back accompanied by the nobleman who had been with the first embassy, and had returned. I received by them from Montezuma, a present of ten golden plates, five hundred pieces of cloth, many fowls, and a great quantity of a certain liquor, which they make use of, called Panicap, made of maize, sugar and water. The ambassadors assured me from their sovereign, that he had no share in the projected revolt of the Cholulans; that it was true the soldiers who garrisoned that city belonged to him, but that they were there, not in consequence of his orders, but a particular stipulation subsisting between them and the people of Cholula, which obliged them to assist each other, and that in future his conduct should prove to me the sincerity of his professions. That he requested me, however, not to enter his territories, as the land was unproductive, and I should be in want of necessaries; but that on making my wishes known to him, he would with pleasure, immediately, send me whatever I desired. I answered the ambassadors that I could not comply with their master's request of not entering his dominions, as my duty obliged me to render to your majesty, an accurate account of their sovereign and his possessions. That I believed what he affirmed was true, but that he must permit me to satisfy myself of it in person, and that I begged he would not attempt to obstruct my intention, as I should in that case be compelled to resort to measures injurious to him, which would ever be with me a subject of regret. When Montezuma found that I was determined to visit him, he sent a great number of persons to accompany me, at the same time declaring that nothing could give him greater pleasure. I had hardly entered his territories, when his people urged me to take a road, where they might with ease have destroyed me, judging from the account I have since received of it, and the information of some Spaniards whom I sent that way. On this road there were so many openings, defiles, bridges, and difficult passes, as to have enabled them to execute their designs with perfect security; but as God has ever, in a particular manner, from your earliest years, watched over whatever concerns a sovereign, in whose service the army and its commander were employed, he in his infinite goodness, discovered to us another passage, bad enough in truth, but much less dangerous than that which they wished us to pursue. Eight leagues from Cholula are two chains of very lofty mountains, the more remarkable from their tops being covered with snow in the month of August; one of them both by day and night, frequently emits volumes of fire, the smoke of which is forced up perpendicularly, with such violence, that the wind, though very strong in this elevated region, produces no change in its direction. In order to be able to give a more particular account to your majesty of whatever is remarkable in this country, I selected ten of my companions for discoveries of this nature, and directed them to attempt by all means to gain the summit of this mountain, in order to discover from whence the smoke proceeded; but they found it impossible to reach the top from the extreme cold, the great quantity of snow, and the clouds of ashes which perpetually envelope it. They proceeded however, as far as possible, and whilst at the extreme point of their ascent, the smoke issued with so much noise and impetuosity, that it seemed as if the mountain was falling to pieces under them. On their return they brought with them some snow and ice, substances very unusual in a country, situated in the twentieth degree of latitude, where the heat is very powerful. While my people were occupied in this research, they discovered a road, and on inquiring of their guides whether it led, they informed them that it was the most direct road to Chulua, and that the other by which the Mexicans wished to conduct us was extremely bad. On receiving this information the Spaniards followed the road to the height of land, which it crossed, and discovered from the loftiest point of this height the plain of Chulua, the great city of Temixtitlan, and the lakes of that province, of which I shall hereafter give an account to your majesty. The detachment returned much pleased with having made this discovery. God only knows what joy I felt on this information; I told the ambassadors of Montezuma, who had been sent to accompany me, that I was resolved to take this road, which was nearer than the one they had recommended. They acknowledged that the road I had discovered was shorter and of less difficult travel than the other, but that their objections to taking it were that they should be obliged to pass through the territory of their enemies, the Indians of Guascingo, and that we should not be able among them, as in the dominions of Montezuma, to procure such necessaries as we wanted, but that since I was desirous of pursuing it, they would take measures for supplying us with provisions. I was fearful lest these ambassadors were preparing a snare for us, but as I had mentioned the road which I intended to take, I thought it not prudent to turn back, or change our course, as nothing was more to be apprehended than that a suspicion of our courage should be entertained. I accordingly left Cholula, and the same day proceeded four leagues to some hamlets in the province of Guascingo, where I was well received by the inhabitants, and presented with slaves, pieces of cloth, and gold, all in small quantities, but as much as their means would allow, for, as they belong to the Tascaltecan confederacy, and are confined to their own country by Montezuma, they are compelled to depend on their internal resources, which are very trifling. (To be continued.) 147 RURAL ECONOMY.