he
handsomest prairie in Illinois--before us lay a rich green undulating
meadow, and on either side, clusters of trees, interspersed through this
vast plain in beautiful irregularity--the waving of the high grass, and
the distant groves rearing their heads just above the horizontal line,
like the first glimpse of land to the weary navigator, formed a
combination of ideas peculiar to the scene which lay before us.

With the exception of one or two miles of wood, occasionally, the whole of
our journey through Illinois lay over prairie ground, and the roads were
so level, that without any extraordinary exertion on the part of our
horse, he carried us from thirty to forty miles a day.

We next crossed the "grand prairie," passing over the Indian trace.
Although this is by no means so picturesque as Hardgrove's, yet the
boundless prospect that is presented on first entering this prairie is far
the more sublime--the ideas expand, and the imagination is carried far
beyond the limits of the eye. We saw some deer scouring the plains, and
several "prairie wolves" skulking in the high grass--this animal is
sometimes destructive to sheep. The size is about that of our fox. Most
farmers keep three or four hounds, which are trained to combat the wolf.
The training is thus--a dead wolf is first shewn to a young dog, when he
is set on to tear it; the next process is to muzzle a live wolf, and tie
him to a stake, when the dog of course kills him; the last is, setting the
dog on an unmuzzled wolf, which has been tied to a stake, with his legs
shackled. The dog being thus accustomed to be always the victor, never
fails to attack and kill the prairie wolf whenever he meets him.

Within thirteen miles of Carlisle, we stopped at an inn, a solitary
establishment, the nearest habitation being more than six miles distant.
The landlord, Mr. Elliot, told us that he was unable to accommodate us
with beds, as his house was already quite full; but that if we could
dispense with beds, he would provide us with every thing else. Having no
alternative, we of course acceded to his proposal. There was then holding
at his house what is termed an "inn fair," or the day after the wedding.
The marriage takes place at the house of the bride's father, and the day
following a party is given by the bridegroom, when he takes home his wife.
The people here assembled had an extremely healthy appearance, and some
of the girls were decidedly handsome, having, with fi