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Travels in North America, From Modern Writers

by William Bingley · English · Gutenberg #28323 · 714,778 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: Travels in North America, From Modern Writers

Author: William Bingley


        
Release date: March 13, 2009 [eBook #28323]

Language: English

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Credits: Produced by Julia Miller, Barbara Kosker and the Online
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA, FROM MODERN WRITERS ***




Produced by Julia Miller, Barbara Kosker and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from scans of public domain material
produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)










 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA,

 FROM

 MODERN WRITERS.




 [Illustration:

 _Frontispiece._ _Plate 1._

 WASHINGTON.

 PYRAMID OF CHOLULA.

 NEW YORK.]


 _Pub^d. by Harvey & Darton,_

 _Jan^y. 1, 1823._




 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA,

 FROM

 Modern Writers.

 WITH

 REMARKS AND OBSERVATIONS;

 EXHIBITING A CONNECTED VIEW OF

 THE GEOGRAPHY AND PRESENT STATE

 OF THAT

 QUARTER OF THE GLOBE.

 BY THE

 REV. WILLIAM BINGLEY, M. A. F. L. S.

 _Late of Peter-house, Cambridge, and Author of Animal Biography, &c._


[Illustration]


 DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF YOUNG PERSONS.



 LONDON:

 PRINTED FOR HARVEY AND DARTON, GRACECHURCH-STREET.

 1821.




ADVERTISEMENT.


In the preparation of this, and of the preceding volumes, of Travels in
the South of Europe, in South America, and in Africa; as well as in the
Biographical Conversations on Celebrated Voyagers and Travellers, it has
been the design of the author, by a detail of anecdotes of extraordinary
adventures, connected by illustrative remarks and observations, to
allure young persons to a study of geography, and to the attainment of a
knowledge of the character, habits, customs, and productions of foreign
nations. The whole is supposed to be related in a series of daily
instructions, from a parent to his children.

The "Biographical Conversations on Celebrated Travellers," contain a
further account of the United States and of Canada, in Professor's
Kalm's Travels through those countries; and of the northern regions of
America, in the Narratives of Hearne's Journeys from Hudson's Bay, to
the Northern Ocean.

The vignette represents the natural arch, called Rockbridge, described
in page 102.

 _Charlotte Street, Bloomsbury,
 London, 22d July, 1821._




INDEX OF THE COUNTRIES, AND PRINCIPAL PLACES AND OBJECTS DESCRIBED.


                                                                 Page

 NORTH AMERICA in General,                                          1

 UNITED STATES in General,                                          3


 _Account of New York and its vicinity._

 Inhabitants of New York, 12--Situation, Streets, Population,
 Hotels, 13--Stores, Public Buildings, Columbia College,
 14--Town Hall, Trades and Professions, 15--House-rent,
 Provisions, Religion, Courts of Law, 16--Long Island, New
 Jersey, River Hudson, Newark, Fishkill, Steam-boats,
 17--Emigrants, 18.


 _Narrative of Fearon's Journey from New York to Boston._

 New Haven, 18--New London, Norwich, New Providence, 19--
 Pawtucket, Boston, 20--Bunker's Hill, Cambridge, Harvard
 College, 21.


 _Weld's Voyage up the River Hudson, from New York to Lake
 Champlain._

 River Hudson, 22--West Point, Albany, 23--River Mohawk,
 Cohoz Waterfall, Saratoga, 25--Skenesborough, Lake Champlain,
 26--Ticonderoga, Crown Point, 27.


 _Hall's Journey from Canada to the Cataract of Niagara._

 Prescott, 28--River St. Lawrence, Lake Ontario, Kingston,
 29--Sackett's Harbour, Watertown, Utica, 30--Skaneactas,
 Waterloo, Geneva, Canandaigua, Burning Spring, 32--Rochester,
 33--Lewistown, Queenston, 34--York, Ancaster, Mohawk Indians,
 35--Mohawk Village, 36--Falls of Niagara, 37.


 _Hall's Journey from Niagara to Philadelphia._

 Fort Erie, Buffalo, Batavia, Caledonia, 41--Genesee River,
 Bath, Painted Post, 42--Susquehanna River, Wilksbarre,
 43--Wyoming, Blue Ridge, Bethlehem, Nazareth, 44--Moravians,
 45--Lehigh Mountain, German Town, 46.


 _Description of Philadelphia._

 Streets, Houses, 46--Shops, Wharfs, Water-Street, Public
 Buildings, 47--State-house, University, Prison, 48--Markets,
 Inhabitants, 49--Funerals, Climate, 50--Carriages, 51--
 Taverns, 52--Delaware River, Schuylkil River, 53.

 Trenton, College, 53--Residence of Joseph Buonaparte, 54.


 _Fearon's Journey from Philadelphia to Pittsburg._

 Great Valley, Mines, 54--Lancaster, Harrisburgh, Carlisle,
 Chambersburgh, 55--London, Waggons, North Mountain,
 56--Bloody Run, Bedford, Dry Ridge, Alleghany Mountains,
 Inhabitants, Log-houses, 57--Laurel Hill, Little Chesnut
 Ridge, Greensburg, Turtle Creek Hill, Inhabitants, 58--
 Pittsburg, 59--Manufactures, 60--Climate, American Population,
 61--Farms, Emigration, 62.


 _Birkbeck's Expedition from Pittsburg into the Illinois
 Territory._

 Travelling, 63--Cannonsburg, Washington in Pennsylvania,
 State of Ohio, Wheeling, 64--St. Clairsville, 65--Farms,
 Zanesville, Rushville, Lancaster, 66--Chillicothe, Pike Town,
 67--Hurricane tract, 68--Lebanon, Cincinnati, Schools, 69--
 State of Indiana, 70--Camp Tavern, 71--Vincennes, Indians,
 72--Princeton, 74--Harmony, Mount Vernon, Big Prairie, 75--
 Woods, and Farms, 76--Hunters, Little Wabash, Skillet Fork,
 77--Shawnee Town, 78--Harmony, 79--Animals, 80--English
 Prairie, 81.


 _Weld's Excursion from Philadelphia to Washington._

 Schuylkil River, Chester, Brandywine River, Wilmington,
 82--Elkton, Susquehannah River, Havre de Grace, Baltimore, 83.


 _Description of Washington._

 Origin, situation, form, Streets, Inhabitants, Capitol,
 85--President's House, Post-Office, River Potomac,
 Tiber, 86--Markets, Shops, Inhabitants, Congress,
 Senate, 87--Representative Chamber, George Town,
 88--Alexandria, Mount Vernon, 89.


 _Weld's Journey from Washington to Richmond in Virginia._

 Country, 89--Hoe's Ferry, Rappahannoc River, Plantations in
 Virginia, 90--Tappahannoc or Hob's Hole, Urbanna, 91--Fires
 in the Woods, 92--Gloucester, York, Williamsburgh, College,
 93--Hampton, Chesapeak, Norfolk, 94--Dismal Swamp, James River,
 95--Taverns, Petersburgh, Richmond, 96--Falls of the James
 River, Inhabitants of Virginia, 97.


 _Weld's Return from Richmond to Philadelphia._

 South-west or Green Mountains, Country and Animals, 98--
 Fire-flies, 99--Seat of Mr. Jefferson, Lynchburgh, 100--Peaks
 of Otter, Fincastle, Soil and Climate, 101--Sweet Springs,
 Jackson's Mountains, Rockbridge, 102--Maddison's Cave,
 Emigrants, 103--Lexington, Staunton, Winchester, Potomac
 River, Stupendous Scene, 104--Frederic, Philadelphia, 105.


 _Michaux's Journey from Pittsburgh to Lexington._

 Wheeling, River Ohio, 106--Marietta, Point Pleasant,
 107--Gallipoli, Alexandria, 108--Limestone, Kentucky,
 109--Inhabitants, 110--Mays Lick, Lexington, 111--
 Louisville, 112--Caverns in Kentucky, 114.


 _Michaux's Journey from Lexington to Charleston._

 Vineyards, 114--Kentucky River, Harrodsburgh, Mulder Hill,
 Barrens or Kentucky Meadows, 115--Nasheville, 117--Cairo,
 Fort Blount, 118--West Point, Cherokee Indians, 119--
 Kingstown, 120--Knoxville, Holstein River, Tavern, Macby,
 121--Woods, Log-houses, Greenville, Jonesborough, 122--
 Alleghany Mountains, Linneville Mountains, Morganton,
 123--Lincolnton, 124--Chester, Winesborough, Columbia,
 125--Charleston, 126.


 _Description of Charleston._

 Situation, Quays, 126--Streets, Houses, 127--Public Buildings,
 Trees in the Streets, Inhabitants, 128--Vauxhall, Hotels,
 Market, Provisions, 129--Marshes, 130.

 Adjacent country, 130--Raleigh, Newbern, Savannah, in Georgia,
 131.


 _Bartram's Excursion from Charleston into Georgia and West
 Florida._

 Augusta, 133--Country, fossil shells, Fort James, Dartmouth,
 134--Indian monuments, 135--Cherokee Settlements, Sinica, 135
 --Keowe, Tugilo river, 136--Sticoe, Cowe, 137--Cherokee
 Indians, 138--Fort James, 140--Country near the Oakmulge and
 Flint rivers, Uche, 141--Apalachula, Coweta, Talasse,
 Coloome, 142--Alabama river, Mobile, Pensacola, 144--Mobile,
 Pearl river, Manchac, Mississippi river, 145--Mobile, Taensa,
 146--Tallapoose river, Alabama, Mucclasse, Apalachula river,
 Chehau, Usseta, 147--Oakmulge, Ocone river, Ogeche, Augusta,
 Savannah, 148.


 _Mr. Bartram's Journey from Savannah into East Florida._

 Sunbury, 148--Fort Barrington, St. Ille's, 149--Savannahs
 near river St. Mary, River St. Juan, or St. John, Cowford,
 150--Plantation, 151--Indian Village, 152 Charlotia or
 Rolle's Town, Mount Royal, 153--Lake George, Spalding's
 Upper Store, 154--Adventure with Alligators, 155--Alligators'
 nests, 157--Lake, Forests, Plantation, Hot Fountain, Upper
 Store, Cuscowilla, 159--Sand-hills, Half-way Pond, Turtles,
 Lake of Cuscowilla, 160--Alachuas and Creek or Siminole
 Indians, 161--Talahasochte, Little St. John's River, 162.


 _The River Mississippi._

 Source, Length, Banks, 165--Tides, New Orleans, 166--Adjacent
 Country, Natchez, 167--Navigation of the Mississippi, 168--
 New Madrid, the Ohio, Illinois Territory, Kaskaski, 169--St.
 Louis, 170.


 _Pike's Voyage from St. Louis to the Source of the Mississippi._

 St. Louis, 170--Illinois River, Buffalo River, Sac Indians,
 Salt River, 171--Rapids des Moines, Jowa River, Jowa Indians,
 Rock River, 172--Turkey River, Reynard Indians, Ouisconsin
 River, Pecant or Winebagoe Indians, 173--Sioux Indians,
 Prairie des Chiens, 174--Sauteaux or Chippeway River, Scenery
 of the Mississippi, Sioux village, Canoe. River, St. Croix
 River, 176--Cannon River, Indian Burying-place, Falls of St.
 Anthony, 177--Rum River, Red Cedar Lake, Beaver Islands,
 Corbeau or Raven River, 178--Pine Creek, Lake Clear, Clear
 River, Winter Quarters, Indians, 179--Falls of the Painted
 Rock, Pine River, Chippeway Indians, 180--Leech Lake, Pine
 Creek, 181--Indians, Falls of St. Anthony, Prairie des Chiens,
 182--Sioux and Puant Indians, Salt River, 183.


 WESTERN TERRITORY OF AMERICA                                     184


 _The River Missouri._

 _Lewis and Clarke's Voyage from St. Louis to the Source of
 the Missouri._

 St. Louis, Osage River, Osage Indians, Big Manitou Creek,
 185--Kanzes River, Platte River, 186--Pawnee Indians, Ottoe
 and Missouri Indians, 187--Indian Villages 188--Water of the
 Missouri, Fruit, Yankton Indians, 189--Teton Indians, 191--
 Ricara Indians, Chayenne River, 194--Le Boulet or Cannon-ball
 River, Mandan Indians, 196--Winter Quarters, 197--Fort Mandan,
 Ahanaway and Minnetaree Indians, 198--Knife River, 199--Little
 Missouri, Indian Burying-place, 201--Yellow Stone River, 202
 --Porcupine River, Muscle-shell River, 203--Great Falls of
 the Missouri, 205--Maria's River, 207--Three Forks of the
 Missouri, 209--Source of the Missouri, 210.


 _Lewis and Clarke's Travels from the Source of the Missouri
 to the Pacific Ocean._

 Rocky Mountains, 210--Mountainous Country, Indians, 211--
 Travellers' Rest Creek, Koos-koos-kee River, Chopunnish
 Indians, 213--Shoshonees and Snake Indians, 214--Pierced-nose
 Indians, 217--Indian Fisheries, 218--Solkuk Indians, 218--
 Columbia or Oregan River, Echeloot Indians, 219--The Pacific
 Ocean, Indians in the Vicinity of the Coast, 221.


 _Lewis and Clarke's Return from the Pacific Ocean to St. Louis._

 Rocky Mountains, 225--Travellers' Rest Creek, Clarke's River,
 Maria's River, Missouri River, 226--Yellow-stone River,
 Jefferson's River, 227--La Charette, St. Louis, 228.


 _Pike's Journey from St. Louis, through Louisiana to Santa
 Fe, New Spain._

 Missouri River, St. Charles, Osage River, Gravel River, 229
 --Yungar River, Grand Fork, Osage Indians, 230--Kanzes River,
 Pawnee Indians, 231--Arkansaw River, 232--Indians, 233--Grand
 Pawnees, Rio Colorado, 234--Rio del Norte, 236--Santa Fe, 237.


 MEXICO or NEW SPAIN in general                                   239


 _Pike's Journey from Santa Fe to Montelovez._

 St. Domingo, Albuquerque, Sibilleta, 247--Passo del Norte,
 Carracal, Chihuahua, 248--Florida River, Mauperne, Hacienda
 of Polloss, 249--Montelovez, Durango, 250.


 _Description of the City of Mexico._

 Situation, 250--Ancient City, 251--Quarters, Teocallis or
 Temples, 252--School of Mines, Valley of Mexico, 253--Streets,
 Aqueducts, Dikes or Embankments, Public Edifices, 254--Public
 Walk, Markets, Chinampas, 255--Hill of Chapoltepec, Lakes of
 Tezcuco and Chalco, 256.


 _Description of some of the most important Places in Mexico._

 Tlascala, 256--Puebla, Cholula, Vera Cruz, 257--Xalapa,
 Volcano of Orizaba, Coffre de Perote, Volcano of Tuxtla,
 Papantla, Indian Pyramid, 259--Acapulco, 260--Guaxaca or
 Oaxaca, Intendancy of Yucatan, Bay of Campeachy, 261--
 Merida, Campeachy, Honduras, Balize, 262--Nicaragua, Yare
 River, 263--Leon de Nicaragua, 264.


 BRITISH AMERICAN DOMINIONS                                       264

 _Nova Scotia_ in general                                         ib.

 Halifax                                                          265

 _Canada_ in general                                              265


 _Description of Quebec._

 Situation, Cape Diamond, 267--Lower Town, Houses, Streets,
 Mountain Street, 268--Shops or Stores, Taverns, Public
 Buildings, Upper Town, 269--Charitable Institutions, Wolf's
 Cove, Heights of Abram, Markets, 270--Maple Sugar, Fruit,
 Climate, 271.


 _Mr. Hall's Journey from Quebec to Montreal._

 Jacques Cartier Bridge, Cataract, Country Houses, 272--
 Post-houses, Trois Rivieres, River St. Maurice, Falls of
 Shawinne Gamme, Beloeil Mountain, 273--Beloeil, Montreal
 Mountain, 274.


 _Description of Montreal._

 Situation, Buildings, Streets, Square, Upper and Lower Towns,
 Suburbs, Religious and Charitable Institutions, 275--Public
 Edifices, Parade, 276--Markets, Climate, 277.


 _Route from Montreal to Fort Chepewyan._

 La Chine, 277--St. Ann's, Lake of the two Mountains, Utawas
 River, Portage de Chaudiere, 278--Lake Nepisingui, Nepisinguis
 Indians, Riviere de Francois, Lake Huron, Lake Superior,
 Algonquin Indians, 279--Grande Portage, River Au Tourt, 280--
 Lake Winipic, Cedar Lake, Mud Lake, Sturgeon Lake, Saskatchiwine
 River, Beaver Lake, Lake of the Hills, Fort Chepewyan, 281.


 _Account of the Knisteneaux and Chepewyan Indians._

 Knisteneaux, 282--Chepewyans, 285.


 _Mackenzie's Voyage from Fort Chepewyan, along the Rivers
 to the Frozen Ocean._

 Fort Chepewyan, 288--Lake of the Hills, Slave River, Great
 Slave Lake, 289--Red-knife Indians, 290--Slave and Dog-rib
 Indians, 291--Quarreller Indians, 294--North Frozen Ocean,
 Whale Island, 295.


 _Mackenzie's Return from the Frozen Ocean to Fort Chepewyan._

 Indians, 296--Account of the country, 297--Woods and Mountains,
 298--Fort Chepewyan.


 _Description of the Western Coast of America, from California
 to Behring's Strait._

 California, Gulf of California, Missionary Establishment,
 Indians of California, 299--Monterey, New Albion, Nootka
 Sound, 300--Indians of Nootka Sound, 301--Port St. Francois,
 Indians, Prince William's Sound, 302--Cook's River, Alyaska,
 Cape Newenham, 303--Behring's Strait, Cape Prince of Wales,
 304.


 DAVIS'S STRAIT and BAFFIN'S BAY                                  304


 _Ross's Voyage of Discovery, for the purpose of exploring
 Baffin's Bay, and enquiring into the Probability of a
 North-west Passage._

 Cape Farewell, Icebergs, Disco Island, 305,--Kron Prin's
 Island, Danish Settlement, Wayat's or Hare Island, Four Island
 Point, Danish Factory, 306,--Esquimaux of Greenland, Danger
 from the Ice, Whales, 307--Arctic Highlanders, 308--Arctic
 Highlands, Prince Regent's Bay, 315--Sea Fowls, Crimson Snow,
 Cape Dudley Digges, 317--Wolstenholme and Whale Sounds, Sir
 Thomas Smith's Sound, Alderman Jones's Sound, Lancaster Sound,
 Croker Mountains, 318, 319.


 _Parry's Voyage for the Discovery of a North-west Passage._

 Lancaster's Sound, Possession Bay, 319--Croker's Bay,
 Wellington Channel, Barrow's Straits, 320--Bounty Cape, Bay
 of the Hecla and Griper, Melville Island, 321--Cape Providence,
 North Georgian Islands, 322--Winter Quarters at Melville
 Island, 323--Cape Providence, Lancaster's Sound, Baffin's Bay,
 the Clyde, Esquimaux Indians, 333.


 LABRADOR in general                                              336

 GREENLAND in general                                             339




 _Explanation of the Plates in this Volume._

 Plate                                          Page

    _Vignette_, Rock Bridge                      102

 1. Washington (_Frontispiece_)                   85
    Pyramid of Cholula, near Mexico              257
    New York                                      13

 2. Philadelphia, Second Street                   46
    Philadelphia, United States Bank              48
    Philadelphia, High Street                     46

 3. Quebec                                       268
    Cataract of Niagara                           37
    Montreal                                     276

The Binder is requested to place the Frontispiece opposite to the Title,
and the above Explanation, with the other Plates, together, after the
Table of Contents.




[Illustration: _Plate 2._

PHILADELPHIA, SECOND STREET.

UNITED STATES BANK.

PHILADELPHIA, HIGH STREET.]





[Illustration: _Plate 3._

QUEBEC.

CATARACT OF NIAGARA.

MONTREAL.]




TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA,

FROM

MODERN WRITERS.




First Day's Instruction.

NORTH AMERICA.


This division of the great western continent is more than five thousand
miles in length; and, in some latitudes, is four thousand miles wide. It
was originally discovered by Europeans, about the conclusion of the
fifteenth century; and, a few years afterwards, a party of Spanish
adventurers obtained possession of some of the southern districts. The
inhabitants of these they treated like wild animals, who had no property
in the woods through which they roamed. They expelled them from their
habitations, established settlements; and, taking possession of the
country in the name of their sovereign, they appropriated to themselves
the choicest and most valuable provinces. Numerous other settlements
have since been established in different parts of the country; and the
native tribes have nearly been exterminated, while the European
population and the descendants of Europeans, have so much increased
that, in the United States only, there are now more than ten millions of
white inhabitants.

