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Show , EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. The first travels from an author of the British islands, that has met our observation, which h~d ca~dour and ~oo~ will towards. the people and their ~overnment as tls basrs, was Me!Jsh s t~avels, published ab~ut five years past. This work, th?u ~h rat~er vergmg towards panegyric, contains much really useful mformatron ; and posse~ses that one essential · requisite of fos tering kindness between foreigners and na .. tin•s. . The late work of John Bradbury deserves the highest ~ommend~- tion. The geographical descri ptions are corr.ectl! mad~ ; but tls chief merit to emigrants is, the excellent ~dvtc~ It contams _for the regulation of the i ~ affairs and ~onduct ?n theH arnval, aHd .d~rmg. the fir st period of the1r settlement ~n Amen ca. .Many of the mJun~tlcns of this benevolent ctuthor are of the greatest Import, and none ".e be· 1 ieve are either deceptive or useless. Perhap:, no traveller, m th" region visited by Mr. Bradbury, can be read with mor.e advantage .. Alexander de Humboldt was a traveller of no onlmary cast: h1s mind was enliahtened by science, ;tnd elevated by an intercourse with polished s~ciety; and as he travelleu this conti?ent und~r all the etdvantages of wealth and education, and in the Spamsh colomes unuer the sa f~guard of royal protection, his information is of th~ ut~ost value to those who desire an extended knowledge of the vanous fea· tures, metallic, vegetable, and animal productions of America. . Of nativ~ writers upon the states east of the Aleghany moun~arns, there have been several of great merit ; but as the scope of therr uescriptions do not in general reach the regions more particularl.y ~mbraced by this treatise, an enumeration of their names can be of httle interest to the reader. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, in adclition to the valuable topogra· phi cal matter it coutains respecting a part of \,Y est Virgini~ and PennRJ lvani a, affords sound information upon the climate, soil, and productions of the middle states. Drake's Cincinnati, a work often cited in this treatise, cannot be read too carefully by emigrants to Ohio and lndi~na . . ~'his excel· lent performance gives the only collected mass ot stattst1cal matter extant, respecting the centre of Ohio valley. Stodd ard's ~ouisiaDa is a good collection of valuable docume~ts, and can be rea~ with advantage when seeking information respectmg tile now state of Louisiana or the Mis~ouri territory. Brackenri dge's View of Louisiana is a work of great merit; the jnfo rmation it contains is the fruit of a mind cultivated, liberal, and oGserving. The three latter l~ ave all written their respective w?rk~ during the last ten or fifteen years, from actual observation. Each travelled the grout:1d described ; they were men of respectaule c.ha· racters, whose assert ions are entitled to the respect due to veraci~Y· Mr. Stoddard is no more · he fell in the cause of his country dunng tbe last war .. ; the otber tw'o are yet enjoying the vigour of lite. Schultz's Travels contains some use ful information; and as far as we have been able to compare his descriptions w itb the o!Jjects in na· ture, they are faithfully if not strongly painted. The work, however, that of all others contains the greatest ma~s f detached geographical and topographical facts, is Cramer's Ohto I EI\HGRANT'S GUIDE. !93 and, Mississippi Navigator. No person who navigates those streams ought to be without this cheap and excellent work. Zadoc Cramer the original author, was a man whose mind was the seat of truth and whose days were spent in usefulness. ' Dar_by's Louisiana is the only statistical work extant, which treats exclusively upon the regions included within, and lying contiguous to the Delta of the Mississippi river. ' Brown's Western Gazetteer contains a fund of information useful to emigrants. This work may ~e consulted with safety in all points, w~ere the author speaks from h1s personal observation. ~(illbourn's Ohio Gazetteer, being arranged aJphabeticalJy and . wntten with evident attention to correctness of facts, affords a good manual for that state. Of ~eog raphical works professedly, there exists but one on America, wr~tten by a native, Morse's Geography, published in 1706, and republished m numerous editions since. This work contains an immense document, ancl ought not to be neglected by those who desire ample knowledge of the various parts of the United States. It is to be regrette~, however, that ~he u.scfulness of the only geography we possess fr~m the pen of a natrve, 1s very much diiJlinished by national and colon1al prejudices; t?e opinious upon the character of the peo· ~Je of the soutbcrn alld mtddle states ought to be received with cautJOn. F?ur large Jetailed maps of the United States have been recently pubhshed, by Bradley, Lewis, Melish, Shelton, and Kensett. U~on each the phisiognomy of the United States is marked with sufficie!' lt precision to yield a good general knowledge on the subject. ~ehsh's !nap, extending to the Pacific, and south to the Spanish provmces, g1ves a more extended view of the central parts of this continent ~han any other map extant. ~1th all the maps and descriptive works that can be procured, no em1grant ought ever to purchase land, or make arrangements for permanent settlement, before viewing the place where his purchases or settlement~ are to .be made. The most ~hat reading can do in favour of the emigrant, 1s to prepare his mind with more clear ideas of the ~neans to form a ju!'1jcious £election. Ar10ther necessary precaution Js, to always distrust the information of persons offerinrr lands for sa!e. lnq.uiries ought to be carefuJiy made respecting the seas.ons, ~llmate, d1seases; and mad,e as much 3S possible from y>ersons whose 1!1terests are not engaged on the side of a too favourable representa .. twn. Most men on arriving in the United States, expect too much. Per· haps the on ly essential advantages offered, are the security of person and property, and the cheapness of land. It demands excess ive la bour, severe economy, and exemptions from extraordinary accident, to succeed i.n a !lew_ly settled country; and it demands the perma· nency of th1s SUit of labour, prude nee, and favourable circumstances. In ' .Vest Pennsyl.vania, West Virginia, in Kentucky, and in Ohio, where ~he esta~li hments have continued a sufficient length of time, the em•grant Will find inumerablc instances to stimulate his exertions. Many pcr!;OWJ of good character anc.l intelligence, reside there at this |
