a creeper; it will soon be buried in the dog's-bane which constitutes its soil. A travelling plant, I have taken precautions to disappear on the shores of the sea, my native soil.

The slopes of the hills in St. Pierre are covered with tacamahacas, diospyros, larch and spruce firs, whose shoots are used for producing an anti-scorbutic beer. None of these trees grow beyond the height of a man. The ocean storm bends and prostrates them, like ferns; then, gliding under these forests of bushes, it lifts them up again, but it meets neither trunks, branches, arches, nor echoes to respond to its roar, and makes no more noise than upon a heath.

These rickety woods form a striking contrast with the large forests of Newfoundland, whose neighbouring coasts lie within sight, and whose fir trees are adorned with the silver lichen (Alectoria trichodis); the white bears seem to have hung their skins on the branches of these trees, of which many form the strange creepers. The swamps of this island of Jacques Cartier contain paths trodden by those bears, which nearly resemble the rural paths in the neighbourhood of a sheep-fold. The howlings of these hungry animals are heard through the whole night and the traveller only feels himself safe by the no less mournful sounds of the sea, whose rude and inhospitable waves become companions and friends.

The northern extremity of Newfoundland reaches the latitude of Cape Charles I., in Labrador, and a few degrees higher the Polar regions commence. If we may believe travellers, these regions have their charms: when the sun approaches the earth in the evening, it seems to remain stationary, and again begins to ascend instead of sinking below the horizon. The mountains clothed with snow, the valleys covered with white mosses, on which the reindeer browse, the seas alive with whales, and speckled over with floating ice, form a most brilliant scene, illuminated at the same time by the glowing light of the west, and the splendours of the Aurora; it is difficult to know whether one is present at the creation or the end of the world. A small bird like that which sings by night in our woods, warbles forth its plaintive note. Then love prompts the Esquimaux to seek his expecting companion on the rocky ice; these marriages of men at the utmost bounds of the earth are neither destitute of pomp nor happiness.

COAST OF VIRGINIA-SETTING SUN-DANGER-LANDING IN AMERICA

SEPARATION FROM FELLOW PASSENGERS-TULLOCH.

HAVING taken on board supplies and replaced the anchor lost at Graciosa, we quitted St. Pierre. Steering to the south we reached latitude 38 deg. Calms detained us at a short distance from the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. A clear sky had succeeded the fogs of the northern regions; we were not in sight of land, but perceived distinctly the smell of the pine forests. The daybreaks and mornings, the rising and setting of the sun, and the twilights and nights were magnificent. I could never satisfy my desire of looking at Venus, whose rays enveloped me like the hairs of my sylphide long ago.

;

One evening as I sat reading in the captain's cabin, the bell rang for prayers; I went to mingle my supplications with those of my companions. The officers, together with the passengers, occupied the poop; the chaplain, book in hand, stood somewhat nearer the wheel, whilst the sailors crowded in groups around we stood with our faces towards the prow. Every sail was furled. The globe of the sun, just about to plunge into the waves, appeared through the mist of the cordage in boundless space; it might have been said that by the rolling of the poop, the radiant luminary every instant changed its horizon. When I drew this picture, the whole of which you may see again in the Genie du Christianism, my religious feelings were in complete harmony with the scene; but alas! when I was present in the old man was living in me; it was not God alone I was contemplating on the waves in the glory of his works. I saw an unknown woman and the miracles of her smile; the beauties of heaven seemed to me to spring from her breath; I would have sold eternity for one of her caresses. I figured to myself that her heart was beating behind this veil of the universe which concealed her from my eyes. Oh! why was it not in my power to rend this curtain, to press this idealised beauty to my heart, and to enjoy the fulness of an affection which constituted the source of my inspirations, of my despair, and of my life? Whilst I was giving free course to these emotions, so suitable to my future career as a denizen of the woods, an accident was very near putting an end to my designs and my

dreams.

person,

The heat was oppressive; the ship in a dead calm, without sails, and tottering under the weight of her masts, rolled excessively; burnt upon the deck and fatigued by the motion, I longed for a bath; and though we had no boats down, I threw myself from the bowsprit into the sea. At first all went well-and several passengers followed my example. I swam without taking heed to the ship; but I no sooner turned my head than I saw that the current was sweeping her far from me. The sailors, alarmed, had thrown out lines to the other swimmers. Sharks showed themselves near the ship, and guns were fired to drive them away. The current was so strong as greatly to retard my return, by exhausting my strength. There was a gulph beneath me, and any moment a shark might have taken off an arm or a leg. The master and crew made all possible speed to let down a boat, but it was necessary to fix a tackle, and this consumed a great deal of time. By the greatest good fortune, a breeze, almost imperceptible, sprung up; the ship answered the helm, and was brought near me; I was not able to lay hold of the rope; but the companions of my rashness having clung to it, we were dragged to the side of the ship, and being at the extremity of the file, they pressed upon me with all their weight. In this way they hauled us up one by one, which was tedious. The rolling of the ship continued; and at every successive roll we were plunged six or seven feet into the sea, or suspended the same height in the air, like fish at the end of a line at the last plunge I felt myself ready to faint; one roll more and all was over. They drew me upon deck half dead: if I had been drowned it would have been a good relief for myself and for others!

