The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1838-11-14
From the Correspondent of The Bangor Wing.
TRAVELS IN THE WEST.
SEPTEMBER lS.

|
SEPTEMBER lS.
General observation-disclosures Game
Comforts Of a Spring, FaU, and Winter
Hedlthmess- M0nnerS--Th DEAR Girls
iSieepLess Nighfs-- Tripie Alliance
Steam Boat PlriiS- GropM of Western
CHies--Ihe City Of Cities Interesting
Discussion.
Having now arrived about 10 the end Of
my western travels, intend to ill up let
ter with such general remarks and recolec-
lions as occur to the. And you may be as
Sured that they shall he properly connected,
though the thread may be too fine 70 your
observation.
Illinois is truly superb county. The
alterations Of prairie and woodland, the
wood standing So thinly that you can ride
through it anywhere, and having an under
growth, not of impenetrablc brush, but of
prairie heritage, euIiycned occasionally by
the sight of a wild deer, gives ii the appear
ance of one grand park. And this appear
anco is not diminished 10y the herds of fine
looking neat cattle that animate the prai-
ries. For the cattle even of whole villages
wander at large here they please, in lhe
midst of boundrss abundance. They are
shut out only from the lillage land. Aud
they do not crop enough of the prairie To
seriously injurc the moving. The inhabi-
tanls Of the village go out, each one where
and when he pleascs, and selects such piece
ms suits him for moving, without regard to
ownership.
An Englishmnn might find here formed
| To his hands. to m unlimited extent, such
materials for landscape gardening, MS years
of care and expense could not give him at
home. The immense fields Of luxuriant
corn undnlatng in the breeze, afford equal
qualification to tho lover of natural beauty
aud to him whose whole idea Of beauty con
sists in the promise of profit. The produce
is SO abundant that they do not harvest it,
They have no husking frolics here. The
corn stands in the field all winter, and they
cut it as ,.ey want to use il.
e Game, of various kinds, is abundant.
r The prairie hens particularly. start up be-
, fore you on the prairies every where. And
their numbers iUcrease as cultivation in
cresses.
We have So far been viewing the face of
the picture. Let us turn it round, and see
what there is on the other side. 1t has
been at the most favorable season that |
have seen the country. 1t was hot wealth
er indeed, hot enough to make it almost
dangerous to cross a street ia the sun the
hottest season, as they sny, ever known
here. Yet the country every where was
fresh and green. The roads were in their
best state the slOos being reduced TO their
narrowest and shallowest dimensions. Aud
there was generally air enough to make the
] al
that To n traveller visiting the country at IA
wet senson, the whole appearance Of things
must bc different. The roads will be soft
with prairie mud and the sloos, should
think, must be dangerous. Prairie towns
are always disagrcesblc. 10 wet weather
you cannot stir IN them without being COW
cred with mud, ll,dt sticks TO every thing,
ns they say, like paint. Aud III dry wealth
or, you are annoyed with the light black
dust that floats about OH every wind.
would not advise any one to 90 to the
West IN search Of pleasanter winters than
they have in New England. Ia the same
attitudes | believe that it is colder at the
! Yves, for the winds have an unlimited
scope to play over the praires. Aud where
II is warmer, do not think that "A surface
Of mud IS preferable to one Of snow. But
wherever | have been, III Illinois, tho
people complained of cold wintcrs. In
| deed, they are not so well prepared for
them as in New England. Thin as our
/ country houses are, theIrs are thinner.
/ They have no pine lumber, and oak and
walnut are hard to work aud more expen-
sivr, aud therefore used more sparlnely.
If you 20 so far South as Ia fud the min-
tcrs decidedly warmer, you find the climate
decidedly more unhealthy in proportion.
You must encounter bilious fev.rs, aud fe-
yer and agues. Even IN those parts not
the most unhealthy, where | was principal
ly conyersant, | seldom visited an apo,he-
carries shop, without hearing calls made,
and sometimes good many, for calumet.
And this without any advice from ply
sician but as though the necessity for It's
use were a matter universally aud well un-
derstood.
Now if you ask what led me TO apo,he-
carries shops, | will tell you that 1t is very
common thing here for an apothecary's
shop to be furnished with drugs on one side,
and books, (possibly they are considered as
articles ia the same line,) on the other
Within certain parallels of latitude, in
! Indiana, Illinois aud Missouri, the fatal
disease called the milk sickness, prevails.
The cause is unknown, but it is generally
attributed to an effect produced upon the
milk of cows by their feeding on somo
poisonous plants. 1t does not extend so far
North, believe, as the mouth of the llli-
uois River. There is likewise an enerva-
ting influence in the climate, by which the
vigor of Eastern emlgrants is ip few years
tanned down to the degree Of lnssitude ex-
hibted by those of Southern origin.
! There ia, too, a disagreeable discordancc
between the manners of settlers from the