-FOR THE PORT FOLIO. "Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field." Isaiah xxix, 17. Western Plaister. The following is an extract of a letter from Mr. Peter Lorillard, dated "New York, 25th March 1817." Before we present it to the reader, we shall just remark that we have seen another letter from a gentleman in South Carolina, who put a ton of plaister from Manlius (N. Y.) on a piece of ground, near the seaboard, where Nova Scotia plaister had produced no effect. The result in this instance far exceeded his most sanguine expectations. MR. LORILLARD says, about six years ago, I bought a plaister of a black cast, similar to our western plaister, and had it put on an exhausted piece of land near salt water, which had been sown with red clover. I found the clover had grown so rank that it all lodged. The experiment was only tried on one-half of the field, and several years after French and Nova Scotia plaister of different colours were tried on the remainder of the field, which had not the same effect; this plaister, when ground, had the smell of lime. Last summer I tried several experiments to ascertain whether some substitute might not be found for manure, near salt water; the result of the experiments was as follows: in the first place, I prepared a mixture of ground charcoal, plaister, and slaked lime, which answered every purpose. I next ascertained that lime would answer very well in the fall, and plaister in the spring. I also ascertained that plaister and horn shavings, which the plaister dissolved in about fifteen minutes, answered very well for cabbage, and esturcheons, but not for grass, wheat, corn, or potatoes. It appears that the mixture of plaister and lime has the following effect: part of the sulphuric acid in the plaister, is separated from it, and joins with the slaked lime, and discharges the carbonic acid which it has imbibed; a portion also of the sulphuric acid decomposes a portion of the carbon in the charcoal, and thus becomes a manure. It cannot be possible that the muriatic acid is contained in the salt vapour. I have ascertained by experiment, that plaister is very well adapted to lands at a distance from salt water, but will not answer on lands near salt water. I have also ascertained, that lands both adjoining and at a distance from salt water, contain muriatic acid. There are some farms at Horseneck, adjoining the salt water, on which plaister answers very well. The true cause why plaister is not suited to land near the salt water, yet remains concealed. Professor DAVIE mentions a farm in England to which plaister was very well adapted, but which would not be benefited by sulphurate of lime. I have found soils in this country, which would do either with or without plaister; the sulphurate of lime being contained in each. Cauliflowers.-Instead of cutting off the whole head of a cauliflower, leave a part, of the size of a goose-berry, and all the leaves: second, and even third, heads will be formed, and thus they may be eaten for two or three months; when, at present, by cutting the head completely off, the bed of the cauliflowers are gone in two or three weeks. They should be planted in good moist ground and treated in the same manner as celery. Strawberries.-Laying straw under strawberry plants, keeps the roots moist and the berries clean; and they grow larger with less watering. Liquors. To give malt spirit the flavour of good brandy: into two quarts of malt spirit, put three ounces and a half of powdered charcoal, and four ounces of rice; shake it every day for fifteen days, then filter it through paper. Cows.-Lord Romney has shown that parsnips caused cows to produce abundance of milk, and they eat them as free as they do oil cake.-Land 71. an acre, in Guernsey, is sown with parsnips to feed cattle, and the milk is like cream. Potatoes.-Potatoes may be produced a month earlier by putting them in a warm place early in the spring, allowing the shoots to grow an inch or two, and then planting them, leaving the shoot nearly above the surface. Lupenella. The following account of this valuable grass, is contained in a late letter from the secretary of the treasury of the United States, to the acting governor of Georgia. I have lately received from our consul at Leghorn in Italy, a parcel of the Lupenella seed, which is represented as the finest grass cultivated in that country, for the quantity and richness of the hay; the preference felt for it by all animals, and its fertilizing effects upon the land in which it is cultivated. In Italy it is sown in March and October-it is cut with a sickle to avoid shaking off the blooms, bound up in bundles of 7lbs, and fed to working beasts without grain, as it is sufficiently nutritive of itself. Three years cultivation of this grass, enriches the poorest land so much, that two successive and abundant crops of grain are produced without manure. This is the account which I have received of it from Mr. Appleton, the consul. As it succeeds in Italy, there is every reason to believe that it will succeed in Georgia. The quantity I have sent you, will enable you to furnish several of your acquaintances with enough to put them in stock of it, and thereby multiply the chances of success. It is sown I presume broad cast, but drills will be more productive for seed. I am convinced that when sown for hay it ought to be sown thick, as a certain means of keeping the crab grass under. When it is mowed, it may run some risk of assault from this formidable adversary, but that danger I am persuaded will be diminished by the thickness of the Lupenella. FOR THE PORT FOLIO.-TO MYRA. UNSEEN by every human eye, In the recessess of my breast I listened to the syren Hope, And dreamt my lot past mortals blest Not thine the fault that this vain heart, For love will dare presume to hope, |