Travels through the states of North America, and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, during the years 1795, 1796, and 1797 [Vol. 1 of 2]

LETTER I.

LETTER II.

Population of Philadelphia.—Some Account of the Inhabitants, their Character and Manners.—Private Amusements.—Americans lose their Teeth prematurely.—Theatrical Amusements only permitted of late.—Quakers.—President’s Levee and Drawing Room.—Places of public Worship.— Carriages, what sort of, used in Philadelphia.—Taverns, how conducted in America.—Difficulty of procuring Servants.—Character of the lower Classes of People in America.

PHILADELPHIA, according to the census taken in the Year 1790, contained 42,000 people. From the natural increase, however, of population, and the influx of strangers, the number is supposed now to be near 50,000, notwithstanding the ravages of the yellow fever in 1793, which swept off 4,000 people. The inhabitants consist of English, Irish, Scotch, Germans, French, and of American born citizens, descended from people of these different nations, who are of course by far the most numerous class. The inhabitants are for the most part engaged in some sort of business; a few, and a few only, live without 21any ostensible professions, on the fortunes which they themselves have raised; but these men are not idle or inattentive to the increase of their property, being ever on the watch to profit by the sale of lands, which they have purchased, and to buy more on advantageous terms. It would be a difficult matter to find a man of any property in the country, who is not concerned in the buying or selling of land, which may be considered in America as an article of trade.

In a large city, like Philadelphia, where people are assembled together from so many different quarters, there cannot fail to be a great diversity in the manners of the inhabitants. It is a remark, however, very generally made, not only by foreigners, but also by persons from other parts of the United States, that the Philadelphians are extremely deficient in hospitality and politeness towards strangers. Amongst the uppermost circles in Philadelphia, pride, haughtiness, and ostentation are conspicuous; and it seems as if nothing could make them happier than that an order of nobility should be established, by which they might be exalted above their fellow citizens, as much as they are in their own conceit. In the manners of the people in general there is a coldness and reserve, as if they were suspicious of some designs against them, which 22chills to the very heart those who come to visit them. In their private societies a tristesse is apparent, near which mirth and gaiety can never approach. It is no unusual thing, in the genteelest houses, to see a large party of from twenty to thirty persons assembled, and seated round a room, without partaking of any other amusement than what arises from the conversation, most frequently in whispers, that passes between the two persons who are seated next to each other. The party meets between six and seven in the evening; tea is served with much form; and at ten, by which time most of the company are wearied with having remained so long stationary, they return to their own homes. Still, however, they are not strangers to music, cards, or dancing; their knowledge of music, indeed, is at a very low ebb; but in dancing, which appears to be their most favourite amusement, they certainly excel.

The women, in general, whilst young, are very pretty, but by the time they become mothers of a little family they lose all their beauty, their complexions fade away, their teeth begin to decay, and they hardly appear like the same creatures. In a few instances only it would be possible to find a fine woman of the age of forty, who has had a large family. The sudden decay of the teeth is a circumstance which 23has engaged the attention of the faculty; both men and women, American born, losing them very generally at an early age. Some ascribe it to the great and sudden changes in the weather, from heat to cold; but negroes, who are exposed to the same transition of climate, are distinguished for the whiteness and beauty of their teeth; and the Indians also, who are more exposed than either, preserve their teeth in good order. Others attribute it to the immoderate use of confectionary. Of confectionary, the Americans in the towns certainly make an inordinate use; but in the country, where the people have not an opportunity of getting such things, the men, but more generally the women, also lose their teeth very prematurely. Most probably it is owing to the very general use they make of salted provisions. In the country parts of America in particular, the people live upon salted pork and salted fish nearly the whole year round.

It is only within a few years past, since 1779, that any public amusements have been suffered in this city; the old corporation, which consisted mostly of the Quakers, and not of the most liberal minded people in the city, having always opposed the establishment of any place for the purpose. Now, however, there are two theatres and an amphitheatre. Little or no use is made of the old theatre, 24which is of wood, and a very indifferent building. The new one is built of brick, and neatly fitted up within; but it is hardly large enough for the town. A shocking custom obtains here, of smoking tobacco in the house, which at times is carried to such an excess, that those to whom it is disagreeable are under the necessity of going away. To the people in the pit, wine and porter is brought between the acts, precisely as if they were in a tavern. The actors are procured, with a very few exceptions, from Great Britain and Ireland; none of them are very eminent performers, but they are equal to what are usually met with in the country towns of England. The amphitheatre is built of wood; equestrian and other exercises are performed there, similar to those at Astley’s. Dancing assemblies are held regularly every fortnight through the winter, and occasionally there are public concerts.

During summer, the people that can make it convenient retire to country houses in the neighbourhood of the town, and all public and private amusements cease; winter is the season for them, the Congress being then assembled, and trade not being so closely attended to, as the navigation of the river is then commonly impeded by ice.

The president finds it necessary, in general, 25to come to Philadelphia preparatory to the meeting of congress, and resides there during the whole of the session. Once in the week, during his stay in the city, he has levees, between the hours of three and four in the afternoon. At these he always appears himself in a court dress, and it is expected that the foreign ministers should always attend in the same style; this they constantly do, excepting the French minister, who makes a point of going in dishabille, not to say worse of it. Other persons are at liberty to go as they think proper. Mrs. Washington, also, has a drawing room once every week. On this occasion the ladies are seated in great form round the apartment, and tea, coffee, &c. served[4].

Philadelphia is the grand residence of the Quakers in America, but their number does not bear the same proportion now to that of the other citizens which it did formerly. At present they form about one fourth only of the inhabitants. This does not arise from any diminution of the number of Quakers, on the contrary they have considerably increased, but 26from the great influx into the city of persons of a different persuasion. Belonging to the Quakers there are five places for public worship; to the Presbyterians and Seceders six; to the English Episcopalians three; to German Lutherans two; to the Roman Catholics four; and one respectively to the Swedish Lutherans, Moravians, Baptists, Universal Baptists, Methodists, and Jews. On a Sunday every citizen appears well dressed; the lower classes of the people in particular are remarkably well clothed. This is a great day also for little excursions into the country.

The carriages made use of in Philadelphia consist of coaches, chariots, chaises, coachees, and light waggons, the greater part of which are built in Philadelphia. The equipages of a few individuals are extremely ostentatious; nor does there appear in any that neatness and elegance which might be expected amongst a set of people that are desirous of imitating the fashions of England, and that are continually getting models over from that country. The coachee is a carriage peculiar, I believe, to America; the body of it is rather longer than that of a coach, but of the same shape. In the front it is left quite open down to the bottom, and the driver sits on a bench under the roof of the carriage. There are 27two seats in it 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 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, and 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. The waggons are used universally for stage carriages.

American Stage Waggon.
Published Dec. 21. 1798, by J. Stockdale, Piccadilly.

The accommodations at the taverns, by which name they call all inns, &c. are very indifferent in Philadelphia, as indeed they are, with a very few exceptions, throughout the country. The mode of conducting them is nearly the same every where. The traveller is shewn, on arrival, into a room which is common to every person in the house, and which is generally the one set apart for 28breakfast, dinner, and supper. All the strangers that happen to be 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 any of the taverns, even in the towns; and it is always with reluctance that breakfast or dinner is served up separately to any individual. If a single bed room can be procured, more ought not to be looked for; but it is not always that even this is to be had, and those who travel through the country must often submit to be crammed into rooms where there is scarcely sufficient space to walk between the beds.[5] Strangers who remain for any length of time in the large towns most usually go to private boarding houses, of which great numbers are to be met with. It is always a difficult matter to procure furnished lodgings without paying for board.

29At all the taverns, both in town and country, but particularly in the latter, the attendance is very bad; indeed, excepting in the southern states, where there are such great numbers of negroes, it is a matter of the utmost difficulty to procure domestic servants of any description. The generality of servants that are met with in Philadelphia are emigrant Europeans; they, however, for the most part, only remain in service until they can save a little money, when they constantly quit their masters, being led to do so by that desire for independence which is so natural to the mind of man, and which every person in America may enjoy that will be industrious. The few that remain steady to those who have hired them are retained at most exorbitant wages. As for the Americans, none but those of the most indifferent characters ever enter into service, which they consider as suitable only to negroes; the negroes again, in Pennsylvania and in the other states where steps have been taken for the gradual abolition of slavery, are taught by the Quakers to look upon themselves in every respect as equal to their white brethren, and they endeavour to imitate them by being saucy. It is the same both with males and females. I must here observe, that amongst the generality of the lower sort of people in the United States, and particularly amongst 30those of Philadelphia, there is a want of good manners which excites the surprize of almost every foreigner; I wish also that it may not be thought that this remark has been made, merely because the same deference and the same respectful attention, which we see so commonly paid by the lower orders of people in Great Britain and Ireland to those who are in a situation somewhat superior to themselves, is not also paid in America to persons in the same station; it is the want of common civility I complain of, which it is always desirable to behold between man and man, let their situations in life be what they may, and which is not contrary to the dictates of nature, or to the spirit of genuine liberty, as it is observable in the behaviour of the wild Indians that wander through the forests of this vast continent, the most free and independent of all human beings. In the United States, however, the lower classes of people will return rude and impertinent answers to questions couched in the most civil terms, and will insult a person that bears the appearance of a gentleman, on purpose to shew how much they consider themselves upon an equality with him. Civility cannot be purchased from them on any terms; they seem to think that it is incompatible with freedom, and that there is no other way of convincing a stranger that he 31is really in a land of liberty, but by being surly and ill mannered in his presence.

LETTER III.

LETTER IV.

Foundation of the City of Washington.—Not readily agreed to by different States.—Choice of the Ground left to General Washington.—Circumstances to be considered in chusing the Ground.—The Spot fixed upon central to all the States.—Also remarkably advantageously situated for Trade.—Nature of the Back Country Trade.—Summary View of the principal Trading Towns in the United States.—Their Prosperity shewn to depend on the Back Country Trade.—Description of the Patowmac River.—Its Connection with other Rivers pointed out.—Prodigious Extent of the Water Communication from Washington City in all Directions.—Country likely to trade immediately with Washington.—Situation of Washington.—Plan of the City.—Public Buildings.—Some begun, others projected.—Capital President’s House.—Hotel.—Stone and other building Materials found in the Neighbourhood.—Private Houses and Inhabitants at present in the City.—Different Opinions respecting the future Greatness of the City.—Impediments thrown in the Way of its Improvement.—What has given rise to this.

THE City of Washington, or the Federal City, as it is indiscriminately called, was laid out in the year 1792, and is expressly 50designed for being the metropolis of the United States, and the seat of the federal government. In the year 1800 the congress is to meet there for the first time. As the foundation of this city has attracted the attention of so many people in Europe, and as such very different opinions are entertained about it, I shall, in the following pages, give you a brief account of its rise and progress.

Shortly after the close of the American war, considerable numbers of the Pennsylvanian line, or of the militia, with arms in their hands, surrounded the hall in which the congress was assembled at Philadelphia, and with vehement menaces insisted upon immediate appropriations of money being made to discharge the large arrears due to them for their past services. The members, alarmed at such an outrage, resolved to quit a state in which they met with insult instead of protection, and quickly adjourned to New York, where the session was terminated. A short time afterwards, the propriety was strongly urged in congress, of fixing upon some place for the meeting of the legislature, and for the seat of the general government, which should be subject to the laws and regulations of the congress alone, in order that the members, in future, might not have to depend for their personal safety, and for their freedom of deliberation, upon the good or bad police of any individual 51state. This idea of making the place, which should be chosen for the meeting of the legislature, independent of the particular state to which it might belong, was further corroborated by the following argument: That as the several states in the union were in some measure rivals to each other, although connected together by certain ties, if any one of them, was fixed upon for the seat of the general government in preference, and thus raised to a state of pre-eminence, it might perhaps be the occasion of great jealousy amongst the others. Every person was convinced of the expediency of preserving the union of the states entire; it was apparent, therefore, that the greatest precautions ought to be taken to remove every source of jealousy from amongst them, which might tend, though remotely, to produce a separation. In fine, it was absolutely necessary that the seat of government should be made permanent, as the removal of the public offices and the archives from place to place could not but be attended with many and very great inconveniences.

However, notwithstanding this measure appeared to be beneficial to the interest of the union at large, it was not until after the revolution, by which the present federal constitution was established, that it was acceded to on the part of all the states. Pennsylvania 52in particular, conscious of her being a principal and central state, and therefore likely to be made the seat of government if this new project was not carried into execution, was foremost in the opposition. At last she complied; but it was only on condition that the congress should meet at Philadelphia until the new city was ready for its reception, flattering herself that there would be so many objections afterwards to the removal of the seat of government, and so many difficulties in putting the project into execution, that it would finally be relinquished. To the discriminating judgment of General Washington, then president, it was left to determine upon the spot best calculated for the federal city. After mature deliberation he fixed upon a situation on the banks of the Patowmac River, a situation which seems to be marked out by nature, not only for a large city, but expressly for the seat of the metropolis of the United States.

In the choice of the spot there were two principal considerations: First, that it should be as central as possible in respect to every state in the union; secondly, that it should be advantageously situated for commerce, without which it could not be expected that the city would ever be distinguished for size or for splendour; and it was to be supposed, that 53the people of the United States would be desirous of having the metropolis of the country as magnificent as it possibly could be. These two essential points are most happily combined in the spot which has been chosen.

The northern and southern extremities of the United States are in 46° and 31° north latitude. The latitude of the new city is 38° 53´ north; so that it is within twenty-three minutes of being exactly between the two extremities. In no part of North America either is there a port situated so far up the country to the westward, excepting what belongs to Great Britain on the river St. Lawrence, its distance from the ocean being no less than two hundred and eighty miles. A more central situation could certainly have been fixed upon, by going further to the westward; but had this been done, it must have been an inland one, which would have been very unfavourable for trade. The size of all towns in America has hitherto been proportionate to their trade, and particularly to that carried on with the back settlements. This trade consists in supplying the people of the western parts of the United States, or the back settlements, with certain articles of foreign manufacture, which they do not find any interest in fabricating for themselves at present; nor is it to be supposed that they will, 54for many years to come, while land remains cheap, and these articles can be imported and sent to them on reasonable terms. The articles chiefly in demand consist of hardware, woollen cloths, figured cottons, hosiery, haberdashery, earthen ware, &c. &c. from England; coffee, rum, sugar[8], from the West Indies; tea, coarse muslins, and calicoes, from the East Indies. In return for these articles the people of the back settlements send down for exportation the various kinds of produce which the country affords: wheat and flour, furs, skins, rice, indigo, tobacco, pitch, tar, &c. &c. It is very evident, therefore, that the best situation for a trading town must be upon a long navigable river, so that the town may be open to the sea, and thus enabled to carry on a foreign trade, and at the same time be enabled, by means of an extensive water communication in an opposite direction, to trade with the distant parts of the country. None of the inland towns have as yet increased to a great size. Lancaster, which is the largest in all America, contains only nine hundred houses, and it is nearly double the size of any other inland one. Neither do the sea-port towns flourish, which are not well situated for carrying on an inland 55trade at the same time. The truth of this position must appear obvious on taking survey of the principal towns in the United States.

To begin with Boston, the largest town north of New York, and one of the oldest in the United States. Though it has a most excellent harbour, and has always been inhabited by an enterprizing industrious set of people, yet it is now inferior, both in size and commerce, to Baltimore, which was little more than the residence of a few fishermen thirty years ago; and this, because there is no river in the neighbourhood navigable for more than seven miles, and the western parts of the state of Massachusets, of which it is the capital, can be supplied with commodities carried up the North River on much better terms than if the same commodities were sent by land carriage from Boston. Neither does Boston increase by any means in the same proportion as the other towns, which have an extensive trade with the people of the back settlements. For the same cause we do not find that any of the sea-port or other towns in Rhode Island and Connecticut are increasing very fast; on the contrary, Newport, the capital of the state of Rhode Island, and which has a harbour that is boasted of as being one of the best throughout the United States, is now falling to decay. Newport contains about one thousand houses; 56none of the other towns between Boston and New York contain more than five hundred.

We now come to New York, which enjoys the double advantages of an excellent harbour and a large navigable river, which opens a communication with the interior parts of the country; and here we find a flourishing city, containing forty thousand[9] inhabitants, and increasing beyond every calculation. The North or Hudson River, at the mouth of which New York stands, is navigable from thence for one hundred and thirty miles in large vessels, and in sloops of eighty tons burthen as far as Albany; smaller ones go still higher. About nine miles above Albany, the Mohawk River falls into the Hudson, by means of which, Wood Creek, Lake Oneida, and Oswego River, a communication is opened with Lake Ontario. In this route there are several portages, but it is a route which is much frequented, and numbers of boats are kept employed upon it in carrying goods whenever the season is not too dry. In long droughts the waters fall so much that oftentimes there is not sufficient to float an empty boat. All these obstructions however may, and will one day or other, be remedied by the hand of art. Oswego river, before it falls into Lake Ontario, communicates 57with the Seneka river, which affords in succession an entrance into the lakes Cayuga, Seneka, and Canadaqua. Lake Seneka, the largest, is about forty miles in length; upon it there is a schooner-rigged vessel of seventy tons burthen constantly employed. The shores of these lakes are more thickly settled than the other part of the adjacent country, but the population of the whole track lying between the rivers Genesee and Hudson, which are about two hundred and fifty miles apart, is rapidly increasing. All this country west of the Hudson River, together with that to the east, comprehending the back parts of the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and also the entire of the state of Vermont, are supplied with European manufactures and West Indian produce, &c. &c. by way of New York; not directly from that city, but from Albany, Hudson, and other towns on the North River, which trade with New York, and which are intermediate places for the deposit of goods passing to, and coming from the back country. Albany, indeed, is now beginning herself to import goods from the West Indies; but still the bulk of her trade is with New York. Nothing can serve more to shew the advantages which accrue to any town from an intercourse with the back country, than the sudden progress of these secondary places of trade 58upon the North River. At Albany, the number of houses is increasing as fast as at New York; at present there are upwards of eleven hundred; and in Hudson city which was only laid out in the year 1783, there are now more than three hundred and twenty dwellings. This city is on the east side of the North River, one hundred and thirty miles above its mouth. By means also of the North River and Lake Champlain a trade is carried on with Montreal in Canada.

But to go on with the survey of the towns to the southward. In New Jersey, we find Amboy, situated at the head of Raritan Bay, a bay not inferior to any throughout the United States. The greatest encouragements also have been held out by the state legislature to merchants who would settle there; but the town, notwithstanding, remains nearly in the state it was in at the time of the revolution: sixty houses are all that it contains. New Brunswick, which is built on Raritan River, about fifteen miles above its entrance into the bay, carries on a small inland trade with the adjacent country; but the principal part of New Jersey is naturally supplied with foreign manufactures by New York on the one side, and by Philadelphia on the other, the towns most happily situated for the purpose. There are about two hundred houses in New Brunswick, 59and about the same number in Trenton on Delaware, the capital of the state.

Philadelphia, the largest town in the union, has evidently been raised to that state of pre-eminence by her extensive inland commerce. On one side is the river Delaware, which is navigable in sloops for thirty-five miles above the town, and in boats carrying eight or nine tons one hundred miles further. On the other side is the Schuylkill, navigable, excepting at the falls, for ninety miles. But the country bordering upon these rivers is but a trifling part of that which Philadelphia trades with. Goods are forwarded to Harrisburgh, a town situated on the Susquehannah, and from thence sent up that river, and dispersed throughout the adjoining country. The eastern branch of Susquehannah is navigable for two hundred and fifty miles above Harrisburgh. This place, which in 1786 scarcely deserved the name of a village, now contains upwards of three hundred houses. By land carriage Philadelphia also trades with the western parts of Pennsylvania, as far as Pittsburg itself, which is on the Ohio, with the back of Virginia, and, strange to tell, with Kentucky, seven hundred miles distant.

Philadelphia, however, does not enjoy the exclusive trade to Virginia and Kentucky; Baltimore, which lies more to the south, 60comes in for a considerable share, if not for the greatest part of it, and to that is indebted for her sudden rise, and her great superiority over Annapolis, the capital of Maryland. Annapolis, although it has a good harbour, and was made a port of entry as long ago as the year 1694, has scarcely any trade now. Baltimore, situated more in the heart of the country, has gradually drawn it all away from her. From Baltimore nearly the entire of Maryland is furnished with European manufactures. The very flourishing state of this place has already been mentioned.

As the Patowmac river, and the towns upon it, are to come more particularly under notice afterwards, we may from hence pass on to the other towns in Virginia. With regard to Virginia, however, it is to be observed, that the impolitic laws[10] which have been enacted in that state have thrown a great damp upon trade; the Virginians too have always been more disposed towards agriculture than trade, so that the towns in that state, some of which are most advantageously situated, have never increased as they would have done had the county been inhabited by a different kind of people, and had different 61laws consequently existed; still however we shall find that the most flourishing towns in the state are those which are open to the sea, and situated most conveniently at the same time for trading with the people of the back country. On Rappahannock River, for instance, Tappahannock or Hobb’s Hole was laid out at the same time that Philadelphia was. Fredericksburgh was built many years afterwards on the same river, but thirty miles higher up, and at the head of that part of it which was navigable for sea vessels; the consequence of this has been, that Fredericksburgh, from being situated more in the heart of the country, is now four times as large a town as Hobb’s Hole.

York River, from running so closely to James River on the one side, and the Rappahannock on the other, does not afford a good situation for a large town. The largest town upon it, which is York, only contains seventy houses.

Williamsburgh was formerly the capital of the state, and contains about four hundred houses; but instead of increasing, this town is going to ruin, and numbers of the houses at present are uninhabited, which is evidently on account of its inland situation. There is no navigable stream nearer to it than one mile and a half, and this is only a small 62creek, which runs into James River. Richmond, on the contrary, which is the present capital of the state, has increased very fast, because it stands on a large navigable river; yet Richmond is no more than an intermediate place for the deposit of goods passing to and from the back country, vessels drawing more than seven feet water being unable to come up to the town.

The principal place of trade in Virginia is Norfolk. This town has a good harbour, and is enabled to trade with the upper parts of the country, by means of James River, near the mouth of which it stands. By land also a brisk trade is carried on with the back parts of North Carolina, for in that state there are no towns of any importance. The entrance from the sea into the rivers in that state are all impeded by shoals and sand banks, none of which afford more than eleven feet water, and the passage over some of them is very dangerous from the sand shifting. Wilmington, which is the greatest place of trade in it, contains only two hundred and fifty houses. In order to carry on their trade to North Carolina to more advantage, a canal is now cutting across the Dismal Swamp, from Norfolk into Albemarle Sound, by means of the rivers that empty into which, a water communication will be opened to the remote 63parts of that state. Added to this, Norfolk, from its contiguity to the Dismal Swamp, is enabled to supply the West Indian market with lumber on better terms than any other town in the United States. It is in consequence increasing with wonderful rapidity, notwithstanding the disadvantages it labours under from the laws, which are so inimical to commerce. At present it contains upwards of five hundred houses, which have all been built within the last twenty years, for in the year 1776 the town was totally destroyed by orders of Lord Dunmore, then regal governor of Virginia.

Most of the rivers in South Carolina are obstructed at their mouths, much in the same manner as those in North Carolina; at Charleston, however, there is a safe and commodious harbour. From having such an advantage, this town commands nearly the entire trade of the state in which it is situated, as well as a considerable portion of that of North Carolina. The consequence is, that Charleston ranks as the fourth commercial town in the union. There are two rivers which disembogue on each side of the town, Cooper and Ashley; these are navigable, but not for a very great distance; however, from Cooper River a canal is to be cut to the Santee, a large navigable river which runs 64a considerable way up the country. Charleston has unfortunately been almost totally destroyed by fire of late, but it is rebuilding very fast, and will most probably in a few years be larger than ever.

The view that has been taken so far is sufficient to demonstrate, that the prosperity of the towns in the United States is dependant upon their trade, and principally upon that which is carried on with the interior parts of the country; and also, that those towns which are most conveniently situated for the purpose of carrying on this inland trade, are those which enjoy the greatest share of it. It is now time to examine more particularly how far the situation of the federal city is favourable, or otherwise, for commerce: to do so, it will be necessary, in the first place, to trace the course of the Patowmac River, on which it stands, and also that of the rivers with which it is connected.

The Patowmac takes its rise on the north-west side of Alleghany Mountains, and after running in a meandering, direction for upwards of four hundred miles, falls into the Chesapeak Bay. At its confluence with the bay it is seven miles and a half wide; about thirty miles higher, at Nominy Bay, four and a half; at Aquia, three; at Hallowing Point, one and a half; and at Alexandria, and from thence to 65the federal city, it is one mile and quarter wide. The depth of water at its mouth is seven fathoms; at St. George’s Island, five; at Alexandria, four; and from thence to Washington, seven miles distant, three fathoms. The navigation of the Patowmac, from the Chesapeak Bay to the city, one hundred and forty miles distant, is remarkable safe, and so plain that any navigator of common abilities, that has once sailed up the river, might venture to take up a vessel drawing twelve feet water without a pilot. This could not be said of any other river on the continent, from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi. In its course it receives several large streams, the principal one of which falls in at the federal city. This river is called the Eastern Branch of the Patowmac; but it scarcely deserves that name, as it extends no more than thirty miles up the country. At its mouth it is nearly as wide as the main branch of the river, and close to the city the water is in many places thirty feet deep. Thousands of vessels might lie here, and sheltered from all danger, arising either from freshes, or from ice upon the breaking up of a severe winter. Thus it appears that the federal city is possessed of one essential qualification for making it a place of importance, namely, a good harbour, from which there is a ready passage to the ocean; it will 66also appear that it is well situated for trading with the interior parts of the country.

The water in the Patowmac continues nearly the same depth that it is opposite to the city for one mile higher, where a large rock rises up in the middle of the river, on each side of which there are sand-banks. It is said that there is a deep channel between this rock and the shore, but it is so intricate that it would be dangerous to attempt to take a large vessel through it. The navigation, however, is safe to the little falls for river craft, five miles further on; here a canal, which extends two miles and a half, the length of these falls or rapids, has been cut and perfected, which opens a free passage for boats as far as the great falls, which are seven miles from the others. The descent of the river at these is seventy-six feet in a mile and quarter; but it is intended to make another canal here also; a part of it is already cut, and every exertion is making to have the whole completed with expedition[11]. From hence to Fort Cumberland, one hundred and ninety-one miles above the federal city, there is a free navigation, and boats are continually passing up and down. Beyond this, the passage in the river is obstructed in numerous places; but there is 67a possibility of opening it, and as soon as the company formed for the purpose have sufficient funds, it will certainly be done. From the place up to which it is asserted the passage of the Patowmac can be opened, the distance across land to Cheat River is only thirty-seven miles. This last river is not at present navigable for more than fifty miles above its mouth; but it can be rendered so for boats, and so far up that there will only be the short portage that I have mentioned between the navigable waters of the two rivers. Things are only great or small by comparison, and a portage of thirty-seven miles will be thought a very short one, when found to be the only interruption to an inland navigation of upwards of two thousand seven hundred miles, of which two thousand one hundred and eighty-three are down stream. Cheat River is two hundred yards wide at its mouth, and falls into the Monongahela, which runs on to Pittsburgh, and there receives the Alleghany River, united they form the Ohio, which after a course of one thousand one hundred and eighty-three miles, during which it receives twenty-four other considerable rivers, some of them six hundred yards wide at the mouth, and navigable for hundreds of miles up the country, empties itself into the Mississippi.

68If we trace the water communication in an opposite direction, its prodigious extent will be a still greater subject of astonishment. By ascending the Alleghany River from Pittsburgh as far as French Creek, and afterwards this latter stream, you come to Fort le Bœuf. This place is within fifteen miles of Presqu’ Isle, a town situated upon Lake Erie, which has a harbour capable of admitting vessels drawing nine feet water. Or you may get upon the lake by ascending the Great Miami River, which falls into the Ohio five hundred and fifty miles below Pittsburgh. From the Great Miami there is a portage of nine miles only to Sandusky River, which runs into Lake Erie. It is most probable, however, that whatever intercourse there may be between the lakes and the federal city, it will be kept up by means of the Alleghany River and French Creek, rather than by the Miami, as in the last case it would be necessary to combat against the stream of the Ohio for five hundred and fifty miles, a very serious object of consideration.

Lake Erie is three hundred miles in length, and ninety in breadth, and there is a free communication between it, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan. Lake Huron is upwards of one thousand miles in circumference; Michigan is somewhat smaller. Numbers of large 69rivers fall into these lakes, after having watered immense tracts of country in various directions. Some of these rivers too are connected in a most singular manner with others, which run in a course totally different. For instance, after passing over the Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Michigan, to the head of Puan’s Bay, you come to Fox River; from hence there is a portage of three miles only to Ouisconsing River, which empties itself into the Mississippi; and in the fall of the year, when the waters are high, and the rivers overflow, it is oftentimes possible to pass from Fox River to Ouisconsing River without ever getting out of a canoe. Thus, excepting a portage of three miles only at the most, it is possible to go the whole way by water from Presqu’ Isle, on Lake Erie, to New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi, a distance of near four thousand miles. It would be an endless talk to trace the water communication in every direction. By a portage of nine miles at the Falls of Niagara, the navigation of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence is opened on one side, and at the other that of Lake Superior, by a still shorter portage at the Falls of St. Mary. This last lake, which is at least fifteen hundred miles in circumference, is supplied by no less than forty rivers; and beyond it the water communication extends for 70hundreds of miles farther on, through the Lake of the Woods to Lake Winnipeg, which is still larger than that of Superior.

But supposing that the immense regions bordering upon these lakes and rivers were already peopled, it is not to be concluded, that because they are connected by water with the Patowmac, the federal city must necessarily be the mart for the various productions of the whole country. There are different sea-ports to which the inhabitants will trade, according to the situation of each particular part of the country. Quebec, on the river St. Lawrence, will be one; New York, connected as has been shewn with Lake Ontario, another; and New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi, which by the late treaty with Spain has been made a free port, a third. The federal city will come in also for its share, and what this share will be it now remains to ascertain.

Situated upon the banks of the Patowmac, there are already two towns, and both in the vicinity of the federal city. George Town, which contains about two hundred and fifty houses; and Alexandria, with double the number. The former of these stands about one mile above the city, nearly opposite the large rock in the river, which has been spoken of; the latter, seven miles below it. Considerable quantities of produce are already sent down the 71Patowmac to each of these towns, and the people in the country are beginning to look thither in return for a part of their supply of foreign manufactures. It has been maintained, therefore, that these two places, already in the practice of trading with the back settlers, will draw the greater part of the country trade to themselves, to the prejudice of the federal city. Both these towns have as great advantages in point of situation as the city; the interests of the three places therefore must unquestionably for a time clash together. It can hardly be doubted, however, but that the federal city will in a few years completely eclipse the other two. George Town can furnish the people of the back country with foreign manufactures, at second hand only, from Baltimore and Philadelphia; Alexandria imports directly from Europe, but on a very contracted scale: more than two thirds of the goods which are sent from thence to the back country are procured in the same manner as at George Town. In neither place are there merchants with large capitals; nor have the banks, of which there is one in each town, sufficient funds to afford them much assistance; but merchants with large capitals are preparing to move to the city. As soon also as the seat of government is fixed there, the national bank, or at least a large branch of it, 72will be established at the same time; this circumstance alone will afford the people of the city a decided advantage over those of Alexandria and George Town. Added to all, both these towns are in the territory of Columbia, that is, in the district of ten miles round the city which is to be subject to the laws and regulations of congress alone; it may be, therefore, that encouragements will be held out by congress to those who settle in the city, which will be refused to such as go to any other part of the territory. Although Alexandria and George Town, then, may rival the city while it is in its infancy, yet it cannot be imagined that either of them will be able to cope with it in the end. The probable trade of the city may for this reason be spoken of as if neither of the other places existed.

