pickled meat and butter, &c., is forwarded from these places in the summer, the stock accumulating during the winter. A heavy capital

is thus inactive for several months, and the advantage of having a railroad, by which a favorable condition of the market may speedily be embraced, is of the highest importance. A much larger business may, in this way, be done with one-fourth the capital, which, together with the saving of time, will more than compensate the trifling difference, if any, in the cost of transportation.

At this place, winding around the gorge of Jack's Mountain, the Juniata follows the boundary line for a few miles, and then enters Huntingdon in a direction nearly north. We are now emphatically and unmistakably in the midst of mountains-bold, rugged, thundering mountains!-the most of which have a range nearly north and south, and cross the straight line of our course. No matter we will pass 'em, and even mount their lofty summits. In Bedford County, which adjoins on the east, there are no less than twelve mountains, including those of the great Alleghany on the west, and Cove on the east, which constitutes its western and eastern boundaries. These

mountains are each known by various local names, and are more or less broken and disrupted as they enter Huntingdon and Blair in the north. The celebrated Broad Top Mountain coal district lies in Bedford, some fifteen miles or more south of the village of Newton Hamilton. This splendid coal district is entirely isolated from the great Alleghany region, with which it was originally connected. The coal, too, is of a better quality, being semi-bituminous in character, and similar to that of the Dauphin coal field, as it approaches the Susquehanna. Being the only spot in a wide expanse of territory where coal is to be had at all, it must be regarded as of great value, and arrangements are now being made to extend a railroad so as to connect it with the lines of improvement on the Juniata. The isolated position of this coal mountain, with other connecting circumstances, go to prove that our anthracite and bituminous beds formed originally one entire and almost complete assemblage, and that they are both of cotemporaneous formation. The mountain ranges are higher and

bolder toward the south-west, where the coal strata are prolonged; while toward the east they have been cut down and detached, and the coal washed away, leaving only a comparatively small amount behind,

and that lying in a position low down, with the stratification generally in a semi-vertical dip. The whole Apalachian chain may, therefore, be regarded as one immense coal-bearing system-but such have been the destructive effects of time, during the countless millions of years it has been exposed, that a very small portion of the original amount of vegetable matter, constituting the coal measures, is now left behind.

Passing the unimportant stations of MOUNT UNION, MAPLETON, and MILL CREEK, we reach the borough of HUNTINGDON, two hundred and four miles from Philadelphia, one hundred and fifty-nine miles from Pittsburg, and ninety-seven miles from Harrisburg. This borough is elevated six hundred and ten feet above tide-water, while the average height of the mountains is about the same. The borough of Huntingdon is the seat of justice of the county of that name, which formerly included the adjoining one of Blair, and was laid out in 1770 by Dr. Smith, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. The name was bestowed in compliment to the Countess of Huntingdon, who was a liberal contributor to the funds of that institution. The present population of the borough, we should judge, is about eighteen hundred, or more, and is now rapidly increasing under the stimulus of recent and forthcoming important public improvements. The population, too, is very intelligent, and embraces many wealthy families.

The situation of this place, as may be inferred from the sketch of it, is extremely pleasant. Some of the wildest scenery in the State may be found a few miles adjacent-among which may be mentioned the celebrated Pulpit Rocks, on Warrior Ridge, a view of which, from the turnpike, is afforded in the annexed figure, extracted from the work of Mr. Trego, on the Geography of Pennsylvania. The rocks appear equally bold from the railroad, which passes directly along the base of the ridge. These rocks are a coarse-grained cemented sandstone, varying in color, but generally of a yellowish-white, with particles of bright flint. They have attained their present curious appearance from the gradual effects of the atmosphere and rain, which, working out irregular fissures, have thus left standing lofty columns, that frown from their high summits upon the no less rugged and narrow valley below. The mountains of this county are nearly all cut up into bold sharp ridges similar to the above-though it is otherwise one of the most mountainous in the State. Jack's mountain presents a continuous range on the east, and Tussey's on the

west; but the others are detached knobs and ridges, which, at one time, probably constituted an unbroken elevation. This broken and disruptured character of the county has been occasioned solely by water, and to substantiate this belief, we need only to point to its numerous streams, comprising the head waters of the Juniata. Thus, rising in Bedford County, and emptying into the Juniata a few miles from Huntingdon, is the snake-like Raystown Branch; rising in Blair, and traversing the middle of that county, is the Frankstown Branch, emptying into the Juniata near Alexandria; rising in the same county, further north, is the Little Juniata, which, at the place above named, forms the main stream, and afterwards receives five or six others-all in the County of Huntingdon. This county is, therefore, more liberally supplied with streams than any other in the State, and every stream, following the narrow gorges of the mountain ridges, presents favorable opportunities for applying its water-power. All the streams have their mills, forges, furnaces, and other iron works, while the whole county is well supplied with timber for the production of charcoal, as well as with beds of limestone and iron ore. deed, we are now in the most extensive iron region not only of the

In

United States, but of the world! It is really scarcely known to what an immense extent the iron manufacture of this State has reached. Pennsylvania now produces more iron annually than was manufactured in all Great Britain thirty years ago. Compared to the present manufacture of the article in France, that of Pennsylvania is at least equal-it is more than Russia and Sweden united, and exceeds that of all Germany. Pennsylvania may well be called the Iron State of the Union; and from these mineral treasures, she must build up a prosperity more splendid and permanent than if wrought from gold, for gold is the ultimate product of her iron.

The Juniata, from its mouth at the Susquehanna to its head waters on the Alleghany, forms one continuous and unbroken iron country, and the productions of its furnaces and forges, we have already stated, are amongst the best which enter the market.

As we are now in the "head quarters" of this stupendous iron district, we shall endeavor to point out some of the prominent features in its manufacture, and therefore commence here, which is the oldest establishment in this part of the country. It was erected nearly fifty years ago by Dorsey and Evans, and was worked successfully during