For the Literary Magazine. ON TRANSLATION. WE are never to expect much from a new translation of any poet of eminence. Those who have been used to admire the original, reject a literal rendering of the words as tame and tasteless, and a more free manner as an unwarrantable change of what was good before. To translate literally and beautifully at the same time; to be at once true to the sense and fame of the author, is, unless by a rare felicity here and there in a single line, or little more, beyond the compass of man's wit to accomplish. The first and most notorious ob stacles are the rules of metre: the words which constitute a Latin hexameter will not, when correctly translated, fall into the ranks of a French or English verse; and the use of synonyms, which, to a reader who has studied language, either as a philosopher or a man of taste, are always very few, is a limited and precarious resource. This difficulty is prodigiously increased by the necessity of finding rhymes. If the sense of an original writer is so much modified, as all who have made trial must know that it is, by the imperious obligation of ending each couplet with a chime of sounds, what must be the case with a translator, and by what possibility can he adhere to the meaning of his text, without sacrificing the essentials of metre? But there are other impediments in the way of literal rendering which cannot be removed, though they are sometimes overlooked at the expence of the goodness, and, consequently, the popularity of the translation. Every language has its own idiom, its own class of words appropriate to poetry, its own artifices of phrase and rhymical structure, in which great part of what is strict ly called style, both in prose and poety, consists. All this must be lost in a foreign tongue, and, indeed, some part of it is often unperceived by foreigners in the original What we lose, however, of these lighter and indescribable touches of grace, when we read a language with which we are not thoroughly familiar, is made up to us, in many cases, by the superior effect which the sense is apt to produce on us, where there is something new in the words by which it is conveyed. Every man must have observed how much trite and common-place sentiments appear to gain, when they are found in a Greek or Latin writer, and how totally the illusion is dissipated when we turn them into literal English. From the exquisite beauty of metrical structure among the ancients, and the gratification which it consequently gave to the ear, as well as from the general superiority of their languages, much greater simplicity, in point of expression, was preserved, by many at least of their great poets, than would be consistent with the spirit and tone of poetry in our modern unmusical tongues. The Italian, indeed, from the softness of the language, the delicacy of its metrical rules, and the copiousness of its poetical dialect, comes near to the ancient class; and, accordingly, there is a general simplicity of style, which will not bear literal translation into English or French. The consequence of all this is, that a man of taste and fancy, who sits down to present his countrymen with the portrait of an illustrious bard of antiquity, will be perpetually dissatisfied with the bald and spiritless version which must result from a close adherence to his text. He will therefore be led to lay the blame on himself, not on his system; to touch and retouch; to heighten the colouring; to sprinkle here an epithet, and there a metaphor; to make amends for the beauties which, like trees long used to their soil, will not bear transplanting, by new turns and images of his own; till, by degrees, perhaps, like stockings under ced a new image or epithet, than left a line weak and unpoetical. But what is not in the manner of an author, even though good, should never be admitted; for a translation seems primarily meant for the unlearned, and can only mislead them, if it represents a poet as thinking and feeling as he would not have felt or thought. We extend this license of deviation no farther than necessity requires, by which we intend a poetical, not merely a metrical necessity. For the Literary Magazine the care of a good housewise, very little trace is left of the original prototype. By this process, he may have some chance of producing a good poem, though probably not so good as if he had followed the bent of his own genius; but he will, beyond a doubt, call down on him the indignation of those who discover how palpably he has deserted the model which he proposed to copy. This indignation is sometimes rather unjust, since it imputes as a fault that which was prescribed by necessity it is, however, well founded, where the copy differs from the original, as is often the case, not only in slighter shades of colour, but in the features and complexion of the whole. These CAPTAIN LEWIS'S EXPEDITION. two extremes, of meagre copying, and of imitation so free as to leave no likeness, are to be found in our two translations of Homer. After Pope had been censured, for near a century, for leading his unlearned readers to the most mistaken estimate of the first of poets, there appeared, by a writer, of reputation hardly inferior to Pope's, a very different performance; the best use of which has been, to serve as a beacon and a sea-mark, by which all succeeding poets may be warned to turn their helm from the perils of literal translation. The just medium seems to be, that every thing should be allowed to the translator, which, it may be fairly presumed, would have been the choice of the author had he lived in our own time. The business of