COLUMBUS'S OWN SHIP JOURNAL.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 207, 14 October 1859, Page 3

COLUMBUS'S OWN SHIP JOURNAL.

9 "asjett us some charming descriptions of u his owndispayeries; though^konly_r.ecently.that .we have obtained the knowledge of his own ship's journal, ofhisletters to the treasurer Sanchez, to Donna Juanade la Torre, governess of the infant Don Juan, and to Queen Isabella. Humboldt has sought-to show with how deep a feeling -and perception of the forms and beauty of nature the great--discoverer was endowed, and how he described tho face of the earth,! and the " new heaven " which opened to his view with a beauty and simplicity of expression which can only be fnllv "appreciatedby those, who ate familiar with' the*ahcient, force of the language as it existed at the'period. ; The aspect and tlie physiognomy -of the vegetation, the impenetrable thickets of the forest, "in which one can hardly distinguish which are the flowers and leaves belonging to each stem :" the wild luxuriance which clothed the humid shores: the rose-colorud flamingoes fishing at the mouth of the rivers in the early morning, and giving animation to the landscape, attract the attention of the old navigator while sailing along the coast of Cuba, between the small Lucayan islands and the Jardi.nillos. Each newly-discovered land appears to him still more beautiful than those he had before described ; he complains that he; cannot find words in which to record the sweet impressions he has received. " The loveliness of this new land," says the discoverer, " far surpasses that of the Campina de Cordoba. The trees are all bright with ever verdant foliage, and perpetually laden with fruits. The plants on the ground are tall and full of blossoms. The breezes are mild like those in April in Castile; the nightingales sing more sweetly than I can describe. At night, other small birds sing sweetly and-I also hear our grasshbppers ahd frogs. Once I came into a deeply enclosed harbor, and saw high mountains which no human eye had ever seen before, from which lovely waters streamed down.: .The mountain was covered with firs, pines, and other trees of very various form, and adorned with beautiful flowers. Ascending the river, which poured itself into the bay, I was astonished at the cool shade, the crystal clear water, and the number of singing birds. It seemed as if I could never quit a Bpot so delightful—as if a thousand tongues would fail to describe it, as if the spell-bound hand would refuse to write," We have here, from the journal of an unlettered seaman, the power which the beauty of Nature, manifested in her individual forms, may exert on a eusceptible mind. Feelings ennoble language; for the prose of the admiral, especially when, on his fourth voyage, at the age of 67, he relates his wonderful dream on the coast of Veragua, is, if not more eloquent, yet far more moving, than the allegorical pastoral romance of Boccacio and the two ArcadiasofSannazaroand Sydney; than Garcilasso's SalicioyNemoroso; or than the Diana of Jorge de Montemayor. - ' Beards and. Place-Hunters.-t-A curious change of countenance, says a Washington (United States) letter, may: be noticed this season among the multitude of office-seekers who .swarm here, beleaguering the White Souse, and infesting the Departments^ The proportion of, bearded and moustached individuals is much less than last year. The reason, is,, as it.is said, that the President has expressed his disgust at hirsute faces. He can hardly tolerate a beard, and cannot abide a moustache. The courtiers consequently begin to shave. In this judicious conformity to the Imperial taste they follow the historical precedents and traditions of their classi If I remember rightly, the practice of shaVirig in Europe originated in the desire to'please a French monarch to whom nature had denied a beard. Having become the fashion, shaving continued even after the cause of its origin had disappeared.. .Pathetic .stories are afloat in conversation of office-seekers who have made heroic sacrifices of long cherished beards and moustaches, in hopes of melting the Piesidental heart, and have found, when too late, that even such immolation did not meet its reward. Triumph of Engineering Skill in the Old Country.—-Mr. Brunei has succeeded in erecting a viaduct over the river Taraar, between the counties of Devon and Cornwall. The whole width of the river (at tills point 910 feet) being spanned in two arches resting on either bank, and on a pier in the centre of the river (70 feet deep). Each span weighs upwards of 1200 tons, and with a similar weight distributed over it. So. complete is the arrangement that the'total deflection did hot amount to seven inches, and the arch immediately recovered itself on the weight being removed. The tubes, &c, were raised to their position by hydraulic agency. The following are a few of the details of this stupendous monument of engineering capacity :-rThe total length of the bridge, -from side to side of the valley, is 2240 feet, 300 feet longer than the Britannia Tubular Bridge. The greatest width of the basement of the central support is only 30 feet, and the. greatest height from the foundation to the summit is 260 feet. The quantity of iron used in the bridge is in all about 3850 tons, 2650 tons of wrought iron, 120Q tons of cast iron. In the structure no less than 14,000 cubic feet of timber were used, and in the construction of the pier and stone columns no less than 459,000 cubic feet of masonry. The official testing of the bridge, which consisted in the passingaud repassing of trains weighing 400 tons at various speeds, only caused an observable deflection not exceedingl£ inch. When Judge Howell was at the bar, Mr. Burgess, a barrister: on circuit, to play a joke, wrote op his hat, caput vacuum (empty head). The hat circulated about, exciting a smile on every countenance except that of the.owner, who deliberately took it up and repeated the words^ and, well knowing the author, addressed the chief justice as follows:—" May it please your lordahip, I ask protection (holding up his hat) ; for I find that Brother Burgess has written his name in my hat, and I have reason to believe that he intends to make off with it."