The _surface_ of the country is extremely varied. A double range of
mountains extends through the United States, in a direction, from
south-west to north-east; and another range traverses nearly the whole
western regions, from north to south. No part of the world is so well
watered with rivulets, rivers, and lakes, as this. Some of the _lakes_
resemble inland seas. Lake Superior is nearly 300 miles long, and is
more than 150 miles wide; and lakes Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario, and
Champlain, are all of great size. The principal navigable _rivers_ of
America are the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Missouri, and the Illinois.
Of these the _Mississippi_ flows from the north, and falls into the Gulf
of Mexico. The _Ohio_ flows into the Mississippi: it extends in a
north-easterly direction, and receives fifteen large streams, all of
which are navigable. The _Missouri_ and the _Illinois_ also flow into
the Mississippi: and, by means of these several rivers, a commercial
intercourse is effected, from the ocean to vast distances into the
interior of the country. Other important rivers are the _Delaware_ and
the _Hudson_, in the United States, and the _St. Lawrence_, in Canada.
The _bays_ and harbours of North America are numerous, and many of them
are well adapted for the reception and protection of ships. _Hudson's
Bay_ is of greater extent than the whole Baltic sea. _Delaware Bay_ is
60 miles long; and, in some parts, is so wide, that a vessel in the
middle of it cannot be seen from either bank. _Chesapeak Bay_ extends
270 miles inland. The _Bay of Honduras_ is on the south-eastern side of
New Spain, and is noted for the trade in logwood and mahogany, which is
carried on upon its banks.

The _natural productions_ of North America are, in many respects,
important. The forests abound in valuable timber-trees; among which are
enumerated no fewer than forty-two different species of oaks.
Fruit-trees of various kinds are abundant; and, in many places, grapes
grow wild: the other vegetable productions are numerous and important.
Among the quadrupeds are enumerated some small species of tigers, deer,
elks of immense size, bisons, bears, wolves, foxes, beavers, porcupines,
and opossums. The American forests abound in birds; and in those of
districts that are distant from the settlements of men, wild turkeys,
and several species of grouse are very numerous. In some of the forests
of Canada, passenger-pigeons breed in myriads; and, during their
periodical flight, from one part of the country to another, their
numbers darken the air. The coasts, bays, and rivers, abound in fish;
and various species of reptiles and serpents are known to inhabit the
interior of the southern districts. Among the mountains most of the
important metals are found: iron, lead, and copper, are all abundant;
and coals are not uncommon.


THE UNITED STATES.

That part of North America which is under the government of the United
States, now constitutes one of the most powerful and most enlightened
nations in the world. The inhabitants enjoy the advantage of a vast
extent of territory, over which the daily increasing population is able,
with facility, to expand itself; and much of this territory, though
covered with forests, is capable of being cleared, and many parts of it
are every day cleared, for the purposes of cultivation.

The origin of the United States may be dated from the time of the
formation of an English colony in Virginia, about the year 1606. Other
English colonies were subsequently formed; and, during one hundred and
fifty years, these gradually increased in strength and prosperity, till,
at length, the inhabitants threw off their dependance upon England, and
established an independent republican government. This, after a long and
expensive war, was acknowledged by Great Britain, in a treaty signed at
Paris on the 30th of November, 1782.

The _boundaries_ of the States were determined by this treaty; but, some
important acquisitions of territory have since been made. In April,
1803, _Louisiana_ was ceded to them by France; and this district, in
its most limited extent, includes a surface of country, which, with the
exception of Russia, is equal to the whole of Europe. _Florida_, by its
local position, is connected with the United States: it belonged to
Spain, but, in the year 1820, it was annexed to the territories of the
republic.

Geographical writers have divided the United States into three regions:
the _lowlands_ or flat country; the highlands, and the mountains. Of
these, the first extend from the Atlantic ocean to the falls of the
great rivers. The _highlands_ reach from the falls to the foot of the
mountains; and the _mountains_ stretch nearly through the whole country,
in a direction from south-west to north-east. Their length is about 900
miles, and their breadth from 60 to 200. They may be considered as
separated into two distinct chains; of which the eastern chain has the
name of _Blue Mountains_, and the western is known, at its southern
extremity, by the name of _Cumberland_ and _Gauley Mountains_, and
afterwards by that of the _Alleghany Mountains_. The Alleghanies are
about 250 miles distant from the shore of the Atlantic. Towards the
north there are other eminences, called the _Green Mountains_ and the
_White Mountains_. The loftiest summits of the whole are said to be
about 7000 feet in perpendicular height above the level of the sea.

Few countries can boast a greater general fertility of _soil_ than North
America. The soil of the higher lands consists, for the most part, of a
brown loamy earth, and a yellowish sandy clay. Marine shells, and other
substances, in a fossil state, are found at the depth of eighteen or
twenty feet below the surface of the ground. Some of these are of very
extraordinary description. In the year 1712, several bones and teeth of
a vast nondescript quadruped, were dug up at Albany in the state of New
York. By the ignorant inhabitants these were considered to be the
remains of gigantic human bodies. In 1799 the bones of other individuals
of this animal, which has since been denominated the _Mastodon_ or
_American Mammoth_, were discovered beneath the surface of the ground,
in the vicinity of Newburgh, on the river Hudson. Induced by the hope of
being able to obtain a perfect skeleton, a Mr. Peale, of Philadelphia,
purchased these bones, with the right of digging for others. He was
indefatigable in his exertions, but was unable, for some time, to
procure any more. He made an attempt in a morass about twelve miles
distant from Newburgh, where an entire set of ribs was found, but
unaccompanied by any other remains. In another morass, in Ulster county,
he found several bones; among the rest a complete under jaw, and upper
part of the head. From the whole of the fragments that he obtained, he
was enabled to form two skeletons. One of these, under the name of
mammoth, was exhibited in London, about a year afterwards. Its height at
the shoulder was eleven feet; its whole length was fifteen feet; and its
weight about one thousand pounds. This skeleton was furnished with large
and curved ivory tusks, different in shape from those of an elephant,
but similar in quality. In 1817 another skeleton was dug up, from the
depth of only four feet, in the town of _Goshen_, near Chester. The
tusks of this were more than nine feet in length.

In a region so extensive as the United States, there must necessarily be
a great variety of _climate_. In general, the heat of summer and the
cold of winter are more intense, and the transitions, from the one to
the other, are more sudden than in the old continent. The predominant
winds are from the west; and the severest cold is felt from the
north-west. Between the forty-second and forty-fifth degrees of
latitude, the same parallel as the south of France, the winters are very
severe. During winter, the ice of the rivers is sufficiently strong to
bear the passage of horses and waggons; and snow is so abundant, as to
admit the use of sledges. In Georgia the winters are mild. South
Carolina is subject to immoderate heat, to tremendous hurricanes, and
to terrific storms of thunder and lightning.

The United States are usually classed in three divisions: the northern,
the middle, and the southern. The _northern states_ have the general
appellation of _New England_: they are Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The _middle states_ are New
York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. The
_southern states_ are Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tenessee, and Louisiana.

Besides these, the United States claim the government of the
_territories_ of the Illinois, Alabama, and Mississippi. By a public
ordinance, passed in the year 1787, a territory cannot be admitted into
the American Union, until its population amounts to 60,000 free
inhabitants. In the mean time, however, it is subject to a regular
provisional form of government. The administration of this is entrusted
to a governor, who is appointed by the president and congress of the
United States; and who is invested with extensive powers, for protection
of the interests of the States, and the observance of a strict faith
towards the Indians, in the exchange of commodities, and the purchase of
lands.

The _government_ of the United States is denominated a "Federal
Republic." Each state has a constitution for the management of its own
internal affairs; and, by the federal constitution, they are all formed
into one united body. The legislative power is vested in a _congress_ of
delegates from the several states; this congress is divided into two
distinct bodies, the _senate_ and the _house of representatives_. The
members of the latter are elected every two years, by the people; and
the senators are elected every six years, by the state legislatures. A
senator must be thirty years of age, an inhabitant of the state in which
he is elected, and must have been nine years a citizen of the United
States: the present number of senators is thirty-eight. The executive
power is vested in a _president_, who is chosen every four years. In
the election both of members of congress, and of the president of the
United States, it is asserted, that there is much manoeuvering, and
much corrupt influence exerted. In the electioneering addresses of the
defeated parties, these are, perhaps, as often made a subject of
complaint and reproach, as they are in those of defeated candidates for
the representation of counties or boroughs in the British House of
Commons.

Washington is the seat of government; and the president, when there,
lives in a house destined for his use, and furnished at the expense of
the nation. His annual salary is 25,000 dollars, about L.5600 sterling.
The president, in virtue of his office, is commander-in-chief of the
army and navy of the United States, and also of the militia, whenever it
is called into actual service. He is empowered to make treaties, to
appoint ambassadors, ministers, consuls, judges of the supreme court,
and all military and other officers whose appointments are not otherwise
provided for by the law.

The _national council_ is composed of the President and Vice President;
and the heads of the treasury, war, navy, and post-office establishment.

The _inhabitants_ of the United States (says Mr. Warden[1]) have not
that uniform character which belongs to ancient nations, upon whom, time
and the stability of institutions, have imprinted a particular and
individual character. The general physiognomy is as varied as its origin
is different. English, Irish, Germans, Scotch, French, and Swiss, all
retain some characteristic of their ancient country.

The account given by Mr. Birkbeck is somewhat different from this. He
asserts that, as far as he had an opportunity of judging, the native
inhabitants of the towns are much alike; nine out of ten (he says) are
tall and long limbed, approaching or even exceeding six feet. They are
seen in pantaloons and Wellington boots; either marching up and down,
with their hands in their pockets, or seated in chairs poised on the
hind feet, and the backs rested against the walls. If a hundred
Americans, of any class, were to seat themselves, ninety-nine (observes
this gentleman) would shuffle their chairs to the true distance, and
then throw themselves back against the nearest prop. The women exhibit a
great similarity of tall, relaxed forms, with consistent dress and
demeanour; and are not remarkable for sprightliness of manners.
Intellectual culture has not yet made much progress among the generality
of either sex; but the men, from their habit of travelling, and their
consequent intercourse with strangers, have greatly the advantage, in
the means of acquiring information. Mr. Birkbeck says that, in every
village and town, as he passed along, he observed groups of young
able-bodied men, who seemed to be as perfectly at leisure as the
loungers of Europe. This love of indolence, where labour is so
profitable, is a strange affection. If these people be asked why they so
much indulge in it, they answer, that "they live in freedom; and need
not work, like the English."

In the interior of the United States, and in the back settlements,
_land_ may be purchased, both of individuals and of the government, at
very low rates. The price of uncleared land, or of land covered with
trees, and not yet in a state fit for cultivation, is, in many
instances, as low as two dollars an acre. The public lands are divided
into townships of six miles square; each of which is subdivided into
thirty-six sections, of one mile square, or 640 acres; and these are
usually offered for sale, in quarter sections, of 160 acres. The
purchase money may be paid by four equal instalments; the first within
forty days, and the others within two, three, and four years after the
completion of the purchase.

Mr. Birkbeck thus describes the mode in which _towns_ _are formed_ in
America. On any spot, (says he,) where a few settlers cluster together,
attracted by ancient neighbourhood, or by the goodness of the soil, or
vicinity to a mill, or by whatever other cause, some enterprising
proprietor perhaps finds, in his section, what he deems a good site for
a town: he has it surveyed, and laid out in lots, which he sells, or
offers to sale by auction. When these are disposed of, the new town
assumes the name of its founder: a store-keeper builds a little framed
store, and sends for a few cases of goods; and then a tavern starts up,
which becomes the residence of a doctor and a lawyer, and the boarding
house of the store-keeper, as well as the resort of the traveller. Soon
follow a blacksmith, and other handicraftsmen, in useful succession. A
school-master, who is also the minister of religion, becomes an
important acquisition to this rising community. Thus the town proceeds,
if it proceed at all, with accumulating force, until it becomes the
metropolis of the neighbourhood. Hundreds of these speculations may have
failed, but hundreds prosper; and thus trade begins and thrives, as
population increases around favourite spots. The town being established,
a cluster of inhabitants, however small it may be, acts as a stimulus on
the cultivation of the neighbourhood: redundancy of supply is the
consequence, and this demands a vent. Water-mills rise on the nearest
navigable streams, and thus an effectual and constant market is secured
for the increasing surplus of produce. Such are the elements of that
accumulating mass of commerce which may, hereafter, render this one of
the most important and most powerful countries in the world.

Though the Americans boast of the freedom which they personally enjoy,
they, most inconsistently, allow the importation and employment of
_slaves_; and, with such unjust detestation are these unhappy beings
treated, that a negro is not permitted to eat at the same table, nor
even to frequent the same place of worship, as a white person. The white
_servants_, on the contrary, esteem themselves on an equality with
their masters. They style themselves "helps," and will not suffer
themselves to be called "servants." When they speak to their masters or
mistresses, they either call them by their names; or they substitute the
term "boss," for that of master. All this, however, is a difference
merely of words; for the Americans exhibit no greater degree of feeling,
nor are they at all more considerate in their conduct towards this class
of society, than the inhabitants of other nations. Indeed the contrary
is very often the case. Most persons, in America, engage their servants
by the week, and no enquiry is ever made relative to character, as is
customary with us.

The _constitution_ of the United States guarantees freedom of speech and
liberty of the press. By law all the inhabitants are esteemed equal. The
chief military strength of the country is in the militia; and, whenever
this is embodied, every male inhabitant beyond a certain age, is
compellable either to bear arms, or to pay an equivalent to be excused
from this service. Trial by jury is to be preserved inviolate. A
republican form of government is guaranteed to all the states, and
hereditary titles and distinctions are prohibited by the law. With
regard to religion, it is stipulated that no law shall ever be passed to
establish any particular form of religion, or to prevent the free
exercise of it; and, in the United States, no religious test is required
as a qualification to any office of public trust.

In _commerce_ and _navigation_ the progress of the States has been rapid
beyond example. Besides the natural advantages of excellent harbours,
extensive inland bays, and navigable rivers, the Americans assert that
their trade is not fettered by monopolies, nor by exclusive privileges
of any description. Goods or merchandise circulate through the whole
country free of duty; and a full drawback, or restitution of the duties
of importation, is granted upon articles exported to a foreign port, in
the course of the year in which they have been imported. Commerce is
here considered a highly honourable employment; and, in the sea-port
towns, all the wealthiest members of the community are merchants. Nearly
all the materials for manufactures are produced in this country. Fuel is
inexhaustible; and the high wages of the manufacturers, and the want of
an extensive capital, alone prevent the Americans from rivalling the
English in trade. The produce of cultivation in America is of almost
every variety that can be named: wheat, maize, rye, oats, barley, rice,
and other grain; apples, pears, cherries, peaches, grapes, currants,
gooseberries, plums, and other fruit, and a vast variety of vegetables.
Lemons, oranges, and tropical fruits are raised in the southern States.
Hops, flax, and hemp are abundant. Tobacco is an article of extensive
cultivation in Virginia, Maryland, and some other districts. Cotton and
sugar are staple commodities in several of the states. The northern and
eastern states are well adapted for grazing, and furnish a great number
of valuable horses, and of cattle and sheep; and an abundance of butter
and cheese.

       *       *       *       *       *

It will be possible to describe nearly all the most important places
within the limits of the United States, by reciting, in succession, the
narratives of different travellers through this interesting country. In
so doing, however, it may perhaps be found requisite, in a few
instances, to separate the parts of their narrations, for the purpose of
more methodical illustration; but this alteration of arrangement will
not often occur.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Statistical, political, and historical account of the United
States.




Second Day's Instruction.

UNITED STATES CONTINUED.


_An account of New York and its vicinity. From Sketches of America by_
HENRY BRADSHAW FEARON.

Mr. Fearon was deputed by several friends in England, to visit the
United States, for the purpose of obtaining information, by which they
should regulate their conduct, in emigrating from their native country,
to settle in America. He arrived in the bay of New York, about the
beginning of August, 1817.

Here every object was interesting to him. The pilot brought on board the
ship the newspapers of the morning. In these, many of the advertisements
had, to Mr. Fearon, the character of singularity. One of them,
announcing a play, terminated thus: "gentlemen are informed that no
smoking is allowed in the theatre." Several sailing boats passed, with
respectable persons in them, many of whom wore enormously large straw
hats, turned up behind. At one o'clock, the vessel was anchored close to
the city; and a great number of persons were collected on the wharf to
witness her arrival. Many of these belonged to the labouring class;
others were of the mercantile and genteeler orders. Large straw hats
prevailed, and trowsers were universal. The general costume of these
persons was inferior to that of men in the same rank of life in England:
their whole appearance was loose, slovenly, careless, and not remarkable
for cleanliness. The wholesale stores, which front the river, had not
the most attractive appearance imaginable. The carts were long and
narrow, and each was drawn by one horse. The hackney-coaches were open
at the sides, an arrangement well suited to this warm climate; and the
charge was about one fourth higher than in London.

This city, when approached from the sea, presents an appearance that is
truly beautiful. It stands at the extreme point of Manhattan, or York
island, which is thirteen miles long, and from one to two miles wide;
and the houses are built from shore to shore. Vessels of any burden can
come close up to the town, and lie there in perfect safety, in a natural
harbour formed by the _East_ and _Hudson's rivers_. New York contains
120,000 inhabitants, and is, indisputably, the most important commercial
city in America.

The _streets_ through which Mr. Fearon passed, to a boarding-house in
State-street, were narrow and dirty. The _Battery_, however, is a
delightful walk, at the edge of the bay; and several of the houses in
State-street are as large as those in Bridge-street, Blackfriars,
London. At the house in which Mr. Fearon resided, the hours of eating
were, breakfast, eight o'clock; dinner half-past three, tea seven, and
supper ten; and the whole expence of living amounted to about eighteen
dollars per week.

The _street population_ of New York has an aspect very different from
that of London, or the large towns in England. One striking feature of
it is formed by the number of blacks, many of whom are finely dressed:
the females are ludicrously so, generally in white muslin, with
artificial flowers and pink shoes. Mr. Fearon saw very few well-dressed
white ladies; but this was a time of the year when most of them were
absent at the springs of Balston and Saratoga, places of fashionable
resort, about 200 miles from New York.

All the native inhabitants of this city have sallow complexions. To have
colour in the cheeks is here considered a criterion by which a person is
known to be an Englishman. The young men are tall, thin, and solemn:
they all wear trowsers, and most of them walk about in loose great
coats.

There are, in New York, many _hotels_; some of which are on an extensive
scale. The City Hotel is as large as the London Tavern. The dining-room
and some of the private apartments seem to have been fitted up
regardless of expense. The _shops_, or stores, as they are here called,
have nothing in their exterior to recommend them to notice: there is not
even an attempt at tasteful display. In this city the linen and
woollen-drapers expose great quantities of their goods, loose on boxes,
in the street, without any precaution against theft. This practice, a
proof of their carelessness, is at the same time an evidence as to the
political state of society which is worthy of attention. Great masses of
the population cannot be unemployed, or robbery would be inevitable.

There are, in New York, many excellent private dwellings, built of red
painted brick, which gives them a peculiarly neat and clean appearance.
In Broadway and Wall-street, trees are planted along the side of the
pavement. The City Hall is a large and elegant building, in which the
courts of law are held. Most of the _streets_ are dirty: in many of them
sawyers prepare their wood for sale, and all are infested with pigs.

On the whole, a walk through New York will disappoint an Englishman:
there is an apparent carelessness, a laziness, an unsocial indifference,
which freezes the blood and disgusts the judgment. An evening stroll
along Broadway, when the lamps are lighted, will please more than one at
noonday. The shops will look rather better, but the manners of the
proprietors will not greatly please an Englishman: their cold
indifference may be mistaken, by themselves, for independence, but no
person of thought and observation will ever concede to them that they
have selected a wise mode of exhibiting that dignified feeling.

[There is, in New York, a seminary for education, called _Columbia
College_. This institution was originally named "King's College," and
was founded in the year 1754. Its annual revenue is about 4000 dollars.
A botanic garden, situated about four miles from the city, was, not long
ago, purchased by the state, of Dr. Hosach, for 73,000 dollars, and
given to the college. The faculty of medicine, belonging to this
institution, has been incorporated under the title of "The College of
Physicians and Surgeons of the University of New York."]

The _Town Hall_ of this city is a noble building, of white marble; and
the space around it is planted and railed off. The interior appears to
be well arranged. In the rooms of the mayor and corporation, are
portraits of several governors of this state, and of some distinguished
officers. The state rooms and courts of justice are on the first floor.
In the immediate vicinity of the hall is an extensive building,
appropriated to the "New York Institution," the "Academy of fine Arts,"
and the "American Museum." There are also a state prison, an hospital,
and many splendid churches.

When a traveller surveys this city, and recollects that, but two
centuries since, the spot on which it stands was a wilderness, he cannot
but be surprised at its present comparative extent and opulence.

With regard to _trades_ in New York, Mr. Fearon remarks that building
appeared to be carried on to a considerable extent, and was generally
performed by contract. There were many timber, or lumber-yards, (as they
are here called,) but not on the same large and compact scale as in
England. Cabinet-work was neatly executed, and at a reasonable price.
Chair-making was an extensive business. Professional men, he says,
literally swarm in the United States; and lawyers are as common in New
York as paupers are in England. A gentleman, walking in the Broadway,
seeing a friend pass, called out to him, "Doctor!" and immediately
sixteen persons turned round, to answer the call. It is estimated that
there are, in New York, no fewer than 1500 spirit shops, yet the
Americans have not the character of being drunkards. There are several
large carvers' and gilders' shops; and glass-mirrors and picture-frames
are executed with taste and elegance. Plate-glass is imported from
France, Holland, and England. Booksellers' shops are extensive; but
English novels and poetry are the primary articles of a bookseller's
business. Many of the popular English books are here reprinted, but in a
smaller size, and on worse paper than the original. There are, in this
city, a few boarding-schools for ladies; but, in general, males and
females, of all ages, are educated at the same establishment. No species
of correction is allowed. Children, even at home, are perfectly
independent; subordination being foreign to the comprehension of all
persons in the United States.

The _rents of houses_ are here extremely high. Very small houses, in
situations not convenient for business, and containing, in the whole,
only six rooms, are worth from L.75 to L.80 per annum; and for similar
houses, in first-rate situations, the rents as high as from L.160 to
L.200 are paid. Houses like those in Oxford-street and the best part of
Holborn, are let for L.500 or L.600 pounds per annum.

_Provisions_ are somewhat cheaper than in London; but most of the
articles of clothing are dear, being chiefly of British manufacture.
With regard to _religion_ in the United States, there is legally the
most unlimited liberty. There is no established religion; but the
professors of the presbyterian and the episcopalian, or church of
England tenets, take the precedence, both in numbers and respectability.
Their ministers receive each from two to eight thousand dollars per
annum. All the churches are said to be well filled. The episcopalians,
though they do not form any part of the state, have their bishops and
other orders, as in England.

Mr. Fearon remarks, generally, respecting the United States, that every
industrious man may obtain a living; but that America is not the
political elysium which it has been so floridly described, and which the
imaginations of many have fondly anticipated.

In the _courts of law_ there appears to be a perfect equality between
the judge, the counsel, the jury, the tipstaff, and the auditors; and
Mr. Fearon was informed that great corruption exists in the minor
courts.

New York is called a "free state;" and it may perhaps be so termed
theoretically, or in comparison with its southern neighbours; but, even
here, there are multitudes of negroes in a state of slavery, and who are
bought and sold as cattle would be in England. And so degrading do the
white inhabitants consider it, to associate with blacks, that the latter
are absolutely excluded from all places of public worship, which the
whites attend. Even the most degraded white person will neither eat nor
walk with a negro.

_Long Island_ is a part of the state of New York, one hundred and twenty
miles in length, and twelve in breadth. It is chiefly occupied by
farmers; and is divided into two counties.

       *       *       *       *       *

Mr. Fearon made several excursions into the state of _New Jersey_,
situated opposite to that of New York, and on the southern side of the
river _Hudson_. The valleys abound in black oaks, ash, palms, and poplar
trees. Oak and hickory-nut trees grow in situations which are
overflowed. The soil is not considered prolific. _Newark_ is a
manufacturing town, in this province, of considerable importance, and
delightfully situated. It contains many excellent houses, and a
population of about eight thousand persons, including slaves. Carriages
and chairs are here made in great numbers, chiefly for sale in the
southern markets.

For the purpose of visiting the property of a gentleman who resided in
the vicinity of _Fishkill_, a creek somewhat more than sixty miles from
New York, Mr. Fearon took his passage in a steam-boat. He paid for his
fare three dollars and a half, and the voyage occupied somewhat more
than eight hours. The vessel was of the most splendid description. It
contained one hundred and sixty beds; and the ladies had a distinct
cabin. On the deck were numerous conveniences, such as baggage-rooms,
smoking-rooms, &c. The general occupation, during the voyage, was
card-playing. In the houses of two gentlemen whom Mr. Fearon visited
near Fishkill, he was much gratified by the style of living, the
substantial elegance of the furniture, and the mental talents of the
company. Here he found both comfort and cleanliness, requisites which
are scarcely known in America.

In a general summary of his opinion respecting persons desirous of
emigrating from England to America, Mr. Fearon says, that the capitalist
may obtain, for his money, seven per cent. with good security. The
lawyer and the doctor will not succeed. An orthodox minister would do
so. The proficient in the fine arts will find little encouragement. The
literary man must starve. The tutor's posts are all occupied. The
shopkeeper may do as well, but not better than in London, unless he be a
man of superior talent, and have a large capital: for such requisites
there is a fine opening. The farmer must labour hard, and be but
scantily remunerated. The clerk and shopman will get but little more
than their board and lodging. Mechanics, whose trades are of the _first
necessity_, will do well: but men who are not mechanics, and who
understand only the cotton, linen, woollen, glass, earthenware, silk, or
stocking manufactories, cannot obtain employment. The labouring man will
do well; particularly if he have a wife and children who are capable of
contributing, not merely to the consuming, but also to the earning of
the common stock.


_Narrative of_ MR. FEARON'S _Journey from New York to Boston._

ON the 8th of September this gentleman left New York for Boston. After a
passage of twelve hours, the vessel in which he sailed arrived at _New
Haven_, a city in Connecticut, distant from New York, by water, about
ninety miles. This place has a population of about five thousand
persons, and has the reputation of ranking among the most beautiful
towns in the United States. [It is situated at the head of a bay,
between two rivers, and contains about five hundred houses, which are
chiefly built of wood, but on a regular plan: it has also several public
edifices, and about four thousand inhabitants. The harbour is spacious,
well protected, and has good anchorage. There is at New Haven a college,
superintended by a president, a professor in divinity, and three
tutors.]

From this place Mr. Fearon proceeded to _New London_, a small town on
the west side of the river Thames. Here he took a place in the coach for
Providence. American stages are a species of vehicles with which none in
England can be compared. They carry twelve passengers: none outside. The
coachman, or driver, sits inside with the company. In length they are
nearly equal to two English stages. Few of them go on springs. The sides
are open; the roof being supported by six small posts. The luggage is
carried behind, and in the inside. The seats are pieces of plain board;
and there are leathers which can be let down from the top, and which,
though useful as a protection against wet, are of little service in cold
weather.

The passengers breakfasted at _Norwich_, a manufacturing and trading
town, about fourteen miles from New London; and, at six o'clock in the
evening, they arrived at _New Providence_, the capital of Rhode Island,
having occupied thirteen hours in travelling only fifty miles. In the
general appearance of the country, Mr. Fearon had been somewhat
disappointed. All the houses within sight from the road were
farm-houses. He remarks that, in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the land
was stony, and the price of produce was not commensurate to that of
labour.

On entering Providence, Mr. Fearon was much pleased with the beauty of
the place. In appearance, it combined the attractions of Southampton and
Doncaster, in England. There are, in this town, an excellent
market-house, a workhouse, four or five public schools, an university
with a tolerable library, and an hospital. Several of the churches are
handsome, but they, as well as many private houses, are built of wood
painted white, and have green Venetian shutters. Mr. Fearon had not seen
a town either in America or Europe which bore the appearance of general
prosperity, equal to Providence. Ship and house-builders were fully
occupied, as indeed were all classes of mechanics. The residents of this
place are chiefly native Americans; for foreign emigrants seem never to
think of New England. Rent and provisions are here much lower than in
New York.

At _Pawtucket_, four miles from Providence, are thirteen cotton
manufactories; six of which are on a large scale. Mr. Fearon visited
three of them. They had excellent machinery; but not more than one half
of this was in operation, and the persons employed in all the
manufactories combined, were not equal in number to those at one of
moderate size in Lancashire.

The road from Providence to Boston is much better than that which Mr.
Fearon had already passed from New London. The aspect of the country
also was improved; but there was nothing in either, as to mere
appearance, which would be inviting to an inhabitant of England.

From its irregularity, and from other circumstances, _Boston_ is much
more like an English town than New York. The names are English, and the
inhabitants are by no means so uniformly sallow, as they are in many
other parts of America. This town is considered the head quarters of
Federalism in politics, and of Unitarianism in religion. It contains
many rich families. The Bostonians are also the most enlightened, and
the most hospitable people whom Mr. Fearon had yet seen in America:
they, however, in common with all New Englanders, have the character of
being greater sharpers, and more generally dishonourable, than the
natives of other sections of the Union.

The _Athaeneum public library_, under the management of Mr. Shaw, is a
valuable establishment. It contained, at this time, 18,000 volumes, four
thousand of which were the property of the secretary of state.

The society in Boston is considered better than that in New York. Many
of the richer families live in great splendour, and in houses little
inferior to those of Russell-square, London. Distinctions here exist to
an extent rather ludicrous under a free and popular government: there
are the first class, second class, third class, and the "old families."
Titles, too, are diffusely distributed.

Boston is not a thriving, that is, not an increasing town. It wants a
fertile back country; and it is too far removed from the western states
to have much trade.

On an eminence, in the Mall, (a fine public walk,) is built the _State
House_, in which the legislature holds its meetings. The view from the
top of this building is peculiarly fine. The islands, the shipping, the
town, the hill and dale scenery, for a distance of thirty miles, present
an assemblage of objects which are beautifully picturesque. Boston was
the birth-place of Dr. Franklin, and in this town the first dawnings of
the American revolution broke forth. The heights of Dorchester and
Bunker's Hill are in its immediate vicinity.

On the 20th of September Mr. Fearon walked to _Bunker's Hill_. It is of
moderate height. The monument, placed here in commemoration of the
victory obtained by the English over the Americans, on the 17th of June,
1776, is of brick and wood, and without inscription.

[At _Cambridge_, four miles from Boston, is a college, called _Harvard
College_, in honour of the Rev. John Harvard of Charleston, who left to
it his library, and a considerable sum of money. This college is upon a
scale so large and liberal, as to consist of seven spacious buildings,
and to contain two hundred and fifty apartments for officers and
students. It has an excellent library of about 17,000 volumes, a
philosophical apparatus, and a museum of natural history. The average
number of students is about two hundred and sixty. Admission into this
college requires a previous knowledge of mathematics, Latin, and Greek.
All the students have equal rights; and each class has peculiar
instructors. Degrees are here conferred, as in the English universities;
and the period of study requisite for the degree of bachelor of arts is
four years. The professorships are numerous. Harvard College furnishes
instructors and teachers to the most distant parts of the union; and, in
general, for the extent of its funds, the richness of its library, the
number and character of its establishments, and the means it affords of
acquiring, not only an academical, but a professional education, it is
considered to be without an equal in the country. It is, however,
remarked, that this college is somewhat heretical in matters of
religion; as most of the theological students leave it disaffected
towards the doctrine of the Trinity.]

       *       *       *       *       *

From this place we must return to New York, for the purpose of
accompanying Mr. Weld on a voyage up the river Hudson to Lake Champlain.




Third Day's Instruction.

UNITED STATES, AND PART OF CANADA.


_Narrative of a Voyage up the River Hudson, from New York to Lake
Champlain. By_ ISAAC WELD, Esq.

Mr. Weld, having taken his passage in one of the sloops which trade on
the North or Hudson's river, betwixt New York and Albany, embarked on
the second of July. Scarcely a breath of air was stirring, and the tide
carried the vessel along at the rate of about two miles and a half an
hour. The prospects that were presented to his view, in passing up this
magnificent stream, were peculiarly grand and beautiful. In some places
the river expands to the breadth of five or six miles, in others it
narrows to that of a few hundred yards; and, in various parts, it is
interspersed with islands. From several points of view its course can be
traced to a great distance up the Hudson, whilst in others it is
suddenly lost to the sight, as it winds between its lofty banks. Here
mountains, covered with rocks and trees, rise almost perpendicularly out
of the water; there a fine champaign country presents itself, cultivated
to the very margin of the river, whilst neat farm-houses and distant
towns embellish the charming landscapes.

After sunset a brisk wind sprang up, which carried the vessel at the
rate of six or seven miles an hour for a considerable part of the night;
but for some hours it was requisite for her to lie at anchor, in a place
where the navigation of the river was intricate.

Early the next morning the voyagers found themselves opposite to _West
Point_, a place rendered remarkable in the history of the American war,
by the desertion of General Arnold, and the consequent death of the
unfortunate Major Andre. The fort stands about one hundred and fifty
feet above the level of the water, and on the side of a barren hill. It
had, at this time, a most melancholy aspect. Near West Point the
Highlands, as they are called, commence, and extend along the river, on
each side, for several miles.

About four o'clock in the morning of the 4th of July, the vessel reached
_Albany_, the place of its destination, one hundred and sixty miles
distant from New York. Albany is a city which, at this time, contained
about eleven hundred houses; and the number was fast increasing. In the
old part of the town, the streets were very narrow, and the houses bad.
The latter were all in the old Dutch taste, with the gable ends towards
the street, and ornamented at the top with large iron weather-cocks; but
in that part of the town which had been lately erected, the streets
were commodious, and many of the houses were handsome. Great pains had
been taken to have the streets well paved and lighted. In summer time
Albany is a disagreeable place; for it stands in a low situation on the
margin of the river, which here runs very slowly, and which, towards the
evening, often exhales clouds of vapour.

[In 1817, Albany is described, by Mr. Hall, to have had a gay and
thriving appearance, and nothing Dutch about it, except the names of
some of its inhabitants. Being the seat of government for New York, it
has a parliament-house, dignified with the name of Capitol. This stands
upon an eminence, and has a lofty columnar porch; but, as the building
is small, it seems to be all porch. There is a miserable little museum
here, which contains a group of waxen figures brought from France,
representing the execution of Louis the Sixteenth. Albany is now a place
of considerable trade; and, if a canal be completed betwixt this town
and Lake Erie, it will become a town of great importance.]

The 4th of July, the day of Mr. Weld's arrival at Albany, was the
anniversary of the declaration of American independence. About noon a
drum and trumpet gave notice that the rejoicings would immediately
commence; and, on walking to a hill, about a quarter of a mile from the
town, Mr. Weld saw sixty men drawn up, partly militia, partly
volunteers, partly infantry, partly cavalry. The last were clothed in
scarlet, and were mounted on horses of various descriptions. About three
hundred spectators attended. A few rounds from a three-pounder were
fired, and some volleys of small-arms. When the firing ceased, the
troops returned to the town, a party of militia officers, in uniform,
marching in the rear, under the shade of umbrellas, as the day was
excessively hot. Having reached the town, the whole body dispersed. The
volunteers and militia officers afterwards dined together, and thus
ended the rejoicings of the day.

Mr. Weld remained in Albany for a few days, and then set off for
Skenesborough, upon Lake Champlain, in a carriage hired for the purpose.
In about two hours he arrived at the small village of _Cohoz_, close to
which is a remarkable cataract in the _Mohawk River_. This river takes
its rise to the north-east of Lake Oneida, and, after a course of one
hundred and forty miles, joins the Hudson about ten miles above Albany.
The _Cohoz fall_ is about three miles from the mouth of this river, and
at a place where its width is about three hundred yards: a ledge of
rocks extends quite across the stream, and from the top of these the
water falls about fifty feet perpendicular: the line of the fall, from
one side of the river to the other, is nearly straight. The appearance
of this cataract varies much, according to the quantity of water: when
the river is full, the water descends in an unbroken sheet from one bank
to the other; but, at other times, the greater part of the rocks is left
uncovered.

From this place Mr. Weld proceeded along the banks of the _Hudson
River_, and, late in the evening, reached _Saratoga_, thirty-five miles
from Albany. This place contained about forty houses; but they were so
scattered, that it had not the least appearance of a town.

Near Saratoga, on the borders of a marsh, are several remarkable mineral
springs: one of these, in the crater of a rock, of pyramidical form, and
about five feet in height, is particularly curious. This rock seems to
have been formed by the petrifaction of the water; and all the other
springs are surrounded by similar petrifactions.

Of the works thrown up at Saratoga, during the war, by the British and
American armies, there were now scarcely any remains. The country around
was well cultivated, and most of the trenches had been levelled by the
plough. Mr. Weld here crossed the Hudson River, and proceeded, for some
distance, along its eastern shore. After this the road was most
wretched, particularly over a long causeway, which had been formed
originally for the transporting of cannon. This causeway consisted of
large, trees laid side by side. Some of them being decayed, great
intervals were left, in which the wheels of the carriage were sometimes
locked so fast, that the horses alone could not possibly extricate them.
The woods on each side of the road had a much more majestic appearance
than any that Mr. Weld had seen since he had left Philadelphia. This,
however, was owing more to the great height than to the thickness of the
trees, for he could not see one that appeared more than thirty inches in
diameter. The trees here were chiefly oaks, hiccory, hemlock, and beech;
intermixed with which appeared great numbers of smooth-barked, or
Weymouth pines. A profusion of wild raspberries were growing in the
woods.

After having experienced almost inconceivable difficulty, in consequence
of the badness of the road; and having occupied five hours in travelling
only twelve miles, Mr. Weld arrived at _Skenesborough_. This is a little
town, which stands near the southern extremity of Lake Champlain. It
consisted, at this time, of only twelve houses, and was dreadfully
infested with musquitoes, a large kind of gnats, which abound in the
swampy parts of all hot countries. Such myriads of these insects
attacked Mr. Weld, the first night of his sleeping there, that, when he
rose in the morning, his face and hands were covered with large
pustules, like those of a person in the small-pox. The situation of
Skenesborough, on the margin of a piece of water which is almost
stagnant, and which is shaded by thick woods, is peculiarly favourable
to the increase of these insects.

Shortly after their arrival in Skenesborough, Mr. Weld, and two
gentlemen by whom he was accompanied, hired a boat of about ten tons
burden, for the purpose of crossing _Lake Champlain_. The vessel sailed
at one o'clock in the day; but, as the channel was narrow, and the wind
adverse, they were only able to proceed about six miles before sunset.
Having brought the vessel to an anchor, the party landed and walked to
some adjacent farm-houses, in the hope of obtaining provisions; but they
were not able to procure any thing except milk and cheese. The next day
they reached _Ticonderoga_. Here the only dwelling was a tavern, a large
house built of stone. On entering it, the party was shown into a
spacious apartment, crowded with boatmen and other persons, who had just
arrived from St. John's in Canada. The man of the house was a judge; a
sullen, demure old gentleman, who sate by the fire, with tattered
clothes and dishevelled locks, reading a book, and was totally
regardless of every person in the house.

The old fort and barracks of Ticonderoga, are on the top of a rising
ground, just behind the tavern: they were at this time in ruins, and it
is not likely that they ever will be rebuilt; for the situation is a
very insecure one, being commanded by a lofty hill, called Mount
Defiance. During the great American war, the British troops obtained
possession of this place, by dragging cannon and mortars up the hill,
and firing down upon the fort.

Mr. Weld and his friends, on leaving Ticonderoga, pursued their voyage
to _Crown Point_: Here they landed to inspect the old fort. Nothing,
however, was to be seen but a heap of ruins; for, shortly before it was
surrendered by the British troops, the powder-magazine blew up, and a
great part of the works was destroyed; and, since the final evacuation
of the place, the people of the neighbourhood have been continually
digging in different parts, in the hope of procuring lead and iron shot.
At the south side only the ditches remain perfect: they are wide and
deep, and are cut through immense rocks of limestone; and, from being
overgrown, towards the top, with different kinds of shrubs, they have a
grand and picturesque appearance.

While the party were here, they were agreeably surprised with the sight
of a large birch-canoe, upon the lake, navigated by two or three
Indians, in the dresses of their nation. These made for the shore, and
soon landed; and, shortly afterwards, another party arrived, that had
come by land.

_Lake Champlain_ is about one hundred and twenty miles in length, and is
of various breadths: for the first thirty miles it is, in no place, more
than two miles wide; beyond this, for the distance of twelve miles, it
is five or six miles across; but it afterwards narrows, and again, at
the end of a few miles, expands. That part called the _Broad Lake_,
because broader than any other, is eighteen miles across. Here the lake
is interspersed with a great number of islands. The soundings of Lake
Champlain are, in general, very deep; in many places they are sixty and
seventy, and in some even one hundred fathoms in depth.

The scenery, along the shores of the lake, is extremely grand and
picturesque; particularly beyond Crown Point. Here they are beautifully
ornamented with hanging woods and rocks; and the mountains, on the
western side, rise in ranges one behind another, in the most magnificent
manner possible.

       *       *       *       *       *

Crossing from the head of Lake Champlain, westward to the river St.
Lawrence, we shall describe the places adjacent to that river, and some
of the north-western parts of the state of New York, in


_A Narrative of_ LIEUTENANT HALL'S _Journey from Canada to the
Cataract of Niagara._

Mr. Hall had travelled from Montreal, in Canada, to Prescott, in a
stage-waggon, which carried the mail; and he says that he can answer for
its being one of the roughest conveyances on either side of the
Atlantic.

The face of the country is invariably flat; and settlements have not,
hitherto, spread far from the banks of the _St. Lawrence_.