the translator is to enter so fully, by long study and attention, into the mind of his original, that he may, as it were, look on every thing with the same eyes, and feel with the same soul. Whatever is thoroughly in the manner of Virgil may, when necessary, be introduced by him who renders Virgil into his own tongue; for the object of a poet is to please, and the object of Virgil was to please chiefly by the beauties and graces of diction: no one, therefore, can doubt that he would have rather, had he written in English, introdu THE following particulars of the expedition of captain Lewis, from the mouth of the Missouri, which empties into the Missisippi at St. Louis, to the Pacific ocean, transmitted to general Clarke, of Kentucky, by his brother, who accompanied the expedition, will be found interesting. St. Louis, 23d Sept. 1806. DEAR BROTHER, We arrived at this place at 12 o'clock to-day, from the Pacific ocean, where we remained during the last winter, near the entrance of the Columbia river. This station we left on the 27th of March last, and should have reached St. Louis early in August, had we not been detained by the snow, which barred our passage across the Rocky Mountains until the 24th of June. In returning through those mountains, we divided ourselves into several parties, digressing from the route by which we went out, in order the more effectually to explore the country, and discover the most practi cable route which does exist across the continent by the way of the Missouri and Columbia rivers: in this we were completely successful, and have therefore no hesitation in declaring, that, such as nature has permitted, we have discovered the best route which does exist across the continent of North America in that direction. Such is that by way of the Missouri to the foot of the rapids, below the great falls of that river, a distance of 2575 miles, thence by land, passing by the Rocky Mountains to a navigable part of the Kooskooske 340; and with the Kooskooske 73 miles, Lewis's river 154 miles, and the Columbia 413 miles to the Pacific ocean, making the total distance, from the confluence of the Missouri and Missisippi to the discharge of the Columbia into the Pacific ocean, 3555 miles. The na vigation of the Missouri may be deemed good; its difficulties arise from its falling banks, timber imbedded in the mud of its channel, its sand-bars, and steady rapidity of its current, all which may be overcome with a great degree of certainty, by using the necessary precautions. The passage by land of 340 miles, from the falls of the Missouri to the Kooskooske, is the most formidable part of the track proposed across the continent. Of this distance, 200 miles is along a good road, and 140 miles over tremendous mountains, which for 60 miles are covered with eternal snows. A passage over these mountains is, however, practicable from the latter part of June to the last of September; and the cheap rate at which horses are to be obtained from the Indians of the Rocky Mountains, and west of them, reduces the expences of transportation over this portage to a mere trifle. The navigation of the Kooskooske, Lewis's river, and the Columbia, is safe and good, from the first of April to the middle of August, by making three portages on the latter river; the first of which, in descending, is 1200 paces at the falls of Columbia, 261 miles up that river, the second of two miles, at the long narrows, six miles below the falls, and a third, also of two miles, at the great rapids, 65 miles still lower down. The tide flows up the Columbia 183 miles, and within seven miles of the great rapids. Large sloops VOL. VI. NO. XXXIX. may with safety ascend as high as In our outward bound voyage we 6 into three nearly equal branches at the same point. The two largest branches are so nearly of the same dignity, that we did not conceive that either of them could with propriety retain the name of the Missouri; and therefore called these streams Jefferson's, Madison's, and Gallatin's rivers. The confluence of those rivers is 2858 miles from the mouth of the Missouri, by the meanders of that river. We arrived at the three forks of the Missouri on the 27th of July. Not having yet been so fortunate as to meet with the natives, although I had previously made several exertions for that purpose, we were compelled still to continue our route by water. The most northerly of the three forks, that to which we had given the name of Jefferson's river, was deemed the most proper for our purpose, and we accordingly ascended it 248 miles, to the upper forks, and its extreme navigable point; making the total distance to which we had navigated the waters of the Missouri 3096 miles, of which 429 lay within the Rocky Mountains. On the morning of the 17th of August, 1805, I arrived at the forks of Jefferson's river, where I met captain Lewis, who had previously penetrated, with a party of three men, to the waters of the Columbia, discovered a band of the Shoshone nation, and had found means to induce thirtyfive of their chiefs and warriors to accompany him to that place. From these people we learned that the river on which they resided was not navigable, and that a passage through the mountains in that direction was impracticable. Being unwilling to confide in this unfavourable account of the natives, it was concerted between captain Lewis and myself, that one of us should go forward immediately with a small party, and explore the river; while the other in the interim should lay up the canoes at that place, and engage the natives with their horses to assist in transporting our stores and baggage to their