It may be taken for granted, in the first place, that the whole of the country bordering upon the Patowmac river, and upon those rivers which fall into it, will trade with the city of Washington. In tracing the course of the Patowmac all these rivers were not enumerated; a better idea of them may be had from an inspection of the map. Shenandoah, which is the longest, is not navigable at present; but it has been surveyed, and the company for improving the navigation of the Patowmac have stated that it can be made so for one hundred 73miles. This would be coming very near to Staunton, behind the Blue Mountains, and which is on the high road from Kentucky, and from the new state of Tennessee, to the city of Philadelphia. Frankfort, the capital of the former of these states, is nearly eight hundred miles from Philadelphia; Knoxville, that of the other, seven hundred and twenty-eight. Both these towns draw their supplies of foreign manufactures from Philadelphia, and by landcarriage. Supposing then that the navigation of the Shenandoah should be perfected, there would be a saving of four hundred and thirty-six miles of land carriage from going to Washington by the Shenandoah and Patowmac instead of going to Philadelphia; such a saving, it might be imagined, would draw the whole of this trade to Washington. Whether the two western states, Kentucky and Tennessee, will trade to New Orleans or not, at a future day, in preference to any of these places, will be investigated presently.

By means of Cheat and Monongahela rivers it has been shewn, that an opening may be obtained to Pittsburgh. This will be a route of about four hundred and fifty miles from Washington, and in it there will be one portage, from the Patowmac to Cheat River, of thirty-seven miles, and perhaps two or three others; but these will be all very small. It 74has been ascertained beyond doubt, that the Pittsburgh merchant can have his goods conveyed from New York, by means of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, to Oswego, and from thence by the lakes Ontario and Erie, and the Alleghany River, to Pittsburgh, for one third of the sum which it costs him to transport them by land from Philadelphia. He prefers getting them by land, because the route from New York, is uncertain; his goods may be lost, or damaged, or delayed months beyond the time he expects them. From Hudson River to the Mohawk is a portage of ten miles, or thereabouts; and before they can get to Oswego are two or three more. At Oswego the goods must be shipped on board a vessel suitable for navigating the lakes, where they are exposed to tempests and contrary winds. At the Falls of Niagara is a portage of nine miles more; the goods must here be shipped again on board a vessel on Lake Erie, and after arriving at Presqu’ Isle must be conveyed over another portage preparatory to their being laden in a boat upon the Alleghany River. The whole of this route, from New York to Pittsburgh, is about eight hundred miles; that from the federal city not much more than half the distance; if therefore the merchant at Pittsburgh can get his goods conveyed from New York for one third of what he pays for the carriage 75of them by land from Philadelphia, he ought not to pay more than one sixth of the sum for their carriage from the federal city; it is to be concluded, therefore, that he will avail himself of the latter route, as there will be no objection to it on account of any uncertainty in the mode of conveyance, arising from storms and contrary winds.

The people in Pittsburgh, and the western country along the waters of the Ohio, draw their supplies from Philadelphia and Baltimore; but they send the productions of the country, which would be too bulky for land carriage, down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans. From Pittsburgh to New Orleans the distance is two thousand one hundred and eighty-three miles. On an average it takes about twenty-eight days to go down there with the stream; but to return by water it takes from sixty days to three months. The passage back is very laborious as well as tedious; on which account they seldom think of bringing back boats which are sent down from Pittsburgh, but on arriving at New Orleans they are broken up, and the plank sold. These boats are built on the cheapest construction, and expressly for the purpose of going down stream. The men get back the best way they can, generally in ships bound from New Orleans to the southern states, and from thence 76home by land. Now, if the passage from the Ohio to the Patowmac is opened, it cannot be supposed that the people in Pittsburgh and the vicinity will continue thus to send the produce down to Orleans, from whence they cannot bring any thing in return; they will naturally send to the federal city, from whence they can draw the supplies they are in want of, and which is so much nearer to them, that when the navigation is perfected it will be possible to go there and back again in the same time that it requires merely to go down to New Orleans.

But although the people of that country which borders upon the Ohio and its waters, in the vicinage of Pittsburgh, may have an interest in trading to the federal city, yet those who live towards the mouth of that river will find an interest equally great in trading to New Orleans, for the Ohio River is no less than eleven hundred and eighty-three miles in length. How far down upon the Ohio a commercial intercourse will be kept up with the city, will most probably be determined by other circumstances than that of distance alone; it may depend upon the demand there may be at one or other port for particular articles, &c. &c.; it may also depend upon the season; for at regular periods there are floods in the Mississippi, and also in the Ohio, which make a 77great difference in the time of ascending and descending these rivers. The floods in the Mississippi are occasioned by the dissolution of the immense bodies of snow and ice accumulated during winter in those northern regions through which the river passes; they are also very regular, beginning in the month of March and subsiding in July. Those in the Ohio take place between Christmas and May; but they are not regular and steady like those of the Mississippi, for the water rises and falls many times in the course of the season. These floods are occasioned by heavy falls of rain in the beginning of winter, as well as by the thawing of the ice.

The Mississippi has a very winding course[12], and at every bend there is an eddy in the water. These eddies are always strongest during the inundations, consequently it is then a much less difficult task to ascend the river. With the Ohio, however, it is directly the reverse; 78there are no eddies in the river; wherefore floods are found to facilitate the passage downwards; but to render that against the stream difficult.

Supposing, however, the season favourable for the navigation of the Mississippi, and also for the navigation of the Ohio, which it might well be at the same time, then Louisville, in Kentucky, is the place through which the line may be drawn that will separate as nearly as possible the country naturally connected with Washington from that appertaining to New Orleans. It takes twenty days, on an average, at the most favourable season, to go from Louisville to New Orleans, and to return, forty; which in the whole makes sixty days. From the rapids in the Ohio, close to which Louisville is situated, to Pittsburgh, the distance is seven hundred and three miles; so that at the rate of thirty miles a day, which is a moderate computation, it would require twenty-four days to go there. From Pittsburgh to the Patowmac the distance is one hundred and sixty miles against the stream, which at the same rate, and allowing time for the portages, would take seven days more, and two hundred and ninety miles down the Patowmac, at sixty miles per day, would require five days: this is allowing thirty-five days for going, and computing the time for returning at the same rate, 79that is thirty miles against the stream, and sixty miles with the stream, each day, it would amount to twenty-five days, which, added to the time of going, makes in the whole fifty-nine days; if the odd day be allowed for contingencies, the passage to and from the two places would then be exactly alike. It is fair then to conclude, that if the demand at the federal city for country produce be equally great as at New Orleans, and there is no reason to say why it should not, the whole of the produce of that country, which lies contiguous to the Ohio, and the rivers falling into it, as far down as Louisville in Kentucky, will be sent to the former of these places. This tract is seven hundred miles in length, and from one hundred to two hundred miles in breadth. Added to this, the whole of that country lying near the Alleghany River, and the streams that run into it, must naturally be supplied from the city; a great part of the country bordering upon Lake Erie, near Presqu’ Isle, may likewise be included.

Considering the vastness of the territory, which is thus opened to the federal city by means of a water communication; considering that it is capable, from the fertility of its soil, of maintaining three times the number of inhabitants that are to be found at present in all the United States; and that it is advancing at 80the present time more rapidly in population than any other part of the whole continent; there is a good foundation for thinking that the federal city, as soon as the navigation is perfected, will increase most rapidly; and that at a future day, if the affairs of the United States go on as prosperously as they have done, it will become the grand emporium of the west, and rival in magnitude and splendor the cities of the old world.

Plan of the City of Washington

The city is laid out on a neck of land between the forks formed by the eastern and western or main branch of Patowmac River. This neck of land, together with an adjacent territory, which is in the whole ten miles square, was ceded to congress by the states of Maryland and Virginia. The ground on which the city immediately stands 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 profits arising from the sale that part of which has thus been ceded to congress will be sufficient, it is expected, to pay for the public buildings, for the watering of the city, and also for paving and lighting of the streets. The plan of the city was drawn by a Frenchman of the name of L’Enfant, and is on a 81scale well suited to the extent of the country, one thousand two hundred miles in length, and one thousand in breadth, of which it is to be the metropolis; for the ground already marked out for it is no less than fourteen miles in circumference. The streets run north, south, east, and west; but to prevent that sameness necessarily ensuing from the streets all crossing each other at right angles, a number of avenues are laid out in different parts of the city, which run transversely; and in several places, where these avenues intersect each other, are to be hollow squares. The streets, which cross each other at right angles, are from ninety to one hundred feet wide, the avenues one hundred and sixty feet. One of these is named after each state, and a hollow square also allotted to each, as a suitable place for statues, columns, &c. which, at a future period, the people of any one of these states may wish to erect to the memory of great men that may appear in the country. On a small eminence, due west of the capitol, is to be an equestrian statue of General Washington.

The capitol is now building upon the most elevated spot of ground in the city, which happens to be in a very central situation. From this spot there is a complete view of every part of the city, and also of the adjacent 82country. In the capitol are to be spacious apartments for the accommodation of congress; in it also are to be the principal public offices in the executive department of the government, together with the courts of justice. The plan on which this building is begun is grand and extensive; the expense of building it is estimated at a million of dollars, equal to two hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds sterling.

The house for the residence of the president stands north-west of the capitol, at the distance of about one mile and a half. It is situated upon a rising ground not far from the Patowmac, and commands a most beautiful prospect of the river, and of the rich country beyond it. One hundred acres of ground, towards the river, are left adjoining to the house for pleasure grounds. South of this there is to be a large park or mall, which is to run in an easterly direction from the river to the capitol. The buildings on either side of this mall are all to be elegant in their kind; amongst the number it is proposed to have houses built at the public expense for the accommodation of the foreign ministers, &c. On the eastern branch a large spot is laid out for a marine hospital and gardens. Various other parts are appointed for churches, theatres, colleges, &c. The ground in general, 83within the limits of the city, is agreeably undulated; but none of the risings are so great as to become objects of inconvenience in a town. The soil is chiefly of a yellowish clay mixed with gravel. There are numbers of excellent springs in the city, and water is readily had in most places by digging wells. Here are two streams likewise, which run through the city, Reedy Branch and Tiber Creek.[13] The perpendicular height of the source of the latter, above the level of the tide, is two hundred and thirty-six feet.

By the regulations published, it was settled that all the houses should be built of brick or stone; the walls to be thirty feet high, and to be built parallel to the line of the street, but either upon it or withdrawn from it, as suited the taste of the builder. However, numbers of wooden habitations have been built; but the different owners have all been cautioned against considering them as permanent. They are to be allowed for a certain term only, and then destroyed. Three commissioners, 84who reside on the spot, are appointed by the president, with a salary, for the purpose of superintending the public and other buildings, and regulating every thing pertaining to the city.

The only public buildings carrying on as yet, are the president’s house, the capitol, and a large hotel. The president’s house, which is nearly completed on the outside, is two stories high, and built of free stone. The principal room in it is of an oval form. This is undoubtedly the handsomest building in the country, and the architecture cf it is much extolled by the people, who have never seen any thing superior; but it will not bear a critical examination. Many persons find fault with it, as being too large and too splendid for the residence of any one person in a republican country; and certainly it is a ridiculous habitation for a man who receives a salary that amounts to no more than £.5,625 sterling per annum, and in a country where the expences of living are far greater than they are even in London.

The hotel is a large building of brick, ornamented with stone; it stands between the president’s house and the capitol. In the beginning of the year 1796, when I last saw it, it was roofed in, and every exertion making to have it finished with the utmost expedition. 85It is any thing but beautiful. The capitol, at the same period, was raised only a very little way above the foundation.

The stone, which the president’s house is built with, and such as will be used for all the public buildings, is very similar in appearance to that found at Portland in England; but I was informed by one of the sculptors, who had frequently worked the Portland stone in England, that it is of a much superior quality, as it will bear to be cut as fine as marble, and is not liable to be injured by rain or frost. On the banks of the Patowmac they have inexhaustible quarries of this stone; good specimens of common marble have also been found; and there is in various parts of the river abundance of excellent slate, paving stone, and lime stone. Good coal may also be had.

The private houses are all plain buildings; most of them have been built on speculation, and still remain empty. The greatest number, at any one place, is at Green Leafs Point, on the main river, just above the entrance of the eastern branch. This spot has been looked upon by many as the most convenient one for trade; but others prefer the shore of the eastern branch, on account of the superiority of the harbour, and the great depth of the water near the shore. There are several other favourite situations, the choice 86of any one of which is a mere matter of speculation at present. Some build near the capitol, as the most convenient place for the residence of members of congress, some near the president’s house; others again prefer the west end of the city, in the neighbourhood of George Town, thinking that as trade is already established in that place, it must be from thence that it will extend into the city. Were the houses that have been built situated in one place all together, they would make a very respectable appearance, but scattered about as they are, a spectator can scarcely perceive any thing like a town. Excepting the streets and avenues, and a small part of the ground adjoining the public buildings, the whole place is covered with trees. To be under the necessity of going through a deep wood for one or two miles, perhaps, in order to see a next door neighbour, and in the same city, is a curious, and, I believe, a novel circumstance. The number of inhabitants in the city, in the spring of 1796, amounted to about five thousand, including artificers, who formed by far the largest part of that number. Numbers of strangers are continually passing and repassing through a place which affords such an extensive field for speculation.

In addition to what has already been said upon the subject, I have only to observe, that 87notwithstanding all that has been done at the city, and the large sums of money which have been expended, there are numbers of people in the United States, living to the north of the Patowmac, particularly in Philadelphia, who are still very adverse to the removal of the seat of government thither, and are doing all in their power to check the progress of the buildings in the city, and to prevent the congress from meeting there at the appointed time. In the spring of 1796, when I was last on the spot, the building of the capitol was absolutely at a stand for want of money; the public lots were at a very low price, and the commissioners were unwilling to dispose of them; in consequence they made an application to congress, praying the house to guaranty a loan of three hundred thousand dollars, without which they could not go on with the public buildings, except they disposed of the lots to great disadvantage, and to the ultimate injury of the city; so strong, however, was the opposition, that the petition was suffered to lie on the table unattended to for many weeks; nor was the prayer of it complied with until a number of gentlemen, that were very deeply interested in the improvement of the city, went round to the different members, and made interest with them in person to give their assent to the measure. These people, who are opposed to the building of the city of Washington maintain, 88that it can never become a town of any importance, and that all such as think to the contrary have been led astray by the representations of a few enthusiastic persons; they go so far even as to assert, that the people to the eastward will never submit to see the seat of government removed so far from them, and the congress assembled in a place little better than a forest, where it will be impossible to procure information upon commercial points; finally, they insist, that if the removal from Philadelphia should take place, a separation of the states will inevitably follow. This is the language held forth; but their opposition in reality arises from that jealousy which narrow minded people in trade are but too apt to entertain of each other when their interests clash together. These people wish to crush the city of Washington while it is yet in its infancy, because they know, that if the seat of government is transferred thither, the place will thrive, and enjoy a considerable portion of that trade which is centered at present in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York. It is idle, however, to imagine that this will injure their different towns; on the contrary, although a portion of that trade which they enjoy at present should be drawn from them, yet the increase of population in that part of the country, which they must naturally supply, will be 89such, that their trade on the whole will, in all probability, be found far more extensive after the federal city is established than it ever was before.

A large majority, however, of the people in the United States is desirous that the removal of the seat of government should take place; and there is little doubt that it will take place at the appointed time. The discontents indeed, which an opposite measure would give rise to in the south could not but be alarming, and if they did not occasion a total separation of the southern from the northern states, yet they would certainly materially destroy that harmony which has hitherto existed between them.

LETTER V.

Some Account of Alexandria.—Mount Vernon, the Seat of General Washington.—Difficulty of finding the Way thither through the Woods.—Description of the Mount, and of the Views from it.—Description of the House and Grounds.—Slaves at Mount Vernon.—Thoughts thereon.—A Person at Mount Vernon to attend to Strangers.—Return to Washington.

FROM Washington I proceeded to Alexandria, seven miles lower down the river, which is one of the neatest towns in the United States. The houses are mostly brick, and many of them are extremely well built. The streets intersect each other at right angles; they are commodious and well paved. Nine miles below this place, on the banks of the Patowmac, stands Mount Vernon, the seat of General Washington; the way to it, however, from Alexandria, by land, is considerably farther, on account of the numerous creeks which fall into the Patowmac, and the mouths of which it is impossible to pass near to.

Very thick woods remain standing within four or five miles of the place; the roads 91through them are very bad, and so many of them cross one another in different directions, that it is a matter of very great difficulty to find out the right one. I set out from Alexandria with a gentleman who thought himself perfectly well acquainted with the way; had he been so, there was ample time to have reached Mount Vernon before the close of the day, but night overtook us wandering about in the woods. We did not perceive the vestige of a human being to set us right, and we were preparing to pass the night in the carriage, when luckily a light appeared at some distance through the trees; it was from a small farm house, the only one in the way for several miles; and having made our way to it, partly in the carriage, partly on foot, we hired a negro for a guide, who conducted us to the place of our destination in about an hour. The next morning I heard of a gentleman, who, a day or two preceding, had been from ten o’clock in the morning till four in the afternoon on horseback, unable to find out the place, although within three or four miles of it the whole time.

View of Mount Vernon the seat of Gen. Washington
Published Dec. 21. 1798, by J. Stockdale, Piccadilly.

The Mount is a high part of the bank of the river, which rises very abruptly about two hundred feet above the level of the water. The river before it is three miles wide, and on the opposite side it forms a bay about the 92same breadth, which extends for a considerable distance up the country. This, at first light, appears to be a continuation of the river; but the Patowmac takes a very sudden turn to the left, two or three miles above the house, and is quickly lost to the view. Downwards, to the right, there is a prospect of it for twelve miles. The Maryland shore, on the opposite side, is beautifully diversified with hills, which are mostly covered with wood; in many places, however, little patches of cultivated ground appear, ornamented with houses. The scenery altogether is most delightful. The house, which stands about sixty yards from the edge of the Mount, is of wood, cut and painted so as to resemble hewn stone. The rear is towards the river, at which side is a portico of ninety-six feet in length, supported by eight pillars. The front is uniform, and at a distance looks tolerably well. The dwelling house is in the center, and communicates with the wings on either side, by means of covered ways, running in a curved direction. Behind these wings, on the one side, are the different offices belonging to the house, and also to the farm, and on the other, the cabins for the Slaves[14]. In front, the breadth of the 93whole building, is a lawn with a gravel walk round it, planted with trees, and separated by 94hedges on either side from the farm yard and garden. As for the garden, it wears exactly the appearance of a nursery, and with every thing about the place indicates that more attention is paid to profit than to pleasure. The ground in the rear of the house is also laid out in a lawn, and the declivity of the Mount, towards the water, in a deer park.

The rooms in the house are very small, excepting one, which has been built since the close of the war for the purpose of entertainments. All of these are very plainly furnished, and in many of them the furniture is dropping to pieces. Indeed, the close attention which General Washington has ever paid to public affairs having obliged him to reside principally at Philadelphia, Mount Vernon has consequently suffered very materially. The house and offices, with every other part of the place, are out of repair, and the old part of the building is in such a perishable state, that I have been told he wishes he had pulled it entirely down at first, and built a new house, instead 95of making any addition to the old one. The grounds in the neighbourhood are cultivated, but the principal farms are at the distance of two or three miles.

As almost every stranger going through the country makes a point of visiting Mount Vernon, a person is kept at the house during General Washington’s absence, whose sole business it is to attend to strangers. Immediately on our arrival every care was taken of our horses, beds were prepared, and an excellent supper provided for us, with claret and other wine, &c.

As the season was now too far advanced to see the country to advantage, I proceeded no farther in Virginia than Mount Vernon, but returned again to the city of Washington.

LETTER VI.

Arrival at Philadelphia.—Some Observations on the Climate of the Middle States.—Public Carriages prevented from plying between Baltimore and Philadelphia by the Badness of the Roads.—Left Baltimore during Frost.—Met with American Travellers on the Road.—Their Behaviour preparatory to setting off from an Inn.—Arrival on the Banks of the Susquehannah.—Passage of that River when frozen over.—Dangerous Situation of the Passengers.—American Travellers at the Tavern on the opposite Side of the River.—Their noisy Disputations.

AFTER having spent some weeks in Washington, George Town, and Baltimore, I set out for this city, where I arrived four days ago.

The months of October and November are the most agreeable, in the middle and southern states, of any in the year; the changes in the weather are then less frequent, and for the most part the air is temperate and the sky serene. During this year the air was so mild, that when I was at George Town, even as late as the second week in December, it 97was found pleasant to keep the windows up during dinner time. This, however, was an unusual circumstance.

In Maryland, before December was over, there were a few cold days, and during January we had two or three different falls of snow; but for the most part the weather remained very mild until the latter end of January, when a sharp north-west wind set in. The keenness of this wind in winter is prodigious, and surpasses every thing of the kind which we have an idea of in England. Whenever it blows, during the winter months, a frost immediately takes place. In the course of three days, in the present instance, the Susquehannah and Delaware rivers were frozen over; a fall of snow took place, which remained on the ground about two feet deep, and there was every appearance of a severe and tedious winter. Before five days, however, were over, the wind again changed, and so sudden was the thaw that the snow disappeared entirely on the second day, and not a vestige of the frost was to be seen, excepting in the rivers, where large pieces of ice remained floating about.

It was about the middle of December when I reached Baltimore; but I was deterred from going on to Philadelphia until the frosty weather should set in, by the badness of the 98roads; for they were in such a state, that even the public stages were prevented from plying for the space of ten or twelve days. The frost soon dried them, and rendered them as good as in summer. I set out when it was most severe. At day-break, the morning after I left Baltimore, the thermometer, according to Fahrenheit, stood at 7°. I never observed it so low during any other part of the winter.

Several travellers had stopped at the same house that I did the first night I was on the road, and we all breakfasted together preparatory to setting out the next morning. The American travellers, before they pursued their journey, took a hearty draught each, according to custom, of egg-nog, a mixture composed of new milk, eggs, rum, and sugar, beat up together; they appeared to be at no small pains also in fortifying themselves against the severity of the weather with great coats and wrappers over each other, woollen socks and trowsers over their boots, woollen mittens over their gloves, and silk handkerchiefs tied over their ears and mouths, &c. so that nothing could be seen excepting their noses and their eyes. It was absolutely a subject of diversion to me, and to a young gentleman just arrived from the West Indies, who accompanied me from Baltimore, to see the great care with which they wrapped themselves up, 99for we both found ourselves sufficiently warm in common clothing. It seems, however, to be a matter generally allowed, that strangers, even from the West Indies, unaccustomed to intense cold, do not suffer so much from the severity of the winter, the first year of their arrival in America, as the white people who have been born in the country. Every person that we met upon the road was wrapped up much in the same manner as the travellers who breakfasted with us, and had silk handkerchiefs tied round their heads, so as to cover their mouths and ears.

About the middle of the day we arrived at the Susquehannah, and, as we expected to find it, the river was frozen entirely over. In what manner we were to get across was now the question. The people at the ferry-house were of opinion that the ice was not sufficiently strong to bear in every part of the river; at the same time they said, it was so very thick near the shores, that it would be impracticable to cut a passage through it before the day was over; however, as a great number of travellers desirous of getting across was collected together, and as all of them were much averse to remaining at the ferry-house till the next morning, by which time it was supposed that the ice would be strong enough to bear in every part, the people were 100at last over-ruled, and every thing was prepared for cutting a way across the river.

The passengers were about twelve in number, with four horses; the boat’s crew consisted of seven blacks; three of whom, with large clubs, stood upon the bow of the boat, and broke the ice, whilst the others, with iron-headed poles, pushed the boat forwards. So very laborious was the task which the men at the bow had to perform, that it was necessary for the others to relieve them every ten minutes. At the end of half an hour their hands, arms, faces, and hats, were glazed entirely over with a thick coat of ice, formed from the water which was dashed up by the reiterated strokes of their clubs. Two hours elapsed before one half of the way was broken; the ice was found much thicker than had been imagined; the clubs were shivered to pieces; the men were quite exhausted; and having suffered the boat to remain stationary for a minute or two in a part where the ice was remarkably thick, it was frozen up, so that the utmost exertions of the crew and passengers united were unable to extricate it. In this predicament a council was held; it was impossible to move either backward or forward; the boat was half a mile from the shore; no one would attempt to walk there on the ice; to remain all night in the boat 101would be death. Luckily I had a pair of pistols in my holsters, and having fired a few signals, the attention of the people on shore was attracted towards us, and a small batteau, which is a light boat with a flat bottom, was dispatched for our relief. This was not sent, however, for the purpose of bringing a single person back again, but to assist us in getting to the opposite shore. It was slipped along a-head of the large boat, and two or three men having stepped into it, rocked it about from side to side until the ice was sufficiently broken for the large boat to follow. The batteau was now in the water, and the men seating themselves as much as possible towards the stern, by so doing raised the bow of it considerably above the ice; by means of boat hooks it was then pulled on the ice again, and by rocking it about as before a passage was as easily opened. In this manner we got on, and at the end of three hours and ten minutes found ourselves again upon dry land, fully prepared for enjoying the pleasures of a bright fireside and a good dinner. The people at the tavern had seen us coming across, and had accordingly prepared for our reception; and as each individual thought he had travelled quite far enough that day, the passengers remained together till the next morning.

102At the American taverns, as I before mentioned, all sorts of people, just as they happen to arrive, are crammed together into the one room, where they must reconcile themselves to each other the best way they can. On the present occasion, the company consisted of about thirteen people, amongst whom were some eminent lawyers from Virginia and the southward, together with a judge of the supreme court, who were going to Philadelphia against the approaching sessions: it was not, however, till after I quitted their company that I heard who they were; for these kind of gentlemen in America are so very plain, both in their appearance and manners, that a stranger would not suspect that they were persons of the consequence which they really are in the country. There were also in the company two or three of the neighbouring farmers, boorish, ignorant, and obtrusive fellows. It is scarcely possible for a dozen Americans to sit together without quarrelling about politics, and the British treaty, which had just been ratified, now gave rise to a long and acrimonious debate. The farmers were of one opinion, and gabbled away for a long time; the lawyers and the judge were of another, and in turns they rose to answer their opponents with all the power of rhetoric which they possessed. 103Neither party could say any thing to change the sentiments of the other one; the noisy contest lasted till late at night, when getting heartily tired they withdrew, not to their respective chambers, but to the general one that held five or six beds, and in which they laid down in pairs. Here the conversation was again revived, and pursued with as much noise as below, till at last sleep closed their eyes, and happily their mouths at the same time; for could they have talked in their sleep, I verily believe they would have prated on until morning. Thanks to our stars! my friend and I got the only two-bedded room in the house to ourselves. The next morning I left the banks of the Susquehannah, and the succeeding day reached Philadelphia.

LETTER VII.

Philadelphia gayer in the Winter than at any other Season.—Celebration in that City of General Washington’s Birth Day.—Some Account of General Washington’s Person and of his Character.—Americans dissatisfied with his Conduct as President.—A Spirit of Dissatisfaction common amongst them.

PHILADELPHIA now wears a very different aspect to what it did when I landed there in the month of November. Both congress and the state assembly are sitting, as well as the supreme federal court. The city is full of strangers; the theatres are open; and a variety of public and private amusements are going forward. On General Washington’s birth day, which was a few days ago, this city was unusually gay[15]; every person of consequence in it, Quakers alone excepted, made it a point to visit the General on 106this day. As early as eleven o’clock in the morning he was prepared to receive them, 107and the audience lasted till three in the afternoon. The society of the Cincinnati, the clergy, the officers of the militia, and several others, who formed a distinct body of citizens, came by themselves separately. The foreign ministers attended in their richest dresses and most splendid equipages. Two large parlours were open for the reception of the gentlemen, the windows of one of which towards the street were crowded with spectators on the outside. The sideboard was furnished with cake and wines, whereof the visitors partook. I never observed so much cheerfulness before in the countenance of General Washington; but it was impossible for him to remain insensible to the attention and the compliments paid to him on this occasion.

The ladies of the city, equally attentive, paid their respects to Mrs. Washington, who received them in the drawing room up stairs. After having visited the General, most of the gentlemen also waited upon her. A public ball and supper terminated the rejoicings of the day.

Not one town of any importance was there in the whole union, where some meeting did 108not take place in honour of this day; yet singular as it may appear, there are people in the country, Americans too, foremost in boasting to other nations of that constitution which has been raised for them by his valour and wisdom, who are either so insensible to his merit, or so totally devoid of every generous sentiment, that they can refuse to join in commendations of those talents to which they are so much indebted; indeed to such a length has this perverse spirit been carried, that I have myself seen numbers of men, in all other points men of respectability, that have peremptorily refused even to pay him the small compliment of drinking to his health after dinner; it is true indeed, that they qualify their conduct partly by asserting, that it is only as president of the United States, and not as General Washington, that they have a dislike to him; but this is only a mean subterfuge, which they are forced to have recourse to, lest their conduct should appear too strongly marked with ingratitude. During the war there were many, and not loyalists either, who were doing all in their power to remove him from that command whereby he so eminently distinguished himself. It is the spirit of dissatisfaction which forms a leading trait in the character of the Americans as a people, which produces this malevolence at present, 109just as it did formerly; and if their public affairs were regulated by a person sent from heaven, I firmly believe his acts, instead of meeting with universal approbation, would by many be considered as deceitful and flagitious.

LETTER VIII.

LETTER IX.

Number of Germans in the Neighbourhood of York and Lancaster.—How brought over.—White Slave Trade.—Cruelty frequently practised in the carrying it on.—Character of the German Settlers contrasted with that of the Americans.—Passage of the Susquehannah between York and Lancaster.—Great Beauty of the Prospects along the River.—Description of York.—Courts of Justice there.—Of the Pennsylvanian System of Judicature.

I Arrived at this place, which is about twenty miles distant from Lancaster, yesterday. The inhabitants of this town, as well as those of Lancaster and of the adjoining country, consist principally of Dutch and German emigrants, and their descendants. Great numbers of these people emigrate to America every year, and the importation of them forms a very considerable branch of commerce. They are for the most part brought from the Hanse Towns and from Rotterdam. The vessels sail thither from America, laden with different kinds of produce, and the masters of them, on arriving there, entice on board as many of these people as they can persuade to leave 121their native country, without demanding any money for their passage. When the vessel arrives in America, an advertisement is put into the paper, mentioning the different kinds of men on board, whether smiths, taylors, carpenters, labourers, or the like, and the people that are in want of such men flock down to the vessel; these poor Germans are then sold to the highest bidder, and the captain of the vessel, or the ship holder, puts the money into his pocket[16].

There have been many very shocking instances of cruelty in the carrying on of this trade, vulgarly called “The white slave trade.” I shall tell you but of one. While the yellow fever was raging in Philadelphia in the year 1793, at which time few vessels would venture to approach nearer to the city than Fort Mifflin, four miles below it, a captain in the trade arrived in the river, and hearing that such was the fatal nature of the infection, that a sufficient number of nurses could not be procured to attend the sick for any sum whatever, he conceived the philanthropic idea of supplying this deficiency from amongst his passengers; accordingly he boldly sailed up to the city, and advertised his cargo for sale:

122“A few healthy servants, generally between seventeen and eighteen years of age, are just arrived in the brig ——, their times will be disposed of by applying on board.” The cargo, as you may suppose, did not remain long unsold. This anecdote was communicated to me by a gentleman who has the original advertisement in his possession.

When I tell you that people are sold in this manner, it is not to be understood that they are sold for ever, but only for a certain number of years; for two, three, four, or five years, according to their respective merits. A good mechanic, that understands a particular kind of trade, for which men are much wanted in America, has to serve a shorter time than a mere labourer, as more money will be given for his time, and the expence of his passage does not exceed that of any other man. During their servitude, these people are liable to be resold at the caprice of their masters; they are as much under dominion as negro slaves, and if they attempt to run away, they may be imprisoned like felons. The laws respecting “redemptioners,” so are the men called that are brought over in this manner, were grounded on those formed for the English convicts before the revolution, and they are very severe.

