Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1842-05-13

RIGA, are inferior 10 those OF the Hmelayah. II 10
therefore one of the most mpracticable countries on
earth, yet 1t is capable of sustaining great population
has been the seat of cmpre, of high oriental civiza
ton, and of an enlightened agriculture. Upon one of
the sources of the Indus yet to be seen the ruins
of Ghlzn, il the lllh century the scat Of the great
empire Of Manhood, the first of the Sgtans The
name Of Mahmool the Ghaznevide is still venerable
in the east. His bects enjoyed the blessings Of
prosperity and peace. His reign is illustrated by
mantle anecdotes of the rgor and imparality of Ma.
n I. justice, and was adorned by the songs oil
Fedusl among the most celebrated of eastern poets.
II is through this mpenetrablc country of prodglous
mountains and deep defiles that the British arms
seem TO be struggling to meet the Russian on the banks
OF The Caspian The latter are contending with a
similar county and similar people amid the noun.
tans OF The Caurasus. Either of these two great
monarchies has heart enough for the whole world
Inc occupation of the passage from southern to north
ern Asa, through the terrible deIc called by the
anciens the Gates of the Caspian may be object
OF eager solicude to both governments. With the
British government especially the occupation of the
pass may be connected with the establishment OF
port upon the Caspian.
very large portion of the Afghan country is Of
course wild and desolato, and sometimes inaccessible
There are however, extensive districts of table land
which are sad to surpass in fertility the most product
I'VE soils OF Europe. The summer climate resembles
that OF the table lands of Mexico, and must be among
the most delightful in the world. The winters are
severe-the higher peaks of the mountsns are clad in
perpetual snow-and on the higher table lands the
snow lies deep for four five months in the year, ac
companlcd by Norwegian temperature. The pro-
ductions of such region ofcourse determined by
the degree of elevation. At Peshawar, which has a
central situation in respect TO latitude, the tropical
fruits mIngle with those of Europe. Wheat barley
and rice, the pomcgranae, the date, and the orange
all belong to the varied vegetation of Cal ustan. The
vine the peach, and the apricot grow Wild being in.
digenous to the soil. The mountains covered
with vast forests of pine, mingled with the cypress
and the oak. On the plains are the mulberry,
the tamarlnd, the plane, the poplar, and the willow.
The historian Gbbon in discoursng upon the
Ghaznevlde empire, in the latter part of the last
fury, declares that Ghizni is not far from the city Of
Cabool, and had not been visited by any modern
traveller. Since his time the British arms have adj
vanced from Ceylon to the Hmeayah, from the IRA
waddy TO the Indus The great pass of the latter
river, at Atock, which ha witn ssed the presence of
the greatest conqierors Of the enrth,-Sesos'ris and
Alexander, Mahommed, Zngis and Tamerlane, Nadir
and Aulungzebo-now TRANQUILITY reposes under the
dominion of "lhe Old Lion Of the Punaub' Runjeet
Singh, the. robber chief of Lahore, the devoted ally
and vassal OF "The Honorable India Company"
Books of travels, letters from the east reports of
engineers, literary and scientific discoursos rapidly
publishing to the world the hitherto unexplored Sc
crets of Cabustan. The writings Of Elphinstone,
Potnger, and Of the ill-faed Sir Alexander Burns
are full of Information respecting the natural and po-
ltica features ofhe country The population is thus
estimated by the first named wrirer-