the maps of those extensive prairie countries, surveyed by order of government, where the prairies and woodland are distinguished and correctly delineated, should carry conviction. The timber will be there observed to skirt the rivers; in the country near their sources a few solitary trees are seen, close on the banks, secure from the fires, and increasing in numbers as the rivers increase in size, and the low grounds become more extensive. The view given of the prairies by Mr. A. is correct; but was certainly painted in the _winter_ season--they are, at that season, bleak and uncomfortable both to the feelings and sight; but a full return is made to both when the spring opens. The prairies (particularly to the west) are then covered with the richest verdure, interspersed with an immense variety of wild flowers, that send forth the most grateful odours. Ascend one of the small hills, and you have a prospect as delightful as it is possible for the imagination to conceive. Far as the eye can carry you, a delightful country extends, through which numerous streams wind their serpentine courses, with groves and clumps of trees at intervals upon their banks. On one hand, at an immense distance, the small hills and groves are seen rising above the blue horizon; on the other, the view is pleasantly terminated by the wood on the low grounds skirting the river to which the smaller streams are tributary--while herds of buffalo, elk, deer, and other animals, are frequently seen slowly travelling to and from the watering-places, or grazing on the plains. The inhabited parts of the country present a prospect still more pleasing; around the margin of those extensive rich prairies, numerous habitations are seen, withdrawn a short distance in the wood, from the winter's cold and summer's heat--their finely cultivated fields lie in the prairies, which yield at once to the plough, without the previous Herculean labour of demolishing the forest. The area between the farms is a common of pasture to the numerous herds during the spring, summer, and autumn, and a small part mowed affords hay for the winter. The farmer who takes up his habitation in the neighbourhood of the prairies, has _many_ of the advantages of an _old_ inhabited country, and _all_ the advantages of the _new_. ART. III. _Sketch of the Mineralogy and Geology of the Vicinity of Williams' College, Williamstown, Mass. By_ PROFESSOR DEWEY, _of Williams' College, in a letter to the Editor_. The following sketch includes a space extending from Hoosack mountain on the east, to the State of New-York on the west, and a small distance into Vermont on the north. The accompanying map shows the relative situation of the streams, and the principal hills and mountains. The map is an enlarged copy of Carleton's map of this part of the state, with one or two corrections, which truth required. The latitude and longitude are probably not perfectly accurate.