliant in the
Dolphin livery of green, azure and gold. It
has been said of Lake George, that there the
angler might select his fish, when they were
forty feet below the surface of the water.
But mountain-girt, island-gemmed, classic and
storied Lake George must yield the palm in
aerial beauty to the waters of Florida.
Our party were in a brilliant mood, for the
air seemed inspiring. Playful remarks pass
ed through our circle. One wished he were
a fish, another a cormorant, another did not
say that “ Birnamwood had come to Dunsi
nane,” but that Mammoth Cave’ had planted
itself, inverted, in Florida woods, and formed
a richly ornamented fount, sparkling with
transparent waters.
We sailed away to visit a beautiful forma
tion of rock, snow-white, but moss-grown;
and, lying in those bright, pure depths, there
were caverns which seemed to he formed of
pearl and emerald. Fit palace for Neptune!
Here, if be could leave his saline home, might
he glory; or here might be a Titan’s but, or
a M‘rma-.d : .s grot, or a Naiad's home; or
here the heroic maid, n might shelter her out
lawed knight in “< ral caves” and “sparry
bowers,” like Nei a, daughter of the South
ern seas, and bee . ifnl as night, who hid her
To.pii , safe from the reckless crew, beneath
the ocean’s surges and the sea-bird’s nests, in
a palace of stalactites, “ whose only portal
was the keyless wave.”
Gleams of sunlight illumed the crystal
depths, but overshadowing clouds bade us
return. And although, 1o borrow an expres
sion from Coleridge, it may seem an “abys
mal balhos,” we all assembled around a ta
ble spread with many a bounty. Ample jus
tice was done to our feast, from which we
hastened to our carriages. Little annoyed by
the shower, we enjoyed our ride. Fires in
the woods lighted us on our homeward way.
The loftiest pines seemed our torch-bearers,
for the fire had found an invisible pathway
to the tops of the trees, and they stood erect
and lofty, darting from their summits flames
of fitful light. Around these forest-chande’
tiers the elfin sprites might dance, or the wea
ried sisters hold their councils, or Queen Tita
nta her court.
Farewell, Vvacbulla —not again may these
eyes greet you, but with many a cherished
scene will your image he treasured. Thy
wild wood swamp, thy eagles’ eyrie, thy lily
girt basin, thy aerial waters, thy sparkling
grottoes, like a gleam from fairy land, will
cheer and embellish a weary moment or a
lonely hour.
4KE ttt vr i ir i-awwr r jtjiuwna
For the Southern Literary Gazette.
EPIGRAM.
-here's a good deal of learning in the University
of G
Said Rev. Mr. White to one Patrick McGee.
Ay,” said Pat, “ so there ’ll be for many a day,
t'or divil a gownman brings any away.” W.
3®®lTiaislSlS &11TFIE IE A ® TIT IB ♦
tjomc Comsponlreiue.
For the Southern Literary Gazette.
NEAV-YORK LETTERS.—NO. 36.
Boston, Jan. 9, 1849.
My Dear Sir —This week, I must write
you a “ New A ork Letter” in Boston, even
as “Banbury cakes” are baked in all the
ovens in the world, and as the very best
wines of Champaigne are produced in the
Jersey orchards.
I left Gotham, on my journey hither, at the
same moment with the departure of my New
Year’s note to the “Gazette,” and the follow
ing morning I awoke, perfectly assured, from
the chilliness of the air, that I was some
where or other in the neighborhood of “down
East.” Old Winter, with the dawning of the
New Year, seems to have turned over a fresh
leaf, and to he bent upon making up, in the
remainder of his season, for past idleness. —
Never have I seen and felt so much of the
greybeard’s power, within so short a time, as
during the past week, here in the City of No
tions. Mr. Mercury has been carrying on a
desperate flirtation with Madame Zero, and
the good people grow round-shouldered, as
they say, “ How cold it is!” and look as
blue, physically, as they are said to be mor
ally. However, the cold season here never
fails to he accompanied with its own peculiar
beauties and pleasures —and Boston could
scarcely be more gay, or more happy, on a
“bright and balmy day of June,” as the no
vels have it, than it is now. In-doors, the
fire burns more cheerily, and the laugh grows
louder: while without, the step is more elas
tic, the head firmer in purpose, and the heart
stronger in hope, as the frosty winds whistle
by. I have never witnessed a more beauti
ful picture of Winter, than that which greet
ed my eye the other day, from the summit of
the Bunker Hill Monument. You will think
this a strange season for such a visit: but
beautiful as is Ihe noble panorama afforded
by that proud height in the summer months,
it is scarcely less interesting, and mEta.inly
more unique and novel, now. It was like a
glimpse of another world, to gaze abroad,
over miles of city, village, plain, hill and
ocean, all buried in the snow, trebly white
and dazzling, as it cast back the clear light
of a bright winter sun. The strange silence
of the hour and place but added to the ghost
ly appearance of the scene; for though the
streets below seemed full or busy life and
motion, the rattle of the myriad sleigh-bells,
reached my ear only as the faint and far-off
murmurs of an iEolian harp, blending gently
with the harsher notes of the winds around
me, and the occasional screech of a passing
locomotive ! Heavens ! what a bathetic end
ing of my poetic llight! It brings me at
once to earth again, where I may say a word
or two, as I have purposed, of the great event
of the week, both here and at home —the car
nival of Winter, as the sleighing days are fit
ly called. The snows which anticipated the
d'ebtit of the New Year, have placed us in
the midst of this merry season, Broadway
and Washington Street, have, for days past,
been in their greatest glory, each crowded
from one end to the other, with vehicles of
all sizes and shapes, from the ponderous
stage, with its twelve or twenty horses and
its band of music, to the flying cutter, which,
“ Like the Borealis race,
Flits ere you can point its place.”
