The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-06-15 00:00:00

LIV ERPOOt STANDARD.

T HE

t ions, divided only from the street by one half-closed door,
and one policeman keeping guard. There is this advan-
tage, that in case of fire, accident, or panic, the avenues
are not so intricate, long, and dark, as those of too many
of our theatres, which obstruct egress, and have been oc-
casionally the loss of many lives by crushing and suffoca-
tion.

But we have now arranged, the Bostonian and I, to get
up early, go by railway to Torre del Annunciata, and walk
thence three miles to the city, buried for so many ages by
the lava and ashes of Vesuvius—the city of Pompeii. It
was a melancholy trip , and as we approached, through
gardens and vineyards, the gate of the city, there stood at
a little distance the gigantic cause of so much loss of life
and property, calm as any honest man, with quiet mind
at ease ; and the smoke was so gracefully curling from the
crater, that you might think the monster was smoking a
cigar, indifferent about all mundane affairs. The awful
solitudes of Pompeii, the streets of tombs, the dilapidrted,
ruined theatres, temples, shops, grottoes, &c., all impress
the soul with the insignificancy and brevity of mortal
things. But my observations upon Pompeii, Hercula-
neum, and my ascent of Vesuvius, must be reserved for
my next chapter.

Human nature, left to itself, is a fierce and frightful thing's
and the stories of savage life are nearly all of the same ca-
libre, and all exhibit a dreadful love of revenge. About
twenty years ago, a large encampment of Black-feet and
others, had been formed in those prairies for the purpose
of hunting. The warriors, however, growing tired of their
peaceful occupation, resolved to make an incursion into
the lands of the Assinabaians. They left behind them
the old men with the women and children. After a suc-
cessful campaign, they turned their steps homewards,
loaded with scalps and other spoils, and on reaching the
' top of the ridge that overlooked the camp, they gave note
of their approach by the usual shouts of victory. But no
shout answered, and on descending to their huts, they'
found the whole of the inmates slaughtered. The Assi-
nabaians had been there to take their revenge. On be-
holding the dismal scene, the triumphant warriors cast
away their spoils, arms, and clothing, and then putting on
robes of leather, and smearing their heads with mud, they
betook themselves to the hills for three days and nights,
'to howl and moan and cut their flesh. It is observed,
that this mode of expressing public grief, bears a striking
resemblance to the customs of the Jews. The track [of
Sir Geo. Simpson] towards Fort Vancouver exhibited a
country, which may yet make a great figure in the Ameri-
can world,—immense valleys sheltered by mountain
ridges, and containing beautiful lakes. In one instance,
their tents were pitched in a valley of about five hundred
acres enclosed by mountains on three sides, and a lake on
the fourth. From the edge of the waters there arose a
gentle descent of six or eight hundred feet covered with
vines, and composed of the accumulated fragments of the
heights above ; and on the upper border of this slope there
stood perpendicular walls of granite of three or four thou-
sand feet high, while among those dizzy altitudes, the
goats and sheep bounded in playful security. This defile
had been the scene of an exploit. One of the Crees, whom
they had met a few days before, had been tracked into the
valley along with his wife and family by five warriors of a
hostile tribe. On perdeiving the odds against him,
the man gave himself up for lost, observing to the
woman, that as they could die but once, they had
better die without resistance. The wife, however, said,
that " as they had but "one life to lose, they had the
More reason to defend it," and, suiting the action to the
word, the heroic wife brought the foremost of the enemy
down to the ground by a bullet, while the husband dis-
posed of two others by two arrows. The fourth warrior
was rushing on the woman with uplifted tomahawk, when
he stumbled and fell. She darted forward, and buried her
knife in his heart. The sole surviving assailant now
turned and fled, discharging, however, a bullet which
wounded the man in the arm.—Blackwood's Magazine.