as a common field, the title to which is perpetuated to the owners of lots in the village. There is likewise secured to the inhabitants, by similar title, an extensive tract of forest, or demesne, to which all resort freely for fuel, fencing, or building materials. The inhabitants of Carondelet have been accustomed to transport fuel from this forest to the St. Louis market, and for a considerable period this was the staple product of the village. The male inhabitants of this place, who were in the vigour of manhood, were employed as boatmen or voyageurs, trappers or engagés, during the trading and trapping seasons; and some of those in the latter pursuit remained from home, as their interest detained them for longer or shorter periods, two or three years. In their absence, then, the old men and boys of the village would cultivate the common fields in summer, and cart wood to St. Louis in winter. The tenacity with which the old inhabitants adhered to the pursuits of their ancestors is illustrated very forcibly in a single transaction at Carondelet. A passenger landed from one of the steamboats that had grounded on the bar opposite the town, and accosted a young citizen who was taking his departure for St. Louis with a horse cart-load of wood. The traveller offered to load the cart with himself and trunk. The proprietor remarked that his cart was loaded with wood. The stranger inquired the value of the load, and was told it was worth seventy-five cents in St. Louis. "Throw it off, then," said he, "and I will give you a dollar for transporting me to the city." The honest villager smoked one pipe over the proposition, and then, with the utmost civility, declined the proffer, politely remarking--" My fader have always carry wood to market—I do de same ting-bon jour, monsieur."

The nom de nique Vide Poche (empty pocket), given to the place in playful derision of the citizens of Carondelet, is by no means applicable to their present condition. Their frugal habits, and the spirit of enterprise that prevails among the people of this flourishing village, render them as independent as any portion of the human family; and their pockets are very far from being afflicted with emptiness.

In the town of Carondelet there has resided, for many years

features presented Nature had moulded

past, a citizen of some notoriety, to whom the compiler paid a visit of inquiry, accompanied by the late Mr. Mackey Wherry, of St. Louis. His name, Eugene Leitensdorffer, is honourably mentioned in "The Life of General Eaton." At Alexandria he joined General Eaton, and was present with him at the taking of Derne. The interview with Colonel Leitensdorffer was interesting, and was made so by his personal appearance, and a sketch that he gave of his versatile life. Although time had drawn some deep furrows in his face, his the bold and manly outlines of a soldier. his person for the endurance of all the vicissitudes incident to the life of a soldier of fortune; and his intercourse with the world, more than the study of books, had made him a laughing philosopher. He was evidently a disciple of the school of Democritus. As we entered his gateway, in the little avenue of fruit-trees that led to his cottage, there stood a hand-cart loaded with fuel. "Look at this, gentlemen,” said he, in a cheerful tone, as he removed it out of our pathway;-" when I was chef de bataillon in the army of Napoleon le Grand, I kept my coach and six-this now is my equipage! You perceive, by this practical illustration of human vicissitude, esta lo mismo, it is all the same thing if the train of thought take the right road. I am not indebted to the coachmaker, for I am the fabricator of that machine; and, as Monsieur Kentuck has observed, when I move this vehicle I am one beaucoup team." We were introduced to his wife. "This," said he, "is the eighth and last, and, I believe, the very best wife I ever had! I have twenty-six children scattered abroad in the world, struggling for a share of the fruits of honest labour; and embracing (embrassement) the good and evil I promised to share with their mothers--both of which I have realized, trop large. I have served many countries in arms, and all of them with zeal, and with more effect, I trust, than I have served myself; but this has been all voluntary, and I have no license to complain. When I placed myself under the flag of freedom, avec beaucoup stars and two colours, I made much sacrifice of one house and jardin de plaisance in Alexandria, in Egypt, and four very good wives!! Mon Dieu! can these few

acres of land, un don gratuit par congrés, make me reparation? But tout a été créé par la parole de Dieu-every thing has been created by the word of God; and I console myself with the reflection that if I laugh I am not crying. Gentlemen, will you take one glass of wine, of my own vintage? Après (after) you shall walk in my vineyard. This is the native grape; it is at home, and it is there exhilaration is expressed. In the Tyrol mountains we have every description of climate-on the summit there is winter; as we descend, spring opens; and at the foot, the warm influence of summer is felt. I train my vine at such elevation as shall suit the climate; and I prune with taste and judgment. I take more pleasure when I see the juice of the grape flow than I have felt in the glory of a crimsoned battlefield! There are no groans uttered when the wine-press is trodden!!! Gentlemen, I tell you something. That congrés is too grand! there is beaucoup parlez, con una poquito de trabajo -there is abundance of talk with but little work. I would make one petit congrés, avec two farmers, two priests, two doctors of physic, two bachelors of the law, and two artisans (which you call the mechanic); entonces (then) these lawgivers will not govern us to death!!"

