From the Military and Naval Magazine. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE CONTINENTAL The following sketch has been communicated by an The continental frigate Alliance was built at Salisbury, on the river Merrimack, in Massachusetts. Dale's squadron, met with Captain Vashon, of the British Navy at Gibraltar, who then commanded the Dreadnought, ninety-eight, and was informed by him, that he commanded the English sloop of war before spoken of. Captain Vashon made the most respectful inquiries after Commodore Barry, and stated the facts as they had been frequently related before, by the Commodore himself, and in the most magnanimous terms accorded to that gallant officer, a full and generous portion of his approbation, for the masterly mago-neuvering of the Alliance, on that occasion. Captain Vashon stood high in the British Navy, as a distinguished seaman, and observed, that the commander of the seventy-four, who was then an Admiral, spoke often to him on the subject of their pursuit of the frigate Alliance: always giving the Commander great credit for his conduct. Commodore Barry, on this, as on all other occasions, evinced his love of justice, and spoke of Captain Vashon's conduct, bravery, and ability, in terms of the highest commendation. The alliance with France, in 1778, induced our The Alliance was commanded by many of the most The history of this ship furnishes many pleasant anec dotes, illustrative of great gallantry, and good humor, many of them occurring at periods of time when it would be supposed that the minds of responsible characters were naturally otherwise engaged. The frigate Alliance, while convoying the sloop of war, commanded by Captain Green, from Havanna, having on board the money that founded the Bank of North America, was chased by a seventy-four, and a large sloop of war; the seventy-four and our sloop sailed nearly the same; but the English sloop out-sailed ours, and no doubt would have come up with her, and in all probability, have so injured her masts and sails, as to allow the seventy-four to come up, when she would of course have been taken; on each of those attempts to close with our sloop, Commodore Barry, who took his station on the weather quarter of our sloop, bore down on the English sloop and engaged her. The Alliance being of superior force, the English sloop was compelled to sheer off, and thus the money was preserved, which contributed much to the happy termination of the war with England. In one of the encounters of the Alliance figate and British sloop, a shot entered the corner of the Alli ance's counter, and made its way into a locker, where all the china, belonging to the Captain, was kept; an African servant of the Commodore, a great favorite, ran up to the quarter deck, and called out "Massa, dat dam Ingresse man broke all de chana!" "You rascal,' said the Commodore, "why did you not stop the ball?" "Sha, massa, cannon ball must hab a room. From the Pittsburg Gazette. The late publication of Walpole's Letters, has brought up again the name of this unfortunate officer, who met his fate in our neighborhood. Walpole is not very good authority; in giving the current scandal of the day, he evidently cares more for piquancy than accuracy. That Braddock was rash and opinionative, we know. Dr. Franklin was a good deal in his camp, had much personal intercourse with him, and thus speaks of him in his Memoirs, "This General was, I think, a brave man, and might probably have made a figure as a good officer in some European war. But he had too much self-confidence, too high an opinion of the validity of regular troops, and too mean a one of both Americans and Indians. George Croghan, our Indian interpreter, joined him on his march with 100 of those people, who might have been of great use to his army as guides, scouts, &c., if he had treated them kindly: but he slighted and neglected them, and they gradually left him. In con. versation with him one day, he was giving me some account of his intended progress. After taking Fort Duquesne,' said he, 'I am to proceed to Niagara; and having taken that, to Frontenac, if the season will allow time, and I suppose it will; for Duquesne can hardly detain me above three or four days; and then I see nothing that can obstruct my march to Niagara.' Having before revolved in my mind the long line his army must make in their march by a very narrow road, to be cut for them through the woods and bushes, and also what I had read of a former defeat of 1500 French, who invaded the Illinois country, I had conceived some doubts and some fears for the event of the campaign. But I ventured only to say, 'To be sure, Sir, if you ar rive well before Duquesne, with these fine troops, so well provided with artillery, the fort, though completely fortified, and assisted with a very strong garrison,, can probably make but a short resistance. The only danger, I apprehend, of obstruction to your march, is from the ambuscades of the Indians, who by constant practice, are dextrous in laying and executing them: and the slender line, nearly four miles long, which your army must make, may expose it to be attacked by surprise in its flanks, and to be cut like a thread into several pieces which from their distance cannot come up in time to support each other' He smiled at my ignorance, and