teresting work of nature, which presents, for a distance of half a mile, a series of apartments, some of them of great extent and majestic height, incrusted with crys tals, and glittering with the most beautiful stalactites. We feel, in traversing them, as if we were visiting one of those enchanted palaces, in which the knights of chivalry were spell-bound, or gazing on one of the scenes so vividly portrayed in the Arabian tales. A cave on Jackson's river, near Covington, is said to be much more extensive and intricate, though perhaps not so beautiful, as that just mentioned. There is also a natural bridge in the southwest part of the state, which bears no comparison, in grace of proportion, or grandeur of effect, to the one in Rockbridge. In Hampshire county there is an ice mountain, which is very remarkable. On its north-west side, the surface is covered by loose rocks, which being removed to the depth of about three feet, presents an abundance of ice at all seasons of the year. The most noted cataract in the state is that of the Falling spring, in the county of Alleghany. The stream is of sufficient volume, a few yards from its source, to turn a mill-wheel; and about a mile below it has a perpendicular descent of 200 feet, down a precipice of calcareous rock. Before it reaches the bottom, it is almost converted into vapor, and the temperature is much reduced. The stream unites with Jackson's river, about two miles below the cataract. The lake in Giles county not having been embraced in any written account of the state, deserves to be noticed. It presents the curious spectacle of a beautiful sheet of water, a mile and a half in circumference, and a hundred fathoms deep, on the summit of a lofty mountain. Some of the aged people in the neighborhood remember when its bottom was a spot of marshy ground, covered with oak and pine, and much frequented by deer and elk, in pursuit, as was supposed, of salt. In process of time, a small pond was formed in the centre, increasing slowly at first, until a stream, which had its source high in the mountain, suddenly ceased to flow. Afterwards, the lake rose rapidly, and, covering the highest trees, finally ascended to the mountain top, where it overflows at a single point below the general level. The water is not saline, as is generally supposed, but pure and potable. It abounds in lizards, but no fish have been discovered. The idea which prevails of its alternate rise and fall is erroneous. This lake is 3700 feet above the level of the

ocean.

Lake Drummond, in the Dismal swamp, is about seven miles in extent, and about twenty-four feet above tidewater. Its waters are cool, strongly tinged with juniper, and pleasant and wholesome to drink. If our limits allowed, the ebbing and flowing springs of Washington county, and Cow-pasture valley, the carved or calico rock of Kenawha, and various other curiosities in the state, would merit particular description.

Internal Improvements. The Virginians are said to be privileged to have bad roads. Supposing such a privilege to exist, they have certainly availed themselves of it largely. In none of the Atlantic states, in proportion to their extent and population, has so little been done to improve the common highways of the country. To improvements of a higher class, the people and their public agents have not been indifferent. Two highly valuable canals have been constructed, and are now in successful operation. One of these, the Dismal swamp canal, is twenty-two and a half miles long by sixty feet wide, and seven feet deep, and connects the navigable waters of the Chesapeake bay with those of Albemarle sound. The other, the James river canal, extends from Richmond, about thirty miles up the James river valley. This work is among the best executed of our country, and will probably be extended, in a few years, to Lynchburg, and perhaps to the foot of the Alleghany, whence a rail-road of 140 miles in length would connect the canal with steam-boat navigation on the Kenawha. Besides these, there are several other canals of less extent. Among them are the Blue ridge canal, about seven miles long and thirty feet wide, overcoming a fall of one hundred feet in the river; the Roanoke canal, a work of the same extent, around the falls of the Roanoke; and the Appomattox and Rappahannock canals, similar works near Petersburg and Fredericksburg. Rail-roads, though of but late introduction in the U. States, have attracted considerable attention in Virginia. One of these has been lately executed near Richmond, the results of which are more brilliant, in proportion to its extent, than those of any similar work in the Union. It is about thirteen miles long, and connects the coal mines of Chesterfield with tide-water. The whole capital invested in it, including cars for transportation, stables and horses, was $150,000. The trade on it is already fifty thousand tons per annum, and the receipts for transportation during the pres

ent year will, it is understood, be about $70,000. The stock is, of course, largely above par. A second rail-road, of greater extent, is now in active progress between Petersburg and the Roanoke. It will be sixty miles long, and will connect, when completed, the Roanoke navigation with the town of Petersburg. The first thirtyfive miles of this improvement will be in operation in the course of the present year (1832), and the whole work will be completed by the beginning of 1834. Other rail-roads are proposed, and will probably soon be executed. In 1816, the legislature created a "fund for internal improvement," the capital of which, in 1831, amounted to $1,500,000, and the revenue of the year to about $90,000. Out of the annual income, the state contributes, in aid of valuable improvements, two fifths of the capital stock, leaving the residue to individual subscription. The great line of improvement between James river and Kenawha has been managed exclusively by state authority since 1820; but the last general assembly (1831-2) incorporated a joint-stock company, with a capital of $5,000,000 (the state taking two fifths), and gave it ample powers to establish a more perfect communication, by continued canals and rail-ways, between the waters of the James and the Ohio. If the scheme should be successful, its influence upon the future destinies of the state will be incalculable. But it would lengthen this article too far to point out the many natural advantages of Virginia, and her many facilities for developing them. It seems to be always the wise economy of nature to leave something to be effected by the industry and enterprise of man. When these shall have developed, to their full extent, the resources of this state, it may be confidently anticipated that she will rival the most flourishing of her sisters in wealth and prosperity.

