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Southern Field and Fireside. m VOL - h [For the Southern Field and Fireside.] MEMORIES. By the mem'rles of youth's early home, The heart will be haunted forever; Nor the Joys, nor griefs of life to come From this lore can the fond heart sever. Oh, for the sight of the river That winds through thoao distant hills! For the sunshine and shadows that quiver In the mirror of lakeleta and rills! For the path that led over the moonlain, For the brambles that tangled its side; For the mosses that grew by the fountain, And the lilies that dipped in the tide! Ik •F* ’ Twas there that in Youth’s dream Elysian, All radiant with ljppe's glorious beam, The Future I saw in a vision— Ah 1 that Life has refused to redeem 1 Alabama. ' L. A. O. : —— [For the Southern Field and Fireside.] ARROWS FROM A TOURIST’S QUIVER; OR, Scenes and Incidents of a Tour- From New Orleans to New York. BY OKI OF THK PARTY, ARROW XV* Louisville, Ky., Dec. 16, 1859. We have safely reached this handsome com mercial emporium after the most “ galloping pace ” over a railroad I ever achieved. It was a new road, new cars, new engineer, and new conductor, and everything tvas ambitious and did its best; and our party will here bear tes timony that the highest pinnacle of mundane ambition was attained by road, cars, engineer, firemen, conductor, and brakemen. We came at a rate to let all the country know that this road intended to acquit itself as the ..main and last link in the trunk and great" land route from New Orleans to New York. At no moment was our speed less than thirty miles an hour, and usually thirty-six to forty. The cars fairly leaped like race-horses! The track, being just laid, was rough and rubblous, and the new wheels roared, and the cars were tossed 1 so vio lently about that no person could keep his seat. The Major held on with both hands and with his eyes set desperately. Locomotion from one part of the car to another was simply impossi ble. A Balise pilot boat in a chop-sea never tossed about so wildly as we did; and this for hours, save when tho engineer mercifully held up at stations and depots. Tim was in extasies! The topping pace vastly delighted him and he enjoyed the Major’s consternation, who expected to go to perdition every next moment. He had no eyes for the widow, who, fast asleep, on two benches and covered by her brother with his large shawl and Tim’s scarlet Mexican blanket for a pillow, slept like an infant rocked in rather a rough cradle. » “ The innocent,” I remarked to my remote rel ative, as a stop to water gave him a moment to remember his senses, “ the innocent, 0, Major, ever sleep peacefully; but the guilty keep awake and tremble! I fear you have an evil conscience, Major 1” “Who wouldn't have, Poyns?” gasped the Major, “tossed in a blanket over one’s grave in this position? I have expected to be dashed to pieces every moment I We shall never live to see Louisville, lam morally persuaded I If we do, I’ll have the conductor hanged 1 Peril of life, sir I peril of life, sir 1 Rough road, new, stiff-springed cars, behind time,and Death on the Pale Horse, chasing us up like—like —I—l—1—1—1—” The cars, under motion again, shook the let ters one by one out of the Major’s mouth, and forbade their junction, and grasping the arms of his seat, he sethis teeth and committed himself to his fate for another ten mile station. Thus flying along plains, scampering over val lies, thundering around mountains, and roaring through defiles, we went ‘neck or nothing,’ un til endurance ceased to be a virtue, and opening my mouth, at a stopping place, I* said to the “gentlemanly” conductor, a handsome, tall, black-whiskered, and really a gentlemanly “ You seem to travel at a dangerous rate. I see your engineer does not hold u’p at curves, however short the angle. The road, too, being but a few days opened, renders such rate of speed unusually perilous; to say nothing of the jumping, tossing, and bounding of the cars, that destroy all comfort." * En.ATA.-In Arrow XIII., Field and Fireside, 81st March, page 858, col. 2, ono-third down, (errors of''oopy and not or the compositor)' for “ are at the St. Cloud, read it at the SI. Cloud.— Two-thirds down, for “it was July ” read it mas June. —Col. 8, half-way down, for “ good evening,” read good morning.— Lower down, for “ funeral,” read funereal— Lower down, for their Leg islature,” read this Legislature. Col. 2, one-third down, (errors of compositor) for “our momenta were,” read our movements mere.