'Tis the spring of the year, all the fountains are full, All nature is pregnant with life and with love; A chorus of voices ascend from each pool, A myriad of songsters enliven the grove. To her nest in the Andes, the condor retires, The winds from magellan no longer prevail, And Sol, with the north breeze returning, inspires New life on the zephyr, and love on the gale. The forest is clad in its robes of fresh green-- Where the dove sings an anthem, his mate to decoy. The orchard is dressed as a holiday queen, And the rosebud is bursting with fullness of joy. The orange, the olive, the fig and the vine Are clothed as in Eden, with innocent bloom; The earth is an altar of incense divine, Exhales a sweet odor of richest perfume. The young of the flock bound exulting away While their dams nip the blade, 'mid the dewdrops of morn, And groups of young children are sportive and gay; Yet my heart, 'mid this gladness, is sad and forlorn. I sigh for the storms of November to come, The frost, and the snow-drifted plain I would see; The bleak, wintry blasts of my own mountain home, And the storm-beaten glaziere are dearer to me. The chime of the sleigh-bell again I would hear, The low moaning tempest in harmony roll-- It would speak of my country and kindred so dear; Oh! this would be music indeed to my soul. With sentiments of the most endearing affection, I remain yours, etc., P. P. PRATT. CHAPTER XLIX. ------------------------ Valparaiso:--Quillota:--Letter to President Brigham Young. _January 19, 1852_. We have continued to reside in Valparaiso, and to study Spanish diligently until this day. We make much progress, being already able to understand in part that which we read in the Spanish Scriptures, and in the daily papers, as well as in history. We have also gathered much general information of the countries of Spanish America, their manners, customs, laws, constitutions, institutions--civil, religious, etc. Revolutions have been in progress more or less in nearly all Spanish America during the past year. In Chili the present revolution has ended with the loss of many thousand lives, and without success. In Buenos Ayres it still rages, and a great battle is soon expected between the combined armies of Brazil and Montevideo on the one part, and Buenos Ayres on the other--the two armies amounting to near twenty-five thousand men each, as reported. Priestcraft reigns triumphant in all these countries, as by law established; and by law paid and supported--by marriages and christening fees, forgiving sins, etc. In Chili the charges are as follows: Twenty-five dollars for a marriage, and one dollar for christening. For forgiveness of sins there are various prices to suit the circumstances of the customers.