The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which is to extend from the city of Washington to the river Ohio, is now in progress. Its course is partly on the Virginia, and partly on the Maryland side of the Potomac.

The staple productions of Virginia are wheat and tobacco. The exports of the state, for the year ending September 30, 1839, amounted to $5,787,000. The state of Virginia may be divided into four zones, essentially differing from one another. The first extending from the sea-coast to the termination of tide at Fredericksburg, Richmond, &c., is low and flat, sometimes fenny, sometimes sandy, and on the margin of rivers composed of a rich loam covered with a luxuriant and even rank vegetation. This part is unhealthy in the months of August, September, and October.

The next division extends from the head of tide-water to the Blue Ridge. The surface near the tide-water is level; higher up the rivers it becomes swelling; and near the mountains it is often abrupt and broken. The soil is divided into sections of very unequal quality, parallel to each other, and extending throughout the state. The parallel of Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover, &c. is a thin, sandy, and, except on the rivers, an unproductive soil. That of Goochland, Cumberland, Prince Edward, Halifax, &c., is generally fertile. Fluvanna, Buckingham, Campbell, Pittsylvania, again, are poor; and Culpeper, Orange, Albemarle, Bedford, &c., a rich, though frequently a stony, broken soil, on a substratum of tenacious and red-colored clay. The population of this section, especially near the mountains, is more robust and healthy than that of any other part of the state. The scenery of the upper part is highly picturesque and romantic. There is a vein of lime-stone running through Albemarle, Orange, &c. Pit coal of a good quality is found within 20 miles above Richmond, on James river.

The third division is the valley between the Blue Ridge, and North and Alleghany mountains; a valley which extends, with little interruption, from the Potomac, across the state, to North Carolina and Tennessee, narrower, but of greater length than either the preceding divisions. The soil is a mould formed on a bed of lime-stone. The surface of the valley is sometimes broken by sharp and solitary mountains detached from the general chain, the sides of which, nearly bare, or but thinly covered with blasted pines, form disagreeable objects in the landscape. The bed of the valley is fertile, producing good crops of Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat, hemp, flax, timothy, and clover. The farms are smaller than in the lower parts of Virginia, and the cultivation is better. Here are few slaves. This valley has inexhaustible mines of excellent iron ore. Chalk is found in Botetourt county.

The fourth division extends from the Alleghany mountains to the river Ohio; a country wild and broken, in some parts fertile, but generally lean or barren; but having mines of iron, lead, coal, salt, &c.-The soil of a great proportion of the county of Randolph and the adjacent counties in the north-west part of the state, is of an excellent quality, producing large crops of grain. The surface is uneven and hilly. The county is well watered, is excellent for grazing, and has a very healthy climate.

There are many mineral springs in Virginia. The hot and warm springs of Bath county, the sweet springs of Monroe county, the sulphur springs of Greenbrier and of Montgomery counties, and the baths of Berkeley county, are much frequented. The most remarkable curiosities are the Natural Bridge, the passage of the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, the cataract of Falling Spring, and several caves.

Since the year 1827, the gold mines of Virginia have attracted Gold Mines. considerable attention. The belt of country in which they are found extends through Spotsylvania and some neighboring counties. The gold region abounds in quartz, which contains cubes of sulphuret of iron. These cubes are often partly or totally decomposed; and the cells thus created are sometimes

filled with gold. The gold is found on the surface, and in the structure of quartz; but in greatest abundance resting upon slate, and in its fissures. The gold is diffused over large surfaces, and has not yet been found sufficiently in mass, except in a few places, to make mining profitable. The method of obtaining the metal is by filtration, or washing the earth, and by an amalgam of quicksilver. The average value of the earth yielding gold is stated at 20 cents a bushel. The amount received from this state at the United States' mint in 1830, was $24,000, and in 1840, $57,600.

