THE MAGAZINE 



OF 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



NOVEMBER, 1830. 



Art. I. Original Letters, descriptive of a Natural History Tmir 

 in North America. By T. W. 



Sir, 

 I AM in possession of a series of original letters, with descrip- 

 tive drawings, written during a perambulation of eight months, 

 in the summer of 1823, through one of the most interesting 

 parts of North America ; and, as they extend to subjects of 

 natural history, they are at your service. I cannot boast of 

 their style, but they are juvenile productions, and my first 

 attempt at journalising. Young as I was, I could not pass 

 over an interesting country without committing a few observ- 

 ations to paper ; hoping thereby not only to be instructed, but 

 to be amused at another period with recollections of the scenery 

 of the wilderness. 



The descriptive part, always the most difficult, is below 

 what I could wish : the mind, like the body, when wearied 

 by exertion, will relax ; and the fatigue of travelling alone, on 

 foot, under a vertical sun, and generally over a rugged, track- 

 less, and mountainous country, will frequently subdue the 

 fervency of the soul, and render it dull and listless. 



The drawings which may be occasionally offered are in- 

 tended to display the landscape, particularly that of the high 

 lands on the Hudson River, the most interesting spots on the 

 Grand Western Canal, some of the great lakes of North 

 America, and the Cataract of Niagara from five different 

 positions ; also, some of the most remarkable plants, fossils, 

 animals, birds, fishes, reptiles, and insects, which came under 

 the writer's observations. 



I have endeavoured to communicate facts without the aid 

 of fiction, and flatter myself that what I have collected, where 

 abundance might have been gathered, will be worthy of no- 

 VoL. III. — No. 16. K K 



