XX

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society where none intrudes--"

_Childe Harold._

"The sun in all his broad career

Ne'er looked upon a fairer land,

Or brighter skies or sweeter scenes."

Ever since the days of that king of vagabonds, the mighty Nimrod of

sacred story, and, for aught to the contrary, as long before, there

has existed a certain roving, tameless race of wights, whose chief

delight has consisted in wandering up and down upon the face of the

earth, with no definite object of pursuit, and with no motive of

peregrination save a kind of restless, unsatisfied craving after

change; in its results much like the migratory instinct of

passage-birds, but, unlike that periodical instinct, incessant in

exercise. Now, whether it so be that a tincture of this same vagrant,

Bohemian spirit is coursing my veins under the name of "Yankee

enterprise," or whether, in my wanderings through these wild,

unsettled regions, I have imbibed a portion thereof, is not for me to

decide. Nevertheless, sure it is, not unfrequently are its promptings

detected as I journey through this beautiful land.

It is evening now, and, after the fatigues of a pleasant day's ride, I

am seated beneath the piazza {222} of a neat farmhouse in the edge of

a forest, through which, for the last hour, my path has conducted, and

looking out upon a broad landscape of prairie. My landlord, a

high-minded, haughty Virginia emigrant, bitterly complains because,

forsooth, in the absence of slave-labour, he is forced to cultivate

his own farm; and though, by the aid of a Dutchman, he has made a

pretty place of it, yet he vows by all he loves to lay his bones

within the boundaries of the "Ancient Dominion." My ride since noon

has been delightful; over broad plains, intersected by deep creeks,

with their densely-wooded bottoms. These streams constitute one of the

most romantic features of the country. I have crossed very many during

my tour, and all exhibit the same characteristics: a broad, deep-cut

channel, with precipitous banks loaded with enormous trees, their

trunks interwoven and matted with tangled underbrush and gigantic

vegetation. As the traveller stands upon the arch of the bridge of

logs thrown over these creeks, sometimes with an altitude at the

centre of forty feet, he looks down upon a stream flowing in a deep,

serpentine bed, and winding away into the dusky shades of the

overhanging woods, until a graceful bend withdraws the dark surface of

the waters from his view. In the dry months of summer, these creeks

and ravines are either completely free of water, or contain but a mere

rivulet; and the traveller is amazed at the depth and breadth of a

channel so scantily supplied. But at the season of the spring or

autumnal rains the scene is changed: a deep, turbid torrent rolls

{223} wildly onward through the dark woods, bearing on its surface the

trunks of trees and the ruins of bridges swept from its banks; and the

stream which, a few weeks before, would scarcely have wet the

traveller's sole, is now an obstacle in his route difficult and

dangerous to overcome.

Within a few miles of my present quarters an adventure transpired of

some slight interest to _myself_, at least, as it afforded me a weary

trudge beneath a broiling sun. As I was leisurely pursuing my way

through the forest, I had chanced to spy upon the banks of the

roadside a cluster of wild flowers of hues unusually brilliant; and,

with a spirit worthy of Dr. Bat,[149] I at once resolved they should

enrich my "_hortus siccus_." Alighting, therefore, and leaving my

steed by the roadside, I at length succeeded, after most laudable

scramblings for the advancement of science, in gathering up a bouquet

of surpassing magnificence. Alas! alas! would it had been less so; for

my youthful steed, all unused to such sights and actions, and

possessing, moreover, a most sovereign and shameful indifference to

the glories of botany, had long, with suspicious and sidelong glances,

been eying the vagaries of his truant master; and now, no sooner did

he draw nigh to resume his seat and journey, than the ungracious and

ungrateful quadruped flung aloft his head, and away he careered

through the green branches, mane streaming and saddle-bags flapping.

