PROSPECTIVE PREMIUMS.-LETTERS FROM ABROAD.— NO. 1 , ETC. 
65 
off in this ’ere way; he’d fire the gun to tarnal 
splits first.” So it was settled that Aunt Nabby, 
Molly, and the younger boy, should each hold up a 
lighted candle in both hands at the kitchen win¬ 
dows, for the purpose of dazzling the eyes of the 
owl j that Bill and myself should sally out with a 
horn lanthorn towards the opposite side of the 
barn, where the owl appeared, to attract his at¬ 
tention still more; while Uncle Sim was to creep 
softly along the garden wall that led to the barn 
yard, arriving at which place, he would be point 
blank distance from the gable end of the barn where 
he thought the object of his wrath had alighted. 
In a few minutes this was all accomplished, and we 
were gradually nearing the barn, at the opposite 
end to Uncle Sim, bearing the lanthorn high in the 
air, when bang went the gun with a thundering re¬ 
port. Instantly dousing the light, I thought I saw 
something flit towards the woods near by, and at 
nearly the same time, I heard a dull rebound on the 
snow. This was followed by Uncle Sim running 
towards the house, triumphantly swinging round 
his head a large bird, and crying out at the top of 
his voice, “ I’ve got the tarnel critter! I’ve got 
him ! I’ll show him what eatin’ chickens is ! I 
guess he found cold lead warn’t quite so comfort¬ 
able in his stomach as soft eggs ! I’ll teach him to 
hoot quiet folks at night agin !” 
By this time we had all reached the kitchen door, 
when Uncle Sim burst in with the impatient air of a 
conqueror just returned from battle, and the stamp 
of an old war horse—but Oh, “murder!”—what 
was his chagrin, and Aunt Nabby’s, and ours, 
when upon bringing the light to bear upon his 
prize, it was not the big horned owl—he, as I 
feared, had escaped in that flitting flight—and, instead, 
Uncle Sim had shot the last of his great yellow 
tom turkies !—a bird which he and Aunt Nabby 
prized next to their children ! So much for want 
of a poultry house. Sergeant Teltrue. 
PROSPECTIVE PREMIUMS. 
The following premiums have been offered by 
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, for ob¬ 
jects which shall have been originated subsequent 
to the year 1846, and after five years’ trial shall 
have been deemed equal or superior to any varie¬ 
ties of the kind extant at the date the offer was 
made:— 
Value. 
For the best Seedling Pear, the Society’s Gold Medal,.$60 
“ Apple, do do 60 
“ Hardy Grape, do do 60 
<! Hardy Rose, do do 60 
“ Camellia, do do 60 
“ Potato, do do 60 
“ Strawberry, the Lyman Plate,.$50 
“ Raspberry, do . 40 
“ Plum, the Appleton Gold Medal,.40 
“ Tree Psonia do 40 
“ Cherry, the Lowell Gold Medal,.40 
f * Azalia indica, do do 40 
“ Herbaceous Pasonia do 40 
Uric Acid. —This acid, which forms one of the 
most valuable constituents of Peruvian guano, is 
nothing more than the whitish, farinaceous-looking 
part of the dung of all kinds of birds. 
Lime . —It has been estimated that carbonate of lime 
constitutes one eighth of the entire crust of the 
globe. 
LETTERS FROM ABROAD—No. 1. 
In the latter part of August, I safely landed in 
Oporto. After going through the necessary forms 
with the authorities on shore, and familiarizing my¬ 
self with the general features of the place, I set off 
early on the morning of the 3d inst., in a Portu 
guese gondola, propelled by tw^o strong Galician 
oarsmen, in company with three agreeable and 
highly intelligent merchants, with the view of as¬ 
cending the Douro into the famous region produc 
ing the Port wine. 
The river Douro, from the lovely and varied, 
scenery along its banks—its pure bright waters in 
its calmer moods—and, forming as it does, the 
main thoroughfare from the very heart of a moun¬ 
tainous, though wealth bearing country, is truly 
worthy of a sketch in itself. It rises near Soria, 
in Old Castile, and after traversing Leon and Portu¬ 
gal, for the most part through deep and narrow val¬ 
leys, receiving in its course, numerous tributary 
streams, discharges itself into the Atlantic two 
miles west of Oporto. Formerly, it was navigable 
only to San Joao da Pesqueira, about 70 miles above 
its mouth, where a reef of solid rock obstructed its 
course. But some years since, this impediment was 
removed by blasting, and now, flat-bottomed boats 
ascend, without interruption, quite into Spain. Nu¬ 
merous bridges, from time to time, have been built, 
at various points ; but, in early spring, owing to 
heavy rains and melting snows from the mountain’s 
brow, its turbid, yellow waters sometimes suddenly 
rise 20 to 40 feet between its lofty and confined 
banks, forming a mighty torrent of roaring, foam¬ 
ing waves, sweeping tjie bridges to destruction, by 
the irirresistible force, with houses, cattle, and hu- 
manbeings and their frail barks into the sea. 
As the Upper Douro was the place of our desti¬ 
nation after leaving Oporto, our object was to pro- 
ceegl, as fast as practicable, without stopping on the 
way, until we should reach Regoa, where the wine 
country may be said to commence. In the evening 
of our first day’s journey, we arrived at a village, 
situated 25 or 30 miles from the sea, called Entre 
ambos os Rios, where we passed the night. On 
emerging from the narrow, precipitous gorges near 
Oporto, the Douro expands into a lake-like scene, 
with soft and smiling banks, interspersed with ham¬ 
lets and villas peeping forth from the varied foliage 
of the willow, the linden, and the elm, while the 
elevated backgrounds are covered with groves of 
lofty chestnuts, cork oaks, or the “ evergreen 
pine.” As we progress onward, various-shaped 
hills abruptly rise from the river’s bed and its tribu¬ 
tary streams, whose willow-lined banks are fre¬ 
quently cultivated in rich profusion, with the 
almond, the orange, the olive, and the fig, beset 
here and there with numerous quintas below, and 
crowned with forests of the laurel, the chestnut, 
the oak, or stone pine, in bold relief, against the 
deep-blue sky. And truly, 
“ It is a goodly sight to see 
What heaven hath done for this delicious land i 
What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree ! 
What goodly prospects o’er the hills expand.” 
Early the next morning, we sent back our boat 
to Oporto, having concluded to perform the remain¬ 
der of our journey by land. As no horse was to 
| be had, we were obliged to put up with his sage 