_Prescott_ is remarkable for nothing but a square redoubt, or fort,
called Fort Wellington. The accommodations at this place were so bad
that Mr. Hall, at midnight, seated himself in a light waggon, in which
two gentlemen were proceeding to Brockville. These gentlemen afterwards
offered him a passage to Kingston, in a boat belonging to the British
navy, which was waiting for them at _Brockville_.

The banks of the river St. Lawrence, from the neighbourhood of
Brockville, are of limestone, and from twenty to fifty feet in height.
Immense masses of reddish granite are also scattered along the bed of
the stream, and sometimes project from the shore. The numerous islands
which crowd the approach to _Lake Ontario_, have all a granite basis:
they are clothed with cedar and pine-trees, and with an abundance of
raspberry plants. The bed of the _Gananoqua_ is also of granite. This
river is rising into importance, from the circumstance of a new
settlement being formed, under the auspices of the British government,
on the waters with which it communicates.

This settlement lies at the head of the lakes of the _Rideau_, and, in
case of another American war, is meant to secure a communication betwixt
Montreal and Kingston, by way of the Utawa. The settlers are chiefly
disbanded soldiers, who clear and cultivate the land, under the
superintendance of officers of the quarter-master-general's department.
A canal has been cut to avoid the falls of the Rideau; and the
communication, either by the Gananoqua, or Kingston, will be improved by
locks. _Kingston_, which is within the Canadian dominions, is admirably
situated for naval purposes.

The basis of the soil on which this town is situated is limestone,
disposed in horizontal strata. Kingston contains some good houses and
stores; a small theatre, built by the military, for private theatricals;
a large wooden government house, and all the appendages of an extensive
military and naval establishment; with as much society as can
reasonably be expected, in a town but lately created from the "howling
desert." The adjacent country is flat, stony, and barren. Mr. Hall says
that fleets of ships occasionally lie off Kingston, several of which are
as large as any on the ocean. Vessels of large dimensions were at this
time building, on the spot where, a few months before, their
frame-timbers had been growing.

Mr. Hall left Kingston, in a packet, for the American station of
_Sackett's harbour_. This, after Kingston, has a mean appearance: its
situation is low, its harbour is small, and its fortifications are of
very different construction, both as to form and materials, from those
of the former town. The navy-yard consists merely of a narrow tongue of
land, the point of which affords just space sufficient for the
construction of one first-rate vessel; with room for work-shops, and
stores, on the remaining part of it. One of the largest vessels in the
world, was at this time on the stocks. The town consists of a long
street, in the direction of the river, with a few smaller streets
crossing it at right angles: it covers less ground than Kingston, and
has fewer good houses; but it has an advantage which Kingston does not
possess, in a broad flagged footway.

The distance from Sackett's harbour to _Watertown_ is about ten miles.
This is an elegant village on the _Black River_. It contains about
twelve hundred inhabitants, chiefly emigrants from New England. The
houses are, for the most part, of wood, but tastefully finished; and a
few are built of bricks.

At Watertown there was a good tavern, which afforded to Mr. Hall and his
companions a luxury unusual in America, a private sitting-room, and
dinner at an hour appointed by themselves. Within a few miles of
Watertown the country rises boldly, and presents a refreshing contrast,
of hill and valley, to the flat, heavy woods, through which they had
been labouring from Sackett's harbour.

_Utica_, the town at which the travellers next arrived stands on the
right bank of the _River Mohawk_, over which it is approached by a
covered wooden bridge, of considerable length. The appearance of this
town is highly prepossessing: the streets are spacious; the houses are
large and well built; and the stores, the name given to shops throughout
America, are as well supplied, and as handsomely fitted up, as those of
New York or Philadelphia.

There are at Utica two hotels, on a large scale; one of which, the York
House, was equal in arrangement and accommodation, to any hotel beyond
the Atlantic: it was kept by an Englishman from Bath. The inhabitants,
from three to four thousand in number, maintained four churches: one
episcopal, one presbyterian, and two Welsh.

This town is laid out on a very extensive scale. A small part of it only
is yet completed; but little doubt is entertained that ten years will
accomplish the whole. Fifteen years had not passed since there was here
no other trace of habitation than a solitary log-house, built for the
occasional reception of merchandise, on its way down the Mohawk. The
overflowing population of New England, fixing its exertions on a new and
fertile soil, has, within a few years, effected this change.

Independently of its soil, Utica has great advantages of situation; for
it is nearly at the point of junction betwixt the waters of the lakes
and of the Atlantic.

With Utica commences a succession of flourishing villages and
settlements, which renders this tract of country the astonishment of
travellers. That so large a portion of the soil should, in less than
twenty years, have been cleared, brought into cultivation, and have
acquired a numerous population, is, in itself, sufficiently surprising;
but the surprise is considerably increased, when we consider the
character of elegant opulence with which it every where smiles on the
eye. Each village teems, like a hive, with activity and employment. The
houses, taken in the mass, are on a large scale; for (except the few
primitive log-huts that still survive) there is scarcely one below the
appearance of an opulent London tradesman's country box. They are, in
general, of wood, painted white, with green doors and shutters; and with
porches, or verandas, in front.

The travellers passed through _Skaneactas_, a village, pleasantly
situated, at the head of the lake from which it is named. They then
proceeded to _Cayuga_, which, besides its agreeable site, is remarkable
for a bridge, nearly a mile in length, over the head of the Cayuga lake:
it is built on piles, and level. Betwixt Cayuga and Geneva is the
flourishing little village of _Waterloo_, formed since the battle so
named. _Geneva_ contains many elegant houses, beautifully placed, on the
rising shore, at the head of the Geneva lake.

From Geneva to _Canandaigua_, a tract of hill and vale extends, for
sixteen miles, and having (within that space) only two houses.
Canandaigua is a town of villas, built on the rising shore of the
_Canandaigua lake_. The lower part of the main street is occupied by
stores and warehouses; but the upper part of it, to the length of nearly
two miles, consists of ornamented cottages, tastefully finished with
colonnades, porches, and verandas; and each within its own garden or
pleasure-ground. The prospect, down this long vista, to the lake, is
peculiarly elegant.

From Canandaigua the travellers turned from the main road, nine miles,
south-west, to visit what is called "_the burning spring_." On arriving
near the place, they entered a small but thick wood, of pine and
maple-trees, enclosed within a narrow ravine. Down this glen, the width
of which, at its entrance, may be about sixty yards, trickles a scanty
streamlet. They had advanced on its course about fifty yards, when,
close under the rocks of the right bank, they perceived a bright red
flame, burning briskly on the water. Pieces of lighted wood were applied
to different adjacent spots, and a space of several yards in extent was
immediately in a blaze. Being informed by the guide that a repetition of
this phenomenon might be seen higher up the glen, they scrambled on,
for about a hundred yards, and, directed in some degree by a strong
smell of sulphur, they applied their match to several places, with
similar effect. These fires continue burning unceasingly, unless they
are extinguished by accident. The phaenomenon was originally discovered
by the casual rolling of lighted embers, from the top of the bank,
whilst some persons were clearing it for cultivation; and, in the
intensity and duration of the flame, it probably exceeds any thing of
the kind that is known.

_Rochester_ stands immediately on the great falls of the Genesee, about
eight miles above its entrance into lake Ontario. When Mr. Hall was
here, this town had been built only four years, yet it contained a
hundred good houses, furnished with all the conveniences of life;
several comfortable taverns, a cotton-mill, and some large corn-mills.
Its site is grand. The Genesee rushes through it, over a bed of
limestone, and precipitates itself down three ledges of rock,
ninety-three; thirty, and seventy-six feet in height, within the
distance of a mile and a half from the town. The immediate vicinity of
Rochester is still an unbroken forest, consisting of oak, hickory, ash,
beech, bass, elm, and walnut-trees. The wild tenants of the woods have,
naturally, retired before the sound of cultivation; but there are a few
wolves and bears still in the neighbourhood. One of the latter had
lately seized a pig close to the town. Racoons, porcupines, squirrels
black and grey, and foxes, are still numerous. The hogs have done good
service in destroying the rattlesnakes, which are already becoming rare.
Pigeons, quails, and blackbirds abound. At Rochester, the line of
settled country, in this direction, terminates; for, from this place to
Lewistown, are eighty miles of wilderness.

The traveller, halting on the verge of these aboriginal shades, is
inclined to pause in thought, and to consider the interesting scenes
through which he has been passing. They are such as reason must admire,
for they are the result of industry, temperance, and freedom. Five or
ten, or, at the utmost, twenty years before Mr. Hall was in America,
where there are now corn-fields, towns, and villages, the whole country
was one mass of forest.

Notwithstanding the bad state of the roads, the stage-waggon runs from
Rochester to Lewistown in two days. This journey is so heavy, that it is
sometimes necessary to alight, and walk several miles, or to suffer
almost a dislocation of limbs, in jolting over causeys or logged roads,
formed of pine, or oak-trees, laid crossways. At different intervals,
square patches seem cut out of the forest, in the centre of which low
log-huts have been constructed, without the aid of saw or plane; and are
surrounded by stumps of trees, black with the fires kindled for the
purpose of clearing the land.

_Lewistown_ was one of the frontier villages burnt during the last war,
to retaliate upon the Americans for the destruction of Newark. It has,
however, been since rebuilt, and all the marks of its devastation have
been effaced. It is agreeably situated, at the foot of the limestone
ridge, on the steep bank of the river St. Lawrence, which here rushes,
with a boiling and eddying torrent, from the falls to Lake Ontario.
Lewistown, notwithstanding its infancy, and its remote situation,
contains several good stores.

_Queenston_, on the opposite side of the river, stands in the midst of
corn-fields and farm-houses; a rare and interesting sight in Canada. It
is built on the river's edge, at the foot of the heights. Before the
late war it was embosomed in peach-orchards; but these were all felled,
to aid the operations of the English troops. The heights are still
crowned by a redoubt, and by the remains of batteries, raised to defend
the passage of the river. It was near one of these that Sir Isaac Brocke
was killed, on the 13th of October, 1812, while, with four hundred men,
he gallantly opposed the landing of fifteen hundred Americans, the whole
of whom were afterwards captured by g\General Sheaffe.

From Queenston Mr. Hall proceeded to _York_, a town within the British
territory, situated on the north-western bank of lake Ontario. The
country through which he passed abounded in game of various kinds. From
the head of the lake it was, however, less varied than on the Niagara
frontiers; and, for many miles, it was an uniform tract of sandy
barrens, unsusceptible of culture.

York, being the seat of government for Upper Canada, is a place of
considerable importance in the eyes of its inhabitants. To a stranger,
however, it presents little more than about one hundred wooden houses,
several of them conveniently, and even elegantly built; one or two of
brick. The public buildings were destroyed by the Americans.

From York, Mr. Hall went, through the little town of _Ancaster_, to
visit a _Settlement of Mohawk Indians_, on the banks of the _Grand
River_. In the American war the Mohawks were strongly attached to the
British interest, and first followed Sir William Johnson in Canada,
under their chieftain, a celebrated warrior, whose name was Brandt. This
man accustomed his people to the arts of civilized life, and made
farmers of them. He built a church, and himself translated one of the
gospels into the Mohawk language. His grave is to be seen under the
walls of his church. The son of this extraordinary Indian is now living,
and is a fine young man, of gentlemanly manners and appearance: he both
speaks and writes the English language with correctness; and he dresses
nearly in the English fashion. Brandt left also a daughter, who is
living, and who would not disgrace the fashionable circles of Europe.
Her face and person are fine and graceful: she speaks English, not only
correctly, but elegantly; and, both in her speech and manners, she has a
softness approaching oriental languor. She retains so much of her
national dress as to identify her with her people; over whom she affects
no superiority, but with whom she seems pleased to preserve all the ties
and duties of relationship. She held the infant of one of her relations
at the font, on the Sunday that Mr. Hall visited the church at Ancaster.
The usual church and baptismal service was performed by a Dr. Aaron, an
Indian, and an assistant priest; the congregation consisted of sixty or
seventy persons, male and female. Many of the young men were dressed in
the English fashion, but several of the old warriors came with their
blankets, folded over them; and, in this dress, with a step and mien of
quiet energy, they forcibly reminded Mr. Hall of ancient Romans. Some of
them wore large silver crosses, medals, and other trinkets, on their
backs and breasts; and a few had bandeaus, ornamented with feathers. Dr.
Aaron, a grey-headed Mohawk, had touched his cheeks and forehead with a
few spots of vermilion, in honour of Sunday: he wore a surplice, and
preached at considerable length; but his delivery was unimpassioned and
monotonous.

The Mohawk village stands on a little plain, and looks down upon the
Grand River. The houses of the inhabitants, built of logs, rudely put
together, exhibit, externally, a great appearance of neglect and want of
comfort: some few are in a better condition. The house belonging to
Brandt's family resembled that of a petty English farmer: Dr. Aaron's
was neat and clean. The doctor, who had been regularly ordained, and
spoke very good English, told Mr. Hall that the village had been much
injured by the wars, which had impeded its improvements, and had
dispersed the inhabitants over the country.

Mr. Hall had little opportunity of observing the manners and character
of these Indians. It may, however, be conjectured that European
intercourse is fast obliterating the characteristic features of their
former social system. Their increased knowledge of European arts and
enjoyments, has been probably followed by a proportionate increase of
wants and desires. Their manners seemed, to Mr. Hall, remarkable for
nothing so much as for that quiet self-possession, which constitutes
the reverse of vulgarity. Their women, before strangers, are extremely
timid: most of those who lived at a distance from the church, came
mounted, with their husbands walking by their sides; a symptom, perhaps,
that the sex is rising among them into an European equality of rights
and enjoyments. The whole of the settlements are reckoned to furnish
about five hundred warriors to the British government.

Mr. Hall next describes the celebrated _Cataract_ or _Falls of Niagara_.
At the distance of about a mile from this cataract, a white cloud,
hovering over the trees, indicates its situation: it is not, however,
until the road emerges from a close country, into the space of open
ground immediately in its vicinity, that white volumes of foam are seen,
as if boiling up from a sulphureous gulph. Here a foot-path turns from
the road, towards a wooded cliff. The rapids are beheld on the right,
rushing for the space of a mile, like a tempestuous sea. A narrow tract
descends about sixty feet down the cliff, and continues across a plashy
meadow, through a copse, encumbered with masses of limestone. Beyond
this, Mr. Hall found himself upon what is called the Table Rock, on the
west side of the upper part of the cataract, at the very point where the
river precipitates itself into the abyss. The rapid motion of the
waters, the stunning noise, and the mounting clouds, almost persuade the
startled senses, that the rock itself is tottering, and is on the point
of being precipitated into the gulph, which swallows the mass of
descending waters. He bent over it, to mark the clouds rolling white
beneath him, as in an inverted sky, illuminated by a most brilliant
rainbow; one of those features of softness which nature delights to
pencil amid her wildest scenes, tempering her awfulness with beauty, and
making even her terrors lovely.

There is a ladder about half a mile below the Table Rock; and, by this,
Mr. Hall descended the cliff, to reach the foot of the fall. There was
formerly much difficulty in the descent, but a few years have made a
great change: the present dangers and difficulties may easily be
enumerated. The first is, the ordinary hazard that every one runs who
goes up or down a ladder: this ladder is a very good one, of thirty
steps, or about forty feet; and, from it, the path is a rough one, over
the fragments and masses of rock which have gradually crumbled, or have
been forcibly riven, from the cliff, and which cover a broad declining
space, from its foot to the brink of the river. The only risk, in this
part of the pilgrimage, is that of a broken shin from a false step. The
path gradually becomes smooth as it advances towards the cataract. Mr.
Hall, as he drew near, says that he felt a sensation of awe, like that
caused by the first cannon, on the morning of a battle. He passed, from
sunshine, into gloom and tempest. The spray beat down in a heavy rain; a
violent wind rushed from behind the sheet of water: it was difficult to
respire, and, for a moment, it seemed temerity to encounter the
convulsive workings of the elements, and to intrude into the dark
dwellings of their power. But the danger is in appearance only: it is
possible to penetrate only a few yards beyond the curtain, and, in these
few, there is no hazard; the footing is good, and the space is
sufficiently broad and free. There is even no necessity for a guide: the
eyes amply suffice to point out all that is to be seen or avoided.
During Mr. Hall's first visit, there were two young American ladies on
the same errand; and they, as well as himself, were drenched in the
cloud of spray.

The larger fall was formerly called the "Horse-shoe," but this name is
no longer applicable; for its shape has become that of an acute angle.
An officer, who had been stationed in the neighbourhood thirty years,
pointed out to Mr. Hall the alteration which had taken place in the
centre of the fall, and which he estimated at about eighteen feet in
that time.

The lesser fall, on the American side, had the appearance of a
considerable elevation, above the bed of the greater: on enquiry, Mr.
Hall found that there was a difference between them, of about fifteen
feet, caused, probably, by the greater weight of water descending down
one than the other.

The island which divides the falls has, of late years, been frequently
visited; nor is the visit to it an adventure of much hazard. At the
point where the rapids commence, the current separates, and is drawn, on
either side, towards the centre of the two falls, while the centre of
the stream, being in the straight line of the island, descends towards
it, without any violent attraction; and, down this still water, American
boats, well manned, and furnished with poles to secure them from the
action of the two currents, have frequently dropt to the island.

There is a whirlpool about half way betwixt Niagara and Queenston. The
river, boiling and eddying from the falls, enters a circular basin,
round which the lofty cliff sweeps, like an antique wall, overgrown with
trees at its base, and amid its clefts and crevices. The cause of the
whirlpool is perceptible to the spectator, who looks down, and observes
that the stream, being compelled into this basin, by the direction of
its channel, and unable to escape with celerity, is forced to gain time
by revolving within its own circumference.

[Mr. Weld, who visited Niagara, about the year 1797, observes that,
although the spray, and the noise of the cataract, are sometimes not
observable so far as half a mile, yet, at other times, the noise has
been heard at the distance of forty miles; and that he has himself seen
the spray, like a cloud, at the distance of fifty-four miles. The river,
as it approaches the falls, runs with astonishing impetuosity. Just at
the precipice, down which it tumbles, it takes a considerable bend
towards the right; and the line of the falls, instead of extending from
bank to bank, in the shortest direction, runs obliquely across. The
whole width of the fall is estimated to be about three quarters of a
mile, including a rocky island, a quarter of a mile wide, by which the
stream is divided. This cataract is divided, by islands, into three
distinct falls, the loftiest of which is one hundred and sixty feet in
perpendicular height.

Mr. Weld observes that it is possible not merely to pass to the very
foot of the great fall; but even to proceed behind the tremendous sheet
of water which comes pouring down from the top of the precipice; for the
water falls from the edge of a projecting rock, and, by its violent
ebullition, caverns of considerable size have been hollowed out of the
rocks at the bottom, and extend some way beneath the bed of the upper
part of the river. Mr. Weld advanced within about six yards of the edge
of the sheet of water, just far enough for him to peep into the caverns
behind it. But here his breath was nearly taken away by the violent
whirlwind, that always rages at the bottom of the cataract, occasioned
by the concussion of such a vast body of water against the rocks. Indeed
Mr. Weld had no inclination either to go further, or to explore the
dreary confines of these caverns, where death seemed to await any one
who should be daring enough to enter their threatening jaws. No words,
he says, can convey an adequate idea of the awful grandeur of the scene,
at this place. The senses are appalled by the sight of the immense body
of water that comes pouring from the top of the precipice; and by the
thundering sound of the billows dashing against the rocky sides of the
cavern below. He trembled with reverential fear, when he considered that
a blast of the whirlwind might have swept him from off the slippery
rocks on which he stood, and have precipitated him into the dreadful
gulph beneath; whence all the power of man could not have extricated
him. He here felt what an insignificant being man is in the creation;
and his mind was forcibly impressed with an awful idea of the power of
that mighty Existence, who commanded the waters to flow.]




Fourth Day's Instruction.

UNITED STATES CONTINUED.


_Narrative of Lieutenant_ HALL'S _Journey from Niagara to
Philadelphia._

Mr. Hall crossed the river from _Fort Erie_, and proceeded to _Buffalo_,
one of the frontier villages which had been burnt during the great
American war. Not a house had been left standing; yet, when Mr. Hall was
there, it was not merely a flourishing village, but a considerable town,
with good shops and hotels. The celerity with which Buffalo had risen
from its ashes, indicates the juvenile spirit of life and increase,
which so eminently distinguishes the American population.

As Mr. Hall proceeded on his journey, he found the country thickly
settled, but dull and uniform in feature; being an entire flat. The
autumn had been dry, and water was, in many places, extremely scarce.
This is an evil not uncommon in newly-settled districts. Draining
follows clearing; the creeks, no longer fed by the swamps, disencumbered
also of fallen trunks of trees, and other substances, by which their
waters were, in a great degree, stayed, easily run dry in summer, and
soon fail altogether.

The principal inn at _Batavia_ is large, and yet constructed upon an
economical principle; for one roof covers hotel, prison, court-house,
and assembly-room. The inhabitants were, at this time, building, by
subscription, an episcopal church, the cost of which was to be twenty
thousand dollars.

