heavier than ours; but though well distributed it seems to fall in heavier plumps than with us, so that there are not nearly so many hours of rain. During the late storm some of the crank American steamers were wrecked in the rivers and estuaries; in fact, large numbers of craft were wrecked in the river below this. The officers here know all about our meteorological observations in India; and, in fact, I find that in all the departmental offices they have a very thorough knowledge of what we have been doing in India, and know well our officers and their publications. At Baltimore Mr. G, to my surprise, turned up in his college library a collection of languages which I made in Bengal.

I called upon General Sherman to-day, but missed him. I had, however, a talk with two of his staff-very pleasant gentlemen of the military persuasion. They have just been with the General on a tour over the far-away South-Western Territories, in which they were accompanied by a gallant member of our House of Commons and his bride, who must have done an amount and severity of travelling astonishing for a lady. They described New Mexico and Arizona as wretched Territories-Arizona, perhaps, a little the better of the two. The only inhabitants of New Mexico besides wild Indians are the miserable descendants of the old Spanish colonists who were found there-and very miserable they seemed to be. No Americans go there; and some of the English who have bought Spanish grants and tried to establish sheepfarms do not seem to have been very successful. In the far-away Western Territories the Indians cause an immense deal of trouble to the United States army, with the result, in fact, that that small army is really the most hard-worked in the world.

Mexico itself, these officers say, is a good country, but the people are hopeless. Most of them are priestridden, and those who have 'jumped off' the priests are brigands. They contrast Mexico with Canada, which they highly appreciate, giving a very favourable account of it, dwelling upon its loyalty to the British_connection. They hear very good accounts of Manitoba. It has a splendid soil; but there is no wood there, and the winter is too cold for cattle. They think that during the civil war, when it was expected that the States would go to pieces, the English were ready to gobble up' their Northern Territories; and the French Emperor

undertook his Mexican enterprise simply that he might be ready to take possession of the Southern States. When the war was over, and they were ready for him with their hardened troops, he had not a chance, and they ignominiously expelled him without fighting. They do not seem to have any sympathy with the Afghans, and have no objection to our beating them. Camels, they say, have been tried in the dry parts of America, but have been quite a failure.. There is always rain and mud at some season of the year, and the climate disagrees with camels.

Later I met General Sherman himself, who was very kind and civil, and gave me some introductions to his officers in the parts of the country to which I am going. He does not affect the style militaire, but is more of a good, shrewd Yankee, like his brother, the Secretary of the Treasury. He says they have had enough of war. The only war he would like to undertake would be one against the Mexicans, to make them take back New Mexico and Arizona. He talked of the Chinese, in whom he seems to take great interest. He has a very high opinion of the Chinese Minister who has come to the States.

I called on the Attorney-General. In his office and, in fact, in most of the public offices of the United States Government-there are some female clerks. They are described as being daughters of deceased members of Congress, or persons having similar claims upon the country, and are said to work very well. There are also some coloured clerks. The business connected with what is called the Court of Claims (that is, claims against the United States) seemed to be an important department in the Attorney-General's office. There is no Legislative Office for the drafting of bills-no Sir Henry Thring. There is a Pardon Office, where all questions of pardon are considered. The Attorney-General says that the legislation of some of the States is rough enough, but most of the older Legislatures are well provided with good lawyers, and new States very much сору the legislation of old ones-choosing what they like best. I noticed a great mass of law-books, bound in the regular English law-calf, in the orthodox style.

I visited the Supreme Court, sitting in the Capitol. All the Judges seemed to sit together, forming a very large Bench. Most of them are old men, and all elderly. They sit in a very large fine room, with a very small audience. A Californian

case was going on-a question of title under a Spanish grant. A young lawyer, in a white tie, but no wig or gown, was arguing the case. He seemed to be a local Californian who had come up about it. In the evening, dining at the British Minister's house, I was fortunate enough to meet several of the most distinguished public men. They all seemed to be very strong in favour of honest money. I talked to the Chief Justice about the usury laws which still prevail in America. He seemed to say that though they do still exist they have little practical effect; they are seldom pleaded in bar of action. If usurious interest is once paid it cannot be recovered; and outside the law there is a kind of merchants' union to enforce contracts. Even in New York there are still usury laws, limiting interest to 7 per cent.; but the merchants manage to defeat it. The situation of the great city of New York is somewhat peculiar, for the rural population of the State a good deal exceeds the town population, and is decidedly rural and primitive; so that in regard to usury laws, restriction on the sale of spirits, and some other matters the country farmers control all the wealth and power of New York City. It is they who maintain the usury laws. The spirit-licensing laws are now the subject of much contention in New York.

