The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-16 00:00:00

blood threatens to follow him up, but as yet he has taken no
steps.

A WESTERN HOTEL

It once became evident that the station was conducted
upon the principle of the western hotel-keeper of the last
generation, and of continental Europe about A.D. 1500—
the innkeeper of " Anne of Geietstein"—that is to say, for
his own oonvenience ; the public there was the last thing
thought of. One of our party who had ventured into the
kitchen was fiercely ejected by the "ladies." In asking
about dormitories we were informed that " lady travellers"
were admitted into the house, but that the ruder sex must
sleep where it could—or not sleep at all if it preferred. We
found a barn outside ; it was hardly fit fo: a decently
brought-up pig; the floor was damp and knotty ; there Nvas
not even a door to keep out the night breeze, now becoming
raw, and several drunken fellows lay in different parts of it.
Two were in one bunk, embracing maudlingly, and freely
calling for drinks of water. Into this disreputable hole we
were all thrust for the night ; amongst us, it must be re-
membered, was a federal judge, who had officiated for years
as Minister at a European court. His position, poor man I
procured him nothing but a broken-domer pallet. t was
his first trip to the Far West, and ye,, so easily are Ame-
rcans satisfied, and so accustomed are they to obey the
ridiculous jack-in-office who claims to be one of the powers
that be, he scarcely uttered a complaint. I for one
grumbled myself to sleep. May gracious Heaven keep us
sate from all "ladies" in future l—better a hundred times
the squaw with her uncleanliness and civility.
We are now about to leave the laud of that great and
dangerous people, the Sioux, and before biddints adku
to them it will be advisable to devote a kw pages to their
ethnology.

The admirers of Fenimore Cooper's Indian heroes
will be rather disgusted with the character which
Captain Burton gives these mighty warriors. Ho
describes a war party which they met at a
camping place, who were out on the "war-
path," but having been unsuccessful were sulky
and dangerous. "At such times one must
always be prepared for a word and a
blew ; and, indeed, most Indian fighters
justify themselves in taking the initiative, for, of
course, it is a great thing to secure the first chance.
However w
e may yearn towards our " poor black
brother," it is hard not to sympathise with the
white in many aggressions against the ferocious
and capricious so-called red man. We must pass
over the various incidents of the journey, and at
once introduce the reader to the Salt Lake City, which
was reached after a journey that had occupied
nineteen days, and during which period our travel-
lers had traversed not less than 1,136 statute, miles.
Taken as a whole, the author was pleased with the
general appearance of the Settlement, the disposition
of which is like that of the nineteenth century- New
World cities—a system of right angles, the roads,
streets, and lanes intersecting one another. " The
houses are almost of one pattern, a barn shape,
with wings and lean-tos generally facing, some-
thing turned end ways to the street, which gives a
suburban look to the settlement, and the diminutive
casements show that window glass is not yet made
in the Valley. The best houses resemble East In-
dian bungalows, with flat roofs, and low shady
verandahs, well trellised, and supported by posts
and pillars." In vain did the author look for the
out house-harems, certain romancers concerning
things Mormon having declared that the wives are
kept like other stock; this, however, he at once found
to be a delusion, and he concludes by de-
claring that from his first impression he consi-
ders the Mormon settlement is a vast
improvement upon its contemporaries in the
valley of the Mississippi and Missouri. Having
reached his goal, after considerable labour, Captain
Burton determined to make the best use of his
time; and during his stay of four and twenty days
he collected a considerable fund of information, but
he warns the reader that although the Mormons
are ready enough to communicate all superficial
particulars relating not only to their civil gc-
vernment, but also to religious worship, it is im-
possible to fathom their inner feelings ; and he
relates what he has learned and what his own
impressions are. He then describes the peculiar fea-
tures of the city and its environs, the nature of the
country, and the climate, for particulars of which
we must refer our readers to the work itself, stating
simply that the former, although fertile in the
valleys, is pronounced by emigrants from the
Old Country to be " mean land," hard, dry, and fit
only for hard-working Mormons, scarcely one-fifth
part of it being fit for tillage ; its resources for the
purposes of grazing being, on the other hand, ex-
cellent. The temperature is alternately low and
high, the mercury often falling considerably below
zero in winter. Yet it cannot be doubted, says the
author, that this climate of arid heat, and dry cold,
is eminently suited to most healthy, and to many
sickly constitutions ; children and adults have come
from England, apparently in a dying state, and
have lived to become strong and robust men:" The
Mormon civil government seems to hare a charm
for Captain Burton, which, we confess, we are at a
loss to comprehend. By his own account it com-
bines the worst features of European Governments
together with the bigotry of the middle ages, and
of the Spanish Inquisition. However, here are the
author's own words :