replied, "These savages may indeed be a formidable enemy to your raw American militia; but upon the King's regular and disciplined troops, Sir, it is impossi. ble they should make any impression.' I was conscious of an impropriety in my disputing with a military man, in matters of his profession, and said no more. The enemy however did not take the advantage of his army, which I apprehended its long line of march exposed it At the close of the war the Alliance was sold by the government, and purchased by Robert Morris, and Cap tain Green, and with Commodore Dale in the capacity of chief mate, made the first voyage from Philadelphia to China, that ever was attempted out of that port; and little did they suppose, at the time they started, that a small craft from Salem was on her way before them; but such was the fact, for on their arrival in the Indian ocean, they fell in with a small Yankee schooner, and on hailing her, answered from Salem. Captain Green inquired what charts they had: the answer was none, for there were none to be had; but we have Guthrie's grammar. This passage was performed out of season; and it is believed to have been the first ever made out side of New Holland, by an American. Com. Barry, while commanding the Alliance, was chased by the Chatham, sixty-four, off from the entrance of the Delaware bay, and it has been said, that, on that occasion, the ship sailed fifteen knots, and run down the Speedwell, British sloop of war, the commander of which attempted to prevent the escape of the Alliance. The Alliance, after all the wonderful escapes from the enemy, and long and perilous voyages, died a natural death in the port of Philadelphia, and laid her bones on Pellet's Island opposite that city. In the year 1802, an officer attached to Commodore אן to, but let it advance without interruption till within nine miles of the place; and then, when more in a body, (for it had just passed a river, where the front had halted till all were come over,) and in a more open part of the woods than any it had passed, attacked its advanced guard, by a heavy fire from behind trees and bushes; which was the first intelligence the general had of an enemy's being near him. This guard being disordered, the General hurried the troops up to their assistance, which was done in great confusion, through wagons, baggage, and cattle, and presently the fire came upon their flank: the officers being on horseback were more easily distinguished, picked out as marks, and fell very fast; and the soldiers were crowded together in a huddle, having or hearing no orders, and standing to be shot at till two-thirds of them were killed; and then be. ing seized with a panic, the remainder fled with precipitation. The wagoners took each a horse out of his team, and scampered; their example was immediately followed by others; so that all the wagons, provisions, artillery, and stores were left to the enemy. The Ge neral being wounded was brought off with difficulty his secretary, Mr. Shirley, was killed by his side, and out of 86 officers 63 were killed or wounded; and 714 men killed of 1,100. These 1,100 had been picked men from the whole army; the rest had been left behind with Col. Dunbar, who was to follow with the heavier part of the stores, provisions, and baggage. The flyers, not being pursued, arrived at Dunbar's camp, and the panic they brought with them instantly seized him and all his people. And though he had now above 1000 men, and the enemy who had beaten Braddock, did not at most exceed 400 Indians and French together, instead of proceeding and endeavoring to recover some of the lost honor, he ordered all the stores, ammunition, &c. to be destroyed, that he might have more horses to assist his flight towards the settlements, and less lumber to remove. He was there met with requests from the governor of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that he would post his troops on the frontiers, so as to afford some protection to the inhabitants; but he continued his hasty march through all the country, not thinking himself safe till he arrived at Philadelphia, where the inhabitants could protect him. This whole transaction gave us Americans the first suspicion that our exalted ideas of the prowess of British regular troops had not been well founded. "In their first march, too, from their landing till they got beyond the settlements, they had plundered and stripped the inhabitants, totally ruining some poor families, besides insulting, abusing, and confining the people if they remonstrated. This was enough to put us out of conceit of such defenders, if we had really wanted any. How different was the conduct of our French friends in 1781, who, during a march through the most inhabited part of our country, from Rhode Island to Virginia, near 700 miles, occasioned not the smallest complaint, for the loss of a pig, a chicken, or even an apple! part of the unfortunate General. By mere accident, Franklin learned, long afterwards, that Braddock, in his despatches to Government, had borne earnest testimony to the Doctor's zeal and efficiency. "The Secretary's papers, with all the General's orders, instructions, and correspondence, falling into the enemy's hands, they selected and translated into French a number of the articles, which they printed, to prove the hostile