Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-02-23
For the Spectator.
Letter from Texas.
GONZALES, TEXAS, Jan. 18th, 1853.

Beino requested by many ofthe citizen
Of our GOOD old County to give them an ae
count &C Of my trip and ofthis highly euic
oiscd country, the ''lone Star State" tax
fbe he method Of redeeming my promise thre
the The columns of this widely circulated news
naner as /. will not be so tedious as an IN
diyidual ] correspondence, Well, hav'
had quite jaunt since ! left the oi'
Dominion, and bid adieu to all the beauty
and grandeur of that magnificent State
7 now " feel myself quite beyond the charms
If her lovely scenery, the balmy breath o.
her delightful hills, and all her romantic
For wild romance Virginia is hard tc
heat Western Virginia appears like
lumber. house of mountains. lcalled to see
the'"Hawk's Nest" Ihls IS truly suc'i'ne ~,
beyond my powers ofdescription. 1t is on
New River IN Fayette County. 40 moi
know the exact height of the precipice,, but
# seems to be towering almost to the skies,
built Of huge rocks, the work OF nature S
own masonry. -.
But must pass on, leaving many inter-
estipg points unnoticed, until find myself
gliding down the waters of the OHIO. FER
hans no stream rolls for the same distance,
sucb a uniform, smoothe and placid cur
rent. It's banks are generally high and pre-
cipitous-rising into bluffs and cliffs, some
times to the height of three hundred leet'
These bluffs exhibit wild and picturesque
grandeur which is truly magnificent. Trees
Of the most gigantic size, casting their
M broad shadows into the placid stream the
luxuriant and mammoth growth OF the Tim,
Der in the bottom; the meandenngs anu
frequent bends of the river q the numner-
less beautiful wooded islands-all OF when
in rapid succession vary the scene 10 the
eve e as YOU float down this beautiful stream,
are calculated to fix upon the mind an IN
dellible impression. Next, we enter the
the largest and most maghln. 1,St H.
cent river in the United States. "here
i receives the Missouri it is mile and
half wide the Missouri itself enters win
, mouth not more than half mile wide
The united streams thence to the mouth OF
the Ohio, have q medium width OF little
more than half mile. This mighty trlou'
tary seems rather 10 diminish than to IN
crease its width, but it perceptibly alters
It's depth, and what is to be regretted who'll
iv changes its character. It is Ro longer
the gentle placid stream with smoothe
shores, but has furious and boiling cur,
rent, a tu, ,bulent and dangerous mass OF
sweeping waters. Itremains sublime ooc
iect of Contemplation, but its character of
calm magnifcence, that so delighted the
ave in the Ohio, is seen no more. Moth
mo but wild, furious, whirling river never
nayigated safely. When we see this mighty
river swallowing up one river after another
with mouths as large as itself, without ell
fecting its width at all, and retaining a vol
ume apparently unchanged, we begin to es-
innate rightly its depth of current, that
must roll ON in its channel to the sea-
Carried out of The Balize and sailing with
a good breeze, for hours we sec nothing out
The white and troubled waters OF the mis-,
sissippi, long after we are out OF s'sht o'
and.
After a long preliminary, | have at last
rot over the Gulf on the highly euloglsed
soil of Texas. And indeed it has been so
much extolled that | can hardly hnd room
10 slip in word in ITS praise. BUTT is all
sorts of country, not only in the TECHNICAL
but in the proper serse ofthe word. Some
Of the land is rich, lnexhaustible, surpas-
sinelv beautiful; some is ordinary some
poor, and some transcendantly mean
There are however, some. yes great many,
of the most delightful sites tor building
have ever beheld IN any country. THIS
country differs widely from the Eastern
States; land and ocean differ not more
widely. Here is all one open sea- one
boundless waste of green, where the eye
NAV range unobstructed while the East I'm
it's natural state) presents mass OF forests
so obstructing the view that nothing but .
eminence will afford an extended
prospect to the eve. Here every green hill
IS like lofty billow Oh the ocean, where
we may stand and see other verdant oil-
lows, rising one above another, ana rollhg
away in endless succession. A trayeiler
On first coming into the broad pralrles OF
he Lone STAR of the South islike emerg-
ng by degrees into wide waste OF shoie-
less waters. Imagine the sea wheh NJ us
waves are rising into mountains ana folilhs
away before the presence of a mighty wihd;
how grand and how striking is the scene :
This country looks as If it had oeen an .,
cean suddenly transformed iato mus aha
vallies. The hills are covered win oeau'
.iepl grass, shaded here and there oy wiaeI
trees. Innumerable hefcs .,
cattle roam over these vast praIrles ana
Keen perfectly fat all the year without any
attention whatever. ;, -,
| cannot give you correct ldea % .ne
of Texas. But the great 'a'l
ety of surface and soil, seems to have ine'
with corresponding population. The state
Of society in some parts of the State is very
persons here who are very hospltab!e, and
of fine feeling and general lniorma,loh.I
Society has been at very low eDD ) ano
indeed it would be very difficult to realize
all that is true of frontier life, unless oy
extended travel and experience your faith
should be fortified. When yopr eyes have
seen and your ears heard, you will be INT
audience. to receive, as matters OF course
relations which you'd doubtless tor the mo,
ment shock others as monstrous; some
years ago the population was OF the 1"ner. Mosr
caste Of torder life. The bad and despe.
ate men who had been driven over our naOI iaoI
tier formed rallying ground and heau eau
quarters here-seeminsly with lne w.
to hold the country. g9oa 1sarns %
the intrusion, and as sort oil "AisA''a u
the West for the protection OF outlaws anu
villains OF every grade, some OF whom were
far more dangerous than ca'amouh' wneh
he giis riz. ,o,