June, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



93 



YaKKLE daring and ENTEKPRI9E. — The iiatiiial 

 bravery ami boldness oC the New Englandmen is 

 most lVoi|iieiitly brouglit out in tlieir various en- 

 ter|irise.s in the pursuit of wealth. A remarka- 

 ble specimen of this trial is found in the two 

 sniall volumes of Clevehuul's Voyajjes, just pub- 

 lished. The first voyage in wiiich Mr. Cleveland 

 was master was made more than forty years ago, 

 and it is more than twenty since the last was 

 completed. In the iiiterveniug twenty-five or 

 twenty-six years, Captain Cleveland prosecuted 

 many daring enterprises, ran many desperate 

 hazards, \vas frequently successful, and ,is fre- 

 quently lost all the advantages he had gained. — 

 He was alternately rich and poor, and the changes 

 were sudden, and contrary to all reasonable ex- 

 pectations. He finally wound up his romantic 

 career in n situation less favorable than such a 

 series of labors, hardships, boldness, and persever- 

 ance deserved. 



At the age of foiu-leen, young Cleveland was 

 received into the counting-house of Elias Hasket 

 Derby, of vSalem, an enteriirising merchant, and 

 'he father of American commerce to India. He 

 was highly liberal to all, whether oflicers or sail- 

 ors, in his employ. In 171>'2, at the age of about 

 38, young Clevehmd left the counting-room, and 

 embarked on his first voyage, having determined 

 to follow the seas as a iiitLU'e profession. In 

 1795, when about 21, lie went out master and 

 supercargo of the barque Enterprise, on a voj'age 

 to the Isle of Bourbon. 



In 1797, Captain Cleveland imdortook a voyage 

 from France to the Isle of France, in a small cut- 

 ter of only 38 tons ! She cost him, ready for sea, 

 about .«!l,000, and had a cargo of !S3,.':00! "It is 

 not probable (says the bold adventurer) that the 

 imnals of commerce can furnish another example 

 of an Indianian and cargo better fitted and ex- 

 pedited on so humble a scale." He put into the 

 Cape of Good Hope for water, where the British 

 admiral gave him $),000 for the cutter and her 

 stores; and after losing it!'2,000 of its cargo by its 

 being seized, he finally had remaining the net 

 sum of .¥11,000 in Spanish dollars, with special 

 permission to export 810,000. The cutter w.is 

 sent ofii'for India, under a British lieutenant, and 

 was never heard of afterwards. 



With the SI],000 in his pocket,at the Cape, as 

 above stated, and $7,000 more added by some as- 

 sociates, Captain Cleveland undertook a voyage 

 from China to the Northwest coast. The furs 

 procured there sold in China for StiO.OOO: and, 

 finally, in about two years, the .$18,000 capital oi' 

 ■.his voyage yielded upwards of §100,000. His 

 own §2,000 — the amount of his property ou first 

 leaving Em-ope — together with his commissions, 

 wages, and half profits, amounted to above §45,- 

 COO. His next enterprise of three years was also 

 fortunate ; so that in 1804 he possessed, clear o( 

 debt, 870,000. 



In 1807, he experienced disastrous losses, by 

 which his property was reduced to$'aO,000; and 

 soon after, by the confiscation of the ship he was 

 in, he lost the remaineder. After various seiz- 

 ures, confiscations, shipwrecks, &c., be afterwards 

 acquired $35,000. This sum was embarked in 

 an adventure for Handiurgli. wliicb, owing to the 

 defeat of Napoleon in Russia, turned out nearly a 

 total loss; and he retm'ned home to his family 

 pennyless. In a yovage, from 1817 to 1820, he 

 made §75,000: biit this was mostly swept oft" lie- 

 fore it reached the Unitec.' States. In 1835, he 

 had about $16,000 left, which was swallowed up 

 in an imsuccessful speculation in 1836. 



In twenty years, between 1805 and 1825, his 

 losses exceeded $200,000, though he was never 

 worth, at any one time, more than $80,000. Yet 

 he says, "it is not in the power of any individual 

 to say, with truth, that 1 have injured him to the 

 amount of a dollar." He lost his own property, 

 not that of others. A consoling, though a most 

 imfashionable boast ! 



Since 1836, om- adventurer has not, I believe, 

 embarked in any new enterprises. He concludes 

 this account of his " Voyages and Comniei 

 Enterprises" thus: " With a small annual i 

 from the Neapolitan indemnity, I have been 

 abled to support myself,jill this was ou the point 

 of ceasing by the cancelling of that debt ; whei 

 1 was so fortunate as to obtain an office in the 

 custom-bouse, the duties of which I hope to pc 

 foriu faithfully, and in peace, dm-ing the tew re- 

 maining years, or months, or days, which may be 

 allotted me on this earth." 