intentions of the British Court before the declaration of war. Among these, I saw some letters of the General to the ministry, speaking highly of the great service I had rendered the army, and recommending me to their notice." From the Commercial Herald. We proceed, according to promise, to attempt a ge neral account of the Susquehanna river. The principal branch of the Susquehanna has its rise in the Otsego Lake, in the county of Otsego, and state of New York. This beautiful sheet of water lies about 50 miles north of the boundary line between Pennsylva nia and New York, and about 20 miles south of the Mohawk river, and the Little Falls. At the foot of the lake, and where its outlet forms the infant Susquehan. na, is the beautiful village of Cooperstown, remarkable as the scene of the incidents in the favourite novel of the Pioneers. To that justly celebrated work we must refer for an accurate and yet highly poetical description of the romantic scenery from which the Susque hanna derives its birth. The outlet is narrow, and gives but faint promise of the greatness to which its waters are destined before they mingle with the tides of the ocean. It is said that, during the revolutionary war, on the occasion of an expedition against the Indian settlement in Pennsylvania, a dam was constructed across the outlet, so as to con fine the waters of the lake for some days, and consider ably to raise its level. When the boats were prepared and manned the dam was opened, and the expedition floated for many miles down stream upon the artificial freshet thus produced. This simple expedient was at a late period resorted to with success by the Lehigh Coal Company, for the purpose of forming a descending navigation. It was subsequently abandoned, from conviction that such a navigation could not be permenantly profitable, and the noble canal from Mauch Chunk to Easton was substituted in its place. Besides the stream issuing from the Otsego Lake, two other head branches of the Susquehanna of nearly equal importance, the Unadilla and the Chenango, rise in the same neighbourhood. Every one accustomed to examine a map with a view to practical results will be struck by the proximity of the head waters of the Susquehanna to the Mohawk river, in the valley of which lies the great New York canal. We have said that Otsego Lake is 20 miles south of the Mohawk at the Little Falls. The head waters of the Unadilla are about the same distance from Herkimer on the Mo "Captain Orme was one of the General's aids de camp, and being grievously wounded, was brought off with him, and continued with him to his death, which happened in a few days, told me that he was totally si-hawk, and those of the Chenango an equal distance lent all the first day, and at night only said, "Who would have thought it?" That he was silent again the following day, saying only at last, "We shall better know how to deal with them another time;" and died in a few minutes after." The Doctor mentions one anecdote of a favorable cast: "As to rewards from himself, I asked only one, which was, that he would give orders to his officers not to enlist any more of our bought servants, and that he would discharge such as had been already enlisted. This he readily granted, and several were accordingly returned to their masters, on my application.” In another circumstance, we are bound to recognize a just and elevated, though reserved temper, on the from Utica. To this we may add, that the head of the Cayuga Lake, which is navigable by steam boats, is only 30 miles distant from the Susquehanna river at Owego. A knowledge of these facts has given rise to various projects for connecting the Susquehanna with the New York canal. Of these the Chenango canal, commenc ing at the village of Binghampton, at the confluence of the Chenango and Susquehanna, and terminating at the Mohawk, and a rail road from Ithaca to Owego are per fectly practicable and have already been undertaken with spirit. Of the importance of these communications to Pennsylvania, especially as affording an outlet for the coal of the Wyoming valley, and the bituminous coal of the Tioga and West Branch, we shall have occasion to speak hereafter. From the Otsego Lake the Susquehanna flows in a southerly direction for about 20 miles, then turns to the southwest, and at the end of 20 miles more receives the Unadilla. After continuing the same course for about 10 miles, it suddenly turns to the south and enters Pennsylvania, at what is properly called the Great Bend. Turning again to the northwest it again enters New York, and assuming a course about west by south, finally enters Pennsylvania three miles above Tioga Point, where it receives the Tioga river. The Great Bend is remarkable as the point where the Delaware and Susquehanna approach nearest to each other the former making a great curve to the west, and the latter to the east-so that the distance between The courses of the Susquehanna and of the Tioga, from their heads to the point of junction, lie entirely in the secondary formation, north and west of the great mountain range which we have heretofore described as the Allegheny. Their valleys thus far are distinctly marked by the characteristics of that formation. The streams themselves are gentle, without falls or rapids, and skirted by rich alluvial