In vain was the brute addressed in language the most mild and

conciliatory that ever insinuated itself into horse's lug; in vain was

he ordered, {224} in tones of stern mandate, to cease his shameless

and unnatural rebellion, and to surrender himself incontinently and

without delay to his liege: entreaty and command, remonstrance and

menace, were alike unsuccessful; and away he flew, "with flowing tail

and flying mane," in utter contempt of all former or future vassalage.

At one moment he stood the attitude of humbleness and submission,

coolly cropping the herbage of the high banks; and then, the instant

the proximity of his much-abused master became perilous to his

freedom, aloft flew mane and tail, and away, away, the animal was off,

until an interval consistent with his new-gained license lay behind

him. After an hour of vexatious toiling through dust and sun, a

happily-executed manoeuvre once more placed the most undutiful of

creatures in my power. And then, be ye sure, that in true Gilpin

fashion, "whip and spur did make amends" for all arrears of unavenged

misbehaviour.

"Twas for your pleasure that I _walked_,

Now you shall RUN for mine,"

was the very Christian spirit of retaliation which animated the few

succeeding miles.

"But something too much of this." Some pages back I was entering the

capital of Illinois. The town is approached from the north, through a

scattered forest, separating it from the prairies; and its unusually

large and isolated buildings, few in number as they are, stationed

here and there upon the eminences of the broken surface, give the

place a singularly novel aspect viewed from the adjacent {225}

heights. There is but little of scenic attraction about the place,

and, to the traveller's eye, still less of the picturesque. Such huge

structures as are here beheld, in a town so inconsiderable in extent,

present an unnatural and forced aspect to one who has just emerged

from the wild waste of the neighbouring prairies, sprinkled with their

humble tenements of logs. The scene is not in keeping; it is not

picturesque. Such, at all events, were my "first impressions" on

entering the village, and _first_ impressions are not necessarily

false. As I drew nigh to the huge white tavern, a host of people were

swarming the doors; and, from certain uncouth noises which from time

to time went up from the midst thereof, not an inconsiderable portion

of the worthy multitude seemed to have succeeded in rendering

themselves gloriously tipsy in honour of the glorious day. There was

one keen, bilious-looking genius in linsey-woolsey, with a face, in

its intoxicated state, like a red-hot tomahawk, whom I regarded with

special admiration as high-priest of the bacchanal; and so fierce and

high were his objurgations, that the idea with some force suggested

itself, whether, in the course of years, he had not screamed his lean

and hungry visage to its present hatchet-like proportions. May he

forgive if I err. But not yet were my adventures over. Having effected

a retreat from the abominations of the bar-room, I had retired to a

chamber in the most quiet corner of the mansion, and had seated myself

to endite an epistle, when a rap at the door announced the presence of

mine host, leading along an old {226} yeoman whom I had noticed among

the revellers; and, having given him a ceremonious introduction,

withdrew. To what circumstance I was indebted for this unexpected

honour, I was puzzling myself to divine, when the old gentleman, after

a preface of clearings of the throat and scratchings of the head, gave

me briefly to understand, much to my admiration, that I was believed

to be neither more nor less than an "Agent for a Western Land

Speculating Company of the North," etc., etc.: and then, in a

confidential tone, before a syllable of negation or affirmation could

be offered, that he "owned a certain tract of land, so many acres

prairie, so many timber, so many cultivated, so many wild," etc.,

etc.: the sequel was anticipated by undeceiving the old farmer

forthwith, though with no little difficulty. The cause of this mistake

I subsequently discovered to be a very slight circumstance. On the

tavern register in the bar-room I had entered as my residence my

native home at the North, more for the novelty of the idea than for

anything else; or because, being a sort of cosmopolitan, I might

presume myself at liberty to appropriate any spot I thought proper as

that of my departure or destination. As a matter of course, and with

laudable desire to augment their sum of useful knowledge, no sooner

had the traveller turned from the register than the sagacious host and

his compeer brandy-bibbers turned towards it; and being unable to

conceive any reasonable excuse for a man to be wandering so far from

his home except for lucre's sake, the conclusion at once and

irresistibly followed that {227} the stranger was a land-speculator,

or something thereunto akin; and it required not many moments for

such a wildfire idea to run through such an inflammable mass of

curiosity.