camp. Accordnely I set out the next day, passed the dividing mountains between the waters of the Missouri and Columbia, and descended the river which I since call the East Fork of Lewis's river, about seventy miles. Finding that the Indians's account of the country in the direction of this river was correct, I returned and joined captain Lewis on the 29th of August, at the Shoshone camp, excessively fatigued, as you may suppose; having passed mountains almost inaccessible, and compelled to subsist on berries during the greater part of my route. We now purchased twenty-seven horses of these Indians, and hired a guide, who assured us that he could in fifteen days take us to a large river in an open country, west of these mountains, by a route some distance to the north of the river on which they lived, and that by which the natives west of the mountains visit the plains of the Missouri, for the purpose of hunting the buffaloe. Every preparation being made, we set forward with our guide on the 31st of August, through those tremendous mountains, in which we continued until the 22d of September, before we reached the lower country beyond them; on our way we met with the Olelachshoot, a band of the Tuchapaks, from whom we obtained an accession of seven horses, and exchanged eight or ten others. This proved of infinite service to us, as we were compelled to subsist on horse beef about eight days before we reached the Kooskooske. During our passage over those mountains, we suffered every thing which hunger, cold, and fatigue could impose; nor did our difficulties, with respect to provision, cease on our arrival at the Kooskooske, for although the Pallotepallors, a numerous nation inhabiting that country, were extremely hospitable, and for a few trifling articles furnished us with an abundance of roots and dried salmon, the food to which they were accustomed, we found that we could not subsist on these articles, and almost all of us grew sick on eating them; we were obliged, therefore, to have recourse to the flesh of horses and dogs, as food, to supply the deficiency of our guns, which produced but little meat, as game was scarce in the vicinity of our camp on the Kooskooske, where we were compelled to remain, in order to construct our perogues, to descend the river. At this season the salmon are meagre, and form but indifferent food. While we remained here, I was myself sick for several days, and my friend captain Lewis suffered a severe indisposition. ocean. Having completed four perogues and a small canoe, we gave our horses in charge to the Pallotepallors until we returned, and on the 7th of October re-embarked for the Pacific We descended by the route I have already mentioned. The water of the river being low at this season, we experienced much difficulty in descending: we found it obstructed by a great number of difficult and dangerous rapids, in passing of which our perogues several times filled, and the men escaped narrowly with their lives. left Fort Clatsop on the 27th of March. On our homeward bound voyage, being much better acquainted with the country, we were enabled to take such precautions as in a great measure secured us from the want of provision at any time, and greatly lessened our fatigues, when compared with those to which we were compelled to submit in our outward bound journey. We have not lost a man since we left the Mandians, a circumstance which I assure you is a pleasing consideration to me. As I shall shortly be with you, and the post is now waiting, I deem it unnecessary here to attempt minutely to detail the occurrences of the last eighteen months. I am, &c. Your affectionate brother, WM. CLARK. For the Literary Magazine. How- REMARKS ON THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. ever, this difficulty does not exist in high water, which happens within the period which I have previously mentioned. We found the natives extremely numerous, and generally friendly, though we have on several occasions owed our lives and the fate of the expedition to our number, which consisted of thirty-one men. On the 17th of November we reached the ocean, where various considerations induced us to spend the winter; we therefore searched for an eligible situation for that purpose, and selected a spot on the south side of a little river, called by the natives Netul, which discharges itself at a small bar on the south side of the Columbia, and fourteen miles within point Adams. Here we constructed some log houses, and defended them with a common stockade work. This place we called Fort Clatsop, after a nation of that name who were our nearest neighbours. In this country we found an abundance of elk, on which we subsisted principally during the last winter." We RUSSIA, by the part she has lately taken in the contests and nego ciations of the western nations of Europe, has become an object of importance. The progress and condition, political and geographical, of that empire, are subjects of curious speculation; but these speculations seem hitherto to have led to many erroneous conclusions. It is common to allow our minds to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of this object, and not to discriminate between the real and apparent sources of power and wealth. The most obvious considerations respecting Russia are suggested by the view of a map of the eastern hemisphere. The eye begins its course at the shore of the Atlantic, speedily traverses the British islands, steps with ease across the peninsulas of Spain, Italy, and Greece; and, turning northward, reaches, in a few glances, the banks of the Baltic sea and the Dnieper. This space, scol |