bottoms, affording great profit to the farmer. Their banks abound also with timber of the first quality. A very large proportion of the lumber and agricultural produce which annually descend the Susquehanna, are supplied from these regions. as others. Shortly after receiving the Tioga, the Susquehanna them in a right line does not exceed 15 miles, Above commences its passage through the Allegheny mounand below the Great Bend, there is a singular parallel-tain, and its entrance into the transition formation. As ism between the course of the two rivers, which seems to the precise point where this is effected, there seems to indicate that the same obstacles interposed by the to be some difference of opinion, though all agree in mountains have diverted them from pursuing a right line placing it between Towanda and Tunkhannock. Beto the ocean. Compare, for example, the Delaware tween the former place and the mouth of the Lackafrom the north line of the state to Carpenter's Point, wannock, a marked change is observable in the characwith the Susquehanna from Tioga Point to the mouthter of the river. Its shores have become frequently of the Lackawanna. Both run south east, and preserve a rugged and mountainous with only occasional strips of uniform distance. At Carpenter's Point, and at the alluvial land-and it is evident, that the Susquehanna has mouth of Lackawanna, which stand on nearly the same commenced its struggle with the great mountain ranges parallel of latitude, the rivers make an abrupt bend to which continue to oppose its passage throughout the the southwest-which course the Delaware pursues to rest of its course. the Water Gap, and the Susquehanna to Northumber. Just above the mouth of the Lackawanock, the river berland. At these points respectively, they turn to the breaks through the mountain which forms the western south, and keep that course until one reaches the mouth boundary of the Wyoming Valley. From that point to of Durham creek, and the other the mouth of the Juni- the Nanticoke Falls, 18 miles below, it continues to ata. From the mouth of Juniata to the head of the flow in that beautiful valley. At Nanticoke it breaks Chesapeake Bay, the course of the Susquehanna is out through the same mountain which it has already south east, and parallel to that of the Delaware between passed, and which it again overcomes about eight miles Durham and Bordentown. At Bordentown, the Dela- lower down. It is difficult to account for this singular ware having entered the alluvial ground of the sea and apparently useless freak of the otherwise dignified coast, and being released from those obstacles which and onward Susquehanna, It looks like the mere impede the Susquehanna, to its very mouth, chooses wantonness of conscious strength, a sort of Sam Patch its own path, and assumes a southwest course, converg-ambition to show that some things may be done as well ing towards the Susquehanna, which is continued to a point two miles below New Castle, where it loses itself in Delaware Bay. At this point the distance in a The Wyoming Valley, one of the great deposits of right line to the Susquehanna, does not exceed 25 anthracite coal, follows the Susquehanna from Nantimiles and next to that of the Great Bend, it is the coke Falls north eastward, to the mouth of the Lakanearest approach which the two make. At intermedi-wanna, a distance of 18 miles. It then leaves the river ate points their distance apart is generally from 60 to 70 miles-and in some places amounts to 90 or 100 miles. We have been thus particular in comparing the courses of the two rivers, at the expense of some departure from regular order, because a knowledge of such things From Nanticoke Falls, the river pursues a W. S. W. is indispensably necessary to a proper understanding of the great communications of the country. Most of the course, through a part of what we have described as important roads and other improvements have been rethe Central mountainous region, to Northumberland, gulated in some degree by these facts. At Tioga Point, where it receives the West Branch-a stream nearly the Susquehanna is increased in volume by the acces equal to itself in magnitude. At Nanticoke occurs the sion of the Tioga-a river almost equal to itself in mag- first falls of any importance, or which seriously obnitude and interest. The main branch of Tioga has its struct the navigation. It is caused by the rocky base rise in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and on the wesof the mountain which the river has broken through. tern slope of the Great Allegheny mountain. Its head It has nothing, however, of the cataract character, and waters interlock with those of Lycoming and Pine in high water is casily passed in arks and rafts. creek, tributaries of the west branch, and of the Towan- Berwick again, something like a fall occurs, but in geda, a tributary of the north branch, which we have re-neral, the current of the river above Northumberland is garded as the main Susquehanna. An immense deposit gentle, and its channel safe, when compared with what of bituminous coal, with its usual accompaniment of it is below. salt springs, distinguishes the region in which these streams take their rise. A desire to bring this mineral to market, has given rise to a number of projects for canals and rail roads in