wide, 3 feet deep, and running, say, three miles per hour. There are various mineral springs in the grounds. Bloomington is 935 feet above the sea-a very fine valley. At Paw-Paw there is a large tanwork of splendid construction, and several other buildings. There is great prosperity here, and land is worth 100 dollars when cleared; the principal employment seems tanning. The Potomac now comes into sight. It is about 100 yards or more wide, and seemingly 5 or 6 feet deep. It is very clear, and delights my eyes from its home-like beauty.

The

Cumberland, where the Baltimore and Ohio Railway Company have located their steel works, is a large important town, with 10,666 people. It is the seat of great coal interests, and looks like the vale of the Clyde. station is simply splendour itself. The Potomac Canal and the Baltimore Railway both pass through here, and the place is busy in the extreme. The train has now to pass many sharp curves, and the continued fine scenery again reminds me of the scenes near Dunkeld and Athole. Sir John's Run is the most noted place near this; and Berkeley Springs, with its magnificent hotel for 500, follows close; then Cherry

Run and an old English fort, garrisoned in 1775; and we now come in sight of the Chesapeake river. The high land here would be dear at a dollar per acre, but there is better land further down hill, and near the rivers.

Harper's Ferry, one of the scenes I most desired to see, was soon reached. John Brown's Fort now lay before me, and a fine iron bridge. Which to admire most and longest was my difficulty. The old fort is marked "John Brown's Fort," and is of common red brick. The ferry is very shallow, and could easily be waded, although there are many boats upon the river. The Potomac is here very rapid, clear, and on the whole very lovely, and interesting to a degree. The passengers are a sleepylooking lot; won't speak, won't explain, or are unable to do more than answer me, "Yes, sir; "No, sir." This was the great battle-field of the Secession war: but no one, not even the guards, have one word to say about the matter.

The springs in this district are many, most beautifully situated, and have excellent medicinal qualities. "Hops, promenade concerts, picnics," are among the attractions offered to the visitor, and board costs 3 dollars per day to

F

18 dollars per week. Other springs are much about the same price, and the food is very good indeed.

The land is here rocky and poor in many cases, but much of it is well cultivated and enclosed. From the great amount of mineral wealth-coal, lime, iron, &c.—it sells very high indeed, and seldom at an agricultural value. The district is well peopled, for there are many towns giving employment to a large population.

Reaching Washington, we find a good depot, with lots of conveyances ready waiting. The hotels here are legion, and of all sorts, from the palace to the ordinary railway rooms. The first beggar I have seen in America accosts me here, and confesses he has been drinking, that all his money is spent; and begs a dime for a glass of beer, and so on. The fellow is well dressed, like a good workman, and appears to tell the truth,—so he got his dime.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railway certainly deserves a word of notice. The country through which it passes abounds with engineering difficulties, and I must accord their engineer the praise he merits for his skill. All the bridges I saw have heavy solid piers, giving safety in

floods and from ice. The superstructures are light, but cleverly and safely set on the supports; and there is a sense of security here I have not felt in America before. Again, the ballasting, rails, and permanent way are well kept, the signals all upon the block system, and all the lines are enclosed. The Pennsylvania Railway, too, is a perfect model, comparing well with our best lines, and in no way inferior to them in signal arrangements or permanent way. G. B. Roberts is the president, W. H. Wilson, consulting engineer, and Joseph M. Wilson, engineer for bridges and buildings. The Baltimore and Ohio Railway has John W. Garret as president, but the engineer's name I could not ascertain.

town.

Washington is a rather dreary, depressed The causeway is good, for the first time in my American experience. There is well-laid asphalte in the centre of the main streets, and good pavement. There are trees in all the public streets, but there is very little business going on. The Capitol, of white marble, overshadows the whole town. The soil is poor and sandy. The magnificently laid-out avenues finish at poor shanties, or very mean-looking

wooden buildings, all having a broken-down look. The crops in the neighbourhood are decidedly poor and neglected. Washington has few inducements, unless of the legislative kind, and that is not sufficient raison d'être for a city.

BALTIMORE, 1881.

Baltimore is a town of 332,190 inhabitants. It is a very busy place, but with much diversity of style in its buildings, the elevators near the harbour, from their great height, taking the most prominent position. The trains are carried across the bay or harbour in a large steamer, being run bodily upon the boat with the passengers in the cars, and then shipped across the harbour, about half a mile wide, run into a dock, hooked on to an engine at the landing, and off again. The harbour is land - locked; still in winter there is a good deal of rough water, and I am curious to know the effect upon the passengers. The passage of the Forth, it appears to me, might be effected in the same manner, and so the necessity for a bridge be lessened. The crops are poor, and, from the sandy soil all along the coast, agriculture must suffer in a dry season such as this.