The Third Avenue, in New York, and the
“ Neck” here—the great equestrian prome
nades of the two cities—arc thronged with
dashing turn-outs, swift steeds, and count
less spectators. On the latter ground, though
scarcely one-fourth the extent of the former,
you will find, every afternoon, some two or
three hundred sleighs, of the most beautiful
and varying models and appointments, each
rivalling the other in the swiftness of its
flight. As they dash up and down the road,
the spectators on the side-walks, who have
come from town to enjoy the fun, at one mo
ment greet a favorite equipage with the
heartiest cheers, and anon, shower upon some
unhappy steed, whose spirit is willing, but
I whose flesh is weak, a flood of taunts and
1 hisses. In Gotham, it appears they add
blows to words, in their reception of these
aspiring but luckless teams, treating them to
a copious storm of snow-balls ! The public
sleighs, or the omni-sleds, as someone calls
the stages, are superior in beauty here, to
i those of New York. I saw several yester
day, in the form of boats, of most admirable
model and exquisite finish—one called the
; “May Flower,” another the “Constitution,”
“ Cleopatra’s Barge,” and so on. They are
generally drawn by black horses—six or
eight in hand. Those of New York are,
I however, much superior in size, and frequent
ly follow a noble team of twenty-four, or
even thirty, steeds of uniform color. They
accommodate from one to two hundred pas
sengers, and, during the whole sleighing sea
son, are jammed from stem to stern —every-
body avoiding those with vacant seats and
j choosing the one where scarcely a foot-hold
|is left. Passing up Broadway, or the Bow
| ery, you are incessantly assailed with invi
j tations from both passengers and drivers,
(the fuller the vehicle the more earnest the
call,) to ride : “Hide, sir? Broadway—Bow
ery—right up —plenty of room —plenty of
room, sir!” and if you accept, and roll over
* into the snow, in the effort to get on board,
i your calamity receives no more sympathy
than would the tooth-ache. Good sleighing
i lasts but a short time with us, and we al
ways make the most of it. 1 have made so
much of it here, in my letter, that I must bid
you good-bye, without telling you now any
of the many’ incidents of my visit to Boston,
or giving you the very faintest roar of its
lions. Recollect that, for the present, every
sound is lost amidst the jingle of sleigh bells,
and excuse all the sins of omission, of
Your’s, below zero, FLIT.
Pjiiosopljti for tijc People.
! TELEGRAPH AND METEOROLOGY.
The most extraordinary result of the Elcc
-1 trie Telegraph we have seen, and one of the
1 most decidedly useful, is connected with me
-1 teorology. The Telegraph now gives notice
\of storms ! For example, the Telegraph at
Chicago and Toledo now gives notice toship
i masters at Cleveland and Buffalo, and also on
Lake Ontario, of the approach of a northwest
! storm. The result is practically of great im
portance. A hurricane storm traverses the
atmosphere at about the rate of a carrier-pi
geon, viz., sixty miles an hour. An extreme
ly violent wind may go faster. All our great
and violent storms traverse immense regions
of country: in fact, they’ are whirlwinds on a
vast scale, and curving over the earth as they
pass along. In the space of a thousand
miles, however, the direction is nearly the
same.
Our northwest winds come apparently from
the sources of the lakes, and, sweeping over
Lakes Superior, Michigan and Erie, spend
themselves in the interior of the country.
