Alexandria advertiser and commercial intelligencer. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1800-1803, 1801-11-02

nifty. The rivers, majeitic in thor o.
rigin, fwell and expand in their prcerefs,
till embracing a thouland tributary iteams
their breadth ioon nocks the ken of human
eye. Rolling on TO the ocean, they Witt
hundred chimes; they behold the painted
favage in his bark canoe, lsimmibg the
furface with incredible velocity, apd bear
upon their boloms the-weight of hayies.
Some range to the nor h and feek an OUT
let beneath the polar fkies, where the en-
pire of trott yields reluctantly TO the fun
mer funs and where the mot powerful
torrents are arrelfed in their channels and
chained fat to the rocks. Others flow TO
the fouth, I'll, confined by banks that are
covered, rhro the whole year, with fruits
and flowers, they are LOFT in oceans that
iparkle to the verticaliun, and roll beneath
The burning line.
The mountains, alto iretch, in connect
ed ridges, thro' imnente regio"s, and
hide their cragg) tops in the Goods of
Heaven. Their f.mmitsIaEe gilded with
fun beams, while their middle regions are
involved in forms and darkness. III
Immenie lakes or inland ieas, connect
ed by traits, border the whole of the
northern frontier ofthe United States, and
connect in commercial relations, coun-
tries which are as remote from each other,
as the Barumpooter from the Indus. Be-
tween,two of thefe lakes the catar0a oil
Niagara tumbles headlong from ,he,clouds;
a whole column, of 17o feet In heigh,
hangs fuipended in the air; the fpr4y rife.
and exhibits the rainbow in all its beauty
| while the laundering of the torrent drown.
every other noile and is heard in .d;Ran,
regions.
.Laudft4pts of houndlefs extent and in.
finite variety, are preieated on every fde
From the topofa mountain in this country
have frequently viewed the furroundine
fcenes and felt the poetical ardor kindlec
within me at the profpett. With one
glance the eye will often furvey extenGve
and luxurient plains, covered with cattle
and in rich yerdure rivers flowing with a
(mooth and undilturbcd furtace, or roaring
over rugged bottoms; hills crowned with
orchards and loping their green fides tc
the fun; valleys fmIling with meadows anc
flowers, and haded by groves fhip.
winding up the inland waters and breaking
from among the hills; towns, viasges
and hamlets indicative of rational life
and the immenie ocean loft at diaance be.
meath the incumbent ky.
Theie fcenes, my dear friend, it is true
are not peculiar to America. They are
prelented in every country, but ona finale,
icale. Here nature feems to have gloried
in her might, and to have PUT forth The
hIghcf efforts of creative energy. Such
fcenes are calculated to feize the imagina
nation and hurry it into poetical enthuli.
aim. This effect have frequently wit
neaed as produced upon American minds
their poets frequently celebrate their ri.
vers, mountains, catara6ts ard plains anc
there is no room to doubt that at fome
future period the American ParuaD1s
G0verdda1, Xeutbxt and Gaxges, will be
equally confecrated in peetical tory, a.
thofe famous mountains and rivers ie
Greece and Hinduhan. Indeed there !.
no deficiency of poetical talents in the TIA
ton at large, and the whole natural Gcne.
ry of the country, tends to gil the mine
with grand and fubline conceptions, and
in no fn,all degree with fenfations of beau
ty. But ienfations of exquifte beauty,
are excited more powerfully in the coun-
try which thou, my dear EPHaflan, in.
habitef, and which | fill delight to cal
my own, than in this or prehaps in any
other. would not fuggea that Hinduf.
tan is deGcien. in fcenes of grandeur and
fubln,ity. Our Gauges, Indus, and Ba.
rumpooter, traverfe immerfe regions. and
refreth toe ocean with an unbounded pro-
futon OF water--our Goverdhan lifts it: