In page thirty, we are told the north mountain 'detaches itself also from the great bow of the Allegany, and holding a course westward, but parallel to the former, traverses the higher branches of James' river,' &c. I suspect that here also there is an error of the press or of the translator. Volney probably wrote, or intended to write, that the North mountain holds its course eastward. It would have been more correct however to have written north eastward; for that, as is well known, is the general course of that mountain.

In the thirty-third page, Mr. Volney informs us that among the mountains which he passed through from Staunton to Greenbriar, are the warm, the hot, and the red springs. It is not easy to ascertain what spring he here means by the red spring, as there is no spring of that name along the road which he travelled. There is a red spring in the county of Monroe; but Mr. Volney did not pass very near to it. He however must have passed the white sulphur-a spring more resorted to in the watering season than any other in Virginia; but it can hardly be supposed that it is that which he denominated the red-spring. It is strange however that he should not mention so noted a spring as the white sulphur, especially as the road he travelled passed within a few feet of the spring itself. In describing the warm spring he says 'it rises at the bottom of a deep valley shaped like a funnel, and easily perceived to be the water of an extinguished volcano. It is believed no person but Volney himself ever 'perceived,' this water. There are certainly no indications at the place of any such thing. Besides, a spring issuing out of the water of even an extinguished volcano, is a phenomenon, it is supposed, not as yet seen any where. Surely a water is one of the last paces in the world in which we would expect to find a spring.

In the page last quoted we are also told that west of the Allegany, towards the vale of the Ohio, there are many remarkable hills. The first of these called Reynick, and the high Ballentines, eight miles west of Greenbrier, appears

to me as lofty, though not so broad, as the Blue ridge.' The author has crowded into this last sentence more mistakes, than I recollect to have ever noticed in a sentence of the same length. It is also in one respect extremely vague and indefinite. What does Mr. Volney mean here by Greenbrier?' Is it Greenbrier river, or Greenbrier county, or Greenbrier court-house? Probably he means the latter. If so, he ought to have said Lewisburgh, for that is the name of the village where Greenbrier Court-house stands. Now for his mistakes. He evidently speaks of Reynick, and the High Ballentines, as one mountain. But those he means are not one, but two distinct mountains. He farther says, it appears as lofty, though not so broad as the Blue-ridge.' If the two mountains, he here refers to, are considered separately, neither of them is half so high as the Blue-ridge; but considered as one mountain, they may be almost as high, for they stand like terraces-the base of the second being almost as high as the top of the first. If we consider those two mountains as one, as Volney has done, they are certainly broader than the Blue-ridge generally is, or than it is where Mr. Volney crossed it. The most extraordinary thing however in this sentence is, that Mr. Volney has entirely mistaken the names of those mountains. The name of the first is the Brushy ridge, being a projection or elongation of Muddy-Creek mountain. The name of the second is the Meadow mountain. At the time Volney passed through that country there lived at the foot, or rather on the side of the Brushy ridge, a man whose name was Renick, and there lived near the foot of the Meadow mountain a man whose name was Hugh Ballentine. Mr. Volney then was probably led into his mistake in the following manner. Some person giving him directions of the road he was to travel, told him that after going a certain distance he would pass Renick's, and going on two or three miles farther he would pass Hugh Ballentine's. Volney travelling on the distance first men