The number of cotton manufactories in this state in 1842 was ten, with an aggregate capital of 300,000 dollars, making annually 700,000 yards of cloth. The Natural Bridge, the must sublime of nature's works, is on the ascent of a hill, which seems to have been cloven through its length by some great convulsion. The fissure, just at the bridge, is by some admeasurements 270 feet deep, by others only 205. It is about 45 feet wide at the bottom, and 90 feet at the top-this of course determines the length of the bridge, and its height from the water. The breadth in the middle is about 60 feet, but more at the ends, and the thickness of the mass at the summit of the arch, about 40 feet. A part of this thickness is constituted by a coat of earth, which gives growth to many large trees. The residue, with the hill on both sides, is one solid rock of lime-stone.

The arch approaches the semi-elliptical form, but the larger axis of the ellipsis, which would be the cord of the arch, is many times longer than the transverse. Though the sides of this bridge are provided, in some parts, with a parapet of fixed rocks, yet few men have resolution to walk to them and look over into the abyss. You involuntarily fall on your hands and feet, creep to the parapet, and peep over it.

If the view from the top be painful and intolerable, that from below is delightful in an equal extreme. It is impossible for the emotions arising out of the sublime to be felt beyond what they are here; so beautiful an arch, so elevated, so light, and springing, as it were, up to heaven, the rapture of the spectacle is really indescribable.

"The fissure continuing narrow, deep, and straight for a considerable distance above and below the bridge, opens a short but very pleasing view of the North Mountain on one side, and the Blue Ridge on the other, at the distance, each of them, of about five miles. This bridge is in the county of Rockbridge, to which it has given name; and affords a public and commodious passage over a valley, which cannot be crossed elsewhere for a considerable distance. The stream passing under it, is called Cedar creek. It is a tributary of James' river, and sufficient in the driest season to turn a grist-mill, though its fountain is not more than two miles above.

The following account is from another source: "As we stood under this beautiful arch, we saw the place where visitors have often taken the pains to engrave their names upon the rock. Here Washington climbed up 25 feet and carved his own name, where it still remains. Some wishing to immortalize their names, have engraved them deep and large, while others have tried to climb up and insert them high in this book of fame.

"A few years since, a young man, being ambitious to place his name above all others, came very near losing his life in the attempt. After much fatigue he climbed up as high as possible, but found that the person who had before occupied his place was taller than himself, and consequently had placed his name above his reach. But he was not thus to be discouraged. He opened a large jack-knife, and in the soft lime-stone began to cut places for his hands and feet. With much patience and industry he worked his way upwards, and succeeded in carving his name higher than the most ambitious had done before

him.

"He could now triumph, but his triumph was short, for he was placed in

such a situation that it was impossible to descend unless he fell upon the ragged rocks beneath him. There was no house near, from which his companions could get assistance. He could not remain in that condition, and, what was worse, his friends were too much frightened to do any thing for his relief. They looked upon him as already dead, expecting every moment to see him precipitated upon the rocks below, and dashed to pieces. Not so with himself. He determined to ascend. Accordingly he plied himself with his knife, cutting places for his hands and feet, and gradually ascended with incredible labor. He exerted every muscle. His life was at stake, and all the terrors of death arose before him. He dared not look downwards lest his head should become dizzy, and perhaps on this circumstance his life depended.

"His companions stood at the top of the rock exhorting and encouraging him. His strength was almost exhausted; but a bare possibility of saving his life still remained, and hope, the last friend of the distressed, had not yet forsaken him. His course upwards was rather oblique than perpendicular. His most critical moment had now arrived. He had ascended considerably more than 200 feet, and had still further to rise, when he felt himself fast growing weak. He now made his last effort, and succeeded. He had cut his way not far from 250 feet from the water, in a course almost perpendicular; and in a little less than two hours, his anxious companions reached him a pole from the top, and drew him up. They received him with shouts of joy; but he himself was completely exhausted. He immediately fainted away on reaching the spot, and it was some time before he could be recovered!

"It was interesting to see the path up these awful rocks, and to follow in imagination this bold youth as he thus saved his life. His name stands far above all the rest, a monument of hardihood, of rashness, and of folly."

The passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge, says Mr. Jefferson, is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature. You stand on a very high point of land. On your right comes the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Potomac in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction they rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off to the sea.

