pany from the squadron. The insufficient size and accommodation of the tender had excited the surprise of her visitors at Sydney; many of whom, with more concern for the safety of their American friends, than consideration for their feelings, had not hesitated to predict the fate of Sir Hugh Willoughby, for her crew. These disadvantages were now severely felt; and her commander was at length compelled, by the failing health of his men, to abandon the intention of rejoining his consorts. The Flying-fish altered her course to the northward, on the 2d of February, and reached New Zealand on the 9th of March. On the 10th of January, the Vincennes, Peacock, and Porpoise fell in with the first iceberg, being then in the 62d degree of south latitude; and in a few days they were constantly surrounded with floating pieces of ice. On the 16th, land was clearly discovered from all the vessels, in the shape of a large, round-headed mountain; altogether different in shape and color from the intervening icebergs. They were now off the coast of the great southern continent, at a point nearly to the south-south-east of Van Diemen's Land. On the 20th, the Peacock and Porpoise were directed to part com. pany from the Vincennes, and to explore to the eastward; and on the 24th the former vessel met with an accident, which rendered her immediate return to Sydney a measure of absolute necessity. After penetrating the tract of floating ice which forms a bulwark to every coast in these latitudes, and enduring several dangerous collisions, by which her rudder was entirely disabled; the ship was at length driven stern foremost against a large iceberg, with a violence which threatened instant destruction. Fortunately she rebounded from the shock without sticking fast; but scarcely had she moved her own length, when a vast mass of ice and snow, which the blow had loosened, fell close to her stern with a crash; which, had it taken place one second sooner, would have crushed her to atoms. A more tremendous instance of the risks attending this perilous species of navigation, was probably never witnessed by any voyager who survived to relate it; and such were the injuries inflicted upon the vessel, that it became a doubtful question, not whether she could continue her cruise, but whether she could hope to reach a port in safety. She immediately stood to the northward, upon getting clear of the floating ice; and on the 21st of February, being favored by the weather, arrived in a very shattered state at Sydney. The Porpoise reached New Zealand on the 20th of March, having continued exploring the coast until the 14th of February. We now return to the Vincennes. She entered the icy barrier a few days after her separation from her consorts, and commenced exploring the coast to the westward. On the 29th of January she encountered one of the most formidable dangers to which the Polar ment. voyage is liable—a gale of wind among floating icebergs. For several hours she continued to drive rapidly through a heavy sea, surrounded on all sides by these fearful companions-now dimly seen through the mist and sleet-now heard crashing and plunging in the darkness; but always close to the vessel, and threatening to overwhelm her at every moWhen the night closed in, without any diminution of the tempest or dispersion of ice, the situation of the Vincennes became so perilous as to be nearly desperate. All hands were on deck, and Captain Wilkes acknowledges, that he repeatedly gave up every hope of escaping destruction. They were often warned of their narrow escape from striking on an iceberg, by the sudden calm which the invisible monster produced, as the ship passed under his ice; and they more than once, when apparently driving directly upon a field of ice, escaped through openings so narrow as to have been unperceived in the darkness. At length, early in the morning of the 30th, the vessel entered a small open tract of sea, where she lay to, in comparative safety until the bad weather was over:-having certainly, to judge from the calm and unadorned narrative of Captain Wilkes, passed a night of as frightful danger, as we can remember in the annals of naval adventure. For nearly two months longer, the Vincennes continued her toilsome progress along the coast of the Antarctic continent-constantly surrounded by ice, and liable at every moment to a renewal of the awful scene from which she had been so wonderfully extricated. The weather was, however, upon the whole, favorable; but her crew suffered severely from cold and fatigue, and it was not without remonstrance from his medical officers, that Captain Wilkes completed his cruise. The ship was constantly in sight of the land, but in no instance do any of her people appear to have succeeded in reaching it. Several views of its appearance are, however, inserted in Captain Wilkes' work, and more wild and desolate scenes can scarcely be imagined. It presents a long undulating range of snowy mountains, stretched inland to the horizonmountains which, in all probability, no living creature has ever trodden since the climate of our globe assumed its present temperature. At length, on the 21st of February, after having explored the coast from east to west, through