The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-11-17

ing nine feet four inches from the tip of his
nose to the tip of his tail.
The next day. while out on one Of my botani-
zing rambles, | was struck by the picturesque
picture which our camp presents, when viewed
from a. distance. 1t is situated in the centre of
bowl-shaped hollow or basin. The narrow
ravine, through which EPSON Creek runs, gives
this basin or bowl the appearance of having
been broken in halves, each half standing
separate and upright. In the bottom of one
half lies a white canvas city, with all the evil
dences Of busy life and rural quiet combined.
In the foreground are to be seen groups Of
men engaged in animated conversation; groups
Of men leisurely strolling hither aud thither, as
if their only object was to kill the time hanging
heavily about them; groups of men lazily
lounging on the soft, greensward; groups of
men sitting on the banks, of the creek angling
for the 6nny tribe and now then a man sitting
in the door of tent smoking his pipe while he
peruses the pages of some favorite author. In
the background are the camp fires, with the
mess cooks engaged in their duties Here and
there the stars and stripes may be seen floating
above the steeple-like tops of tents, and lazily
futtering in the gentle breezes. On the oppo-
site side Of this broken bowl arc to be seen
tie, leisurely npping the sweet and tender
grass. All day, golden-heece clouds have been
rapidly chasing each other across the heavens.
The rays of the sun, struggling through these
golden clouds, impart soft and mellow tinge
to the landscape. Altogether the scenery is
peculiarly romantic and affecting. Reclining
here on a gentle southern slope, far above the
picturesque camp and its surroundings, one
realizes that he is far from the busting haunts
of civilization and the handiwork of art-in
the midst of primitive grandeur and quiet sub
Unity. Here Nature paints pictures that out.
vie those noble efforts of Rubens, Tenniers, and
other old Flemish artists, who have left an ad-
miring world immortal proofs of their great
powers.
While gazing upon these quiet and beautiful
pictures, one involuntarily falls into q contem-
plative revere, and dreams of the great artists
who have so well and so faithfully initiated the
grandeur, the sublimity, the beauty, and the
truth of Nature, and spread their immortal in
| spirations on canvas, and handed it down to
gladden. the hearts and spiritualize the intel
lects Of future generations; and he fervently
thanks God that minds have been thus en-.
dowed
While thus absorbed in pleasing meditations,
INDUCED in the quiet of blissful repose, and
soul-feasted on the transcendent beauties of
Nature, dark and heavy clouds chase away
those light and gold-heeced ones. A portent-
GUS shadow thickens around. The landscape
scenery assumes Rembrandtic hue. The
little birds, Just so Joyous, raise their tiny
notes Of alarm, and hastily fit hither aud
thither in search Of shelter and a retreat of
safety from the gathering storm. Darker and
darker grow the heavens, until they seem TO be
shrouded in funeral pail and the backneSs
of night seems to have usurped the light Of
| day. Low-muttered thunder finds ntterance
far away In the distance. 1t rolls up from
every direction, and as it receives re enforce
ments becomes louder and more noisy, until
crash after crash comes with such terrific and
aweinspiring effect as to deafen the sense, and
combine all the bombardments and eannona-
| dings that mortal mind ever read of, or the
imagination ever conceived. The lightning,
which at first but family flashed here and there
along the horizon, has now become one vast
sheet Of fame, through which millions of mon.
ster swords, of denser heat and more glaring
color, are cutting and sashing at a fearful rate
| No use to Iun from the storm. We would
| probably be overtaken in a worse position
We are safer here on this isolated spot than
we would be in camp, where there is so much
animal electricity. And then it will be rare
treat to have Nature give US real earnest
showerbath. 1t will be so reviving, after the
| ,
arms, while the elements rage around us. Still
the lightnings continue necessarily to angrilv
flash and dart, and cut and slash, back and
forward. Onward rolls the deep toned thun-
der, roaring, rumbling, cracking, and crashing,
in awful majesty. Oh, what terrific warfare
of the elements waiting for the rain to de
scend i'll welcome and refreshing torrents
Now come drops, F" like angels visits, few and
far between" Large drops they are. They
strike the ground with dull heavy, and splash
ing sound. For few minutes they continue
to fall, and then cease altogether. The thun-
der retires, growing like discounted lion
Forked streaks of lightning chase each other
away. Still the heavens are shrouded in dense
blackness, and darkness prevails. A noisy
wind comes rushing up from the southwest,
with hollow, moaning sound. All of a sud
den the clouds break away from a narrow slip
Of the western horizon, and reveal the sun,
(only half an hour high,) in all bis glaring
light and Respondent glory. Oil what
grand and magnificent picture is now present
ed to our enraptured viewi The sun and the
heavy black clouds, striving for the ascend
ency, give the scene such strange and pecu-
liar appearance. The feathered songsters
leave their hiding places and sail forth, sing
ing their joyous praise in sweetest strains of
melody, The clouds begin to break up and
|
would doubtless have been massive hailstones,
had the upper atmosphere been cooler. They
have had the effect to raise a sweet and de-
licous perfume from the herbs and flowers.
But sufficient rain to lay the dust has not
fallen All the mighty preparation has proved
much ado about nothing" And thus, at
this season of the year, all attempts at rain in
this country prove stupendous failure. And
yet these plains far surpass any other country
| have ever visited in celestial pyrotechny and
artillery.
One of those storms Of thunder and lightning
is generally preceded by alternate hot and cold
! breezes, coming invariably from the southwest
| The hot breezes sometimes remind one of the
blast from the mouth of an intensely heated
| furnace. These counter currents of air con
stitute' an atmosphercal phenomenon / have
never heard explained.
have unwittingly suffered my pen to glide
along, endeavoring TO draw faint picture of
one day of life on the plains, until fear l have
exhausted yeur patience. Next week / will
give you a visit to Prairiedogtown, and obser-
yations among the small animals of the plains
truly, yours, Cor OAKLEAF.
SKELETON SrRATA.-The skeletons in our
crowded London graveyards lie in layers which
are quite historical in their significance, and
which would be often startling if the circum.
stances Of their iuxtapostion could be made
known. A cutting from an old London news
paper, little aud date uncertainty and which
exists in the well-known repository of Mr.
Green, of Covent Garden, contains an example
of skeleton contact, which is unusually curious,
if reliable 1t is there stated that DR.. Saehe-
Ill :, k,r;ad IN CT Andrax,'u Hoihor, ~