tioned, found himself ascending a mountain, and though, that was what was intended by Rennick's' and going on two or three miles farther found himself ascending another lofty elevation; this he concluded must be what was intended by the second name which had been mentioned to him, and changing the christian name Hugh into the adjective High, he metamorphosed Hugh Ballentine into the High Ballentines. This was certainly a very ludicrous blunder, and the man who could commit it, is evidently entitled to less confidence in his statements as a traveller, than we might otherwise be disposed to repose in them. A few sentences farther on, we are told The Gauley ridge originates among the fountains of the Great Kenhawa. This is a mistake. Gauley mountain crosses the Great Kenhawa, where it is called New-river a little above the Great falls and several hundred miles below its source. The fountains of the Great Kenhawa are in mountains distinct and far distant from the Gauley ridge. This shows what vague and indefinite conceptions Mr. Volney sometimes formed, and what little pains he sometimes took to obtain accurate and distinct information. In the 46th page we are told that in the country round Pittsburgh, on the Ohio, in the district of Greenbrier, on the Kenhawa and throughout Kentucky, an examination always leads to the grand calcareous foundation." This assertion is much too broad. The calcareous foundation' is found only in a small part of the extensive territory included in the county of Greenbrier. It is found no where on the Kenhawa; it is found only in a part of Kentucky. A great proportion of what is called the wilderness, in that state shows no calcareous rock. There are likewise extensive districts along the Ohio where it is not found.

In pages 51 and 52 we are told that there is a calcareous region between the Blue-ridge and North Mountain, which extends from the Delaware about Easton to the great bow of the Allegany. This is tolerably correct; but he adds

'The county of Botetount, which occupies the latter region, is called the limestone country, because it supplies with that material, all the country east of the Blue ridge, where none is to be found.' There is doubtless limestone in Botetount county; but it is not so universally abundant in that county as in many others above the Blue Ridge, and Botetount has never by way of eminence, been called the limestone county, nor has it ever supplied the country east of the Blue Ridge with that material to any considerable extent. It is moreover very strange that Mr. Volney did not know, that east of the Blue Ridge, a vein of limestone extends quite across Virginia, from which the upper counties east of the Blue Ridge, obtain almost all the lime they use. There are some other statements of Mr. Volney, which might be noticed; such as his assertion that Col. Lewis of Point pleasant, was a relation of Gen. Washington; and his assertion, in page twenty-six, that he was enabled in various situations, to make ac. curate measurements of our mountains, and then proceeding to give measurements none of which it would seem were made by him. But I will not detain my readers with these

matters.

Upon the whole, Mr. Volney's work is a valuable one; and although there are in it a great many mistakes, yet he certainly collected, during the short time he was among us, a great deal of information respecting our country; and has given new and interesting views of some subjects to which we Americans, had scarcely before turned our attention. G.

ART. V.-Description of the State Capitol of Pennsylvania, now building at Harrisburg.

[with an engraving.]

Soon after the Legislature of Pennsylvania, made choice of Harrisburg, as the seat of government, a ten acre lot of ground was purchased for the purpose of erecting thereon, suitable buildings to accommodate both houses of the gene

ral assembly, and the various departments of Government. The neighbourhood of Harrisburg, fortunately offered a most appropriate spot for this purpose, an eminence of moderate height a little to the north of the built part of the borough, from which the eye takes in almost at one glance, a view of the whole town below; an extensive prospect of the river Susquehanna, which is here a mile in breadth, and peculiarly romantic and beautiful; a noble bridge, stretching on twelve broad arches across this wide stream; several villages scattered up and down its fertile and well cultivated banks, and on the north a line of blue hills, covered with wood, the uniformity of which is only broken by a single gap, through which the river passes, and which forms one of the finest features of this extensive and diversified landscape.

The situation is at once picturesque, commanding and healthful, and will, by its superior height, exhibit the public buildings to the greatest advantage, and show them at a distance of many miles, as objects of great magnitude and conspicuous beauty.

The county of Dauphin, having very comfortably accommodated the legislature, on its arrival, in their new Courthouse, no effectual steps were taken until last year, for the completion of a Capitol, although the two wings had for a long while been built for the offices of the secretary of the commonwealth, the treasurer, auditor general, and surveyor general. These wings are in a style of architecture to correspond with the main body of the edifice, whenever it shall be finished; they are fire-proof, and cost ninety thousand dollars.

Several attempts were made in 1816, to obtain a law for the purpose of erecting the grand centre, and a bill was actually passed by the senate that year, appropriating three hundred thousand dollars for that object. The house of Representatives very properly refused to sanction such an