an eastern city for the freedom of the woods, where his occupation has ever been reckless speculation, the excitement of which still forms his chief source of pleasure; so he plays away his fortune as soon as he has made it. His habits of life remain unchanged, whatever be his pecuniary circumstances; and whether the last card was a trump, matters very little to him, for he means to gamble all his life. To an Englishman intending to return to his native land with a comfortable independence, the country in which the Yankee speculates is the one for him to invest in; and if he is contented with a tithe of the winnings, without the risk, of the more dashing game, he will not repent the day when he crossed the Atlantic to seek his fortune on the shores of the American lakes. In looking out for eligible land-investments in an unsettled country, the attention of the explorer should ever be directed to the discovery of those localities which seem to combine the necessary requisites for a future town. If he wish to buy upon the shores of a lake, the two great considerations are, the excellence of the harbour, and the character of the back country, with the facilities which exist for transport into the interior; and to compare its merits with those of other spots upon the coast, so as to avoid the risk of competition. If he be desirous of settling in the interior, he should do so upon the banks of a river. The head of the navigation is a certain site for a town. Good water-power is almost indispensable, and a fertile back country, the nature of which may be judged of by the size and character of the timber hardwood, including maple, birch, oak, &c., is an indication of the best land; softwood betokens a poorer soil; but upon the banks of a river the most valuable locations for lumber purposes are amid pine forests. If the land-speculator be fortunate enough to establish a pre-emptive claim upon a tract of land combining such qualifications upon the confines of civilisation, he may within a few years, or even before the last instalment of his purchase-money has been paid down, charge more for his land by the foot than he is at the same moment paying to government for it

by the acre, and before ten years are past, may see a large bustling town covering the land which was clothed, when he bought it, with virgin forests; and find himself a millionaire, with just enough (if he be a Yankee) to meet the liabilities he has incurred in taking out a patent for diving-bells at New-York, in laying down a guttapercha pavement at New-Orleans, and contracting to rebuild San Francisco after a fire; together with a few other experiments in various parts of his almighty continent, too trifling to mention.

But this mode of land-speculating is not alone confined to individuals. Companies are formed, who purchase large tracts of land in eligible localities; and the position of Fond du Lac appeared such a promising site, that two separate companies obtained grants of land at the mouth of the St. Louis. It is not difficult to perceive the advantages which the western extremity of Lake Superior holds out as a point for such speculation. It is situated at the head of the lake navigation of North America. Since the passing of the reciprocity treaty, by which the internal navigation of America is made available to the vessels both of England and the United States, there is uninterrupted fresh-water communication for large steamers, from thence to the sea by way of the St Lawrence, a distance of 2000 miles. There is no harbour nearer than La Pointe, ninety miles distant upon the southern shore of the lake; and upon the northern the country is sterile and uninhabited, and affords no good harbour between Fond du Lac and the frontier of the British possessions and the United States. When the bar at the mouth of the St. Louis, on which there is now nine feet of water, is dredged, the lagoon, which is about six miles long and two broad, will be easy of access, as well as safe and commodious. Not only are the hills in the neighbourhood of Fond du Lac prolific in mineral resources, but the whole country lying to the west and south, and extending to the Mississip pi, is rich, well watered, and susceptible in a high degree of cultivation. When it is settled, the whole cereal and mineral produce of Minnesota, and a great part of that of Wisconsin, must

find an outlet at this point, which will also be the port for the import trade of the east. A railway has already been projected from Superior to St. Paul's, the head of the navigation of the Mississippi, 130 miles distant, when a large share of the traffic which has contributed to the rapid growth of Chicago will find its way by this route. As soon, therefore, as the advancing tide of civilisation made it apparent that the time had arrived to turn these capabilities to account, rival companies bought land, and hung up the plans of their prospective cities in all the hotels of the northern towns. These plans are magnificent in appearance. Handsome squares, avenues and streets, with pictures of the noble edifices with which, in the imagination of the artist, they are ornamented, dazzle with their splendour our unsuspecting emigrant, who labels his luggage for the perfect specimen of architecture which he sees marked in the corner as the National Hotel, situated upon the principal square; and on his arrival finds to his dismay a wooden shed in the midst of stumps, with an unfeeling landlord and beds of shavings. It is, however, fair to say that the chances are strongly in favour of the bright visions in the plans being realised in an incredibly short space of time.

