The agave bears some resemblance to the pineapple in its leaves, only they are thicker, stiffer, and less numerous; but it produces no edible fruit. The outside leaves stand round in a star, or crown; and the middle consists of a thick spire of leaves, so firmly twisted together, that the edges of the one impress the others with a seal. The points are armed with very strong spines; so that the plant is truly formidable, and answers well for hedges, only it occupies considerable breadth.

The scape, or flowering-stem, rises from the centre of the tuft of leaves; it is smooth and green, and the branches that bear the individual clusters of flowers come off very gracefully in double curves, which have the bend downward near the stalk, and upward near the flowers. The appearance is not unlike that of a majestic candlestick, with successive branches, for a great portion of its height; and tall as the stem is, the form of the leaves gives it the appearance of great stability. The plant is a native of tropical America but it abounds in the dry and warm places of the south of Europe, along the sandy shores of the Mediterranean, and especially in the south of Portugal, and in the dry districts on the confines of Portugal and Spain.

Like most plants which grow in very hot and dry places, the rind or epidermis of the leaves resists powerfully the action of heat, so that the interior of the leaves is very juicy. The juice contains a good deal both of alkali and oil (the ingredients of which soap is composed,) so that in some places of the peninsula, it is used as a substitute for soap; the pulp forming a lather with water. Cattle are also

fed on the sliced or bruised leaves, at those seasons when the pastures are burnt up by the drought. So that it is a useful plant even in those parts of

Europe where the vegetation of more temperate climes is apt to fail.

In Mexico, it is far more useful; and is, indeed, one of the most valuable products of the soil, answering some of the purposes which are answered by rye in the north of Europe, barley in the middle latitudes, and the vine toward the south. The wines and spirits of the country are prepared from it; and though their flavor is not much relished by Europeans, they are in high estimation with the

natives.

When the leaves have come to their full size, and the flower stalk is about to spring up, the heart of the plant is scooped out, and the outside left in the form of a cup. That cup soon fills with the juice, which is removed successively, till no more can be obtained; and the remaining leaves, as well as those that are cut out, are dried for fuel. The juice is set to ferment; and when it has undergone that process, it is the Pulqué, or Mexican beer. soon gets acid, and even rancid, from the quantity of oil; but the natives relish it. When recently made, it is said to be much more palatable; and probably it does not become unpleasant sooner than the weak and imperfectly fined malt liquors of this .country do in the hot season.

It

The juice of the Agave is also distilled into an ardent and intoxicating spirit, called Mercal, or Vino Mercal, in which the inconsiderate indulge to the same excess as they do in spirits from grain, pota toes, beet-root, and other vegetables in Europe The people of all countries are too fond of prepar ing such beverages; and the natives of India lay the palm trees under contribution for their arrack, and the hemp, for that still more intoxicating ane pernicious liquid which they call Bang.

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The fibres of the Agave are tough and straight, and they are sometimes used as cords; but the proper cordage of the tropical Americans is not made from them; but from the fibres of some of the wild Bromelias; or from the coire, or fibres, which surround the shell of the cocoa-nut.

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THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. On the Continent of America the works of nature are on a great and extensive scale; and in estimating their magnitude, the mind is actually lost in wonder. "When we think of the valley of any river in this country," says an English writer have only in view a district of ground measuring at most a hundred miles in length by less than the third of that extent in breadth; but in speaking of the valleys in America, we are called on to remember that they sometimes include a territory far more extensive than the whole island of Britain." chief wonder of this description in North America is the valley of the Mississippi, which is the natural drain of the central part of this vast continent, and embraces all that tract of country of which the waters are discharged into the Gulf of Mexico. It is bounded on the north by an elevated country, which divides it from the waters that flow into Hudson's Bay, and the northern lakes and St. Lawrence; on the east by the table land from whence descend the waters that fall into the Atlantic; and on the west by the Rocky, or Chippewau Mountains, which separate the waters of the Atlantic from those of the Pacific.

This great central vale of America is considered the largest division of the globe, of which the waters pass into one estuary. It extends from the 29th to

the 49th degree of north latitude, or about 1400 miles from south to north, while the breadth across is about the same dimensions. To suppose the United States and its territory to be divided into three portions, the arrangement would be-the Atlantic slope, the Mississippi basin or valley, and the Pacific slope. A glance on any map of North America will show that this valley includes about two-thirds of the territory of the United States. The Atlantic slope contains 390,000, the Pacific slope about 300,000, which, combined, are 690,000 square miles; while the valley of the Mississippi contains at least 1,300,000 square miles, or four times as much land as the whole of England. This great vale is divided into two portions, the Upper and Lower Valley, distinguished by particular features, and separated by an imaginary intersecting line at the place where the Ohio pours its waters into the Mississippi. This large river has many tributaries of first rate proportions besides the Ohio. The chief is the Missouri, which indeed is the main stream, for it is not only longer and larger, but drains a greater extent of country. Its length is computed at 1870 miles, and upon a particular course 3000 miles. In its appearance it is turbid, violent, and rapid, while the Mississippi, above its junction with the Missouri, is clear, with a gentle current. At St. Charles, 20 miles from its entrance into the Mississippi, the Missouri measures from five to six hundred yards across, though its depth is only a few fathoms.

The Mississippi Proper takes its rise in Cedar Lake, in the 47th degree of north latitude. From this to the Falls of St. Anthony, a distance of five hundred miles, it runs in a devious course, first southeast, then southwest, and, finally, southeast

again; which last it continues, without much deviation, till it reaches the Missouri, the waters of which strike it at right angles, and throw the current of the Mississippi entirely upon the eastern side. The prominent branch of the Upper Mississippi is the St. Peter's, which rises in the great prairies in the northwest, and enters the parent stream a little below the Falls of St. Anthony. The Kaskaskia next joins it, after a course of 200 miles. In the 36th degree of north latitude, the Ohio (formed by the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela) pours in its tribute, after pursuing a course of 750 miles, and draining about 200,000 square miles of country. A little below the 34th degree the White River enters, after a course of more than 1000 miles. Thirty miles below that, the Arkansas, bringing in its tribute from the confines of Mexico, pours in its waters. Its last great tributary is Red River, a stream taking its rise in the Mexican dominions, and flowing a course of more than 2000 miles.

Hitherto the waters in the wide regions of the west have been congregating to one point. The "Father of Waters" is now upwards of a mile in width, and several fathoms deep. During its annual floods it overflows its banks below the mouth of the Ohio, and sometimes extends thirty and forty miles into the interior, laying the prairies, bottoms, swamps, and other low grounds under water for a season. After receiving Red River, this vast siream is unable to continue in one channel; it parts into separate courses, and, like the Nile, finds its way to the ocean at different and distant points.

The capabilities of the Mississippi for purposes of trade are almost beyond calculation, and are hardly yet developed. For thousands of vears this