The Germans are a quiet, sober, and industrious set of people, and are most valuable 123citizens. They generally settle a good many together in one place, and, as may be supposed, in consequence keep up many of the customs of their native country as well as their own language. In Lancaster and the neighbourhood German is the prevailing language, and numbers of people living there are ignorant of any other. The Germans are some of the best farmers in the United States, and they seldom are to be found but where the land is particularly good; wherever they settle they build churches, and are wonderfully attentive to the duties of religion. In these and many other respects the Germans and their descendants differ widely from the Americans, that is, from the descendants of the English, Scotch, Irish, and other nations, who, from having lived in the country for many generations, and from having mingled together, now form one people, whose manners and habits are very much the same.

The Germans are a plodding race of men, wholly intent upon their own business, and indifferent about that of others: a stranger is never molested as he passes through their settlements with inquisitive and idle questions. On arriving amongst the Americans[17], however, 124a stranger must tell where he came from, where he is going, what his name is, what his business is; and until he gratifies their curiosity on these points, and many others of equal importance, he is never suffered to remain quiet for a moment. In a tavern he must satisfy every fresh set that comes in, in the same manner, or involve himself in a quarrel, especially if it is found out that he is not a native, which it does not require much sagacity to discover.

The Germans give themselves but little trouble about politics; they elect their representatives to serve in congress and the state assemblies; and satisfied that deserving men have been chosen by the people at large, they trust that these men do what is best for the public good, and therefore abide patiently by their decisions: they revere the constitution, conscious that they live happily under it, and express no wishes to have it altered. The Americans, however, are for ever cavilling at some of the public measures; something or other is always wrong, and they never appear perfectly satisfied. If any great measure is before congress for discussion, seemingly distrustful of the abilities or the integrity of the men they have elected, they meet together in their towns or districts, canvass the matter themselves, and then send forward instructions 125to their representatives how to act. They never consider that any important question is more likely to meet with a fair discussion in an assembly where able men are collected together from all parts of the states than in an obscure corner, where a few individuals are assembled, who have no opportunity of getting general information on the subject. Party spirit is for ever creating dissentions amongst them, and one man is continually endeavouring to obtrude his political creed upon another. If it is found out that a stranger is from Great Britain or Ireland, they immediately begin to boast of their own constitution and freedom, and give him to understand, that they think every Englishman a slave, because he submits to be called a subject. Their opinions are for the most part crude and dogmatical, and principally borrowed from newspapers, which are wretchedly compiled from the pamphlets of the day, having read a few of which, they think themselves arrived at the summit of intellectual excellence, and qualified for making the deepest political researches.

The Germans, as I have said, are fond of settling near each other: when the young men of a family are grown up, they generally endeavour to get a piece of land in the neighbourhood of their relations, and by their industry soon make it valuable; the American, 126on the contrary, is of a roving disposition, and wholly regardless of the ties of consanguinity; he takes his wife with him, goes to a distant part of the country, and buries himself in the woods, hundreds of miles distant from the rest of his family, never perhaps to see them again. In the back parts of the country you always meet numbers of men prowling about to try and buy cheap land; having found what they like, they immediately remove; nor having once removed, are these people satisfied; restless and discontented with what they possess, they are for ever changing. It is scarcely possible in any part of the continent to find a man, amongst the middling and lower classes of Americans, who has not changed his farm and his residence many different times. Thus it is, that though there are not more than four millions of people in the United States, yet they are scattered from the confines of Canada to the farthest extremity of Georgia, and from the Atlantic to the banks of the Mississippi. Thousands of acres of waste land are annually taken up in unhealthy and unfruitful parts of the country, notwithstanding that the best settled and healthy parts of the middle states would maintain five times the number of inhabitants that they do at present. The American, however, does not change about from place to place in this manner merely 127to gratify a wandering disposition; in every change he hopes to make money. By the desire of making money, both the Germans and Americans of every class and description are actuated in all their movements; self-interest is always uppermost in their thoughts; it is the idol which they worship, and at its shrine thousands and thousands would be found, in all parts of the country, ready to make a sacrifice of every noble and generous sentiment that can adorn the human mind.

In coming to this place from Lancaster I crossed the Susquehannah River, which runs nearly midway between the two towns, at the small village of Columbia, as better boats are kept there than at either of the ferries higher up or lower down the river. The Susquehannah is here somewhat more than a quarter of a mile wide, and for a considerable distance, both above and below the ferry, it abounds with islands and large rocks, over which last the water runs with prodigious velocity: the roaring noise that it makes is heard a great way off. The banks rise very boldly on each side, and are thickly wooded; the islands also are covered with small trees, which, interspersed with the rocks, produce a very fine effect. The scenery in every point of view is wild and romantic. In crossing the river it is necessary to row up against the stream 128under the shore, and then to strike over to the opposite side, under the shelter of some of the largest islands. As these rapids continue for many miles, they totally impede the navigation, excepting when there are floods in the river, at which time large rafts may be conducted down the dream, carrying several hundred barrels of flour. It is said that the river could be rendered navigable in this neighbourhood, but the expence of such an undertaking would be enormous, and there is little likelihood indeed that it will ever be attempted, as the Pennsylvanians are already engaged in cutting a canal below Harrisburgh, which will connect the navigable part of the river with the Schuylkill, and also another canal from the Schuylkill to the Delaware, by means of which a vent will be opened for the produce of the country bordering upon the Susquehannah at Philadelphia. These canals would have been finished by this time if the subscribers had all paid their respective shares, but at present they are almost at a stand for want of money.

The quantity of wild fowl that is seen on every part of the Susquehannah is immense. Throughout America the wild fowl is excellent and plentiful; but there is one duck in particular found on this river, and also on Patowmac and James rivers, which surpasses all 129others: it is called the white or canvass-back duck, from the feathers between the wings being somewhat of the colour of canvass. This duck is held in such estimation in America, that it is sent frequently as a present for hundreds of miles—indeed it would be a dainty morsel for the greatest epicure in any country.

York contains about five hundred houses and six churches, and is much such another town as Lancaster. It is inhabited by Germans, by whom the same manufactures are carried on as at Lancaster.

The courts of common pleas, and those of general quarter sessions, were holding when I reached this place; I found it difficult, therefore, at first, to procure accommodation, but at last I got admission in a house principally taken up by lawyers. To behold the strange assemblage of persons that was brought together this morning in the one poor apartment which was allotted to all the lodgers, was really a subject of diversion. Here one lawyer had his clients in a corner of the room; there another had his; a third was shaving; a fourth powdering his own hair; a fifth noting his brief; and the table standing in the middle of the room, between a clamorous set of old men on one side, and three or four women in tears on the other; I and the rest of the company, who were not lawyers, were left to eat our breakfast.

130On entering into the courts a stranger is apt to smile at the grotesque appearance of the judges who preside in them, and at their manners on the bench; but this smile must be suppressed when it is recollected, that there is no country, perhaps, in the world, where justice is more impartially administered, or more easily obtained by those who have been injured. The judges in the country parts of Pennsylvania are no more than plain farmers, who from their infancy have been accustomed to little else than following the plough. The laws expressly declare that there must be, at least, three judges resident in every county; now as the salary allowed is but a mere trifle, no lawyer would accept of the office, which of course must be filled from amongst the inhabitants[18], who are all in a happy state of mediocrity, and on a perfect equality with each other. The district judge, however, who presides in the district or circuit, has a larger salary, and is a man of a different cast. The district or circuit consists of at least three, but not more than six counties. The county judges, which I have mentioned, are “judges of the court of common pleas, and by virtue of their offices also justices of oyer and terminer, and general 131gaol delivery, for the trial of capital and other offenders therein.” Any two judges compose the court of quarter sessions. Under certain regulations, established by law, the accused party has the power of removing the proceedings into the supreme court, which has jurisdiction over every part of the state. This short account of the courts relates only to Pennsylvania: every state in the union has a separate code of laws for itself, and a distinct judicature.

LETTER X.

LETTER XI.

LETTER XII.

Town of Tappahannock.—Rappahannock River.—Sharks found in it.—Country bordering upon Urbanna.—Fires common in the Woods.—Manner of stopping their dreadful Progress.—Mode of getting Turpentine from Trees.—Gloucester.—York Town.—Remains of the Fortifications erected here during the American War.—Houses shattered by Balls still remaining.—Cave in the Bank of the River.—Williamsburgh.—State House in Ruins.—Statue of Lord Bottetourt.—College of William and Mary.—Condition of the Students.

SINCE I last wrote, the greater part of my time has been spent at the houses of different gentlemen in the Northern Neck. Four days ago I crossed the Rappahannock River, which bounds the Northern Neck on one side, to a small town called Tappahannock, or Hobb’s Hole, containing about one hundred houses. Before the war this town was in a much more flourishing state than at present; that unfortunate contest ruined the trade of this little place, as it did that of most of the sea-port towns in Virginia. The Rappahannock is about three quarters of 159a mile wide opposite the town, which is seventy miles above its mouth. Sharks are very often seen in this river. What is very remarkable, the fish are all found on the side of the river next to the town.

From Tappahannock to Urbanna, another small town on the Rappahannock River, situated about twenty-five miles lower down, the country wears but a poor aspect.

The road, which is level and very sandy, runs through woods for miles together. The habitations that are seen from it are but few, and they are of the poorest description. The woods chiefly consist of black oak, pine, and cedar trees, which grow on land of the worst quality only.

On this road there are many creeks to be crossed, which empty themselves into the Rappahannock River, in the neighbourhood of which there are extensive marshes, that render the adjacent country, as may be supposed, very unhealthy. Such a quantity of snipes are seen in these marshes continually, that it would be hardly possible to fire a gun in a horizontal direction, and not kill many at one shot.

As I passed through this part of the country, I observed many traces of fires in the woods, which are frequent, it seems, in the spring of the year. They usually proceed from the 160negligence of people who are burning brushwood to clear the lands, and considering how often they happen, it is wonderful that they are not attended with more serious consequences than commonly follow. I was a witness myself to one of these fires, that happened in the Northern Neck. The day had been remarkably serene, and appearing favourable for the purpose, large quantities of brushwood had been fired in different places; in the afternoon, however, it became sultry, and streams of hot air were perceptible now and then, the usual tokens of a gust. About five o’clock, the horizon towards the north became dark, and a terrible whirlwind arose. I was standing with some gentlemen on an eminence at the time, and perceived it gradually advancing. It carried with it a cloud of dust, dried leaves, and pieces of rotten wood, and in many places, as it came along, it levelled the fence rails and unroofed the sheds for the cattle. We made every endeavour, but in vain, to get to a place of shelter; in the course of two minutes the whirlwind overtook us; the shock was violent; it was hardly possible to stand, and difficult to breathe; the whirlwind passed over in about three minutes, but a storm, accompanied by heavy thunder and lightning, succeeded, which lasted for more than half an hour. On looking 161round immediately after the whirlwind had passed, a prodigious column of fire now appeared in a part of the wood where some brushwood had been burning; in many places the flames rose considerably above the summit of the trees, which were of a large growth. It was a tremendous, and at the same time sublime sight. The negroes on the surrounding plantations were all assembled with their hoes, and watches were stationed at every corner to give the 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 in a short time afterwards came pouring down, and enabled the people to extinguish the flames in every quarter.

When these fires do not receive a timely check, they sometimes increase to a most alarming height; and if the grass and dead leaves happen to be very dry, and the wind brisk, proceed with so great velocity that the swiftest runners are often overtaken in endeavouring to escape from the flames. Indeed I have met with people, on whose veracity the greatest dependance might be placed, that have assured me they have found it a difficult task, at times, to get out of the reach of them, though mounted on good horses.

162There is but one mode of stopping a fire of this kind, which makes such a rapid progress along the ground. A number of other fires are kindled at some distance a head of that which they wish to extinguish, so as to form a line across the course, which, from the direction of the wind, it is likely to take. These are carefully watched by a sufficient number of men furnished with hoes and rakes, and they are prevented from spreading, except on that side which is towards the large fire, a matter easily accomplished when attended to in the beginning. Thus the fires in a few minutes meet, and of consequence they must cease, as there is nothing left to feed them, the grass and leaves being burnt on all sides. In general there is but very little brushwood in the woods of America, so that these fires chiefly run along the ground; the trees, however, are often scorched, but it is very rare for any of them to be entirely consumed.

The country between Urbanna and Gloucester, a town situated upon York River, is neither so sandy nor so flat as that bordering upon the Rappahannock. The trees, chiefly pines, are of a very large size, and afford abundance of turpentine, which is extracted from them in great quantities by the inhabitants, principally, however, for home consumption. The turpentine is got by cutting 163a large gash in the tree, and setting a trough underneath to receive the resinous matter distilled from the wound. The trees thus drained last but a short time after they are cut down. In this neighbourhood there are numbers of ponds or small lakes, surrounded by woods, along some of which the views are very pleasing. From most of them are falls of water into some creek or river, which afford excellent seats for mills.

Gloucester contains only ten or twelve houses; it is situated on a neck of land nearly opposite to the town of York, which is at the other side of the river. There are remains here of one or two redoubts thrown up during the war. The river between the two places is about one mile and a half wide, and affords four fathom and a half of water.

The town of York consists of about seventy houses, an episcopalian church, and a gaol. It is not now more than one third of the size it was before the war, and it does not appear likely soon to recover its former flourishing state. Great quantities of tobacco were formerly inspected here; very little, however, is now raised in the neighbourhood, the people having got into a habit of cultivating wheat in preference. The little that is sent for inspection is reckoned to be of the very best 164quality, and is all engaged for the London market.

York is remarkable for having been the place where Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army to the combined forces of the Americans and French. A few of the redoubts, which were erected by each army, are still remaining, but the principal fortifications are almost quite obliterated; the plough has passed over some of them, and groves of pine trees sprung up about others, though, during the siege, every tree near the town was destroyed. The first and second parallels can just be traced, when pointed out by a person acquainted with them in a more perfect state.

In the town the houses bear evident marks of the siege, and the inhabitants will not, on any account, suffer the holes perforated by the cannon balls to be repaired on the outside. There is one house in particular, which stands in the skirt of the town, that is in a most shattered condition. It was the habitation of a Mr. Neilson, a secretary under the regal government, and was made the head quarters of Lord Cornwallis when he first came to the town; but it stood so much exposed, and afforded so good a mark to the enemy, that he was soon forced to quit it. Neilson, however, it seems, was determined to stay there 165till the last, and absolutely remained till his negro servant, the only person that would live with him in such a house, had his brains dashed out by a cannon shot while he stood by his side; he then thought it time to retire, but the house was still continually fired at, as if it had been head quarters. The walls and roof are pierced in innumerable places, and at one corner a large piece of the wall is torn away; in this state, however, it is still inhabited in one room by some person or other equally fanciful as the old secretary. There are trenches thrown up round it, and on every side are deep hollows made by the bombs that fell near it. Till within a year or two the broken shells themselves remained; but the New England men that traded to York finding they would sell well as old iron, dug them up, and carried them away in their ships.

The banks of the river, where the town stands, are high and inaccessible, excepting in a few places; the principal part of the town is built on the top of them; a few fishing huts and storehouses merely stand at the bottom. A cave is shewn here in the banks, described by the people as having been the place of head quarters during the siege, after the cannonade of the enemy became warm; but in reality it was formed and hung with 166green baize for a lady, either the wife or acquaintance of an officer, who was terrified with the idea of remaining in the town, and died of fright after her removal down to the cave.

Twelve miles from York, to the westward, stands Williamsburgh, formerly the seat of government in Virginia. Richmond was fixed upon during the war as a more secure place, being farther removed from the sea coast, and not so much exposed to depredations if an enemy were to land unexpectedly. Richmond also had the advantage of being situated at the head of a navigable river, and was therefore likely to increase to a size which the other never could attain. It is wonderful, indeed, what could have induced people to fix upon the spot where Williamsburgh stands for a town, in the middle of a plain, and one mile and a half removed from any navigable stream, when there were so many noble rivers in the neighbourhood.

The town consists of one principal street, and two others which run 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, now crumbling to pieces from negligence. The houses around it are mostly uninhabited, and present a melancholy picture. In the hall of the capitol stands a maimed statue of lord 167Botetourt, one of the regal governors of Virginia, erected at the public expence, in memory of his lordship’s equitable and popular administration. During the war, when party rage was at its highest pitch, and every thing pertaining to royalty obnoxious, the head and one arm of the statue were knocked off; it now remains quite exposed, and is more and more defaced every day. Whether the motto, “Resurgo rege favente,” inscribed under the coat of arms, did or did not help to bring upon it its present fate, I cannot pretend to say; as it is, it certainly remains a monument of the extinction of monarchical power in America.

The college of William and Mary, as it is still called, stands at the opposite end of the main street; it is a heavy pile, which bears, as Mr. Jefferson, I think, says, “a very close resemblance to a large brick kiln, excepting that it has a roof.” The students were about thirty in number when I was there: from their appearance one would imagine that the seminary ought rather to be termed a grammar school than a college; yet I understand the visitors, since the present revolution, finding it full of young boys just learning the rudiments of Greek and Latin, a circumstance which consequently deterred others more advanced 168from going there, dropped the professorships for these two languages, and established others in their place. The professorships, as they now stand, are for law, medicine, natural and moral philosophy, mathematics, and modern languages. The bishop of Virginia is president of the college, and has apartments in the buildings. Half a dozen or more of the students, the eldest about twelve years old, dined at his table one day that I was there; some were without shoes or stockings, others without coats. During dinner they constantly rose to help themselves at the side board. A couple of dishes of salted meat, and some oyster soup, formed the whole of the dinner. I only mention this, as it may convey some little idea of American colleges and American dignitaries.

The episcopalian church, the only one in the place, stands in the middle of the main street; it is much out of repair. On either side of it is an extensive green, surrounded with neat looking houses, which bring to mind an English village.

The town contains about twelve hundred inhabitants, and the society in it is thought to be more extensive and more genteel at the same time than what is to be met with in any other place of its size in America. No 169manufactures are carried on here, and scarcely any trade.

There is an hospital here for lunatics, but it does not appear to be well regulated.

LETTER XIII.

LETTER XIV.

LETTER XV.

LETTER XVI.

LETTER XVII.

Description of the celebrated Rock Bridge, and of an immense Cavern.—Description of the Shenandoa Valley.—Inhabitants mostly Germans.—Soil and Climate.—Observations on American Landscapes.—Mode of cutting down Trees.—High Road to Kentucky, behind Blue Mountains. — Much frequented.—Uncouth, inquisitive People.—Lexington.—Staunton.—Military Titles very common in America.—Causes thereof.—Winchester.

VIEW of the ROCK BRIDGE.

Winchester, May.

ROCK BRIDGE.

AFTER remaining a considerable time in Bottetourt County, I again crossed Fluvanna River into the county of Rockbridge, so called from the remarkable natural bridge 221of rock that is in it. This bridge stands about ten miles from Fluvanna River, and nearly the same distance from the Blue Ridge. It extends across a deep cleft in a mountain, which, by some great convulsion of nature, has been split asunder from top to bottom, and it seems to have been left there purposely to afford a passage from one side of the chasm to the other. The cleft or chasm is about two miles long, and is in some places upwards of three hundred feet deep; the depth varies according to the height of the mountain, being deepest where the mountain is most lofty. The breadth of the chasm also varies in different places; but in every part it is uniformly wider at top than towards the bottom. That the two sides of the chasm were once united appears very evident, not only from projecting rocks on the one side corresponding with suitable cavities on the other, but also from the different strata of earth, sand, clay, &c. being exactly similar from top to bottom on both sides; but by what great agent they were separated, whether by fire or by water, remains hidden amongst those arcana of nature which we vainly endeavour to develope.

ROCK BRIDGE.

The arch consists of a solid mass of stone, or of several stones cemented so strongly together, that they appear but as one. This 222mass, it is to be supposed, at the time that the hill was rent asunder, was drawn across the fissure from adhering closely to one side, and being loosened from its bed of earth at the opposite one. It seems as probable, I think, that the mass of stone forming the arch was thus forcibly plucked from one side, and drawn across the fissure, as that the hill should have remained disunited at this one spot from top to bottom, and that a passage should afterwards have been forced through it by water. The road leading to the bridge runs through a thick wood, and up a hill, having ascended which, nearly to the top, you pause for a moment at finding a sudden discontinuance of the trees at one side; but the amazement which fills the mind is great indeed, when, on going a few paces towards the part which appears thus open, you find yourself on the brink of a tremendous precipice. You involuntarily draw back, stare around, then again come forward to satisfy yourself that what you have seen is real, and not the illusions of fancy. You now perceive, that you are upon the top of the bridge, to the very edge of which, on one side, you may approach with safety, and look down into the abyss, being protected from falling by a parapet of fixed rocks. The walls, as it were, of the bridge at this side are so perpendicular, that 223a person leaning over the parapet of rock might let fall a plummet from the hand to the very bottom of the chasm. On the opposite side this is not the case, nor is there any parapet; but from the edge of the road, which runs over the bridge, is a gradual slope to the brink of the chasm, upon which it is somewhat dangerous to venture. This slope is thickly covered with large trees, principally cedars and pines. The opposite side was also well furnished with trees formerly, but all those that grew near the edge of the bridge have been cut down by different people, for the sake of seeing them tumble to the bottom. Before the trees were destroyed in this manner, you might have passed over the bridge without having had any idea of being upon it; for the breadth of it is no less than eighty feet. The road runs nearly in the middle, and is frequented daily by waggons.

At the distance of a few yards from the bridge, a narrow path appears, winding along the sides of the fissure, amidst immense rocks and trees, down to the bottom of the bridge. Here the stupendous arch appears in all its glory, and seems to touch the very skies. To behold it without rapture, indeed, is impossible; and the more critically it is examined, the more beautiful and the more surprising does it appear. The height of the bridge to 224the top of the parapet is two hundred and thirteen feet by admeasurement with a line, the thickness of the arch forty feet, the span of the arch at top ninety feet, and the distance between the abutments at bottom fifty feet. The abutments consist of a solid mass of limestone on either side, and, together with the arch, seem as if they had been chiseled out by the hand of art. A small stream, called Cedar Creek, running at the bottom of the fissure, over bed of rocks, adds much to the beauty of the scene.

The fissure takes a very sudden turn just above the bridge, according to the course of the stream, so that when you stand below, and look under the arch, the view is intercepted at the distance of about fifty yards from the bridge. Mr. Jefferson’s statement, in his Notes, that the fissure continues strait, terminating with a pleasing view of the North Mountains, is quite erroneous. The sides of the chasm are thickly covered in every part with trees, excepting where the huge rocks of limestone appear.

MADDISON’S CAVE.

Besides this view from below, the bridge is seen to very great advantage from a pinnacle of rocks, about fifty feet below the top of the fissure; for here not only the arch is seen in all its beauty, but the spectator is impressed in the most forcible manner with ideas of its 225grandeur, from being enabled at the same time to look down into the profound gulph over which it passes.

About fifty miles to the northward of the Rock Bridge, and also behind the Blue Mountains, there is another very remarkable natural curiosity; this is a large cavern, known in the neighbourhood by the name of Maddison’s Cave. It is in the heart of a mountain, about two hundred feet high, and which is so deep on one side, that a person standing on the top of it, might easily throw a pebble into the river, which flows round the base; the opposite side of it is, however, very easy of ascent, and on this side the path leading to the cavern runs, excepting for the last twenty yards, when it suddenly turns along the steep part of the mountain, which is extremely rugged, and covered with immense rocks and trees from top to bottom. The mouth of the cavern, on this steep side, about two thirds of the way up, is guarded by a huge pendent stone, which seems ready to drop every instant, and it is hardly possible to stoop under it, without reflecting with a certain degree of awe, that were it to drop, nothing could save you from perishing within the dreary walls of that mansion to which it affords an entrance.

226Preparatory to entering, the guide, whom I had procured from a neighbouring house, lighted the ends of three or four splinters of pitch pine, a large bundle of which he had brought with him: they burn out very fast, but while they last are most excellent torches. The fire he brought along with him, by means of a bit of green hiccory wood, which, when once lighted, will burn slowly without any blaze till the whole is consumed.

MADDISON’S CAVE.

The first apartment you enter is about twenty-five feet high, and fifteen broad, and extends a considerable way to the right and left, the floor ascending towards the former; here it is very moist, from the quantity of water continually trickling from the roof. Fahrenheit’s thermometer, which stood at 67° in the air, fell to 61° in this room. A few yards to the left, on the side opposite to you on entering, a passage presents itself, which leads to a sort of anti-chamber as it were, from whence you proceed into the sound room, so named from the prodigious reverberation of the sound of a voice or musical instrument at the inside. This room is about twenty feet square; it is arched at top, and the sides of it, as well as of that apartment which you first enter, are beautifully ornamented with stalactites. Returning from hence 227into the antichamber, and afterwards taking two or three turns to the right and left, you enter a long passage about thirteen feet wide, and perhaps about fifteen in height perpendicularly; but if it was measured from the floor to the highest part of the roof obliquely, the distance would be found much greater, as the walls on both sides slope very considerably, and finally meet at top. This passage descends very rapidly, and is, I should suppose, about sixty yards long. Towards the end it narrows considerably, and terminates in a pool of clear water, about three or four feet deep. How far this pool extends it is impossible to say. A canoe was once brought down by a party, for the purpose of examination, but they said, that after proceeding a little way upon the water the canoe would not float, and they were forced to return. Their fears, most probably, led them to fancy it was so. I fired a pistol with a ball over the water, but the report was echoed from the after part of the cavern, and not from that part beyond the water, so that I should not suppose the passage extended much farther than could be traced with the eye. The walls of this passage consist of a solid rock of limestone on each side, which appears to have been separated by some convulsion. The floor is of a deep sandy earth, and it has repeatedly been dug up for 228the purpose of getting saltpetre, with which the earth is strongly impregnated. The earth, after being dug up, is mixed with water, and when the grosser particles fall to the bottom, the water is drawn off and evaporated; from the residue the saltpetre is procured. There are many other caverns in this neighbourhood, and also farther to the westward, in Virginia; from all of them great quantities of saltpetre are thus obtained. The gunpowder made with it, in the back country, forms a principal article of commerce, and is sent to Philadelphia in exchange for European manufactures.

MADDISON’S CAVE.

About two thirds of the way down this long passage, just described, is a large aperture in the wall on the right, leading to another apartment, the bottom of which is about ten feet below the floor of the passage, and it is no easy matter to get down into it, as the sides are very steep and extremely slippery. This is the largest and most beautiful room in the whole cavern; it is somewhat of an oval form, about sixty feet in length, thirty in breadth, and in some parts nearly fifty feet high. The petrifactions formed by the water dropping from above are most beautiful, and hang down from the ceiling in the form of elegant drapery, the folds of which are similar to what those of large blankets or carpets 229would be if suspended by one corner in a lofty room. If struck with a stick a deep hollow sound is produced, which echoes through the vaults of the cavern. In other parts of this room the petrifactions have commenced at the bottom, and formed in pillars of different heights; some of them reach nearly to the roof. If you go to a remote part of this apartment, and leave a person with a lighted torch moving about amidst these pillars, a thousand imaginary forms present themselves, and you might almost fancy yourself in the infernal regions, with spectres and monsters on every side. The floor of this room slopes down gradually from one end to the other, and terminates in a pool of water, which appears to be on a level with that at the end of the long passage; from their situation it is most probable that they communicate together. The thermometer which I had with me stood, in the remotest part of this chamber, at 55°. From hence we returned to the mouth of the cavern, and on coming into the light it appeared as if we really had been in the infernal regions, for our faces, hands, and clothes were smutted all over, every part of the cave being covered with soot from the smoke of the pine torches which are so often carried in. The smoke from the pitch pine is particularly thick and heavy. Before this cave was much 230visited, and the walls blackened by the smoke, its beauty, I was told by some of the old inhabitants, was great indeed, for the petrifactions on the roof and walls are all of the dead white kind.

The country immediately behind the Blue Mountains, between Bottetourt County and the Patowmac River, is agreeably diversified with hill and dale, and abounds with extensive tracts of rich land. The low grounds, bordering upon the Shenandoah River, which runs contiguous to the Blue Ridge for upwards of one hundred miles, are in particular distinguished for their fertility. These low grounds are those which, strictly speaking, constitute the Shenandoah Valley, though in general the country lying for several miles distant from the river, and in some parts very hilly, goes under that name. The natural herbage is not so fine here as in Bottetourt County, but when clover is once sown it grows most luxuriantly; wheat also is produced in as plentiful crops as in any part of the United States. Tobacco is not raised excepting for private use, and but little Indian corn is sown, as it is liable to be injured by the nightly frosts, which are common in the spring.

LANDSCAPES.

The climate here is not so warm as in the lower parts of the country, on the eastern side 231of the mountains; but it is by no means so temperate as in Bottetourt County, which, from being environed with ridges of mountains, is constantly refreshed with cooling breezes during summer, and in the winter is sheltered from the keen blasts from the north west.

The whole of this country, to the west of the mountains, is increasing most rapidly in, population. In the neighbourhood of Winchester it is so thickly settled, and consequently so much cleared, that wood is now beginning to be thought valuable; the farmers are obliged frequently to send ten or fifteen miles even for their fence rails. It is only, however, in this particular neighbourhood that the country is so much improved; in other places there are immense tracts of woodlands still remaining, and in general the hills are all left uncleared. The hills being thus left covered with trees is a circumstance which adds much to the beauty of the country, and intermixed with extensive fields clothed with the richest verdure, and watered by the numerous branches of the Shenandoah River, a variety of pleasing landscapes are presented to the eye in almost every part of the route from Bottetourt to the Patowmac, many of which are considerably heightened by the appearance of the Blue Mountains in the back ground.

232With regard to these landscapes however, and to American landscapes in general, it is to be observed, that their beauty is much impaired by the unpicturesque appearance of the angular fences, and of the stiff wooden houses, which have at a little distance a heavy, dull, and gloomy aspect. The stumps of the trees also, on land newly cleared, are most disagreeable objects, wherewith the eye is continually assailed. When trees are felled in America, they are never cut down close to the ground, but the trunks are left standing two or three feet high; for it is found that a woodman can cut down many more in a day, standing with a gentle inclination of the body, than if he were to stoop so as to apply his axe to the bottom of the tree; it does not make any difference either to the farmer, whether the stump is left two or three feet high, or whether it is cut down level with the ground, as in each case it would equally be a hindrance to the plough. These stumps usually decay in the course of seven or eight years; sometimes however sooner, sometimes later, according to the quality of the timber. They never throw up suckers, as stumps of trees would do in England if left in that manner.

TOWNS.

The cultivated lands in this country are mostly parcelled out in small portions; there are no persons here, as on the other side of the 233mountains, possessing large farms; nor are there any eminently distinguished by their education or knowledge from the rest of their fellow citizens. Poverty also is as much unknown in this country as great wealth. Each man owns the house he lives in and the land which he cultivates, and every one appears to be in a happy state of mediocrity, and unambitious of a more elevated situation than what he himself enjoys.

The free inhabitants consist for the most part of Germans, who here maintain the same character as in Pennsylvania and the other states where they have settled. About one sixth of the people, on an average, are slaves, but in some of the counties the proportion is much less; in Rockbridge the slaves do not amount to more than an eleventh, and in Shenandoah County not to more than a twentieth part of the whole.

Between Fincastle and the Patowmac there are several towns, as Lexington, Staunton, Newmarket, Woodstock, Winchester, Strasburgh, and some others. These towns all stand on the great road, running north and south behind the Blue Mountains, and which is the high road from the northern states to Kentucky.

LEXINGTON.