With the situation and appearance of Vandalia I was not, as I have

expressed myself, much prepossessed; indeed, I was somewhat

disappointed.[150] Though not prepared for anything very striking, yet

in the capital of a state we always anticipate something, if not

superior or equal, at least not inferior to neighbouring towns of less

note. Its site is an elevated, undulating tract upon the west bank of

the Kaskaskia, and was once heavily timbered, as are now its suburbs.

The streets are of liberal breadth--some of them not less than eighty

feet from kerb to kerb--enclosing an elevated public square nearly in

the centre of the village, which a little expenditure of time and

money might render a delightful promenade. The public edifices are

very inconsiderable, consisting of an ordinary structure of brick for

legislative purposes; a similar building originally erected as a

banking establishment, but now occupied by the offices of the state

authorities; a Presbyterian Church, with cupola and bell, besides a

number of lesser buildings for purposes of worship and education. A

handsome structure of stone for a bank is, however, in progress,

which, when completed, with other public buildings in contemplation,

will add much to the aspect of the place. Here also is a land-office

for the district, and the Cumberland Road is permanently located and

partially constructed to the {228} place. An historical and

antiquarian society has here existed for about ten years, and its

published proceedings evince much research and information. "The

Illinois Magazine" was the name of an ably-conducted periodical

commenced at this town some years since, and prosperously carried on

by Judge Hall, but subsequently removed to Cincinnati.[151] Some of

the articles published in this magazine, descriptive of the state,

were of high merit. It is passing strange that a town like Vandalia,

with all the natural and artificial advantages it possesses; located

nearly twenty years ago, by state authority, expressly as the seat of

government; situated upon the banks of a fine stream, which small

expense would render navigable for steamers, and in the heart of a

healthy and fertile region, should have increased and flourished no

more than seems to have been the case. Vandalia will continue the seat

of government until the year 1840; when, agreeable to the late act of

Legislature, it is to be removed to Springfield, where an

appropriation of $50,000 has been made for a state-house now in

progress.

The growth of Vandalia, though tardy, can perhaps be deemed so only in

comparison with the more rapid advancement of neighbouring towns; for

a few years after it was laid off it was unsurpassed in improvement by

any other. We are told that the first legislators who assembled in

session at this place sought their way through the neighbouring

prairies as the mariner steers over the trackless ocean, by his

knowledge of the cardinal points. {229} Judges and lawyers came

pouring in from opposite directions, as wandering tribes assemble to

council; and many were the tales of adventure and mishap related at

their meeting. Some had been lost in the prairies; some had slept in

the woods; some had been almost chilled to death, plunging through

creeks and rivers. A rich growth of majestic oaks then covered the

site of the future metropolis; tangled thickets almost impervious to

human foot surrounded it, and all was wilderness on every side.

Wonderful accounts of the country to the north; of rich lands, and

pure streams, and prairies more beautiful than any yet discovered,

soon began to come in by the hunters.[152] But over that country the

Indian yet roved, and the adventurous pioneer neither owned the soil

he cultivated, nor had the power to retain its possession from the

savage. Only eight years after this, and a change, as if by magic, had

come over the little village of Vandalia; and not only so, but over

the whole state, which was now discovered to be a region more

extensive and far more fertile than the "sacred island of Britain."

The region previously the frontier formed the heart of the fairest

portion of the state, and a dozen new counties were formed within its

extent. Mail-routes and post-roads, diverging in all directions from

the capital, had been established, and canals and railways had been

projected. Eight years more, and the "Northern frontier" is the seat

of power and population; and {230} here is removed the seat of

government, because the older settlements have not kept pace in

advancement.