The following day was my last in Washington, and after again looking in at some of the offices I left it in the afternoon. There is a very important Agricultural Office, where they collect all sorts of agricultural specimens and acclimatise and distribute new plants; but the head of the department was absent, and I have postponed going particularly over it till my return.

Upon the whole my impression of Washington is that, in spite of the large amount of home rule which prevails in the United States, the central departments of the Government are upon a much more complete footing, with larger and more various establishments, than anything of the kind that we have. All these centralised departments are the creation of the last few years.

There seems to be very great freedom for the expression of political opinion, in spite of the victory of the North in the war. Looking over the books at a bookseller's shop, I came upon a popular school history of America in the form of a catechism, which gave the Southern view of matters in

an extreme, I may say a violent, form. According to this children's catechism, at the end of the war General Sherman agreed to receive back the Southern States into the Union unconditionally; but this pledge on the faith on which the Confederate army surrendered was basely repudiated and broken. Soon after, the assassination of Mr. Lincoln excited the passions of the Northerners, and by perfidious violence the 14th and 15th Amendments of the Constitution were put in. It certainly seems very liberal to allow Southern children to be taught these things.

VIRGINIA.

Virginia is close to Washington, on the other side of the Potomac (pronounce it Potōōmac, or you will be exceedingly laughed at); but I had arranged first to visit the lower portion of Virginia; so I went back to Baltimore, and there took the steamer of what is called the Bay Line. In the steamer I was treated with great civility, at the instance of Mr. R. I passed the night in going down the Bay in as great comfort as if I had been in a luxurious house. The estuary of the Chesapeake is here called the 'Bay.' These American steamers are certainly delightful in quiet waters; but the consort of this one was dreadfully mauled in the late storm, and very nearly went to the bottom. They are built too high for bad weather.

In the morning I landed at Old Point, or Fort Munro, near the country town of Hampton, in Virginia. There is a large hotel, used by sea-bathers in the summer. I had an introduction to General W, the commander of the fort, where there is a large artillery school. General M- of General Sherman's Staff, most kindly took charge of me during my visit to this neighbourhood.

I notice that I am now quite in the land of blacks, especially here, where they collected in numbers during the war. In this district they are quite in a majority. They do all the work about the wharves, and most other work. I principally came here to see the Hampton Agricultural Institute for blacks. I went over it under the guidance of General Armstrong, who has charge of it, and has made it what it is. It is not quite an Agricultural Institute, for it is more used to

turn out schoolmasters than anything else. The justification for teaching them agriculture is that, as the schools are commonly open part of the year only, there is every opportunity for the practice of improved agriculture during the remainder of the year. Several trades are also taught. I believe this is the only place in the Southern States where black printers are educated. The Institution is primarily supported by funds subscribed in the North, but it is now largely aided by the State of Virginia. It is not a free school, not being looked upon as charitable. The students are expected to pay moderate fees, and by their work to earn something towards their own living. Besides the negro students there are a good many Indians, sent by the United States Government. They are Indians from the Western tribes; and it is intended that, after being civilised and educated, they are to go back, and to improve their countrymen. I was much interested in these Indians. They are not red, but rather yellow, and not at all unlike some of the Indo-Chinese tribes to the east of Bengal.

I had a good deal of talk with General Armstrong about the negroes and about Southern politics. He is the son of a missionary who spent many years in the Sandwich Islands, but was a distinguished Federal soldier in the war. He thinks that the blacks are certainly inferior to the whites in intellect, but they are improvable. The Indians are decidedly stronger in intellect, but much more difficult to manage. The negroes have a passion for land; it is their great wish to acquire it; but they are wanting in saving qualities, prudence and perseverance, to enable them to do so. Those, however, who were the best hands in slave-times are now acquiring land-not very much, but they are getting on. If they are able to buy land they can get it. In some parts of the country there is a social prejudice against selling to them; that is, in localities where white people prevail, they do not always like to have negroes coming among them; but at other places, where the population is principally negro, the whites are very ready to sell and go elsewhere. He thinks about one-third of the negroes are decidedly good; one-third may be made good by good management; and one-third are bad. Like most of the people I have spoken to, he has not much opinion of the mulattos. The race is not sterile, but it deteriorates. In most parts of the South the negroes rent land