As I passed along it, I met with great numbers of people from Kentucky and the new 234state of Tennessee going towards Philadelphia and Baltimore, and with many others going in a contrary direction, “to explore,” as they call it, that is, to search for lands conveniently situated for new settlements in the western country. These people all travel on horseback, with pistols or swords, and a large blanket folded up under their saddle, which last they use for sleeping in when obliged to pass the night in the woods. There is but little occasion for arms now that peace has been made with the Indians; but formerly it used to be a very serious undertaking to go by this route to Kentucky, and travellers were always obliged to go forty or fifty in a party, and well prepared for defence. It would be still dangerous for any person to venture singly; but if five or six travel together, they are perfectly secure. There are houses now scattered along nearly the whole way from Fincastle to Lexington in Kentucky, so that it is not necessary to sleep more than two or three nights in the woods in going there. Of all the uncouth human beings I met with in America, these people from the western country were the most so; their curiosity was boundless. Frequently have I been stopped abruptly by one of them in a solitary part of the road, and in such a manner, that had it been in another country, I should have imagined it was a highwayman 235that was going to demand my purse, and without any further preface, asked where I came from? if I was acquainted with any news? where bound to? and finally, my name?—“Stop, Mister! why I guess now you be coming from the new state.” “No, Sir,”—“Why then I guess as how you be coming from Kentuc[25].” “No, Sir.”—“Oh! why then, pray now where might you be coming from?” “From the low country.”—“Why you must have heard all the news then; pray now, Mister, what might the price of bacon be in those parts?” “Upon my word, my friend, I can’t inform you.”—“Aye, aye; I see, Mister, you be’n’t one of us; pray now, Mister, what might your name be?”—A stranger going the same way is sure of having the company of these worthy people, so desirous of information, as far as the next tavern, where he is seldom suffered to remain for five minutes, till he is again assailed by a fresh set with the same questions.

25.  Kentucky.

The first town you come to, going northward from Bottetourt County, is Lexington, a neat little place, that did contain about one hundred houses, a court-house, and gaol; but the greater part of it was destroyed by fire just before I got there. Great numbers of Irish are 236settled in this place. Thirty miles farther on stands Staunton. This town carries on a considerable trade with the back country, and contains nearly two hundred dwellings, mostly built of stone, together with a church. This was the first place on the entire road from Lynchburgh, one hundred and fifty miles distant, and which I was about ten days in travelling, where I was not able to get a bit of fresh meat, excepting indeed on passing the Blue Mountains, where they brought me some venison that had been just killed. I went on fifty miles further, from Staunton, before I got any again. Salted pork, boiled with turnip tops by way of greens, or fried bacon, or fried salted fish, with warm sallad, dressed with vinegar and the melted fat which remains in the frying-pan after dressing the bacon, is the only food to be got at most of the taverns in this country; in spring it is the constant food of the people in the country; and indeed, throughout the whole year, I am told, salted meat is what they most generally use.

In every part of America a European is surprised at finding so many men with military titles, and still more so at seeing such numbers of them employed in capacities apparently so inconsistent with their rank; for it is nothing uncommon to see a captain in the shape of a waggoner, a colonel the driver of a 237stage coach, or a general dealing out penny ribbon behind his counter; but no where, I believe, is there such a superfluity of these military personages as in the little town of Staunton; there is hardly a decent person in it, excepting lawyers and medical men, but what is a colonel, a major, or a captain. This is to be accounted for as follows: in America, every freeman from the age of sixteen to fifty years, whose occupation does not absolutely forbid it, must enrol himself in the militia. In Virginia alone, the militia amounts to about sixty-two thousand men, and it is divided into four divisions and seventeen brigades, to each of which there is a general and other officers. Were there no officers therefore, excepting those actually belonging to the militia, the number must be very great; but independent of the militia, there are also volunteer corps in most of the towns, which have likewise their respective officers. In Staunton there are two of these corps, one of cavalry, the other of artillery. These are formed chiefly of men who find a certain degree of amusement in exercising as soldiers, and who are also induced to associate, by the vanity of appearing in regimentals. The militia is not assembled oftener than once in two or three months, and as it rests with every individual to provide himself with arms and accoutrements, and no 238stress being laid upon coming in uniform, the appearance of the men is not very military. Numbers also of the officers of these volunteer corps, and of the militia, are resigning every day; and if a man has been a captain or a colonel but one day either in the one body or the other, it seems to be an established rule that he is to have nominal rank the rest of his life. Added to all, there are several officers of the old continental army neither in the militia nor in the volunteer corps.

Winchester stands one hundred miles to the northward of Staunton, and is the largest town in the United States on the western side of the Blue Mountains. The houses are estimated at three hundred and fifty, and the inhabitants at two thousand. There are four churches in this town, which, as well as the houses, are plainly built. The streets are regular, but very narrow. There is nothing particularly deserving of attention in this place, nor indeed in any of the other small towns which have been mentioned, none of them containing more than seventy houses each.

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LETTER XVIII.

Description of the Passage of Patowmac and Shenandoah Rivers through a Break in the Blue Mountains.—Some Observations on Mr. Jefferson’s Account of the Scene.—Summary Account of Maryland.—Arrival at Philadelphia.—Remarks on the Climate of the United States.—State of the City of Philadelphia during the Heat of Summer.—Difficulty of preserving Butter, Milk, Meat, Fish, &c.—General Use of Ice.—Of the Winds.—State of Weather in America depends greatly upon them.

HAVING traversed, in various directions, the country to the west of the Blue Mountains in Virginia, I came to the Patowmac, at the place where that river passes through the Blue Ridge, which Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes upon Virginia, has represented as one of the soft “stupendous scenes in nature, and worth a voyage across the Atlantic.” The approach towards the place is wild and romantic. After crossing a number of small hills, which rise one above the other in succession, you at last perceive the break in the Blue Ridge; at the same time the road suddenly turning, winds 240down a long and deep hill, shaded with lofty trees, whose branches unite over your head. On one side of the road there are large heaps of rocks above you, which seem to threaten destruction to any one that passes under them; on the other, a deep precipice presents itself, at the bottom of which is heard the roaring of the waters, that are concealed from the eye by the thickness of the foliage. Towards the end of this hill, about sixty feet above the level of the water, stands a tavern and a few houses, and from some fields in the rear of them the passage of the river through the mountain is, I think, seen to the best advantage.

The Patowmac on the left comes winding along through a fertile country towards the mountain; on the right flows the Shenandoah: uniting together at the foot of the mountain, they roll on through the gap; then suddenly expanding to the breadth of about four hundred yards, they pass on towards the sea, and are finally lost to the view amidst surrounding hills. The rugged appearance of the sides of the mountain towards the river, and the large rocks that lie scattered about at the bottom, many of which have evidently been split asunder by some great convulsion, “are monuments,” as Mr. Jefferson observes, of the “war that has taken place at this spot between 241rivers and mountains; and at first sight they lead us into an opinion that mountains were created before rivers began to flow; that the waters of the Patowmac and Shenandoah were dammed up for a time by the Blue Ridge, but continuing to rise, that they at length broke through at this spot, and tore the mountain asunder from its summit to its base.” Certain it is, that if the Blue Ridge could be again made entire, an immense body of water would be formed on the western side of it, by the Shenandoah and Patowmac rivers, and this body of water would be deepest, and consequently would act with more force in sapping a passage for itself through the mountain, at the identical spot where the gap now is than at any other, for this is the lowest spot in a very extended tract of country. A glance at the map will be sufficient to satisfy any person on this point; it will at once be seen, that all the rivers of the adjacent country bend their courses hitherwards. Whether the ridge, however, was left originally entire, or whether a break was left in it for the passage of the rivers, it is impossible at this day to ascertain; but it is very evident that the sides of the gap have been reduced to their present rugged state by some great inundation. Indeed, supposing that the Patowmac 242and Shenandoah ever rose during a flood, a common circumstance in spring and autumn, only equally high with what James River did in 1795, that is fifteen feet above their usual level, such a circumstance might have occasioned a very material alteration in the appearance of the gap.

The Blue Ridge, on each side of the Patowmac, is formed, from the foundation to the summit, of large rocks deposited in beds of rich soft earth. This earth is very readily washed away, and in that case the rocks consequently become loose; indeed, they are frequently loosened even by heavy showers of rain. A proof of this came within my own observation, which I shall never forget. It had been raining excessively hard the whole morning of that day on which I arrived at this place; the evening however was very fine, and being anxious to behold the scene in every point of view, I crossed the river, and attended the mountain at a steep part on the opposite side, where there was no path, and many large projecting rocks. I had walked up about fifty yards, when a large stone that I set my foot upon, and which appeared to me perfectly firm, all at once gave way; it had been loosened by the rain, and brought down such a heap of others with it in its fall, with such a tremendous noise at the same time, 243that I thought the whole mountain was coming upon me, and expected every moment to be dashed to pieces. I slid down about twenty feet, and then luckily caught hold of the branch of a tree, by which I clung; but the stones still continued to roll down heap after heap; several times, likewise, after all had been still for a minute or two, they again began to fall with increased violence. In this state of suspense I was kept for a considerable time, not knowing but that some stone larger than the rest might give way, and carry down with it even the tree by which I held. Unacquainted also with the paths of the mountain, there seemed to me to be no other way of getting down, excepting over the fallen stones, a way which I contemplated with horror. Night however was coming on very fast; it was absolutely necessary to quit the situation I was in, and fortunately I got to the bottom without receiving any further injury than two or three slight contusions on my hips and elbows. The people congratulated me when I came back on my escape, and informed me, that the stones very commonly gave way in this manner after heavy falls of rain; but on the dissolution of a large body of snow, immense rocks, they said, would sometimes roll down with a crash that might be heard for miles. The consequences then of a large 244rock towards the bottom of the mountain being undermined by a flood, and giving way, may be very readily imagined: the rock above it, robbed of its support, would also fall; this would bring down with it numbers of others with which it was connected, and thus a disruption would be produced from the base to the very summit of the mountain.

The passage of the rivers through the ridge at this place is certainly a curious scene, and deserving of attention; but I am far from thinking with Mr. Jefferson, that it is “one of the most stupendous scenes in nature, and worth a voyage across the Atlantic;” nor has it been my lot to meet with any person that had been a spectator of the scene, after reading his description of it, but what also differed with him very materially in opinion. To find numberless scenes more stupendous, it would be needless to go farther than Wales. A river, it is true, is not to be met with in that country, equal in size to the Patowmac; but many are to be seen there rushing over their stony beds with much more turbulence and impetuosity than either the Patowmac or Shenandoah: the rocks, the precipices, and the mountains of the Blue Ridge at this place are diminutive and uninteresting also, compared with those which abound in that country. Indeed, from every part of Mr. Jefferson’s 245description, it appears as if he had beheld the scene, not in its present state, but at the very moment when the disruption happened, and when every thing was in a state of tumult and confusion.

After crossing the Patowmac, I passed on to Frederic in Maryland, which has already been mentioned, and from thence to Baltimore. The country between Frederic and Baltimore is by no means so rich as that west of the Blue Ridge, but it is tolerably well cultivated. Iron and copper are found here in many places. No works of any consequence have as yet been established for the manufacture of copper, but there are several extensive iron works. The iron is of a remarkably tough quality; indeed, throughout the states of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, it is generally so; and the utensils made of it, as pots, kettles, &c. though cast much thinner than usual in England, will admit of being pitched into the carts, and thrown about, without any danger of being broken. The forges and furnaces are all worked by negroes, who seem to be particularly suited to such an occupation, not only on account of their sable complexions, but because they can sustain a much greater degree of heat than white persons without any inconvenience. In the hottest days in summer they are never without fires in their huts.

246The farms and plantations in Maryland consist, in general, of from one hundred to one thousand acres. In the upper parts of the state, towards the mountains, the land is divided into small portions. Grain is what is principally cultivated, and there are few slaves. In the lower parts of the state, and in this part of the country between Frederic and Baltimore, the plantations are extensive; large quantities of tobacco are raised, and the labour is performed almost entirely by negroes. The persons residing upon these large plantations live very similar to the planters in Virginia: all of them have their stewards and overseers, and they give themselves but little trouble about the management of the lands. As in Virginia, the clothing for the slaves, and most of the implements for husbandry, are manufactured on each estate. The quarters of the slaves are situated in the neighbourhood of the principal dwelling house, which gives the residence of every planter the appearance of a little village, just the same as in Virginia. The houses are for the most part built of wood, and painted with Spanish brown; and in front there is generally a long porch, painted white.

From Baltimore I returned to Philadelphia, where I arrived on the fourteenth day of June, after having been absent about three months. 247During the whole of that period the weather had been extremely variable, scarcely ever remaining alike four days together. As early as the fourteenth of March, in Pennsylvania, Fahrenheit’s thermometer stood at 65° at noon day, though not more than a week before it had been so low as 14°. At the latter end of the month, in Maryland, I scarcely ever observed it higher than 50° at noon: the evenings were always cold, and the weather was squally and wet. In the northern neck of Virginia, for two or three days together, during the second week in April, it rose from 80° to 84°, in the middle of the day; but on the wind suddenly shifting, it fell again, and remained below 70° for some days. As I passed along through the lower parts of Virginia, I frequently afterwards observed it as high as 80° during the month of April; but on no day in the month of May, previous to the fourteenth, did it again rise to the same height; indeed, so far from it, many of the days were too cold to be without fires; and on the night of the ninth instant, when I was in the neighbourhood of the South-west Mountains, so sharp a frost took place, that it destroyed all the cherries, and also most of the early wheat, and of the young shoots of Indian corn; in some particular places, for miles together, the young leaves of the forest trees even were all withered, 248and the country had exactly the appearance of November. On the tenth instant, the day after the frost, the thermometer was as low as 46° in the middle of the day; yet four days afterwards it stood at 81°. During the remainder of the month, and during June, until I reached Philadelphia, it fluctuated between 60° and 80°; the weather was on the whole fine, but frequently for a day or two together the air felt extremely raw and disagreeable. The changes in the state of the atmosphere were also sometimes very sudden. On the sixth day of June, when on my way to Frederic-town, after passing the Patowmac River, the most remarkable change of this nature took place which I ever witnessed. The morning had been oppressively hot; the thermometer at 81°, and the wind S. S. W. About one o’clock in the afternoon, a black cloud appeared in the horizon, and a tremendous gust came on, accompanied by thunder and lightning; several large trees were torn up by the roots by the wind; hailstones, about three times the size of an ordinary pea, fell for a few minutes, and afterwards a torrent of rain came pouring down, nearly as if a water-spout had broken over head. Just before the gust came on, I had suspended my thermometer from a window with a northern aspect, when it stood at 81°; but on looking at it at the 249end of twenty-three minutes, by which time the gust was completely over, I found it down to 59°, a change of 22°. A north-west wind now set in, the evening was most delightful, and the thermometer again rose to 65°. In Pennsylvania the thermometer has been known to vary fifty degrees in the space of twenty-six hours.

The climate of the middle and southern states is extremely variable; the seasons of two succeeding years are seldom alike; and it scarcely ever happens that a month passes over without very great vicissitudes in the weather taking place. Doctor Rittenhouse remarked, that whilst he resided in Pennsylvania, he discovered nightly frosts in every month of the year excepting July, and even in that month, during which the heat is always greater than at any other time of the year, a cold day or two sometimes intervene, when a fire is found very agreeable.

The climate of the state of New York is very similar to that of Pennsylvania, excepting that in the northern parts of that state, bordering upon Canada, the winters are always severe and long. The climate of New Jersey, Delaware, and the upper parts of Maryland, is also much the same with that of Pennsylvania; in the lower parts of Maryland the climate does not differ materially from that of Virginia to 250the eastward of the Blue Ridge, where it very rarely happens that the thermometer is as low as 6° above cipher.

In Pennsylvania, the range of the mercury in Fahrenheit’s thermometer has been observed to be from 24° below cipher to 105° above it; but it is an unusual occurrence for the mercury to stand at either of these extreme points; in its approach towards them it commonly draws much nearer to the extreme of heat than to that of cold. During the winter of 1795, and the three preceding years, it did not sink lower than 10° above cipher; a summer however seldom passes over that it does not rise to 96°. It was mentioned as a singular circumstance, that in 1789 the thermometer never rose higher than 90°.

Of the oppression that is felt from the summer heats in America, no accurate idea can be formed without knowing the exact state of the hygrometer as well as the height of the thermometer. The moisture of the air varies very much in different parts of the country; it also varies in all parts with the winds; and it is surprising to find what a much greater degree of heat can be borne without inconvenience when the air is dry than when it is moist. In New England, in a remarkably dry air, the heat is not found more insupportable when the thermometer stands at 100°, than it 251is in the lower parts of the southern states, where the air is moist, when the thermometer stands perhaps at 90°, that is, supposing the wind to be in the same quarter in both places. In speaking of Virginia I have taken notice of the great difference that is found between the climate of the mountains and the climate of the low country in that state. The case is the same in every other part of the country. From the mountains in New England, along the different ridges which run through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the southern states, even to the extremity of Georgia, the heat is never found very oppressive; whilst as far north as Pennsylvania and New York, the heat in the low parts of the country, between the mountains and the ocean, is frequently intolerable.

In the course of the few days that I have spent in Philadelphia during this month, the thermometer has risen repeatedly to 86° and for two or three days it stood at 93°. During these days no one stirred out of doors that was not compelled to do so; those that could make it convenient with their business always walked with umbrellas to shade them from the sun; light white hats were universally worn, and the young men appeared dressed in cotton or linen jackets and trowsers; every gleam of sunshine seemed to be considered as baneful 252and destructive; the window shutters of each house were closed early in the morning, so as to admit no more light than what was absolutely necessary for domestic business; many of the houses, indeed, 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. Where they had these they constantly kept them closed, and the windows and doors were left open behind them to admit air. A very different scene was presented in the city as soon as the sun was set; every house was then thrown open, and the inhabitants all crowded into the streets to take their evening walks, and visit their acquaintance. It appeared every night as if some grand spectacle was to be exhibited, for not a street or alley was there but what was in a state of commotion. This varied scene usually lasted till about ten o’clock; at eleven there is no city in the world, perhaps, so quiet all the year round; at that hour you may walk over half the town without seeing the face of a human being, except the watchmen. Very heavy dews sometimes fall after these hot days, as soon as the sun is down, and the nights are then found very cold; at other 253times there are no dews, and the air remains hot all the night through. For days together in Philadelphia, the thermometer has been observed never to be lower than 80° during any part of the twenty-four hours.

I observe now that meat can never be kept, but in an ice house or a remarkable cold cellar, for one day, without being tainted. Milk generally turns sour in the course of one or two hours after it comes from the cow. Fish is never brought to market without being covered with lumps of ice, and notwithstanding that care, it frequently happens that it is not fit to be eat. Butter is brought to market likewise in ice, which they generally have in great plenty at every farm house; indeed it is almost considered as a necessary of life in these low parts of the country. Poultry intended for dinner is never killed till about four hours before the time it is wanted, and then it is kept immersed in water, without which precaution it would be tainted. Notwithstanding all this, I have been told, that were I to stay in Philadelphia till the latter end of July or beginning of August, I should find the heat much more intolerable than it has been hitherto. Most of the other large sea-port towns, south of Philadelphia, are equally hot and disagreeable in summer; and 254Baltimore, Norfolk, and some others, even more so.

The winds in every part of the country make a prodigious difference in the temperature of the air. When the north-west wind blows, the heat is always found more tolerable than with any other, although the thermometer should be at the same height. This wind is uncommonly dry, and brings with it fresh animation and vigour to every living thing. Although this wind is so very piercing in winter, yet I think the people never complain so much of cold as when the north-east wind blows; for my own part I never found the air so agreeable, let the season of the year be what it would, as with the north-west wind. The north-east wind is also cold, but it renders the air raw and damp. That from the south-east is damp but warm. Rain or snow usually falls when the wind comes from any point towards the east. The south-west wind, like the north-west, is dry; but it is attended generally with warm weather. When in a southerly point, gusts, as they are called, that is, storms attended with thunder, lightning, hail, and rain, are common.

It is a matter of no difficulty to account for these various effects of the winds in America. The north-west wind, from coming 255over such an immense tract of land, must necessarily be dry; and coming from regions eternally covered with mounds of snow and ice, it must also be cold. The north-east wind, from traversing the frozen seas, must be cold likewise; but from passing over such a large portion of the watry main afterwards, it brings damps and moistures with it. All those from the east are damp, and loaded with vapours, from the same cause. Southerly winds, from crossing the warm regions between the tropics, are attended with heat; and the south-west wind, from passing, like the north-west, over a great extent of land, is dry at the same time; none however is so dry as that from the north-west. It is said, but with what truth I cannot take upon me to say, that west of the Alleghany and Appalachian mountains, which are all in the same range, the south-west winds are cold and attended with rain. Those great extremes of heat and cold, observable on the eastern side of the mountains, are unknown to the westward of them.

LETTER XIX.

Travelling in America without a Companion not pleasant.—Meet two English Gentlemen.—Set out together for Canada.—Description of the Country between Philadelphia and New York.—Bristol.—Trenton.—Princeton.—College there.—Some Account of it.—Brunswick.—Posaik Water-fall.—Copper Mine.—Singular Discovery thereof.—New York.—Description of the City.—Character and Manners of the Inhabitants.—Leave it abruptly on Account of the Fevers.—Passage up North River from New York to Albany.—Great Beauty of the North River.—West Point.—Highlands.—Gusts of Wind common in passing them.—Albany.—Description of the City and Inhabitants.—Celebration of the 4th of July.—Anniversary of American Independence.

I Was on the point of leaving Philadelphia for New York, intending from thence to proceed to Canada, when chance brought me into the company of two young gentlemen from England, each of whom was separately preparing to set off on a similar excursion. A rational and agreeable companion, to whom you might communicate the result of your 257observations, and with whom you might interchange sentiments on all occasions, could not but be deemed a pleasing acquisition, I should imagine, by a person on a journey through a foreign land. Were any one to be found, however, of a different opinion, I should venture to affirm, that ere he travelled far through the United States of America, where there are so few inhabitants in proportion to the extent of the country; where, in going from one town to another, it is frequently necessary to pass for many miles together through dreary woods; and where, even in the towns, a few of those sea-ports indeed excepted which are open to the Atlantic, there is such sameness in the customs, manners, and conversation of the inhabitants, and so little amongst them that interests either the head or the heart; he would not only be induced to think that a companion must add to the pleasure of a journey, but were absolutely necessary to prevent its appearing insipid, and at times highly irksome to him.

For my own part, I had fully determined in my own mind, upon returning from my tour beyond the Blue Mountains, never again to set out on a journey alone through any part of America, if I could possibly procure an agreeable companion. The gentlemen I met with had, as well as myself, travelled widely through 258different parts of the United States, and formed nearly the same resolution; we accordingly agreed to go forward to Canada together, and having engaged a carriage for ourselves as far as New York, we quitted the close and disagreeable city of Philadelphia on the twentieth of June.

The road, for the first twenty-five miles, runs very near the River Delaware, which appears to great advantage through openings in the woods that are scattered along its shores. From the town of Bristol in particular, which stands on an elevated part of the banks, twenty miles above Philadelphia, it is seen in a most pleasing point of view. The river, here about one mile wide, winds majestically round the point whereon the town is built, and for many miles, both upwards and downwards, it may be traced through a rich country, flowing gently along: in general it is covered with innumerable little sloops and schooners. Opposite to Bristol stands the city of Burlington, one of the largest in New Jersey, built partly upon an island and partly on the main shore. It makes a good appearance, and adds considerably to the beauty of the prospect from Bristol.

Ten miles farther on, opposite to Trenton, which stands at the head of the sloop navigation, you cross the river. The falls or rapids, 259that prevent boats from ascending any higher, appear in full view as you pass, but their prospect is in no way pleasing; beyond them, the navigation may be pursued for upwards of one hundred miles in small boats. Trenton is the capital of New Jersey, and contains about two hundred houses, together with four churches. The streets are commodious, and the houses neatly built. The state house, in which congress met for some time during the war, is a heavy clumsy edifice.

Twelve miles from Trenton, stands Princeton, a neat town, containing about eighty dwellings in one long street. Here is a large college, held in much repute by the neighbouring states. The number of students amounts to upwards of seventy; from their appearance, however, and the course of studies they seem to be engaged in, like all the other American colleges I ever saw, it better deserves the title of a grammar school than a college. The library, which we were shewn, is most wretched, consisting, for the most part, of old theological books, not even arranged with any regularity. An orrery, contrived by Mr. Rittenhouse, whose talents are so much boasted of by his countrymen, stands at one end of the apartment, but it is quite out of repair, as well as a few detached parts of a philosophical 260apparatus, enclosed in the same glass case. At the opposite end of the room are two small cupboards, which are shewn as the museum. These contain a couple of small stuffed alligators, and a few singular fishes, in a miserable state of preservation, the skins of them being tattered in innumerable places, from their being repeatedly tossed about. The building is very plain, and of stone; it is one hundred and eighty feet in front, and four stories high.

The next stage from Princeton is Brunswick, containing about two hundred houses; there is nothing very deserving of attention in it, excepting it be the very neat and commodious wooden bridge that has been thrown across the Raritan River, which is about two hundred paces over. The part over the channel is contrived to draw up, and on each side is a footway guarded by rails, and ornamented with lamps. Elizabeth Town and Newark, which you afterwards pass through in succession, are both of them cheerful lively looking places: neither of them is paved. Newark is built in a straggling manner, and has very much the appearance of a large English village: there is agreeable society in this town. These two towns are only eight miles apart, and each of them has one or two excellent churches, whose tall spires appear very beautiful 261as you approach at a distance, peeping up above the woods by which they are encircled.

The state of New Jersey, measured from north to south, is about one hundred and sixty miles in length; it varies in breadth from forty to eighty miles. The northern part of it is crossed by the blue ridge of mountains, running through Pennsylvania; and shooting off in different directions from this ridge, there are several other small mountains in the neighbourhood. The southern part of the state, on the contrary, which lies towards the sea, is extremely flat and sandy; it is covered for miles together with pine trees alone, usually called pine barrens, and is very little cultivated. The middle part, which is crossed in going from Philadelphia to New York, abounds with extensive traits of good land; the soil varies, however, considerably, in some places being sandy, in others stoney, and in others consisting of a rich brown mould. This part of the state, as far as Newark, is on the whole well cultivated, and scattered about in different places are some excellent farm houses; a good deal of uncleared land, however, still remains. Beyond Newark the country is extremely flat and marshy. Between the town and the Posaick River there is one marsh, which alone extends upwards of twenty miles, and is about 262two miles wide where you pass over it. The road is here formed with large logs of wood laid close together, and on each side are ditches to keep it dry. This was the first place where we met with musquitoes, and they annoyed us not a little in passing. Towards the latter end of the summer Philadelphia is much infested with them; but they had not made their appearance when we left that city. The Posaik River runs close upon the borders of this marsh, and there is an excellent wooden bridge across it, somewhat similar to that at New Brunswick over the Raritan River. About fifteen miles above it there is a very remarkable fall in the river. The river, at the fall, is about forty yards wide, and flows with a gentle current till it comes within a few perches of the edge of the fall, when it suddenly precipitates itself, in one entire sheet, over a ledge of rocks of nearly eighty feet in perpendicular height; below, it runs on through a chasm, formed of immense rocks on each side; they are higher than the fall, and seem to have been once united together.

In this neighbourhood there is a very rich copper mine: repeated attempts have been made to work it; but whether the price of labour be too great for such an undertaking, or the proprietors have not proceeded with judgment, certain it is, that they have always 263miscarried, and sustained very considerable losses thereby. This mine was first discovered in 1751, by a person who, passing along about three o’clock in the morning, observed a blue flame, about the size of a man, issuing from the earth, which afterwards soon died away: he marked the place with a stake, and when the hill was opened, several large lumps of virgin copper were found. The vein of copper in the mine is said to be much richer now than when first opened.

From the Posaik to the North River the country is hilly, barren, and uninteresting, till you come very near the latter, when a noble view opens all at once of the city of New York on the opposite shore, of the harbour, and shipping. The river, which is very grand, can be traced for several miles above the city; the banks are very steep on the Jersey side, and beautifully wooded, the trees almost dipping into the water: numbers of vessels plying about in every part render the scene extremely sprightly and interesting.

New York is built on an island of its own name, formed by the North and the East Rivers, and a creek or inlet connecting both of these together. The island is fourteen miles long, and, on an average, about one mile in breadth; at its southern extremity stands the city, which extends from one river to the other. 264The North, or Hudson River, is nearly two miles wide; the East, or the North-east one, as it should rather be called, is not quite so broad. The depth of water in each, close to the city, is sufficient for the largest merchant vessels. The principal seat of trade, however, is on the East River, and most of the vessels lie there, as during winter the navigation of that river is not so soon impeded by the ice. At this side of the town the houses and stores are built as closely as possible. The streets are narrow and inconvenient, and, as but too commonly is the case in sea-port towns, very dirty, and, consequently, during the summer season, dreadfully unhealthy. It was in this part of the town that the yellow fever raged with such violence in 1795; and during 1796, many persons that remained very constantly there also fell victims to a fever, which, if not the yellow fever, was very like it. The streets near the North River are much more airy; but the most agreeable part of the town is in the neighbourhood of the battery, on the southern point of the island, at the confluence of the two rivers. When New York was in possession of the English, this battery consisted of two or more tiers of guns, one above the other; but it is now cut down, and affords a most charming walk, and, on a summer’s evening, is crowded with people, as it is open to the 265breezes from the sea, which render it particularly agreeable at that season. There is a fine view from it of the roads, Long and Staten Islands, and Jersey shore. At the time of high water the scene is always interesting on account of the number of vessels sailing in and out of port; such as go into the East River pass within a few yards of the walls of the battery.

From the battery a handsome street, about seventy feet wide, called Broadway, runs due north through the town; between it and the North River run several streets at right angles, as you pass which you catch a view of the water, and boats plying up and down; the distant shore of the river also is seen to great advantage. Had the streets on the opposite side of Broadway been also carried down to the East River, the effect would have been beautiful, for Broadway runs along a ridge or high ground between the two rivers; it would have contributed also very much to the health of the place; if, added to this, a spacious quay had been formed the entire length of the city, on either side, instead of having the borders of the rivers crowded with confused heaps of wooden store houses, built upon wharfs projecting one beyond another in every direction, New York would have been one of the most beautiful sea-ports in the world. All the sea-ports in America appear to great disadvantage from the water, 266when you approach near to them, from the shores being crowded in this manner with irregular masses of wooden houses, standing as it were in the water. The federal city, where they have already begun to erect the same kind of wooden wharfs and storehouses without any regularity, will be just the same. It is astonishing, that in laying out that city a grand quay was not thought of in the plan; it would certainly have afforded equal, if not greater accommodation for the shipping, and it would have added wonderfully to the embellishment of the city.

Many of the private houses in New York are very good, particularly those in Broadway. Of the public buildings there are none which are very striking. The churches and houses for public worship amount to no less than twenty-two; four of them are for Presbyterians, three for Episcopalians of the church of England, three for Dutch Reformists, two for German Lutherans and Calvinists, two for Quakers, two for Baptists, two for Methodists, one for French Protestants, one for Moravians, one for Roman Catholics, and one for Jews.

According to the census in 1790, the number of inhabitants in New York was found to be thirty thousand one hundred and forty-eight free persons, and two thousand one hundred 267and eighty slaves; but at present the number is supposed to amount at least to forty thousand. The inhabitants have long been distinguished above those of all the other towns in the United States, except it be the people of Charleston, for their politeness, gaiety, and hospitality; and, indeed, in these points they are most strikingly superior to the inhabitants of the other large towns. Their public amusements consist in dancing and card assemblies, and theatrical exhibitions; for the former a spacious suite of rooms has lately been, erected. The theatre is of wood, and a most miserable edifice it is; but a new one is now building on a grand scale, which, it is thought, will be as much too large for the town as the other is too small.