- Near the bottom, for “ atwhed,’ 1 read attached. I JAKES GARDNER, I t Proprietor. f AUGUSTA, GA., SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1860. “Yes,” he answered, politely; for you know it is a conductor’s privilege to show anger at any remarks ot passengers. “Yes, but I have to run by our time table. We wish to make the quickest possible time on this road between Nashville and Louisville. But, sir, there is no danger, be assured. I have been eleven years a conductor and never was off the track. If I go over a road once I can tell whether we shall be liable to accidents upon it and where the ac cident will be likely to occur. I feel the track, as it were with my feet, as we roll over it, and my mind records any part of it and each pecu liarity. There is not so safe a road in the Union as this. No accident can happen except by a break-down; and this is impossible, as the cars are n6W and strong. What is more, sir," he ad ded, smiling. “ I have a charming little family of my own and a loving wife, and I value my life for their sakes, if not for my own 1 The jumping that fat gentleman with the bald head, who holds on to his seat unnecessarily tight, speaks of, is only imaginary. The wheels do not leave the iron track an instant; if they ‘jumped’there would be danger, but the mo tion like jumping which tosses tho passengers near tho rear of the car, is the motion of the springs and car. The wheels and axles are as firm on the track as if it was stationary 1 I can always tell when the engineer is doing his part of the duty of running the engine well. You know, sir, the feeling of security when one is seated in a barouche behind a fast, well-broken pair of horses that ‘ eat up ’ the road before them. They draw steadily on the bit, and though fleet you feel that they are safe. There is no jerking and unsteadiness or shying to cause ap prehension. So in the cars, sir I When the en gineer is experienced and ‘ knows his cattle,' I can feel that t[ie speed and safety is equal.— There is an evenness, a steady, firm roll in the motion that shows, however fast we are going, we are all right! Sir, it is not speed that is per ilous, but carelessness on the part of the conduc tor and recklessness on that of the engineer.” We once more were in motion, I must say that my conversation with the intelligent con ductor quieted my apprehensions. I enjoyed more freely the attractive scenery. Some parts of it were grand and wild beyond description.— We passed through several towns,and when we entered Kentucky we saw a manifest improve ment in the agriculture and farms. Even the people had a different appearance, the lean Ten nessee farmer, with his long limbs and shack ling gait,being replac*(l by stout, hale, large-siz ed Kentuckians, with healthy faces and well-to do looks. We left the Mammoth Cave several miles away, having no disposition at this season of the year to visit that “ wonder of the world.” The opening of this railroad will vastly increase the number of visitors to this remarkable cu riosity. lam not, however, fond of visiting those ex traordinary places, the seeing of which is at tended with so much wear and tear of body and soukand broadcloth. Travelers are like por traits 1 The original may be dead, but the frowned picture conveys a sufficient pattern of the original. Who has seen ashington ? who Lafayette ? * Yet, who is not as familiar with their faces as if they had been presented to them and seen them face to face ? What child would not recognize Washington if he should return to earth and walk the streets of our cities ? It is not, therefore, necessary to behold origi nals in order to see and know them. In the ap plication of this rule to sight scenery, I beg leave to say that I have traveled with more in terest, more instruction, and more satisfactorily seated in my library with a book of an intelli gent traveler before me, than if I had been there in proper person and seen and heard with my own ears and eyes. Now to the mammoth cave 1 I have, in the bodies of others, been in it! I have seen, with their eyes, all its wonderful rooms; its gorge ous scenery; its brilliant stalactite ceilings, and its grand, stalagmite pavements; its long-drawn aisles, gloomy with grandeur and grand with sunless gloom; its lofty forii; its rocky pulpits; its sublime thrones; its stellar vaults, and its unfathomable descents into Tartarian depths; its columnar galleries, shining with incrusta tions of gems; its noble halls, magnificent with the architecture of the gigantic under-earth gods; its black lakes, forever waveless, because never the living breeze is wafted across their unillumined surfaces; its clouds of brown and horrid vampires, that fan your faces with a de mon’s wing; its mighty echoes,that reverberate and swell and rise to the volume of thunder, and then die away like retreating and muttering fiends in endless and unexplored avenues far be neath the mountains; all these I have seen, seat ed in my room, reading all from a ‘traveler’s boke.’ , Why, then, should I take my body to mam moth cave, and drag it wearily through all the dark depths of its subterranean territories ? The body sees nothing. It only carries the soul to see! Now, if Mr. Willis, or Captaiu Hall, or Dickens, or other travelers will carfymy soul in their bodies and let me see and hear through their eyes, then my soul,easily wearied,climbing rocks, and ascending and descending frightful precipices, can stay at home, in otium cwn digni tale. Travelers are the eyes of the world 1 They see for the people who stay at home. They are a class to be honored and to show gratitude to. They do all the fatigue and quarreling with mule-drivers, stage-drivers, porters, hackmen, landlords, guides, ciceroni, muleteers, cadi and paschas, police and custom house officials; do all the fatigue, the hot sun, the dust, the sea sickness, the wear and tear of apparel, the head-aches and hunger and thirst, bad dinners and worse suppers, the early rising in fog and foul weather, pay the fees to the boot-black, the waiter, the coachman, the footman; disburse to thebeggars,and pay all expenses en masse! We stay at home, cut the leaves of their charming books, arrange our gas and shade pre cisely to suit our vision; the grate glows; the pictures are warm and rich in the subdued light; the hum of the omnibus wheels and the patter of rain are shut out by double curtains, blinds, and shutters, and are beard only as if afar off, in subdued and soothing tones; an atmosphere of comfort, luxury, and peace is about us. We have not even a musquito to buzx about us; our glass of iced water is within reach and so is our bell-handle, if we need anything more vigorous than pure eau de vie. With an air of calm satis faction and a sense of tepose and hope of en tertainment brightening our eyes, we open the traveler’s book. It may be “ Kane’s Expedition,” and we follow him in all his adventures without leaving our chair or chawing our temperature. When wo have oiuitxi U* noblo volumes wo have been there with him, where he has been! We have seen all he has seen 1 We have even gazed on the open Polar Sea and know it is there 1 It is enough. We don’t care to go in person, for we should know no more, see no more, realize no more, than we do through the bookl Let it be Bayard Taylor's volumes! In a fort night’s evenings we have seen half the world through his eyes! Travelers are the benefac tors of the world. They travel for the rest of mankind. lam sure that if I had gone with many travelers, whose books I have read, I shouldn’t have seen half they saw! It is not every man who has the feet to walk, the nerve to climb, the activity to advance, the power to endure, the esprit to see everything, the ambi tion to achieve, which is necessary to make a successful traveler. I recall at this moment, in illustration, a little anecdote connected with the tour which Dr. Le- Vert, of Mobile, made through Europe with his wife. A real traveler at heart, she went every • where, saw everything, and ‘ did ’ Europe com prehensively. On her return home she publish ed, as everybody knows, a charming book of Travels, under the title of “ Souvenirs of Eu rope.” Dr. Le Vert is an eminent physician, and has very little of the activity and industry which go to make up a thorough sight-seeing traveler; so he visited few places save the sur gical hospitals, leavtng the .esthetics to Madame. A few weeks after her “Travels” were publish • ed, the Doctor heard of them, and not to seem to compliment the fair authoress too highly, he privately possessed himself of a copy and read it perdu in his office “ to see what she had said.” The book so absorbed him that he forgot his meals and patients, and never “let it down,” ■ until he had got to the end of it; when, with a face of wonder and gratification, he made his way into the presence of his wife. “Is it possible, Madame Le Vert, you saw and heard all this in your book ? Bless my soul! I have seen more of Furope between the leaves of your delightful volume than I saw with my own eyes on the spot! Your book tempts me to take the next steamer back to Europe, to see all this I missed when I was there 1” Alluding to “ Mammoth’s Cave ” reminds me of a remark made by an intelligent American traveler, who wrote me from Europe after being there a few months. He said: “ I am constantly mortified at my ignorance of the remarkable scenery of my own country. lam resolved, after returning from Geneva, to go back home and travel a year in the United States. When I was in England, the Earl of W | hearing me very eloquent on the scene ry of Wales and Scotland, said: “ ‘ Will you describe to me your impressions of the Niagara Falls ?’ “ ‘ I regret, my lord,’ I said, ‘ that I have nev er yet visited them.’ “ ‘Of course,’ said Captain William R., of the R. N., ‘you have paid a visit to the cave in Ohio.’ “ 1 No, captain,’ I answered, yvith a blush ; yet glad to be able to know so much of it as to correct him as to its location 1 “So in France I have been twice asked if I have seen the Natural Bridge in Virginia and the Mississippi River I—-while numerous in quiries as to the “ Five Great Lakes,” the “Pra ries,” the cotton and sugar and tobacco regions make me feel supremely foolish. I intend to re turn in six weeks and learn something of my own country before Igo to see others! An American who comes abroad without othrough ly traveling at home, renders himself supreme!.! ridiculous in the eyes of the Europeans, who are always asking questions of us about Amer ica." After our galloping scamper for one hundred and seventy miles or so, we entered Louisville at 11 o’clock at night, about nine hours after leaving Nashville. Here we found carriages, (a convenience which we did not find at the Nashville depot) and were driven, it seemed, for two miles until we reach ed the side door of the Galt House, which was alight and expecting the passenger train. The ladies were escorted to the handsome reception room, while we gentlemen went into the large and spacious office to register our names. “Print ’em, Mr. Poyns,” said the Major; “for I don’t forget Memphis, where they made me the widow Bedad in the morning papers.” So I printed the Major’s title and name with my pen; while Tim scrawled his across the page with scraggy and unsightly chirography. The Major took his pen and recorded the widow’s name in the most eloquent caligraphy of which he was master. At length we all found comfortable rooms, blazing fires, and good attendance; and as we were to leave the next roon in a steamer for Cincinnati, we resolved to sleep with a good conscience until we waked of ourselves; and so gave orders not to be disturbed. Au revoir. KW" We have received from the Rev. J. B. McFerrin a letter, which we give below, cor recting some of the details relative to the last illness and death of Ex-President Polk, contain ed in “ Anaow ” XIII, published in the F. it F. of March 31. Our Rev. correspondent speaks with authority touching the religious exercises of Mr. P., he having been, we believe, the cler gyman of the “ Methodist communion,” who of ficiated on the occasion alluded to. Mr. Editor: Your correspondent, writing from Nashville, under the caption, “ Arrows,” etc., deals in a bit of romance, that is, perhaps, very entertaining, if not edifying to your readers. The history of Mr. Polk’s baptism, if true as de tailed by your correspondent, presents the dis tinguished Ex-President in rather a rediculous tight. He is represented as being a Presbyte rian in his attachments; as having received bap tism at the request of his wife and mother, and as having been baptized by a Methodist minister because he promised a young methodist, while he, himself, was young to receive baptism at his hands, if ever admitted to the ordinance. Now, all this is contrary to the truth of his tory. Mr. Polk’s mother was a Presbyterian and an excellent woman. His wife was a Presby terian and is still a member of the Presbyterian Church, and walks worthy her vocation. A charming Christian woman is Mrs. Polk. Mr. Polk, himself, \yas a Methodist in sentiment,and had been for many years before his death. He had made up his mind to unite with the Metho dist Church before his last sickness. When he was brought to his bed of death, he sent for a Methodist minister, told him his whole mind and expressed a desire to unite with the Methodist Church, and to receive the sacraments of bap tism and the Lord's supper. Till that hour the minister did not know that Mr. Polk had not been baptized in infancy. The minister was an intimate friend of Mr. Polk; he had conversed with him on religious subjects years before but not a word had ever passed between the parties on the subject of his baptism. The whole story about his early promise is a falsehood, and has been put into circulation for effect. Mr. Polk was a moral mau, respected the Institutions of Christianity, was a Methodist in sentiment and feeling, united with the Meth odist Episcopal Church, and died in communion with that church; and, as the writer believes, died in peace with God and all mankind. He had a right to join the Methodists, and needs not the apology of his friends-for doing what his judgment and feeling dictated. J. B. McFerrin. Nashville, April 11, 1860. ■ hi ■ Declaration of Independence.—Under date July 8, 1776, the Constitutional Gazette thus re lates how it was publicly proclaimed in Phila delphia : “ At twelve o’clock to-day the Committees of Safety and Inspection of Philadelphia went in procession to the State House, where the Decla ration of the Independency of the United States of America was read to a very large number ‘ of the inhabitants of the city and county, and was received with general applause and heart felt satisfaction. And in the evening our late king’s coat of arms was brought from the hall in the State House, where the said king’s courts were formerly held, and burned amid the ac clamations of a crowd of spectators.” I » I Herr Castendtk, a German traveler and na tive of Bremen, is setting out on an exploring expedition to West Africa, West and North west of Monrovia, under the auspices of Sir Roderick Murchison of the London Geographi cal Society. * j Two Bolters Per Annum, I I Always In Advance. f ARTESIAN WELLS. Vertical perforations of the exterior crust of the earth, of small diameter, and frequently of great depth, through which subterraneous wa ter arises to the surface, often forming abundant and elevated jets. The name Artesian is de rived from “Artois,” a province of France, where especial attention has been given to this means of obtaining water; but it appears, from suffi cient historical evidence, that wells of this kind were perfectly well known to the ancients.