Gaseous Ingredients.

"The water of Dibrell's Spring partakes of all the general characteristics of the other sulphur waters, and may be used with good effects in all cases to which such waters are adapted. In certain dyspeptic depravities, especially, it deserves a high rank among our mineral waters."

From Dibrell's Spring the road leads by Clifton Forge, 10 miles,—the scenery at this place is very fine,—Covington, 13 miles, and to Calahan's, 5 miles.

Another route from Lynchburg is by stage to New London, 10 miles, to Liberty, 15 miles. Here we would advise the traveller to leave the stage, and make a visit to the Peaks of Otter. They are about 7 miles northwest from this place. The following description of them is from the Southern Literary Messenger:

"After riding about a mile and a quarter, we came to the point beyond which horses cannot be taken, and, dismounting our steeds, commenced ascending on foot. The way was very steep, and the day so warm, that we had to halt often to take breath. As we approached the summit, the trees were all of a dwarfish growth, and twisted and gnarled by the storms of that high region. There were, also, a few blackberry bushes, bearing their fruit long after the season had passed below. A few minutes longer brought us to where the trees ceased to grow; but a huge mass of rocks, piled wildly on the top of each other, finished the termination of the peak. Our path lay for some distance around the base of it, and under the overhanging battlements; and rather descending for a while, until it led to a part of the pile which could with some effort be scaled. There was no ladder, nor any artificial steps, and the only means of ascent was by climbing over the successive rocks. We soon stood upon the wild platform of one of nature's most magnificent observatories, isolated and apparently above all things else terrestrial, and looking down upon and over a beautiful, variegated, and at the same time grand, wild, wonderful, and almost boundless panorama. Indeed, it was literally boundless; for there was a considerable haze resting upon some parts of 'the world below;' so that, in the distant horizon, the earth and sky seemed insensibly to mingle with each other. I had been there before. I remember when a boy of little more than ten years old, to have been taken to that spot, and how my unpractised nerves forsook me at the sublimity of the scene. On this day it was as new as ever; as wild, wonderful, and sublime, as if I had never before looked from those isolated rocks, or stood on that awful summit. On one side, towards Eastern Virginia, lay a comparatively level country, in the distance bearing strong resemblance to the ocean; on the other hand were ranges of high mountains, interspersed with cultivated spots, and then terminating in piles of mountains, following in successive ranges, until they were lost also in the haze. Above and below, the Blue Ridge and Alleghanies ran off in long lines; sometimes relieved by knolls and peaks, and in one place above us making a graceful curve, and then again running off in a different line of direction. Very near us stood the rounded top of the other peak, looking like a sullen sentinel for its neighbour. We paused in silence for a time. We were there almost cut off from the world below, standing where it was fearful even to look down. It was more hazy than at the time of my last visit, but not too much so to destroy the interest of the scene.

"There was almost a sense of pain, at the stillness which seemed to reign. We could hear the flapping of the wings of the hawks and buzzards, as they seemed to be gathering a new impetus after sailing through one of their circles in the air below us. North of us, and on the other side of the Valley of Virginia, were the mountains near Lexington, just as seen from that beautiful village,—the Jump, North, and House Mountains succeeding each other; they were familiar with a thousand associations of our childhood, seeming mysteriously, when away from the spot, to bring my early home before me—not in imagination, such as had often haunted me when I first left to find another in the world, but in substantial reality.

"Further on down the valley, and at a great distance, was the top of a large mountain, which was thought to be the Great North Mountain, away down in Shenandoah County—I am afraid to say how far off. Intermediate between these mountains, and extending opposite and far above us, was the Valley of Virginia, with its numerous and highly cultivated farms. Across this valley, and in the distance, lay the remote ranges of the Alleghany and mountains about, and, I suppose, beyond the White Sulphur Springs. Nearer us, and separating Eastern and Western Virginia, was the Blue Ridge, more than ever showing the propriety of its cognomen of the 'backbone;' and on which we could distinctly see two zigzag turnpikes, the one leading to Fincastle, and the other to Buchanan; and over which latter we had travelled a few days before. With the spy-glass we could distinguish the houses in the village of Fincastle, some 25 or 30 miles off, and the road leading to the town.

"Turning towards the direction of our morning's ride, we had beneath us Bedford County, with its smaller mountains, farms, and farm-houses—the beautiful village of Liberty, the county roads, and occasionally a mill-pond, reflecting the sun like a sheet of polished silver. The houses on the hill at Lynchburg, 25 or 30 miles distant, are distinctly visible on a clear day, and also Willis' Mountain, away down in Buckingham County.

"I had often visited Bedford, and had been more or less familiar with it from childhood, but at our elevation, distances were so annihilated, and appearances so changed, that we could scarcely recognise the most familiar object. After some difficulty, we at length made out the residence of Dr. M., we had that morning left, and at that moment rendered more than usually interesting by containing, in addition to the other very dear relatives, two certain ladies, who sustained a very interesting connexion with the Doctor and myself, and one of whom had scarcely laid aside the blushes on her bridal hour.