OUR BURRO.

oped. Emigration must be encouraged by increased military protection; capital must be expended without the hope of immediate and extraordinary returns; civil law must be established on a firm basis, and facilities of communication fostered by legislation of Congress.

No country that I have yet visited presents so many striking anomalies as Arizona. With millions of acres of the finest arable lands, there was not at the time of our visit a single farm under cultivation in the Territory; with the richest gold and silver mines, paper-money is the common currency; with forts innumerable, there is scarcely any protection to life and property; with extensive pastures, there is little or no stock; with the finest natural roads, traveling is beset with difficulties; with rivers through every valley, a stranger may die of thirst. Hay is cut with a hoe, and wood with a spade or mattock. In January one enjoys the luxury of a bath as under a tropical sun, and sleeps under double blankets at night. There are towns without inhabitants, and deserts extensively populated; vegetation where there is no soil, and soil where there is no vegetation. Snow is seen

where it is never seen to fall, and ice forms where it never snows. There are Indians the most docile in North America, yet trav elers are murdered daily by Indians the most barbarous on earth. The Mexicans have driven the Papagoes from their southern homes, and now seek protection from the Apaches in the Papago villages. Fifteen hundred Apache warriors, the most cowardly of the Indian tribes in Arizona, beaten in every fight by the Pimos, Maricopas, and Papagoes, keep these and all other Indians closed up as in a corral; and the same Apaches have desolated a country inhabited by 120,000 Mexicans. Mines without miners and forts without soldiers are common. Politicians without policy, traders without trade, store-keepers without stores, teamsters without teams, and all without means, form the mass of the white population. But here let me end, for I find myself verging on the proverbs.

ARIZONIAN IN SIGHT OF HOME.

UT of the clover and blue-eyed grass He turned them into the river-lane; One after another he let them pass,

Then fastened the meadow bars again. Under the willows, and over the hill,

He patiently followed their sober pace; The merry whistle for once was still,

And something shadowed the sunny face. Only a boy! and his father had said

He never could let his youngest go: Two already were lying dead

Under the feet of the trampling foe. But after the evening work was done, And the frogs were loud in the meadow-swamp, Over his shoulder he slung his gun

And stealthily followed the foot-path damp. Across the clover, and through the wheat, With resolute heart and purpose grim, Though cold was the dew on his hurrying feet, And the blind bat's flitting startled him. Thrice since then had the lanes been white, And the orchards sweet with apple-bloom; And now, when the cows came back at night, The feeble father drove them home.

For news had come to the lonely farm
That three were lying where two had lain;
And the old man's tremulous, palsied arm
Could never lean on a son's again.

The summer day grew cool and late.

He went for the cows when the work was done; But down the lane, as he opened the gate, He saw them coming one by one:

Brindle, Ebony, Speckle, and Bess,

Shaking their horns in the evening wind; Cropping the butter-cups out of the grassBut who was it following close behind?

Loosely swung in the idle air

The empty sleeve of army blue; And worn and pale, from the crisping hair, Looked out a face that the father knew. For Southern prisons will sometimes yawn, And yield their dead unto life again; And the day that comes with a cloudy dawn In golden glory at last may wane. The great tears sprang to their meeting eyes; For the heart must speak when the lips are dumb: And under the silent evening skies

Together they followed the cattle home.

HUDSON.

Port Hudson.-Its Situation.-Admiral Farragut.-Preparing the Fleet.-Running the Batteries.-The Midnight Battle.-Failure and Success.-Death of Lieutenant Cummings.-Loss of the Mississippi.-Various Incidents. Coolness of Captain Smith.-Investment of Port Hudson.-Sunday Assault.-Heroism of the Soldiers.-Failure.-Fall of Vicksburg-Surrender of Port Hudson. Interesting Scenes.

The passages by teries wh gun-boats of had HE passage by the Union gun-boats of the

erected at Port Hudson, was one of the most heroic deeds of the war. Port Hudson, or Hickey's Landing, as it used to be called, is situated on a bend, on the eastern side of the Mississippi River, about twenty-two miles above Baton Rouge, and one hundred and forty-seven above New Orleans. It was three hundred miles below Vicksburg. The bluff, rising forty feet above the level of the river, was covered with forts for a distance of nearly four miles, constructed upon the most scientific principles of modern military art, and armed with the most approved and heaviest ordnance, which VOL. XXX.-No. 178.-FF

could furnish the rebels. The river, just at the bend, suddenly narrows, and the current, striking upon the west bank, is thrown across, running with great velocity, and carrying the channel almost directly under the base of the precipitous cliffs. Any vessel attempting the passage would be compelled to run the gauntlet of a plunging fire from batteries which commade manded the range for several miles above and

It was proposed, in order that our fleet might be able to co-operate with General Grant in the siege of Vicksburg, to attack Port Hudson, and, under the fire of the bombardment, to attempt to force a passage, by several of our gun-boats, up the river. Rear-Admiral Farragut, who was intrusted with this perilous adventure, was the man for the hour. He had already acquired world-wide renown in the capture of New Orleans, a feat for which no parallel can be found in the annals of naval warfare.

This distinguished officer was born in Tennessee in 1803. His father was an army offi

probably now, after his achievements at Port Hudson and Mobile, no one will dispute his title to be the foremost naval hero of the war. Such was the man who was intrusted with the command of the fleet which was destined to run the batteries of Port Hudson.

The following anecdote illustrative of his character is worthy of record. The Admiral has always been, from boyhood, thoughtful, earnest, studious. While in foreign ports he was ever busy in acquiring the language of the people. He spoke Italian, Spanish, French, and Arabic with almost as much fluency as his own language. On one occasion, in approaching an

island in the Mediterranean, the captain of the ship remarked that he did not know how he should communicate with the people, as he had no interpreter. Just then a boat came alongside filled with natives.

"Captain," said one of the officers, "we have an officer on board who seems to speak all languages. He is doubtless in league with the 'Old Boy.' Suppose you send for him."

Lieutenant Farragut was called for. He looked into the boat and saw an old Arab woman there, with whom he immediately entered into conversation, alike to the surprise and amusement of all.