_Caledonia_ is a small, but flourishing village, which has a handsome
inn, with very comfortable accommodations; and, close to the road, is a
large sheet of water, from which a clear and rapid stream descends,
through a pleasing valley, into Allen's Creek, before the latter unites
with the _Genesee River_. The banks of this creek are adorned with
natural groves and copses, in which Mr. Hall observed the candleberry
myrtle in great abundance: but a more interesting sight was afforded by
numerous organic remains, with which the blocks of limestone, scattered
through the low ground around it, are encrusted, as if with rude
sculpture. These blocks are mixed with nodules of granite, and present
innumerable forms, both of shells and aquatic plants. This district had
been settled fifteen years; and, when Mr. Hall was here, cleared land
was worth fifty dollars, and uncleared land about fifteen dollars per
acre. At _Avon_ Mr. Hall quitted the main road, and followed the right
bank of the Genesee. The scenery, in the vicinity of this place, began
to improve, but the roads were proportionally deteriorated. Wild even to
savageness, mountain heights branched thickly across the country, with
no seeming order or direction. The only level ground was in the narrow
valleys, along the course of the streams.

The woods in the vicinity of the Genesee abound in large black
squirrels, some of which are as big as a small cat. They are destructive
to grain, and are, therefore, keenly pursued by sportsmen, who
frequently make parties to kill them, and who destroy several thousands
at one chase: their flesh is considered a great delicacy. These animals
migrate, at different seasons; and have the credit of ingeniously
ferrying themselves over rivers, by using a piece of bark for a raft,
and their tails for sails.

_Bath_ is embosomed in wild mountains. The principal houses are
constructed round the three sides of a square, or green; and, as most of
them were at this time new, white, and tastefully finished, they had a
lively appearance, and were agreeably contrasted with the dark adjacent
mountain scenery.

The road from Bath to _Painted Post_, though stony, is tolerably level.
The adjacent mountains have a slaty appearance, with horizontal strata.
Mr. Hall was disappointed at Painted Post, to find the post gone,
broken down or rotted, within the last few years. It had been an Indian
memorial, either of triumph or death, or of both.

When he was at Ancaster, this gentleman had been shown the grave of an
Indian, among the woods, near the head of the stream: it was covered
with boards, and a pole was erected at each end, on which a kind of
dance was rudely painted with vermilion. The relatives of the deceased
brought offerings to it daily, during their stay in the neighbourhood.

After passing through some other villages, Mr. Hall reached the banks of
the _Susquehanna_: these have no great variety of scenery, though they
frequently present grand features. The space betwixt the mountains and
the river is often so narrow, that it barely suffices for one carriage
to pass; and, in many places, the road, for a mile or two, seems to have
been hewn from the rock. Near the creeks there is tolerable land, and
two or three pleasant villages. The face of the landscape is no where
naked: mountain and vale are alike clothed with pine and dwarf
oak-trees; the swamp lands are covered with hemlock-trees, and the
bottoms of the woods with rhododendrons.

_Wilksbarre_ is a neat town, regularly laid out, on the left bank of the
Susquehanna. Its locality is determined by the direction of one of the
Alleghany ridges, which recedes from the course of the river, a few
miles above the town, and, curving south-west, encloses a semicircular
plot of land, towards the centre of which the town is built. Its
neighbourhood abounds in coal. The pits are about a mile distant. They
lie under a stratum of soft clay slate, which contains impressions of
ferns, oak-leaves, and other vegetables, usually found in such
situations. The town itself, in consequence of the frequent separation
of its streets and houses, by grass-fields and gardens, has a quiet and
rural aspect. It contains a neat church, appropriated to the alternate
use of episcopalians and presbyterians. Wilkesbarre is built on the
site of _Wyoming_: a small mound, near the river, is pointed out, as
that on which the fort stood; and the incursion of the Indians, when
most of the inhabitants fell, in an unsuccessful battle, is still
remembered. Some few escaped, by swimming across the stream, and fled,
naked, through the woods, for several days, till they reached the
nearest settlement; and this is all the record that exists of Albert and
Gertrude, the foundation of Campbell's poem of Gertrude of Wyoming.

At Wilkesbarre the road quits the Susquehanna, and, ascending a ridge of
the Alleghany Mountains, crosses through deep forests and hemlock
swamps, sparingly interspersed with settlements. The Pokono Mountain,
over which Mr. Hall passed, is famous with the sportsmen and epicures of
Philadelphia, for its grouse. Mr. Hall crossed the _Blue Ridge_, at the
stupendous fissure of the _Wind Gap_, where the mountain seems forcibly
broken through, and is strewed with the ruin of rocks. There is a
similar aperture, some miles north-east, called the Water Gap. This
affords a passage to the Delaware; and all the principal rivers of the
states, that rise in the Alleghanys, pass through similar apertures.

Betwixt the Blue Ridge and the Lehigh River, are two Moravian
settlements, called _Bethlehem_ and _Nazareth_. [The inhabitants of the
former constitute a large society, and occupy several farms. They have a
spacious apartment, in which they all daily assemble, for the purpose of
public worship. The single men and women have each a separate dwelling.
The women are occupied in various domestic employments; in fancy and
ornamental works; and, occasionally, in musical practice, under the
direction of a superintendant. The walls of the large hall, where the
society dine, are adorned with paintings, chiefly Scripture pieces,
executed by members. Various branches of trade and manufacture are
carried on, the profits of which go to the general stock; and, from
this, all are supplied with the necessaries of life. Their whole time
is spent in labour, and in prayer; except an hour in the evening, which
is allotted for a concert. Among the Moravians marriage is contracted in
a singular manner. If a young man has an inclination to marry, he makes
application to the priest, who presents a young woman, designated by the
superintendant as the next in rotation for marriage. Having left the
parties together for an hour, the priest returns, and, if they consent
to live together, they are married the next day; if otherwise, each is
put at the bottom of the list, containing perhaps sixty or seventy
names; and, on the part of the girl, there is no chance of marriage,
unless the same young man should again feel disposed for matrimony. When
united, a neat habitation, with a pleasant garden, is provided; and
their children, at the age of six years, are placed in the seminary. If
either of the parties die, the other returns to the apartment of the
single people. In the Moravian establishment at Bethlehem, there is a
tavern, with extensive and excellent accommodations.]

Madame de Stael, in describing the Moravians, says, "Their houses and
streets are peculiarly neat. The women all dress in the same manner,
conceal their hair, and surround their heads with a ribbon, the colour
of which indicates whether they are single, married, or widows. The men
dress in brown, somewhat like quakers. A mercantile industry occupies
nearly the whole community; and all their labours are performed with
peculiar regularity and tranquillity." Mr. Hall attended one of the
meetings which the inhabitants of Bethlehem commonly hold every evening,
for the joint purposes of amusement and devotion. The women were ranged
at one end of the room, and the men at the other. Their bishop presided:
he was an old man, dressed in the plainest manner, and possessed a
countenance singularly mild and placid. He gave out a psalm, and led the
choir; and the singing was alternately in German and English.

There is another Moravian settlement about a mile and a half from
Nazareth. This, though small, exceeds both the others, in the calm and
pensive beauty of its appearance. The houses are built of limestone:
they are all on a similar plan, and have their window-frames, doors, and
other wood-work, painted fawn-colour: before each house are planted
weeping willows, whose luxuriant shade seems to shut out worldly glare,
and throws an air of monastic repose over the whole village.

The _Lehigh Mountain_ is the last of the Allegheny Ridges; the country
is thenceforth level, fertile, and thickly inhabited, by steady Germans,
who wear broad hats, and purple breeches; and whose houses and villages
have the antique fashion of Flemish landscape. German is so generally
spoken here, that the newspapers and public notices are all printed in
that language.

The approach to Philadelphia is announced by a good turnpike road.
_German Town_ is a large suburb to the city, and the traveller here
feels himself within the precincts of a populous and long-established
capital.


_A Description of Philadelphia._

The first impressions, on entering this city, are decidedly favourable.
It possesses a character essentially different from that of New York. It
has not so much business, nor so much animation; but there is, in
Philadelphia, a freedom from mere display; an evidence of solidity, of
which its more commercial rival is nearly destitute.

All the _streets_ are spacious; the names of many of them, as Sassafras,
Chesnut, and Locust, record their sylvan origin: rows of Lombardy
poplars are planted in them. The private _houses_ are characterized by
elegant neatness; the steps and window-sills of many of them are of grey
marble, and they have large mats placed before the doors. The streets
are carefully swept, as well as the foot-paths, which are paved with
brick. The _shops_ do not yield, in display, to those of London. The
principal street is one hundred feet wide; and the others vary from
eighty to fifty. In the foot-paths a great inconvenience is experienced
by the injudicious mode in which cellars are constructed, the openings
of which project into the street; and also by the slovenly practice of
the store or shopkeepers placing great quantities of loose goods on the
outside of their doors.

Philadelphia stands on the bank of the river _Delaware_; and, in 1795,
when Mr. Weld was there, its appearance, as approached from the water,
was not very prepossessing. Nothing was visible but confused heaps of
wooden store-houses, crowded upon each other, and wharfs, which
projected a considerable way into the river. The wharfs were built of
wood; they jutted out, in every direction, and were well adapted for the
accommodation of shipping; the largest merchant vessels being able to
lie close alongside of them. Behind the wharfs, and parallel to the
river, runs a street called _Water-street_. This is the first street
which the stranger in America usually enters, after landing; and (says
Mr. Weld) it will not give him a very favourable opinion either of the
neatness or commodiousness of the public ways of Philadelphia. Such
stenches, at times, prevail in it, owing in part to the quantity of
filth and dirt that is suffered to remain on the pavement, and in part
to what is deposited in waste-houses, of which there are several in the
street, that it is really dreadful to pass through it. It was here, in
the year 1793, that the malignant yellow fever broke out, which made
such terrible ravages among the inhabitants; and, in the summer season,
in general, this street is extremely unhealthy.

Few of the _public buildings_ in Philadelphia pretend to great
architectural merit. The churches are neat, but plain. The Masonic Hall
is an unsightly combination of brick and marble, in the Gothic style.
The Philadelphia bank is in a similar style. The United States and
Pennsylvania banks are the finest edifices in the city: the first has a
handsome portico, with Corinthian columns of white marble, and the
latter is a miniature representation of the temple of Minerva at Athens,
and is the purest specimen of architecture in the states: the whole
building is of marble.

The _State House_ is a plain brick building, which was finished in 1735,
at the cost of L.6000. The most interesting recollections of America are
attached to this edifice. The Congress sat in it during the greatest
part of the war; and the Declaration of Independence was read, from its
steps, on the 4th of July, 1776. The Federal Convention also sat in it,
in 1787. It is now occupied by the supreme and district courts below,
and by Peale's Museum above. This museum, among other articles, contains
an immense fossil skeleton of the great Mastodon, or American Mammoth,
which, some years ago, was publicly exhibited in London.

The _University_ of Pennsylvania was instituted several years ago, by
some of the citizens of Philadelphia; among whom was Dr. Franklin, who
drew up the original plan. It is governed by a provost and vice-provost.
In 1811, the number of students amounted to five hundred. The lectures
commence the first Monday in November, and end on the first day of
March. Among others, are professors of anatomy, surgery, midwifery,
chemistry, moral philosophy, mathematics, and natural philosophy, belles
lettres, and languages.

The Philadelphia _prison_ is a more interesting object to humanity than
the most gorgeous palaces. Its exterior is simple, and has rather the
air of an hospital than a gaol: a single grated door separates the
interior from the street. On entering the court, Mr. Hall found it full
of stone-cutters, employed in sawing and preparing large blocks of stone
and marble; smiths' forges were at work on one side, and the whole
court was surrounded by a gallery and a double tier of work-shops, in
which were brush-makers, tailors, shoemakers, weavers, all at their
several occupations, labouring, not only to defray, to the public, the
expenses of their confinement, but to provide the means of their own
honest subsistence for the future. It had none of the usual features of
a prison; neither the hardened profligacy which scoffs down its own
sense of guilt, nor the hollow-eyed sorrow which wastes away in a living
death of unavailing expiation: there was neither the clank of chains,
nor the yell of execration; but a hardworking body of men were seen,
who, though separated by justice from society, were not supposed to have
lost the distinctive attribute of human nature: they were treated as
rational beings, were operated upon by rational motives; and they repaid
this treatment by improved habits, by industry, and submission. They had
been profligate, they were now sober and decent in their behaviour; they
had been idle, they were now actively and usefully employed; they had
disobeyed the laws, they now submitted (armed as they were with all
kinds of utensils) to the government of a single turnkey, and the
barrier of a single grating.

The _markets_ of Philadelphia are well supplied; and the price of
provisions is considerably lower than in London. No butchers are
permitted to slaughter cattle within the city, nor are live cattle
permitted to be driven to the city markets.

The _inhabitants_ of this city are estimated at one hundred and twenty
thousand, and many of them live in houses which would adorn any city in
the world. They have, universally, a pallid and sallow countenance,
except the younger females; and many of these, even quakers, adopt the
disgusting practice of ornamenting their faces with rouge. In their
dress, the gentlemen follow the fashions of England, and the ladies
those of France. Mr. Fearon perceived here, what, he says, pervades the
whole of the new world, an affectation of splendour, or, what may be
called style, in those things that are intended to meet the public eye;
with a lamentable want, even of cleanliness, in such matters as are
removed from that ordeal. To this may be added an appearance of
uncomfortable extravagance, and an ignorance of that kind of order and
neatness, which, in the eyes of those who have once enjoyed it,
constitute the principal charm of domestic life. The Philadelphians
consist of English, Irish, Scotch, Germans, and French; and of
American-born citizens, descended from people of those different
nations. It is a remark very generally made, not only by foreigners, but
also by persons from distant parts of the United States, that they are
extremely deficient in hospitality and politeness towards strangers.
Among the uppermost circles in Philadelphia, pride, haughtiness, and
ostentation, are conspicuous; and, in the manners of the people in
general, there is much coldness and reserve.

Philadelphia is the grand residence of the quakers in America, but their
number does not now bear the same proportion to that of the other
citizens, which it formerly did. This, however, is not occasioned by a
diminution of quakers, so much as by the great influx, into the city, of
persons of a different persuasion.

In this city _funerals_ are uniformly attended by large walking
processions. The newspapers frequently contain advertisements, stating
the deaths of individuals, and inviting all friends to attend the
burial. The dead are seldom kept more than two days. At the time
appointed, intimate friends enter the house; others assemble on the
outside, and fall into the procession when the body is brought out.

With regard to the _climate_ of Philadelphia, it is observed that the
heats of summer are excessive; and that the cold of winter is equally
extreme. During the few days which Mr. Weld spent at Philadelphia, in
the month of June, 1795, the heat was almost intolerable. For two or
three days the thermometer stood at 93 deg., and, during these days, no one
stirred out of doors who was not compelled to do so. Light white hats
were universally worn, and the young men appeared dressed in cotton or
linen jackets and trowsers. The window-shutters of the houses were
closed early in the mornings, so as to admit no more light than what was
absolutely necessary for domestic business. Indeed, many of the houses
were kept so dark, that, on going into them from the street, it was
impossible, at first entrance, to perceive who was present. The best
houses in the city are furnished with Venetian blinds, at the outside,
to the windows and hall doors, which are made to fold together like
common window-shutters. A very different scene was presented after
sunset. Every house was then thrown open, and all the inhabitants
crowded into the streets, to take their evening walks, and to visit
their acquaintance. This usually lasted till about ten o'clock: at
eleven all was quiet; and a person might have passed over half the town
without seeing a single human being, except the watchmen. Heavy dews
sometimes fall after the sun is down, and the nights are then very cold:
at other times there are no dews, and the air continues hot all the
night through. At this season of the year meat cannot be kept sweet,
even for a single day, except in an icehouse or a remarkably cold
cellar. Milk generally turns sour in an hour or two; and fish is never
brought to market without being covered with lumps of ice. Poultry,
intended for dinner, is never killed till about four hours before it is
wanted, and even then it is kept immersed in water.

The _carriages_ used in Philadelphia consist of coaches, chariots,
chaises, coachees, and light waggons. The equipages of a few individuals
are extremely ostentatious; but there does not appear, in any, that
neatness and elegance which might be expected among people who are
desirous of imitating the fashions of England, and who are continually
procuring models from that country. The coachee is a carriage peculiar
to America; the body of it is somewhat longer than that of a coach, but
of the same shape. In front it is left quite open, down to the bottom,
and the driver sits on a bench under the roof. It has two seats for the
passengers, who sit with their faces towards the horses. The roof is
supported by small props, which are placed at the corners. On each side
of the doors, above the pannels, it is quite open; and, to guard against
bad weather, there are curtains, which are made to let down from the
roof, and which fasten to buttons, placed for the purpose, on the
outside. There is also a leathern curtain, to hang occasionally between
the driver and passengers.

The light waggons are on the same construction, but are calculated to
accommodate from four to twelve people. The only difference between a
small waggon and a coachee, is, that the latter is better finished, has
varnished pannels, and doors at the side. The former has no doors; but
the passengers scramble in, the best way they can, over the seat of the
driver. These waggons are universally used for stage-carriages.

The accommodations at the _taverns_, in Philadelphia, are very
indifferent; as, indeed, with very few exceptions, they are throughout
the country. The mode of conducting them is nearly the same every where.
The traveller, on his arrival, is shown into a room, which is common to
every person in the house, and which is generally the one set apart for
breakfast, dinner, and supper. All the strangers that are in the house
sit down, to these meals, promiscuously; and, excepting in the large
towns, the family of the house also forms a part of the company. It is
seldom that a private parlour or drawing-room can be procured at
taverns, even in the towns; and it is always with reluctance that
breakfast or dinner is served up separately to any individual. If a
separate bed-room can be procured, more ought not to be expected; and it
is not always that even this is to be had; and persons who travel
through the country must often submit to be crammed into rooms where
there is scarcely sufficient space to walk between the beds.

The _Delaware_, on the banks of which this city is built, rises in the
state of New York. At Philadelphia it is thirteen hundred and sixty
yards wide, and is navigable for vessels of any burden. It is frozen in
the winter months; a circumstance which materially affects the
commercial interests of Philadelphia, and gives a great advantage to New
York. The tide reaches as high as the falls of Trenton, thirty-five
miles above Philadelphia, and one hundred and fifty-five miles from the
sea. Six or seven steam-boats, of large size, ply on the Delaware, and
form a communication with New York, by Trenton and Bordentown; and with
Baltimore, by Wilmington and Newcastle. These vessels are all fitted up
in an elegant manner.

Over the river _Schuylkil_, near Philadelphia, there is a singular
bridge of iron wire. It is four hundred feet in length, and extends,
from the window of a wire factory, to a tree on the opposite shore. The
wires which form the curve are six in number; three on each side, and
each three-eighths of an inch in diameter. The floor of the bridge is
elevated sixteen feet above the water; and the whole weight of the wires
is about four thousand seven hundred pounds. It is possible to construct
a bridge of this kind in the space of a fortnight; and the whole expense
would not exceed three hundred dollars.

       *       *       *       *       *

About thirty miles north-east of Philadelphia, and betwixt that city and
New York, is _Trenton_, the capital of New Jersey. Mr. Weld visited this
place in the year 1796; and he says that it then contained only about
eighty dwellings, in one long street. It had a college, which was in
considerable repute. The number of students was about seventy; but, from
their appearance, and the course of their studies, it more correctly
deserved the appellation of a grammar-school, than a college. The
library was a miserable one; and, for the most part, contained only old
theological books. There were an orrery out of repair, and a few
detached parts of philosophical apparatus. At the opposite end of the
room were two small cupboards, which were shown as the museum. These
contained two small alligators, stuffed, and a few fishes, in a wretched
state of preservation.

Not far from Trenton, and on the bank of the Delaware, is the residence
of Joseph Buonaparte, who, since the re-establishment of the ancient
families on the thrones of Europe, has retired to America. The estate on
which he lives he purchased for ten thousand dollars; and he is said to
have expended, twenty thousand more in finishing the buildings, and
laying out the grounds in a splendid style. At present it has much the
appearance of the villa of a country gentleman in England.




Fifth Day's Instruction.

UNITED STATES CONTINUED.


_Narrative of Mr._ FEARON'S _Journey from Philadelphia to
Pittsburgh._

In the month of October, 1817, Mr. Fearon left Philadelphia for
Pittsburgh. He passed through an extensive, fertile, well-cultivated,
and beautiful tract of land called the _Great Valley_. Farms in this
district are chiefly owned by Dutch and Germans, and their descendants.
They consist of from fifty to two hundred acres each; and are
purchasable at the rate of about L.46 sterling per acre, the buildings
included; and, in well-improved land, the average produce of wheat may
be estimated at twenty-five bushels.

At the distance of about twenty miles from Philadelphia there is a
copper and zinc mine. Iron ore abounds throughout the state of
Pennsylvania; and many of the rocks are of limestone. A coarse kind of
grey marble is found in great quantity, and is used for steps and
chimney-pieces.