The first glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opinion that the mountains were formed first; that the rivers began to flow afterwards; that in this place particularly they have been dammed up by the Blue Ridge, and have formed an ocean which filled the whole valley; that, continuing to rise, they have at length broken over at this spot, and have torn the mountain down from its summit to its base. The piles of rock on each side, but particularly on the Shenandoah, the evident marks of their disrupture and avulsion from their beds by the most powerful agents of nature corroborate the impression.

But the distant finishing which nature has given to the picture is of a very different character. It is a true contrast to the foreground. It is as placid and delightful as that is wild and tremendous. For the mountain being cloven asunder, she presents to your eye, through the cleft, a small catch of smooth blue horizon, at an infinite distance in the plain country, inviting you, as it were, from the riot and tumult roaring around, to pass through the breach, and participate the calm below.

Here the eye ultimately composes itself, and that way too the road happens to lead. You cross the Potomac above the junction, pass along its side through the base of the mountain for three miles, its terrible precipices hanging in fragments over you, and within about 20 miles reach Fredericktown, and the fine country around. This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic. Yet here, as in the neighborhood of the Natural Bridge, are people who have passed their lives within a half dozen miles, and have never been to survey these monu

ments of a war between rivers and mountains, which must have shaken the earth itself to its centre.

In the lime-stone country of Virginia there are several caves of considerable extent. The most remarkable one is Wier's Cave, which is on the north side of the Blue Ridge, and on the south fork of the Shenandoah. It is in a hill, which is about 200 feet in perpendicular height, and so steep that you may pitch a bis cuit from its summit into the river which washes its base. It was discovered in 1804. Its entrance is only about 100 yards from that of Madison's Cave, another celebrated cavern, which, though it has been much longer known, is greatly inferior to Wier's Cave. The following is an account of a visit to this extraordinary place.

There were three of us, besides our guide, with lighted torches, and our loins girded, now ready to descend into the cave. We took our lights in our left hands, and entered. The mouth was so small, that we could descend only by creeping one after another. A descent of almost 20 yards brought us into the first room. The cave was cold, dark, and silent. In this manner we proceeded, now descending 30 or 40 feet-now ascending as high-now creeping on our hands and knees, and now walking in large rooms, the habitations of solitude.

The mountain seems to be composed almost wholly of lime-stone, and, by this means, the cave is lined throughout with the most beautiful incrustations and stalactites of carbonated lime, which are formed by the continual dripping of the water. These stalactites are of various and elegant shapes and colors, often bearing a striking resemblance to animated nature. At one place we saw over our heads what appeared to be a waterfall of the most delightful kind, descending 12 or 15 feet. Nor could the imagination be easily persuaded that it was not in reality a waterfall. You could see the water dashing and boiling down, with its white spray and foam, but it was all solid, carbonated lime-stone. Thus we passed on in this world of solitude; now stopping to admire the beauties of a single stalactite; now wondering at the magnificence of a large room; now creeping through narrow passages, hardly wide enough to admit the body of a man; and now walking in superb galleries, until we came to the largest room, called Washington Hall. This is certainly the most elegant room I ever saw. It is about 270 feet in length, about 35 in width, and between 30 and 40 feet high. The roof and sides are very beautifully adorned by the tinsels which nature has bestowed in the greatest profusion, and which sparkle like the diamond, while surveyed by the light of torches. The floor is flat, smooth, and solid.

It

I was foremost of our little party in entering this room, and was not a little startled on approaching the centre, and by my small light seeing a figure as it were rising up before me, out of solid rock. It was not far from seven feet high, and corresponded in every respect to the common idea of a ghost. was very white, and resembled a tall man clothed in a shroud. I went up to it sideways, though I could not really expect to meet a ghost in a place like this. On examination, I found it was a very beautiful piece of the carbonate of lime, very transparent, and very much in the shape of a man. This is called Washington's Statue.