Being anxious to proceed on our journey before the season was too far advanced, and also particularly desirous of quitting New York on account of the fevers, which, it was rumoured, were increasing very fast, we took our passage for Albany in one of the sloops trading constantly on the North River, between New York and that place, and embarked on the second day of July, about two o’clock in the afternoon. Scarcely a breath of air was stirring at the time; but the tide carried us up at the rate of about two miles and a half an hour. The sky remained all day 268as serene as possible, and as the water was perfectly smooth, it reflected in a most beautiful manner the images of the various objects on the shore, and of the numerous vessels dispersed along the river at different distances, and which seemed to glide along, as it were, by the power of magic, for the sails, all hung down loose and motionless. The sun, setting in all his glory, added fresh beauties to this calm and peaceable scene, and permitted us for the last time to behold the distant spires of New York, illumined by his parting rays. To describe all the grand and beautiful prospects presented to the view on passing along this noble river, would be an endless talk; all the various effects that can be supposed to arise from a happy combination of wood and water, of hill and dale, are here seen in the greatest perfection. 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; in some places again its course can be traced as far as the eye can reach, whilst in others it is suddenly lost to the view, 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, 269whilst neat farm houses and distant towns embellish the charming landscapes.

VIEW on the HUDSON RIVER

After sunset, a brisk wind sprang up, which carried us on at the rate of six or seven miles an hour for a considerable part of the night; but for some hours we had to lie at anchor at a place where the navigation of the river was too difficult to proceed in the dark. Our sloop was no more than seventy tons burthen by register; but the accommodations she afforded were most excellent, and far superior to what might be expected on board so small a vessel; the cabin was equally large with that in a common merchant vessel of three hundred tons, built for crossing the ocean. This was owing to the great breadth of her beam, which was no less than twenty-two feet and a half although her length was only fifty-five feet. All the sloops engaged in this trade are built nearly on the same construction; short, broad, and very shallow, few of them draw more than five or six feet water, so that they are only calculated for sailing upon smooth water.

Early the next morning we found ourselves opposite to West Point, a place rendered remarkable in history by the desertion of General Arnold, during the American war, and the consequent death of the unfortunate Major André. The fort stands about one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the water, on 270the side of a barren hill; no human creature appearing in it except the solitary sentinel, who marched backwards and forwards on the ramparts overgrown with long grass, it had a most melancholy aspect that perhaps was heightened by the gloominess of the morning, and the recollection of all the circumstances attending the unhappy fate of poor André.

Near West Point there is also another post, called Fort Putnam, which, since the peace, has been suffered to get very much out of repair; however, steps are now taking to have it put in good order. Supposing that a rupture should ever unfortunately again take place between Great Britain and the United States of America, these posts would be of the greatest consequence, as they form a link in that chain of posts which extend the whole way along the navigable waters that connect the British settlements with New York.

In this neighbourhood the highlands, as they are called, commence, and extend along the river on each side for several miles. The breadth of the river is here considerably contracted, and such sudden gusts of wind, coming from between the mountains, sometimes blow through the narrow passes, that vessels frequently have their topmasts carried away. The captain of the sloop we were in, said, 271that his mainsail was once blown into tatters in an instant, and a part of it carried on shore. When the sky is lowering, they usually take in sail going along this part of the river.

About four o’clock in the morning of the fourth of July we reached Albany, the place of our destination, one hundred and sixty miles distant from New York.

Albany is a city, and contains about eleven hundred houses; the number however is increasing fast, particularly since the removal of the state government from New York. In the old part of the town the streets are very narrow and the houses are frightful; they are all built in the old Dutch taste, with the gable end towards the street, and ornamented on the top with large iron weather cocks; but in that part which has been lately erected, the streets are commodious, and many of the houses are handsome. Great pains have been taken to have the streets well paved and lighted. Here are four places for public worship, and an hospital. Albany is in summer time a very disagreeable place; it stands in a low situation, just on the margin of the river, which runs very slowly here, and towards the evening often exhales clouds of vapours; immediately behind the town, likewise, is a large sand bank, that prevents a free circulation of air, while at the same time it 272powerfully reflects the rays of the sun, which shines in full force upon it the whole day. Notwithstanding all this, however, the climate is deemed very salubrious.

The inhabitants of this place, a few years ago, were almost entirely of Dutch extraction; but now strangers are flocking to it from all quarters, as there are few places in America more advantageously situated for commerce. The flourishing state of its trade has already been mentioned; it bids fair to rival that of New York in process of time.

The fourth of July, the day of our arrival at Albany, was the anniversary of the declaration of American independence, and on our arrival we were told that great preparations were making for its celebration[26]. A drum and trumpet, towards the middle of the day, gave notice of the commencement of the rejoicings, and on walking to a hill about a 273quarter of a mile from the town, we saw sixty men drawn up, partly militia, partly volunteers, partly infantry, partly cavalry; the latter were clothed in scarlet, and mounted on horses of various descriptions. About three hundred spectators attended. A few rounds were fired from a three pounder, and some volleys of small arms. The firing was finished before one hour was expired, and then the troops returned to 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 town, the whole body immediately dispersed. The volunteers and militia officers afterwards dined together, and so ended the rejoicings of the day; no public ball, no general entertainment was there of any description. A day still fresh in the memory of every American, and which appears so glorious in the annals of their country, would, it might be expected, have called forth more brilliant and more general rejoicings; but the downright phlegmatic people in this neighbourhood, intent upon making money, and enjoying the solid advantages of the revolution, are but little disposed to waste their time in what they consider idle demonstrations of joy.

LETTER XX.

Departure from Albany.—Difficulty of hiring a Carriage.—Arrival at Cohoz.—Description of the curious Fall there of the Mohawk River.—Still-water.—Saratoga.—Few of the Works remaining there.—Singular Mineral Springs near Saratoga.—Fort Edward.—Miss M‘Crea cruelly murdered there by Indians.—Fort Ann, wretched Road thither.—Some Observations on the American Woods.—Horses jaded.—Difficulty of getting forward.—Arrive at Skenesborough.—Dreadfully infested by Musquitoes.—Particular Description of that Insect.—Great Danger ensues sometimes from their Bite.—Best Remedy.

VIEW of the COHOZ FALL.

WE remained in Albany for a few days, and then set off for Skenesborough, upon Lake Champlain, in a carriage hired for the purpose. The hiring of this vehicle was a matter attended with some trouble, and detained us longer in the town than we wished to stay. There were only two carriages to be had in the whole place, and the owners having an understanding with each other, and thinking 275that we should be forced to give whatever price they asked, positively refused to let us have either of them for less than seventy dollars, equal to fifteen guineas. We on our part as positively refused to comply with a demand which we knew to be exorbitant, and resolved to wait patiently in Albany for some other conveyance, rather than submit to such an imposition. The fellows held out for two days, but at the end of that time one of them came to tell us we might have his carriage for half the price, and accordingly we took it.

Early the next morning we set off, and in about two hours arrived at the small village of Cohoz, close to which is the remarkable fall 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, disembogues into the Hudson or North River, about ten miles above Albany. The Cohoz Fall is about three miles distant from its mouth. The breadth of the river is three hundred yards; a ledge of rocks extends quite across, and from the top of them 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 fall varies very much, according to the quantity of water; when the river is full, the water descends in an unbroken sheet from one bank 276to the other, whilst at other times the greater part of the rocks are left uncovered. The rocks are of a remarkable dark colour, and so also is the earth in the banks, which rise to a great height on either side. There is a very pleasing view of this cataract as you pass over the bridge across the river, about three quarters of a mile lower down.

From hence we proceeded along the banks of the Hudson River, through the town of Still-water, which receives its name from the uncommon stillness of the river opposite to it, and late in the evening reached Saratoga, thirty-five miles from Albany. This place contains about forty houses, and a Dutch reformed church, but they are so scattered about that it has not the smallest appearance of a town.

In this neighbourhood, upon the borders of a marsh, are several very remarkable mineral springs; one of them, in the crater of a rock, of a pyramidical form, about five feet in height, is particularly curious. This rock seems to have been formed by the petrifaction of the water: all the other springs are likewise surrounded with petrifactions of the same kind. The water in the principal spring, except at the beginning of the summer, when it regularly overflows, remains about eight inches below the rim of the crater, and bubbles up 277as if boiling. The crater is nine inches in diameter. The various properties of the water have not been yet ascertained with any great accuracy; but it is said to be impregnated with a fossile acid and some saline substance; there is also a great portion of fixed air in it. An opportunity is here afforded for making some curious experiments.

If animals be put down into the crater, they will be immediately suffocated; but if not kept there too long they recover again upon being brought into the open air.

If a lighted candle be put down, the flame will be extinguished in an instant, and not even the smallest spark left in the wick.

If the water immediately taken from the spring be put into a bottle, closely corked, and then shaken, either the cork will be forced out with an explosion, or the bottle will be broken; but if lest in an open vessel it becomes vapid in less than half an hour. The water is very pungent to the taste, and acts as a cathartic on some people, as an emetic on others.

Of the works thrown up at Saratoga by the British and American armies during the war, there are now scarcely any remains. The country round about is well cultivated, and the trenches have been mostly levelled by the plough. We here crossed the Hudson River, 278and proceeded along its eastern shore as far as Fort Edward, where it is lost to the view, for the road still runs on towards the north, whilst the river takes a sudden bend to the west.

Fort Edward was dismantled prior to the late American war; but the opposite armies, during that unhappy contest, were both in the neighbourhood. Many of the people, whom we found living here, had served as soldiers in the army, and told us a number of interesting particulars relative to several events which happened in this quarter. The landlord of the tavern where we stopped, for one, related all the circumstances attending Miss M‘Crea’s death, and pointed out on a hill, not far from the house, the very spot where she was murdered by the Indians, and the place of her interment. This beautiful young lady had been engaged to an officer in General Burgoyne’s army, who, anxious for her safety, as there were several marauding parties going about in the neighbourhood where she lived, sent a party of trusty Indians to escort her to the camp. These Indians had partly executed their commission, and were approaching with their charge in sight of the British camp, when they were met by another set of Indians belonging to a different tribe, that was also attending the British army at this time. In a few minutes it became a matter of dispute 279between them which should have the honour of conducting her to the camp; from words they came to blows, and blood was on the point of being drawn, when one of their chiefs, to settle the matter without farther mischief, went up to Miss M‘Crea, and killed her on the spot with a blow of his tomahawk. The object of contention being thus removed, the Indians returned quietly to the camp. The enormity of the crime, however, was too great not to attract public notice, and it turned the minds of every person against the Indians, who had not before witnessed their ferocity on occasions equally shocking to humanity. The impolicy of employing such barbarians was now strongly reprobated, and in a short time afterwards most of them were dismissed from our army.

Fort Edward stands near the river. The town of the same name, is at the distance of one or two hundred yards from it, and contains about twenty houses. Thus far we had got on tolerably well; but from hence to Fort Anne, which was also dismantled prior to the late war, the road is most wretched, particularly over a long causeway between the two forts, formed originally for the transporting of cannon, the soil here being extremely moist and heavy. The causeway consists of large trees laid side by side transversely, some 280of which having decayed, great intervals are left, wherein the wheels of the carriage were sometimes locked so fast that the horses alone could not possibly extricate them. To have remained in the carriage over this part of the road would really have been a severe punishment; for although boasted of as being the very best in Albany, it had no sort of springs, and was in fact little better than a common waggon; we therefore alighted, took our guns, and amused ourselves with shooting as we walked along through the woods. The woods here had a much more majestic appearance than any that we had before met with on our way from Philadelphia; this, however, was owing more to the great height than to the thickness of the trees, for I could not see one that appeared more than thirty inches in diameter; indeed, in general, the girt of the trees in the woods of America is but very small in proportion to their height, and trifling in comparison of that of the forest trees in Great Britain. The thickest tree I ever saw in the country was a sycamore, which grew upon the banks of the Shenandoah River, just at its junction with the Patowmac, in a bed of rich earth, close to the water; yet this tree was no more than about four feet four inches in diameter. On the low grounds in Kentucky, and on some of the bottoms in the western 281territory, it is said that trees are commonly to be met with seven and eight feet in diameter. Where this is the case, the trees must certainly grow much farther apart than they do in the woods in the middle states, towards the Atlantic, for there they spring up so very close to each other, that it is absolutely impossible for them to attain to a great diameter.

The woods here were composed chiefly of oaks[27], hiccory, hemlock, and beech trees, intermixed with which, appeared great numbers of the smooth bark or Weymouth pines, as they are called, that seem almost peculiar to this part of the country. A profusion of wild raspberries were growing in the woods here, really of a very good flavour: they are commonly found in the woods to the northward of this; in Canada they abound every where.

Beyond Fort Anne, which is situated at the distance of eight miles from Fort Edward, the roads being better, we once more mounted into our vehicle; but the miserable horses, quite jaded, now made a dead stop; in vain the driver bawled, and stamped, and swore; his whip had been previously worn out some hours, owing to the frequent use he had made of it, and the animals no longer feeling 282its heavy lash, seemed as determined as the mules of the abbess of Andouillets to go no farther. In this situation we could not help bantering the fellow upon the excellence of his cattle, which he had boasted so much of at setting out, and he was ready to cry with vexation at what we said; but having accidentally mentioned the sum we had paid for the carriage, his passion could no longer be restrained, and it broke forth in all its fury. It appeared that he was the owner of two of the horses, and for the use of them, and for driving the carriage, was to have had one half of the hire; but the man whom we had agreed with, and paid at Albany, had given him only ten dollars as his moiety, assuring him, at the same time, that it was exactly the half of what we had given, although in reality it fell short of the sum by seven dollars and a half. Thus cheated by his companion, and left in the lurch by his horses, he vowed vengeance against him on his return; but as protestations of this nature would not bring us any sooner to our journey’s end, and as it was necessary that something should be immediately done, if we did not wish to remain all night in the woods, we suggested the idea, in the mean time, of his conducting the foremost horses as postillion, whilst one of our servants should drive the pair next to the wheel. This plan 283was not started with any degree of seriousness, for we could not have supposed that a tall meagre fellow, upwards of six feet high, and clad in a pair of thin nankeen breeches, would very readily bestride the raw boned back of a horse, covered with the profuse exudations which the intense heat of the weather, and the labour the animal had gone through, necessarily excited. As much tired, however, of our pleasantries as we were of his vehicle, and thinking of nothing, I believe, but how he could best get rid of us, he eagerly embraced the proposal, and accordingly, having furnished himself with a switch from the adjoining thicket, he mounted his harnessed Rosinante. In this style we proceeded; but more than once did our gigantic postillion turn round to bemoan the sorry choice he had made; as often did we urge the necessity of getting out of the woods; he could make no answer; so jogging slowly along, we at last reached the little town of Skenesborough, much to the amusement of every one who beheld our equipage, and much to our own satisfaction; for, owing to the various accidents we had met with, such as traces breaking, bridles slipping off the heads of the horses, and the noble horses themselves sometimes slipping down, &c. &c. we had been 284no less than five hours in travelling the last twelve miles.

Skenesborough stands just above the junction of Wood Creek with South River, as it is called in the best maps, but which, by the people in the neighbourhood, is considered as a part of Lake Champlain. At present there are only about twelve houses in the place; but if the navigation of Wood Creek is ever opened, so as to connect Lake Champlain with the North River, a scheme which has already been seriously thought of, it will, doubtless, soon become a trading town of considerable importance, as all the various productions of the shores of the lake will then be collected there for the New York and Albany markets. Notwithstanding all the disadvantages of a land carriage of forty miles to the North River, a small portion of flour and potash, the staple commodities of the state of New York, is already sent to Skenesborough from different parts of the lake, to be forwarded to Albany. A considerable trade also is carried on through this place, and over Lake Champlain, between New York and Canada. Furs and horses principally are sent from Canada, and in return they get East Indian goods and various manufactures. Lake Champlain opens a very ready communication 285between New York and the country bordering on the St. Lawrence; it is emphatically called by the Indians, Caniad—Eri Guarunte, the mouth or door of the country.

Skenesborough is most dreadfully infested with musquitoes; so many of them attacked us the first night of our sleeping there, that when we arose in the morning our faces and hands were covered all over with large pustules, precisely like those of a person in the small pox. This happened too notwithstanding that the people of the house, before we went to bed, had taken all the pains possible to clear the room of them, by fumigating it with the smoke of green wood, and afterwards securing the windows with gauze blinds; and even on the second night, although we destroyed many dozens of them on the walls, after a similar fumigation had been made, yet we suffered nearly as much. These insects were of a much larger size than any I ever saw elsewhere, and their bite was uncommonly venomous. General Washington told me, that he never was so much annoyed by musquitoes in any part of America as in Skenesborough, for that they used to bite through the thickest boot. The situation of the place is indeed peculiarly favourable for them, being just on the margin of a piece of water, almost stagnant, and shaded with thick woods. 286The musquito is of the same species with the common gnat in England, and resembles it very closely both in size and shape. Like the gnat it lays its eggs on the surface of the water, where they are hatched in the course of a few days, unless the water is agitated, in which last case they are all destroyed. From the egg is produced a grub, which changes to a chrysalis, and afterwards to a musquito; this last change takes place on the surface of the water, and if at the moment that the insect first spreads its wings the water is not perfectly still and the air calm, it will be inevitably destroyed; at those parts of the lake, therefore, which are most exposed, and where the water is often agitated, no such thing as a musquito is ever seen; neither are they ever found along a large and rapid river, where the shores are lofty and dry; but in the neighbourhood of marshes, low grounds, and stagnant waters, they always abound. Musquitoes appear to be particularly fond of the fresh blood of Europeans, who always suffer much more the first year of their arrival in America than they do afterwards. The people of the country seem quite to disregard their attacks. Wherever they fix their sting, a little tumor or pustule usually arises, supposed to be occasioned by the fermentation, when mixed with the blood, of a small quantity 287of liquor which the insect always injects into the wound it makes with its spicula, as may be seen through a microscope, and which it probably does to render the blood more fluid. The disagreeable itching this excites is most effectually allayed by the application of volatile alkali; or if the part newly stung be scratched and immediately bathed in cold water, that also affords considerable relief; but after the venom has been lodged for any time, scratching only increases the itching, and it may be attended with great danger. Repeated instances have occurred of people having been laid up for months, and narrowly escaping the loss of a limb, from imprudently rubbing a part which had been bitten for a long time. Great ease is also derived from opening the pustules on the second day with a lancet, and letting out the blood and watery matter.

LETTER XXI.

Embark on Lake Champlain.—Difficulty of procuring Provisions at Farms bordering upon it.—Ticonderoga.—Crown Point.—Great Beauty of the Scenery.—General Description of Lake Champlain and the adjacent Country. Captain Thomas and his Indians arrive at Crown Point.—Character of Thomas.—Reach St. John’s.—Description of that Place.—Great Difference observable in the Face of the Country, Inhabitants, &c. in Canada and in the States.—Chambly Castle.—Calashes.—Bons Dieux.—Town of La Prarie.—Great Rapidity of the River Saint Lawrence.—Cross it to Montreal.—Astonishment on seeing large Ships at Montreal.—Great Depth of the River.

SHORTLY after our arrival in Skenesborough, we hired a small boat of about ten tons for the purpose of crossing Lake Champlain. It was our wish to proceed on the voyage immediately; but the owner of the boat asserting that it was impossible to go out with the wind then blowing, we were for three days detained in Skenesborough, a delicious feast for the hungry musquitoes. The 289wind shifted again and again, still it was not fair in the opinion of our boatman. At last, being most heartily tired of our quarters, and suspecting that he did not understand his business as well as he ought to have done, we resolved not to abide by his opinion any longer, but to make an attempt at beating out; and we had great reason to be pleased with having done so, as we arrived in Canada three days before any of the other boats, that did not venture to move till the wind was quite aft.

We set off about one o’clock; but from the channel being very narrow, it was impossible to make much way by tacking. We got no farther than six miles before sun-set. We then stopped, and having landed, walked up to some farm houses, which appeared at a distance, on the Vermont shore, to procure provisions; for the boatman had told us it was quite unnecessary to take in any at Skenesborough, as there were excellent houses close to the shore the whole way, where we could get whatever we wished. At the first we went to, which was a comfortable log-house, neither bread, nor meat, nor milk, nor eggs, were to be had; the house was crowded with children of all ages, and the people, I suppose, thought they had but little enough for themselves. At a second house, we found a venerable old man at the door, reading a news-paper, who civilly 290offered it to us for our perusal, and began to talk upon the politics of the day; we thanked him for his offer, and gave him to understand, at the same time, that a loaf would be much more acceptable. Bread there was none; we got a new Vermont cheese, however. A third house now remained in sight, and we made a third attempt at procuring something to eat. This one was nearly half a mile off, but alas! it afforded still less than the last; the people had nothing to dispose of but a little milk. With the milk and the cheese, therefore, we returned to our boat, and adding thereto some biscuits and wine, which we had luckily on board, the whole afforded us a frugal repast.

The people at the American farm houses will cheerfully lie three in a bed, rather than suffer a stranger to go away who comes to seek for a lodging. As all these houses, however, which we had visited, were crowded with inhabitants, we felt no great inclination to ask for accommodation at any of them, but determined to sleep on board our little vessel. We accordingly moored her at a convenient part of the shore, and each of us having wrapped himself up in a blanket, which we had been warned to provide on leaving New York, we laid ourselves down to sleep. The boat was decked two thirds of her length forward, and had a commodious hold; we gave the preference, 291however, because more airy, to the cabin or after part, fitted up with benches, and covered with a wooden awning, under which a man could just sit upright, provided he was not very tall. The benches, which went lengthwise, accommodated two of us; and the third was obliged to put up with the cabin floor; but a blanket and a bare board, out of the way of musquitoes, were luxuries after our accommodations at Skenesborough; our ears were not assailed by the noise even of a single one the whole night, and we enjoyed sounder repose than we had done for many nights preceding.

The wind remained nearly in the same point the next morning, but the lake being wider, we were enabled to proceed faster. We stopped at one house to breakfast, and at another to dine. At neither of these, although they bore the name of taverns, were we able to procure much more than at the houses where we had stopped the preceding evening. At the first we got a little milk, and about two pounds of bread, absolutely the whole of what was in the house; and at the second, a few eggs, and some cold salted fat pork; but not a morsel of bread was to be had. The wretched appearance also of this last habitation was very striking; it consisted of a wooden frame, merely with a few boards nailed against 292it, the crevices between which were the only apertures for the admission of light, except the door; and the roof was so leaky, that we were sprinkled with the rain even as we sat at the fire side. That people can live in such a manner, who have the necessaries and conveniencies of life within their reach, as much as any others in the world, is really most astonishing! It is, however, to be accounted for, by that desire of making money, which is the predominant feature in the character of the Americans in general, and leads the petty farmer in particular to suffer numberless inconveniencies, when he can gain by so doing. If he can sell the produce of his land to advantage, he keeps as small a part of it as possible for himself, and lives the whole year round upon salt provisions, bad bread, and the fish he can catch in the rivers or lakes in the neighbourhood; if he has built a comfortable house for himself, he readily quits it, as soon as finished, for money, and goes to live in a mere hovel in the woods till he gets time to build another. Money is his idol, and to procure it he gladly foregoes every self-gratification.

From this miserable habitation, just mentioned, we departed as soon as the rain was over, and the wind coming round in our favour, we got as far as Ticonderoga that night. The only dwelling here is the tavern, which 293is a large house built of stone. On entering it we were shewn into a spacious apartment, crowded with boatmen and people that had just arrived from St. John’s, in Canada. Seeing such a number of guests in the house, we expected nothing less than to be kept an hour or two till sufficient supper was prepared for the whole company, so that all might sit down at once together, which, as I have before said, is the custom in the country parts of the United States. Our surprise therefore was great at perceiving a neat table and a comfortable little supper speedily laid out for us, and no attempts made at serving the rest of the company till we had quite finished. This was departing from the system of equality in a manner which we had never witnessed before, and we were at a loss for some time to account for it; but we presently heard that the woman of the house had kept a tavern for the greater part of her life at Quebec, which resolved the knotty point. The wife is generally the active person in managing a country tavern, and the husband attends to his farm, or has some independent occupation. The man of this house was a judge, a sullen demure old gentleman, who sat by the fire[28], with tattered clothes and dishevelled 294locks, reading a book, totally regardless of every person in the room.

The old fort and barracks of Ticonderoga are on the top of a rising ground, just behind the tavern; they are quite in ruins, and it is not likely that they will ever be rebuilt, for the situation is very insecure, being commanded by a lofty hill called Mount Defiance. The British got possession of the place the last war by dragging cannon and mortars up the hill, and firing down upon the fort.

Early the next morning we left Ticonderoga, and pursued our voyage to Crown Point, where we landed to look at the old fort. Nothing is to be seen there, however, but a heap of ruins; for shortly before it was given up by the British, the powder magazine blew up, by which accident a great part of the works was destroyed; since the evacuation of it also, the people in the neighbourhood have been continually digging in different parts, in hopes of procuring lead and iron shot; a considerable quantity was in one instance got out of the stores that had been buried by the explosion. The vaults, which were bomb proof, have been demolished for the sake of the bricks for building chimneys. At the south side alone the ditches remain perfect; they are wide and deep, and cut through immense rocks of limestone; and from being overgrown towards the top with different kinds of shrubs, have a grand 295and picturesque appearance. The view from this spot of the fort, and the old buildings in it overgrown with ivy, of the lake, and of the distant mountains beyond it, is indeed altogether very fine. The fort, and seven hundred acres of good cleared land adjoining to it, are the property of the state of New York, and are leased out at the rate of one hundred and fifty dollars, equal to £. 33. 10 s. sterling per annum, which is appropriated for the use of a college. The farmer who rented it told us, he principally made use of the land for grazing cattle; these, in the winter season, when the lake was frozen, he drove over the ice to Albany, and there disposed of.

Crown Point is the most advantageous spot on the shores of Lake Champlain for a military post, not being commanded by any rising grounds in the neighbourhood, as Ticonderoga is, and as the lake is so narrow here, owing to another point running out on the opposite side, that it would be absolutely impossible for a vessel to pass, without being exposed to the fire of the fort. The Indians call this place Tek-ya-dough-nigarigee, that is, the two points immediately opposite to each other: the one opposite to Crown Point is called Chimney Point; upon it are a few houses, one of which is a tavern. While we staid there we were very agreeably surprised, for the first time, with 296the sight of a large birch canoe upon the lake, navigated by two or three Indians in the dresses of their nation. They made for the shore and soon landed; and shortly after another party, amounting to six or seven, arrived, that had come by land.

On board our little vessel we had a poor Canadian, whom we took in at Skenesborough. Tempted by the accounts he had heard of the United States, he quitted his own home in Canada, where he lived under one of the seigniors, and had gone as far as Albany, in the neighbourhood of which place he had worked for some time with a farmer; but finding, that although he got higher wages, he had to pay much more for his provisions than in Canada, and that he was also most egregiously cheated by the people, and particularly by his employer, from whom he could not get even the money he had earned; finding likewise that he was unable to procure any redress, from being ignorant of the English language, the poor fellow determined to return to Canada, and on his way thither we met him, without a shilling in his pocket.

Having asked this little fellow, as we sailed along, some questions about the Indians, he immediately gave us a long account of a Captain Thomas, a chief of the Cachenonaga nation, in the neighbourhood of whose village he 297said he lived. Thomas, he told us, was a very rich man, and had a most excellent house, in which he said he lived as well as a seignior, and he was sure we should be well received if we went to see him; he told us also that he had built a church, and was a christian; that he was very charitable, and that if he were acquainted with his present distress he would certainly make him a present of four or five dollars. “Oh je vous assure, messieurs, que c’est un bon sauvage.” It was impossible not to smile at the little Canadian, who, half naked himself, and nearly as dark as a mulatto, concluded his panegyric upon Thomas, by assuring us, “he was a good savage;” at the same time we felt a strong desire to behold this chief, of whom we had heard so much. It was not long before we were gratified, for the party of Indians that arrived whilst we were at Chimney Point were from the Cachenonaga village, and at their head was Captain Thomas.

Thomas appeared to be about forty-five years of age; he was nearly six feet high, and very bulky in proportion: this is a sort of make uncommon among the Indians, who are generally slender. He was dressed like a white man, in boots; his hair untied, but cut short; the people who attended him were all in the Indian habit. Not one of his followers could speak a word of English or French; Thomas, 298however, could himself speak both languages. English he spoke with some little hesitation, and not correctly; but French seemed as familiar to him as his native tongue. His principal attention seemed to be directed towards trade, which he had pursued with great success, so much so, indeed, that, as we afterwards heard, he could get credit in any store in Montreal for five hundred pounds. He had along with him at Chimney Point thirty horses and a quantity of furs in the canoe, which he was taking for sale to Albany. His people, he told us, had but very few wants; he took care to have these always supplied; in return they brought him furs, taken in hunting; they attended his horses, and voluntarily accompanied him when he went on a trading expedition: his profits therefore must be immense. During the course of conversation he told us, that if we came to see him he would make us very happy; that there were some very handsome squaws[29] in his village, and that each of us should have a wife: we promised to visit him if it was in our power, and parted very good friends. Thomas, as we afterwards found, is not a man respected among the Indians in general, who think much more of a chief that is a good warrior and hunter, and that retains the

299habits of his nation, than of one that becomes a trader, and assimilates his manners to those of the whites.

Lake Champlain is about one hundred and twenty miles in length, and is of various breadths; for the first thirty miles, that is, from South River to Crown Point, 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 then again it narrows, and again at the end of a few miles expands. That part called the Broad Lake, because broader than any other, commences about twenty-five miles north of Crown Point, and is eighteen miles across in the widest part. Here the lake is interspersed with a great number of islands, the largest of which, formerly called Grande Isle, now South Hero, is fifteen miles in length, and, on an average, about four in breadth. The soil of this island is fertile, and it is said that five hundred people are settled upon it. The Broad Lake is nearly fifty miles in length, and gradually narrows till it terminates in a large river called Chambly, Richlieu, or Sorelle, which runs into the St. Lawrence.

The soundings of Lake Champlain, except at the narrow parts at either end, are in general very deep; in many places sixty and seventy, and in some even one hundred fathoms. In proportion to its breadth and depth, the water 300is more or less clear; in the broad part it is as pure and transparent as possible. On the west side, as far as Cumberland Bay, the lake is bounded for the most part by steep mountains close to the edge of the water; at Cumberland Bay the ridge of mountains runs off to the north west, and the shore farther on is low and swampy. The East or Vermont shore is not much elevated, except in a few particular places; at the distance of twelve miles, however, from the lake is a considerable mountain. The shores on both sides are very rocky; where there are mountains these rocks jut out very boldly; but at the east side, where the land is low, they appear but a little above the water. The islands also, for the most part, are surrounded with rocks, in some parts, shelving down into the lake, so that it is dangerous to approach within one or two miles of them at particular sides. From some parts of the eastern shore the rocks also run out in the same manner for a considerable distance. Sailing along the shore when a breeze is blowing, a hollow murmuring noise is always heard from the waters splashing into the crannies of these rocks. There are many streams which fall into the lake: the mouths of all those on the western side are obstructed by falls, so that none of them are navigable. Of those on the eastern or Vermont side, a few only are navigable for small boats, and that for a short distance.

301The scenery along various parts of the lake is extremely grand and picturesque, particularly beyond Crown Point; the shores are there beautifully ornamented with hanging woods and rocks, and the mountains on the western side rise up in ranges one behind the other in the most magnificent manner. It was on one of the finest evenings possible that we passed along this part of the lake, and the sun setting in all his glory behind the mountains, spread the richest tints over every part of the prospect; the moon also appearing nearly in the full, shortly after the day had closed, afforded us an opportunity of beholding the surrounding scenery in fresh though less brilliant colours. Our little bark was now gliding smoothly along, whilst every one of us remained wrapt up in silent contemplation of the solemn scene, when suddenly she struck upon one of the shelving rocks: nothing but hurry and confusion was now visible on board, every one lending his assistance; however, at last, with some difficulty, we got her off; but in a minute she struck a second time, and after we had again extricated her, even a third and a fourth time; at last she stuck so fast that for a short time we despaired of being able to move her. At the end of a quarter of an hour, however, we again fortunately got her into deep water. We had before suspected that our boatman did not 302know a great deal about the navigation of the lake, and on questioning him now, it came out, that he had been a cobler all his life, till within the last nine months, when he thought proper to change his business, and turn sailor. All the knowledge he had of the shores of the lake, was what he had picked up during that time, as he sailed straight backward and forward between St. John’s and Skenesborough. On the present occasion he had mistaken one bay for another, and had the waves been as high as they sometimes are, the boat would inevitably have been dashed to pieces.