the northern part of the state. The Tioga at its source, is distant in a right line to the Susquehanna at Towanda, about 25 miles. The nature of the intervening ground, however, forbids a diFor 40 or 45 miles it flows nearly north, to the Painted Post in the state of New York, where it receives the Canisteo and Conhocton, two important The head springs of the West Branch are in the tributaries, which drain the counties of Steuben and Al-county of Cambria, on the west side of the Allegheny legheny, in that state; it then pursues a course east by mountain. Its course is at first north and north east, south till it reaches Pennsylvania, and joins the Susque-parallel to that ridge, through Cambria and Clearfield hanna at Tioga Point about 15 miles above Towanda. counties, till it enters Lycoming, and receives the Sin rect course. and follows the course of the Lakawanna, to near its head a distance of probably 40 miles. Throughout this whole range of 58 miles, coal is found in the greatest abundance. At Wilkesbarre, Kingston, Pittston, and Carbondale, it is extensively worked. At In our next we shall describe the West Branch, and follow the main river to its mouth. No. 11. Our last having been occupied with an examination of the North and main branch of the Susquehanna, from its various sources to Northumberland, we proceed to a similar inquiry in reference to the West Branch. На nemahoning, an important tributary from the north. Soon after receiving the Sinnemahoning it turns to the south east, so as to impinge at right angles upon the line of the Allegheny mountain, with which it comes in contact a short distance above the mouth of the Bald Eagle, or about 75 miles above Northumberland, ving broken through this obstacle, it pursues an easterly course inclining to North, for about 30 miles parallel to an important spur of the Allegheny, called Muncy Hill, which latter it finally breaks near the village of Pennsborough, forming at the pass the Muncy Ripples. Here the river, weary of its long struggle with natural impediments, turns abruptly to the south, and taking the most direct route to the ocean, joins the North Branch at Northumberland, 25 miles below Pennsborough. The most important tributaries of the West Branch are Lycoming, Loyalsock, Pine creek, and Sinnemahoning, which it receives from the north, and the Bald Eagle and Clearfield creeks, which enter from the south. The valleys of the Bald Eagle and Loyalsock are distinguished for natural fertility and productive cultivation. The valley of the West Branch itself, below Pine creek, and a number of small lateral valleys communicating with it, in Union, Northumberland, and Lycom ing counties, constitute to our eye, the most beautiful and attractive portion of the state. This section rests upon limestone of the finest quality, and it presents bottom lands which almost vie in extent and depth of soil with those of Kentucky. The worst we know of it are the names which have been given to the valleys referred to. What think our readers of Nippanose valley, White Deer hole valley, Musquito valley, Dry valley, and Black-hole valley? Would they be led to expect from such unpromising names a land flowing with the bounties of nature. Is there no "commodity of good names" for our friends of the region bounding on the West Branch? The principal depots for this rich section of country are Lewisburg, otherwise called Derrstown, Milton, Pennsborough, and Williamsport. If any one will examine our daily list of arrivals at the Fair Mount locks, he will see how large a proportion of the wheat, rye, flour and whiskey, received in Philadelphia, comes from these places, and he may form a tolerable idea of the importance of the region referred to. Danville, in Columbia county, is also a depot for a portion of Northumberland and Lycoming. The Loyalsock valley finds its outlet at Berwick, on the North Branch, which latter supplies the coal districts of the Lehigh with the necessaries of life. Pottsville and the adjacent region receive a similar supply from the country we have described on the West Branch. Above the mouth of Pine creek, the valleys of the West Branch and of its tributaries assume an entirely different character. It is decidedly the least settled, and with a few exceptions, the least promising section of the state. The general aspect of the country is wild, rugged, and inhospitable, and it must be years before any thing like a dense population can be gathered to it. Its chief dependence must be on the bituminous coal which is found there in great abundance. Occasional spots nevertheless occur, which will fully repay the agriculturist, whenever a cheap communication with a market shall be opened. The circumstance that the West Branch has its rise west of the Allegheny mountain, gave to that stream great interest and importance during the period when Pennsylvania was preparing to embark in her great scheme of internal improvements, and while the route of the canals remained undecided. As the dividing ridge between the West Branch and the waters of the Allegheny was known to be lower than the Allegheny mountain, which separates the Juniata from the Conemaugh, it was hoped it might admit of a complete water communication between Philadelphia and Pittsburg. An object so interesting was not abandoned until the most