nearly 60 degrees of longitude, the Vincennes put her head to the northward. Her passage was favorable, and, on the 11th of March, she arrived safe at Sydney, with all her crew restored to health. On the 19th, Captain Wilkes took his final departure from Australia; and on the 30th, anchored in the Bay of Islands, at New Zealand, where he found the Porpoise and Flyingfish. The New Zealanders, though always remarkable for their warlike and sanguinary habits, have generally borne a character higher, in some respects, than the other Poly. nesian tribes. Kind parents! why those tears? Your little loved one's eyes. The shades of eve, you know, To soar the stars among. Yet long before the night Had drawn her veil around The home I left below, A better had I found. So rapidly the soul Unbounded takes its flight, That scarce earth's scenery failed, When heaven's broke on my sight. Did you not, mother, see That bright celestial band That smiled and beckoned me, And held th' inviting hand? They let me stay a while, To hear my mother pray, And then to heaven we flew- Father! I never knew "Twas such a place as this, That heaven you told me ot, Was quite so full of bliss. Oh! there is music here! The softest, sweetest strains Float constantly along O'er these ethereal plains. List! Mother-Father list! A harp to me was given, And when I touch the strings, "Tis heard all over heaven. And shall I tell you who In this most glorious place? "Twas grand-pa-honored name! Are youth and endless rest. Those hoary hairs no more Stray o'er his furrowed brow, Adorn his temples now. AGRICULTURAL. AGRICULTURE IN CHINA-The great requisites in the Chinese system of agricul ture are manure and water; and, to obtain these, their whole energies are devoted. The soil is rarely allowed to lie fallow, and in most parts produces two crops annually. It is assiduously pulverized, and different soils are also mixed together to improve the quality of each. They will carry sand for a long distance, to mix with clay-heavy soils, and loam, to put with that which appears too loose. During the five months of winter in the southern provinces, the soil is sometimes thrown up into heaps, where it has been mixed with some vegetable matter, thus making a kind of compost, and also presenting a greater surface to the air; after which, those lands which require flooding, are covered with water, and hoed and turned over, until the whole surface is reduced to mud. This process has still a further fertilizing tendency. For a manure, the Chinese collect everything of a vegetable or animal kind that can possibly be applied to such a purpose. Reservoirs of brick or wood, are dug in the banks of the field, near a canal, into which every refuse substance is put. The principal one has a roof over it, and is plastered, that the contents may not be absorbed into the earth. Besides this principal one, large vases of stoneware are sunk in the ground, at convenient places, for the use of passing travellers. The children and poor people are continually employed in collecting refuse animal and vegetable mat ter with which to fill up these receptacles; the sweeping of the streets, hair from barbers' shops, offal from the butchers, feathers, horns, and bones reduced to powder, soot, and the deposites of creeks and rivers, are all industriously gathered up and thought sufficiently valuable to be carried a great distance, especially if water carriage is convenient. The filth of all animals is esteemed above any other kind of manure; it often becomes an article of commerce, in the shape of small cakes, which are made by mixing with it a portion of loamy earth, and then thoroughly drying them. These cakes are never applied dry, but are diluted in as much animal water as can be procured. Old plaster is esteemed so valuable a fertilizer, as sometimes to induce a farmer to re-plaster an old room, that he may fertilize his fields with it: Before manure is taken out of the receptacle in the field, it is suffered to become half putrefied, in which state it is put upon the plants. Some seeds are put into manure until they have germinated, while others are planted enveloped in their appropriate minure. After the plant has grown a few inches, it is again manured with that which is much diluted. The effect is immediately apparent in an accelerated growth.-Chinese Repository. INDIAN RACE. Our venerable friend Johnson of Piqua, bas addressed a letter to the Intelligencer on the subject of civilizing the Indians. He states two facts: 1. That no permanent plan has ever been adopted or proposed by authority for the preservation of the Indian race. 2. That all measures have had in view simply the acquisition of the lands of the Indians, and their removal further west. A perpetual right in the soil is necessary to civilization; a government indispensable to secure it. The want of these two things has been the prominent cause of their ruin and destruction. Mr. Johnson says these two means would reclaim them; my life for it, if they be granted, the boon will not be lost; they will take care of themselves." His plan is: A Territorial Government, exclusively for Indians and Indian affairs, to be established south-west of Missouri, a Governor