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One of the finest steam-boats ever built in the United States lately ran upon this inland sea, and was destroyed, ten days since, by fire, in a manner truly terrible. The captain of the vessel had fallen sick, and entrusted its management to his son, a young man just turned of one-and-twenty. Making for St John's with upwards of forty passengers, they encountered the equinoctial gale, which blew with violence right ahead. The fine vessel, however, encountered it bravely, and dashed onwards through the storm, until, an hour after midnight, she had gained the broadest part of the lake. Some careless mortal, who had been to seek his supper in the pantry, left a candle burning on a shelf, which, after some time, caught another which was ranged above.

The passengers were asleep, or at least quiet in their births, when a man at the engine perceived, in some dark recess of the vessel, an unusual light. Approaching the spot, he heard the crackling of fire, and found the door of the pantry a glowing and tremulous wall of embers. He had scarcely time to turn himself, ere he was enveloped in flames; rushing past them, he attempted to burst into the ladies' apartment by a small door which opened into the interior of the vessel: it was locked on the inside, and the noise of the storm seemed to drown all his cries and blows. Hurrying upon the deck, he gave the alarm to the captain, and flew to the women's cabin. Ere he leaped down the stairs, the flames had burst through the inner door, and had already seized upon the curtains of the bed next to it. You may conceive the scene which followed.

In the mean time the young captain roused his crew and his male passengers, warning the pilot to make for the nearest island. Summoning his men around him, and stating to them that all the lives on board could not be saved in the boats, he asked their consent to save the passengers, and to take death with him. All acquiesced unanimously; and hastened to let down the boats. While thus engaged, the flames burst through the decks, and shrouded the pilot, the mast, and the chimney, in a column of flames. The helmsman, however, held to the wheel, until his limbs were scorched and his clothes half consumed upon his back. The unusual heat round the boiler gave a redoubled impetus to the engine. The vessel dashed madly through the waters, until she was within a few roods of land. The boats were down, and the captain and his men held the shrieking women and children in their arms, when the helm gave way, and the vessel, turning from the wind flew backwards, whirling round and round from the shore. None could approach to stop the engine; its fury, however, soon spent itself, and left the flaming wreck to the mercy only of the winds and waves. With dreadful struggles the naked passengers got into the boats, and received the women and child

ren from the hands of the captain and the crew, who, while the flames whirled over their heads, refused the solicitations to enter the overburdened barks, and pushed them off from the fire which had nearly caught their sides. It was now discovered that one woman and a youth of sixteen had been forgotten. Hurrying them to the windward of the flames, the youth was bound to a plank, and a skilful swimmer of the crew leapt with him into the lake. The captain, holding the frantic woman in his arms, stood upon the edge of the scorching and crackling wreck, until he saw the last of his companions provided with a spar, and committed to the waters; then, throwing from him with one arm a table which he had before secured for the purpose, and with the other grasping his charge, he sprang into the waves. The poor woman, mad with terror, seized his throat as he placed and held her upon the table; forced to disengage himself, she was borne away by the waves; he tried to follow, and saw her for the last time clinging to a burning mass of the vessel. One last shriek, and the poor creature was whelmed in flood and fire. Swimming round the blazing hulk, and calling aloud to such of his companions as might be within hearing, to keep near it, he watched for the falling of a spar. He seized one while yet on fire, and, quenching it, continued to float round the wreck, deeming that the light might be a signal, should the boats be able to return; but these had to row, heavily laden, six miles through a mountainous sea. It was long before they could make the land, and that, leaving their helpless freight naked on the shore of a desert island, in the dark and tempestuous night, they turned to seek the drowning heroes.

The day broke while they were labouring against the roaring elements, seeking in vain the extinguished beacon that was to guide their search; at length a blackened atom appeared upon the top of a wave; stretched upon it was a human figure. It was, I rejoice to say, the young captain-senseless, but the generous soul not quite departed. He is alive and doing well. One other of these devoted men was picked up late in the morning, and wondrously restored to life, after having been eight hours swimming and floating on the water. Seven perished.

The citizens of Burlington hastened with clothing and provisions to the sufferers on the island; took them to their homes; and nursed them with affectionate solicitude.

The blackened wreck of the Phoenix is now lying, in the midst of the lake, upon a reef of rocks, to which it was drifted by the storm.' pp. 216-219.

We hope by this time we have furnished all our readers with the means of forming an adequate idea of the nature of this work. We shall therefore venture upon only one more

extract, describing a scene which we can vouch to be truly American, as we have ourselves witnessed it, in all its essentials, within six miles of Boston:

