RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LAND-FEVER.

Mr. Co. Ml. If Kudland

BY THE AUTHOR OF A NEW HOME.'

THE years 1835 and 1836 will long be remembered by the Western settler and perhaps by some few people at the East, too as the period when the madness of speculation in lands had reached a point to which no historian of the time will ever be able to do justice. A faithful picture of those wild days would subject the most veracious chronicler to the charge of exaggeration; and our great-grand-children can hope to obtain an adequate idea of the infatuation which led away their forefathers, only by the study of such detached facts as may be noted down by those in whose minds the feeling recollection of the delusion is still fresh. Perhaps when our literary existence shall have become sufficiently confirmed to call for the collection of Ana, something more may be gleaned from the correspondence in which were embodied the exultings of the successful, and the lamentations of the disappointed. But for the present, let us not neglect to store in the enduring pages of the KNICKERBOCKER even the slightest reminiscences connected with the first gigantic bubble from which our country has suffered.

Seeing is believing,' certainly, in most cases; but in the days of the land-fever we who were in the midst of the infected district scarcely found it so. The whirl, the fervor, the flutter, the rapidity of step, the sparkling of eyes, the beating of hearts, the striking of hands, the utter abandon of the hour, were incredible, inconceivable. The 'man of one idea' was every where: no man had two. He who had no money, begged, borrowed, or stole it; he who had, thought he made a generous sacrifice, if he lent it at cent per cent. The tradesman forsook his shop; the farmer his plough; the merchant his counter; the lawyer his office; nay, the minister his desk, to join the general chase. Even the school-master, in his longing to be abroad' with the rest, laid down his birch, or in the flurry of his hopes, plied it with dim'uished unction:

'Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode,
Splash! splash! along the sea!'

The man with one leg, or he that had none, could at least get on board a steamer, and make for Chicago or Milwaukie; the strong, the able, but above all, the enterprising,' set out with his pocketmap and his pocket-compass, to thread the dim woods, and see with his own eyes. Who would waste time in planting, in building, in hammering iron, in making shoes, when the path to wealth lay wide and flowery before him?

A ditcher was hired by the job to do a certain piece of work in his line. Well, John, did you make any thing?'

:

'Pretty well; I cleared about two dollars a day but I should have made more by standing round;'* i. e., watching the land-market for bargains.

* Verbatim.

This favorite occupation of all classes was followed by its legitimate consequences. Farmers were as fond of 'standing round' as any body; and when harvest time came, it was discovered that many had quite forgotten that the best land requires sowing; and graiu, and of course other articles of general necessity, rose to an unprecedented price. The hordes of travellers flying through the country in all directions, were often cited as the cause of the distressing scarcity; but the true source must be sought in the diversion, or rather suspension, of the industry of the entire population. Be this as it may, of the wry faces made at the hard fare, the travellers contributed no inconsiderable portion; for they were generally city gentlemen, or at least gentlemen who had lived long enough in the city to have learned to prefer oysters to salt pork. This checked not their ardor, however, for the golden glare before their eyes had power to neutralize the hue of all present objects. On they pressed, with headlong zeal: the silent and pathless forest, the deep miry marsh, the gloom of night, and the fires of noon, beheld alike the march of the speculator. Such searching of trees for town lines! Such ransacking of the woods for section corners, ranges, and base lines! Such anxious care in identifying spots possessing particular advantages! And then, alas! after all, such pre

cious blunders!

These blunders called into action another class of operators, who became popularly known as 'land-lookers.' These met you at every turn, ready to furnish water-power,' pine-lots,' choice farming tracts,' or any thing else, at a moment's notice. Bar-rooms and streetcorners swarmed with these prowling gentry. It was impossible to mention any part of the country which they had not personally surveyed. They would tell you, with the gravity of astrologers, what sort of timber predominated on any given tract, drawing sage deductions as to the capabilities of the soil. Did you incline to city property? Lo! a splendid chart, setting forth the advantages of some unequalled site, and your confidential friend, the land-looker, able to tell you more than all about it, or to accompany you to the happy spot; though that he would not advise; 'bad roads,' nothing fit to eat,' etc.; and all this from a purely disinterested solicitude for your welfare.