Agriculture, Manufactures, &c. The agriculture of this state is various, but, for the most part, badly conducted. The old practice of clearing and cultivating land every year until exhausted, then turning it out to recover from its own resources, still continues in many places. In others, the three-shift system prevails; that is, 1. a crop of Indian corn; 2. wheat, rye or oats; 3. the year of rest, as it is called, in which the spontaneous vegetation furnishes a scanty subsistence to stock; after which the soil is again subjected to the scourging process of cropping, while little attention is paid to the application

of manures, or the culture of artificial grasses. This destructive system, for the most part, prevails from the sea-board to the head of tide-water, and on the south side of James river as far as the Blue ridge. On the north side of that river, cultivation is better, particularly in the counties approaching the Potomac. Rotations of crops are attended to; grassseeds, most commonly red clover (trifolium pratense) are sown on the small grain; and animal and vegetable manures are saved with care, and judiciously applied. Gypsum is also used, and with powerful effect. In the Valley district, agriculture is also well conducted; and irrigated meadows are abundant and productive. On both sides of the Blue ridge, maize, or Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats and buckwheat are the principal grain crops. Tobacco is extensively cultivated in Eastern Virginia, but sparingly in the Valley, and that chiefly in its southern portion. The grass-seeds common to both regions are red clover (trifolium pratense), orchard grass (dactylis glomerata), timothy (phleum pratense) and herd-grass (alopecurus pratensis), the two former on dry, the latter on moist soils. In the eastern and southern districts, cotton is planted to some extent. On the shores of the Chesapeake, barley and the castor-oil bean (ricinus communis) are cultivated; and, on some of the best lands above tidewater, hemp is raised to advantage. The trans-Alleghany country, being exceedingly mountainous and remote from market, is chiefly devoted to the raising of live stock. Very little more grain is raised than is necessary to supply the country itself, and the travellers and stock-drovers who pass through it. The climate and soil being favorable, the pastures are excellent. The greensward (poa viridis) and white clover (trifolium repens) spring up spontaneously wherever the timber is removed or deadened, and, on rich ground, are very luxuriant. Of the profits of agriculture in Virginia, it is difficult to speak with precision. In very many instances, it yields a bare subsistence to the cultivator; in others, a net income of two or three per cent. But, where the land is in good heart, the convertible husbandry practised, and wheat and tobacco are the chief products, there is no doubt that, with slave labor, a profit of from six to eight per cent. may be annually derived from the capital invested. For this result, however, great activity and attention are necessary on the part of the owner. Lands in the Valley, where there are com

paratively few slaves, sell higher than on the eastern side of the Blue ridge; and the general appearance of the country is more prosperous, although the soil is, for the most part, inferior; the climate decidedly so; running streams less frequent; and communication with markets more difficult and expensive. In 1831, according to official returns, 44,529 hogsheads of tobacco were delivered from the several warehouses in the state for export and manufacture; and, during the year which ended in June, 1832, upwards of 544,000 barrels of flour passed the various inspections. The quantity of flour inspected is, however, a very uncertain index to the total product. Some of the Virginia flour, and especially the Richmond brand, has acquired great celebrity in South America and elsewhere. Most of the vegetable productions found in the Middle and some of the Southern States are common also to Virginia. West of the Alleghany, the sugar maple grows in abundance. There are some excellent native grapes, the culture of which will claim greater attention, since the winters have been found too severe for the foreign vine.-Few countries possess greater facilities for manufacturing; the raw material of almost every kind, labor sufficiently cheap and abundant, inexhaustible supplies of fuel, and water power without limit. Yet, with all these advantages, planting and farming will long be the favorite pursuits. In the northern and north-western parts of the state, and in some of the principal towns, valuable manufactories are established of cotton and woollen cloths, glass, iron, &c. The Kenawha salt-works produce annually about 1,000,000 bushels, and those of the Holston about 100,000.

