Short as was his stay in that capital, his profession afforded him an opportunity of being introduced within the walls of the seraglio, and of taking part in a medical consultation on behalf of a patient of the highest rank. After having adverted to the belief of the Turks in predestination, he adds; 'Still, fatalism and apathy have their limits, and the proud infidel, in the hour of sickness, does not disdain to invoke the assistance of the Giaour to delay the approach of death. Of this I had a memorable instance within a few days after my arrival at Terapia, when, very unexpectedly, I received a message from the emperor Selim the third, to visit his mother the sultana Validè. Mr. Pisani, the senior dragoman, was the bearer of this request, and the following morning I set off by water for the seraglio, accompanied by one of the junior dragomans. We were put ashore at a quay near Baktchi Capoussi, where we found a bostanji in waiting, to conduct us to the house of the principal court physician, who lived in a narrow street adjoining the wall of the seraglio. On arriving there, we were informed that he had already gone to see his patient, having left instructions that we should follow him, which we did, entering the gardens by the little white gate (Tauke Chesmè Capoussi) near the chapel of St. Irene. We passed a guard-house of bostanjies on our left, and then proceeded under an avenue of lofty cypress trees, towards a second guard-house, whence we were conducted to a detached pavilion, in which we found the hekim basha, or Turkish physician, Mahmoud Effendi, a Greek physician, named Polychronon, the Kislar Agassi, a hideous Ethiopian, the chief of the black eunuchs; the Hazni Vekili, also a black eunuch, keeper of the privy purse, and some dervises and muftis. After being introduced, and going through the usual routine of pipes, coffee, sherbet, and sweetmeats, Polychronon conversing in Latin entered into a detailed statement of the malady with which the sultana was afflicted, namely, an inveterate quartan ague, of upwards of eighteen months' standing. From this she had recovered more than once, but had relapsed as often, owing, in part, to her own want of due caution, and to the officious interference of a set of muftis who beset her, and forced upon her large draughts of iced water, in which they immersed talismans, assuring her that they would establish her convalescence; but on the contrary, these draughts invariably brought back the cold fits of her ague. Upon the last relapse, some days before I saw her, she had, during the cold paroxysm, been suddenly bereft, in her lower extremities, of all power of motion and sense of feeling; and it was upon this point, and some others also, that my opinion was requested. Indeed I was to decide, as I found, between three of her physicians, who called themselves Boerhaavians, and four others, who professed themselves strict Brownonians, as to the expediency of prescribing a cathartic medicine, the former pressing the absolute necessity of such a remedy after five days' constipation, and the latter most foolishly declaring it to be perfectly inadmissible, according to their interpretation of the doctrine of Brown. This being premised, we all accompanied the Kislar Agassi to an adjoining kiosk, in which was the sultana. After exchanging my shoes at the door for a pair of yellow slippers, papouches, we entered the royal apartments. On a mattrass, or minder, in the middle of the floor, was extended a figure covered with a silk quilting, or macat, richly embroidered. A female figure veiled was kneeling at the side of her pillows, with her back towards the door of entrance, and the Kislar Agassi beckoned to me to kneel down by her side, and examine the pulse of the sultana. Having complied with this request, I expressed a wish to see her tongue and countenance, but that I was given to understand could not be permitted, as I must obtain that information from the report of the chief physician. The most profound silence was observed in the apartment, the eunuchs and physicians conversing only by signs. The Hazni Vekili then took me by the arm, and turned me gently round, with my face towards the door of entrance, over which was a gilded lattice, concealing the emperor Selim, who had placed himself there to witness the visit. Our stay in the room did not exceed fifteen or twenty minutes. The four large windows were shaded externally by gilded lattices, and the intervening pannels were covered with mirrors and arabesque tapestry. The divan, which encircled the chamber, was veiled with crimson cloth, richly embroidered with gold, surrounded with cushions of the same description, and the floor was covered with a superb Persian carpet. On our return to the first pavilion, I, of course, coincided with the Boerhaavians, and wrote a prescription to that effect. Indeed, had she been a princess of any other European court, it is probable that a large