the Valley of Columbia river and China. 87 



have not been made to introduce many of their discoveries in 

 various branches of industry. 



Masonry. — Mr. Anderson represents the works of mason- 

 ry as very superior to any to be found in Europe. The best 

 bricks are as smooth, and have a pohsh hke marble. They 

 are sixteen inches long, eight wide, and two and a half thick, 

 and are laid with so much care that the seams of mortar are 

 as small as a thread, and so accurately are the bricks placed 

 in each row, that the lines between thein look as if drawn by 

 a painter's pencil. The bricks are of a dark ash or bluish 

 color, and in many places they are black, from the character 

 of the clay of which they are made. 



House Painting. — This is done in a very superior manner, 

 so that the paint appears with a gloss equal to that of Japan 

 ware, and it not only preserves its color from fading, but never 

 suffers from exposure to the air, sun, or rain. This effect is 

 produced by some ingredients mixed with the paint, and not 

 by an after varnish. 



The art of making such paints, or their importation into 

 this country, would be an immense acquisition, for there is no 

 skill in painting, in Europe or this country, either for the in- 

 ternal or external walls of houses or other edifices. Our 

 paints do not last a month without changing, and in two or 

 three years are absolutely effaced, when exposed to the open 

 air. The Egyptians and Greeks imderstood this art far better 

 than the moderns, for the paintings on the temples of the for- 

 mer, and their tombs, after a lajjse of two or three thousand 

 years, appear as fresh as if the work had been done within a 

 week; and even on the external architectural stone ornaments 

 of many of the most magnificent Grecian edifices, the paint is 

 yet perfect. There is not, in fact, a single art, which is of 

 such universal importance, where so little progress has been 

 made; and notwithstanding the discoveries of cheinistry, and 

 the brilliant pigments which are thus produced, still the mode 

 of applying them so as to render them durable, is yet to be 

 found out. It is a subject well worthy of research and exten- 

 sive experiment; and it is probable, if all the best kinds of 

 paints were imported from China, the mode in which they are 

 prepared, as well as the ingredients, might be ascertr>ined, and 

 possibly the latter could be found in our own country; but if 

 such should not be the case, it may be better to depend on 

 that nation for paints, than to use those which are not worth 

 being applied, from their rapidly fading character, and want of 