The towns of _Lancaster_, _Harrisburgh_, and _Carlisle_, through which
Mr. Fearon passed, are all considerable, both in extent and population.
[_Lancaster_ is nearly the largest inland town of North America. It
contains upwards of nine hundred houses, built chiefly of brick and
stone, and, in general, two stories high. It has also six churches, a
market-house, and a gaol. The streets are laid out regularly, and cross
each other at right angles. Several different kinds of wares are
manufactured here, and chiefly by German mechanics. The rifled barrel
guns made at this place are considered to have great excellence. In
1787, a college was founded at Lancaster, and named Franklin College, in
honour of Dr. Franklin. The founders were an association of Germans, who
were desirous of establishing a seminary for the education of their
sons, in their own language and habits. But it has not flourished; and,
in 1815, the number of students did not exceed fifty.]

Lancaster, Harrisburgh, and Carlisle, each contain many excellent brick
buildings, and the usual erections of market-houses, gaols, and
churches, all evincing an extent of national property, and an
advancement to European establishments, truly extraordinary, when we
recollect that this is a country which may be said to be but of
yesterday. The German character is very prevalent throughout this state;
and even the original language is preserved.

[At _Carlisle_ there are many excellent shops and warehouses. This place
has a college, which was founded in 1783, by Mr. John Dickenson of
Pennsylvania. The number of students is about one hundred and forty; and
there are professors of logic, metaphysics, languages, natural
philosophy, and chemistry.]

Mr. Fearon next arrived at _Chambersburgh_, a town which contains about
two hundred and forty houses, and two or three churches. He here secured
a place, in the stage, to Pittsburgh, and set off the next morning at
three o'clock. About eight he arrived at _Loudon_, a small town at the
foot of the north mountain, one of the Alleghany ridges, and at this
time containing seventeen log and twenty frame or brick houses. The
tavern was cheerless and dirty.

On the road Mr. Fearon counted thirty regular stage-waggons, which were
employed in conveying goods to and from Pittsburgh. Each of these was
drawn by four horses; and the articles carried in them, were chiefly
hardware, and silk, linen, cotton, and woollen goods. The waggons, in
return, conveyed from Pittsburgh farming produce, and chiefly flour. It
is, however, necessary to observe that this is the only trading waggon
route to the whole western country; and that there is no water-carriage
through this part of America.

The road, for a considerable distance, was excellent, and was part of a
new national turnpike, which had been projected to extend from the head
of the river Potomac to Wheeling. This road, when completed, will be of
great advantage to the whole western country. The stage passed over the
_North Mountain_, whence there was a most extensive view, of a wide and
beautiful valley, containing several thousand acres, which have not yet
been cultivated. The prospect combined some grand mountain-scenery, and
was the most magnificent that Mr. Fearon had ever beheld. The travellers
passed through a little town situated in the midst of this apparently
trackless wild.

They afterwards overtook twenty small family waggons, those chiefly of
emigrants from one part of the state to another. These persons were
travelling in company, and thus formed an unity of interest, for the
purpose of securing, when necessary, an interchange of assistance. The
difficulties they experienced, in passing through this mountainous
district, were very great.

Mr. Fearon and the other stage-passengers supped and slept at a place
called _Bloody Run_, having, for several miles, proceeded over roads
that were almost impassable. Early the next morning they again set out;
and they arrived at _Bedford_ about nine o'clock. [This little town,
like most others on the great western road, trades in all kinds of corn,
flour, and provisions.] They were not, however, permitted to stop here,
as the stage-proprietor had a house further on, where they breakfasted.
In passing over a range of mountains called the _Dry Ridge_, the view
was peculiarly magnificent. The eye, at one glance, took in a varied and
most interesting view of mountain scenery, intermingled with wooded
vales, and much fertile land. The travellers continued to overtake many
waggons of emigrants from different states.

About five o'clock in the afternoon they reached the top of the
_Alleghany Mountains_. The road had of late been so bad, that they had
walked more than sixteen miles, leaving the stage far behind. The
character of the mountain _inhabitants_ appeared to be cold, friendless,
unfeeling, callous, and selfish. All the emigrants with whom Mr. Fearon
conversed, complained of the enormous charges at taverns. Log-houses are
the only habitations for many miles. These are formed of the trunks of
trees, about twenty feet in length, and six inches in diameter, cut at
the ends, and placed on each other. The roof is framed in a similar
manner. In some houses there are windows; in others the door performs
the double office of window and entrance. The chimney is erected on the
outside, and in a similar manner to the body of the house. The hinges of
the doors are generally of wood; and locks are not used. In some of the
houses there are two apartments; in others but one, for all the various
operations of cooking, eating, and sleeping; and even the pigs come in
for their due share of the log residence. About eleven o'clock at
night, the travellers safely arrived at _Somerset_, a small town
distant two hundred and thirty-seven miles from Philadelphia.

In the morning of their third day's journey, they crossed _Laurel Hill_.
The vegetation on this ridge appears superior to that of the Allegheny.
The mountain called _Little Chesnut Ridge_ succeeds Laurel Hill. The
difficulties of the road were here extremely great. These arose not only
from the height of the mountains, but from the enormous stones and deep
mud-holes with which the road abounded. The trees on Chesnut Ridge are
chiefly oak and chesnut; and the soil appeared to be chalky. At half
past ten at night they arrived at _Greensburg_, [a town built upon the
summit of a hill. The land, in its vicinity is, in general, very
fertile; and the inhabitants, who are of German origin, cultivate wheat,
rye, and oats, with great success.]

The party started, on the fourth day, at four in the morning, and with
the high treat of a turnpike-road; but the advantages, arising from
this, were but of short continuance. They had to descend _Turtle Creek
Hill_, the road over which, in consequence of late rains, had become, if
possible, even worse than those across Laurel Hill. The passengers all
got out; and, up to their knees in mud, they took their turns, in
holding up the stage. This tract bore decided evidence of being embedded
with coal. About two o'clock they reached _Pittsburg_.

From Chambersburgh to Greensburgh the condition of the people is that of
an absence of wealth and of the conveniences of life, with, however, the
means of obtaining a sufficient quantity of food. The blacksmith and the
tavern-keeper are almost the only occupations. The former earns from
twenty shillings and sixpence to twenty-seven shillings per week; and
the profits of the latter must be very great, if we may judge from the
high charges and bad quality of the accommodations. From Greensburgh to
Pittsburgh the improvement, in size and quality, of the houses, is
evident, and the cultivation and condition of the land is much superior
to those of the country through which the travellers had before past.

_Pittsburg_ is, in several points of view, a most interesting town. Its
situation, which is truly picturesque, is at the termination of two
rivers, and at the commencement of a third river, that has a direct
communication with the ocean, though at the immense distance of two
thousand five hundred miles. This place possesses an exhaustless store
of coal.

During the great American war, Pittsburg was an important military post
called _Du Quesne_, and was remarkable for two signal defeats of the
British troops. It is, at present, a place of great importance: the
connecting link between _new_ and _old_ America; and though it is not a
"Birmingham," as the natives bombastically style it, yet it certainly
contains the seeds of numerous important and valuable manufactories.

Agricultural produce finds here a ready and advantageous market. Farming
in this neighbourhood is not, indeed, the most profitable mode of
employing capital; but here, as in other parts of the union, it is an
independent mode of life. The farmer, however, must labour hard with his
own hands. The labourers, or "helps," as they style themselves, are paid
high wages, and are not to be relied on. In many instances they expect
to sit down at table with their master, to live as well as he, and to be
on terms of equality with every branch of the family.

Mr. Fearon remained at Pittsburgh several days, during which time the
rain never ceased. The smoke, also, from the different manufactories, is
extreme, giving, to the town and its inhabitants, a very sombre aspect.
The articles manufactured here are various, and chiefly of copper, iron,
and glass. In one of the glass-warehouses, Mr. Fearon saw chandeliers
and numerous other articles, of a very splendid description, in cut
glass. Among the latter was a pair of decanters, cut from a London
pattern, the price of which was to be eight guineas. And it is
remarkable that the demand for these articles of elegant luxury lies in
the western states; the inhabitants of eastern America being still
importers from the "old country." Not thirty years ago, the whole right
bank of the Ohio was termed the "Indian side." Spots in Tenessee, in
Ohio and Kentucky, which, within the lifetime of even young men,
witnessed only the arrow and the scalping knife, now present, to the
traveller, articles of elegance, and modes of luxury, which might rival
the displays of London and of Paris: within the last half century, the
beasts of the forest, and men more savage than the beasts, were the only
inhabitants of the whole of that immense tract, which is peculiarly
denominated the western country. This tract is now partially inhabited;
and promises soon to be generally so, by civilized man, possessed of the
arts and pursuits of civilized life.

On the whole, Pittsburgh is a very important town. When Mr. Fearon was
here, it was supposed to contain about ten thousand inhabitants.

The face of the country, beyond this town, is an uninterrupted level,
and many parts of it are occupied by agriculturists. Mr. Fearon,
however, was informed that there were still for sale one million of
acres of United States' land, at the rate of two dollars per acre, or
one dollar and sixty-four cents for prompt payment. The principal towns
are situated on the banks of the river. There are no canals, nor, indeed
is there much occasion for them, as the whole state abounds with rivers
and creeks, which fall into the Ohio.

The trees produced by the best kind of land are honey-locust, black
walnut, and beech; by land of second quality, the sugar maple tree,
sycamore, or butter-wood, and what is called white wood, which is used
for building and joiner's work; and land of the third quality produces
oak. There is but little underwood; for the great height and the
spreading tops of the trees, prevent the sun from penetrating to the
ground, and nourishing inferior articles of vegetation.

The winters are severe, and of from three to four months continuance,
with a keen and dry air, and cloudless sky. During summer excessive heat
prevails, with heavy dews at night. In the spring there are cold and
heavy rains. The autumns are fine, and are followed by what is called
"Indian summer," which is truly delightful. Along the route that Mr.
Fearon had travelled in this state, there was scarcely an elevation
which could be called a hill, with exception of rising grounds on the
margins of rivers. The dreary monotony of limited views, of such endless
uniformity, produces sensations of the most depressing melancholy. The
atmosphere, after a hot day, causes headaches, which frequently
terminate in intermittent fevers.

Judging from the beds of the rivers, and the quality of the water, Mr.
Fearon presumes that coal must be abundant. Salt is found in several
situations, particularly on the Kenaway. There is much limestone. The
wild animals, in this part of America, are neither numerous, nor
troublesome.

The interior population of the United States, Mr. Fearon considers, may
be divided into three classes: first, the "squatter," or man, who "sets
himself down," upon land which is not his own, and for which he pays
nothing; cultivates a sufficient extent of ground to supply himself and
his family with the necessaries of life, remains until he is
dissatisfied with his choice, has realized a sufficiency to become a
land-owner, or is expelled by the real proprietor. Second, the small
farmer, who has recently emigrated, and has had barely sufficient to pay
the first instalment for his eighty or one hundred and sixty acres, of
two-dollar land; cultivates, or, what he calls, improves, from ten to
thirty acres; raises a sufficient "feed" for his family; is in a
condition, which, if compelled by legislative acts, or by external force
to endure, would be considered truly wretched; but, from being his own
master, and having made his own choice, joined with the consciousness,
that, though slowly, he is regularly advancing towards wealth, the
breath of complaint is seldom heard to escape from his lips. Third, the
wealthy, or "strong-handed" farmer, who owns from five to twelve hundred
acres, has from one-fourth to one-third under cultivation, of a kind
much superior to the former; raises live stock for the home, and
Atlantic city markets; sends beef, pork, cheese, lard, and butter, to
New Orleans: is a man of plain, business-like sense, though not in
possession, nor desirous, of a very cultivated intellect; understands
his own interest, and that of his country; and lives in sufficient
affluence, and is possessed of comfort, according to the American
acceptation of the term, but to which, an Englishman must feel inclined
to take an exception.

The management of farms is here full a century behind that in England:
there being a want of improved machinery for the promotion of economy in
time and labour; and no regular attention being paid to the condition of
live stock; while the mode of culture, in general, appears slovenly and
unsystematic.

       *       *       *       *       *

On the subject of emigration to America, Mr. Fearon remarks, that the
capitalist will here receive legal interest of six or seven per cent.
for his money; and perhaps eight per cent. might be made upon good
security, as capital is wanted throughout the country. A London
shopkeeper, with a capital of three thousand pounds or upwards, and who
is well acquainted with the principles of business, might succeed.
Lawyers, doctors, clerks, shopmen, literary men, artists, and
schoolmasters, to use an American phrase, would "come to a bad market."
Mechanics are able to obtain employment, but many who have emigrated
have been lamentably deceived in their expectations. The person of small
property, who is desirous to live on the interest of his money, and
wants to remove to a cheaper country than England, should pause before
the object of his choice is America. From what Mr. Fearon had hitherto
seen of large towns, living is not, on the whole, cheaper than in the
English cities. In the interior it may be less expensive than in the
country parts of England; but such a man must, of necessity, have his
ideas of happiness associated with many sources of comfort and
gratification, which he would seek for in vain within the United States.
With regard to certain Yorkshire and Leicestershire manufacturers, in
whose welfare he was particularly interested, Mr. Fearon says, he was
convinced that they could not profitably succeed here.




Sixth Day's Instruction.

UNITED STATES CONTINUED.


_Narrative of an Expedition from Pittsburg into the Illinois territory.
From Notes on a Journey in America, by MORRIS BIRKBECK._

Leaving Mr. Fearon at Pittsburgh, we will thence accompany Mr. Birkbeck
on his tour into the western settlements of the United States. About the
end of May, 1817, this gentleman and his family, consisting of nine
persons, five male and four female, arrived at _Pittsburgh_; and, on the
5th of June, well mounted, and well furnished with saddle-bags and
blankets, they set out on their journey westward, in search of a place
where they might form an advantageous settlement. Each person had a
blanket under his saddle, another upon it, and a pair of saddle-bags,
with a great coat and an umbrella strapped behind.

In this manner, says Mr. Birkbeck, even women, and those of advanced
age, often take long journeys without inconvenience. The day before he
left Pittsburgh, he was told of a lady who was coming from Tenessee to
Pittsburgh, twelve hundred miles; and, although she had with her an
infant, she preferred travelling on horseback to boating up the river.

Seventeen miles of the ride from Pittsburgh on to _Cannonsburg_, was
chiefly over clayey hills, well adapted for grass; but, in the present
circumstances of the country, too stiff for profitable cultivation under
the plough. From Cannonsburg to _Washington_, in Pennsylvania, eight
miles, is a very desirable tract, containing much excellent land, with
fine meadows.

Washington is a pretty, thriving town, which contains about two thousand
five hundred inhabitants. It has a college, with about a hundred
students; but, from the dirty condition of the schools, and the
loitering habits of the young men, Mr. Birkbeck suspected it to be an
ill-regulated institution.

From Washington, Mr. Birkbeck and his family proceeded still westward,
and, on entering the _State of Ohio_, they found themselves in a country
beautiful and fertile, and affording, to a plain, industrious, and
thriving population, all that nature has decreed for the comfort of man.
It contains rich land, good water, wholesome air; limestone, coal,
mills, and navigation. It is also fully appropriated, and thickly
settled; and land is worth from twenty to thirty dollars per acre: an
advance of a thousand per cent. in about ten years!

A heavy fall of wet had rendered the roads muddy and unpleasant. On the
10th of June, the party arrived at _Wheeling_, a considerable but
mean-looking town, of inns and stores, on the banks of the Ohio. Here
they baited their horses, and took a repast of bread and milk. At this
place the Ohio is divided into two channels, of five hundred yards each,
by an island of three hundred acres.

Between Wheeling and St. Clairsville, they had sundry foaming creeks to
ford; and sundry log-bridges to pass, which are a sort of commutation of
danger. They had also a very muddy road, over hills of clay; and thunder
and rain during nearly the whole of this their first stage: such
thunder, and such rain, as they had heard of, but had seldom witnessed
in England.

They were detained some days at _St. Clairsville_. This place consists
of about one hundred and fifty houses; stores, taverns, doctors'-shops,
and lawyers' offices, with the dwellings of sundry artisans; such as
tailors, shoemakers, hatters, and smiths. Its chief street runs over one
of the beautiful, round, and fertile hills which form this country. The
court-house, a handsome brick edifice, on the summit, has a cheerful and
a rather striking appearance. If the streets were paved, St. Clairsville
would be a pleasant town, but, from the continued rains, they were, at
this time, deep in mud.

The rich clay of this country is very favourable to grass, and the
pastures are extremely fine. When the timber is destroyed, a beautiful
turf takes immediate possession of the surface.

As they proceeded westward, towards Zanesville, the soil did not
improve. It is here a yellow clay, well adapted for grass; but, when
exhausted by repeated cropping, it will be unprofitable for tillage. In
some places, the clay is over limestone, and exhibits marks of great and
durable fertility.

During their journey, on the 13th of June, they met a group of nymphs,
with their attendant swains, ten in number, on horseback: for no
American walks who can obtain a horse; and there are few indeed who
cannot. The young men were carrying umbrellas over the heads of their
partners; and the appearance of the whole was very decent and
respectable.

At the distance of eighteen miles east of Zanesville, whilst taking
shelter from a thunder-storm, they were joined by four industrious
pedestrians, who were returning eastward from a tour of observation
through this state. These all agreed in one sentiment, that there is no
part of the Union, either in the new settlements or in the old, where an
industrious man need be at a loss for the comforts of a good
livelihood.

The land continued of the same character as before, a weak yellow clay,
under a thin covering of vegetable mould, profitable for cultivation
merely because it is new. The timber is chiefly oak. Little farms, of
from eight to one hundred and sixty acres, with simple erections, a
cabin and a stable, may be purchased, at the rate of from five to twenty
dollars per acre. This is a hilly and romantic country; and affords many
pleasant situations. Sand-stone is common; limestone more rare; but
clay-slate appears to be the common basis.

The inhabitants are friendly and homely, not to say coarse; but they are
well informed. This day the travellers passed various groups of
emigrants, proceeding westward: one waggon, in particular, was the
moving habitation of twenty souls.

_Zanesville_ is a thriving town, on the beautiful _river Muskingum_,
which is, at all times, navigable downward. The country around it is
hilly and pleasant; not rich, but dry, and tolerably fertile. It abounds
in coal and lime, and may, at some future period, become a grand station
for manufactures.

At _Rushville_ Mr. Birkbeck, another gentleman, and three children, sat
down to a breakfast, consisting of the following articles: coffee,
rolls, biscuits, dry toast, waffles, (a kind of soft hot cake, of German
extraction, covered with butter,) salted pickerell, (a fish from Lake
Huron,) veal-cutlets, broiled ham, gooseberry-pie, stewed currants,
preserved cranberries, butter, and cheese: and Mr. Birkbeck, for himself
and three children, and four gallons of oats, and a sufficient quantity
of hay for four horses, was charged only six shillings and ninepence
sterling.

South-west of Zanesville, instead of steep hills of yellow clay, the
country assumes a more gently undulating surface; but it is sufficiently
varied both for health and ornament, and has an absorbent, gravelly, or
sandy soil, of moderate fertility.

_Lancaster_ is on the edge of a marsh, or fen, which, at present,
should seem to be a source of disease; though its bad effects, on the
inhabitants of that town, are not by any means obvious.

The three towns, Zanesville, Lancaster, and _Chillicothe_, were founded
by a sagacious man of the name of Zane, one of the earliest of the
settlers. They are admirably placed, geographically, but with little
regard to the health of their future inhabitants. The local advantages
of Zanesville might have been equally secured, had the site of the town
been on the higher, rather than the lower bank of the Muskingum: and the
Sciota might have afforded equal facilities to the commerce of the
inhabitants of Chillicothe, had they viewed it flowing beneath them,
from those lovely eminences which adorn its opposite banks. Chillicothe
is surrounded by the most charming elevations, but is itself in a
bottom; and Lancaster is on the brink of an extensive marsh.

Seven miles north-west of Chillicothe the traveller enters on a tract of
river bottom, the first rich land, for which this state, and indeed the
whole western country, is so justly famous. It is agreeably varied in
surface, occasionally rises into hills, and is never flat.

At Chillicothe there is an office for the several transactions regarding
the disposal of the public lands of this district; and, on Mr.
Birkbeck's arrival, he repaired to this office, for the purpose of
inspecting a map of the district; and he found a great quantity of
unentered lands, comprehending many entire townships, of eight miles
square, lying about twenty miles south of Chillicothe; and, in several
parts, abutting on the Sciota. Though it appeared certain that
substantial objections had deterred purchasers from this extensive
tract, in a country so much settled, yet Mr. Birkbeck, accompanied by
his son, determined to visit it. They rode over twenty miles of fertile
country, on the bank of the Sciota, and crossed that river to _Pike
Town_; not far from which place was the land they were seeking.

Near Pike Town was a small cultivated prairie, the first Mr. Birkbeck
had seen. It contained about two hundred acres of rich land, and was
divided by a road, which ran through the middle; and nearly the whole of
it was covered by fine Indian corn, neatly cultivated. The surrounding
hills were crowned with woods. Nothing that Mr. Birkbeck had before seen
in America at all resembled this delightful spot; but, from its low
situation near the Sciota, it was unhealthy.