— Niebuhr cites a passage from 01ympiadorus,who flourished at Alexandria about the middle of the sixth century, in which it,is stated that when wells are dug in the Oasis to the depth of two ' hundred, three hundred, or sometimes five hun , dred yards, rivers of water gush out from their orifices, of which the agriculturists take advan tage to irrigate their fields. The oldest Artesi i an well known to exist in France is in the an cient con vent of the Chartruex, at Lillere in Ar tois. ‘lt is said to have been made in 1126.-*- Others exist at Stuttgard, of great antiquity, though their dates cannot be fixed with precis ion. The inhabitants of the great desert of Sa hara appear, also, to have been long acquainted with this mode of -obtaining water, and the Chinese are said (but tne truth of the statement is questionable) to have practised it for thou sands of years. . Various conjectures have been made as to the source of the water which comes from the Arte sian wells. - It was long believed that the water of the sea must necessarily penetrate byway of ■ infiltration into the interior of the continents, and • at length form large bodies of subterraneous wa ters, ".•Stcb, excepting lor capillary influences, would net rise shove the g»n»rml level of the ocean. Another opinion, maintained by Aristo -1 tie, Seneca* Cardan, and even Descartes, was, that the subterraneous water, from which the sources of rivers and springs are supplied, is the product of the condensation of aqueous va pors ascending from the interior parts of the earth in conseque ne of the central heat. But these hypotheses are founded on mere conjec ture, unsupported by the slightest evidence, and consequently merit no attention. The simplest and most natural explanation is, that the water of ordinary wells, of Artesian fountains and 1 rivers, is supplied by the rain which falls on the surface at a higher elevation, -and which pene trates through the pores and fissures of the 1 ground till it meets with some impermeable ‘ stratum, or is collected in subterranean reser » voirs. It has been objected that springs are some • times situated on or near the summits of moun tains, which could not be supplied in this way; but on an attentive examination of all the cir -1 cumstances, that is to say, on measuring accu ' rately the extent of surface at a greater eleva -1 tion than the spring, and comparing it with the ■ quantity of rain tha falls annually in the same climate, it has been found, in every instance, that the aqueous deposition from the atmosphere 1 greatly exceeds the supply from the spring. It is computed that not more than a third part of the 1 rain which falls in the valley of the Seine is con -1 veyed to the sea by the river; the remaining two- • 1 thirds support vegetation; supply fountains and > springs, or are returned to the atmosphere by evaporation. The immense bodies of water 1 which some continental rivers roll towards the : ocean are but a small part of the rain which 1 falls in the surrounding countries. , 1 Assuming, then, that the subterraneous water t is supplied from atmospherical deposition, it re > mains to be explained how it arrives at the sit uation it occupies in the interior of the earth, 1 and by what forces it is raised from great depths r to the surface. _ 1 All persons who have paid the slightest at c tention to geology are aware that in stratified countries (and it is in such only that Artesian 1 wells exist) different beds of rocks are super i posed on one another, and ranged in a certain > constant order. The strata sometimes follow a c horizontal direction for a considerable extent of • country; at other places thqy are inclined, and even placed perpendicularly to the horizon, hav ing the appearance of having been bent and burst through by the action of a powerful force from beneath. In those cases the edges of the ) strata are often exposed, especially on the sum - mils and flanks of bills, to the action of the at mosphere. Between the strata are frequently found beds of permeable sand, through which f water, coming in contact with them, must ne i cessarily pass, first, through the inclined part by virtue of its specific gravity, and then in the i horizontal branches, by virtue of the pressure • of the water remaining in the elevated portions 1 of the strata. In this manner the water insin . uates itself between the different strata; and I hence we may expect that in localities where I the tertiary stratification prevails, as many dis i tinct sources of subterraneous water will be met with in penetrating perpendicularly through the surface, as there are distinct layers of a sandy or*gravelly nature reposing on impermeable stra ta. This consequence of the theory is perfectly ; confirmed by experience. M. Arago mentions, that in digging for coal near St. Nicholas d’Al ■ iermont, a short distance from Dieppe, seven - distinct and copious sources of water were found, the respective depths of which were:— A f NO. 48. £ I