laborious investigation decided on its impracticability, at least for any useful purposes of trade. It was ascertain ed that though such a communication might be made, still it could not be so supplied with water as to answer the purposes of the great trade between the east and the west. From the surveys thus made, embracing the whole dividing ground between the eastern and western waters, from about the middle of Cambria county, to the north line of the state, nearly all our knowledge of the topography of that region is derived. The published maps are far from accurate, having been compiled from county surveys, very carelessly made, and founded probably upon conjectures as much as upon actual observation. Some of the facts elicited by the surveys made under the direction of the canal commissioners, are well worthy of notice. the waters of the Atlantic and of the Gulf of Mexico,lies The lowest known summit in Pennsylvania between in the northeastern part of Indiana county, at the head of Cushing creek, one of the head springs of the West Branch, and divides that stream from Two-lick, a branch of the Conemaugh. This dividing ground is probably (speaking from recollection without the opportunity of referring to documents) about 500 feet lower than the this summit and to another between Sinnemahoning and Allegheny mountain at its most depressed point. To Clarion river, the hopes of those who expected a com. plete navigable communication through the state, were principally directed. By the surveys made of the last named summit, it was ascertained that the waters of the Clarion river, ta ken out a few miles above its forks, and where the stream is quite copious at all seasons, might be carried across it with the aid of an inconsiderable tunnel. But such was the circuitous route by which a feeder must be brought, and such the expense of its construction, that the project was necessarily abandoned. Judge Geddes in his report on this survey, states a singular fact, that an enterprising emigrant some years ago, ascended the Portage branch of the Sinnemahoning in his canoe to its head, and with the aid of his hoe, succeeded in connecting it with a small stream running towards the Allegheny. The same thing might occur at other points of the dividing ridge, where the head springs of the Allegheny and of the Susquehanna streams lie within a few yards of each other. At the head of Bennet's branch of the Sinnemahoning is an extensive marsh called Flag Swamp, from which, in wet seasons, the water flows both ways, and where, at such seasons, the summit might easily be passed by a canoe. This point is remarkable as probably the only one in Pennsylvania where the Beaver may be found. Every where else they have been driven out by the approach of human footsteps. In the same region a few elks still remain. These two circumstances indicate that the wilderness character of the region has been fully preserved. The following extracts from the report of Judge Geddes upon his survey of the West Branch and Sinnemahoning will give a just idea of the character of those streams. Speaking of the Sinnemahoning he says: Margins of arable land bosomed among the mountains are found along the stream, sometimes very narrow, but seldom too narrow, or too circumscribed for the adventurous mountaineer to set a house on. Instead of roads, they, on the water with their canoes, convey ev ery thing. If a wagon is found on some of the best farms, it was brought there by water and is destined to move only on the ground of the owner, or perhaps to his next neighbor. A pack horse path has been made through the whole of this seventy-one miles, and the canal line is run on the same side, always crossing the stream with the path. At very many of the narrows, the same side of the stream cannot be occupied by both the road and the canal; a width for both would fill up the whole water course. A canal being made here a road, and one for carriages too, would be indispen sable, and it must be made on the opposite side from the during the earlier part of the Revolutionary war, at this canal, and at a great expense. Of the West Branch he says "Another unlooked for character in the West Branch, is there being deep still water at the foot of all the high rocky precipices, which have their bases washed by the stream; throwing the canal consequently into the river bed. The stream here, has made its way along the valleys among the mountains, and not across their course as below Northumberland, and no rocks run across the bottom to the opposite shore. Where the river runs at the steep mountain's base, a section of the earth would show the same degree of steepness, below the water's surface, that is seen above it; the bottom being a formation from the disintegrated rocks above. At one place the wall to support the canal along the the face of the rocks, would be based in water thirteen feet deep. The depth of the water and the height of the flood-line will, in some places, require a wall full thirty feet high. Below Sunbury, a contrary feature is uniformly found to prevail; the river runs across the ranges of mountains, and having passed over low places in them, has carried away all that was soluble; the rocks remaining make rapids and shallow water opposite all the narrows. This character of the Susquehanna continues