poor woman who inhabits it, supports herself by spinning cotton and wool, and dying those substances with the root and bark of trees. Mrs. Smith proposed to place her in a family, where her useful experience in this art would have procured her a comfortable existence. She refused the offer, observing, that independence, however humble, was far preferable. This is the proud sentiment which animates the poorest class of American citizens. The cabins of this district are far from being comfortable. They are rented from year to year with a spot of land, and consequently the tenant has no encouragement to make improvements.

In the bosom of the woods, near the habitation of Mr. Smith, there is a church, around which there is a place of interment, where lie the remains of some distinguished persons of this district.

Mr. Smith's house, built of brick, has an agreeable situation, where he found excellent water at the depth of seventy-three feet, which he proposes to conduct to the kitchen and other parts of the building by means of conduits. The expenses of this well

L

The following trees and shrubs grow in

this romantic place:

Thorn of different species.

Maple (red flowering) Acer rubrum.

The persimon tree abounds here. The juice of its ripe fruit is employed to make a species of beer. Sugar is extracted from it, and also a fine liquor, which improves by age. The fruit contains a sufficient quantity of saccharine matter for its preservation in the form of sweet-meats. In this district, the bark of the crab-tree is employed to dye wool of a black colour; a mixture of the bark of maple and chesnut, for purple; that of dog-wood, for a pink colour; and that of the root of the sassafras gives a fine yellow. The flowers of this last tree serve to make a species of beer; and a decoction of the bark of its root is often administered as a cure for ague, and also for "purifying and thinning the blood." The fruit of the chincapin is agreeable to the taste.

Two insects abound in this place, and torment the lovers of nature; the wood-louse'

1 Acarus Americanus, L.-A species of Zecca.

and musquito. The former, nearly the size of a common louse, conceals itself under the skin, and clings closely to the flesh, from which it is not easily extricated. Its colour is reddish, which becomes paler when the insect is satiated with blood. The bite excites considerable inflammation, and, in the eye or ear, might be attended with dangerous consequences. The bite of the musquito also creates inflammation, and it annoys the ear of the pensive or studious by its unpleasant buzz.

OF THE COMMERCE OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

The district of Columbia, situated in the midst of a fertile country, at nearly an equal distance from the northern and southern frontiers, and intersected by navigable rivers, will necessarily become a place of great commerce. We have already given some account

a Culex pipiens, L.

of that of Georgetown and Alexandria (the two successful rivals of Washington city), with the exception of the indigenal trade, which we shall briefly notice before we enter upon an examination of the commercial communication with the western countries. This trade, under the direction of the government, is superintended by an agent', who has an office at Georgetown, where instructions are given concerning the sales of furs, peltries, and other Indian articles received from the trading houses on the Missouri, Mississippi, and the Lakes. These consist of the skins of beaver, deer, elk, buffaloe, tallow, candles, and Indian mats. In exchange, the Indians receive shirts, coarse cloths, silver ornaments, ammunition and guns, kettles of tin and sheet iron, traps for catching beaver and other animals, jews-harps, rings, and trinkets. A hundred thousand dollars a year are employed in this trade.

For Fort Osage, on the Missouri, distant two thousand miles, the goods are transported in the following manner :

1st.-Up the Potomac two hundred and

1 General Mason.