Two days after this accident we sighted land. My heart beat when the captain showed it to me; America! faintly traced by the tops of some maple trees emerging, as it were, from the sea. In the same manner the palm trees afterwards indicated to me the mouths of the Nile. A pilot came on board, and we sailed into the Chesapeake. The same evening a boat was sent ashore for supplies of fresh provisions; I joined the party, and soon set foot on American soil.

Casting my eyes around me, I remained for some moments motionless. This continent, perhaps unknown through the whole duration of ancient times, and many centuries of modern,-the first rude fortunes of the country and its second destiny since its discovery by Columbus; the dominion of European monarchies shaken in this New World;-societies finishing their career in

young America;—a republic, of a kind hitherto unknown, announcing a change in the human mind;—the part which my own country had had in these events;-these seas and these shores partly indebted for their independence to the French flag and French blood;-a great man springing up from the midst of discord and deserts!-Washington inhabiting a great city, where Penn had purchased a corner of the forests;-the United States sending back to France the Revolution, which France had maintained by her arms;-finally, my own destinies, my virgin muse, which I was about to deliver over to the passion of a new nature;—the discoveries which I was eager to attempt in these deserts, whose wide domain stretched far behind the narrow empire of foreign civilisation these were the things which passed through my mind.

We made our way towards a house. Groves of Virginia cedars, mocking birds, and cardinals, by their form, note, and colour, gave sure proofs of a new climate. The homestead, which we reached in about half-an-hour, consisted of an Fnglishman's farm and a Creole's cottage. Herds of European cows were pasturing on fields fenced in by rails, over which striped squirrels were disporting. Blacks were engaged in cleaving wood, and Whites in cultivating tobacco. A negress, of about fourteen years of age, of singular beauty, almost without clothing, like young Night, opened the gate of the enclosure for us. We bought some maize, some fowls, eggs and milk, and returned to our vessel with our baskets and jars. I presented my silk handkerchief to the young African; my first reception in the land of liberty was given me by a slave.

We weighed anchor in order to make the roads and harbour of Baltimore; as we drew near, the channel narrowed; the waters became smooth and still, and to all appearance we were sailing up a sluggish stream, bordered with rows of trees. Baltimore came in view, as if at the extremity of a lake. Opposite the city rose a woody hill, at the bottom of which buildings began to spring up. We made fast to the quay in the harbour. I slept on board, and did not go on shore till the following day. I took up my quarters with my luggage at an inn. The Seminarists retired to the establishment prepared for them, from whence they were dispersed over America.

What is become of Francis Tulloch? The following letter was put into my hands in London on the 12th of April, 1822 :

66

Thirty years have now rolled away, my dear Viscount, since the period of our voyage to Baltimore; and it is very possible you may have forgotten even my name. To judge, however, according to the feelings of my own heart, which has always been true and faithful to you, it is not so, and I flatter myself you will not be displeased to see me again. Living almost opposite to one another (as you will see by the place whence this letter is dated,) I am but too sensible, how much circumstances separate us. Intimate but the slightest wish to see me, and I will hasten to prove to you how truly I am, as I have ever been, your faithfnl friend and servant, FRAN. TULLOCH.

"P.S. The distinguished rank you have now attained, and to which you have so many and such just claims, is before my mind; but the agreeable recollection of the Chevalier de Chateaubriand is so dear to me, that I cannot write to you (at least for this time,) as an ambassador, &c., &c. Pardon the style out of regard to our former friendship.

66

"30, Portland Place, Friday, April 12th."

my

So, Tulloch is in London. He has not become a priest, and is married; his romance is finished like my own. This letter bears testimony to the truth of my memoirs and the faithfulness of recollections. Who could have borne witness to an alliance and friendship of thirty years' standing had not the contracting parties been alive?" And what a melancholy and retrograde perspective does this letter unroll! In the year 1822 Tulloch was in the same city,-nay, in the same street with myself; the door of his house almost opposite to mine, just as we had met in the same ship-on the same deck-and occupied cabins just opposite to each other. How many other friends shall I never meet again! A man, every evening, on retiring to rest, may count his losses; it is only his own years which do not leave him, although they continue to pass; when he reviews them and calls them by name, they answer "present !"Not one is wanting on the roll.