bleeding would have been decided upon; but from the ignorance and prejudices of her attendants, I found it impossible to convince them of its necessity; and on considering that the mistakes, real or imaginary, of the Turkish court physicians are frequently visited by the bow-string, I had but little inclination to bring the lives of my colleague into farther jeopardy. The Hekim Bachi and Hazni Vekili therefore carried my prescription and interpreted it to the sultan, who, in return, sent back a complimentary message, and a purse containing one hundred and fifty sequins.' The sultana sank under her illness in the course of a week: but her age was seventy-two; and her son, far from giving way to the barbarous practice of punishing the court physician, signified to him that the event was evidently in the course of nature, and should make no alteration in the confidence which he enjoyed. This prince, deserving of a better fate, was the unfortunate Selim who lost his life by an insurrection of the Janissaries in 1807. ART. VI.-Remarks on the Valley of the Ohio River; made during a passage from Pittsburg to St. Louis; by an officer of the United States' army. THE region drained by the waters that flow into the Ohio river, is decidedly the most interesting part of the United States. The amazing fertility of the soil, the salubrity of its climate, the gigantic structure of its internal communication, and the description of men by which it is populated, are indications of future greatness not to be mistaken. It embraces the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and the remote parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and contains near two hundred thousand square miles of soil invariably productive. Following the Alleghany river three hundred miles above Pittsburg, the Ohio may be said to be navigable for twelve hundred miles from its mouth, a length three times as great as the Susquehannah, including the Chesapeake bay, and as long as the Potomac, Delaware, Hudson, and Connecticut rivers taken together. Through the Monongahela they can communicate with the eastern states, down the Mississippi to the Atlantic-through lake Erie to Quebec or lake Superior, and from the sources of the Missouri to the Pacific ocean. The common interests, reciprocal ties, and dependence, which will for ever bind the people of this singular region, may be somewhat understood by glancing on the map at the positions of Pittsburg and Louisville. The distance between these places is as great as between Boston and Baltimore, and the intermediate country much more fertile:-or go further-descend the river from Pittsburg to its mouth, it is a distance as great as from Charleston to Boston, on both sides of which is a most luxuriant soil, and into which flow immense tributaries, watering a country on which millions can subsist. The whole of this country is dependent on the same narrow channels of communication. What a wonderful bond of political and commercial amity is here!-with a soil so prolific, a navigation so extensive, a population, intelligent, bold, patriotic, and proud; this country excites an interest only to be equalled by the sublime institution it appears destined to perpetuate. The rapid increase of population in this region has been in the ratio of its advantages. The following is a comparison of the relative progress of population between three of the principal states east and three west of the mountains: Pennsylvania, settled in 1651, in 1747, 96 years after, contained a population of 250,000 Massachusetts, Virginia, 1620, 1747, 127 1608, 1747, 139 362 years increase, 220,000 40,000 510,000 Kentucky, settled in 1775, in 1810, 35 years after, contained a population of 406,000 Ohio, 1788, 1810, 22 230,000 261,727 898,227 Independent of numerous villages, three considerable towns are to be found on the banks of the Ohio-Pittsburg in Pennsylvania, Cincinnati in Ohio, and Louisville in Kentucky. Pittsburg, (situated at the junction of two streams, the Monongahela and the Alleghany, both extensively navigable, and the conЯuence of which form the river Ohio,) is already a place of importance. Its position is extremely favorable for the erection of manufactories, and its vicinity abounds in iron and in coal. The strata of coal are found in hills immediately above the town, and the labour of excavation being small and the transportation over a continued descent, it is furnished to the manufacturer uncommonly cheap. This forms the basis of Pittsburg's prosperity. It cannot long retain what was an important source of its increase the entrepot of the western trade. The invention of steam navigation and the construction of the national road from Wheeling to Cumberland will divert that trade into new channels. It has been stated that, in one year, merchandise to the value of thirty millions of dollars passed through Pittsburg, the transportation of which cost a million and a half. The