wishes of the sleepers, and form a heavenly ladder by which weary spirits may ascend into that soft region-far from the cares and the miseries of the earth. "Such visions have revealed mortals to each other, who have afterwards met in the earth and have loved. The venerable watchers above have so skilfully and secretly guided their fates, that such love has been blessed, and has terminated in joy. All to the praise of the Creator, and for the blessing of his creatures." "Amen!" responded the magistrate out of his sleep. "There is not one word in the Bible that is not strictly true," continued the little man, with some warmth, "but mankind are so blind that they will not perceive it-Jacob's ladder is not mentioned in vain, but poets above have understood the true meaning. As the miner descends into the bowels of the earth to bring forth precious metals and jewels, so the poet mounts aloft into the highest heavens, bearing down with him treasures far more rare than gold or costly gems. Such men alone deserve the name of heavenly spirits." The magistrate moved restlessly on his bed, which the little magician noticing, said, "Yes, yes, I understand you want me to reveal the mystery, and tell you all about the maiden you saw in the moon-but it is too long and too strange a history for any child of man to comprehend. Besides, I have no time, for, see, the moon is rising." Saying these words, he leaned out of the window after a water-lily, to see what was the hour by its long white leaves. "I have, I see, only time to add : When you first saw her before on the ladder of dreams the maiden had taken refuge in the moon to weep and to lament. All is now changed-she descended in glory, for the Queen of the Swans, the sovereign of all the guardians in these parts, has taken her under her protection. Spring has revived her-the waters have refreshed her, so that her soul is renewed. She loves you-she has never ceased to love you since you met in the moon." As the little magician finished speaking the moon sank into the water and the whole palace became illuminated in a moment. The venerable guardians looked down from the ladder with friendly kind faces, and the Man in the Moon threw down a rose from above. Hidden voices sang the following words : "Behold her rising fresh and bright From out the darkest shades of night." The Queen of the Swans herself, and all her snowy court, stood outside the palace. The little magician guided a boat formed of lotos leaves, holding the rudder in his hand as if waiting to carry some one across. The maiden appeared through a door in the interior of the palace. She took a fond farewell of the Queen of Swans who had been so kind to her. Instead of a lily she now wore a rose on her heart-dreams fluttered around her like gentle doves, and little fairies danced a joyful measure in her train. She looked happy and joyful as a child just awakened from a long sleep. She approached the magistrate with a smiling countenance, offering her hand. At this moment he awoke, as if roused by an electric shock. OREGON, CALIFORNIA, AND THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. * THE unceasing and apparently interminable supply of the precious metal, "Gaudy Gold, hard food for Midas," which continues to inundate the world from the distant regions of California; and the late discoveries of similar deposits in Australia, which bid fair to rival, in produce, the earlier "El Dorado." These stirring episodes in the world's history. invest with original and most powerful interest, every voice from those remote localities, which carries with it internal evidence of truth, and conveys authentic intelligence of the actual state of things in lands destined hereafter, whether for good or evil, to become important sections in the geography of our planet. It is fortunate for the further instruction as well as amusement of educated man, that while the greater portion of the human race prefer to read of dangerous enterprises, difficulties surmounted, and arduous travels accomplished, in the snug security of an easy chair, and by the side of a blazing fire, the wise Providence which governs the world, has bestowed on a chosen few the energy to accomplish deeds which reflect benefit on all, and endowed them with a peculiar conformation of mental vigour, physical strength, and indomitable perseverance. Among this band of stout, practical pioneers, the author of the volume now before us, is entitled to hold a prominent position. A ride of 2200 miles across the prairies, and over the rocky mountains, from St. Louis on the Missouri to the station of the Dalles on the Columbia in Oregon, occupying more than four months, and without an interval of civilized indulgence, is not to be estimated or even remotely comprehended by the thousands whose experience of travelling is confined to the inconvenience of an excursion train to Birmingham and back again, or who perhaps have ventured as far, by the Holyhead express, as to examine the Menai Bridge, or the tubular constructions in the neighbourhood of Bangor. It is, on the contrary, and without exaggeration, a feat requiring the bodily powers of Samson or Hercules, and the patience of the great patriarch himself. It is extraordinary, as well as gratifying, to find that young men of rank, fortune, and intellectual acquirements, will undertake these laborious achievements voluntarily; from a praiseworthy ambition to be useful in their generation, and thus supply themselves with agreeable and profitable reminiscences for after years, losing neither time nor temper, and wasting not the precious hours, which can never be recalled, in betting at Epsom or Newmarket, playing