The mode in which the contents of the post-bag are usually distributed through the less populous districts had often before amused me. I remember, when taking a cross cut in a queer sort of a caravan, bound for some settlement on the southern shore of lake Erie, observing, with no small surprise, the operations of our charioteer; a paper flung to the right hand, and anon a paper flung to the left, where no sight or sound bespoke the presence of human beings. I asked if the bears were curious of news; upon which I was informed, that there was a settler in the neighbourhood, who ought to have been on the lookout, or some of his children for him. “But when I don't find them ready, I throw the paper under a tree; and I warrant you they'll look sharp enough to find it; they're always curious of news in these wild parts;" and curious enough they seemed, for not a cabin did we pass, that a newspaper was not flung from the hand of this enlightener of the wilderness. Occasionally making a halt at some solitary dwelling, the post-bag and its guardian descended together, when, if the assistance of the farmer, who here acted as postmaster, could be obtained, the whole contents of the mail were discharged upon the ground, and all hands and eyes being put in requisition, such letters as might be addressed to the surrounding district, were scrambled out from the heap; which, being then again scrambled together, was once more shaken into the leathern receptacle, and thrown into the wagon; but it sometimes happened, that the settler was from home. On one occasion, I remember, neither man, woman, nor child, was to be found; the stage-driver whistled and hallooed, walked into the dwelling, and through the dwelling, sprang the fence, traversed the field of maize, and shouted into the wood; but all to no purpose. Having resumed his station, and set his horses in motion, I inquired how the letters were to find their destination, seeing that we were carrying them along with us, heaven knew where? "Oh! they'll keep in the country any how; it is likely indeed, they may go down the Ohio, and make a short tour of the states; this has happened sometimes; but it is a chance but they get to Washington at last; and then they'll commence a straight course anew, and be safe here again this day twelvemonth may be, or two years at farthest."

At Carthage we found the postmaster very naturally fast asleep; after much clatter against his door and wooden walls, he made his appearance with a candle, and, according to custom, the whole contents of the mail were discharged upon the floor. New Series, No. 9. 4

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The poor Carthaginian rubbed his eyes, as he took up one letter after another from the heap before him; but his dreams seemed still upon him. "Not a letter can I see," he exclaimed, as he again rubbed his eyes, and snuffed his candle. "Friend, lend me your eyes, or you may just take the whole load away with you." "I am none of the best at deciphering handwriting," replied the driver. Why then I must call my wife, for she is as sharp as a needle." The wife was called, and, in gown and cap, soon made her appearance; the candle and the papers placed in the middle, wife, husband, and driver set about deciphering the hieroglyphics; but that the wife had the character of being as sharp as a needle, I should have augured ill of the labours of this triumvirate. Whether right or wrong, however, the selection was soon made, and the budget once again committed to the wagon.' pp. 167, 168.

2. Bowditch

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ART. III.—1. Eine merkwürdige astronomische Entdeckung und Beobachtungen des Kometen vom Jul. 1819, vom Herrn Doct. Olbers in Bremen.-A remarkable astronomical discovery, and observations of the comet of July 1819, by Dr Olbers of Bremen. Published in Bode's Astronomisches Jahrbuch for 1822.

1. Ueber einen merkwürdigen Kometen, der wahrscheinlich bei dreijähriger Umlaufzeit schon zum viertenmale bei seiner Rückkehr zur Sonne beobachtet ist, vom Herrn Prof. J. H. Encke, Adjuncten der Sternwarte Seeberg bei Gotha.

On a remarkable comet which has probably a periodical revolution of about three years, and which has been four times observed in its descent towards the sun. By Professor Encke, assistant in the observatory at Seeberg, near Gotha. Pub

lished in the same work.

3. Ueber die Bahn des Ponschen Kometen, nebst Berechnung seines Laufs bei seiner nächsten Wiederkehr im Jahr 1822, vom Herrn Prof. Encke, Direktor der Herzogl. Sternwarte Seeberg bei Gotha. On the orbit of Pons' [or rather Encke's] comet, with the computation of its apparent path about the time of its next appearance in 1822, by Professor Encke, director of the Ducal observatory at Seeberg, near Gotha. Published in the Astronomisches Jahrbuch for 1823.

Ir is well known that the orbits of most of the comets are extremely eccentric, and approach so much to the form of a

parabola, that it is usual to compute the elements of the orbit upon the supposition that they move in this curve; and it is found in general that the observations made on those bodies are well represented by this hypothesis, which leaves however the time of the revolution wholly indeterminate. In fact, there are but very few comets, in which any considerable ellipticity of the motion has been perceived, and only two instances in which the periodical revolution has been determined to any great degree of accuracy, namely, Halley's comet, which appeared for the fifth time in 1759, according to his prediction, with a periodical revolution of seventy five years; and Olbers' comet, which was observed for the first time in 1815, with such very evident marks of an elliptical motion, that its periodical revolution could thence be ascertained to a considerable degree of accuracy, and it was found, by a careful examination of all the observations, to be nearly of the same length as that of Halley's comet; though in other respects, the two orbits are very different from each other.

We have now to add to the list another comet, still more remarkable, on account of the shortness of its revolution, which is only one thousand two hundred and five days. It had been observed in 1786, 1795, and 1805; but the defects of the observations in 1786 and 1795 had prevented its identity from being noticed, until its appearance in 1819, when its elliptical motion was discovered by Professor Encke. The details and calculations relative to this remarkable discovery are given in the papers mentioned at the beginning of this article.

The first of these papers contains extracts from letters of Dr Olbers, in which he communicates his observations on the great comet, visible by the naked eye in Europe and in this country, in July 1819; together with his calculations of the parabolic elements of its orbit, which agree very nearly with those made and published in this country. He also mentions, with great brevity, his discovery of the identity of the comet of 1786 and 1795, with the small [or Encke's] comet of 1819.

The second paper contains a full account of the calculations of Professor Encke, to determine the orbit of this comet. He, very modestly, names it Pons' comet, from the circumstance that Mr Pons first discovered it, both in 1805 and in 1819; but Professor Bode prefers to call it Encke's comet, after the name of the discoverer of the true orbit, in like manner as was done in the case of Halley and Olbers; and it is highly probable that this last name will be adopted by astronomers.

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