It is only necessary to glance at the progress of Wisconsin, at the north-eastern corner of which Superior is situated, and at the character and capabilities of the State generally, to justify the prediction that in the course of a few years Superior will be as large and thriving as its other cities.

Wisconsin was only admitted into the Union as a State in May 1848. The rapid increase of its population has been unprecedented even in the annals of American progression. In 1838 the population, according to the State enumerations, was only 18,130; in 1850, the census returned the population as 305,391. I saw the Governor of the State in Washington in 1854, and he assured me that there were upwards of 500,000 inhabitants in Wisconsin, who had all emigrated there within the last fifteen years. It is needless to observe that the value of property must have risen commensurately with the increase of population, in order to support my as

sertion as to the eligibility of Wisconsin as a field for investment; but it possesses many other attractions to the emigrant beyond that of mere progression. The salubrity of the climate," says Mr. Latham," the purity of the atmosphere, and of the water, which is usually obtained from copious living springs, the coolness and short duration of summer, and the dryness of the air during winter, all conspire to render Wisconsin one of the most healthy portions of the United States." It is one of the most fertile as well as healthy. The general surface of the State is gently undulating; the higher elevations are upon the shores of Lake Superior, where the hills are covered with dense forests of evergreen; and the streams are rapid, affording good water-power. It is therefore a good timber district, and exports about 200,000,000 feet per year, while many of the ranges are rich in iron and copper ore. The soil is even here very rich; and, unlike mineral regions generally, this promises a rich reward to the farmer as well as the miner. But it is to the south-eastern part of the State that the attention of the farmer should be more particularly directed. I afterwards travelled along the southern boundary of Wisconsin -over its rolling prairies, where the long luxuriant grass was interspersed with flowers-past oak openings where belts and clumps of oaks vary the monotony of the prairie; for these forest giants alone can stand the action of the vast annual conflagrations which sweep over the western prairies, and which, while they enrich the grass, add doubtless to the productive power of the soil, and prepare it for the ploughshare. The soil is described as a dark brown vegetable mould, from one to two feet deep, very mellow, without stone or gravel, and very fertile. This charming country is intersected by five or six navigable rivers, and dotted with numerous extensive and beautiful Lakes. It possesses the greatest facilities for exporting its produce. Bounded on the north by Lake Superior, on the east by Lake Michigan, and on the west for 275 miles by the Mississippi, it has outlets in every direction, while railroads already connect its principal towns with New

York. The lake commerce of Wisconsin in 1851 exceeded 27,000,000 of dollars. Amongst the most important and valuable of the exports of Wisconsin, however, is lead, which is found in great abundance and richness upon the upper Mississippi. Such is a brief description of the attractions which this State offers to intending emigrants, which are more fully set forth in some thousands of pamphlets issued from the State immigration agent at New York, and which, having been printed in German, Dutch, and Norwegian, have been in a great degree the means of populating the State with settlers of different nationalities from the continent of Europe.

I was glad to have the opportunity of witnessing the process by which a vast and heretofore almost uninhabited country was becoming thickly and rapidly populated, as a process which involved so much that was interesting and anomalous.

The blind confidence which induces crowds of utterly destitute people to emigrate to comparatively unknown and altogether uncivilised regions, with the intention of living there permanently the cool presumption with which crowded steamers start for cities which do not exist, and disgorge their living freights upon lonesome and desolate shores, to shift for themselves, and the very remarkable manner in which they do shift for themselves--first, by building a hotel, then a newspaper office, then probably a masonic lodge, or something equally unnecessary, then saloons and places of public entertainment-and, finally, shops and ordinary dwelling-houses-are amongst the most novel and characteristic experiences of a traveller in the Far West,