Oregon. 



We find, in the Globe of the 18th inst., '-Ex- 

 tracts from tliB Journal of Capt. Spaulding of the 

 ship Lauzenc." inserted at the recpiest of the Hon. 

 L. F. Linn ol' the Senate ; who, it is known has, 

 for a series of years, manifested a deep interest in 

 every thing relating to the American settlements 

 in the Oregon territory. We make the following 

 selections iVom the extracts: 



At present, I he Hudson's Bay Company culti- 

 ite about three thousand acres of land, and raise 

 about eighteen thousand bushels of potatoes, 

 three thousand bushels of peas, and have both 

 flour and saw mills. They have seven thousand 

 head of cattle, two thousand sheep, hogs, &c., 

 and have engaged to supply the Russians with 

 8,000 bushels of wheat annually. I do not know 

 how inany thousand pounds of butter at 6d ster- 

 ling per pound. They have a large number of 

 men in tlieir employ, four ships, two schooners, 

 and a steamboat. They have several forts on the 

 south side of the Columbia, and take out of the 

 river probably not less than five hundred thousand 

 rfo/fars in value per annum; while our govern- 

 ment remains perfectly passive and unconcerned. 

 I must conlL'ss iliat when I saw all this, I felt a- 

 shamed that 1 was an American. lam convinced 

 hat not anoilier nation ou earth would submit to 

 It, or cinild lie so negligent of the interest of its 

 people. The company have all the cattle, sheep, 

 &c., but will not sell to a settler a single cow or 

 a sheep; they will, I believe, sometimes sell a 

 pig, but norhing else alive — not even a horse; 

 nothing that breathes. They have now contract- 

 ed to supply the Russians at Sidka and all the 

 northern (larts, with goods of all kinds that the 

 Russians require, at twenty-five per cent advance 

 on the London invoice, to be delivered at the 

 ports where they are wanted, without charge for 

 freight, or ex|it!use of any kind. It is also well 

 understood that they purpose taking possession 

 of the Sandwich Islands, which the British Gov- 

 ernment claim under an old grant from Tamaah- 

 maah. Ther ; is good reason to believe, (indeed, 

 the opinion is prevalent in Oregon) that the grasp- 

 ing ambition of the British will not, with all this, 

 be satisfied, but that they intend to add even Cal- 

 ifornia lo their possessions ; meaning and intend- 

 ing thereby to obtain possession of the bay of 

 San Francisco, which is decidedly the best place 

 the whole west coast of America for a naval 

 depot, and where the combined navies of the 

 whole world could anchor with perlect safety, 

 accessible at all times for vessels of any draught 



The Colony from the United States is situated 

 on tlie W'ollamm, a branch of the Columbia, a- 

 bout iiiiuiy miles from the mouth of the river, 

 which is, (uidoiihtedly, the finest grazing and 

 wheat coiinli y in Oregon. At present it consists 

 of about seventy families, who raise considerable 

 grain, and have about three thousand head of cat- 

 tle. Thi! mission last year raised one thousand 

 bushels of wheat, and made butter, cheese, &c., 

 enough for their own use. They have five hun- 

 dred head of cattle, and two hundred horses; 

 and last year they sowed four hundred bushels 

 of wheat, and one hundred and twenty bushels 

 of peas, a:ul planted a large quantity ni' potatoes 

 and vegciables of all descriptions. They have 

 hogs, poidn '. . «S;e. in abundance. Last year they 

 raise<l over iiiteen hundred bushels of polatoes. 

 The extent of the coimtry comprising Wollamut 

 Valley is about tiiree hundred miles long and two 

 hundred broad, interspersed with ravines of wood, 

 generally of sufficient quantities for fuel and 

 fencing.' The land in its nattiral stale is usually 

 ready tor the plough, and is very fertile, produc- 

 ing from twonly-five to forty bushels ol' wheat to 

 the acre; and the climate is so mild that the cat- 

 tle subsist in the fields without (odder or shelter 

 of any kind being prepared or provided for them 

 through the winter. Salmon can betaken at the 

 Wollamut falls, (which, however, the British have 

 taken |iissession of, and comiielled our people 

 to build Iheir mills at the tails above,) with little 

 trouble, from May to September, in almost any 

 quantity ; 1 have no hesitation in saying ten 

 thousand barrels per annum. Probably no place 

 in the world offers greater inducements to t 

 grants. Provisions might readily be procured to 

 support one thousand emigrants at any time. 

