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AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS.

489

island, in their fields or in their streets, or accompanying him as he walks on foot to and from his country residence to the court-house, where he presides as judge, and as head of the legislative as well as of the executive power; and yet no man's person is more beloved, or no man's authority more revered and respected, than his, throughout all Europe.

This general uniformity of stature and appearance in the men and women of America, thus attempted to be accounted for, is accompanied with certain characteristics, which may be thus briefly described. The men are generally tall and slender in figure, more frequently above five feet ten inches than below it, and rarely exceeding three feet in circumference about the waist; the arms are long, the legs small, the chest narrow, the form not so frequently erect, as slightly stooping, arising from carelessness of gait and hurry in walking; the head is small, but the features are long, the complexion pale, the eyes small and dark, the hair straight, the cheeks generally smooth or without whiskers or beard, and the whole expression and deportment is grave and serious. The women of America are not so tall in stature as the women of Europe generally, being oftener below five feet four inches, than above it; of slender figure, without the fulness or rotundity and flowing lines of the Medicean statue, imperfect development of bust, small hands and feet, small and pretty features, pale complexions, dark eyes, a mincing gait, delicate health, and a grave rather than a gay or animated expression. If the men seem to be marked by a general uniformity of standard in personal appearance, the women are still more alike; and it is

remarkable that there is far less of diversity in the condition and occupation of females, than in that of males of the same rank and class of life in this country; for here, all the daughters, except in the very humblest ranks, are brought up as young ladies; and all the wives are so unqualified to superintend household or any other labours, that all is done for them by servants or by slaves. Thus relieved from all necessity for exercising either their physical strength or mental capacities, they soon become feeble in health, and indifferent towards society. In gay parties, they are usually neglected, because they are married; and they are not so important as the English housewife 'or matron at home, because they are neither active mistresses of their own household, nor active trainers or educators of their children ; neither are they called upon to be such frequent entertainers of friendly guests in the evening and social circle, as married ladies and heads of families are in England. I took occasion to recommend strongly to many persons, who agreed with me as to this view of the state of female education and society in America, the perusal of Mrs. Ellis's admirable work "On the Women of England, their Social and Domestic Duties," which I purchased at New Orleans, and read with great pleasure during our voyage up the Mississippi; for if her excellent advice was needed to change the present system of female education in the middle classes in England, it is still more required for all in this country, where the evils it desires to correct are much greater than at home.

CHAP. XXXIII.

Leave Montgomery-Want of punctuality in stages-Trees of the forest-Magnolias-Red-bud and Kalmia-Erythina, or coraltree-Palmetto-Pride of India-Woodpeckers, squirrels, and cameleons-Corn-plants-Cotton-shrubs-Oats and rye fields -Peach orchards-Gardens, roses, and wild flowers - Beauty of the country-Grandeur of its future prospects-Character and conversation of fellow-passengers-Peculiarities of expression from the Far West-Recent intelligence of the state of Texas-Approach of night-Solemn stillness of the forestImmense fires-Pitchy darkness succeeding-Song of the nightingale-Myriads of fireflies.

THE stage-coaches of this country are not regulated by the same punctuality as those of England and France. The mail, even, will often wait for two or three hours beyond its usual time of starting, to pick up a few passengers. This morning, when we left Montgomery, May the 8th, in an opposition coach, termed the "People's Line," and professing to beat the mail especially in its punctuality, we were detained two full hours, one of which was passed by seven passengers sitting in the coach at the hoteldoor, waiting for a single passenger only. The cause of his detention was, that he wished to change a note at one of the banks, which did not open until nine; and though the fixed hour for departure was half-past seven, we did not start till nearly ten.

The day was delightful in its temperature, and our road lying almost wholly through the forests, we had the finest opportunity of seeing the woods in all

the perfection which they exhibit in this delicious month of May. The foliage is then as gorgeous here, as it is with us in June and July; and all the flowering trees and shrubs are in the full pride of their bloom. Of the trees mingled with the interminable pine, and assisting to vary the monotony of their perpetual succession, we noticed the live-oak, an evergreen, the red and white oak, deciduous; the elm, the chesnut, the beech, and the birch. The oaks have been before described. The elm, though differing in appearance from our English tree, is not less beautiful than it. Of the white elm, one of its varieties, Hinton gives the following accurate description. "In clearing the primitive forests, a few stocks are sometimes left standing. Insulated in this manner, it appears in all its majesty, towering to the height of 80 or 100 feet, with a trunk 4 or 5 feet in diameter, regularly shaped, naked, and insensibly diminishing to the height of 60 or 70 feet, where it divides itself into two or three primary limbs. These limbs, not widely divergent near the base, approach and cross each other 8 or 10 feet higher, and diffuse on all sides, long, flexible, pendulous branches, bending into regular arches, and floating lightly in the air. A singularity has been observed in this tree, which has been witnessed in no other; two small limbs, 4 or 5 feet long, grow in a reversed position near the first ramification, and descend along the trunk; and it is accounted one of the most magnificent vegetables of the temperate zone." The chesnut is chiefly used for making charcoal, which is more highly esteemed than that from other woods. Of the beech there are two kinds, the white and the red ;

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the latter grows chiefly in the Northern States, and the former is found over the Western and Southern States as far down as lat. 32° N. In the neighbouring State of Tennessee the trees are said to be often 12 feet in circumference, and more than 100 feet in height; but in Alabama they are not quite so large. Among the flowering trees and shrubs, we had magnolias of 70 and 80 feet in height, with from 40 to 50 large white flowers on each 'tree, close to the roadside, and many others filled with expanded blossoms, seen in the depths of the forest. Of smaller trees, the dogwood and the redbud were the most beautiful, and gave great richness and variety to the woods. The dogwood has a wide-spreading and canopied top, with a beautifully-shaped leaf, and bears a profusion of the most snowy white flowers. The redbud is still smaller, being between a shrub and a tree; and its flowers are extremely like the peachblossom. The kalmia, or mountain-laurel, was more rarely seen, but came now and then to add its beauties to the rest; though we looked in vain for the rhododendron, which is said to be more abundant farther north, and especially in the mountains of Virginia. The erythina, or coral-tree, a small but beautiful shrub, not more than two feet high, now and then peeped out from the tangled bushes surrounding it; and its brilliant red flower, about an inch in length, tubular or cylindrical in shape, like the pieces of red coral worn in necklaces and bracelets (from whence its name), appeared like rubies hung on the branches; for even the flowers of the pomegranate, bright as their scarlet is when seen alone, looked faint and dull besides the erythina.

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