SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

Zaasais.

Commerce of the Prairies ; or the Journal of a Santa Fe Trader. during eight Ex- peditions across the Great Western Prairies and a Residence of nearly nine years in Northern Mexico. Illustrated with Maps and Engravings. By Josiah Gregg. In two volumes Wiley and Putnam. V.11w. Awn. An Enciclupledia of Domestic Economy: comprising such subjects as are most im- mediately connected with housekeepiug,—as the construction of domestic edifices. with the modes of warming, ventilating, and lighting them ; a description of the various articles of furniture, with the nature of their materials; duties of servants ; & general account of the animal and vegetable substances used as food. and the methods of preserving and preparing them by cooking ; making bread ; the che- mical nature and the preparation of all kinds of fermented liquors used as beve- rage ; materials employed in dress and the toilet ; business of the laundry ; de- scription of the various wheel-carriages ; presenation et health ; domestic medi- cine. &c. &c. By Thomas Webster, F.G.S.. Sze. Assisted by the late Mrs. Parkes, Author of " Domestic Duties." Illustrated with nearly one thousand wood-cuts. UROLOGY. Longman and Co. Sermons. By Samuel Wilberforce, M.A., Chaplain to his Royal Hieheess Prince Albert, and Archdeacon of Surrey Moms; Parker, Oxford.

Porrar,

The Enchanted Rose; a Romaunt, in three Cantos. Translated from the German

of Ernst Schulze, by Caroline De Crespigny Longman and Co.

JOSIAH GREGG'S COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES.

MR. GREGG'S health had been gradually declining under a " com- plication of chronic disorders,'—or, judging from the result, his digestive and nervous systems were very much out of order. While he was in this condition, " scarcely able to walk across his cham- ber," his physicians prescribed a favourite American remedy—a tour upon the Prairies. Provided with a " dearborn," the carriage of the far West, and various little articles of luxury for an invalid, our au- thor joined himself to a trading caravan about to start for Santa Fe, the frontier town of Mexico ; and left Independence, the last settle- ment on the Missouri, in May 1831. Before a week elapsed, Mr. GREGG bad quitted his carriage, saddled his pony, and when the caravan reached the buffalo-range, was not only as eager for the chase as the sturdiest of his companions, but enjoyed "far more exquisitely his share of the buffalo than all the delicacies which were ever de- vised to provoke the most fastidious appetite." The consequence was, not only a perfect restoration of health, but a love for adventurous 'life, which induced him to embark in the Santa Fe trade himself. In this vocation he continued till the late closing of the frontier- towns against the over-land trade ; having crossed the Prairies .eight times, and sojourned in Mexico for parts of nine years,—that is, the caravans start in the spring, remain some time in Mexico to transact their business, and then return in the autumn : but Mr. GREGG appears only occasionally to have accompanied his goods, having established a " house " in Mexico. ,Accustomed from youth to keep a diary, Mr. GREGG did not ediscontinue the practice when roaming the wilderness or living emong the very primitive society of Northern Mexico. From his Awn memorandums, oral information, and the assistance afforded by the journals of some fellow-traders, he has compiled these volumes ; (which exhibit his knowledge in three phases,—first, a narrative of his most remarkable trips across the Prairies, and ofseveral journies through the interior of Mexico ; second, a descriptive account of ihe Indians of the Southern Prairies and the Northern Mexicans; `third, some digested information respecting the over-land trade from the United States to Mexico.

In some particulars Mr. GREGG is a superior person to the xnajority of the American ready-made travellers who have .published narratives of their rapid journeyings through different parts of the hemisphere. His education appears to have been of a higher kind, rising even to scientific ; for he represents himself as capable of taking geographical observations. He has also less ,dogmatism in his tone, less onesidedness in his views, and more of that tolerant spirit which distinguishes persons who by large ex- perience or extensive reading have shaken off the prejudices of the 'vulgar. His style, however, is less vivacious than that of the go-ahead gentry ; nor does he deal in so many moving accidents by

,Sood or field, or at least make so much of them. The Commerce of the Prairies gives us the reality, not the romance.

Beyond his practical information upon the over-land trade, with some particulars respecting the Indians, and the present state of ;society in Mexico, Mr. GREGG'S book does not add anything to our general ,knowledge beyond what KEIVDALL's and FAS.NBAM'S narratives supply ; whilst it is deficient in the fearful privations FARNHAM underwent in the route between the Mexican frontier and the Oregon territory, and wants the larger historical interest of KENDALL s Texan Expedition, with the subsequent capture and confinement of the heroes. It is also less striking in its narrative than either of those works; Mr. GREGG being less skilful as a mere literary artist, though, we incline to think, a more trustworthy 'describer. There is less of the wonderful : yet many of his inci- dents are sufficiently strange or touching. Here is an instance, in the doings of a PROVINCIAL REVOLUTION IN MEXICO.

