The Mountaineer. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1859-1861, 1860-03-10

interest then must everything Be that per
tains p The fer remote descendants of our
ancient father The islands Of the oceans
are peOpled with human beings Those
beings are our distant relatives. Look.
Ing far away into the future, should We
Be permitted 70 extend our prophetic
vision thousnhd years or more, would
We net feel pleased to see fairly portrayed
the coming history of our own scatter.
ing, meandering descendantsg should we
NOT feel equally Interested ia learning the
history, present IocaIity and customs Of
the hneal descendants and heirs at ma
tural law 81 our forcfatherss From these
Lectures Of Captain Gibson much may be-
learned most interesting and instructive
On all these points. Books, Journals.
special dispatches and special correspons
dence may giyeus the outlines, but from
him who has made the isolated inhabi-
tants Of the far-oif islands bis every day
companions, we cannot fail to learn more
much more than the foFmal composition
of book or pamphlet can furnish. The
needle Of Cleopatra, 1.-The entrance gate
to Thebe city and ITS unaccounted-for
surniountings thc far-famed pyramids Of
Egypt, have drawn forth the admiration
and astonishment Of the world. They
refer to years Of long ago; yet they are
facts u history. The created highways
and artistic bridges Of Peru have formed
materials for tho concentrations Of our
greatest historians, and are jet considered
worlds wonders; but they are demon
lstrated facts. After these reflections,
why should the most sceptical hesitate IN
culling from the observations Of travellers
of our own personal acquaintance. items
tof interest, substantiated W living testi.
mony, far less Astounding in the marvel
Elons, respecting our own contemporary IN.
habitants Of the earth?
Professor Pratt has given some lee
lures in more philosophical strain, which,
BY his permission and assistance We may
publish III their regular course, illustrative
ofsclentifcfacts, Tot slightly.obserYing /
listener they may have appeared dull and
monotonous; but they bear the germinat-
ing foundation Of most instructive study.
IL may be said That they were more shifted /
70 q college than q congregation Of the
Wholesale classes; yet they aro not the
less important and useful.
Il II isnot our present intention, nor have
we space or leisure to review in detail Tile
subjects dwelt npon BY the two gentlemen
whose names we have here introduced /.
The former. Captain Gibson, Is 10 the
citizens comparative stranger. Hence
No hare said aia moro az 4ks si,nruusss Il
his lectures The latter is well known to
Ill; . man Of correct stndy and well-tried f
Leaving for the present the gentlemen
70 whom we have referred I'VE trust
kindly and respectfully 10 the final YER
Dict Of their audiences and the pnblicerit-
icism, we have d word 10 say III regard 10
the practical usefulness Of public lectures.
I The Archipelago has its allurements;
the rays Of the sun their beauty and phi. /
losophy; the earth we inhabit has its sab
terrnnean secrets aud commissions. AMI
true, very truel But is there not some
thing nearer home than those distant /
islands, or more accessible to us than the
sums great philosophy, to command our
attention and interest?
Perhapsit may not have occurred toll
many that in Utah there are subjects
which. properly studied, would lie among
the most interesting that could be talked
about anywhere. Proving IN the snowy
gorges Of our eternal barriers are found
some of the most fearful and nluscuIarIy
powerful beasts Of prey. The wolverine /
that crawls along apparently stupid aud
:. : !
inactive In the midst Of tho tangled viii
lows and brentwood is said to 81 Is
strength and feroeity . match for the lion
Of Africa Or the tiger Of Bengal. The
.bear. Of almost every class; the elk, the
deer the antelope. the wolf Of Arctic 4
character, the genuine fox and It's mon
grei inferior the hare and therabbit, and |,
their crossbred comrades, who claim no
particular cognomen; the squirrel oil
varied dimensions, and the weasel Of diff Is
ferent colors, the otter and the beaver /
and and. last Of all the poor mousc Of theI Il
prairie, that seadssin terror as the nose
Of the ploughshare approaches his nest h
have oil their interest and claim TO record !