To the Reader

Letter I.—­First Impressions of an American in France.—­Tokens of Antiquity:  churches, old towns, cottages, colleges, costumes, donkeys, shepherds and their flocks, magpies, chateaux, formal gardens, vineyards, fig-trees.—­First Sight of Paris; its Gothic churches, statues, triumphal arches, monumental columns.—­Parisian gaiety, public cemeteries, burial places of the poor

Letter II.—­Journey from Paris to Florence.—­Serenity of the Italian Climate.—­Dreary country between Paris and Chalons on the Saone.—­Autun.  —­Chalons.—­Lyons.—­Valley of the Rhine.—­Avignon.—­Marseilles; its growth and prosperity.—­Banking in France.—­Journey along the Mediterranean.—­ American and European Institutions

Letter III.—­Tuscan Scenery and Climate.—­Florence in Autumn.—­ Deformities of Cultivation.—­Exhibition of the Academy of the Fine Arts.—­Respect of the Italians for Works of Art

Letter IV.—­A Day in Florence.—­Bustle and Animation of the Place.—­Sights seen on the Bridges.—­Morning in Florence.—­Brethren of Mercy.—­Drive on the Cascine.—­Evening in Florence.—­Anecdote of the Passport System.—­Mildness of the Climate of Pisa

Letter V.—­Practices of the Italian Courts.—­Mildness of the Penal Code in Tuscany.—­A Royal Murderer.—­Ceremonies on the Birth of an Heir to the Dukedom of Tuscany.—­Wealth of the Grand Duke

Letter VI.—­Venice.—­Its peculiar Architecture.—­Arsenal and Navy
Yard.—­The Lagoons.—­Ceneda.—­Serravalle.—­Lago Morto.—­Alpine Scenery.—­A
June Snow-Storm in the Tyrol.—­Splendor of the Scenery in the
Sunshine.—­Landro.—­A Tyrolese Holiday.—­Devotional Character of the
People.—­Numerous Chapels.—­Sterzing.—­Bruneck.—­The Brenner.—­Innsbruck. 
—­Bronze Tomb of Maximilian I.—­Entrance into Bavaria

Letter VII.—­An Excursion to Rock River in Illinois.—­Birds and Quadrupeds of the Prairies.—­Dad Joe’s Grove.—­Beautiful Landscape.—­Traces of the Indian Tribes.—­Lost Rocks.—­Dixon.—­Rock River; beauty of its banks.—­A Horse-Thief.—­An Association of Felons.—­A Prairie Rattlesnake.—­The Prairie-Wolf; its habits.—­The Wild Parsnip

Letter VIII.—­Examples of Lynch Law.—­Practices of Horse-Thieves in Illinois.—­Regulators.—­A Murder.—­Seizure of the Assassins, their trial and execution.—­One of the Accomplices lurking in the Woods.—­Another Horse-Thief shot

Letter IX.—­An Example of Senatorial Decorum.—­The National Museum at Washington.—­Mount Vernon.—­Virginia Plantations.—­Beauty of Richmond.—­Islands of James River.—­An Old Church.—­Inspection of Tobacco.—­Tobacco Factory.—­Work and Psalmody.—­Howden’s Statue of Washington.

Letter X.—­Journey from Richmond to Charleston.—­Pine Forests of North Carolina.—­Collection of Turpentine.—­Harbor of Charleston.—­Aspect of the
City.

Letter XI.—­Interior of South Carolina.—­Pine Woods.—­Plantations.—­Swamps. 
—­Birds.—­A Corn-Shucking.—­Negro Songs.—­A Negro Military Parade.—­
Character of the Blacks.—­Winter Climate of South Carolina.