are of brick, put up in the most substantial manner, with due regard to ornament. Whatever repairs of the running machinery of the road may be necessary, from time to time, will be attended to here.

Leaving this place, the railroad runs in a perfectly straight course to the north-western boundary of the county, where it enters that of Mifflin amidst the wildest and most beautiful scenery which the eye of man could desire. Passing through a narrow gorge, we have what is locally termed the Black-log Mountain on the left, and Shade Mountain on the right. Along the summits of both these mountains are huge rocky promontories, black and dismal, and broken into irregular peaks, with sharp intervening fissures and valleys of denudation. From these overhanging rocks immense avalanches have, from time to time, been detached, and precipitated in frightful confusion along the mountain sides, which are also very steep. These stones have no soil associated with them, but lying one on top of the other, they present a loose mass, apparently on the verge of sliding still further down. The whole stony assemblage is thus held in statu quo by some faithful tree or deeply-set rock. The amount of these detached rocks is altogether inconceivable-the mountains are literally covered with them, from top to bottom. Covered with moss, and of a dark and sombrous color, they give to the scene a stamp of positive wildness, the beauty of which is increased by the overhanging foliage, sloping to the rugged banks of the Juniata, which leaps over its rocky bed as if bewildered with the scene around. There are many other scenes in our mountain ranges similar to this; but there is none, in this broad continent, which surpasses it in picturesque outline. It is one of those things, too, that must be seen leisurely to be fully comprehended and enjoyed. The means by which these immense bodies of stone became detached, are perfectly plain-but are still none the less worthy our contemplation. Some may suppose that the mountains are occasionally seized with the ague, which sometimes prevails along the Juniata in the fall of the year; and shaking and trembling violently under its sickening spells, the rocks may thus have been detached and tumbled down from their lofty beds! But we are pretty sure the ague had nothing to do with it, and simply because those who are acclimated to the Juniata are not liable to take it; and of course mountains have resided in "these parts" long enough to be perfectly exempt from such ailments. No; the element which has been at work here, and sundry other places where similar effects are

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exhibited, is a simple but powerful one. It has evidently been busy throughout a vast space of time; nor has it abandoned its occupation. It is water. The Juniata, with the eccentric boldness which has always characterized it, commenced a violent onslaught to get through the mountains. Swelling indignantly at the obstacle before it, it finally broke through, in a wild resistless torrent, tearing the mountain savagely as it passed along. This splendid triumph achieved, it proceeded leisurely to clear out its course-one by one the rocks were split and hurled from their ancient positions, and gradually the incision in the mountain increased, until it reached its present level. In the meantime the waters of the river returned, time after time. Picked up by the wandering clouds, they rode back in swift-travelling gales, and again and again pounced upon the devoted mountains. First removing their coats of clay and sand, they seize a pebble here and another there, and roll them against some projecting rock. What can't be done in the regular way, must be accomplished by stratagem -therefore water enters into the state of snow and ice, and catching the loose particles laying on the surface, holds them in its freezing grasp, and carries them along when it resumes its annual spring campaign. By this means a gradual decomposition of rocks is produced, and sometimes the thawed earth lets loose immense avalanches. Thus, the substance of the mountains is daily diminishing, and water is the active agent that has charge of the whole business of transportation. Water, therefore, has been the leading and only agent in affecting the degradation of our mountain system; and to what extent its operations are still continued, may be estimated at every valley which receives the descending debris. Opposite Spruce Creek an example is afforded of the degrading effects of a single torrent. A deep incision is made in the side of the mountain-the surface scooped out all the way down, in some places to the depth of twenty feet or more. It will grow larger and deeper with every rain that falls, until, finally, the rocks of the mountain protrude, and detach themselves in the same frightful manner as in the Long Narrows, above described.

Mifflin County, of which LEWISTOWN is the judicial seat, lies between two prominent mountain ranges, which run in a south-west and north-east direction. The southern boundary we have just passed in the long Narrows separating Black-log and Shade Mountains; the northern line runs between Jack's and Stone Mountains,

adjoining Huntingdon and Centre, and meeting Union in the east. At this place the Juniata makes a sharp curvature to the south-west, passing through the greater portion of the county, when, making another sudden curve near Newton Hamilton, twenty-three miles distant, it cuts through Jack's Mountain, and again strikes to the north. Had the little thing only broke through the mountain, in a straight line between Petersburg and Lewistown, it would have saved more than

half the distance it now travels. The Kishacoquillas, a large and beautiful stream, rising in the mountains north-east of Lewistown, joins the Juniata as it winds along the eastern slope of that borough. It furnishes a splendid water-power, which is extensively applied at various points on the route-at Lewistown constituting the driving power of two large and handsome flouring mills, the only branch of manufacture, we believe, which the town affords. This is surprising. Viewed from the railroad, LEWISTOWN has the appearance of a large and busy place; but it is not. The town is composed, for the most part, of inferior buildings, while the population (embracing about twenty-eight hundred) appear to be idle and without enterprise. The situation of the town is, in every respect, advantageous and pleasant. The entire county is one broad fertile valley, with rolling ridges dividing it into numerous subordinate ones, many of which contain a plentiful supply of iron ore and limestone, while the Juniata and its numerous tributaries supply any quantity of water-power at the same time that they thoroughly drain the land. It has all the natural beauty and many of the prominent outline features which have given such poetic and undying celebrity to Wyoming; but its citizens lack the spirit and stamina so characteristic of the people of that region

throughout its extraordinary and romantic history. If the same kind of Connecticut Yankees had originally settled along the Juniata, or if they were induced to do so now, it would soon wear a different aspect. Their industry and practical enterprise would soon blaze forth in spirited rays, and the whole valley would resound with the clatter of machinery-the thunders of the hammer-the blaze of the furnace -the rattle of the loom.

Lewistown might become a more important place, even as a summer resort. Considered in this respect, it combines every requisite advantage, and all that is wanted is one or two spacious hotels, showy and well-conducted. There are two or three respectable inns in the centre of the town, but these are too much exposed to gossipping loafers to merit any considerable patronage from summer tourists. The hotels for the accommodation of travellers should be located nearer the railroad. A citizen of Lewistown, in a letter published some years ago, in one of the borough papers, says: "The scenery is the finest in the world; we breathe the pure mountain air. Our clear streams abound with fish, particularly trout. Our forests are filled with game of every description; and Milliken's Spring, on a farm adjoining the town, is

ascertained to possess all the medicinal qualities of the Bedford water, particularly in bilious complaints."

The celebrated Indian Chief, Logan, lived in this part of the valley when the whites first arrived. His cabin was near the wild gorge in Jack's mountain, and the history of the county of which this was formerly a part, is full of anecdotes relating to him. Logan was probably the most eloquent Indian orator of which we have any account. He was the Clay of the Indian people; and in natural dignity, independence of spirit, and loftiness of purpose, few whites have surpassed him.

Near the village of REEDVILLE, about six miles from Lewistown, is a beautiful spring, near which the orator often dwelt. The following anecdote, related by the late Judge Brown, one of the earliest settlers, is connected with this spot:

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The first time I ever saw that spring," said the old gentleman, "my brother, James Reed, and myself, had wandered out of the valley in search of land, and finding it very good, we were looking about for springs. About a mile from this we started a bear, and separated to get a shot at him. I was travelling along, looking about on the rising