From thence I went to the cattle-show. I could see but little of that,
as most of the animals were gone; but I was assured it was very fine.
I believe it, if what I saw was a specimen--a pair of working oxen,
perfectly white, the pair weighing 7000 pounds. In our cattle-shows at
home, we find plenty of bulk, but it destroys form and symmetry: here
both were preserved. The fowls are of the long-legged Spanish breed,
coming to table like trussed ostriches; the plump English barndoor
sort are about being introduced. I had nearly forgotten a beautiful
and extraordinary invention--a rifle, not heavier than the common one,
that will discharge twenty-four balls in succession without reloading.
Where the ramrod is usually placed, is a smaller barrel, containing,
when filled, twenty-four ball-cartridges, and, after discharging, the
action of recocking introduces another cartridge, and so on, until the
whole are discharged; the whole twenty-four can be discharged in as
many seconds!

After leaving this interesting exhibition, where I could have lingered
a whole day, I was joined by a friend, an American--a gentleman of
great attainments in science--to whose remarks I am indebted for the
following scraps. The Merrimac, when low--as when I saw it--is a
trifling stream, having a bottom of laminated rock, worn in channels
by the stream. At spring and fall, there is ten or fifteen feet of
depth; and to remedy this inequality, an important work was undertaken
and executed: to this we bent our way. It is a canal in form, but
should more properly be called a reservoir. It is 1-1/4 miles long, 100
feet wide, and 15 feet deep; of solid granite, sides and bottom--equal
in durability to any work, ancient or modern. It is about half way cut
through the solid granite rock, which in that part furnishes a natural
wall. My friend had watched its progress, and gave me many interesting
details of the engineering processes employed: among others, the