Climate. In a country of such great extent, and of so uneven a surface, there is, of course, great diversity of climate. It is believed that few meteorological obser

This table exhibits a striking approximation in the results of each year. The monthly calculations upon which it is founded, if compared with five years' observations made by Mr. Jefferson at Williamsburg, from 1772 to 1777, will authorize the conclusion that the climate of lower Virginia has undergone a considerable change in the last half century. According to Mr. Jefferson, the average daily range of the thermometer, in the five years mentioned, did not exceed from 5° to 70; whereas, from 1824 to 1827 inclusive, the average variation was 16°. Richmond and Williamsburg are sixty miles distant, and except that the latter is nearer the ocean, and within the influence of its breeze, the difference in temperature must be inconsiderable. That the climate is much more fluctuating than formerly accords with the experience of most persons advanced in years. The changes are more sudden and violent: the heats of summer, especially in latter years, are more intense, and the winter cold more severe for short periods. The spring is exceedingly inconstant; but the latter part of autumn, particularly in the upper country, is a fine and delightful season. The Indian summer, which seldom fails to occur late in the fall, or in early winter, is distinguished by a golden haze, and most agreeable temperature.

47,348 469,757

1,211,405

Increase in thirty years,

and the slaves, 123,961, or 36 per cent. For the ten years preceding the census of 1830, the rate of increase of the whole

population diminished considerably, and the relative increase of the several classes varied from the foregoing results. On the whole population, the rate was reduced from 37 to 134 per cent.; on the free white, from 35 to 15 per cent.; on the free colored, from 135 to 28 per cent.; and on the slaves from 36 to 10 per cent. It is to be observed, however, that, while the black population of the whole state has been diminishing, when compared with the white, the reverse is true in respect to Eastern Virginia, which is peculiarly the slave region; for, while, in 1790, there was in that district a majority of 25,000 whites, the slave and free colored population outnumbered them at every successive census, until, in 1830, the excess was upwards of 81,000. The facts thus exhibited show that Western Virginia, which contains comparatively few slaves, has rapidly increased its white population in the last ten years, the rate of increase amounting to 25 per cent.; while, on the eastern side of the mountains, the increase of the whites, in the same period, did not exceed 7 per cent. The greater multiplication of blacks in Eastern Virginia, notwithstanding constant deportation to the Southern and South-western States, may be partly ascribed to the mild treatment which they generally receive from their owners. On the other hand, the evil effects of slavery, and the policy of adopting some scheme for gradual abolition, are topics which have been freely and earnestly discussed, and have already arrayed the Virginians into two powerful parties. The slow progress of the white population, compared with some of the other states, when so many propitious causes exist for its advancement, has been urged as a prominent objection to slavery. Indeed, the march of its aggregate population has fallen far short of the predictions of former times. Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes, which were written in 1782, estimated that the then existing stock, unaided by foreign emigration, would be multiplied to 2,270,000 by the year 1835, exceeding, by upwards of a million, the result of the last census. That the increase of numbers has been restrained by powerful checks seems reasonable; but to point out their true character and operation, belongs rather to the department of moral and political philosophy.

Education. The general assembly, in 1810, established the literary fund, by dedicating the proceeds of all escheats, fines and forfeitures to the encouragement of learning. In 1816, the fund was

increased by the liberal grant of the debt due from the general government on account of advances made by the state to carry on the war with England. In 1831, the fund, from these various sources, amounted to $1,581,870. Its annual revenue is about $75,000. Out of the U. States' debt, the legislature made a donation of $230,000 in aid of the university of Virginia, established at Charlottesville, and, moreover, set apart an annuity of $15,000 out of the revenue of the fund towards the same object. The sum of $45,000 has also been annually appropriated to the several counties in the ratio of their white population, for the sole benefit and instruction of poor children in the elements of learning. The primary school system has been modified and improved from time to time, and is now placed under the management of the second auditor, who renders an annual report to the legislature, founded upon the returns of the county commissioners. In 1830, 14,169 poor children were sent to school, for each of whom the average expense of tuition within the year was $2:82, and the average daily sum less than four cents. Although the public bounty is confined to the offspring of indigent parents, a plan is in operation by which contributions may be received from individuals in aid of the establishment of schools open to all classes of pupils; and strong hope is entertained that the experiment will prove successful. Notwithstanding the difficulties which oppose any uniform and perfect scheme of elementary instruction-difficulties which arise from the mixed population of one portion of the state, and the thinlysettled and rugged surface of the otherexperience has already demonstrated the great utility of the existing system; and thousands, who might have grown to manhood in utter ignorance, have at least been grounded in the rudiments of useful knowledge. The university of Virginia, situated near the seat of Mr. Jefferson, and the favorite object of his care while living, has a noble building, or rather collection of buildings, suited to the accommodation of nine professors, and upwards of 200 students. The latter, however, though gradually increasing, have at no time exceeded 140. The institution is furnished with a valuable library, philosophical apparatus, &c. William and Mary college, the most ancient seminary in the state, and the alma mater of many distinguished Virginians, is still prosperous. It has five professors, a li