Having inspected the plan of the city in the land-office before described, we sallied forth to choose some lots for our own benefit; and having been particularly fascinated by the eligible position of some, situated within two doors of the bank, just round the corner of the grand hotel, opposite the wharf, fronting the principal square, and running back to Thompson Street-in fact, in the very thick of the business part of the town-and Treceded by a very communicative

and civilised young man, evidently imported from New York or Boston for puffing purposes, we commenced cutting our way with bill-hooks through the dense forest, which he called Third Avenue, or the fashionable quarter, until we got to the bed of a rivulet, down which we turned through tangled underwood (by name West Street), until it lost itself in a bog, which was the principal square, upon the other side of which, covered with almost impenetrable bush, was the site of our lots. We did not think it worth our while cutting our way through them to the business quarter, and therefore returned somewhat sceptical, despite the glowing eulogy which our cicerone passed upon our selection, of its wisdom; and almost disposed to quarrel with one of our quondam fellowpassengers whom we met, and who asked us if "we had got to housekeeping yet."

The table d'hôte was quite in keeping with the hotel in which it was given. Twenty or thirty rough fellows, in red flannel shirts, and knives and pistols stuck into their girdles, sat round the massive table to wash down a great quantity of hard salt pork with brandy, and garnish their conversation, of which they were very chary, with a singular variety and quantity of oaths. Indeed, so frequently and inappropriately are they lugged into the common parlance of back woodsmen, that it is at first very difficult to understand anything that is said; and as, even when used as an embellishment in civilised conversation, they do not give one a very high estimate of the sense of the speaker, when they also interfere with the sense of the sentence, familiar intercourse with the denizens of the West is neither profitable nor attractive. There was a judge at dinner, who was a singular instance of this; and if his decisions were framed in such blasphemous terms as his talk, it would have been morally impossible for his suitors to understand him unless they had undergone a special education for the purpose. He was seeking rest from his judicial labors by a little "prospecting;" and had determined to employ his holidays by doing a stroke of business in the copper line. To

judge by his appearance, he had been a good deal in the bowels of the earth, and had not washed himself since he had started on his explorations. However, it was difficult to account for the filth and shabbiness of his attire, for he had with him an unusually large portmanteau in which he was always burrowingcompetent to contain a sufficient supply of clothes for the most fastidious. Upon one occasion, however, when a group was collected near this mysterious receptacle, he suddenly opened it and displayed an enormous bundle, on the top of which were sprinkled a few dirty socks and collars, and which, on being untied, was found to contain huge specimens of copper, with which he was returning to his native State to induce his friends to advance the funds necessary for his

purposes.

In olden time people used to say that poverty made one acquainted with strange bed-fellows. This is an experience which nowadays the traveller shares with the pauper, and it is involved by a tour in the Far West to an unusual extent. When the shades of evening closed upon Superior, and we had smoked a pipe or two in the twilight, we asked our host whether he could give us sleeping accommodation, to which he considerately replied: "Wal, I guess, if you can find a corner that's not preempted, you may spread your shavings there." And having received this permission to litter ourselves down amongst the prostrate figures in the loft, and luckily hit upon a corner that was not pre-empted, we formed our blankets into sacks, which we filled with shavings from the shed below, and pulled up the ladder after us. Fortunately there were very few musquitoes, as we were unprovided with nets; but we had no sooner stretched ourselves upon our beds than we discovered the reason of our supposed good fortune in finding a vacant corner to consist in its being exposed to the full force of the wind, which whistled through the interstices of the logs of which the walls were composed, and one of which, just at my ear, was big enough for me to fill up with my coat. I could scarcely regret any cause, however disagreeable,

which kept me awake to contemplate for a short time the novelty of our night's quarters. We were surrounded by thirty or forty snoring men in every variety of costume; for the process of turning in in the West consists simply of kicking off shoes or moccasins; while here and there previous" claims" were being somewhat querulously discussed; and at the further end of the loft an eager party were leaning over a table, on which stood a bottle, with a tallow candle placed in it, playing "faro," a game they had imported with them from California; for some of our bedfellows had taken a turn at the diggings, and, with their lank hair, unkempt beards, and rugged features, lit up with an unusual excitement by the interest of the game, they formed a group whose aspect was by no means reassuring to four quiet Cockneys. Moreover, men were continually swarming up posts to roost upon fragile platforms over our heads, and slipping rapidly and unexpectedly down them again. The creaking of these became ominous, as stout parties" rolled uneasily in their sleep upon very thin planks, placed so far apart that, by looking up, we could see their forms between them, and lay in no small terror of being deluged with a cataract of tobacco juice; and there was a wrangling kept up in the land-office, for a long time. At least I listened to it until snores, and oaths, and creaking became all blended into a soft murmur, and gradually worked themselves into a series of pleasant dreams of home.