Pike Town was laid out, and received its name, about the year 1815. When
Mr. Birkbeck was here, it contained a tavern, a store, and about twenty
other dwellings.

The land of which Mr. Birkbeck came in quest was, as he supposed, of
inferior quality. But though he found it unfit for his purpose, he had
been repaid his trouble by the pleasure of his ride, through a fine
portion of country. In leaving Chillicothe, to proceed towards
Cincinnati, he and his party travelled through about seven miles of rich
alluvial land, and over fertile uplands. But, as they proceeded, the
country became level, with a cold heavy soil, better adapted to grass
than tillage. Much of this tract remained in an unimproved state. They
had passed some hills which were covered with the grandest white
oak-timber imaginable. Within view from the road there were thousands of
these magnificent trees, each of which measured fourteen or fifteen feet
in circumference: their straight stems rising, without a branch, to the
height of seventy or eighty feet, not tapering and slender, but
surmounted by full, luxuriant heads.

For the space of a mile in breadth, a hurricane, which had traversed the
entire western country in a north-east direction, about seven years
before Mr. Birkbeck was here, had opened itself a passage through the
forests, and had left a scene of extraordinary desolation. The trees lay
tumbled over each other, like scattered stubble; some torn up by the
roots, others broken off at different heights, or splintered only, and
their tops bent over, and touching the ground. These hurricane tracts
afford strong holes for game, and for all animals of savage kind.

As Mr. Birkbeck approached the _Little Miami River_, the country became
more broken, much more fertile, and better settled than before. After
crossing this rapid and clear stream, he had a pleasant ride to Lebanon,
which is not a mountain of cedars, but a valley, so beautiful and
fertile that, at its first opening on the view, it seemed rather a
region of fancy than a real back-settlement scene.

_Lebanon_ is itself one of those wonders which are the natural growth of
these back woods. In fourteen years, from two or three cabins of
half-savage hunters, it has grown to be the residence of a thousand
persons, with habits and looks in no respect differing from their
brethren of the east. Before Mr. Birkbeck and his party entered the
town, they heard the supper-bells of the taverns; and they arrived just
in time to take their seats at one of the tables, together with
travellers like themselves, and several store-keepers, lawyers, and
doctors; men who regularly board at taverns, and make up a standing
company for the daily public table.

Mr. Birkbeck and his family next passed through _Cincinnati_, [a town
which presents a scene of great life and activity. The market-house is
an excellent building; and the market is under judicious regulations.
Provisions are here plentiful and cheap; but articles of clothing,
house-rent, and journeymen's wages are all very high.

This interesting town is situated on the banks of the _Ohio_, and
contains from eight to ten thousand inhabitants, including blacks, who
are numerous. It is built on the same plan as Philadelphia. There is a
school, in which children are educated on the Lancasterian plan; and
which, in 1817, contained one hundred and fifty children. Owing,
however, to the "untamable insubordination of the scholars, it was found
impossible to put in practice most of the punishments that are directed
by the founder of the system. Two weekly newspapers are published at
Cincinnati; one called "The Western Spy," and the other, "Liberty
Hall."

There are, at this place, a woollen manufactory, a steam corn-mill, and
a glass-house, on a tolerably large scale; and, in the main street,
English goods abound in as great profusion as in Cheapside. The
tradesmen import some of their goods direct from England, but they
usually purchase them at Philadelphia; the journey to and from which
place occupies three months; and goods are generally about fifty days in
arriving.

There are, in Cincinnati, three banks; and paper-money is here so
abundant, that specie, even of the smallest amount, is rarely to be
seen. The little that does exist, consists chiefly of _cut_ Spanish
dollars. Notes of two shillings and two-pence, thirteen pence, sixpence
halfpenny, and even of three-pence farthing, are very common: indeed,
they constitute the chief part of the circulating medium.

Cincinnati is a very handsome town; a town, in fact, which must astonish
every traveller, when he considers how recently it has been formed. Some
of the houses are on a large scale; and the number of moderate-sized and
well-built brick buildings is considerable. The churches are neat; and
the post-office, in arrangement and management, would bear comparison
with that of London.]

After having passed through Cincinnati, Mr. Birkbeck and his family
entered the _state of Indiana_, and proceeded towards Vincennes. Indiana
was, evidently, newer than the state of Ohio; and the character of the
settlers appeared superior to that of the settlers in Ohio, who, in
general, were a very indigent people. Those who fix themselves in
Indiana, bring with them habits of comfort and the means of procuring
the conveniences of life. These are observable in the construction of
their cabins, and the neatness surrounding them; and, especially, in
their well-stocked gardens, so frequent here, and so rare in the state
of Ohio.

The country, from the town of Madison to the _Camp Tavern_, is not
interesting, and a great part of the land is but of medium quality. At
the latter place commences a broken country, approaching to mountainous,
which, if well watered, would form a fine grazing district. In their
progress, Mr. Birkbeck, one of the ladies, and a servant boy, were
benighted at the foot of one of these rugged hills; and, without being
well provided, they were compelled to make their first experiment of
"camping out," as it is called.

A traveller, in the woods, says this gentleman, should always carry with
him a flint, steel, tinder, and matches; a few biscuits, a half-pint
vial of spirits, a tin cup, and a large knife or tomahawk; then, with
his two blankets, and his great coat and umbrella, he need not be
uneasy, should any unforeseen delay require his sleeping under a tree.

In the present instance, the important articles of tinder and matches
were in the baggage of the division that had proceeded; and, as the
night was rainy and excessively dark, the benighted party were, for some
time, under considerable apprehension, lest they should be deprived of
the comfort and security of a fire. Fortunately, Mr. Birkbeck's
powder-flask was in his saddle-bags, and he succeeded in supplying the
place of tinder, by moistening a piece of paper, and rubbing it with
gunpowder. He then placed the touchpaper on an old cambric handkerchief.
On this he scattered gunpowder pretty copiously, and with a flint and
steel he soon succeeded in raising a flame: then, collecting together a
quantity of dry wood, he made a noble fire. There was a mattress for the
lady, a bear-skin for Mr. Birkbeck, and the load of the pack-horse
served as a pallet for the boy. Thus, by means of great coats and
blankets, and their umbrellas spread over their heads, they made their
quarters tolerably comfortable; and, placing themselves to the leeward
of the fire, with their feet towards it, they lay more at ease than they
could have done in the generality of taverns. They had a few biscuits,
a small bottle of spirits, and a phial of oil. By twisting some cord
very hard, and dipping it in the oil, they contrived to make torches;
and, after several fruitless attempts, they succeeded in finding water.
"Camping out," when the tents are pitched by day-light, and the party
are furnished with the articles, which Mr. Birkbeck was obliged to
supply by expedients, is pleasant in fine weather. The lady was
exceedingly ill, which had in fact occasioned their being benighted; and
never was the night's charge of a sick friend undertaken with more
dismal forebodings. The rain, however, having ceased, the invalid passed
the night in safety; so that the morning found them more comfortable
than they could have anticipated.

The town of _Vincennes_ is scattered over a plain, lying some feet lower
than the banks of the _Wabash_: a situation seemingly unfavourable to
health; and, in fact, agues and bilious fevers are frequent here during
the autumn.

The road from Sholt's Tavern to this place, thirty-six miles distant,
lies partly across "barrens," that is, land of middling quality, thinly
set with timber, or covered with long grass and shrubby underwood;
generally level and dry, and gaudy with marigolds, sunflowers, martagon
lilies, and many other beautiful flowers. On the whole, the country is
tame, poorly watered, and not desirable as a place of settlement; but,
from its varied character, it is pleasant to travel over. Vincennes
exhibits a motley assemblage of inhabitants as well as visitors. The
inhabitants are Americans, French Canadians, and Negroes. The visitors
are chiefly Americans from various states; and Indians from various
nations: Shawnees, Delawares, and Miamies, who live about a hundred
miles northward, and who come here to trade for skins. The Indians were
encamped, in considerable numbers, round the town, and were continually
riding into the place, to the stores and the whiskey-shops. Their horses
and accoutrements were generally mean, and their persons disagreeable.
Their faces were painted in various ways, which gave an appearance of
ferocity to their countenances.

One of them, a Shawnee, had his eyes, or rather his eyelids and the
surrounding parts, daubed with vermilion. He thus looked hideous enough
at a distance; but, on a nearer view, he had good features, and was a
fine, stout, and fierce-looking man. Some of the Indians were well
dressed. One young man, in particular, of the Miami nation, wore a
clear, light blue cotton vest, with sleeves; and had his head ornamented
with black feathers.

They all wear pantaloons, or rather long moccasins of buck-skin,
covering the foot and leg, and reaching half way up the thigh, which is
bare: a covering of cloth, a foot square, passes between the thighs, and
hangs behind like an apron. Their complexion was various: some were
dark, and others were not so swarthy as even Mr. Birkbeck; but he saw
none of the copper-colour, which he had imagined to be their
distinguishing characteristic. These Indians are addicted to drinking
spirits, and are often intoxicated. They use much action in their
discourse, and laugh immoderately. Their hair is straight and black, and
their eyes are dark. Many of the women are decently dressed and
good-looking.

Mr. Birkbeck remarks that, in Great Britain, the people are so
circumscribed in their movements, that, with them, miles seem equal to
tens of miles in America. He says that, in America, travellers will
start on an expedition of three thousand miles, by boats, on horseback,
or on foot, with as little deliberation or anxiety, as an Englishman
would set out on a journey of three hundred.

At Vincennes, the foundation had just been laid of a large establishment
of mills to be worked by steam. Water-mills of great power were building
on the Wabash, near Harmony; and undertakings of similar kind will, no
doubt, be called for and executed, along the banks of this river, and
of its various tributary streams.

On entering Vincennes there is nothing which tends to make a favourable
impression on a stranger; but it improves on acquaintance, for it
contains agreeable people: and there is a spirit of cleanliness, and
even of neatness, in the houses and manner of living. There is also a
strain of politeness in the inhabitants, which marks the origin of this
settlement to be French.

At _Princeton_, a place scarcely three years old, Mr. Birkbeck and his
family went to a log-tavern, where neatness was as well observed as at
many taverns in the cities of England. The people of this town belong to
America in dress and manners; but they would not disgrace old England in
the general decorum of their deportment.

Mr. Birkbeck lamented here, as in other parts of America, the small
account that is had of time. Subsistence is easily secured, and liberal
pursuits are yet too rare to operate as a general stimulus to exertion:
the consequence is, that life is whiled away in a painful state of
yawning lassitude.

Twenty or thirty miles west of this place, in the Illinois territory, is
a large country where settlements were beginning; and where, Mr.
Birkbeck says, there was an abundant choice of unentered lands, of a
description, which, if the statements of travellers and surveyors, even
after great abatements, can be relied on, he imagined would satisfy his
wishes.

Princeton affords a very encouraging situation for a temporary abode. It
stands on an elevated spot, in an uneven country, ten miles from the
river Wabash, and two from the navigable stream of the Patok; but the
country is rich, and the timber is vast in bulk and height.

The small-pox is likely soon to be excluded from this state; for
vaccination is very generally adopted, and inoculation for the small-pox
is prohibited altogether; not by law, but by common consent. If it
should be known that an individual had undergone this operation, the
inhabitants would compel him to withdraw from society. If he lived in a
town, he must absent himself, or he would be driven away.

On the 25th of July, Mr. Birkbeck explored the country as far as
_Harmony_ and the banks of the Ohio. He lodged in a cabin, at a very new
town, on the banks of the Ohio, called _Mount Vernon_. Here he found the
people of a character which confirmed the aversion he had previously
entertained to a settlement in the immediate vicinity of a large
navigable river. Every hamlet was demoralized, and every plantation was
liable to outrage, within a short distance of such a thoroughfare.

Yet, to persons who had been long buried in deep forests, the view of
that noble expanse was like the opening of a bright day upon the gloom
of night. To travel, day after day, among trees a hundred feet high,
without a glimpse of the surrounding country, is oppressive to a degree
which those cannot conceive who have not experienced it.

Mr. Birkbeck left Harmony after breakfast, on the ensuing day, and,
crossing the Wabash, at a ferry, he proceeded to the _Big Prairie_,
where, to his astonishment, he beheld a fertile plain of grass and
arable; and some thousand acres of land covered with corn, more
luxuriant than any he had before seen. The scene reminded him of some
open well-cultivated vale in Europe, surrounded by wooded uplands. But
the illusion vanished on his arrival at the habitation of Mr. Williams,
the owner of an estate, on which, at this time, there were nearly three
hundred acres of beautiful corn in one field; for this man lived in a
way apparently as remote from comfort, as the settler of one year, who
thinks only of the means of supporting existence.

The inhabitants of the Prairie are healthy, and the females and children
are better complexioned than their neighbours of the timber country. It
is evident that they breathe better air: but they are in a low state of
civilization, being about half Indian in their mode of life. They are
hunters by profession, and would have the whole range of the forests for
themselves and their cattle. Strangers appear, to them, invaders of
their privileges; as they have intruded on the better founded and
exclusive privileges of their Indian predecessors.

After viewing several Prairies, which, with their surrounding woods,
were so beautiful as to seem like the creation of fancy; (gardens of
delight in a dreary wilderness;) and after losing their horses, and
spending two days in recovering them, Mr. Birkbeck and his party took a
hunter, as their guide, and proceeded across the little Wabash, to
explore the country between that river and the Skillet Fork.

The lonely settlers, in the districts north of Big Prairie, are in a
miserable state: their bread-corn must be ground thirty miles off; and
it occupied three days to carry to the mill, and bring back, the small
horse-load of three bushels. To struggle with privations has now become
the habit of their lives, most of them having made several successive
plunges into the wilderness.

Mr. Birkbeck's journey across the little Wabash was a complete departure
from all mark of civilization. Wandering without track, where even the
sagacity of the hunter-guide had nearly failed, they at length arrived
at the cabin of another hunter, in which they lodged. This man, his
wife, his eldest son, a tall, half-naked youth, just initiated in the
hunter's arts; his three daughters, growing up into great rude girls,
and a squalling tribe of dirty brats, of both sexes, were of one pale
yellow colour, without the slightest tint of healthful bloom. They were
remarkable instances of the effect, on the complexion, produced by
living perpetually in the midst of woods.

Their cabin, which may serve as a specimen of these rudiments of houses,
was formed of round logs, with apertures of three or four inches: there
was no chimney, but large intervals were left between the "clapboards,"
for the escape of the smoke. The roof, however, was a more effectual
covering, than Mr. Birkbeck had generally experienced, as it protected
him and his party very tolerably from a drenching night. Two bedsteads,
formed of unhewn logs, and cleft boards laid across; two chairs, (one of
them without a bottom,) and a low stool, were all the furniture
possessed by this numerous family. A string of buffalo-hide, stretched
across the hovel, was a wardrobe for their rags; and their utensils,
consisting of a large iron-pot, some baskets, one good rifle, and two
that were useless, stood about in corners; and a fiddle, which was
seldom silent, except when the inhabitants were asleep, hung by them.

These hunters, in the back-settlements of America, are as persevering as
savages, and as indolent. They cultivate indolence as a privilege: "You
English (they say) are industrious, but we have freedom." And thus they
exist, in yawning indifference, surrounded by nuisances and petty wants;
the former of which might be removed, and the latter supplied, by the
application of one tenth part of the time that is loitered away in their
innumerable idle days.

The _Little Wabash_, which Mr. Birkbeck crossed in search of some
Prairies, that had been described to him in glowing colours, was, at
this season, a sluggish and scanty stream; but, for three months of the
latter part of winter and the beginning of spring, it covers a great
space of ground, by the overflow of waters collected in its long course.
The _Skillet Fork_ is a river of similar character; and the country that
lies between them must labour under the inconvenience of absolute
seclusion, for many months every year, until bridges and ferries are
established. Having made his way through this wildest of wildernesses to
the Skillet Fork, Mr. Birkbeck crossed that river at a shoal. The
country, on each side of it, is flat and swampy; so that the water, in
many places, even at this season, rendered travelling disagreeable; yet
here and there, at ten miles' distance, perhaps, the very solitude
tempts persons to pitch their tents for a season.

At one of these lone dwellings Mr. Birkbeck found a neat, respectable
looking female, spinning under the little piazza at one side of the
cabin, which shaded her from the sun. Her husband was absent on
business, which would detain him some weeks: she had no family, and no
companion except her husband's dog, which usually attended him during
his bear-hunting, in the winter. She said she was quite overcome with
"lone," and hoped the party would tie their horses in the wood, and sit
awhile with her, during the heat of the day. They did so, and she
rewarded them with a basin of coffee. She said her husband was kind and
good, and never left her without necessity. He was a true lover of
bear-hunting; and, in the preceding winter, had killed a great number of
bears.

On the second of August the party lodged at another cabin, where similar
neatness prevailed, both within and without. The woman was neat, and the
children were clean in skin, and whole in their clothes. The man
possessed good sense and sound notions, and was ingenious and
industrious. He lived on the edge of the Seven Miles' Prairie, a spot
charming to the eye, but deficient in water.

Mr. Birkbeck considers _Shawnee Town_ as a phaenomenon, evincing the
pertinacious adherence of man to the spot where he has once established
himself. Once a year, for many successive springs, the Ohio, in its
annual overflowings, has carried away the fences from the cleared lands
of the inhabitants, till at length they have given them up, and ceased
to cultivate them. Once a year the inhabitants of Shawnee Town either
make their escape to higher lands, or take refuge in the upper stories
of their houses, until the waters subside, when they recover their
position on this desolate sand-bank.

At Shawnee Town there is an office for the south-east district of
Illinois. Here Mr. Birkbeck constituted himself a land-owner, by paying
seven hundred and twenty dollars, as one-fourth part of the
purchase-money of fourteen hundred and forty acres. This land, with a
similar purchase made by a Mr. Flower, constituted part of a beautiful
and rich Prairie, about six miles distant from the Big Wabash, and the
same distance from the Little Wabash.

The land was rich, natural meadow, bounded by timbered ground: it was
within reach of two navigable rivers; and, at a small expence, was
capable of being rendered immediately productive.

The geographical position of this portion of territory appeared to be
extremely favourable. The Big Wabash, a noble stream, which forms its
eastern boundary, runs four hundred miles, through one of the most
fertile portions of this most fertile region. By means of a portage of
eight miles to the Miami of the lakes, it has a communication, well
known to the Indian traders, with Lake Huron, and with all the
navigation of the north.

Mr. Birkbeck left Shawnee town on the third of August. He had found here
something of river-barbarism, the genuine Ohio character; but he had met
with a greater number, than he had expected, of agreeable individuals:
and the kind and hospitable treatment he experienced at the tavern,
formed a good contrast to the rude society and wretched fare he had left
at the Skillet Fork.

On his return to _Harmony_, the day being Sunday, he had an opportunity
of seeing, grouped and in their best attire, a large part of the members
of this wonderful community. It was evening when he arrived, and he
observed no human creature about the streets: soon the entire body of
the people, about seven hundred in number, poured out of the church, and
exhibited the appearance of health, neatness, and peace.

This colony is useful to the neighbourhood. It furnishes, from its
store, many articles of great value, not so well supplied elsewhere; and
it is a market for all spare produce. Many kinds of culinary plants, and
many fruit-trees are cultivated here; and the Harmonites set a good
example of neatness and industry. When we contrast their neatness and
order, with the slovenly habits of their neighbours, we see (says Mr.
Birkbeck) the good that arises from association, which advances these
poor people a century, at least, on the social scale, beyond the
solitary beings who build their huts in the wilderness.

At Harmony Mr. Birkbeck and his family lived at the tavern, and their
board there cost two dollars per week, each person: for these they
received twenty-one meals. Excellent coffee and tea, with broiled
chickens, bacon, &c. for breakfast and supper, and a variety of good,
but simple fare at dinner. Except coffee, tea, or milk, no liquor but
water is thought of at meals in this country.

Mr. Birkbeck observes that, when the back country of America is
mentioned in England, musquitoes by night, and rattlesnakes by day,
never fail to alarm the imagination: to say nothing of wolves and bears,
and panthers, and Indians still more ferocious than these. His course of
travelling, from the mouth of James River, and over the mountains, up to
Pittsburg, about five hundred miles; then three hundred miles through
the woods of the state of Ohio, down to Cincinnati; next, across the
entire wilderness of Indiana, and to the extreme south of the
Illinois:--this long and deliberate journey, (he says,) one would
suppose, might have introduced his party to an intimate acquaintance
with some of these pests of America. It is true that they killed several
of the serpent tribe; black snakes, garter-snakes, &c. and that they saw
one rattlesnake of extraordinary size. They experienced inconvenience
from musquitoes in a few damp spots, just as they would have done from
gnats in England. In their late expeditions in the Illinois, where they
led the lives of thorough backwoods-men, if they were so unfortunate as
to pitch their tent on the edge of a creek, or near a swamp, and
mismanaged their fire, they were teased with musquitoes, as they would
have been in the fens of Cambridgeshire: but this was the sum total
of their experience of these reported plagues.