short whist for long stakes at a club, or smoking interminable cigars, without reflection, in a billiard room. Truly, the AngloSaxon is the most active of bipeds in mind and body, and deserves the vast superiority his race is rapidly establishing in every corner of the globe. Mr. Coke's volume assumes the unpretending form of a Journal, clear, succinct, and consecutive. There is no labouring after literary effect, and no roundabout, far-fetched introductions. It is a pleasing, manly * A Ride over the Rocky Mountains to Oregon and California, with a glance at some of the Tropical Islands, including the West Indies and the Sandwich Isles. By the Hon. Henry J. Coke, author of "Vienna in 1848.” narrative of events as they occurred, characterised by good humour, a temperament disposed to turn the glass always to the brighter side, and the total absence of all dogmatical pretensions. We are neither wearied by impracticable theories, nor useless speculations, such as abound a little too freely in more than one recent book of adventurous travel, we could name, if necessary, and which swell the bulk without adding to the value. A volume like this may be considered as a rara avis, in an age of many opinions, and as comfortable and refreshing as a Shakspeare without notes, or a popular classic without the supposed obscurities rendered rather more unintelligible by ingenious attempts at elucidation. We feel positive gratitude to an author whose pages we can glide gently through, without effort or weariness, who bewilders us not with hard compounds, and who can scarcely be typified as syncretic, æsthetic, or idiosyncratic; terms doubtless understood thoroughly by the inventors, but which rather mystify the unsophisticated reading public, and somewhat confuse the simple vernacular we studied in our school days. These are "affectations," as honest Sir Hugh Evans says of Pistol's metaphors, and in our humble opinion would be more honoured in the breach than the observance. But we are losing our trail, as they say on the prairies, and getting away from Mr. Coke and his agreeable narrative, to both of which we must return, and by a short extract or two, verify the correctness of our favourable opinion. The party, when they started from St. Louis, having no experience of their intended route, and an ample command of money, fell into mistakes which might have been avoided, and which led to some impediments and disagreeable incidents, not of necessity included in the programme of their proceedings, and only discovered when too late for remedy, without sacrificing valuable material, and still more precious time. When nearly half way, the courage of some began to ooze out, and there was even talk of turning back in despair; a course not unfrequently adopted by exhausted emigrants. But consideration told them they were precisely in the predicament in which Macbeth had involved himself in difficulties (not blood) and could say with him we are "Steep'd in so far, that should we wade no more, About this time, acting on the urgent representations of Mr. Coke, the party separated, some of their attendants were dismissed altogether, and he himself proceeded, with no companion but an athletic parson, who reminds us occasionally of the inimitable Adams, especially in his burly proportions and pugnacious aptitude. He was soon joined by a faithful attendant called William, who, after a life of roving adventure, was destined shortly to perish in the Snake River. The original party, although few in numbers, alone in the desert, and shut out from all commerce with their kind, except an occasional rencontre with a tribe of nomadic Indians, or a family of emigrants, could not agree. Each condemned the other's plan of operations; words ran high; quarrels were of ordinary occurrence, and they separated at last, by mutual consent, as wives and husbands occasionally do, by decree of the Consistorial Court, from "incompatibility of temper." Alas! poor human nature! even in the solitude of the prairies, inconsistency is thy characteristic; nothing can control or drive out thy inherent weakness. After the separation of the party, they got on more quickly, and without quarrels, and all met again in friendship at the end of the journey, with the exception of one death in each detachment by casualty. The danger of traversing the prairies and crossing the rocky mountains is far less than the toil and privation. The principal difficulties lie in the scarcity of provisions, wood and water, the constant absence of good camping ground, the diabolical temper of baggage mules, and the insatiable appetites of musquitos and sand-flies. It might be supposed that a small party would be in more danger from hostile attack, whether by buffaloes, wolves, or wild Indians, than a larger one; but this was not verified by the experiment. The native Indians in these districts are few and scattered, and either partial to, or afraid of the white man. They steal adroitly whenever an opportunity occurs, but the tomahawk or scalping-knife is seldom called into action, except to settle their own little differences. The sight of a single rifle in the hands of an Englishman or Yankee, suffices to keep a whole tribe in order, while a few glittering copper percussion caps, generally appease their cupidity. As Shakspeare says, "Misery brings us acquainted with strange bed fellows," so does wandering in the prairies entail curious discoveries in the art culinary, which have not yet found their way into the pages of the "Almanac des Gourmands," and neither Ude nor Soyer have imagined even in dreams. On the 13th of July, 1850, the party shot two prairie dogs, a hare, and a