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Before sunrise, however, we were roused to the stern realities of backwood life. And as we had no intention of "getting to housekeeping in Superior, it became us to think of proceeding on our journey westward. This, however, was no easy matter; and the various descriptions we received of the relative merits of the different routes to St. Paul's, whither we were bound, were by no means encouraging. These were three in number; but no two accounts agreed, either with regard to the time the journey would occupy, or the difficulties to be encountered. There was one route which involved walking

sixty miles through swamps, with the chance of finding a canoe at the St. Croix River; and in default of that, walking sixty more, carrying our provisions with us for the whole distance, and sleeping out every night. And there was another by the Brulé River, which would probably occupy three weeks in a bark canoe, but might take much more if the water was low, and we could get no information upon that point; so we decided upon the first, and had engaged some voyageurs to accompany us; but, as we were on the point of starting, their courage failed them, and they refused point-blank to move a foot at which crisis a man who had just arrived from St. Paul's-indeed the only person who had made the journey during the season-proposed a third route, by the St. Louis and Mississippi, which, after much discussion, was finally adopted, and which involved a great many preparations. We began by buying a bark canoe for twenty dollars; then we tried to engage two Indians, as well as two voyageurs. The former were painted warriors of the Chippeway tribe, who had just returned from the war-path, and had scarcely ever scen "pale-faces" in their lives before. They seemed willing enough to come at first, but when they found that our proposed route lay through the country of the Sioux, with whom they are at war, they backed out, and we were reduced at starting to our two half-breeds, Batiste Cadot and Jean Le Fêve, whose services we had so much trouble in securing. At their instigation we laid in, at the only store in the place, a hundred pounds of flour, three hams, some bacon, tea, sugar, biscuits, and brandy. The purchase of these articles involved an immense amount of liquoring up, for our trip had now become matter of notoriety, and ourselves of no little curiosity. Conflicting advice was tendered in every direction by people who knew nothing whatever of the matter, but who all expected a drink for their trouble. As the brandy was villanous and expensive, it was no less a tax upon one's stomach than one's pocket. However, it is one of the most ancient and sacred institutions of the country, whenever you are intro

duced to a man at the bar of a hotel, to "liquor him right away;" a compliment which, according to the strict rules of American etiquette, he ought to return before parting with you. In the fulness of their affection for us, some of these gentry, who wanted to make the journey at any rate, but lacked the necessary funds, offered to accompany us to St. Paul's ; and it was not without running some risk of giving offence that we declined their proposal. At last we bade adieu to our Superior friends, and with a voyageur at each end of the canoe, stowed away our four selves at the bottom of it, having made a convenient disposition of the Juggage and stores for that purpose. It was upon a lovely morning, near the middle of August last, that we started on our voyage up the St. Louis, here about two miles wide, and dividing the State of Wisconsin from the Minnesota territory. Soon after leaving Superior, we paddled past a few log-huts, the residences of our own voyageurs and others of the same fraternity, who originally settled here many years ago as British subjects, and servants of the North-West Company. They pointed out to us the remains of the Old Fort, and a little beyond it we saw the debris of the rival establishment which belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company. Voyageurs and Yankee speculators have all the Indian trade to the south of the boundary-line to themselves now. the head of the bay, where the river takes a sharp turn to the south-west, it is full of fields and islands of wild rice, intersected with so many channels that an inexperienced voyageur might easily lose himself.

At

Although we were so far north, as the banks of the river approached one another we might have imagined ourselves in the tropics. The massive foliage on either side dipped into the water; the stream was dark and sluggish; and a burning mid-day sun rendered the labour of paddling a heavily laden canoe somewhat irksome. We were, therefore, seven hours in reaching the Indian village of Fond du Lac, twenty-one miles from Superior. Here we determined to lighten our work, by taking two Indians, and another canoe for some of the baggage. This