site of Pittsburg was originally selected by the French, who were dispossessed by the English in 1753. Considering that it was not until 1794 that the place was secure from Indian insult, its improvement may be estimated among the most rapid in our country. Although Pittsburg has ceased to be a frontier town, it is still a place of military importance. The facilities here attainable for the fabrication of munitions of war, and the natural conveniencies for their transportation to various parts of the frontier, are advantages wisely taken advantage of by the government. Cincinnati is about four hundred miles below Pittsburg:-it is the largest and most interesting town in the state of Ohio-it is handsomely situated, and having a remarkably rich country in its vicinity, it has increased with rapidity, and promises to attain still greater magnitude. It is a well built, clean, handsome town, with good police, and morals. Industry, enterprise, and attention to education, have contributed to its prosperity. It was laid out in the year 1788, at which time town lots, of half an acre, sold for four dollars each. In 1806, one of these lots produced fifty thousand dollars-an instance of increase in the value of real estate, which elucidates the prosperity of this country. The position of Cincinnati has, notwithstanding, been injudiciously chosen. Fifteen miles further down the river, the Great Miami river approaches within a mile of the Ohio:-at this position a water power of incalculable value could be obtained by a union of the two waters, and the whole produce of the Miami river would flow through it. Louisville is a town in Kentucky, situated at the upper extremity of what are called the falls of the Ohio. This rapid is a serious impediment to the navigation of the river; it is a descent of twen`ty-two and a half feet in two miles, over a bed of limestone. In low water loaded boats cannot descend; at medium state of water, they descend under the direction of pilots who are legally licensed for the purpose; when the water is high, boats pass without danger: nothing, in fact, is then perceived but an increased velocity in the water. Ascending the rapid is difficult, and not often attempted. This obstruction occasions Louisville to be the entrepot for goods arriving from New Orleans and intended for the upper country. If a canal is not constructed round the falls, Louisville will become the most important place on the river Ohio. A work of this kind has long been in agitation, and an effort is now making on the Indiana shore to effect it. Although the distance is short, and the ground favours the undertaking, yet it cannot be effected at a less expense than two hundred thousand dollars. The tolls received cannot remunerate those who invest their money in the stock. When the water is high, boats can pass without paying toll, and it is this period that is generally chosen for descending-during two months in the summer the river is scarcely navigable, and for six weeks in the winter its navigation is seldom attempted. The landholders above the falls are deeply interested and may make sacrifices to complete the canal; but there is so little capital in the country, and its active employment produces such fruitful results, that it is extremely doubtful if so large an amount can be raised, and it is probable that the canal will languish unless stimulated by state or national patronage. The commercial connexion between this country and the eastern states will soon cease-goods can be brought from New Orleans to any part of the valley of the Ohio, for $2 50 or $3 per cwt.-the transportation of the same weight from Baltimore or Philadelphia would cost 7 or 88, besides the produce of the country being carried to New Orleans. If goods are bought at an eastern city, a transfer of funds is necessary, which, in the distracted state of the currency of the country, is attended with difficulty and loss. That New Orleans is not exclusively resorted to has arisen from two causes: 1st. The superior capital and commercial character of the eastern merchants; and, 2d. from the circumstance of there being on the river Ohio no depot at which traders of small resources could obtain their goods. These men have, therefore, to resort to distant markets, and, being dependent on immediate profits, dare not risk a voyage from New-Orleans, when an accident to the steamboat might occasion the loss of a season. Capital, however, is rapidly accumulating, and merchants on the Ohio will soon hold direct communication with European establishments. The remains of Indian mounds or fortifications found throughout this country have been the subject of much investigation and discussion, without producing any satisfactory result. The race of Indians found here by the whites on the first discovery of the country were incapable of constructing them, or of giving any account of their origin. These people then must either have dege |