It was a fine mellow morning when I left Vandalia to pursue my journey

over the prairies to Carlisle. For some miles my route lay through a

dense clump of old woods, relieved at intervals by extended glades of

sparser growth. This road is but little travelled, and so obscure that

for most of the way I could avail myself of no other guide than the

"_blaze_" upon the trees; and this mark in many places, from its

ancient, weather-beaten aspect, seemed placed there by the axe of the

earliest pioneer. Rank grass has obliterated the pathway, and

overhanging boughs brush the cheek. It was in one of those extended

glades I have mentioned that a nobly-antlered buck and his beautiful

doe sprang out upon the path, and stood gazing upon me from the

wayside until I had approached so near that a rifle, even in hands all

unskilled in "gentle woodcraft," had not been harmless. I was even

beginning to meditate upon the probable effect of a pistol-shot at

twenty paces, when the graceful animals, throwing proudly up their

arching necks, bounded off into the thicket. Not many miles from the

spot I shared the rough fare of an old hunter, who related many

interesting facts in the character and habits of this animal, and

detailed some curious anecdotes in the history of his own wild life.

He was just about leaving his lodge on a short hunting excursion, and

the absence of a rifle alone prevented me from accepting a civil

request to bear him company.

{231} Most of the route from Vandalia to Carlisle is very tolerable,

with the exception of one detestable spot, fitly named "Hurricane

Bottom;" a more dreary, desolate, purgatorial region than which, I am

very free to say, exists not in Illinois.[153] It is a densely-wooded

swamp, composed of soft blue clay, exceedingly tenacious to the touch

and fetid in odour, extending nearly two miles. A regular highway over

this mud-hole can scarcely be said to exist, though repeated attempts

to construct one have been made at great expense: and now the

traveller, upon entering this "slough of despond," gives his horse the

reins to slump, and slide, and plunge, and struggle through among the

mud-daubed trees to the best of his skill and ability.

Night overtook me in the very heart of a broad prairie; and, like the

sea, a desolate place is the prairie of a dark night. It demanded no

little exercise of the eye and judgment to continue upon a route

where the path was constantly diverging and varying in all directions.

A bright glare of light at a distance at length arrested my attention.

On approaching, I found it to proceed from an encampment of tired

emigrants, whose ponderous teams were wheeled up around the blazing

fire; while the hungry oxen, released from the yoke, were browsing

upon the tops of the tall prairie-grass on every side. This grass,

though coarse in appearance, in the early stages of its growth

resembles young wheat, and furnishes a rich and succulent food for

cattle. It is even asserted that, when running at large in fields

where the young wheat covers the {232} ground, cattle choose the

prairie-grass in the margin of the field in preference to the wheat

itself. A few scattered, twinkling lights, and the fresh-smelling air

from the Kaskaskia, soon after informed me that I was not far from the

village of Carlisle.[154] This is a pleasant, romantic little town,

upon the west bank of the river, and upon the great stage-route

through the state from St. Louis to Vincennes. This circumstance, and

the intersection of several other state thoroughfares, give it the

animated, business-like aspect of a market town, not often witnessed

in a village so remote from the advantages of general commerce. Its

site is elevated and salubrious, on the border of a fertile prairie:

yet, notwithstanding all these advantages, Carlisle cannot be said to

have increased very rapidly when we consider that twenty years have

elapsed since it was first laid off for a town. It is the seat of

justice for Clinton county, and can boast a wooden courthouse in

"ruinous perfection." In its vicinity are some beautiful

country-seats. One of these, named "Mound Farm," the delightful

residence of Judge B----, imbowered in trees and shrubbery, and about

a mile from the village, I visited during my stay. It commands from

its elevated site a noble view of the neighbouring prairie, the

village and river at its foot, and the adjacent farms. Under the

superintendence of cultivated taste, this spot may become one of the

loveliest retreats in Illinois.

_Clinton County, Ill._