: Our southwest winds (which prevail three
i fourths of the year) come apparently from
! die Gulf of Mexico, where the force is very
i great, and pass up the general direction of
the Mississippi and Ohio. Commencing at
these remote points, it is obvious that if tele
| graphic offices are established at the ex
i tremes of the line, notice of the approach of
a violent wind may be given to distant ports
j from twelve to twenty hours before it will be
1 felt there. The practical effect will be that a
! vessel in the port of New York, about to sail
I for New Orleans, may be telegraphed twenty
■ hours in advance that a southwest .storm is
j advancing on the coast from the Gulf of
j Mexico. The storms are governed by uni
| form laws, so that when they’ begin in a ccr
; tain direction, and with a certain force, it may
be certainly known that .they will proceed
| along the coast. When it is considered what
; an immense loss in vessels, merchandise and
( lives, occurs along the coast from these occa
| sional storms, it will be seen how very valua
ble will be the service rendered by the Tele
graph in this way. We are only on the
threshold of the real substantial advantages
which may be rendered by the Electro-Tele
graph. Already have notices of storms on
the lakes been given from Chicago and Tole
do to Buffalo.
In connection with this subject, we may
mention another great .advantage in this way.
It will be a great benefit to meteorological
science to know the state of the temperature
and winds at the same moment in different
points. The comparison will enable us to
know the general laws which govern atmos
pheric changes. This is a part of science
which lias never been reduced to exactitude,
but in which more may be done now in one
year than has been done in a hundred years,
if observations are directed to this subject.
We shall soon see new developments in this
and in other branches of science.— Cincinnati
Atlas.
Curiosities of f-itcraturc.
A SPECIMEN OF ALLITERATION.
“ Park Place, No. 2d, 171 U.
To Mr. Paul Pcttiward. penny-postpaid.
Sir. —Persuaded of the pleasure you will
partake in being put in possession of the par
ticulars of my pleasant progress into Pem
brokeshire, 1 here present you with an ac
count of my proceedings, principally a visit
to the picturesque park of Mr. Pritchard, M.
P. for Porimain, purely to procure a peep of
that paragon of places.
1 proceeded on a party of pleasure with
Mr. Pratt of Picton castle, Mr. Powell of
Pembroke, and Mr. Pugh of Penley —all par
ticularly pleasant people; and who when the
party was proposed, readily put it in practice.
It thought it a proper precaution to post away
a person privately to Mr. Pritchard, that lie
might provide for us, and we proceeded pre
sently after. His house is in the prettiest
part of Pembrokeshire, and almost a princely
palace. His parlor is of a lofty pitch and
full of pictures. He has a pompous portico
or pavillion prettily paved, leading to a par
terre from whence you have a prodigious
prospect, particularly pointing towards Per
cilly hill, which Mr. Pritchard has planted,
and where he propagates a parcel of Polish
and Portuguese poultry, principally precious
for their finely penciled plumage. It has
pleased Mr. Pritchard to call his place Pen
dynrhys Park, which puzzled me most plag
uily to pronounce properly.
ile received us very politely*, and placed
before us a plentiful dinner. At the head of
the table was a pike, with a perch and plaice :
at the lower end pickled pork, pease, pudding,
and parsnips. In the middle, a pigeon pie
with puff paste ; on one side potatoes, on the
other pig's pettitoes. The second course con
sisted of pheasants, poults, and patridges,
pastry in profusion, prawns, and plover’s
eggs. For dessert we had a prodigious pine
apple, and perfect pyramids of pears, plums,
peaches and pippins.
After dinner, port and punch were passed
profusely, which proved too powerful for
poor Mr. Peter, the parson of the parish ; for
it pleased his palate, and he poured it down
in pints, which made him prate in a pedantic
pragmatical manner. This piqued Mr. Pratt,
a parliament man, and profound politician :
but the parson persisted, and made a prolix
phillipi, which proved him prejudiced and
partial against the present people in power.
Mr. Pratt who is a potent party man, pep
pery, and soon provoked, called him a pop
ish priest, and said he prayed privately for
the Pretender; and that he was very pre
sumptous to promulgate such pestilent princi
ples publicly. The parson puffed his pipe
passively for some time, because Mr. Pratt
was his patron, but presently losing patience,
he plucked off Mr. Pratt’s periwig and was
preparing to push it with the point of the po
ker into the fire ; upon which Mr. Pratt per
ceiving a pewter porter pot in the passage,
presented Mr. Peter with the contents of it in
his phiz, and gave him a pat on the pate,
which prostrated him plump on the pavement,
and raised a protuberance on his pericranium.
This put a period to our pugilistic proceed
ings, and patched up a piece—for the parson
was in a piteous plight, and had the pru
dence to prevail on himself to cry, peccavi,
and in a penitent posture plaintively petition
ed for pardon. Mr. Pratt, who, though proud
of his performance, is a placable person, pull
ed him out of the puddle, and protested he
was very sorry for what had passed in his
passion ; pleading the provocation given him
by Peter’s preposterous propositions, which he
prayed him never to presume to publish again
in his presence. Mr Pugh, a practitioner of
physic, prescribed phlebotomy to the parson,
but he preferred brown paper to any plas
ter.
This pother pr’ an end to party politics ;
but we p;t: >ed the king of Prusia, pro.
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