The humble roof of another judge, a plain Scotch labourer, afforded us shelter for this night. It was near eleven o’clock, however, when we got there, and the family having retired to rest we had to remain rapping and calling at the door for half an hour at least; before we could get admittance. The people at last being roused, opened their doors, cheerfully got us some supper, and prepared their best beds for us. In the morning, having paid our reckoning to the judge, he returned to his plough, and we to our boat to prosecute our voyage.

We set off this day with a remarkable fine breeze, and being desirous of terminating our voyage as soon as possible, of which we began now to be somewhat tired, we stopped but 303once in the course of the day, and determined to sail on all night. A short time after sun set we passed the boundary between the British dominions and the United States. Here we were brought to by an armed brig of twenty guns, under English colours, stationed for the purpose of examining all boats passing up and down the lake: the answers which we gave to the several questions asked being satisfactory, we were accordingly suffered to proceed. Since the surrender of the ports, pursuant to the late treaty with the United States, this brig has been removed, and laid up at St. John’s. When night came on, we wrapped ourselves up in our blankets, as we had done on the first night of our voyage, and laid down upon the cabin floor, where we might possibly have slept until we got to St. John’s, had we not been awakened at midnight by the loud hollas of the sentinel at the British fort on Isle aux Noix. On examining into the matter, it appeared that the boat had been driven on shore, while our sleepy pilot enjoyed his nap at the helm; and the sentinel, unable to imagine what we were about, seeing the boat run up close under the fort, and suspicious of some attack, I suppose, had turned out the whole guard; by whom, after being examined and re-examined, we were finally dismissed. We now took the command of the boat upon 304ourselves, for the boatman, although he was more anxious to get to St. John’s than any one of us, and though he had himself in some-measure induced us to go on, was so sleepy that he could not keep his eyes open. Relieving each other at the helm, we reached St. John’s by day-break; one hundred and fifty miles distant from Skenesborough.

Immediately on our landing we were conducted to the guard house, where we had to deliver to the serjeant on duty, to be by him forwarded to the commanding officer, an account of our names, occupation, and place of abode, the strictest orders having been issued by the governor not to suffer any Frenchmen or other foreigners, or any people who could not give an exact account of their business in Canada, to enter into the country.

A NEW MAP OF UPPER & LOWER CANADA 1798.
Published Novr. 20th. 1798 by J.Stockdale Piccadilly.

St. John’s is a garrison town; it contains about fifty miserable wooden dwellings, and barracks, in which a whole regiment is generally quartered. The fortifications are entirely out of order, so much so that it would be cheaper to erect fresh works than to attempt to repair them. There is a king’s dock yard here, well stored with timber, at least, when we saw it; but in the course of the summer, after the armed brig which I mentioned was laid up, all the timber was sold off. The old hulks of several vessels of force were lying 305opposite the yard. In proportion to the increase of trade between New York and Lower Canada this town must improve, as it is the British port of entry on Lake Champlain.

The country about St. John’s is flat, and very bare of trees, a dreadful fire in the year 1788 having done great mischief, and destroyed all the woods for several miles: in some parts of the neighbourhood the people suffer extremely during winter from the want of fuel.

At St. John’s we hired a light waggon, similar to those made use of in the United States, and set off about noon for La Prarie, on the banks of the river St. Lawrence. By the direct road, this is only eighteen miles distant; but the most agreeable way of going thither is by Chambly, which is a few miles farther, on account of seeing the old castle built there by the French. The castle stands close to the rapids in Chambly or Sorelle River, and at a little distance has a grand appearance; the adjacent country also being very beautiful, the whole together forms a most interesting scene. The castle is in tolerably good repair, and a garrison is constantly kept in it.

As you travel along this road to La Prarie, after having just arrived from the United States over Lake Champlain, a variety of objects forcibly remind you of your having got into a new country. The British flag, the soldiers 306on duty, the French inhabitants running about in their red nightcaps, the children coming to the doors to salute you as you pass, a thing unknown in any part of the United States; the compact and neat exterior appearance of the houses, the calashes, the bons dieux, the large Roman Catholic churches and chapels, the convents, the priests in their robes, the nuns, the friars; all serve to convince you that you are no longer in any part of the United States: the language also differs, French being here universally spoken.

Canadian Calash or Marche-donc.
Published Dec. 22 1798, by J Stockdale, Piccadilly.

The calash is a carriage very generally used in Lower Canada; there is scarcely a farmer indeed in the country who does not possess one: it is a sort of one horse chaise, capable of holding two people besides the driver, who sits on a kind of box placed over the foot board expressly for his accommodation. The body of the calash is hung upon broad straps of leather, round iron rollers that are placed behind, by means of which they are shortened or lengthened. On each side of the carriage is a little door about two feet high, whereby you enter it, and which is useful when shut, in preventing any thing from slipping out. The harness for the horse is always made in the old French taste, extremely heavy; it is studded with brass nails, and to particular parts 307of it are attached small bells, of no use that I could ever discover but to annoy the passenger.

The bons dieux are large wooden crucifixes, sometimes upwards of twenty feet in height, placed on the highway; some of them are highly ornamented and painted: as the people pass they pull off their hats, or in some other way make obeisance to them.

La Prarie de la Madelene contains about one hundred houses: after stopping an hour or two there we embarked in a bateau for Montreal.

Montreal is situated on an island of the same name, on the opposite side of the River St. Lawrence to that on which la Prarie stands, but somewhat lower down. The two towns are nine miles apart, and the river is about two miles and a quarter wide. The current here is prodigiously strong, and in particular places as you cross, the boats are hurried down the stream, in the midst of large rocks, with such impetuosity that it seems as if nothing could save them from being dashed to pieces; indeed this would certainly be the case if the men were not uncommonly expert; but the Canadians are the most dexterous people perhaps in the world at the management of bateaux in rapid rivers. After such a prospect of the River St. Lawrence, it was not without astonishment that on approaching 308the town of Montreal we beheld ships of upwards of four hundred tons burthen lying close to the shore. The difficulties which vessels have to encounter in getting to Montreal are immense; I have myself seen them with all their sails set, and with a smart and favourable breeze, stationary for an hour together in the stream, unable to stem it, between the island of St. Helene and the main land, just below the town: to stem the current at this place it is almost necessary that the vessel should be aided by a storm. The ascent is equally difficult in several other parts of the river. Owing to this it is, that the passage from Quebec to Montreal is generally more tedious than that across the Atlantic; those ships, therefore, which trade between Europe and Montreal, never attempt to make more than one voyage during the year. Notwithstanding the rapidity of the stream, the channel of the river is very deep, and in particular just opposite to the town. The largest merchant vessels can there lie so close to the banks, which are in their natural state, that you may nearly touch them with your hand as you stand on the shore.

LETTER XXII.

Description of the Town of Montreal.—Of the public Buildings.—Churches.—Funeral Ceremonies.—Convents.—Barracks.—Fortifications.—Inhabitants mostly French.—Their Character and Manners.—Charming Prospects in the Neighbourhood of the Town.—Amusements during Summer.—Parties of Pleasure up the Mountain.—Of the Fur Trade.—The Manner in which it is carried on.—Great Enterprise of the North West Company of Merchants.—Sketch of Mr. M‘Kenzie’s Expeditions over Land to the Pacific Ocean.—Differences between the North West and Hudson’s Bay Companies.

THE town of Montreal was laid out pursuant to the orders of one of the kings of France, which were, that a town should be built as high up on the St. Lawrence as it were possible for vessels to go by sea. In fixing upon the spot where it stands, his commands were complied with in the strictest sense. The town at present contains about twelve hundred houses, whereof five hundred only are within the walls; the rest are in the suburbs, which commence from the north, 310east, and west gates. The houses in the suburbs are mostly built of wood, but the others are all of stone; none of them are elegant, but there are many very comfortable habitations. In the lower part of the town, towards the river, where most of the shops stand, they have a very gloomy appearance, and look like so many prisons, being all furnished at the outside with sheet iron shutters to the doors and windows, which are regularly closed towards evening, in order to guard against fire. The town has suffered by fire very materially at different times, and the inhabitants have such a dread of it, that all who can afford it cover the roofs of their houses with tin-plates instead of shingles. By law they are obliged to have one or more ladders, in proportion to the size of the house, always ready on the roofs.

The streets are all very narrow; three of them run parallel to the river, and these are intersected by others at right angles, but not at regular distances. On the side of the town farthest from the river, and nearly between the northern and southern extremities, there is a small square, called La Place d’Armes, which seems originally to have been left open to the walls on one side, and to have been intended for the military to exercise in; the troops, however, never make use of it 311now, but parade on a long walk, behind the walls, nearer to the barracks. On the opposite side of the town, towards the water, is another small square, where the market is held.

There are six churches in Montreal; one for English Episcopalians, one for Presbyterians, and four for Roman Catholics. The cathedral church belonging to the latter, which occupies one side of La Place d’Armes, is a very spacious building, and contains five altars, all very richly decorated. The doors of this cathedral are left open the greater part of the day, and there are, generally, numbers of old people in it at their prayers, even when no regular service is going on. On a fine Sunday in the summer season such multitudes flock to it, that even the steps at the outside are covered with people, who, unable to get in, remain there kneeling with their hats off during the whole time of divine service. Nearly all the christenings, marriages, and burials of the Roman Catholic inhabitants of Montreal are performed in this church, on which occasions, as well as before and during the masses, they always ring the bells, to the great annoyance of every person that is not a lover of discords; for instead of pulling the bells, which are five in number, and really well toned, with regularity, they jingle them all at once, without any sort of cadence whatever. 312Our lodgings happened to be in La Place d’Armes; and during three weeks that we remained there, I verily believe the bells were never suffered to remain still for two hours together, at any one time, except in the night.

The funerals, as in other Roman Catholic countries, are conducted with great ceremony; the corpse is always attended to the church by a number of priests chanting prayers, and by little boys in white robes and black caps carrying wax lights. A morning scarcely ever passed over that one or more of these processions did not pass under our windows whilst we were at breakfast; for on the opposite side of the square to that on which the cathedral stood, was a sort of chapel, to which the bodies of all those persons, whose friends could not afford to pay for an expensive funeral, were brought, I suppose, in the night, for we could never see any carried in there, and from thence conveyed in the morning to the cathedral. If the priests are paid for it they go to the house of the deceased, though it be ever so far distant, and escort the corpse to the church. Until within a few years past it was customary to bury all the bodies in the vaults underneath the cathedral; but now it is prohibited, lest some putrid disorder should break out in the town in consequence of such 313numbers being deposited there. The burying grounds are all without the walls at present.

There are in Montreal four convents, one of which is of the order of St. Francis; the number of the friars, however, is reduced now to two or three, and as by the laws of the province men can no longer enter into any religious order, it will of course in a few years dwindle entirely away. On the female orders there is no restriction, and they are still well filled. The Hotel Dieu, founded as early as 1644, for the relief of the sick poor, and which is the oldest of the convents, contains thirty “religieuses”—nuns; La Congregation de Notre Dame, instituted for the instruction of young girls, contains fifty-seven sœurs, another sort of nuns; and L’Hospital Generale, for the accommodation of the infirm poor, contains eighteen sœurs.

The barracks are agreeably situated near the river, at the lower end of the town; they are surrounded by a lofty wall, and calculated to contain about three hundred men.

The walls round the town are mouldering away very fast, and in some places are totally in ruins; the gates, however, remain quite perfect. The walls were built principally as a defence against the Indians, by whom the country was thickly inhabited when Montreal was founded, and they were found necessary, 314to repel the open attacks of these people as late as the year 1736. When the large fairs used to be held in Montreal, to which the Indians from all parts resorted with their furs, they were also found extremely useful, as the inhabitants were thereby enabled to shut out the Indians at night, who, had they been suffered to remain in the town, addicted as they are to drinking, might have been tempted to commit great outrages, and would have kept the inhabitants in a continual state of alarm. In their best state the walls could not have protected the town against cannon, not even against a six pounder; nor, indeed, would the strongest walls be of any use in defending it against artillery, as it is completely commanded by the eminences in the island of St. Helene[30], in the River St. Lawrence. Montreal has always been an easy conquest to regular troops.

By far the greater number of the inhabitants of Montreal are of French extraction; all the eminent merchants, however, and principal people in the town, are either English, Scotch, Irish, or their descendants, all of whom pass for English with the French inhabitants. The French retain, in a great 315measure, the manners and customs of their ancestors, as well as the language; they have an unconquerable aversion to learn English, and it is very rare to meet with any person amongst them that can speak it in any manner; but the English inhabitants are, for the most part, well acquainted with the French language.

The people of Montreal, in general, are remarkably hospitable and attentive to strangers; they are sociable also amongst themselves, and fond in the extreme of convivial amusements. In winter, they keep up such a constant and friendly intercourse with each other, that it seems then as if the town were inhabited but by one large family. During summer they live somewhat more retired; but throughout that season a club, formed of all the principal, inhabitants, both male and female, meet every week or fortnight, for the purpose of dining at some agreeable spot in the neighbourhood of the town.

The island of Montreal is about twenty-eight miles in length and ten in breadth; it is the largest of several islands which are situated in the St. Lawrence, at the mouth of the Utawa River. Its soil is luxuriant, and in some parts much cultivated and thickly inhabited. It is agreeably diversified with hill and dale, and towards its center, in the neighbourhood 316of Montreal, there are two or three considerable mountains. The largest of these stands at the distance of about one mile from the town, which is named from it. The base of this mountain is surrounded with neat country houses and gardens, and partial improvements have been made about one third of the way up; the remainder is entirely covered with lofty trees. On that side towards the river is a large old monastery, with extensive inclosures walled in, round which the ground has been cleared for some distance. This open part is covered with a rich verdure, and the woods encircling it, instead of being overrun with brushwood, are quite clear at bottom, so that you may here roam about at pleasure for miles together, shaded, by the lofty trees, from the rays of the sun.

The view from hence is grand beyond description. A prodigious expanse of country is laid open to the eye, with the noble river St. Lawrence winding through it, which may be traced from the remotest part of the horizon. The river comes from the right, and flows smoothly on after passing down the tremendous rapids above the town, where it is hurried over huge rocks with a noise that is heard even up the mountain. On the left below you appears the town of Montreal, with its churches, monasteries, glittering 317spires, and the shipping under its old walls; several little islands in the river near the town, partly improved, partly overgrown with wood, add greatly to the beauty of the scene. La Prarie with its large church on the distant side of the river, is seen to the greatest advantage, and beyond it is a range of lofty mountains which terminates the prospect. Such an endless variety and such a grandeur is there in the view from this part of the mountain, that even those who are most habituated to the view always find it a fresh subject of admiration whenever they contemplate it; and on this part of the mountain it is that the club which I mentioned generally assembles. Two stewards are appointed for the day, who always chuse some new spot where there is a spring or rill of water, and an agreeable shade: each family brings cold provisions, wine, &c.; the whole is put together, and the company, often amounting to one hundred persons, sits down to dinner.

The fur trade is what is chiefly carried on at Montreal, and it is there that the greater part of the furs are shipped, which are sent from Canada to England.

This very lucrative trade is carried on, partly by what is called the North West Company, and partly by private individuals on their own account. The company does not possess any 318particular privileges by law, but from its great capital merely it is enabled to trade to certain remote parts of the continent, to the exclusion of those who do not hold any shares in it. It was formed originally by the merchants of Montreal themselves, who wisely considered that the trade could be carried on to those distant parts of the continent, inhabited solely by Indians, with more security and greater profit, if they joined together in a body, than if they continued to trade separately. The stock of the company was divided into forty shares, and as the number of merchants in the town at that time was not very great, this arrangement afforded an opportunity to every one of them to join in the company if he thought proper. At present these shares have all fallen into the hands of a few persons.

The company principally carries on its trade by means of the Utawas or Grand River, that falls into the St. Lawrence about thirty miles above Montreal, and which forms, by its confluence with that river, “Le Lac de Deux Montagnes et le Lac St. Louis,”—the lake of the Two Mountains and the Lake of St. Louis, wherein are several large islands. To convey the furs down this river, they make use of canoes, formed of the bark of the birch tree, some of which are upon such a large scale that they are capable of containing two tons, 319but they seldom put so much in them, especially on this river, it being in many places shallow, rapid, and full of rocks, and contains no less than thirty-two portages.

The canoes are navigated by the French Canadians, who are particularly fond of the employment, preferring it in general to that of cultivating the ground. A fleet of them sets off from Montreal about the month of May, laden with provisions, consisting chiefly of biscuit and salt pork, sufficient to last the crews till their return, and also with the articles given in barter to the Indians. At some of the shallow places in the river, it is sufficient if the men merely get out of the canoes, and push them on into the deep water; but at others, where there are dangerous rapids and sharp rocks, is it necessary for the men to unlade the canoes, and carry both them and the cargoes on their shoulders, till they come again to a safe part of the river. At night they drag the canoes upon shore, light a fire, cook their provisions for the following day, and sleep upon the ground wrapped up in their blankets. If it happens to rain very hard, they sometimes shelter themselves with boughs of trees, but in general they remain under the canopy of heaven, without any covering but their blankets: they copy exactly the Indian mode of life on these occasions, and many of 320them even wear the Indian dresses, which they find more convenient than their own.

Having ascended the Utawas River for about two hundred and eighty miles, which it takes them about eighteen days to perform, they then cross by a portage into Lake Nispissing, and from this lake by another portage they get upon French River, that falls into Lake Huron on the north-east side; then coasting along this last lake they pass through the Straits of St. Mary, where there is another portage into Lake Superior; and coasting afterwards along the shores of Lake Superior, they come to the Grand Portage on the north-west side of it; from hence by a chain of small lakes and rivers they proceed on to the Rainy Lake, to the Lake of the Woods, and for hundreds of miles beyond it, through Lake Winnipeg, &c.

The canoes, however, which go so far up the country, never return the same year; those intended to bring back cargoes immediately, stop at the Grand Portage, where the furs are collected ready for them by the agents of the company. The furs are made up in packs of a certain weight, and a particular number is put into each canoe. By knowing thus the exact weight of every pack, there can be no embezzlement; and at the portages there is no time wasted in allotting to each 321man his load, every one being obliged to carry so many packs.

At the Grand Portage, and along that immense chain of lakes and rivers, which extend beyond Lake Superior, the company has regular posts, where the agents reside; and with such astonishing enterprize and industry have the affairs of this company been carried on, that trading posts are now established within five hundred miles of the Pacific Ocean. One gentleman, indeed, a partner in the house at Montreal, which now holds the greatest part of the shares of the company, has even penetrated to the Pacific Ocean itself. The journal kept by this gentleman upon the expedition is, it is said, replete with information of the most interesting nature. That it has not been laid before the public long ago, together with an accurate map of his track, is to be imputed solely to an unfortunate misunderstanding which took place between him and a noble lord high in the confidence of government.

In the first attempt which this adventurous gentleman, a Mr. M‘Kenzie, made to penetrate to the ocean, he set out early in the spring from the remotest of the posts belonging to the company. He took with him a single canoe, and a party of chosen men; and after passing over prodigious traits of land, 322never before traversed by any white person, at last came to a large river. Here the canoe, which was carried by the men on their shoulders, was launched, and having all embarked, they proceeded down the stream. From the course this river took for a very great distance, Mr. M‘Kenzie was led to imagine that it was one of those rivers he was in quest of; namely, one which emptied itself into the Pacific Ocean; but at the end of several weeks, during which they had worked their way downward with great eagerness, he was convinced, from the gradual inclination of the river towards another quarter, that he must have been mistaken; and that it was one of those immense rivers, so numerous on the continent of North America, that ran into Baffin’s Bay, or the Arctic Ocean.

The party was now in a very critical situation; the season was far advanced, and the length of way which they had to return was prodigious. If they attempted to go back, and were overtaken by winter, they must in all probability perish for want of provisions in an uninhabited country; if, on the contrary, they made up their minds to spend the winter where they were, they had no time to lose in building huts, and going out to hunt and fish, that they might have sufficient stores to support them through that dreary season. Mr. 323M‘Kenzie represented the matter, in the most open terms, to his men, and left it to themselves to determine the part they would take. The men were for going back at all hazards; and the result was, that they reached their friends in safety. The difficulties they had to contend with, and the exertions they made in returning, were almost surpassing belief.

The second expedition entered upon by Mr. M‘Kenzie, and which succeeded to his wishes, was undertaken about three years ago. He set out in the same manner, but well provided with several different things, which he found the want of in the first expedition. He was extremely well furnished this time with astronomical instruments, and in particular with a good time-piece, that he procured from London. He took a course somewhat different from the first, and passed through many nations of Indians who had never before seen the face of a white man, amongst some of whom he was for a time in imminent danger; but he found means at last to conciliate their good will. From some of these Indians he learned, that there was a ridge of mountains at a little distance, beyond which the rivers all ran in a western direction. Having engaged some of them therefore for guides, he proceeded according to their directions until he came to the mountains, and after ascending 324them with prodigious labour, found, to his great satisfaction, that the account the Indians had given was true, and that the rivers on the opposite side did indeed all run to the west. He followed the course of one of them, and finally came to the Pacific Ocean, not far from Nootka Sound.

Here he was given to understand by the natives, and their account was confirmed by the sight of some little articles they had amongst them, that an English vessel had quitted the coast only six weeks before. This was a great mortification to Mr. M‘Kenzie; for had there been a ship on the coast, he would most gladly have embarked in it rather than encounter the same difficulties, and be exposed to the same perils, which he had experienced in getting there; however there was no alternative; he set out after a short time on his journey back again, and having found his canoe quite safe under some bushes, near the head of the river, where he had hid it, together with some provisions, left on going down to the coast the natives might have proved unfriendly, and have cut off his retreat by seizing upon it, he finally arrived at one of the trading posts in security. When I was at Montreal Mr. M‘Kenzie was not there, and I never had an opportunity of seeing him afterwards. What I have here related respecting his two expeditions 325is the substance, to the best of my recollection, of what I heard from his partners.

Many other individuals belonging to the North West Company, before Mr. M‘Kenzie set out, penetrated far into the country in different directions, and much beyond what any person had done before them, in order to establish posts. In some of these excursions they fell in with the agents of the Hudson Bay Company, who were also extending their posts from another quarter: this unexpected meeting between the two companies, at one time gave rise to some very unpleasant altercations, and the Hudson Bay Company threatened the other with an immediate prosecution for an infringement of its charter.

By its charter, it seems, the Hudson Bay Company was allowed the exclusive privilege of trading to the Bay, and along all the rivers and waters connected with it. This charter, however, was granted at a time when the northern parts of the continent were much less known than they are now, for to have the exclusive trade along all the waters connected with Hudson Bay was, literally speaking, to have the exclusive trade of the greater part of the continent of North America. Hudson Bay by a variety of rivers and lakes, is closely connected with Lake Superior, and from that chain of lakes, of which Lake Superior is one, 326there is a water communication throughout all Canada, and a very great part of the United States; however, when the agents of the North-west Company were fixing trading posts upon some rivers which ran immediately into Hudson’s Bay, it undoubtedly appeared to be an infringement of the charter, and so indeed it must strictly have been, had not the Hudson’s Bay Company itself infringed its own charter in the first instance, or at least neglected to comply with all the stipulations contained therein. A clause seems to have been in the charter, which, at the same time that it granted to the company the exclusive privilege of trading to Hudson’s Bay, and along all the waters connected with it, bound it to erect a new post twelve miles farther to the westward every year, otherwise the charter was to become void. This had not been done; the North-west Company therefore rested perfectly easy about the menaces of a prosecution, satisfied that the other company did not in fact legally possess those privileges to which it laid claim.

The Hudson’s Bay Company, though it threatened, never indeed attempted to put its threats into execution, well knowing the weakness of its cause, but continued nevertheless to watch the motions of its rival with a most jealous eye; and as in extending their respective 327trades, the posts of the two companies were approximating nearer and nearer to each other every year, there was great reason to imagine that their differences, instead of abating, would become still greater than they were, and finally, perhaps, lead to consequences of the most serious nature. A circumstance, however, unexpectedly took place, at a time when the greatest enmity subsisted between the parties, which happily reconciled them to each other, and terminated all their disputes.

A very powerful nation of Indians, called the Assiniboins, who inhabit an extended tract of country to the south-west of Lake Winnipeg, conceiving that the Hudson’s Bay Company had encroached unreasonably upon their territories, and had otherwise maltreated a part of their tribe, formed the resolution of instantly destroying a post established by that company in their neighbourhood. A large body of them soon collected together, and breathing the fiercest spirit of revenge, marched unperceived and unsuspected by the party against whom their expedition was planned, till within a short distance of their post. Here they halted according to custom, waiting only for a favourable moment to pounce upon their prey. Some of the agents of the North-west Company, however, who were scattered about this part of the country, fortunately got intelligence of their 328design. They knew the weakness of the place about to be attacked, and forgetting the rivalship subsisting between them, and thinking only how to save their countrymen, they immediately dispatched a messenger to give the party notice of the assault that was meditated; they at the same time sent another messenger to one of their own posts, desiring that instant succour might be sent to that belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, which the Indians were about to plunder. The detachment arrived before the attack commenced, and the Indians were repulsed; but had it not been for the timely assistance their rivals had afforded, the Hudson Bay people were fully persuaded that they must have fallen victims to the fury of the Indians.

This signal piece of service was not undervalued or forgotten by those who had been saved; and as the North-west Company was so much stronger, and on so much better terms with the Indians in this part of the country than its rivals, it now evidently appeared to be the interest of the latter to have the posts of the North-west Company established as near its own as possible. This is accordingly done for their mutual safety, and the two companies are now on the most friendly terms, and continue to carry on their trade close to each other.

About two thousand men are employed by 329the North-west Company in their posts in the upper country. Those who are stationed at the remote trading posts lead a very savage life, but little better indeed than that of Indians: some of them remain far up in the country for four or five years together. The head clerk or principal agent generally marries an Indian girl, the daughter of some eminent chief, by which he gains in a peculiar manner the affections of the whole tribe, a matter of great importance. These marriages, as may be supposed, are not considered as very binding by the husband; but that is nothing in the opinion of an Indian chief, who readily brings his sister or daughter to you; at the same time he can only be appeased by blood if a person attempts to take any improper liberties with his wife. Amongst no people are the wives more chaste, or more devoted to their husbands.

Besides the furs and pelts conveyed down to Montreal from the north-western parts of the continent, by means of the Utawas River, there are large quantities also brought there across the lakes, and down the River St. Lawrence. These are collected at the various towns and posts along the Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, where the trade is open to all parties, the several posts being protected by regular troops, at the expence of the government. 330Added likewise to what are thus collected by the agents of the company, and of private merchants, there are considerable quantities brought down to Montreal for sale by traders, on their own account. Some of these traders come from parts as remote as the Illinois Country, bordering on the Mississippi. They ascend the Mississippi as far as Ouisconsing River, and from that by a portage of three miles get upon Fox River, which falls into Lake Michigan. In the fall of the year, as I have before mentioned, these two rivers overflow, and it is then sometimes practicable to pass in a light canoe from one river to the other, without any portage whatsoever. From Lake Michigan they get upon Lake Huron, afterwards upon Lake Erie, and so on to the St. Lawrence. Before the month of September is over, the furs are all brought down to Montreal; as they arrive they are immediately shipped, and the vessels dispatched in October, beyond which month it would be dangerous for them to remain in the river on account of the setting in of winter.

Furs are also shipped in considerable quantities at Quebec, and at the town of Trois Rivieres. These furs are brought down the rivers that fall into the St. Lawrence, on the north side, by Indians.

LETTER XXIII.

Voyage to Quebec down the St. Lawrence.—A Bateau preferable to a Keel Boat.—Town of Sorelle.—Ship-building there.—Description of Lake St. Pierre.—Batiscon.—Charming Scenery along the Banks of St. Lawrence.—In what respects it differs from the Scenery along any other River in America.—Canadian Houses.—Sketch of the Character and manners of the lower Classes of Canadians.—Their Superstition.—Anecdote.—St. Augustin Calvaire.—Arrive at Quebec.

WE remained in Montreal until the first day of August, when we set off in a bateau for Quebec, about one hundred and sixty miles lower down the St. Lawrence. A bateau is a particular kind of boat, very generally used upon the large rivers and lakes in Canada. The bottom of it is perfectly flat, and each end is built very sharp, and exactly alike. The sides are about four feet high, and for the convenience of the rowers, four or five benches are laid across, sometimes more, according to the length of the bateau. It is a very heavy awkward sort of vessel, either for rowing or sailing, 332but it is preferred to a boat with a keel for two very obvious reasons; first, because it draws less water, at the same time that it carries a larger burthen; and secondly, because it is much safer on lakes or wide rivers, where storms are frequent: a proof of this came under our observation the day of our leaving Montreal. We had reached a wide part of the river, and were sailing along with a favourable wind, when suddenly the horizon grew very dark, and a dreadful storm arose, accompanied with loud peals of thunder and torrents of rain. Before the sail could be taken in, the ropes which held it were snapped in pieces, and the waves began to dash over the sides of the bateau, though the water had been quite smooth five minutes before. It was impossible now to counteract the force of the wind with oars, and the bateau was consequently driven on shore, but the bottom of it being quite flat, it was carried smoothly upon the beach without sustaining any injury, and the men leaping out drew it up on dry land, where we remained out of all danger till the storm was over. A keel boat, however, of the same size, could not have approached nearer to the shore than thirty feet, and there it would have stuck fast in the sand, and probably have been filled with water. From being fitted up as it was, our bateau proved to be a very pleasant conveyance: it was one of 333a large size, and over the widest part of it an oilcloth awning was thrown, supported by hoops similar to the roof of a waggon: thus a most excellent cabin was formed, large enough, to contain half a dozen chairs and a table, and which, at the same time that it afforded shelter from the inclemency of the weather, was airy, and sufficiently open to let us see all the beauties of the prospect on each shore to the greatest advantage.

It was about eleven o’clock in the morning when we left Montreal, and at five in the afternoon we reached the town of Sorelle, fifteen leagues distant. The current is very strong the whole way between the two places. Sorelle stands at the mouth of the river of the same name, which runs from Lake Champlain into the St. Lawrence. It was laid out about the year 1787, and on an extensive plan, with very wide streets and a large square, but at present it contains only one hundred houses, are all very indifferent, and standing widely asunder. This is the only town on the St. Lawrence, between Montreal and Quebec, wherein English is the predominant language. The inhabitants consist principally of loyalists from the United States, who took refuge in Canada. The chief business carried on here is that of ship-building; there are several vessels annually launched from fifty to two hundred tons burthen; 334these are floated down to Quebec, and there rigged. Ship-building is not carried on to so much advantage in Canada as might be imagined, all the bolts and other articles of iron, the blocks, and the cordage, being imported; so that what is gained by having excellent timber on the spot is lost in bringing over these different articles, which are so bulky, from Europe. The river of Sorelle is deep at the mouth, and affords good shelter for ships from the ice, at the breaking up of winter: it is not navigable far beyond the town, even in boats, on account of the rapids.

The next morning we left Sorelle, beyond which place the St. Lawrence expands to a great breadth. Here it abounds with small islands, situated so closely to each other, that it is impossible to think without astonishment of large vessels, like those that go to Montreal, passing between them: the channel through them is very intricate. This wide part of the river is called Lac St. Pierre; the greatest breadth of it is about four leagues and a half, and its length from the islands at the head of the lake downwards about eight leagues. From hence to Quebec the river is in no place more than two miles across, and in some parts it narrows to the breadth of three quarters of a mile. The tide ebbs and flows in the river within a few leagues of Lac St. Pierre; the 335great expansion of the water at the lake, and the strong current which sets out from it, prevents its action higher up.