 Flour was this season high, in consei]Uence of a 

 want of mills — a difficulty which is now obviated 

 by the erection of two new ones, viz : one by 



Mr. McKey, and one by the mission, as also two 

 saw mills. Wheat is nominally worth one dollar 

 per bushel, beef six cents per pound ; pork ten ; 

 s fifty dollars each, oxen sixty, horses thirty- 

 five. Potatoes bring about twenty-five cents per 

 bushel. Labor is woi th about thirty-five dollars 

 per month, the laborer being found by bis em- 

 ployer. 



Our colony is located above the principal falls, 

 which are situated about forty miles from the 

 mouth of the Wollamut. The British having 

 taken possession of tliese falls, our people were 

 compellbdto make their settlement further up the 

 river. 



The rise and fall of the tides at the mouth of 

 the Columbia, is about eight feet, gradually di- 

 ininishing until you come to the mouth of the 

 Wollamut, where" little or no difference in the 

 tides is perceptible. 



At present, or until the channel is buoyed out, 

 and a light-house erected on Cape Disappoint- 

 ment, it is unsaftj for vessels of a greater draught 

 of water than from ten to twelve feet to attempt 

 entering the Columbia, between the months of 

 November and Ainil, on account of the prevalent 

 westerly winds which make heavy breakers on 

 the bar. 



The Uncertaiaty of Wealth. 



We are informed, says the Baltiinore Republi- 

 can, that it has been but lately discovered that a 

 lease for a large portion of the land which thici 

 city occupies, was executed for but 99 years, and 

 not renewable. Since the original lease, thou- 

 sand of leases have been made, and improve- 

 ments to a vast amount have been erected ou this 

 property by various persons, who all confidently 

 believed that the original lea.se was perpetual. — 

 The consequence is, that the entire property will 

 revert to the original owners at the expiration of 

 the stated term of years, unless some new ar- 

 rangements can be made with the present heirs, 

 whom we are informed are 30 in number, and 

 of the State of Kentucky. The property is said 

 to be 188 acres, running from the northeast cor- 

 ner of Baltimore and little Aisqiiith streets north- 

 erly, embracing all the property called Gallows 

 Hiil, and the northeasterly portion of the city to 

 that extent. 



Natural Curiosity : the Tuunel & Cavern Lake. 



This beautiful lake, in Kinderhook county, in 

 this State, and about 35 miles distant from War- 

 saw, we had the pleasure of visiting a few weeks 

 since. It is situated upon a high dividing ridge, 

 at the entrance of the lake, it is similar in shape 

 to the upper part of the tunnel — the circumfer- 

 ence of which, at the mouth, is about 150 feet, 

 and about ten at the bottom. After descending 

 .30 or 40 feet from the natural winding stairs, we 

 came to the mouth of the cavern leading to the 

 lake, which is the elliptic circle. We now en- 

 tered the silent cavern, and had another descent 

 to make, of some 40 or 50 step.s, before we stood 

 at the brink of the waters of the lake. The sur- 

 face of this sheet ol' water contains about 2000 

 square feet, and the cavern has some appearance 

 of being the work of art — but its high and vault- 

 ed chambers, and its stupendous and magnificent 

 ceilings as of the impenetrable adamant, prove 

 to man that man knows but little of the bowels 

 of the earth. The Cavern Lake would be a rich 

 and pleasant treat to the tourist or geologist, and 

 should be visited by all the lovers of nature. 



Osage (Mo.) Valley. 



The Horrors of War. 



Gen. Ponsonbi/ on the Field of Waterloo. — The 

 late General Ponsonby gave the following account 

 of his being wouude<l at Waterloo: In the melee 

 I was almost instantly disabled in both of my 

 arms, losing first my sword and then my rein, 

 and followed by a few of my men, who were in- 

 stantly cut down. I was carried along by my 

 horse, till receiving a blow from a .sabre, I fell 

 senseless on my face in the ground. Recovering, 

 I raised myself a lilile to look around, being at 

 that time, I believe, able to get up and run away, 

 when a lancer [lassing by struck his lance through 

 my back. My bead drooped, the blood gushed 

 into my mouth, a difliculty of breathing came on, 

 and I though all was over. Not long afterwards, 

 (it was then impossible to me.isure time, but I 

 tnust have fallen in less than ten minutes from 

 the onset,) a tirailleur stopped to plunder me, 