In one room we found an excellent spring of water, which boiled up, slaked our thirst, sunk again into the mountain, and was seen no more. In another room was a noble pillar, called the Tower of Babel. It is composed entirely of stalactites of lime, or, as its appearance would seem to suggest, of petrified water. It is about 30 feet in diameter, and a little more than 90 in circumfer ence, and about 30 high. It would appear as if there must be many millions of stalactites in this one pillar.

Thus we wandered in this world within a world till we had visited 12 very beautiful rooms, and as many creeping places, and had now arrived at the end, a distance from our entrance of between 2,400 and 2,500 feet, or about half a

N

mile. We here found ourselves exceedingly fatigued ; but our torches forbade our delay, and we once more turned our lingering steps towards the common world. When arrived again at Washington Hall, one of the company three times discharged a pistol, whose report was truly deafening. It was as loud as any cannon I ever heard, and as its sound reverberated and echoed through one room after another, till it died away in distance, it seemed like the moanings of spirits. We continued our wandering steps till we arrived once more at daylight, having been nearly three hours in the cavern.

Banks in Bank of Virginia (incorporated 1804,) at Richmond, with branches 1830. at Petersburg, Norfolk, Fredericksburg, and Lynchburg; Farmers' Bank of Virginia (incorporated 1813,) at Richmond, with branches at Norfolk, Petersburg, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, Winchester, and Danville; Bank of the Valley, at Winchester, with branches at Romney, Charlestown, and Leesburg; North-western Bank, at Wheeling; Exchange Bank at Norfolk, Merchant's and Mechanics' Bank, Wheeling, Merchant's and Mechanics' Bank at Decatur. The aggregate amount of bank capital is $5,607,000.

Besides the University of Virginia, incorporated in 1819, and esLiterature. tablished at Charlottesville, Albemarle county, there are three colleges in this state; William and Mary college, at Williamsburg; Hampden Sidney college, in Prince Edward county, on Appomatox river; and Washington college at Lexington, west of the Blue Ridge, near James river. Academies and common schools are also established in several towns. This state has produced a number of eminent characters, of whom WASHINGTON, the Great and the Good, is of most illustrious memory. It has furnished four of the presidents of the Union. Education is, however, generally much neglected, particularly among the lower classes. This state has a Literary Fund, created in 1809, and amounting, in available capital, according to a late report, to $1,510,689 71. The income during the year 1840 was $102,590. All escheats, confiscations, and derelict property; also all lands forfeited for the non-payment of taxes, and all funds refunded by the national government for the expenses of the late war, have been appropriated to the encouragement of learning. Of the interest of the fund, $15,000 are annually appropriated to the University of Virginia, and $45,000 to the education of the poor in the different counties, according to the ratio of white population.

Internal im

The state has a permanent fund devoted to the purposes of internal provement. improvement of $2,822,877; and a disposable fund of $1,056,293; total $3,879,170; [of this about $475,000 is at present unproductive.] Annual income from both funds, $121,836 75. This fund is managed by 13 directors, styled the Board of Public Works, 10 of whom are chosen annually by the legislature, 3 from the Trans-Alleghany District, 2 from the Valley District, 3 from the Middle District, and 2 from the Tide-Water District. The governor, treasurer, and first auditor of the state, are, ex officio, members. In all canals and roads authorized by the state, this fund contributes three-fifths of the stock. The Board meets annually on the first Monday in January, and the members are paid $4 a day, and 20 cents a mile for travel.

The number of periodical papers in 1831 was estimated at 45.

Religious

tions.

The Baptists in this state have 337 churches, 192 ministers, and denomina- 39,440 communicants; the Methodists, 77 preachers and 27,947 members; the Presbyterians, 104 churches, 75 ministers, 15 licentiates, and 7,508 communicants; the Episcopalians, 45 ministers; the Friends are considerably numerous, and there are some Lutherans, Roman Catholics, and Jews.

The first permanent English settlement formed in America was History. made, in 1607, by 105 adventurers, on James river, in this state, at a place named Jamestown, in honor of James I. of England. Several unsuccessful attempts had been made in the latter part of the preceding century