From Montreal as far as the town of Trois Rivieres, which stands about four leagues below Lac St. Pierre, the shores on each side of the St. Lawrence are very flat; the land then begins to rise, and on the south-east side it continues lofty the whole way down to Quebec. On the opposite side, however, below Trois Rivieres, the banks vary considerably; in some places they are high, in others very low, until you approach within a few leagues of Quebec, when they assume a bold and grand appearance on each side. The scenery along various parts of the river is very fine: it is impossible, indeed, but that there must be a variety of pleasing views along a noble river like the St. Lawrence, winding for hundreds of miles through a rich country, diversified with rising grounds, woodlands, and cultivated plains. What particularly attracts the attention, however, in going down this river, is, the beautiful disposition of the towns and villages on its banks. Nearly all the settlements in Lower Canada are situated close upon the borders of the rivers, and from this circumstance the scenery along the St. Lawrence and others differs materially from that along the rivers in the United States. The 336banks of the Hudson river, which are more cultivated than those of any of the other large rivers there, are wild and desolate in comparison with those of the St. Lawrence. For several leagues below Montreal the houses stand so closely together, that it appears as if it were but one village, which extended the whole way. All the houses have a remarkably neat appearance at a distance; and in each village, though it be ever so small, there is a church. The churches are kept in the neatest repair, and most of them have spires, covered, according to the custom of the country, with tin, that, from being put on in a particular manner, never becomes rusty[31]. It is pleasing beyond description to behold one of these villages opening to the view, as you sail round a point of land covered with trees, the houses in it overhanging the river, and the spires of the churches sparkling through the groves with which they are encircled, before the rays of the setting sun.

There is scarcely any part of the river, where you pass along, for more than a league, without seeing a village and church.

The second night of our voyage we landed 337at the village of Batiscon. It stands on the north-west side of the river, about eighty miles below Montreal. Here the shore is very flat and marshy, and for a considerable distance from it the water is so shallow when the tide is out, that a bateau even, cannot at that time come within one hundred yards of the dry ground. Lower down the river the shore is in some places extremely rocky.

The first habitation we came to at Batiscon was a farm house, where we readily got accommodation for the night. The people were extremely civil, and did all in their power to serve us. A small table was quickly set out, covered with a neat white table cloth, and bread, milk, eggs, and butter, the best fare which the house afforded, were brought to us. These things may always be had in abundance at every farm house; but it is not often that you can procure meat of any sort; in going through Canada, therefore, it is customary for travellers to carry a provision basket with them. The houses in Lower Canada are in general well furnished with beds, all in the French style, very large, and raised four or five feet high, with a paillasse, a mattrass, and a feather bed.

The houses for the most part are built of logs; but they are much more compact and better built than those in the United States; 338the logs are made to fit more closely together, and instead of being left rough and uneven on the outside, are planed and white washed. At the inside also the walls are generally lined with deal boards, whereas in the United States the common log-houses are left as rough within as they are without. One circumstance, however, renders the Canadian houses very disagreeable, and that is the inattention of the inhabitants to air them occasionally by opening the windows, in consequence of which they have a close heavy smell within doors. As we travelled by land from Quebec to Montreal, we scarcely observed ten houses the whole way with the windows open, notwithstanding that the weather was very warm. If you ask the people why they don’t let a little fresh air into their houses, their constant answer is, as it is to all questions of a similar tendency, “Ce n’est pas la maniere des habitans”—It is not the custom of the people of the country.

Some of the lower classes of the French Canadians have all the gaiety and vivacity of the people of France; they dance, they sing, and seem determined not to give way to care; others, to appearance, have a great deal of that sullenness and bluntness in their manners characteristic of the people of the United States; vanity, however, is the ascendant feature 339in the character of all of them, and by working upon that you may make them do what you please. Few of the men can read or write; the little learning there is amongst the inhabitants is confined to the women: a Canadian never makes a bargain, or takes any step of importance, without consulting his wife, whose opinion is generally abided by. Both men and women are sunk in ignorance and superstition, and blindly devoted to their priests. The following anecdote may serve to shew how much they are so.

On the evening before we reached Quebec, we stopped at the village of St. Augustin Calvaire, and after having strolled about for some time, returned to the farm house where we had taken up our quarters for the night. The people had cooked some fish, that had been just caught, while we had been walking about, and every thing being ready on our return, we sat down to supper by the light of a lamp, which was suspended from the ceiling. The glimmering light, however, that it afforded, scarcely enabled us to see what was on the table; we complained of it to the man of the house, and the lamp was in consequence trimmed; it was replenished with oil; taken down and set on the table; still the light was very bad. “Sacre Dieu!” exclaimed he, “but you shall not eat your fish 340in the dark;” so saying, he stepped aside to a small cupboard, took out a candle, and having lighted it, placed it beside us. All was now going on well, when the wife, who had been absent for a few minutes, suddenly returning, poured forth a volley of the most terrible execrations against her poor husband for having presumed to have acted as he had done. Unable to answer a single word, the fellow stood aghast, ignorant of what he had done to offend her; we were quite at a loss also to know what could have given rise to such a sudden storm; the wife, however, snatching up the candle, and hastily extinguishing it, addressed us in a plaintive tone of voice, and explained the whole affair. It was the holy candle—“La chandelle benite,” which her giddy husband had set on the table; it had been consecrated at a neighbouring church, and supposing there should be a tempest at any time, with thunder and lightning ever so terrible, yet if the candle were but kept burning while it lasted, the house, the barn, and every thing else belonging to it, were to be secured from all danger. If any of the family happened to be sick, the candle was to be lighted, and they were instantly to recover. It had been given to her that morning by the priest of the village, with an assurance that it possessed the miraculous power of 341preserving the family from harm, and she was confident that what he told her was true.—To have contradicted the poor woman would have been useless; for the sake of our ears, however, we endeavoured to pacify her, and that being accomplished, we sat down to supper, and e’en made the most of our fish in the dark.

The village of St. Augustin Calvaire is about five leagues from Quebec, at which last place we arrived early on the next morning, the fourth of our voyage. When the wind is fair, and the tide favourable also, it does not take more than two days to go from Montreal to Quebec.

LETTER XXIV.

Situation of the City of Quebec.—Divided into Upper and Lower Town.—Description of each.—Great Strength of the Upper Town.—Some Observations on the Capture of Quebec by the English Army under General Wolfe.—Observations on Montgomery’s and Arnold’s Attack during the American War.—Census of Inhabitants of Quebec.—The Chateau, the Residence of the Governor.—Monastery of the Recollets.—College of the Jesuits.—One Jesuit remaining of great Age. 342—His great Wealth.—His Character.—Nunneries.—Engineer’s Drawing Room.—State House.—Armoury.—Barracks.—Market-place.—Dogs used in Carts.—Grandeur of the Prospects from Parts of the Upper Town.—Charming Scenery of the Environs.—Description of Montmorenci Water Fall.—Of La Chaudiere Water Fall.

Quebec, August.

THE city of Quebec is situated on a very lofty point of land, on the north-west side of the River St. Lawrence. Nearly facing it, on the opposite shore, there is another point, and between the two the river is contracted to the breadth of three quarters of a mile, but after passing through this strait it expands to the breadth of five or six miles, taking a great sweep behind that point whereon Quebec stands. The city derives its name from the word Quebec or Quebeio, which signifies in the Algonquin tongue, a sudden contraction of a river. The wide part of the river, immediately before the town, is called The Bason; and it is sufficiently deep and spacious to float upwards of one hundred sail of the line.

A Plan of the City of Quebec

QUEBEC.

Quebec is divided into two parts; the upper town, situated on a rock of limestone, on the top of the point; and the lower town, 343built round the bottom of the point, close to the water. The rock whereon the upper town stands, in some places towards the water rises nearly perpendicularly, so as to be totally inaccessible; in other places it is not so steep but that there is a communication between the two towns, by means of streets winding up the side of it, though even here the ascent is so great, that there are long flights of stairs at one side of the streets for the accommodation of foot passengers.

The lower town lies very much exposed to an enemy, being defended merely by a small battery towards the bason, which at the time of high tides is nearly on a level with the water, and by barriers towards the river, in which guns may be planted when there is any danger of an attack.

The upper town, however, is a place of immense strength. Towards the water it is so strongly guarded by nature, that it is found unnecessary to have more than very slight walls; and in some particular places, where the rock is inaccessible, are no walls at all. There are several redoubts and batteries however here. The principal battery, which points towards the bason, consists of twenty-two twenty-four pounders, two French thirty-six pounders, and two large iron mortars; this battery is flanked by another of six 344guns, that commands the passes from the lower town.

On the land side, the town owes its strength solely to the hand of art, and here the fortifications are stupendous. Considerable additions and improvements have been made to them since the place has been in the possession of Great Britain; but even at the time when it belonged to France, the works were so strong, that had it not been for the conduct of M. de Montcalm, the French general, it is almost doubtful whether the genius of the immortal Wolfe himself would not have been baffled in attempting to reduce it.

GENERAL WOLFE.

Had M. de Montcalm, when the first intelligence of the British army’s having ascended the Heights of Abraham was carried to him, instead of disbelieving the account, and laughing at it as a thing impossible, marched immediately to the attack, without giving General Wolfe time to form his men; or had he, when the account was confirmed of the enemy’s procedure, and of their having formed on the plain, waited for a large division of his troops, whose station was below the town, and who might have joined him in two hours, instead of marching out to give General Wolfe battle with the troops he had with him at the time, the fate of the day might have turned out very differently; or had he, 345instead of hazarding a battle at all, retired within the walls of the city and defended it, the place was so strong that there is reason to think it might have held out until the approach of winter, when the British ships must have quitted the river, and General Wolfe would consequently have been under the necessity of raising the siege.

General Wolfe thought it a vain attempt to make an assault on the side of the town which lies towards the water, where the rock is so steep, and so easily defended; his object was to get behind it, and to carry on the attack on the land side, where there is an extensive plain adjoining the town, and not a great deal lower than the highest part of the point. In order to do so, he first of all attempted to land his troops some miles below the town, near the Falls of Montmorenci. Here the banks of the river are by no means so difficult of ascent as above the town; but they were defended by a large division of the French forces, which had thrown up several strong redoubts, and, in attempting to land, Wolfe was repulsed with loss.

GENERAL ARNOLD.

Above Quebec, the banks of the river are extremely high, and so steep at the same time, that by the French they were deemed inaccessible. Foiled, however, in his first attempt to get on shore, General Wolfe formed the 346bold design of ascending to the top of these banks, commonly called the Heights of Abraham. To prepare the way for it, possession was taken of Point Levi, the point situated opposite to that on which Quebec stands, and from thence a heavy bombardment was commenced on the town, in order to deceive the enemy. In the mean time boats were prepared; the troops embarked; they passed the town with muffled oars, in the night, unobserved, and landed at a cove, about two miles above. The soldiers clambered up the heights with great difficulty, and the guns were hauled up by means of ropes and pullies fixed round the trees, with which the banks are covered from top to bottom. At the top the plain commences, and extends close under the walls of the city: here it was that the memorable battle was fought, in which General Wolfe unhappily perished, at the very moment when all his noble exertions were about to be crowned with that success which they so eminently deserved. The spot where the illustrious hero breathed his last is marked with a large stone, on which a true meridional line is drawn.

View of Cape Diamond
J Weld del.
Published Dec. 18. 1798, by J. Stockdale, Piccadilly.

Notwithstanding that the great Wolfe found it such a very difficult task to get possession of Quebec, and that it has been rendered so much stronger since his time, yet 347the people of the United States confidently imagine, at this day, that if there were a rupture with Great Britain, they need only send an army thither, and the place must fall into their hands immediately. Arnold, after his return from the expedition against the place, under Montgomery, in the year 1775, used frequently to declare, that if he had not been wounded he should certainly have carried it. But however that expedition may be admired for its great boldness, it was, in reality, far from being so nearly attended with success as the vanity of Arnold has led his countrymen to imagine.

All thoughts of taking the city by a regular siege were abandoned by the Americans, when they came before it; it was only by attempting to storm it at an unexpected hour that they saw any probability of wresting it from the British. The night of the thirty-first of December was accordingly fixed upon, and the city was attacked at the same moment in three places. But although the garrison were completely surprised, and the greater part of the rampart guns had been dismounted, and laid up for the winter, during which season it was thought impossible for an army to make an attack so vigorous that cannon would be wanting to repel it, yet the Americans were at once baffled in their attempt. 348Arnold, in endeavouring to force St. John’s Gate, which leads out on the back part of the town, not far from the plains of Abraham, was wounded, and repulsed with great loss. Montgomery surprised the guard of the first barrier, at one end of the lower town, and passed it; but at the second he was shot, and his men were driven back. The third division of the Americans entered the lower town in another quarter, which, as I have before said, lies very much exposed, by passing over the ice: they remained there for a day or two, and during that time they set fire to some buildings, amongst which was one of the religious houses; but they were finally dislodged without much difficulty. The two divisions under Montgomery and Arnold were repulsed with a mere handful of men: the different detachments, sent down from the upper town against the former, did not altogether amount, it is said, to two hundred men. Arnold’s attack was the maddest possible; for St. John’s Gate, and the walls adjoining, are stupendous, and a person need but see them to be convinced that any attempt to storm them must be fruitless without the aid of heavy artillery, which the Americans had not.

CITADEL.

Independent of what it owes to its fortifications, and situation on the top of a rock, 349Quebec is indebted for much of its strength to the severity and great length of the winter, as in that season it is wholly impracticable for a besieging army either to carry on any works or blockade the town.

It requires about five thousand soldiers to man the works at Quebec completely. A large garrison is always kept in it, and abundance of stores of every description. The troops are lodged partly in barracks, and partly in block houses near Cape Diamond, which is the most elevated part of the point, and is reckoned to be upwards of one thousand feet above the level of the river. The Cape is strongly fortified, and may be considered as the citadel of Quebec; it commands the town in every direction, and also the plains at the outside of the walls. The evening and morning guns, and all salutes and signals, are fired from hence. Notwithstanding the great height of the rock above the river, water may readily be had even at the very top of it, by sinking wells of a moderate depth, and in some particular places, at the sides of the rock, it gushes out in large streams. The water is of a very good quality.

No census has been lately taken of the number of houses and inhabitants in Quebec; but it is supposed that, including the upper and lower towns and suburbs, there are at least 350two thousand dwellings; at the rate of six therefore to each house, the number of inhabitants would amount to twelve thousand. About two thirds of the inhabitants are of French extraction. The society in Quebec is agreeable, and very extensive for a place of the size, owing to its being the capital of the lower province, and therefore the residence of the governor, different civil officers, principal lawyers, &c. &c. The large garrison constantly kept in it makes the place appear very gay and lively.

The lower town of Quebec is mostly inhibited by the traders who are concerned with the shipping, and it is a very disagreeable place. The streets are narrow and dirty, and owing to the great height of the houses in most of them, the air is much confined; in the streets next to the water also, there is oftentimes an intolerable stench from the shore when the tide is out. The upper town, on the contrary, is extremely agreeable: from its elevated situation the air is as pure as possible, and the inhabitants are never oppressed with heat in summer; it is far, however, from being well laid out, the streets being narrow and very irregular. The houses are for the most part built of stone, and except a few, erected of late years, small, ugly, and inconvenient.

GOVERNOR’S CHATEAU.

351The chateau, wherein the governor resides, is a plain building of common stone, situated in an open place, the houses round which, form three sides of an oblong square. It consists of two parts. The old and the new are separated from each other by a spacious court. The former stands just on the verge of an inaccessible part of the rock; behind it, on the outside, there is a long gallery, from whence, if a pebble were let drop, it would fall at least sixty feet perpendicularly. This old part is chiefly taken up with the public offices, and all the apartments in it are small and ill contrived; but in the new part, which stands in front of the other, facing the square, they are spacious, and tolerably well finished, but none of them can be called elegant. This part is inhabited by the governor’s family. The chateau is built with out any regularity of design, neither the old nor the new part having even an uniform front. It is not a place of strength, as commonly represented. In the garden adjoining to it is merely a parapet wall along the edge of the rock, with embrasures, in which a few small guns are planted, commanding a part of the lower town. Every evening during summer, when the weather is fine, one of the regiments of the garrison parades in the open place before the chateau, and the band plays for an hour or two, at which time the place becomes the resort 352of numbers of the most genteel people of the town, and has a very gay appearance.

Opposite to the chateau there is a monastery belonging to the Recollets or Franciscan friars; a very few only of the order are now left. Contiguous to this building is the college belonging to the Jesuits, whose numbers have diminished even still faster than that of the Recollets; one old man alone of the brotherhood is left, and in him are centered the immense possessions of that once powerful body in Canada, bringing in a yearly revenue of £. 10,000 sterling. This old man, whose lot it has been to outlive all the rest of the order, is by birth a Swiss: in his youth he was no more than a porter to the college, but having some merit he was taken notice of, promoted to a higher situation, and in the end created a lay brother. Though a very old man he is extremely healthy; he possesses an amiable disposition, and is much beloved on account of the excellent use he makes of his large fortune, which is chiefly employed in charitable purposes. On his death the property falls to the crown.

The nunneries are three in number, and as there is no restriction upon the female religious orders, they are all well filled. The largest of them, called L’Hospital General, stands in the suburbs, outside of the walls; another, of the order of St. Ursule, is not far distant from the chateau.

QUEBEC MARKET.

353The engineer’s drawing room, in which are kept a variety of models, together with plans of the fortifications of Quebec and other fortresses in Canada, is an old building, near the principal battery. Adjoining thereto stands the house where the legislative council and assembly of representatives meet, which is also an old building, that has been plainly fitted up to accommodate the legislature.

The armoury is situated near the artillery barrack, in another part of the town. About ten thousand stand of arms are kept in it, arranged in a similar manner with the arms in the Tower of London, but, if possible, with greater neatness and more fancy.

The artillery barracks are capable of containing about five hundred men, but the principal barracks are calculated to contain a much larger number; they stand in the market place, not far distant from the square in which the chateau is situated, but more in the heart of the town.

The market of Quebec is extremely well supplied with provisions every kind, which may be purchased at a much more moderate price than in any town I visited in the United States. It is a matter of curiosity to a stranger to see the number of dogs yoked in little carts, that are brought into this market by the people who attend it. The Canadian dogs are found extremely 354useful in drawing burthens, and there is scarcely a family in Quebec or Montreal, that does not keep one or more of them for that purpose. They are somewhat similar to the Newfoundland breed, but broader across the loins, and have shorter and thicker legs; in general they are handsome, and wonderfully docile and sagacious; their strength is prodigious; I have seen a single dog, in more than one instance, draw a man for a considerable distance that could not weigh less than ten stone. People, during the winter season, frequently perform long journeys on the snow with half a dozen or more of these animals yoked in a cariole or sledge.

SUBLIME VIEWS.

I must not conclude this letter without making mention of the scenery that is exhibited to the view, from various parts of the upper town of Quebec, which, for its grandeur, its beauty, and its diversity, surpasses all that I have hitherto seen in America, or indeed in any other part of the globe. In the variegated expanse that is laid open before you, stupendous rocks, immense rivers, trackless forests and cultivated plains, mountains, lakes, towns, and villages, in turn strike the attention, and the senses are almost bewildered in contemplating the vastness of the scene. Nature is here seen on the grandest scale; and it is scarcely possible for the imagination to paint to itself any thing more 355sublime than are the several prospects presented to the sight of the delighted spectator. From Cape Diamond, situated one thousand feet above the level of the river, and the loftiest part of the rock on which the city is built, the prospect is considered by many as superior to that from any other spot. A greater extent of country opens upon you, and the eye is here enabled to take in more at once, than at any other place; but to me it appears, that the view from the cape is by no means so fine as that, for instance, from the battery; for in surveying the different objects below you from such a stupendous height, their magnitude is in a great measure lost, and it seems as if you were looking at a draft of the country more than at the country itself. It is the upper battery that I allude to, facing the bason, and is about three hundred feet above the level of the water. Here, if you stand but a few yards from the edge of the precipice, you may look down at once upon the river, the vessels upon which, as they sail up to the wharfs before the lower town, appear as if they were coming under your very feet. The river itself, which is between five and six miles wide, and visible as far as the distant end of the island of Orleans, where it loses itself amidst the mountains that bound it on each side, is one of the most beautiful objects in nature, and on a fine still summer’s 356evening it often wears the appearance of a vast mirror, where the varied rich tints of the sky, as well as the images of the different objects on the banks, are seen reflected with inconceivable lustre. The southern bank of the river, indented fancifully with bays and promontories, remains nearly in a state of nature, clothed with lofty trees; but the opposite shore is thickly covered with houses, extending as along other parts of the river already mentioned, in one uninterrupted village, seemingly, as far as the eye can reach. On this side the prospect is terminated by an extensive range of mountains, the flat lands situated between and the villages on the banks not being visible to a spectator at Quebec, it seems as if the mountains rose directly out of the water, and the houses were built on their steep and rugged sides.

BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.

Beautiful as the environs of the city appear when seen at a distance, they do not appear less so on a more close inspection; and in passing through them the eye is entertained with a most pleasing variety of fine landscapes, whilst the mind is equally gratified with the appearance of content and happiness that reigns in the countenances of the inhabitants. Indeed, if a country as fruitful as it is picturesque, a genial and healthy climate, and a tolerable share of civil and religious liberty, can make 357people happy, none ought to appear more so than the Canadians, during this delightful season of the year.

Before I dismiss this subject entirely, I must give you a brief account of two scenes in the vicinity of Quebec, more particularly deserving of attention than any others. The one is the Fall of the River Montmorenci; the other, that of the Chaudiere. The former stream runs into the St. Lawrence, about seven miles below Quebec; the latter joins the same river nearly at an equal distance above the city.

The Montmorenci River runs in a very irregular course, through a wild and thickly wooded country, over a bed of broken rocks, till it comes to the brink of a precipice, down which it descends in one uninterrupted and nearly perpendicular fall of two hundred and forty feet. The stream of water in this river, except at the time of floods, is but scanty, but being broken into foam by rushing with such rapidity as it does over the rocks at the top of the precipice, it is thereby much dilated, and in its fall appears to be a sheet of water of no inconsiderable magnitude. The breadth of the river at top, from bank to bank, is about fifty feet only. In its fall, the water has the exact appearance of snow, as when thrown in heaps from the roof of a house, and it seemingly descends 358with a very slow motion. The spray at the bottom is considerable, and when the sun happens to shine bright in the middle of the day, the prismatic colours are exhibited in it in all their variety and lustre. At the bottom of the precipice the water is confined in a sort of bason, as it were, by a mass of rock, extending nearly across the fall, and out of this it flows with a gentle current to the St. Lawrence, which is about three hundred yards distant. The banks of the Montmorenci, below the precipice, are nearly perpendicular on one side, and on both inaccessible, so that if a person be desirous of getting to the bottom of the fall, he must descend down the banks of the St. Lawrence, and walk along the margin of that river till he comes to the chasm through which the Montmorenci flows. To a person sailing along the St. Lawrence, past the mouth of the chasm, the fall appears in great beauty.

GRAND FALLS.

General Haldimand, formerly governor of Canada, was so much delighted with this cataract, that he built a dwelling house close to it, from the parlour windows of which it is seen in a very advantageous point of view. In front of the house is a neat lawn, that runs down the whole way to the St. Lawrence, and in various parts of it little summer-houses have been erected, each of which commands a view of the fall. There is also a summer-house, 359situated nearly at the top of the fall, hanging directly over the precipice, so that if a bullet were dropped from the window, it would descend in a perpendicular line at least two hundred feet. This house is supported by large beams of timber, fixed into the sides of the chasm, and in order to get to it you have to pass over several flights of steps, and one or two wooden galleries, which are supported in the same manner. The view from hence is tremendously grand. It is said, that the beams whereon this little edifice is erected are in a state of decay, and many persons are fearful of entering into it, lest they should give way; but being ignorant of the danger, if indeed there was any, our whole party ventured into it at once, and staid there a considerable time, notwithstanding its tremulous motion at every step we trod. That the beams cannot last for ever is certain; it would be a wise measure, therefore, to have them removed or repaired in proper time, for as long as they remain standing, persons will be found that will venture into the unsteady fabrick they support, and should they give way at a moment when any persons are in it, the catastrophe must inevitably be fatal.

The fall in the River Chaudiere is not half the height of that of the Montmorenci, but then it is no less than two hundred and fifty 360feet in breadth. The scenery round this cataract is much superior in every respect to that in the neighbourhood of the Montmorenci. Contiguous to the latter there are few trees of any great magnitude, and nothing is near it to relieve the eye; you have the fall, and nought but the fall, to contemplate. The banks of La Chaudiere, on the contrary, are covered with trees of the largest growth, and amidst the piles of broken rocks, which lie scattered about the place, you have some of the wildest and most romantic views imaginable. As for the fall itself, its grandeur varies with the season. When the river is full, a body of water comes rushing over the rocks of the precipice that astonishes the beholder; but in dry weather, and indeed during the greater part of the summer, we may say, the quantity of water is but trifling. At this season there are few but what would prefer the falls of the Montmorenci River, and I am tempted to imagine that, upon the whole, the generality of people would give it the preference at all times.

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LETTER XXV.

Of the Constitution, Government, Laws, and Religion of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.—Estimate of the Expenses of the Civil List, of the Military Establishment, and the Presents to the Indians.—Salaries of certain Officers of the Crown.—Imports and Exports.—Taxes.

FROM the time that Canada was ceded to Great Britain until the year 1774, the internal affairs of the province were regulated by the ordinance of the governor alone. In pursuance of the Quebec Bill, which was then passed, a legislative council was appointed by his Majesty in the country; the number of members was limited to twenty-three. This council had full power to make all such ordinances and regulations as were thought expedient for the welfare of the province; but it was prohibited from levying any taxes, except for the purpose of making roads, repairing public buildings, or the like. Every ordinance was to be laid before the governor, for his Majesty’s approbation, within six months from the time it was passed, and no ordinance, imposing a greater punishment on any person or 362persons than a fine, or imprisonment for three months, was valid without his Majesty’s assent, signified to the council by the governor.

Thus were the affairs of the province regulated until the year 1791, when an act was passed in the British parliament, repealing so much of the Quebec Bill as related to the appointment of a council, and to the powers that had been granted to it; and which established the present form of government.

The country, at the same time, was divided into two distinct provinces; the province of Lower Canada, and the province of Upper Canada. The former is the eastern part of the old province of Canada; the latter, the western part, situated on the northern sides of the great lakes and rivers through which the boundary line runs that separates the British territories from those of the United States. The two provinces are divided from each other by a line, which runs north, 24° west, commencing at Point au Baudet, in that part of the river St. Lawrence called Lake Francis, and continuing on from thence to the Utawas or Grand River. The city of Quebec is the capital of the lower province, as the town of Niagara is of the upper one.

The executive power in each province is vested in the governor, who has for his advice an executive council appointed by his Majesty. 363The legislative power of each province is vested in the governor, a legislative council, and an assembly of the representatives of the people. Their acts, however, are subject to the controul of his Majesty, and in some particular cases to the controul of the British parliament.

Bills are passed in the council and in the assembly in a form somewhat similar to that in which bills are carried through the British houses of parliament; they are then laid before the governor, who gives or withholds his assent, or reserves them for his Majesty’s pleasure.

Such bills as he assents to are put in force immediately; but he is bound to transmit a true copy of them to the King, who in council may declare his disallowance of them within two years from the time of their being received, in which case they become void.

Such as are reserved for his Majesty’s assent are not to be put in force until that is received.

Moreover, every act of the assembly and council, which goes to repeal or vary the laws or regulations that were in existence at the time the present constitution was established in the country respecting tithes; the appropriation of land for the support of a protestant clergy; the constituting and endowing of parsonages or rectories; the right of presentation 364to the same, and the manner in which the incumbents shall hold them; the enjoyment and exercise of any form or mode of worship; the imposing of any burdens and disqualifications on account of the same; the rights of the clergy to recover their accustomed dues; the imposing or granting of any farther dues or emoluments to any ecclesiastics; the establishment and discipline of the church of England; the King’s prerogative, touching the granting of waste lands of the crown within the province; every such act, before it receives the royal assent, must be laid before both houses of parliament in Great Britain, and the King must not give his assent thereto until thirty days after the same has been laid before parliament; and in case either house of parliament presents an address to the King to withhold his assent to any such act or acts, it cannot be given.

By an act passed in the eighteenth year of his present Majesty’s reign, the British parliament has also the power of making any regulations which may be found expedient, respecting the commerce and navigation of the province, and also of imposing import and export duties; but all such duties are to be applied solely to the use of the province, and in such a manner only as the laws made in the council and assembly direct.

365The legislative council of Lower Canada consists of fifteen members; that of Upper Canada of seven. The number of the members in each province must never be less than this; but it may be increased whenever his Majesty thinks fit.

The counsellors are appointed for life, by an instrument under the great seal of the province, signed by the governor, who is invested with powers for that purpose by the King. No person can be a counsellor who is not twenty-one years of age, nor any one who is not a natural born subject, or who has not been naturalized according to act of parliament.

Whenever his Majesty thinks proper, he may confer on any persons hereditary titles of honour, with a right annexed to them of being summoned to sit in this council, which right the heir may claim at the age of twenty-one; the right, however, cannot be acknowledged if the heir has been absent from the province without leave of his Majesty, signified to the council by the governor, for four years together, between the time of his succeeding to the right and the time of his demanding it. The right is forfeited also, if the heir takes an oath of allegiance to any foreign power before he demands it, unless his Majesty, by 366an instrument under the great seal of the province, should decree to the contrary.

If a counsellor, after having taken his seat, absent himself from the province for two years successively, without leave from his Majesty, signified to the council by the governor, his seat is also thereby vacated.

All hereditary rights, however, of sitting in council, so forfeited, are only to be suspended during the life of the defaulters, and on their death they descend with the titles to the next heirs[32].

In cases of treason, both the title and right of sitting in the council are extinguished.

All questions concerning the right of being summoned to the council are to be determined by the council; but an appeal may be had from their decision to his Majesty in his parliament of Great Britain.

The governor has the power of appointing and removing the speaker of the council.

The assembly of Lower Canada consists of fifty members, and that of Upper Canada of sixteen; neither assembly is ever to consist of a less number.

The members for districts, circles, or counties, 367are chosen by a majority of the votes of such persons as are possessed of lands or tenements in freehold, in fief, in boture, or by certificate derived under the authority of the governor and council of Quebec, of the yearly value of forty shillings, clear of all rents, charges, &c. The members for towns or townships are chosen by a majority of the votes of such persons as possess houses and lands for their own use, of the yearly value of five pounds sterling, or as have resided in the town or township for one year, and paid a rent for a house during the time, at the rate of ten pounds yearly.

No person is eligible to serve as a member of the assembly, who is a member of the legislative council, or a minister, priest, ecclesiastic, or religious personage of the church of England, Rome, or of any other church.

No person is qualified to vote or serve, who is not twenty-one years of age; nor any person, not a natural born subject, or who has not been naturalized, either by law or conquest; nor any one who has been attainted of treason in any court in his Majesty’s dominions, or who has been disqualified by an act of assembly and council.

Every voter, if called upon, must take an oath, either in French or English, that he is of age; that he is qualified to vote according 368to law; and that he has not voted before at that election.

The governor has the power of appointing the place of session, and of calling together, of proroguing, and of dissolving the assembly.

The assembly is not to last longer than four years, but it may be dissolved sooner. The governor is bound to call it at least once in each year.

The oath of a member, on taking his seat, is comprised in a few words: he promises to bear true allegiance to the King, as lawful sovereign of Great Britain, and the province of Canada dependant upon it; to defend him against all traitorous conspiracies and attempts against his person; and to make known to him all such conspiracies and attempts, which he may at any time be acquainted with; all which he promises without mental evasion, reservation, or equivocation, at the same time renouncing all pardons and dispensations from any person or power whatsoever.

The governors of the two provinces are totally independent of each other in their civil capacity: in military affairs, the governor of the lower province takes precedence, as he is usually created captain general of his Majesty’s forces in North America.

