that his mind had recovered its usual tone, that the violence of his grief had subsided, and that tranquillity and cheerfulness had again resumed their place in the bosom they had so long deserted.

We proceeded to —

where we sat down to breakfast; our conversation, however, continued, but it had lost its former animated character, and insensibly changed into a discussion of the nature of the more violent passions. I observed that those emotions which were distinguished for their intensity, were likewise so for the shortness of their existence. "Ah," said he, "I once thought so too, but experience has convinced me of my error: grief, for instance, will endure while there remains one animating principle in the bosom which nourishes it."

"True," I replied; "but this is not the nature of grief; if it is suffered to take its natural course only, it will, sooner or later, subside; it cannot exist on nothing but if it is nourished by every possible means, if every inlet of joy, and every source of comfort and consolation are closed, and nothing but mournful reflections indulged, it will, like a volcanic fire, burn on till it consumes the parent who nourishes it. But I fear, my friend, you have already nourished it too much; already has it weakened your frame, and made you incapable of enjoyment. Rouse yourself from this culpable lethargy, equally dangerous to mind and body; call forth every slumbering principle which can promote cheerfulness; for your body you must call a physician, for your mind you must find one in yourself." My discourse was interrupted by a sigh, and "I have nothing more to do in this world, and I care not how soon I leave it." "Psha,” said I, "this is not as it should be; you are young, and may yet experience much hap. piness." He smiled; it was a smile which at once expressed his doubt and his gentleness; he was too mild for contradiction, but his smile was full of meaning.

Show him, Mr. Reflector, the impropriety of his conduct, and the dangerous tendency of indulging sentiments so opposite to reason and to revelation, and you will oblige both him and your most obedient,

ANTONIO.

For the Literary Magazine.

ABSTRACT OF A REPORT ON AME

RICAN ROADS.

THE committee of the senate of the United States, to who:n was referred the examination of the act entitled "An act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory north-west of the river Ohio to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the union, on an equal footing with the original states, and for other purposes," and to report the manner the money appropriated by said act ought to be applied, report as follows:

That, upon the examination of the act, they find the one-twentieth part, or five per cent. of the nett proceeds of the lands lying within the state of Ohio, and sold by congress after the 30th June, 1802, is appropriated for laying out and making public roads, leading from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic to the river Ohio, to said state, and through the same; such roads to be laid out under the authority of congress, with the consent of the several states through which the roads shall pass.

By a subsequent law, passed on the 3d of March, 1803, congress appropriated 3 per cent. of the said 5 per cent. to laying out and making roads within the state of Ohio, leaving 2 per cent. of the appropriation contained in the first mentioned law unexpended; which now remains for "the laying out and making roads from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic, to the river Ohio, to said state."

The nett proceeds of sales of lands

only; they have therefore endea voured to fix on that which, for the present, will be most convenient to the citizens of Ohio, leaving to the future benevolence and policy of congress an extension of them on this or any other route, and an increase of the requisite fund; as experience may point out their expediency or necessity. A wise government can never lose sight of an object so important as that of connecting a numerous and rapidly increasing population, spread over a fertile and extensive country, with the Atlantic states, now separated from them by mountains, which, by industry and expence, moderate compared with the advantages, can be rendered passable.

The route from Richmond must necessarily approach the state of Ohio in a part thinly inhabited; and which, from the nature of the soil and other circumstances, must remain so, at least for a long time; and, from the hilly and rough condition of the country, no roads can be conveniently made leading to the principal population of the state of Ohio. These considerations have induced us to postpone, for the present, any further consideration of that route.

The spirit and perseverance of the people of Pennsylvania are such, in road making, that, no doubt, they will, in a little time, complete a road from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, as good as the nature of the ground will permit. They are so particularly interested to facilitate the intercourse between their trading capital Philadelphia, not only to Pittsburg, but also to the extensive country within their own state, on the western waters, that they will of course surmount the difficulties presented by the Alleghany, Chesnut ridge, and Laurel hill, the three great and almost the sole impediments which now exist on that route.

The people of Maryland, with no less spirit and perseverance, are engaged in making roads from Baltitimore and the western boundary of

the district of Columbia, through Fredericktown to Williamsport.

Were the government of the United States to direct the expenditure of the fund in contemplation upon either of these routes, for the present, in Pennsylvania or Maryland, it would probably so far interfere with the respective states as to produce mischief instead of benefit; especially as the sum to be laid out by the United States is too inconsiderable alone to effect objects of such magnitude. But as Maryland has no particular interest to extend its road across the mountains, and if it had it would be impracticable, because the state does not extend so far, the committee have thought it expedi ent to recommend the making of a road from Cumberland, on the north bank of the Potomac, and within the state of Maryland, to the river Ohio, at the most convenient place between a point on the eastern bank of said river, opposite to Steubenville and the mouth of Grave creek, which empties into the Ohio, a little below Whelen, in Virginia. This route will meet and accommodate the roads leading from Baltimore and the district of Columbia; it will cross the Monongahela at or near Brownsville, sometimes called Redstone, where the advantage of boating can be taken, and from the point where it will probably intersect the Ohio, there are now roads, or they can easily be made over feasible and proper ground, through the principal population of the state of Ohio.

