208 



RURAL GLANCES AT THE WEST. 



The people of tne United States will pro- 

 bably in time distinguish themselves in 

 architecture, as there are many public build- 

 ings erected. Every county must have its 

 court-house, and gaol, and hotel — every 

 state its capitol, and our countless cities and 

 towns require banks and churches and asy- 

 lums. In such cases, the Grecian orders 

 will be most appropriate, while the Italian, 

 the Gothic, and its modifications, are better 

 adapted to suburban structures and to cot- 

 tages and villas. 



The country from Maysville to Lexing- 

 ton, Kentucky, is fertile and beautiful. The 

 growth of blue grass and white clover, 

 which springs up spontaneously where the fo- 

 rest trees are a little thinned out, give the ex- 

 tensive pastures the effect of improved parks. 



Ashland, the residence of Henry Clay, is 

 about a mile from Lexington, and presents 

 a striking instance of the characteristic fea- 

 tsres of this beautiful country. To see his 

 fine herd of improved cattle, we drove 

 through his large pasture lots as if among 

 the trees and grass of an English park. I 

 saw very heavy crops of hemp ten feet high, 

 and corn twelve to fifteen feet high, but 

 blue grass may be considered the most 

 valuable staple growth of Kentucky. The 

 soil about Lexington, and several adjoining 

 counties, is unsurpassed in durable fertility, 

 and I can readily believe the assertion that 

 Kentucky can sustain a population of six 

 millions : what then is the capacity of the 

 valley of the Mississippi ! All the elements 

 of western prosperity must at present be 

 considered as only seminal ; and when the 

 resources of this region are developed, they 

 will control the legislation, and shape the 

 destiny of this Republic. 



My route took me by the celebrated Mam- 

 moth Cave, which I reached just in time to 

 join a numerous and gay party, arrayed in 

 fancy costumes, and provided with a band 



of music, Bengola lights, &c. I found the 

 subterranean wonders had not been exag- 

 gerated, for the cave is not more remr.rka- 

 ble for its great length, (15 miles,) than for 

 the dimensions of its vast halls and avenues, 

 its profound depths, and the mysterious 

 river, flowing no one knows whither, with 

 its sightless fish. I have never experienced 

 a more complete illusion than is produced 

 in the " Star Chamber," nor have I been 

 more impressed with any object than while 

 gazing on the half disclosed form of "GoW/z's 

 Dowie," standing in its unexplored depths 

 and awful solitude. 



This part of Kentucky seems to be honey- 

 combed with caverns, and bold springs some- 

 times stream forth and then disappear. 



The Cumberland river is a beautiful 

 stream, and winds among picturesque hills 

 of limestone, fertile to their summits, and 

 clothed with gigantic forest trees. The 

 beech tree prevails, but I saw many beau- 

 tiful specimens of the Kentucky Coffee tree, 

 three feet in diameter, the Cucumber Mag- 

 nolia (auriculata,) thirty-five feet high, and 

 I saw the remains of a Sycamore in Jack- 

 son county, Tennessee, which had been oc- 

 cupied as a grocery store. The seeds of the 

 Coffee tree are no longer used for coffee. 

 The " Buckeye " fruit or chestnuts, (the na- 

 tive Horse-chestnuts of this region,) are 

 eaten greedily by cattle, and prove fatal to 

 them, so that the tree is often cut down. 



In Tennessee, I passed by a tract of coun- 

 try where the milk sickness had prevailed. 

 The cows, and persons using their milk, 

 died, and even the dogs and buzzards that 

 fed upon the dead cattle. The neighboring 

 people became so alarmed, that they would 

 not kill the game of the infected district. 

 The cause of this fatal sickness remains un- 

 discovered — no deleterious vegetable was 

 found, and many persons attribute it to poi- 

 sonous water. 