Knowing that they would not be safe in Santa Fe, the refugees pursued their flight Southward, but were soon overtaken by the exasperated Pueblos; when the Governor was chased back to the suburbs of the city, and savagely -pat to death. His body was then stripped and shockingly mangled : his head was carried as a trophy to the camp of the insurgents, who made a football of tamong themselves. I had left the city the day before this sad catastrophe teekplace, and beheld the Indians scouring the fields in pursuit of their vic- -gins, though I was yet ignorant of their barbarous designs. I saw them Bur- lonnd a house and drag from it the Secretary of State, Jesus Maria Alarid, jenerally known by the soubriquet of El Chico. He, and some other principal characters who had also taken refuge among the ranchos, were soon afterwards stripped and scourged, and finally pierced through and through with lances ; a mode of assassination styled in the vernacular of the country e laiszadas. Don Santiago Abreu, formerly Governor, and decidedly the most famed cha- racter of N. Mexico, was butchered in a still more barbarous manner. They cut off his bands, pulled out his eyes and tongue, and otherwise mutilated his body ; taunting him all the while with the crimes he was accused of, by shaking the shorn members in his face. Thus perished nearly a dozen of the most conspicuous men of the obnoxious party; whose bodies lay for several days ex- posed to the beasts and birds of prey. On the 9th of August, about two thousand of the insurgent mob, including the Pueblo Indians. pitched their camp in the suburbs of the capital. The horrors of a sagueo (or plundering of the city) were now anticipated by every one. The American traders were particularly uneasy, expecting every instant that their lives and property would fall a sacrifice to the ferocity of the rabble. But, to the great and most agreeable surprise of all, no outrage of any import- ance was committed upon either inhabitant or trader. A great portion of the insurgents remained in the city for about two days; during which, one of their boldest leaders, Jose Gonzalez of Taos, a good honest hunter but a very igno- rant man, was elected for Governor. The first step of the revolutionists was to seize all the property of their pro- scribed or murdered victims, which was afterwards distributed among the victors by a decree of the Asamblea general ; that being the title by which a council summoned together by Governor Gonzalez, and composed of all the alcaldes and principal characters of the territory, was dignified. The families of the unfortunate victims of this revolutionary movement were thus left destitute of everything; and the foreign merchants who had given the officers credit to a large amount upon the strength of their reputed property and salaries, re- mained without a single resource with which to cover their demands.

Among the incidents of life on the confines of Mexico, is the loss of women and children by the forcible abduction of the Prairie Indians; whose captives generally settle down contentedly into the savage life. Mr. GREGG, who encountered some of these persona, thus describes the scene.

" One woman, 1 observed, still lingered among the waggons, who, from cer- tain peculiarities of features, struck me very forcibly as not being an Indian. In accordance with this impression, I addressed her in Spanish, and was soon confirmed in all my suspicions. She was from the neighbourhood of Mata- moros, sod had been married to a Comanche since her captivity. She did not entertain the least desire of returning to her own people. • "My attention was next attracted by a sprightly lad, ten or twelve years old, whose nationality could scarcely be detected under his Indian guise. Bat, though quite Indianized,' he was exceedingly polite. 1 inquired of him in Spanish, Are you not a Mexican ? ' Yes, Sir, I once was.' What is your name?' Bernardino Seems, Sir, at your service.' When and where were you taken ? " About four years ago, at the Hacienda de las Animas, near Patrol." Shan't we buy you, and take you to your people ?—we are going thither.' At this he hesitated a little, and then answered in an affecting tone, 'No, Senor; ya soy demasiado bruit pare vivir entre los Cristianos ' (0b, not Sir ; 1 am now too much of a brute to live among Chi istiana) ; adding, that his owner was not there, and that he knew the Indian in whose charge he cams

would not sell him. • •

" Out of half-a-dozen Mexican captives that happened to be with our new viaiters, we only met with one who manifested the slightest inclination to abandon Indian life. This was a stupid boy about fifteen years of age, who had probably been roughly treated on account of his laziness. We very soon struck a bargain with his owner, paying about the price of a mule for the little outcast, whom I sent to his family as soon as we reached Chihuahua. Notwithstanding the inherent stupidity of my protégé, I found him abundan4 grateful—much to his credit, be it spoken—for the little service I had been abk to render him."

TAILING, A NEW SPORT.

Among the Vaqueros, and even among persons of distinction, el eoleo (tail- ing) is a much nobler exercise than the preceding, and is also generally reserved for days of festivity. For this sport the most untractable ox or bull is turned loose upon a level common ; when all the parties who propose to join in the amusement, being already mounted, start off in pursuit of him. The most successful rider, as soon as he gets near enough to the bull, seizes him by the tail, and with a sudden manoeuvre whirls him topsy-turvy upon the plain, to the no little risk of breaking his own neck, should his horse stumble or be tripped by the legs of the falling bull.

CHEROKEE INSOLVENTS LAW.

On the 28th of April we crossed the Arkansas river, a few miles above the mouth of the Canadian fork. We had only proceeded a short distance beyond when a Cherokee shopkeeper came up to us with an attachment for debt against a free Mulatto, whom we had engaged as teamster. The poor fellow bad no alternative but to return with the importunate creditor, who committed him at once to the care of "Judge Lynch" for trial. We ascertained after- wards that he had been sentenced to "take the benefit of the bankrupt taw" after the manner of the Cherokees of that neighbourhood- This . stripping and tying the victim to a tree; when each creditor, with a V.0,4"':'iS hide or hickory switch in his hand, scores the amount of the bill due upok'lmi bare back. One stripe for every dollar due is the usual process of " white- washing "; and as the application of the lash is accompanied by all sorts of quaint remarks, the exhibition affords no small merriment to those present, with the exception, no doubt, of the delinquent himself. After the ordeal is over, the creditors declare themselves perfectly satisfied : nor could they, as is said, ever be persuaded thereafter to receive one red cent of the amount due, even if it were offered to them. As the poor Mulatto was also in our debt, and was perhaps apprehensive that we might exact payment in the same currency, he never showed himself again.