266 QUARTERLY JOURNAL. 



a principal subject. The interstratificalion of his geological specu- 

 lations with those upon our domestic and national institutions, gives 

 a pleasing variety to his work. It contains a sufficient amount of per- 

 sonal incident to carry along our interest with the writer, while his 

 good sense has ever kept him above the relation of those trifling or 

 strange adventures, which many travellers are so very fond of retail- 

 ing. Again, Mr. Lyell, we are pleased to say, has gratified every 

 body by the frank expression of his opinions, which altogether are 

 highly flattering to us as a people. To Americans, who have so fre- 

 quently had to bear not a few cuffs and a great many sneers, some 

 haughty and some subdued, this treatment seems so kind, that we 

 are almost inclined to make a low bow to the author, and say ' God 

 bless you sir.' 



Mr. Lyell landed in Boston, August 2, 1841, after a short passage 

 from Liverpool of twelve days and a half, and we will make a re- 

 cord of his first observations. " The heat here is intense ; the har- 

 bor and city beautiful ; the air clear, and entirely free from smoke, 

 so that the shipping may be seen afar off at the end of many streets. 

 The Tremont Hotel merits its reputation as one of the best in the 

 world. Recollecting the contrast of every thing French, when I first 

 crossed the Straits of Dover, I am astonished, after having traversed 

 the wide ocean, at the resemblance of every thing. I see and hear 

 things familiar at home. It has so often happened to me, in our 

 own island, without travelling into those parts of Wales, Scotland 

 or Ireland, where they talk a perfectly distinct language, to encoun- 

 ter provincial dialects which it is difficult to comprehend, that I 

 wonder at finding the people here so very English.^^ 



It will be impossible for us to trace Mr. Lyell's tour through the 

 United States in a continuous line, or to give his views of the Ame- 

 rican people, and of the structure of the country at large. We are 

 necessarily limited to a very meagre sketch, and can only give here 

 and there, without much connection, a few of the results of his ob- 

 servations. We have, in a few instances, to dissent from his views. 



Some may wonder how Mr. Lyell has been able to acquire so 

 much geological information in so short a time. This we are able to 

 explain, we believe, in a manner which will be satisfactory to our 

 readers. The Geological Survey of New-York, and of several other 

 States, was nearly completed at the time of his visit. The several 

 gentlemen who had charge of them, were still upon the ground, 