rattlesnake, which, Mr. Coke says, were all capital eating, not excepting the snake, cooked by the Pillar of the Church, as he designates their parson, and who pronounced it as good as eel. This reminds us of the anecdote in Washington Irving's story of the "Inn at Terracina," in which he says "the Englishman ate heartily of a dish which looked like stewed eels, but nearly refunded them when told they were vipers caught in the neighbourhood, and esteemed a particular delicacy. We have ourselves partaken, with considerable gusto, in France, of fricaseed frogs, and stewed snails, but these delicacies are nothing to what the Widow in Hudibras mentions as constituting the favourite dishes of an Eastern potentate, "The Prince of Cambay's daily food, Is asp, and basilisk, and toad!' Among the popular Indian feasts, a puppy-dog roasted alive appears to be held in high estimation. Our author and his companions suffered much annoyance from the innate viciousness of their mules, for which there seems to be no efficacious remedy but intense flogging, both before the offence, as a warning, and after it as a punishment. "When a mule," says he, "makes up her mind to kick a rider off, she generally does it. They are far worse to sit upon than any horse, for they will turn round so quickly, using their hind legs as a pivot, that, unless a person is accustomed to waltzing, he is apt to tumble off with giddiness; very often they jump up and throw themselves with such violence to the ground, that they break the girths of the saddle, and free themselves in this manner of their masters."-Then, on the favourable per contra side, he adds, 66 Any mule can undergo twice as much as a horse, but when they combine the qualities of a good riding animal with their extraordinary powers of endurance, one rude mule is worth six horses for an expedition of this kind." All future travellers who purpose following this route, would do wisely to profit by what Mr. Coke tells us respecting the peculiarities of these mules, and the best mode of dealing with them. On the 5th of September, Mr. Coke, with his two companions, reached Fort Hall, a sort of half-way house, where they overtook their former fellow travellers from whom they had separated. They received a warm welcome from Mr. Grant, the commander, but as there were no superfluous provisions to be disposed of, pushed forward in advance on the 7th. The meeting was so satisfactory, that the parties were strongly tempted to re-unite, but anticipating the continued advantage (already experienced), of moving in diminished numbers, persevered in the maxim they had laid down of divide et impera. We now come to a tragic episode, the death of poor William the Hunter, which occurred in fording the Snake river. The incident, though melancholy, is highly interesting, and is graphically described by Mr. Coke, who was nearly drowned himself. On the 12th of October all reached the station of the Dalles on the Colombia, where they were most hospitably received, and recruited their exhausted strength with the long absent luxury of roast beef, good wine, and abundance of other creature comforts. On the 20th they embarked in a canoe, and rowed down the majestic stream, which is described as resembling the finest parts of the Danube or the Elbe, the scenery surpassingly rich and beautiful, but, like everything else in the New World, on a grander scale than the eyes of a European are accustomed to look upon, and in much more gigantic proportions. On the 22nd the adventurous travellers reached Fort Vancouver, not far from Oregon city, the rising capital of the English province, in time for dinner, and once more took up their quarters under the glorious protection of the British flag. The enterprize is accomplished; courage and perseverance are crowned with full success. We congratulate our daring fellow-countrymen, and sympathize warmly with their feelings of triumph, while we candidly confess we have scarcely active ambition enough to follow in their footsteps, or emulate their hardy achievement. The unrivalled magnificence of Nature in all her primeval solitude, boundless on the prairies and mountain ridges of the great Western Continent, impresses the mind with awe and veneration, and a deep sense of human insignificance. But still there is inseparable from this lonely grandeur, a feeling of monotony and sameness which weighs down the spirits, and drives back the excursive imagination with regret and lingering partiality to the historic associations of the Old World; to the "Castled Crag of Drachenfels," the frowning towers of Ehrenbreitstein, the gorgeous cathedrals, the ruined abbeys, the proud remains of Roman and Grecian importance and early civilization; the battle-fields of Marathon, and Morat, and Waterloo; the glorious literature, the undying records, with the thousand other reminiscences, which bind man to all the different races of his kind that have occupied their places in due succession, and form a regular connecting link between his present state of high cultivation, and that in which he originally sprang, fresh and untutored from the hand of the beneficent Creator. We are sorry to observe that Mr. Coke remarked the superior prospects of an American settler in Oregon, as contrasted with those of an emigrant in our neighbouring colony at Vancouver's Island. However we may grieve, we are too much accustomed to this to feel surprise. When will the authorities to whom the management of our colonial interests is intrusted open their eyes, or exercise something like sound judgment? We ask the question in mournful anxiety, and echo answers "When? On the 20th November, 1850, the party embarked for the Sandwich |