These amiable individuals were, strange to tell, no favorites with the actual settlers. If they disliked the gentleman speculator, they hated with a perfect hatred him who aided by his local knowledge the immense purchases of non-residents. These short-sighted and prejudiced persons forgot the honor and distinction which must result from their insignificant farms being surrounded by the possessions of the magnates of the land. They saw only the solitude which would probably be entailed on them for years; and it was counted actual treason in a settler to give any facilities to the land-looker, of whatever grade. Let the land-shark do his own hunting; was their frequent reply to applications of this kind; and some thought them quite right. Yet this state of feeling among the Hard-handed, was not without its inconvenient results to city gentlemen, as witness the case of our friend Mr. Willoughby, a very prim and smart bachelor, from

It was when the whirlwind was at its height, that a gentleman

wearing the air of a bank-director, at the very least in other words, that of an uncommonly fat pigeon - drew bridle at the bars in front of one of the roughest log houses in the county of -. The horse and his rider were loaded with all those unnecessary defences, and cumbrous comforts, which the fashion of the time prescribed in such cases. Blankets, valise, saddle-bags, and holsters nearly covered the steed; a most voluminous enwrapment of India-rubber cloth completely enveloped the rider. The gallant sorrel seemed indeed fit for his burden. He looked as if he might have swam any stream in Michigan:

'Barded from counter to tail,

And the rider arm'd complete in mail;'

yet he seemed a little jaded, and hung his head languidly, while his master accosted the tall and meagre tenant of the log cabin.

This individual and his dwelling resembled each other, in an unusual degree. The house was, as we have said, of the roughest; its ribs scarcely half filled in with clay; its looped and windowed raggedness' rendered more conspicuous by the tattered cotton sheets which had long done duty as glass, and which now fluttered in every breeze; its roof of oak shingles, warped into every possible curve; and its stick chimney, so like its owner's hat, open at the top, and jammed in at the sides; all shadowed forth the contour and equipments of the exceedingly easy and self-satisfied person who leaned on the fence, and snapped his long cart-whip, while he gave such answers as suited him to the gentleman in the India-rubbers, taking especial care not to invite him to alight.

loughby.

6

'civilly began Mr. Wil

Oh! friend!' interrupted the settler; who told you I was your friend? Friends is scuss in these parts.'

'You have at least no reason to be otherwise,' replied the traveller, who was blessed with a very patient temper, especially where there was no use in getting angry.

'I do u't know that,' was the reply. What fetch'd you into these woods?'

'If I should say 'my horse,' the answer would perhaps be as civil as the question.'

off.

Jist as you like,' said the other, turning on his heel, and walking

I wished merely to ask you,' resumed Mr. Willoughby, talking after the nonchalant son of the forest, 'whether this is Mr. Pepper's

land.'

'How do you know it an't mine? 'I'm not likely to know, at present, it whose patience was getting a little frayed. orandum-book, he ran over his minutes: quarter of section fourteen is it not?'

Your

seems,' said the traveller, And taking out his memSouth half of north-west name is Leander Pepper,

'Where did you get so much news? You a' n't the sheriff, be ye?' 'Pop!' screamed a white-headed urchin from the house, 'Mam says supper's ready.'

So ain't I,' replied the papa; 'I've got all my chores to do yet.'

And he busied himself at a log pig-stye on the opposite side of the road, half as large as the dwelling-house. Here he was soon surrounded by a squealing multitude, with whom he seemed to hold a regular conversation.

Mr. Willoughby looked at the westering sun, which was not far above the dense wall of trees which shut in the small clearing; then at the heavy clouds which advanced from the north, threatening a stormy night; then at his watch, and then at his note-book; and after all, at his predicament on the whole, an unpleasant prospect. But at this moment a female face showed itself at the door. Our traveller's memory reverted at once to the testimony of Ledyard and Mungo Park; and he had also some floating and indistinct poetical recollections of woman's being useful when a man was in difficulties, though hard to please at other times. The result of these reminiscences, which occupied a precious second, was, that Mr. Willoughby dismounted, fastened his horse to the fence, and advanced with a brave and determined air, to throw himself upon female kindness and sympathy.

He naturally looked at the lady, as he approached the door, but she did not return the compliment. She looked at the pigs, and talked to the children, and Mr. Willoughby had time to observe that she was the very duplicate of her husband; as tall, as bony, as ragged, and twice as cross-looking.