appointed by the President and Senate; a Council to be composed of the Indian Agents, (not sub-agents) for the time being; a Representative branch, all the members of which to be of Indian blood, and elected annually by the different tribes in proportion to population; each Delegate to be paid by the United States so many dollars per day for every day's attendance, and the same allowance for every thirty miles' travel, going to and returning from the seat of Government. (I believe a central spot has been already designated for the purpose. A Delegate in Congress would obviously follow as a part of the system.) This embraces the outlines; the details could be easily filled up. The Indians have been removed west for our benefit and at our bidding. Let them have a country which cannot be invaded-a home protected by law! and then select honest, capable men to instruct them, and let them, while they continue true to their trust, remain in office. Removals would be fatal to success. Mr. Johnson says, from long experience, he should prefer these agents to be selected from the Society of Friends, because of their purity, and fidelity, and because the Indians have more confidence in them than any other class. The whole letter is written in a philanthropic spirit, and the recommendations of the veteran Pioneer and Indian Agent, (Mr. J. has had thirty years' experience on the subject,) entitle him to the fullest hearing, and his suggestions to the wisest consideration. Thus does he close : We owe the Indians much by way of atonement for the manifold evils visited upon them by our race; and awful will be our responsibilities as a nation, before God and man, if they are permitted to perish by our avarice, parsimony, or neglect of duty.-Cincin. Gaz. The Mastodon.-That he was not made for swimming, or living in the water, but was a truly terrestrial animal, is evident. His bones are more common in North America, than in any part of the world. Here they are perhaps exclusively found. They are better preserved than any other fossils, and yet there is no proof to lead to the belief of their living existence. The great Mastodon, or the Ohioensis, was very similar to the Elephant, in tusks and Osteology; the grinders excepted. It is officially estimated that two thousand houses were destroyed by the late fire at St. Johns, N. B., and that twelve thousand persons are rendered houseless. Halfway up the stairs it stands, And points and beckons with its hands With sorrowful voice to all who pass,- By day its voice is low and light; And seems to say, at each chamber door64 "Forever-never! Never-forever!" Through days of sorrow and of mirth, Of changeful time, unchanged it has stood, In that mansion used to be His great fires up the chimney roared; There groups of merry children played, From that chamber, clothed in white, "Forever-never! Never-forever!" All are scattered now and fled, Never here, forever there,、 HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. The entire skeletons of mastodons now in existence are to be seen at Peale's Musueum, in Philadelphia, at the Balti-. more Museum and the British Museum, London, and in other places, particularly at the Mass. Med. College, Boston. The skeletons of that at Canandaig... and of one belonging to Dr. Warren, are both corrobatory of the opinion expressed by Cuvier, in relation to this animal. The height of that belonging to Dr. Warren is 11 feet, and that of the University 10 feet 8 inches. It has been determined by Dr. Jackson that the whole number of ribs amounts to 20. Twigs were found about the cavity of the stomach. Dr. Wyman has glanced at the other descriptions of fossil animals: the Elephas primogenitus,-Elephas Americanus, Sus Americanus, Hippopotamus, Equus major, Cervus Americanus, Rhinoceros, Alleghaniensis, Ovis Mammilaris, Bos pollasii, and the Megalonyx. THE AMERICAN PENNY MAGAZINE AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER, With numerous Engravings. Edited by Theodore Dwight. Is published weekly, at the office of the New York Express, No. 112 Broadway, at 3 cents a number, (16 pages large octavo,) or, to subscribers receiving it by mail, and paying in advance, $1 a year. 6 sets for $5 Back numbers can be supplied. Postmasters are authorized to remit money, and are requested to act as agents. Enclose a One Dollar Bill, without payment of pos tage, and the work will be sent for the year. "The information contained in this work is worth more than silver."-N. Y. Observer. "It should be in every family in the country." N. Y. Baptist Recorder. The New York Methodist Advocate speaks of it in similar terms. Also many other papers. Until lately a sight like this was rare in our country, though for centuries familiar in different parts of Europe, and known to most of our countrymen, through descriptions in the writings of travellers. Within a few years, however, many of our cities and even villages have been visited by wandering musicians, seeking a more precarious livelihood, than that usually secured to a common workman or laborer, though exposed to the very trying inconveniences and troubles of mingling only with stran gers. But there are often reasons, sad reasons, for a resort to so solitary and |