they are thus sheltered, are barns or sheds, on the floors of which the plants are thinly scattered, until the leaves become limber, and then laid in heaps to ferment, care being taken to turn them about occasionally, in order that the whole may be equally fermented; and the longer they lie in this condition, the darker will the colour of the tobacco become. This process is termed sweating the tobacco. The plants, after lying thus for about three or four days, are next laid in a heap, and pressed down with heavy logs for about a week; and while the tobacco is in this state, the planter usually introduces his hand into the middle of the heap, in order to ascertain that there is no excess of heat, and, should there be so, some of the pressure is removedgreat care being taken with this stage of the process, as on the right or wrong performance mainly depends the excellence or inferiority of the tobacco. When this process, termed the second or last sweating, has been gone through, the leaves are stripped from the stalks, after which they (the leaves) are tied up in bunches or hands, which, after being sprinkled with sea or common water, are twisted into rolls, and in that shape exported to Europe or elsewhere. Some persons, however, substitute cider or white-wine for water, with the view of giving the tobacco a finer flavour.

The tobacco-plant, moreover, is subject to the ravages of a most destructive insect, called the tobaccoworm, to protect it against which, is one of the chief concerns of the cultivator. To destroy these insects

or at least to keep them under (for it is quite impossible to exterminate them altogether), every leaf is carefully searched, and as soon as one is found to be wounded, the cause of it is at once destroyed; and so rapid are the ravages they commit, that without constant vigilance against their attacks, whole fields of plants would soon be ravaged; nay, even if any be left on the leaves during the curing process, they prove equally destructivc. These vermin are found chiefly in July and August-and the process of getting rid of them is called worming the tobacco. The insect is of a peculiar horned species, but in what way it is produced or propagated is unknown. It is first discernible when the plants have gained about half their height, when the little creature appears as large as a gnat; after which it lengthens out to the size of a worm, and at last attains the magnitude of a man's finger: it is of regular shape from head to tail, indented or ringed round at equal distances, about a quarter of an inch apart, at each of which indentations a pair of claws springs out, by means of which it clings to the leaf of the plant. Its mouth, which resembles that of the caterpillar, is placed under the fore-part of the head, the top of which is crowned by a sharp-pointed stiff horn of a brown colour, and about half an inch long. The colour of the worm is in general green, interspersed with yellowish white, and the body is covered like the caterpillar's, with short fine hair.

Having thus attempted to describe the culture and mode of curing the tobacco-plant, which is a subject of

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no little interest on account of the great commercial importance of the product, I shall return to my kind. entertainers, from whom, in the several walks that I took with them round the plantation, I gained most of the above particulars. After I had completed my inquiries, I resolved to return; and when they found that I would not prolong my stay, they accompanied me three or four miles back to the ferry-station. While on our road, we met several negro men, women, and children, all looking as happy and well-conditioned as those we had left in the plantations behind us. In answer to my inquiries, who was their master, how they were employed, &c.,-they replied cheerfully and with civility, then went on their way at the measured pace peculiar to them. One feature, in particular, I noticed, namely, that they often wore clothes of many colours, the variety being caused by the repairs, which they seem to prefer having made in a hue different from that of the original garments. Their straw hats, too, I should imagine, from their fragile appearance, are not very costly to their proprietors. Finally, after taking leave of my kind entertainers, who-though I was a perfect stranger-warmly pressed me to renew my visit at my earliest convenience, I stepped on board the ferry-boat, and ere long was once more at my hotel in Washington, not a little pleased at having spent so pleasant a time, and gained so much valuable information respecting the tobacco-plantations of Maryland and Virginia.

X.-RAILROAD TRIP TO PHILADELPHIA.

My stay at Washington having been prolonged, by the number and interest of the objects to be visited, several days beyond my intended limit, I now determined at once to close it; for which purpose I put myself and my baggage into a carriage, and reached the railway depôt several minutes too early for the train. Looking carelessly about, to relieve the monotony which ever attends waiting at a station, my attention was directed to a group of people who were watching a peculiarlooking man, somewhat advanced in years, who was dreamily singing a dismal ditty, unconscious of the gaze of the bystanders. On inquiry from a person that seemed connected with the poor melancholy-looking creature, I heard that he was conveying this wreck of humanity to a distant lunatic asylum, and that he had a few months before been condemned to die for most barbarously murdering his wife; whom, not content with slaying, he actually cut up into small pieces, in the maniacal ravings of his frenzy. When the two keepers motioned the poor, unhappy man to follow, he raised himself up, and quietly walked at their side, as a dog would follow his master; and I was told that, as his insanity had been fully proved, his life was spared, on condition of constant confinement for life; and as I

watched the retreating form of the miserable being, methought

Ill-fated man! thy guiding spark is fled,

And lasting wretchedness awaits thy bed.

At length, the train being ready to convey me to Philadelphia, I took my place in the cars, but as I did not observe the unfortunate just mentioned, in any of the carriages through which I passed, I conclude, that such awkward travelling companions are accommodated in compartments by themselves; a plan, by the way, worthy of imitation in England, where one not unfrequently has to sit cheek by jowl in a railway carriage for miles, with a manacled felon, a madman, or a fever patient. Such indecencies as these, indeed, are equally a disgrace to the railway companies and the Government that permits them.

Speedily, merrily rattled on the train in its way to Baltimore; and, every now and then, along the road might be seen various groups of coloured men, who were playing at foot-ball and other games that gave the swarthy players ample opportunity for laughing, jumping, leaping, capering, and the thousand other antics which blacks are so fond of exhibiting. When we reached the suburbs of Baltimore, the carriages, as usual, were unhooked from the engine, and horses or mules attached to each to convey us into the city. Four mules are usually attached to each carriage, and off they go at a merry trot, the driver manfully smacking his whip, and

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