'Malviny Jane!' she exclaimed, in no dulcet treble, 'be done apaddlin' in that 'ere water! If I come there, I'll

'You'd better look at Sophrony, I guess!' was the reply. 'Why, what's she a-doin'?'

'Well, I guess if you look, you'll see!' responded Miss Malvina, coolly, as she passed into the house, leaving at every step a full impression of her foot in the same black mud that covered her sister from head to foot.

The latter was saluted with a hearty cuff, as she emerged from the puddle; and it was just at the propitious moment when her shrill howl aroused the echoes, that Mr. Willoughby, having reached the threshold, was obliged to set about making the agreeable to the mamma. And he called up for the occasion all his politeness.

'I believe I must become an intruder on your hospitality for the night, madam,' he began. The dame still looked at the pigs. Mr. Willoughby tried again, in less courtly, phrase.

Will it be convenient for you to lodge me to-night, ma'am? I have been disappointed in my search for a hunting-party, whom I had engaged to meet, and the night threatens a storm.'

'I don't know nothin' about it; you must ask the old man,' said the lady, now for the first time taking a survey of the new comer; with my will, we 'll lodge nobody.'

This was not very encouraging, but it was a poor night for the woods, so our traveller persevered, and making so bold a push for the door that the lady was obliged to retreat a little, he entered, and said he would await her husband's coming.

And in truth he could scarcely blame the cool reception he had experienced, when he beheld the state of affairs within those muddy precincts. The room was large, but it swarmed with human beings.

The huge open fire-place, with its hearth of rough stone, occupied nearly the whole of one end of the apartment; and near it stood a long cradle, containing a pair of twins, who cried a sort of hopeless cry, as if they knew it would do no good, yet could not help it. The schoolmaster, (it was his week,) sat reading a tattered novel, and rocking the cradle occasionally, when the children cried too loud. An old grey-headed Indian was curiously crouched over a large tub, shelling corn on the edge of a hoe; but he ceased his noisy employment when he saw the stranger; for no Indian will ever willingly be seen at work, though sometimes compelled, by the fear of starvation, or the longing for whiskey, to degrade himself by labor. Near the only window was placed the work-bench and entire paraphernalia of the shoe-maker, who in these regions travels from house to house, shoeing the family and mending the harness as he goes, with various interludes of songs and jokes, ever new and acceptable. This one, who was a little bald, twinkling-eyed fellow, made the smoky rafters ring with the burden of that favorite ditty of the west:

'All kinds of game to hunt, my boys, also the buck and doe,
All down by the banks of the river O-hi-o ;'

and children of all sizes, clattering in all keys, completed the picture and the concert.

The supper-table, which maintained its place in the midst of this living and restless mass, might remind one of the square stone lying bedded in the bustling leaves of the acanthus; but the associations would be any but those of Corinthian elegance. The only object which at that moment diversified its dingy surface, was an iron hoop, into which the mistress of the feast proceeded to turn a quantity of smoking hot potatoes, adding afterward a bowl of salt, another of pork fat, by courtesy denominated gravy: plates and knives dropped in afterward, at the discretion of the company.

Another call of Pop! pop!' brought in the host from the pigstye; the heavy rain which had now began to fall, having no doubt expedited the performance of the chores. Mr. Willoughby, who had established himself resolutely, took advantage of a very cloudy assent from the proprietor, to lead his horse to a shed, and to deposit in a corner his cumbrous outer gear; while the company used in turn the iron skillet which served as a wash-basin, dipping the water from a large trough outside, overflowing with the abundant drippings of the eaves. Those who had no pocket-handkerchiefs, contented themselves with a nondescript article which seemed to stand for the family towel; and when this ceremony was concluded, all seriously addressed themselves to the demolition of the potatoes. The grown people were accommodated with chairs and chests; the children prosecuted a series of flying raids upon the good cheer, snatching a potato now and then as, they could find an opening under the raised arm of one of the family, and then retreating to the chimney corner, tossing the hot prize from hand to hand, and blowing it stoutly the while. The old Indian had disappeared.

To our citizen, though he felt inconveniently hungry, this primitive meal seemed a little meagre; and he ventured to ask if he could not be accommodated with some tea.