The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1850-10-17

r,,,. Dubuaue to St. Paul almost every
--i, ID scenery on the Mississippi, fills the
i-brtier with admiration and wonder. The
scr : very broad, averaging nearly two
,,,'ss nd studded with innumerable islands,
nd. seed in loneliness even by the far
larp- Archipelago. They vary in size
r. aH acre 10 forty and fifty acres in ex-
..af. trd are mostly covered with fine tim
,. c.ien OF monSsrous growth, the green
L-sa.nes hanging low, and kissed by the
DARK s. aters OF the river, while the giant
ranks are warmly embraced 10y luxurious
.r0,,th of wild vines aud creei,ers, making
.lsse farming spots often appear an i:aper-
-,s.s -hicket Of green, and giving good eyl-
.,..- e the strength aud tprtilify of the
ssh. The vines are often load with rich
heavy busters Of grapes, hardly inferior in
safgr 20 the cultivated, and from which de-
..rious wine is made. The wild plumb al
.. 4b1 ads, its limbs bending to the waters
.f.e With their luscious fruit, which prove
"a gscsllent substitute for the cultivated
riarb These islands form a distinguish
80 f.a,ure in this river for many hundred
miles The dark turbid stream, in ,numer-
IS coses, disclosing every mile some new
rsa oi beauty, or some new channel IN the
l,, .-tance, and atfording striking idea of
tho vast volume of water, which even at this
,rr7,s distance, the Father of Waters rolls
towards the ocean.
Boz ne most striking part Of the scenery
f. Afforded by the bluffs which line the river
on both sides from Dubuque to ST. Paul.
These vary from 80 to 500 feet in height,
.hs,r attitude gradually increasing for the
fest eco miles ascending, and then in like
manner diminishing. These are clothed
srons base TO summit with prairie grass, of
Coo deepest, richest green aud an almost in
injle variety Of flowers; small black oak
scattered over the whole, look in the dis
tBucs precisely like orchards, though near
or view dispeis the illusion. Along nearly
the whole extent of these bluffs, midway
fsom base 10 summit, legged of limestone
70 K from ten TO fifty feet in re ght, projects
% lies exposed to view, which exhibits in
dsoitable evidence Of having been worn
hv the channel of the river, the bed OF which
must once have been elevated far above Its
present isyel. Sometimes on the very sum-
f.its u he fullest bluffs cas,ellated rocks
rear their black cliff, above the surrounding
trees reminding the traveller of the diiup'-
le.el castles on the banks ofthe Rhine, and
presenting with their belongings" "a scene
of ro,uantic and sublime beauty unequaled
al the ointment
Withia the distance of each few miles
charming little valleys, containing few
acres iorned by the receding hluifs, carpet
e3 with abundant grass, and protected by
tte sdjacent hills and shady trees form de
iizhtlni quiet hooks, in many of which snui
iitiie cottages and farm houses peep ou
from amid the trees, presenting such swee
picture # domestic happiness, as even the
nnchorite might envy. The sides of these
llufs ore TOO steep and the soil too thin io'
cultivation, rising as they do abruptly
.roip the rivers brink; though from their
top, fertile prairies. extend as far back a:
the eye can reach. The best description
eau however, afford but feeble idea Of ,ht
surprising beauty Of the scenery on this
river. which well repays the trouble of ,
tourney from Gotham, and is already be
coming known TO the fashionable world
TCor n. Y. Express.