punishment, in consequence of the greater unhealthiness of the latter. The Cerro de Pasco is 153 miles distant from Lima, lat. 10° 56', in a N. E. direction, and the town at present contains about 8,000 inhabitants. The road, or rather mule path, from this city, is the worst imaginable; however, when the 25,000,000 annually are produced, we may expect an iron rail-way, (if not one of a more precious metal,) and steamcoaches.

Cotton is produced in considerable quantities in the northern provinces, particularly Piura, for exportation. The ordinary price has been two cents per lb. uncleaned. It has heretofore been cleaned by hand, but several gins have been recently brought out from the enterprising town of Providence,* R. I., and will shortly be put in operation. The quantity that will hereafter be exported, will probably be considerable. It is considered to be superior to our uplands; the climate, as I should suppose, must be favourable to its successful cultivation.

Wool is also produced for exportation. This is a branch of trade, in which the mother country may be hereafter rivalled by her colonies. The sheep are fed in the high and cold districts, called by Humboldt, table lands, situated between the Cordilleras; and the breed is said to have been originally brought from Old Castile. The wool is fine, and much superior to our common wool, or that from the provinces of the La Plata. The price, deliverable in Lima, is from eight to ten cents per lb. ; one half being paid for transportation from the interior, on account of the present scarcity of mules. The number of sheep has been, of course, greatly reduced during the revolution; and I know one Hacienda, which has lost at least 50,000. Some of these estates, belonging to the late Peruvian nobility, or the church, are 40 leagues in extent, and before the war possessed from 70 to 100,000 of sheep and horned cattle. They sustain no other vegetation, except a short, wirey, yellow grass, growing on a peat bog, but on which cattle of all descriptions seem to thrive well. The elevation of these districts is about 13,000 feet above the level of the sea.†

*This city carries on more commerce with this coast, and from hence to Canton, than any other in the United States; a circumstance which is owing to the extensive manufactories in the neighbourhood, in addition to the mercantile enterprise of its citizens.

I visited these inhospitable regions a few weeks since, and although I left Lima in the depth of winter, (August,) yet was told that it was sum

Vicuña wool. This beautiful article is finer, I imagine, than hair of the Cashmere goat, and might be used to advantage in various manufactures. It is here wrought into hats, which are extremely durable, and beautiful in their texture. Protecting laws have been published by General Bolivar, in regard to this peculiar production of Peru-the Vicuña--for the purpose of encouraging its domestication. A bounty is offered with this object, and a penalty imposed for killing them under any pretext; a fleece having cost, heretofore, the life of the animal. This is called "a new branch of national industry, from which grand advantages are expected to result to Peru." Two successive decrees were issued by Bolivar, when in Cuzco, upon this subject, in which he seems to have taken a peculiar interest; and the Vicuña has now become so much in repute, that one was recently led in procession through the streets of Lima. A figure of the animal also appears in the national standard, and is stamped upon the new coinage of their dollar.

I wish to add a few more remarks upon our commerce to this country, and shall then conclude this long, and, I am afraid, tedious letter.

There will be a considerable trade from this coast to the East Indies, China, and the islands in the Pacific Ocean, which will be carried on, particularly that to Canton, in American shipping. This is an advantage which our country derives from the wisdom of the English laws, in continuing the East

mer there; and summer as it was, it was nevertheless as cold as our January. Eighty miles from Lima, I passed fields of ripe barley, and the Indian corn had just been gathered. There is no variety of seasons on these table lands, except wet and dry. I found the people living in stone huts, without chimneys, or any aperture except the door, and breathing an atmosphere loaded, night and day, with the smoke of their peat, compounded, I should imagine, of carbonic acid, sulphur, and antimony. I recommended them to build chimneys, and get rid of this pestilential vapour; but they answered, "that it was impossible, as they had no boards." I hinted that there were stones plenty, but perceiving that the subject was not interesting, I dropped it. The fact is, their fathers lived so before them, and they inherited this antimonial smoke along with their

estates.

Each of these Haciendas has a private chapel, in which the deceased members of the family are buried, and one thing struck me as a little surprising, among a people so proverbially superstitious, or even pretending to civilization-that when any of the family dies, the bones of the one who went before are raked out of the grave, and carelessly thrown into one corner of the chapel, apparently like so much rubbish! I take it, that this abhorrent custom is peculiar to the table lands of Peru.

India Company's monopoly. An American vessel recently sailed from this port to Canton, which was chartered in Buenos Ayres; and our ships have frequently been chartered in Chile for the same voyage. During the last twelve months, four American vessels, which sold their cargoes on this coast, have sailed for Canton, with their specie, to purchase return cargoes, either for this or the home market; and there are now five or six more here, bound on the like voyage. This, so far as it extends, is a profitable branch of trade, in which, fortunately for us, we do not encounter the rivalry of England. Omnipotent as it is, it does not, in this instance, pursue us quite round the globe, but leaves us the sandal wood of the Sandwich Islands, and the trade of this coast with Canton. Lima, Sept. 21st, 1825.

