I frequently saw, gliding
from the fissures of the rocks, and darting again under shelter,
perhaps beneath the very stone I was seated upon; but every one
assured us they were harmless. Animal life is so infinitely
abundant, and in forms so various, and so novel to European eyes,
that it is absolutely necessary to divest oneself of all the
petty terrors which the crawling, creeping, hopping, and buzzing
tribes can inspire, before taking an American summer ramble. It
is, I conceive, quite impossible for any description to convey an
idea of the sounds which assail the ears from the time the short
twilight begins, until the rising sun scatters the rear of
darkness, and sends the winking choristers to rest.

Be where you will (excepting in the large cities) the appalling
note of the bull-frog will reach you, loud, deep, and hoarse,
issuing from a thousand throats in ceaseless continuity of croak.
The tree-frog adds her chirping and almost human voice; the
kattiedid repeats her own name through the livelong night; the
whole tribe of locusts chirp, chirrup, squeak, whiz, and whistle,
without allowing one instant of interval to the weary ear; and
when to this the mosquito adds her threatening hum, it is
wonderful that any degree of fatigue can obtain for the listener
the relief of sleep. In fact, it is only in ceasing to listen
that this blessing can be found. I passed many feverish nights
during my first summer, literally in listening to this most
astounding mixture of noises, and it was only when they became
too familiar to excite attention, that I recovered my rest.

I know not by what whimsical link of association the
recapitulation of this insect din suggests the recollection of
other discords, at least as harsh and much more troublesome.

Even in the retirement in which we passed this summer, we were
not beyond reach of the election fever which is constantly raging
through the land. Had America every attraction under heaven that
nature and social enjoyment can offer, this electioneering
madness would make me fly it in disgust. It engrosses every
conversation, it irritates every temper, it substitutes party
spirit for personal esteem; and, in fact, vitiates the whole
system of society.

When a candidate for any office starts, his party endow him with
every virtue, and with all the talents. They are all ready to
peck out the eyes of those who oppose him, and in the warm and
mettlesome south-western states, do