not only to the mouth of Juniata, but to tide." The Pennsylvania system of internal improvement embraces a canal along the West Branch from Northumberland to the mouth of Bald Eagle creek. This will afford an outlet to the Iron of Centre, Lycoming, and Union counties, which exists in immense quantities, and is of excellent quality. The southern counties of New York are at this time supplied with iron from the same region. The traffic is carried on in the winter season, by means of sleds, which come in,loaded with salt, and take back a return cargo of iron. The bituminous coal of the West Branch, extending over a large part of Lycoming, Centre, and Clearfield counties, will also constitute an important item in the trade of the canal. Add to this the agricultural produce of the rich country between Pine creek and Northumberland, and there can be no reason to doubt that the state will receive a rich return for its expenditure on the canal. He time had ventured to occupy a cabin at the distance of several miles from any settlement. One morning in field at a considerable distance from the house, he beMay, 1781, having sent his youngest children out to a came uneasy about them, and repaired to the spot where they were working, armed as usual with a good rifle. While sitting upon the fence, and giving some directions as to their work, he observed two Indians on the other side of the field, gazing earnestly upon the party. instantly called to the children to make their escape, while he should attempt to cover their retreat. The odds were greatly against him, as in addition to other circumstances; he was nearly seventy years of age, and of course unable to contend with his enemies in running. The house was more than a mile distant, but the children having two hundred yards the start, and being effectually covered by their father, were soon so far in front, that the Indians turned their attention entirely to the old man. He ran for several hundred yards with an activity which astonished himself, but perceiving that he would be overtaken, he fairly turned at bay, and prepared for a strenuous resistance. The woods through which they were running were very thin, and consisted almost entirely of small trees, behind which it was difficult to obtain proper shelter. When Morgan adopted the above mentioned resolution, he had just passed a large walnut tree, which stood like a patriarch among the sapplings which surrounded it, and it became necessary to run back about ten steps in or der to regain it. The Indians became startled at the sudden advance of the fugitive, and were compelled to halt among a cluster of sapplings, where they anxiously strove to shelter themselves. This, however, was impossible, and Morgan, who was an excellent marksman, saw enough of one of them to justify him in risking a shot. His enemy instantly fell, mortally wounded. The other Indian taking advantage of Morgan's empty gun, sprung from his shelter and advanced rapidly. The man having no time to reload his gun, was compelled to fly a second time. The Indian gained rapidly upon him, and when within twenty steps, fired, but with so unsteady an aim,that Morgan struck with the butt of his gun, and the Indian whirled his tomahawk at one and the same moment. Both blows took effect-and both were at once wounded and disarmed. The breech of the rifle was broken against the Indian's skull, and the edge of the tomahawk was shattered against the barrel of the rifle, having cut off two of the fingers of Morgan's left hand. The Indian then attempted to draw his knife: Morgan grappled him and bore him to the ground. A furious struggle ensued, in which the old man's strength failed, and the Indian succeeded in turning him,-planting his knee on the breast of his enemy, and yelling loudly, as is usual with them upon any turn of fortune; he again felt for his knife in order to terminate the struggle at once-but having lately stolen a 578 06 woman's apron, and tied it around his waist, his knife 783 85 was so much confined, that he had great difficulty in 1956 59 finding the handle. Morgan, in the mean time, being 740 75 a regular pugilist, according to the custom of Virginia, and perfectly at home in a ground struggle, took ad. vantage of the awkwardness of the Indian, and got one of the fingers of his right hand between his teeth. The Indian tugged and roared in vain, struggling to extricate it. Morgan held him fast, and began to assist him in hunting for the knife. Each seized it at the same moment, the Indian by the blade, and Morgan by the handle, but with a slight hold. The Indian having the firmest hold, began to draw the knife further out of its sheath, when Morgan suddenly giving his finger a furious bite, twitched the knife dexterously through his hand, cutting it severely. Both now sprung to their feet, Morgan brandishing his adversary's knife, and still holding his fingers between his teeth. In vain the poor Indian struggled to get away-rearing, plunging, and bolting like an unbroken colt. The teeth of the white In our next we shall follow the Susquehanna from Northumberland to tide-water. STATEMENT OF TOLLS taken at the State bridge at April, $1212 06 4,416 62 3159 25 906 54 898 65 1203 00 3007 19 Harrisburg Chronicle. PERILOUS ADVENTURE. *Note-The bridge was impassable for nearly two months. |