P. H. C.

A MEDITATION ON RHODE-ISLAND COAL.

Decolor obscurus, vilis, non ille repexam
Cesariem regum, non candida virginis ornat
Colla, nec insigni splendet per cingula morsu.
Sed, nova si nigri videas miracula saxi,

Tunc superat pulchros cultus, et quicquid Eois

Indus litoribus rubra scrutatur in alga.-Claudian.

I SAT beside the glowing grate, fresh heaped
With Newport coal, and as the flame grew bright-
The many-coloured flame-and played and leaped,
I thought of rainbows and the northern light,
Moore's Lalla Rookh, the Treasury Report,
And other brilliant matters of the sort.

And last I thought of that fair isle which sent
The mineral fuel. On a summer day

I saw it once, with heat and travel spent,

And scratched by dwarf oaks in the hollow way; Now dragged through sand, now jolted over stone-A rugged road through rugged Tiverton.

And hotter grew the air, and hollower grew

The deep-worn path, and horror-struck, I thought,
Where will this dreary passage lead me to ?—

This long, dull road, so narrow, deep, and hot?
I looked to see it dive in earth outright;
I looked-but saw a far more welcome sight.

Like a soft mist upon the evening shore,

At once a lovely isle before me lay;
Smooth, and with tender verdure covered o'er,
As if just risen from its calm inland bay;
Sloped each way gently to the grassy edge,
And the small waves that dallied with the sedge.

The barley was just reaped-its heavy sheaves
Lay on the stubble field-the tall maize stood
Dark in its summer growth, and shook its leaves—
And bright the sunlight played on the young wood-
For fifty years ago, the old men say,

The Briton hewed their ancient groves away.

land,

I saw where fountains freshened the green
And where the pleasant road, from door to door,

With rows of cherry trees on either hand,

Went wandering all that fertile region o'er

Rogue's Island once-but, when the rogues were dead, Rhode Island was the name it took instead.

Beautiful island! then it only seemed

A lovely stranger-it has grown a friend.
I gazed on its smooth slopes, but never dreamed
How soon that bright beneficent isle would send
The treasures of its womb across the sea,
To warm a poet's room and boil his tea.

Dark anthracite! that reddenest on my hearth,
Thou in those island mines didst slumber long,
But now thou art come forth to move the earth,

And put to shame the men that mean thee wrong; Thou shalt be coals of fire to those that hate thee, And warm the shins of all that under-rate thee.

Yea, they did wrong thee foully-they who mocked
Thy honest face, and said thou wouldst not burn;
Of hewing thee to chimney-pieces talked,

And grew profane-and swore, in bitter scorn,
That men might to thy inner caves retire,
And there, unsinged, abide the day of fire.

Yet is thy greatness nigh. I pause to state,
That I too have seen greatness-even I-
Shook hands with Adams-stared at La Fayette,
When, barehead in the hot noon of July,

He would not let the umbrella be held o'er him,

For which three cheers burst from the mob before him.

And I have seen-not many months ago —

An eastern governor, in chapeau bras And military coat, a glorious show!

Ride forth to visit the reviews, and ah, How oft he smiled and bowed to Jonathan!

How many hands were shook, and votes were won!

'Twas a great governor-thou too shalt be

Great in thy turn--and wide shall spread thy fame, And swiftly-farthest Maine shall hear of thee,

And cold New-Brunswick gladden at thy name, And, faintly through its sleets, the weeping isle That sends the Boston folks their cod, shall smile.

For thou shalt forge vast rail-ways, and shalt heat
The hissing rivers into steam, and drive
Huge masses from thy mines, on iron feet,
Walking their steady way, as if alive,
Northward, till everlasting ice besets thee,
And south as far as the grim Spaniard lets thee.

Thou shalt make mighty engines swim the sea,
Like its own monsters-boats that for a guinea
Will take a man to Havre--and shalt be

The moving soul of many a spinning jenny,
And ply thy shuttles, till a bard can wear
As good a suit of broadcloth as the mayor.

Then we will laugh at winter when we hear

The grim old churl about our dwellings rave: Thou from that "ruler of the inverted year,"

Shalt pluck the knotty sceptre Cowper gave, And pull him from his sledge, and drag him in, And melt the icicles from off his chin.

Heat will be cheap-a small consideration
Will put one in a way to raise his punch,
Set lemon-trees, and have a cane plantation-
"Twill be a pretty saving to the Lunch.
Then the West India negroes may go play
The banjo, and keep endless holiday.

B.