Wolves and bears are extremely numerous, and commit much injury in the
newly-settled districts. Hogs, which are a main dependance for food as
well as profit, are the constant prey of the bears; and the holds of
these animals are so strong, that the hunters are unable to keep down
their numbers.

       *       *       *       *       *

[In the autumn of the year 1817, Mr. Birkbeck removed, with his family,
to the property he had purchased, between the Great and Little Wabash,
and to which he has given the name of "_English Prairie_." In his "Notes
on America," and in his "Letters from the Illinois," he has described,
in an interesting manner, the face of the country, its soil,
productions, mode of culture, and capacities of improvement; and has
pointed out the great advantages which it offers to settlers, especially
to labourers and to farmers with small capital. The confidence that is
reposed in his judgment and agricultural skill, has already induced
several persons to emigrate into the same neighbourhood, both from
England and the United States; but the singularity of his religious
opinions, and his objection to the admission of religious instructors of
any description into his settlement, had prevented many conscientious
persons from joining him, who might have proved useful members of his
little community.]

       *       *       *       *       *

From this place we must return to _Philadelphia_, for the purpose of
accompanying Mr. Weld on a journey to Washington, the federal city or
metropolis of the United States.




Seventh Day's Instruction.

UNITED STATES CONTINUED.


_Narrative of_ MR. WELD'S _Excursion from Philadelphia to
Washington_.

On the 16th of November, 1795, Mr. Weld left _Philadelphia_ in one of
the public stage-waggons. The country around this city was well
cultivated, and abounded with neat villas and farm-houses; but it had a
naked appearance, for all the trees had been cut down, either for fuel
or to make way for the plough.

The road to Baltimore passed over the lowest of three floating bridges,
which had been thrown across the _river Schuylkill_. The view, on
crossing this river, which is about two hundred and fifty yards wide, is
peculiarly beautiful. The banks on each side are high, and, for many
miles, afford extremely delightful situations for villas.

The country, after passing the Schuylkill, is pleasingly diversified
with rising grounds and woods; and appears to be in a good state of
cultivation. The first town of any note at which Mr. Weld arrived, was
_Chester_; which at this time contained about sixty dwellings, and was
remarkable for being the place where the first colonial assembly sat.
From the vicinity of Chester, there is a grand view of the river
Delaware.

About half a mile from Wilmington is _Brandywine River_, remarkable for
its mills: no fewer than thirteen having been built, almost close to
each other, upon it.

_Wilmington_ is the capital of the state of Delaware, and contained, at
this time, about six hundred houses, which were chiefly of brick. The
streets are laid out in a manner somewhat similar to those of
Philadelphia. There is, however, nothing very interesting in this town,
and the country around it is flat and unpleasant. _Elkton_, twenty-one
miles from Wilmington, and the first town in Maryland, is a dirty and
disagreeable place; which contains about ninety indifferent houses, that
are built without any regularity.

Every ten or twelve miles upon this road there are taverns. These are
all built of wood, and much in the same style; with a porch in front,
which extends the entire length of the house. Few of them have any
signs, and they are only to be distinguished from other houses, by a
number of handbills pasted upon the walls near the door. Each of them is
named, not from the sign, but from the person who keeps it; as Jones's,
Brown's, &c. and all are kept nearly in the same manner. At each house
there are regular hours for breakfast, dinner, and supper: and, if a
traveller arrive somewhat before the time appointed for any one of these
meals, it is in vain to desire a separate repast for himself: he must
patiently wait till the regulated hour; and must then sit down with such
other guests as happen to be in the house.

The _Susquehannah_ river is crossed, on the way to Baltimore, at a ferry
five miles above its entrance into the Chesapeak. The river is here
about a mile and a quarter wide, and deep enough for vessels of any
burden. The banks are high and thickly wooded, and the scenery is grand
and picturesque. A small town, called _Havre de Grace_, which contains
about forty houses, stands on this river at the ferry. From Havre to
Baltimore the country is extremely poor; the soil is of a yellow gravel
mixed with clay, and the road is execrable.

_Baltimore_ is supposed to have, at this time, contained about sixteen
thousand _inhabitants_. Though not the capital of the state, it is the
largest town in Maryland; and, after Philadelphia and New York, is the
most considerable place of trade in North America. [It is built round
the head of a bay or inlet of the _river Patuxent_, and about eight
miles above its junction with the Chesapeak.] The _plan_ of the town is
somewhat similar to that of Philadelphia. Most of the _streets_ cross
each other at right angles. The main street, which runs nearly east and
west, is about eighty feet wide, and the others measure from forty to
sixty feet. The streets are not all paved, so that, in wet weather, they
are almost impassable; the soil being a stiff yellow clay, which retains
the water a long time. On the south of the town is the harbour, which
affords about nine feet water, and is large enough to contain two
thousand sail of merchant-vessels.

The greatest number of private _houses_ in Baltimore, are of brick; but
many, particularly in the skirts of the town, are of wood. In some of
the new streets, a few appeared to be well built; but, in general, they
are small, heavy, and inconvenient. [The public buildings have very
little architectural beauty.

In the year 1817, Baltimore contained fifty thousand inhabitants; and
was still rapidly increasing.] Among the inhabitants are to be found
English, Irish, Scotch, and French; but the Irish appear to be most
numerous. With a few exceptions, they are all engaged in trade; and they
are, for the most part, a plain people, sociable among themselves, and
friendly and hospitable towards strangers. Cards and dancing are here
favourite amusements. During the autumn, Baltimore is unhealthy, and
such persons as can afford it, retire to country-seats in the
neighbourhood, some of which are delightfully situated.

From Baltimore to Washington, a distance of forty miles, the country has
but a poor appearance. The soil, in some parts, consists of yellow clay
mixed with gravel: in other parts it is sandy. In the neighbourhood of
the creeks, and between the hills, there are patches of rich black
earth, called bottoms, the trees upon which grow to a large size.


_A description of the City of Washington._

This city was laid out in the year 1792; and was expressly designed for
the seat of government, and the metropolis of the United States.
Accordingly, in the month of November, 1800, the congress assembled here
for the first time. It stands on a neck of land, between the forks
formed by the eastern and western branches of the river _Potomac_. This
neck of land, together with an adjacent territory, ten miles square, was
ceded to the American congress by the states of Maryland and Virginia.
The ground on which the city has been built, was the property of private
individuals, who readily relinquished their claim to one half of it in
favour of congress, conscious that the value of what was left to them
would increase, and amply compensate them for their loss.

The _plan_ of the buildings was drawn by a Frenchman, whose name was
L'Enfant; and the ground, marked out for them, was fourteen miles in
circumference. The _streets_ run north and south, east and west; but, to
prevent that sameness which would result from their all crossing each
other at right angles, several avenues have been laid out, in different
parts of the city, which run transversely. The streets are, in general,
from ninety to a hundred feet, and the avenues one hundred and sixty
feet wide. There is also an arrangement for several squares.

Including the suburb of George Town, this city contains about twenty
thousand _inhabitants_, who are scattered over a vast space, in detached
masses of buildings, which appear like petty hamlets in a populous
country. The intended _streets_ are, for the most part, only
distinguishable from the rugged waste, by a slight trace, like that of a
newly-formed road; or, in some instances, by rows of poplar trees, which
afford neither ornament nor shade.

The _Capitol_, and the house appropriated to the president of the United
States, are situated on opposite hills, and are the chief public
buildings in Washington. During the late war, they were both nearly
destroyed by the British forces; but they are now rising into increased
splendour. The capitol, in which are the houses of the legislature, and
several public offices, stands on a bank of the Potomac, seventy feet
above the level of that river. It as yet consists of only two wings; but
these are intended to be connected by a centre, surmounted by a dome.

The _president's house_ is at the opposite end of "Pennsylvania Avenue,"
and commands a most beautiful prospect. On each side of it stands a
large brick building: one of which is the treasury, and the other is
appropriated to the war and navy offices. These are hereafter to be
connected with the palace.

The _post office_ is a large brick edifice, situated at about an equal
distance from the president's house and the capitol. Under the same roof
is the patent-office, and the national library, for the use of members
of the congress. In 1817 there were, in Washington, many brick
buildings, two and three stories high. There were also some small wooden
houses; though, according to the original plan, no houses were to be
built less than three stories high, and all were to have marble steps.

The _river Potomac_, at Washington, is navigable only for small craft;
but, besides this, there is a river, about the width of the Paddington
canal, which is dignified by the name of _Tiber_. The ridiculous, though
characteristic vanity displayed in changing its original appellation
from "Goose-creek" to that of "Tiber," has been happily exposed by the
English poet Moore. Speaking of this city, he says,

    In fancy now, beneath the twilight gloom,
    Come, let me lead thee o'er this modern Rome,
    Where tribunes rule, where dusky Davi bow,
    And what was Goose-creek once is Tiber now.
    This fam'd metropolis, where fancy sees
    Squares in morasses, obelisks in trees.

There are, at Washington, four market-days in the week, and negroes are
the chief sellers of provisions; but the supplies are neither good nor
various. In this city rents are very high; and mechanics are fully
employed and well paid. Shopkeepers too are numerous; but its increase
cannot be rapid, for it has no decidedly great natural advantages. It
has little external commerce, a barren soil, and a scanty population; is
enfeebled by the deadly weight of absolute slavery, and has no direct
communication with the western country.

With regard to the manners of the _inhabitants_, it is remarked that
both sexes, whether on horseback or on foot, carry umbrellas at all
seasons: in summer, to keep off the sunbeams; in winter, as a shelter
from the rain and snow; and in spring and autumn, to intercept the dews
of the evening. At dinner and at tea parties, the ladies sit together,
and seldom mix with the gentlemen, whose conversation usually turns upon
political subjects. In almost all houses toddy, or spirits and water, is
offered to guests a few minutes before dinner. Boarders in
boarding-houses, or in taverns, sometimes throw off their coats during
the heat of summer; and, in winter, their shoes, for the purpose of
warming their feet at the fire; customs which the climate only can
excuse. The barber always arrives on horseback, to perform the operation
of shaving; and here, as in some towns of Europe, he is the organ of all
the news and scandal of the place.

In the year 1817, when Mr. Fearon was in Washington, the congress was
sitting, and that gentleman several times attended the debates. The
place of meeting was a temporary one: it had been designed for an hotel,
and was in the immediate vicinity of the capitol. The congress assembled
at eleven o'clock in the morning, and adjourned at four in the
afternoon. Mr. Fearon's first visit was to the _senate_. This body is
composed of forty members, the states having increased their original
number of thirteen to that of twenty; and each state, regardless of its
population, sends two. The gallery of the senate-house is open to all;
and the only form observed, is that of taking off the hat. When Mr.
Fearon was at Washington, the chairman's seat was central, under a
handsome canopy; and the members were seated, on rich scarlet cushions,
some at double, and some at single desks. There were two large fires;
and the room was carpeted, as was also the gallery. In the congress, the
forms of business, with a few minor exceptions, are taken from those of
the British parliament. There is, however, one point of variation: every
speech is apparently listened to; and all the speeches, whether good or
bad, seem regarded with equal apathy, and with a complete lifeless
endurance, neither applause nor censure being allowed.

The _Representative Chamber_ was in the same building, and about twice
the extent. A gallery was here also open to the public of both sexes.
This assembly consists of nearly two hundred members. These want, in
appearance, the age, experience, dignity, and respectability, which an
Englishman associates with the idea of legislators, and which are
possessed by the superior branch of the congress. The members sat on
very common chairs, and at unpainted desks, which were placed in rows. A
few of the speakers commanded attention; but others talked on as long
they pleased, while the rest were occupied in writing letters or reading
newspapers. A spitting-box was placed at the feet of each member, and,
contrary to the practice of the upper house, both the members and
visitors wore their hats.

During the sitting of congress, the president, or rather his lady, holds
a drawing-room weekly. He takes by the hand all those persons who are
presented to him; shaking of hands being here considered more rational
and more manly than kissing them.

_George Town_ may be described as a suburb of Washington. It is finely
situated, on the north-east side of the Potomac river, and is divided,
from Washington, by the Rock Creek, over which are two bridges. The
houses are chiefly of brick, and have a neat appearance. Several of
them were built before the streets were formed, which gave rise to an
observation by a French lady, that "George Town had houses without
streets; Washington, streets without houses."

_Alexandria_, formerly called Belhaven, is a small, but peculiarly neat
town, on the western side of the Potomac, and about six miles south of
Washington. Its streets, like those of Philadelphia, run in straight
lines, and intersect each other at right angles. The houses are of neat
construction. The public buildings are an episcopal church, an academy,
a court-house, a bank, and gaol. This place carries on a considerable
trade; and the warehouses and wharfs are very commodious. The distance
from Alexandria to George Town is about ten miles; and there is a daily
communication between the two places, by means of a packet-boat.

Nine miles below Alexandria, and also on the bank of the Potomac, stands
_Mount Vernon_, formerly the country-seat of general Washington. The
house is of wood, but cut and painted so as to resemble stone. It has a
lawn in front; and, when Mr. Weld was here, the garden had the
appearance of a nursery-ground.


_Narrative of Mr._ WELD'S _Journey from Washington to Richmond
in Virginia_.

In proceeding from Washington southward, Mr. Weld passed through a part
of the country which was flat, sandy, and had a most dreary aspect. For
many successive miles nothing was to be seen but extensive plains, that
had been worn out by the culture of tobacco, and were overgrown with
yellow sedge, and interspersed with groves of pine and cedar-trees, the
dark green colour of which formed a singular contrast with the yellow of
the sedge. In the midst of these plains there were, however, the remains
of several good houses, which showed that the country had once been in a
flourishing state.

Mr. Weld crossed the Potomac at a place called _Hoe's Ferry_, The
ferry-man told him that, in the river, was a bank of oysters, and that,
if he wished it, the men should take up some. The singularity of
obtaining oysters from fresh water induced Mr. Weld to stop at the bank;
and the men, in a few minutes, collected as many as would have filled a
bushel. The oysters were extremely good when cooked, but were
disagreeable when eaten raw. The Potomac, as well as the other rivers in
Virginia, abounds with excellent fish of various kinds. At the ferry it
is about three miles wide.

Mr. Weld prevailed with the ferry-man to take him about ten miles down
the river, and land him on the Virginian shore, in a part of the country
which appeared to be a perfect wilderness. No traces of a road or
pathway were visible on the loose white sand; and the cedar and
pine-trees grew so closely together, on all sides, that it was scarcely
possible to see further forward, in any direction, than a hundred yards.
Taking a course, as nearly as he could guess, in a direct line from the
river, at the end of about an hour, he found a narrow road, which led to
a large and ancient brick house. The master of it was from home, and Mr.
Weld was obliged to proceed onward, several miles further, to a wretched
hovel which had the name of a tavern. On the ensuing morning he
proceeded to the residence of a gentleman, which was between the rivers
Potomac and _Rappahannoc_, and where he had been invited to pass a few
weeks.

The principal planters in Virginia possess large estates, and have, on
them, nearly every thing they can want. Among their slaves are found
tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, smiths, turners, wheelwrights, weavers,
and tanners. Woollen cloths and cotton goods, of several kinds, are
manufactured at this province. Cotton grows here in great luxuriance:
the plants, indeed, are often killed by the frost in winter, but they
always produce abundantly, the first year in which they are sown.

The large estates in Virginia are managed by stewards and overseers; and
the work is done wholly by slaves. The cottages of the slaves are
usually at the distance of a few hundred yards from the dwelling-house,
and give the appearance of a village, to the residence of every planter.
Adjoining to these cottages the slaves usually have small gardens, and
yards for poultry. They have ample time to attend to their own concerns:
their gardens are generally well stocked, and their flocks of poultry
numerous. Many of their little huts are comfortably furnished, and they
are themselves, in general, well clad. But Mr. Weld remarked, that this
class of persons is much more kindly treated in Virginia, than in the
other states of America.

The part of Virginia in which Mr. Weld was now passing his time, was, in
general, flat and sandy, and abounded in pine and cedar-trees: some
districts, however, were well cultivated, and afforded good crops of
corn; but these were intermixed with extensive tracts of waste land,
worn out by the culture of tobacco, and almost destitute of verdure.

The common people, in the lower parts of Virginia, have very sallow
complexions, owing to the burning rays of the sun in summer, and the
bilious complaints to which they are subject during the fall of the
year; but those in the upper parts of the country, towards the
mountains, have a healthy and comely appearance.

After Mr. Weld had left the house of his friend, he crossed the
_Rappahannoc River_, to a small town called _Tappahannoc_, or _Hob's
Hole_, containing about one hundred houses. The river is here about
three quarters of a mile wide, and, though the distance from its mouth
is seventy miles, sharks are very often seen.

From Tappahannoc to _Urbanna_, another small town on the Rappahannoc,
and about twenty-five miles lower down, the country wears but a poor
aspect. The road, which is level and sandy, runs, for many successive
miles, through woods. The habitations that are seen from it are but few,
and these of the poorest description. The woods chiefly consist of black
oak, pine, and cedar-trees, which only grow on land of the worst
quality.

Mr. Weld observed many traces of fires in the woods. Such fires, he was
informed, were frequent in the spring of the year; and they were usually
occasioned by the negligence of people who burnt the underwood, for the
purpose of clearing the lands. He was himself witness to one of them.
The day had been remarkably serene, and the underwood had been fired in
several places. During the afternoon, the weather was sultry, and, about
five o'clock, the horizon, towards the north, became dark, and a
terrible whirlwind arose. Mr. Weld was standing, with some gentlemen, on
an eminence, and perceived it gradually advancing. It carried along with
it a cloud of dust, dried leaves, and pieces of rotten wood; and, in
many places, as it passed along, it levelled the fence-rails, and
unroofed the cattle-sheds. Mr. Weld and his friends endeavoured, but in
vain, to reach a place of shelter. In the course of two minutes the
whirlwind overtook them: the shock was violent; it was hardly possible
to stand, and was difficult to breathe. It passed over in about three
minutes; but a storm, accompanied by heavy thunder and lightning,
succeeded: this lasted more than half an hour. On looking round,
immediately after the whirlwind had passed, a prodigious column of fire
appeared in a part of the wood where some underwood had been burning. In
many places the flames rose considerably above the summit of the trees,
which were of large growth. It was a tremendous, and, at the same time,
a sublime sight. The Negroes, on the surrounding plantations, were all
assembled with their hoes; and guards were stationed, at every corner,
to give alarm, if the fire appeared elsewhere, lest the conflagration
should become general. To one plantation a spark was carried by the wind
more than half a mile; happily, however, a torrent of rain, shortly
afterwards, came pouring down, and enabled the people to extinguish the
flames in every quarter.

The country between Urbanna and Gloucester is neither so sandy nor so
flat as that bordering upon the Rappahannoc. The trees, chiefly pines,
are of large size, and afford abundance of turpentine, which is
extracted from them, in great quantities, by the inhabitants.

_Gloucester_ contained, at this time, only ten or twelve houses. It is
situated on a neck of land nearly opposite to the town of York, and on
the bank of the _York River_, here about a mile and half wide. _York_
consisted of about seventy houses, an episcopalian church, and a gaol.
It is remarkable for having been the place where lord Cornwallis
surrendered his army to the combined forces of the Americans and French.
The banks of the river are, for the most part, high and inaccessible;
and the principal part of the town is built upon them; only a few
fishing-huts and store-houses standing at the bottom.

Twelve miles from York is _Williamsburgh_, formerly the seat of
government in Virginia. At this time it consisted of one principal
street, and two others, which ran parallel to it. At one end of the main
street stands the college, and, at the other end, the old capitol or
State-house, a capacious building of brick, which was crumbling to
pieces, from neglect. The houses around it were mostly uninhabited, and
presented a melancholy appearance.

The college of William and Mary, as it is still called, is at the
opposite end of the main street: it is a heavy pile of building,
somewhat resembling a large brick-kiln. The students were, at this time,
about thirty in number; but, from their boyish appearance, the seminary
ought rather to be termed a grammar-school than a college.

Mr. Weld dined with the president of the college. Half a dozen, or more,
of the students, the eldest about twelve years old, were at table; some
without shoes and stockings, and others without coats. A couple of
dishes of salted meat, and some oyster-soup, formed the whole of the
repast.

The town of Williamsburgh contained, at this time, about twelve hundred
inhabitants; and the society in it was thought to be more extensive, and
at the same time more genteel, than in any other place of its size in
America. No manufactures were carried on here, and there was scarcely
any trade.

From Williamsburgh to Hampton the country is flat and uninteresting.
_Hampton_ is a small town, situated at the head of a bay, near the mouth
of James River. It contained about thirty houses and an episcopal
church; and was a dirty, disagreeable place.

From this town there is a regular ferry to Norfolk, across Hampton
Roads, eighteen miles over. _Norfolk_ stands nearly at the mouth of the
eastern branch of Elizabeth River, the most southern of the rive

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