Cumberland is situated at the eastern foot of the Alleghany mountain, about eighty miles from Williamsport by the usual route, which is circuitous, owing to a large bend in the Potomac, on the bank of which the road now runs; the distance on a straight line is not more than 50 or 55 miles, and over tolerable ground for a road, which will probably be opened by the state of Ma. ryland, should the proposed route be established over the mountains.

From Cumberland to the western extremity of Laurel hill, by the

route now travelled, the distance is 66 miles, and on a straight line about 55. On this part of the route the first and very considerable expenditures are specially necessary. From Laurel hill to the Ohio river, by the usual route, is about 70 miles, and on a straight line 54 or 55; the road is tolerable, though capable of improvement.

To carry into effect the principles arising from the foregoing facts, the committee present a bill for the consideration of the senate. To take the proper measures for carrying into effect the section of the law respecting a road or roads to the state of Ohio, is a duty imposed upon congress by the law itself.

To enlarge on the high importance of cementing the union of our citizens on the western waters with those of the Atlantic states, would be unnecessary. Politicians have generally agreed that rivers unite the interests and promote the friendship of those who inhabit their banks; while mountains, on the contrary, tend to the disunion and estrangement of those who are separated by them. In the present case, to make the crooked ways straight and the rough ways smooth, will in effect remove the intervening mountains, and, by facilitating the intercourse of our western brethren with those on the Atlantic, essentially unite them in interest, which is the most effectual means of uniting the human

race.

For the Literary Magazine.

MARITIME IMPROVEMENTS.

For the Literary Magazine.

PICTURE OF ZAHARA.

ZAHARA is a sandy plain in northern Africa, in general near two thousand miles in length, and one thousand in breadth.

At present there are thirty-two known oases, or habitable countries, in the Zahara, which have been rendered fertile by springs of fresh water. The largest of these are inhabited by different tribes. Those colonies of Moors, which overspread the desert of Barbary, are said to be seventeen in number. The other oases, being not so large, only serve as points for the refreshment and rest of caravans, and small parties of way-farers.

The caravans traverse this great desert in nine principal directions, The Moorish tribes who reside in it, pass over it at every point.

The soil of the Zahara consists of fine sand, a mass of small and uncombined particles; these particles, however, are not stony, like the

elements of sand, but susceptible of petrification. Being composed of infinitely small grains to a very great depth, and being agitated by winds like the waves of the sea, they are formed into mountains, which, from the same cause, are shortly after dispersed, and raised to a considerable height, till their diffusion obscures the rays of the

sun.

On this sandy extent there may frequently be seen columns of sand resembling water-spouts. Their nature is averse to combination, since in the whole desert there are scarcely any rocks, and fertile countries sparingly scattered in it.

From the plains north of the Senegal I have seen these sand-spouts rise in the form of columns, sometimes advancing with rapidity, at others proceeding with majestic slowness, and at all times affording a grand and magnificent spectacle. Their rapidity is sometimes so great that they are scarcely visible, when they vanish so as to resemble ribbons floating in the air, the lower extremities always touching the earth; at other times their upper extremities rise to an immense height, and are lost in the clouds: these spouts frequently break at a great elevation, and the immense volume of sand is dispersed through the atmosphere; at other times they break apparently in the middle, and the report is similar to the explosion of a mine.

One day I counted three of these spouts at the distance of about a mile from each other: the diameter of the greatest seemed to be two feet, and the rapidity of all of them was prodigious.

Vast as the Zahara is, compared in extent with some mighty kingdoms of Europe, it occupies no considerable portion of Africa. I am inclined to believe that it has not always been an unproductive and solitary desert, though no evidence exists to support our conjectures of its former fertility and population.

For the Literary Magazine.

WRECKERS.

THE West India wreckers are persons licensed by the governor of the Bahamas to cruize among these islands, and afford relief to wrecked vessels. By way of recompense, they receive salvage on whatever property they rescue from the waves. They are hardy, dexterous, and enterprizing; being habituated, from early life, to the perils of the deep, and to diving for conchs, which abound on their shores. The ensuing dialogue is a striking comment on their notions of morality:

Happening, says a late voyager, in the course of one of my passages through the Bahamas, to fall in with a wrecker, I held as long a conversation with him as his haste would permit, and was inquisitive on the subject of his occupation. I will set down the dialogue as it took place. Q. From whence came you?

A. (As it caught my ear) From Providence-last from Philimingo Bay, in Icumy (a familiar way of pronouncing Flamingo Bay, in Exuma).

Q. Where are you bound to? A. On a racking voyage to Quby (Cuba) and the westward.

Q. Are there many of you in this quarter?

A. Morgan, I, and Phinander (Fernandez): parted company awhile ago.

Q. What success in cruizing?
A. Middling, but middling.

Q. We have seen very few wreckers to the eastward; are there many to the westward?

A. We lay with forty sail four months along Floriday shore.

Q. Forty sail! Then certainly you must have had many opportunities of being essentially serviceable to vessels passing the gulf stream, by directing them to keep off from places of danger, with which you