As we left his threshold he presented each of us with an apple, which he assured us was not the product of the tree of knowledge; "nor," said he, "can these be classed with the forbidden fruit."

BELLEFONTAINE. This place, fifteen miles from St. Louis, on the right bank of the Missouri river, was chosen many years ago by General Wilkinson for the location of an army cantonment, on account of the beauty and salubrity of the site. Since Jefferson Barracks, below St. Louis, have been finished, this property has been sold by the government agent, and a company of gentlemen in St. Louis were the purchasers. They have laid off a town here, and a number of the lots have been sold. Many of the purchasers are Missourians. The road from the thriving little towns of Alton, Grafton, &c., in Illinois, to the city of St. Louis, will be shortened by this route when the ferry is established at Bellefontaine. The fertile farming country around

this town-site should give it great support, and promote its improvement. There are several mill-sites on Cold Water, a creek that empties into the Missouri near the western line of the town. A company has obtained a charter for a turnpike road from St. Louis to Bellefontaine.

The Eagle Powder-works of Messrs. Lane and Phillips, two miles below St. Louis, begun in 1831, and completed two years afterward, were destroyed by fire on the 11th April, 1836. This manufactory was extended, previous to the explosion, to capacity for the production daily of 600 pounds of powder. The article produced was not surpassed in quality anywhere on earth. The loss, therefore, was not confined to the proprietors; Missouri was interested in such a work; and, while it was in successful operation, a large amount of money, that had been annually remitted eastward, was kept within the boundaries of the state. Since this lamentable event, large importations of powder are necessarily made for the consumption of miners and hunters; and the loss to the country of a productive operation will be felt to the amount of thousands. Shakspeare intimated that soldiers were made food for powder; but in this instance it would appear that the proprietors were devoured by "villanous saltpetre," for they sustained a loss of 40,000 dollars. The sympathies of men should be extended to those who tread on perils for the production of that inflammable article, the invention of which has been pronounced, erroneously, the death of valour : and they who venture fortune or fame, where this agent is made a constituent principle, should be esteemed the bravest of the brave. The excellence of these works, in the finish of the machinery, and in the business arrangement of the manufactory, reflected great credit on Major Phillips, under whose direction the works were constructed. The excellent quality of the article produced was the result of much study and great ingenuity; and it is to be lamented that the advantages of this skill could not continue available. The hazards of such an enterprise as this, in which Doctor W. C. Lane suffered so largely, are not readily encountered; and the stoicism evinced by this gentleman, when looking upon the wreck of his fortune, after the ex

plosion, with calmness, was perhaps a parallel with the fortitude of those who suffer in war the unsparing inflictions of gunpowder.

Mr. Clay has introduced upon his farm, in St. Louis county, English cattle of the best stock in the United States. The advantages that will result from this enterprise will not be confined to the proprietor. The country will be greatly benefited by this operation; and it will be found of infinite importance in Missouri (the best stock-raising country in the world) to select animals of value, upon which to bestow care and expense.

To enable Missourians to improve their stock of horses, Mr. John F. A. Sanford of St. Louis has recently purchased in New-York two thorough-bred horses, the colts of the celebrated competitors Henry and Eclipse, and sent them to the state. He has likewise become the proprietor of a horse imported from England by Mr. Perkins of Boston. This will give Missourians the means of raising horses that will match the speed and bottom of the animal that bore Byron's "Mazeppa" in the involuntary race he was made to ride.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS. Doctor Beck, in his Gazetteer published A. D. 1823, describes this city as "a flourishing post-town." At that period it would, perhaps, have required the exercise of a poetic imagination to predict the importance that this city has attained in little more than half a score of years; but now, without the spirit of prophecy, it may be clearly demonstrated, that St. Louis is destined to become second to one city only in the great valley, and probably in the union. A despot, wielding the resources of a great empire, may set his foot on a barren plain, and say, " “Here shall a proud emporium of trade arise !" But, in a country where virtuous human action is as free as the unrestrained cascade, nature must lay the foundations on which art shall build up imperishable wonders! Such a foundation as that on which the abiding-place of the everlasting hills is fixed, St. Louis is based upon. Out of this solid basis of limestone are quarried the materials that are piled up to magnify the city and adorn the earth. Many towns of importance have arisen on ground of limited dimensions; and places with extraordinary