states, on an average, than occurs at Julianshaab, South Greenland, or at Reikiavik, in Iceland.

The states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, have two kinds of climate. Near to the sea it is milder than in the interior, within the mountain ranges. The gulf stream has an influence in tempering the air of those parts of the state lying near the sea; though, at times, there are days of excessive cold, even in New York city, when the mercury descends to some 38° below zero. In the mountains, the snows are frequent, and very deep, often interrupting the railway communication with the great mails. The states of Delaware and Maryland have a still more moderate climate; and even in that part of Maryland lying within the Alleghany Mountains, the cold is not so great as in New England. Upon these Alpinelike summits, the snows are frequent, and the winter's blast most terrible; yet, as to cold, they are more than equalled on the plains of the northern states. In summer, there are times, of several consecutive days, when the heat is so great, that the pavements are too hot to be borne by the naked feet of those who prefer to dispense with shoes.

In the latitude of Maryland and Virginia, westward of the Appalachian chain of mountains, the summers are very hot, and the droughts are greater than occur within the limits of the coast states. Very often, for several consecutive days, the thermometer remains between 90° and 100° in the shade; and the only covering required in bed, at night, is a linen sheet. The winters are not very severe, compared with the climate of the northern states. The snow lies upon the ground but a few days, and there

are many winters that do not afford the necessary ice for domestic consumption; and that commodity has to be imported from the northern states. The Ohio river, however, occasionally freezes at Pittsburg; and there are seasonsperhaps once in a quarter of a century-when the river at Cincinnati freezes over. At Louisville, a thin ice-crust has sometimes formed across the river; but these are the incidents of severe and uncommon winters. In the regions of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and South Missouri, the snows are less frequent, and the climate is much milder than that of the north-western states. In Tennessee and South Arkansas the grass is green during the whole winter. In these states the snow lies upon the ground but a few hours; it is dissolved either by the sun or the warm rains. Sleets are common in Tennessee, Kentucky, South Missouri, North Arkansas, and the southern parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The rain is precipitated from the warmer stratas of air above; and, falling upon the trees and the earth, where the air is colder, ice is formed around every twig and blade of grass; and the earth is crusted with a coating of ice, averaging from a quarter to half an inch in thickness. A woodland thus covered with sleet, in the sunshine, is a most beautiful sight. All nature appears to be clad with diamonds! The countless icy prisms reflect the sun's rays, and scatter their rainbow hues in every direction, enrobing nature with a mantle of the most singular beauty. Some foreign writers have stated, that the cold is "so severe at St. Louis, that the Mississippi river is sometimes capable of being crossed on the ice for eight weeks together,"

with waggons heavily laden. They fail to explain how the river becomes bridged with ice. Strictly speaking, the river at St. Louis was never frozen over; nor is it possible; for the degree of cold is not sufficient to freeze over that most rapid and turbulent of all rivers. The confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers is some twenty miles above St. Louis; and the latter river, particularly, brings down from its tributaries immense quantities of ice in "cakes," each some five or ten feet across, and some from ten to twenty inches thick. Sometimes these detached pieces freeze together, and descend in cakes, an acre in size. The floating ice is often so thick that the water of the river cannot be seen. During warm days it softens, and becomes, as technically called, " rotten;" and the pieces, crushing one against the other, break into small fragments. Three or four days of cold weather will harden the floating ice. At narrow places of the river it "jams" together, and forms what is called a "gorge." Below the "gorge" the river soon becomes free of floating ice; and, above it, the cakes pack together for many miles. Thus lying together, the cold soon unites them. As the cakes descend with the rapid current, they strike against the "gorge," and are either forced upon or beneath the stationary ice: those running under are caught by subtending pieces; and, in a few days, the bridge of ice is some five or more feet elevated above the water-level: it becomes buoyed by the under-cakes. In this manner "gorges, ," and the bridges at St. Louis, are formed. The axemen then proceed to level the ice, by cutting off the projecting edges of the cakes, crushed to perpendicular

positions. When thus prepared, the highway is opened, and the largest waggons, containing twenty tons burden, or even more, and drawn by the largest horses, cross and recross with perfect safety, for several consecutive weeks.

Within the regions of the junction of the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, there are, occasionally, tornadoes, which are very destructive to the houses and farms. They demolish the most substantial buildings, and twist from the earth the largest trees-not sparing the stately oak, though it be two or three feet in diameter at base. These tornadoes are composed of a series of whirlwinds. The hurricane is not so destructive, as the wind blows in a right line. The tornado lifts a house from its base, and scatters its fragments in every direction; some of which we have seen carried at least seven miles: but the hurricane levels it to the earth, as though it had been pushed over. It has been stated, that, "although the summers over the Mississippi valley must be admitted to be hot, yet the exemptions of the country from mountains and other impediments to the free course of the winds, and the circumstance that the greater proportion of the country has a surface bare of forests, together, probably, with other unexplained atmospheric agents, concur to create, during the sultry months, almost a constant breeze: it then happens that the air on the wide prairies is rendered fresh, and the heats are tempered in the same manner as is felt on the ocean." The thunder-storms of the valley are the most remarkable natural phenomena of the country. Even those persons who fear the lightning, are forced to admire the sublimity of this electric manifestation.

During some nights, the heavens are brilliantly illuminated by flash after flash, extending from the horizon to the zenith. On the lower Mississippi there are many lakes, bayous and swamps. The summers are very hot, and the winters are mild: the ground is seldom covered with snow; and whenever the white fleecy flakes happen to reach the earth, they disappear within a few hours. In the south-western states vegetation grows very rapidly, and Indian corn attains a height of eight feet, within ninety days from sprouting. Two crops of hay are frequently gathered within the same season.

The climate of the states of Virginia and North Carolina, is the most uniform of all the United States; and it is neither excessively hot nor cold. The mountains are covered with deep snows; and their white-crested peaks present an Alpine appearance; but, in the valleys and on the coast plains, there is verdure throughout the winter. Those states lying upon the Gulf of Mexico have a much greater degree of heat in the sun; but at night, the cool breeze from the sea, with its dews, refreshes all nature. Festoons of long moss hang from the trees; thus nature, with a mantle of singular growth, darkens the forest. These long grey tresses, like the weeping willow, create in the heart sad and lonely thoughts. The palmetto, however, gives to the low alluvial grounds a grand and striking verdure. The laurel trees, upon the mountain sides, retain their green foliage through the winter. Snow is to be seen only as falling flakes, and the streams are never frozen. Ice, for domestic consumption, is brought from New England. The peach trees are in blossom and foliage early in Feb