The present system of judicature in each province was established by the Quebec bill 369of 1774. By this bill it was enacted, that all persons in the country should be entitled to hold their lands or possessions in the same manner as before the conquest, according to the laws and usages then existing in Canada; and that all controversies relative to property or civil rights should also be determined by the same laws and usages. These old laws and usages, however, were not to extend to the lands which might thereafter be granted by his Britannic Majesty in free and common socage: here English laws were to be in full force; so that the English inhabitants[33], who have settled for the most part on new lands, are not subject to the controul of these old French laws, that were existing in Canada when the country was conquered, except a dispute concerning property or civil rights should arise between any of them and the French inhabitants, in which case the matter is to be determined by the French laws. Every friend to civil liberty would wish to see these laws abolished, for they weigh very unequally in favour of the rich and of the poor; but as long as the French inhabitants remain so wedded as they are at present to old customs, 370and so very ignorant, there is little hope of seeing any alteration of this nature take place. At the same time that the French laws were suffered by the Quebec bill to exist, in order to conciliate the affections of the French inhabitants, who were attached to them, the criminal law of England was established throughout every part of the country; “and this was one of the happiest circumstances,” as the Abbé Raynal observes, “that Canada could experience; as deliberate, rational, public trials took place of the impenetrable mysterious transactions of a cruel inquisition; and as a tribunal, that had theretofore been dreadful and sanguinary, was filled with humane judges, more disposed to acknowledge innocence than to suppose criminality.”

The governor, the lieutenant governor, or the person administering the government, the members of the executive council, the chief justices of the province, and the judges of the court of king’s bench, or any five of them, form a court of appeal, the judges however excepted of that district from whence the appeal is made. From the decision of this court an appeal may be had in certain cases to the King in council.

Every religion is tolerated, in the fullest extent of the word, in both provinces; and 371no disqualifications are imposed on any persons on account of their religious opinions. The Roman Catholic religion is that of a great majority of the inhabitants; and by the Quebec bill of 1774, the ecclesiastics of that persuasion are empowered by law to recover all the dues which, previous to that period, they were accustomed to receive, as well as tithes, that is, from the Roman Catholic inhabitants; but they cannot exact any dues or tithes from Protestants, or off lands held by Protestants, although formerly such lands might have been subjected to dues and tithes for the support of the Roman Catholic church. The dues and tithes from off these lands are still, however, to be paid; but they are to be paid to persons appointed by the governor, and the amount of them is to be reserved, in the hands of his Majesty’s receiver general, for the support of the Protestant clergy actually residing in the province.

By the act of the year 1791, also, it was ordained, that the governor should allot out of all lands belonging to the crown, which, should be granted after that period, one-seventh for the benefit of a Protestant clergy, to be solely applicable to their use; and all such allotments must be particularly specified in every grant of waste lands, otherwise the grant is void.

372With the advice of the executive council, the governor is authorized to constitute or erect parsonages or rectories, and to endow them out of these appropriations, and to present incumbents to them, ordained according to the rites of the church of England; which incumbents are to perform the same duties, and to hold their parsonages or rectories in the same manner as incumbents of the church of England do in that country.

The clergy of the church of England, in both provinces, consists at present of twelve persons only, including the bishop of Quebec; that of the church of Rome, however, consists of no less than one hundred and twenty-six; viz. a bishop, who takes his title from Quebec, his “coadjuteur élu,” who is bishop of Canathe, three vicars general, and one hundred and sixteen curates and missionaries, all of whom are resident in the lower province, except five curates and missionaries.

The number of the dissenting clergy, in both provinces, is considerably smaller than that of the clergy of the church of England.

The expences of the civil list in Lower Canada are estimated at £.20,000 sterling per annum, one half of which is defrayed by Great Britain, and the remainder by the province, out of the duties paid on the importation of certain articles. The expence of the 373civil list in Upper Canada is considerably less; perhaps not so much as a fourth of that of the lower province.

The military establishment in both provinces, together with the repairs of fortifications, &c. are computed to cost Great Britain annually £.100,000 sterling.

The presents distributed amongst the Indians, and the salaries paid to the different officers in the Indian department, are estimated at £.100,000 sterling more, annually.

Amongst the officers in the Indian department are, superintendants general, deputy superintendants, inspectors general, deputy inspectors general, secretaries, assistant secretaries, storekeepers, clerks, agents, interpreters, issuers of provisions, surgeons, gunsmiths, &c. &c. &c. most of whom, in the lower province, have now sinecure places, as there are but few Indians in the country; but in the upper province they have active service to perform. Of the policy of issuing presents to such a large amount amongst the Indians, more will be said in the afterpart of this work.

The following is a statement of some of the salaries paid to the officers of government in Lower Canada.

The pensions, between January 1794 and January 1795, amounted to £.1,782. 6s. 7d.

A Statement of the Articles subject to Duty on Importation into Canada, and of the Duties payable thereon.

N.B. Wine can be imported directly from Madeira, or from any of the African islands, into Canada; but no European wine or brandy can be imported, except through England.

N.B. The minot is a measure commonly used in Canada, which is to the Winchester bushel, as 100 is to 108,765.

The imports into Canada consist of all the various articles which a young country, that does not manufacture much for its own use, can be supposed to stand in need of; such as 377earthen ware, hardware, and household furniture, except of the coarser kinds; woollen and linen cloths, haberdashery, hosiery, &c.; paper, stationary, leather and manufactures of leather, groceries, wines, spirits, West Indian produce, &c. &c.; cordage of every description, and even the coarser manufactures of iron, are also imported.

The soil of the country is well adapted to the growth of hemp, and great pains have been taken to introduce the culture of it. Handbills, explaining the manner in which it can be raised to the best advantage, have been assiduously circulated amongst the farmers, and posted up at all the public houses. It is a difficult matter, however, to put the French Canadians out of their old ways, so that very little hemp has been raised in consequence of the pains that have been thus taken; and it is not probable that much will be raised for a considerable time to come.

Iron ore has been discovered in various parts of the country; but works for the smelting and manufacturing of it have been erected at one place only, in the neighbourhood of Trois Rivieres. These works were erected by the king of France some time before the conquest: they are now the property of the British government, and are rented out to the persons who hold them 378at present. When the lease expires, which will be the case about the year 1800, it is thought that no one will be found to carry on the works, as the bank of ore, from whence they are supplied, is nearly exhausted. The works consist of a forge and a foundry: iron stoves are the principal articles manufactured in the latter; but they are not so much esteemed as those from England.

Domestic manufactures are carried on in most parts of Canada, consisting of linen and of coarse woollen cloths; but by far the greater part of these articles used in the country is imported from Great Britain.

The experts from Canada consist of furs and pelts in immense quantities; of wheat, flour, flax-seed, potash, timber, staves, and lumber of all sorts; dried fish, oil, ginseng, and various medicinal drugs.

The trade between Canada and Great Britain employs, it is said, about seven thousand tons of shipping annually.

LETTER XXVI.

Of the Soil and Productions of Lower Canada.—Observations on the Manufacture of Sugar from the Maple-tree.—Of the Climate of Lower Canada.—Amusements of People of all Descriptions during Winter.—Carioles.—Manner of guarding against the Cold.—Great Hardiness of the Horses.—State of the River St. Lawrence on the Dissolution of Winter.—Rapid Progress of Vegetation during Spring.—Agreeableness of the Summer and Autumn Seasons.

THE eastern part of Lower Canada, between Quebec and the Gulph of St. Lawrence, is mountainous; between Quebec and the mouth of the Utawas River also a few scattered mountains are to be met with; but higher up the River St. Lawrence the face of the country is flat.

The soil, except where small tracts of stony and sandy land intervene, consists principally of a loose dark coloured earth, and of the depth of ten or twelve inches, below which there is a bed of cold clay. This earth towards the surface is extremely fertile, of which 380there cannot be a greater proof than that it continues to yield plentiful crops, notwithstanding its being worked year after year by the French Canadians, without ever being manured. It is only within a few years back, indeed, that any of the Canadians have begun to manure their lands, and many still continue, from father to son, to work the same fields without intermission, and without ever putting any manure upon them, yet the land is not exhausted, as it would be in the United States. The manure principally made use of by those who are the best farmers is marl, found in prodigious quantities in many places along the shores of the River St. Lawrence.

The soil of Lower Canada is particularly suited to the growth of small grain. Tobacco also thrives well in it; it is only raised, however, in small quantities for private use, more than one half of what is used in the country being imported. The Canadian tobacco is of a much milder quality than that grown in Maryland and Virginia: the snuff made from it is held in great estimation.

Culinary vegetables of every description come to the greatest perfection in Canada, as well as most of the European fruits: the currants, gooseberries, and raspberries are in particular very fine; the latter are indigenous, and are found in profusion in the woods; the 381vine is also indigenous, but the grapes which it produces in its uncultivated state are very poor, sour, and but little larger than fine currants.

The variety of trees found in the forests of Canada is prodigious, and it is supposed that many kinds are still unknown: beech trees, oaks, elms, ashes, pines, sycamores, chesnuts, walnuts, of each of which several different species are commonly met with; the sugar maple tree is also found in almost every part of the country, a tree never seen but upon good ground. There are two kinds of this very valuable tree in Canada; the one called the swamp maple, from its being generally found upon low lands; the other, the mountain or curled maple, from growing upon high dry ground, and from the grain of the wood being very beautifully variegated with little stripes and curls. The former yields a much greater quantity of sap, in proportion to its size, than the other, but this sap does not afford so much sugar as that of the curled maple. A pound of sugar is frequently procured from two or three gallons of the sap of the curled maple, whereas no more than the same quantity can be had from six or seven gallons of that of the swamp.

The most approved method of getting the sap is by piercing a hole with an auger in the 382side of the tree, of one inch or an inch and a half in diameter, and two or three inches in depth, obliquely upwards; but the most common mode of coming at it is by cutting a large gash in the tree with an axe. In each case a small spout is fixed at the bottom of the wound, and a vessel is placed underneath to receive the liquor as it falls.

A maple tree of the diameter of twenty inches will commonly yield sufficient sap for making five pounds of sugar each year, and instances have been known of trees yielding nearly this quantity annually for a series of thirty years. Trees that have been gashed and mangled with an axe will not last by any means so long as those which have been carefully pierced with an auger; the axe, however, is generally used, because the sap distils much faster from the wound made by it than from that made by an auger, and it is always an object with the farmer, to have the sap brought home, and boiled down as speedily as possible, in order that the making of sugar may not interfere with his other agricultural pursuits. The season for tapping the trees is when the sap begins to rise, at the commencement of spring, which is just the time that the farmer is most busied in making preparations for sowing his grain.

It is a very remarkable fact, that these trees, 383after having been tapped for six or seven successive years, always yield more sap than they do on being first wounded; this sap, however, is not so rich as that which the trees distil for the first time; but from its coming in an increased portion, as much sugar is generally procured from a single tree on the fifth or sixth year of its being tapped as on the first.

The maple is the only sort of raw sugar made use of in the country parts of Canada; it is very generally used also by the inhabitants of the towns, whither it is brought for sale by the country people who attend the markets, just the same as any other kind of country produce. The most common form in which it is seen is in loaves or thick round cakes, precisely as it comes out of the vessel where it is boiled down from the sap. These cakes are of a very dark colour in general, and very hard; as they are wanted they are scraped down with a knife, and when thus reduced into powder, the sugar appears of a much lighter cast, and not unlike West Indian muscovada or grained sugar. If the maple sugar be carefully boiled with lime, whites of eggs, blood, or any of the other articles usually employed for clarifying sugar, and properly granulated, by the draining off of the molasses, it is by no means inferior, either in point of strength, flavour, or appearance to the eye, to 384any West Indian sugar whatsoever: simply boiled down into cakes with milk or whites of eggs it is very agreeable to the taste.

The ingenious Dr. Nooth, of Quebec, who is at the head of the general hospital in Canada, has made a variety of experiments upon the manufacture of maple sugar; he has granulated, and also refined it, so as to render it equal to the best lump sugar that is made in England. To convince the Canadians also, who are as incredulous on some points as they are credulous on others, that it was really maple sugar which they saw thus refined, he has contrived to leave large lumps, exhibiting the sugar in its different stages towards refinement, the lower part of the lumps being left hard, similar to the common cakes, the middle part granulated, and the upper part refined.

Dr. Nooth has calculated, that the sale of the molasses alone would be fully adequate to the expence of refining the maple sugar, if a manufactory for that purpose were established. Some attempts have been made to establish one of the kind at Quebec, but they have never succeeded, as the persons by whom they were made were adventurers that had not sufficient capitals for such an undertaking. It ought not, however, to be concluded from this, that a manufactory of the sort would not succeed if conducted by judicious persons that had ample 385funds for the business; on the contrary, it is highly probable that it would answer.

There is great reason also to suppose, that a manufactory for making the sugar from the beginning, as well as for refining it, might be established with advantage.

Several acres together are often met with in Canada, entirely covered with maple trees alone; but the trees are most usually found growing mixed with others, in the proportion of from thirty to fifty maple trees to every acre. Thousands and thousands of acres might be procured, within a very short distance of the River St. Lawrence, for less than one shilling an acre, on each of which thirty maple trees would be found; but supposing that only twenty-five trees were found on each acre, then on a track of five thousand acres, supposing each tree to produce five pounds of sugar, 5,580 cwt. 2 qrs. 12 lbs. of sugar might be made annually.

The maple tree attains a growth sufficient for yielding five pounds of sugar annually in the space of twenty years; as the oaks and other kinds of trees, therefore, were cut away for different purposes, maples might be planted in their room, which would be ready to be tapped by the time that the old maple trees failed. Moreover, if these trees were planted out in rows regularly, the trouble of collecting 386the sap from them would be much less than if they stood widely scattered, as they do in their natural state, and of course the expence of making the sugar would be considerably lessened. Added to this, if young maples were constantly set out in place of the other trees, as they were cut down, the estate, at the end of twenty years, would yield ten times as much sugar as it did originally.

It has been asserted, that the difficulty of maintaining horses and men in the woods at the season of the year proper for making the sugar would be so great, as to render every plan for the manufactory of the sugar on an extensive scale abortive. This might be very true, perhaps, in the United States, where the subject has been principally discussed, and where it is that this objection has been made; but it would not hold good in Canada. Many tracks, containing five thousand acres each, of sugar maple land, might be procured in various parts of the country, no part of any of which would be more than six English miles distant from a populous village. The whole labour of boiling in each year would be over in the space of six weeks; the trouble therefore of carrying food during that period, for the men and horses that were wanting for the manufactory, from a village into the woods, would be trifling, and a few huts might be 387built for their accommodation in the woods at a small expence.

The great labour requisite for conveying the sap from the trees, that grow so far apart, to the boiling house, has been adduced as another objection to the establishment of an extensive sugar manufactory in the woods.

The sap, as I have before observed, is collected by private families, by setting a vessel, into which it drops, under each tree, and from thence carried by hand to the place where it is to be boiled. If a regular manufactory, however, were established, the sap might be conveyed to the boiling house with far less labour; small wooden troughs might be placed under the wounds in each trees, by which means the sap might easily be conveyed to the distance of twenty yards, if it were thought necessary, into reservoirs. Three or four of these reservoirs might be placed on an acre, and avenues opened through the woods, so as to admit carts with proper vessels to pass from one to the other, in order to convey the sap to the boiling houses. Mere sheds would answer for boiling houses, and these might be erected at various different places on the estate, in order to save the trouble of carrying the sap a great way.

The expence of cutting down a few trees, so as to clear an avenue for a cart, would not 388be much; neither would that of making the spouts, and common tubs for reservoirs, be great in a country abounding with wood; the quantity of labour saved by such means would, however, be very considerable.

When then, it is considered, that private families, who have to carry the sap by hand from each tree to their own houses, and often at a considerable distance from the woods, in order to boil it, can, with all this labour, afford to sell sugar, equally good with that which comes from the West Indies, at a much lower price than what the latter is sold at; when it is considered also, that by going to the small expence, on the first year, of making a few wooden spouts and tubs, a very great portion of labour would be saved, and of course the profits on the sale of the sugar would be far greater; there is good foundation for thinking, that if a manufactory were established on such a plan as I have hinted at, it would answer extremely well, and that maple sugar would in a short time become a principal article of foreign commerce in Canada.

The sap of the maple tree is not only useful in yielding sugar; most excellent vinegar may likewise be made from it. In company with several gentlemen I tasted vinegar made from it by Dr. Nooth, allowed by every one present to be much superior to the best French 389white wine vinegar; for at the same time that it possessed equal acidity, it had a more delicious flavour.

Good table beer may likewise be made from the sap, which many would mistake for malt liquor.

If distilled, the sap affords a very fine spirit.

The air of Lower Canada is extremely pure, and the climate is deemed uncommonly salubrious, except only in the western parts of the province, high up the River St. Lawrence, where, as is the case in almost every part of the United States south of New England, between the ocean and the mountains, the inhabitants suffer to a great degree from intermittent fevers. From Montreal downwards, the climate resembles very much that of the states of New England; the people live to a good old age, and intermittents are quite unknown. This great difference in the healthiness of the two parts of the province must be attributed to the different aspects of the country; to the east, Lower Canada, like New England, is mountainous, but to the west it is an extended flat.

The extremes of heat and cold in Canada are amazing; in the months of July and August the thermometer, according to Fahrenheit, is often known to rise to 96°, yet a winter scarcely passes over but even the mercury itself 390freezes. Those very sudden transitions, however, from heat to cold, so common in the United States, and so very injurious to the constitution, are unknown in Canada; the seasons also are much more regular.

The snow generally begins to fall in November; but sometimes it comes down as early as the latter end of October. This is the most disagreeable part of the whole year; the air is then cold and raw, and the sky dark and gloomy; two days seldom pass over together without a fall either of snow or sleet. By the end of the first or second week, however, in December, the clouds are generally dissolved, the frost sets in, the sky assumes a bright and azure hue, and for weeks together it continues the same, without being obscured by a single cloud.

The greatest degree of cold which they experience in Canada, is in the month of January, when for a few days it is sometimes so intense, that it is impossible for a human being to remain out of doors for any considerable time, without evident danger of being frost bitten. These very cold days, however, do not come altogether, but intervene generally at some little distance from each other; and between them, in the depth of winter, the air is sometimes so warm that people in exercise, in the 391middle of the day, feel disposed to lay aside the thick fur cloaks usually worn out of doors.

Those who have ever passed a winter in Canada, have by no means that dread of its severity, which some would have who have never experienced a greater degree of cold than what is commonly felt in Great Britain; and as for the Canadians themselves, they prefer the winter to every other season; indeed I never met with a Canadian, rich or poor, male or female, but what was of that opinion; nor ought this to excite our surprise, when it is considered that they pass the winter so very differently from what we do. If a Canadian were doomed to spend but six weeks only in the country parts of England, when the ground was covered with snow, I dare venture to say that he would be as heartily tired of the sameness which then pervaded the face of nature, and as desirous of beholding a green field once more, as any one of us.

Winter in Canada is the season of general amusement. The clear frosty weather no sooner commences, than all thoughts about business are laid aside, and every one devotes himself to pleasure. The inhabitants meet in convivial parties at each other’s houses, and pass the day with music, dancing, card-playing, and every social entertainment that can beguile the time. At Montreal, in particular, 392such a constant and friendly intercourse is kept up amongst the inhabitants, that, as I have often heard it mentioned, it appears then as if the town were inhabited but by one large family.

By means of their carioles or sledges, the Canadians transport themselves over the snow, from place to place, in the most agreeable manner, and with a degree of swiftness that appears almost incredible; for with the same horse it is possible to go eighty miles in a day, so light is the draft of one of these carriages, and so favourable is the snow to the feet of the horse. The Canadian cariole or sledge is calculated to hold two persons and a driver; it is usually drawn by one horse; if two horses are made use of, they are put one before the other, as the track in the roads will not admit of their going abreast. The shape of the carriage is varied according to fancy, and it is a matter of emulation amongst the gentlemen, who shall have the handsomest one. There are two distinct kinds, however, of carioles, the open and the covered. The former is commonly somewhat like the body of a capriole, put upon two iron runners or slides, similar in shape to the irons of a pair of skates; the latter consists of the body of a chariot put on runners in the same manner, and covered entirely over with furs, which are found by experience 393to keep out the cold much better than any other covering whatsoever. Covered carioles are not much liked, except for the purpose of going to a party in the evening; for the great pleasure of carioling consists in seeing and being seen, and the ladies always go out in most superb dresses of furs. The carioles glide over the snow with great smoothness, and so little noise do they make in sliding along, that it is necessary to have a number of bells attached to the harness, or a person continually sounding a horn to guard against accidents. The rapidity of the motion, with the sound of these bells and horns, appears to be very conducive to cheerfulness, for you seldom see a dull face in a cariole. The Canadians always take advantage of the winter season to visit their friends who live at a distance, as travelling is then so very expeditious; and this is another circumstance which contributes, probably not a little, to render the winter so extremely agreeable in their eyes.

Though the cold is so very intense in Canada, yet the inhabitants never suffer from it, constant experience having taught them how to guard against it effectually.

In the first place, by means of stoves they keep their habitations as warm and comfortable as can be desired. In large houses they generally have four or five stoves placed in the 394hall, and in the apartments on the ground floor, from whence flues pass in different directions through the upper rooms. Besides these stoves, they likewise frequently have open fires in the lower apartments; it is more, however, on account of the cheerful appearance they give to the room, than for the sake of the warmth they communicate, as by the stoves the rooms can be heated to any degree. Lest any cold blasts should penetrate from without, they have also double doors, and if the house stands exposed, even double windows, about six inches apart. The windows are made to open lengthwise in the middle, on hinges, like folding doors, and where they meet they lock together in a deep groove; windows of this description, when closed, are found to keep out the cold air much better than the common sashes, and in warm weather they are more agreeable than any other sort, as they admit more air when opened. Nor do the inhabitants suffer from cold when they go abroad; for they never stir out without first wrapping themselves up in furs from head to foot. Their caps entirely cover the ears, the back of the neck, and the greatest part of the face, leaving nothing exposed except the eyes and nose; and their large and thick cloaks effectually secure the body; besides which they wear fur gloves, muffs, and shoes. 395It is surprising to see how well the Canadian horses support the cold; after standing for hours together in the open air at a time when spirits will freeze, they set off as alertly as if it were summer. The French Canadians make no scruple to leave their horses standing at the door of a house, without any covering, in the coldest weather, while they are themselves taking their pleasure. None of the other domestic animals are as indifferent to the cold as the horses. During winter all the domestic animals, not excepting the poultry, are lodged together in one large stable, that they may keep each other warm; but in order to avoid the expence of feeding many through the winter, as soon as the frost sets in they generally kill cattle and poultry sufficient to last them till the return of spring. The carcases are buried in the ground, and covered with a heap of snow, and as they are wanted they are dug up; vegetables are laid up in the same manner, and they continue very good throughout the whole winter. The markets in the towns are always supplied best at this season, and provisions are then also the cheapest; for the farmers having nothing else to engage them, and having a quantity of meat on hand, that is never injured from being sent to market, flock to the towns in their carioles in great numbers, and always well supplied.

396The winter generally continues till the latter end of April, and sometimes even till May, when a thaw comes on very suddenly. The snow soon disappears; but it is a long time before the immense bodies of ice in the rivers are dissolved. The scene which presents itself on the St. Lawrence at this season is most tremendous. The ice first begins to crack from side to side, with a report as loud as that of a cannon. Afterwards, as the waters become swollen by the melting of the snow, it is broken into pieces, and hurried down the stream with prodigious impetuosity; but its course is often interrupted by the islands and shallow places in the river; one large piece is perhaps first stopped, other pieces come drifting upon that, and at length prodigious heaps are accumulated, in some places rising several yards above the level of the water. Sometimes these mounds of ice are driven from the islands or rocks, upon which they have accumulated, by the wind, and are floated down to the sea in one entire body: if in going down they happen to strike against any of the rocks along the shore, the crash is horrible: at other times they remain in the same spot where they were first formed, and continue to obstruct the navigation of the river for weeks after every appearance of frost is banished on shore; so very widely also do 397they frequently extend in particular parts of the river, and so solid are they at the same time, that in crossing from shore to shore, the people, instead of being at the trouble of going round them, make directly for the ice, disembark upon it, drag their bateaux or canoes across, and launch them again on the opposite side. As long as the ice remains in the St. Lawrence, no ships attempt to pass up or down; for one of these large bodies of ice is equally dangerous with a rock.

The rapid progress of vegetation in Canada, as soon as the winter is over, is most astonishing. Spring has scarcely appeared, when you find it is summer. In a few days the fields are clothed with the richest verdure, and the trees obtain their foliage. The various productions of the garden come in after each other in quick succession, and the grain sown in May affords a rich harvest by the latter end of July. This part of the year, in which spring and summer are so happily blended together, is delightful beyond description; nature then puts on her gayest attire; at the same time the heat is never found oppressive; it is seldom that the mercury in Fahrenheit’s thermometer then rises above 84°: in July and August the weather becomes warmer, and a few days often intervene when the heat is overcoming; during these months 398the mercury sometimes rises to 96°. There is a great difference, however, in the weather at this season in different years: during the whole of the time that I was in the country, I never observed the thermometer higher than 88°; for the greater part of the months of July and August it was not higher than 80°, and for many days together it did not rise beyond 65°, between Quebec and Montreal.

The fall of the year is a most agreeable season in Canada, as well as the summer.

It is observed, that there is in general a difference of about three weeks in the length of the winter at Montreal and at Quebec, and of course in the other seasons. When green peas, strawberries, &c. were entirely gone at Montreal, we met with them in full season at Quebec.

LETTER XXVII.

Inhabitants of Lower Canada.—Of the Tenures by which Lands are held.—Not favourable to the Improvement of the Country.—Some Observations thereon.—Advantages of settling in Canada and the United States compared.—Why Emigrations to the latter Country are more general.—Description of a journey to Stoneham Township near Quebec—Description of the River St. Charles—Of Lake St. Charles—Of Stoneham Township.

ABOUT five-sixths of the inhabitants of Lower Canada are of French extraction, the bulk of whom are peasants, living upon the lands of the seigniors. Amongst the English inhabitants devoted to agriculture, but few, however, are to be found occupying land under seigniors, not withstanding that several of the seigniories have fallen into the hands of Englishmen; the great majority of them hold the lands which they cultivate by virtue of certificates from the governor, and these people for the most part reside in the western parts of the province, bordering upon the upper parts of the river St. Lawrence.

400The seigniors, both French and English, live in a plain simple style; for although the seigniories in general are extensive, but few of them afford a very large income to the proprietors.

The revenues of a seigniory arise from certain fines called lods and vents, which are paid by the vassals on the alienation of property, as when a farm, or any part of it, is divided by a vassal, during his lifetime, amongst his sons, or when any other than the immediate issue of a vassal succeeds to his estate, &c. &c. The revenues arise also from certain fines paid on the granting of fresh lands to the vassals, and from the profits of the mills of the seignior, to which the vassals are bound to send all their corn to be ground.

This last obligation is sometimes extremely irksome to the vassal, when, for instance, on a large seigniory there is not more than one mill; for although it should be ten miles distant from his habitation, and he could get his corn ground on better terms close to his own door, yet he cannot send it to any other mill than that belonging to the seignior, under a heavy penalty.

The extent of seigniorial rights in Canada, particularly in what relates to the levying of the lods and vents, seems to be by no means clearly ascertained, so that where the seignior 401happens to be a man of a rapacious disposition, the vassal is sometimes compelled to pay fines, which, in strict justice perhaps, ought not to be demanded. In the first provincial assembly that was called, this business was brought forward, and the equity and policy was strongly urged by some of the English members that possessed considerable abilities, of having proper bounds fixed to the power of the seigniors, and of having all the fines and services due from their vassals accurately ascertained, and made generally known: but the French members, a great number of whom were themselves seigniors, being strongly attached to old habits, and thinking that it was conducive to their interest that their authority should still continue undefined, opposed the measure with great warmth; and nothing was done.

Nearly all those parts of Canada which were inhabited when the country was under French government, as well as the unoccupied lands granted to individuals during the same period, are comprized under different seigniories, and these, with all the usages and customs thereto formerly pertaining, were confirmed to the proprietaries by the Quebec bill, which began to be in force in May 1775; these lands, therefore, are held by unquestionable titles. All the waste lands, however, of the crown, that have been allotted since the conquest, 402have been granted simply by certificates of occupation, or licences, from the governor, giving permission to persons who applied for these lands to settle upon them, no patents, conveying a clear possession of them, have ever been made out; it is merely by courtesy that they are held; and if a governor thought proper to reclaim them on the part of the crown, he has only to say the word, and the titles of the occupiers sink into air. Thus it is, that although several persons have expended large sums of money in procuring, and afterwards improving townships[34], none of them are yet enabled to sell a single acre as an indemnification for these expences; at least no title can be given with what is offered for sale, and it is not therefore to be supposed, that purchasers of such property will easily be found. It is true, indeed, that the different proprietaries of these townships have been assured, on the part of government, that patents shall be granted to every one of them, and they are fully persuaded that these will be made out some time or other; but they have in vain waited for them for three years, and they are anxiously waiting for them still[35].

403Different motives have been assigned for this conduct on the part of the British government. In the first place it has been alledged, that the titles are withheld, in order to prevent speculation and land-jobbing from rising to the same height in Canada as they have done in the United States.

It is a notorious fact, that in the United States land-jobbing has led to a series of the most nefarious practices, whereby numbers have already suffered, and by which still greater numbers must suffer hereafter. By the machinations of a few interested individuals, who have contrived by various methods to get immense tracts[36] of waste land into their possession, fictitious demands have been created in the market for land, the price of it has consequently been enhanced much beyond its intrinsic 404worth, and these persons have then taken the opportunity of selling what they had on hand at an enormous profit. The wealth that has been accumulated by particular persons in the United States, in this manner, is prodigious; and numberless others, witnesses to their prosperity, have been tempted to make purchases of land, in hopes of realizing fortunes in a similar way, by selling out small portions at an advanced price. Thus it is that the nominal value of waste land has been raised so suddenly in the United States; for large tracts, which ten years before were selling for a few pence per acre, have sold in numberless instances, lately, for dollars per acre, an augmentation in price which the increase of population alone would by no means have occasioned. Estates, like articles of merchandize, have passed, before they have ever been improved, through the hands of dozens of people, who never perhaps were within five hundred miles of them, and the consumer or farmer, in consequence of the profits laid on by these people, to whom they have severally belonged, has had frequently to pay a most exorbitant price for the little spot which he has purchased[37].

405Speculation and land-jobbing carried to such a pitch cannot but be deemed great evils in the community; and to prevent them from extending into Canada appears to be an object well worthy the attention of government; but it seems unnecessary to have recourse for that purpose to the very exceptionable measure of withholding a good title to all lands granted by the crown, a measure disabling the landholder from taking the proper steps to improve his estate, which gives rise to distrust and suspicion, and materially impedes the growing prosperity of the country.

It appears to me, that land-jobbing could never arrive at such a height in Canada as to be productive of similar evils to those already sprung up from it in the United States, or similar to those further ones with which the country is threatened, if no more land were granted by the crown, to any one individual, than a township of ten thousand acres; or 406should it be thought that grants of such an extent even opened too wide a field for speculation, certain restrictions might be laid upon the grantee; he might be bound to improve his township by a clause in the patent, invalidating the sale of more than a fourth or fifth of it unless to actual settlers, until a certain number of people should be resident thereon[38]. Such a clause would effectually prevent the evil; for it is the granting of very extensive tracts of waste lands to individuals, without binding them in any way to improve them, which gives rise to speculation and land-jobbing.

By others it is imagined, that the withholding of clear titles to the lands is a measure adopted merely for the purpose of preventing a diminution of the inhabitants from taking place by emigration.

Not only townships have been granted by certificates of occupation, but also numberless small portions of land, from one hundred acres upwards, particularly in Upper Canada, to royalists and others, who have at different periods 407emigrated from the United States. These people have all of them improved their several allotments. By withholding any better title, therefore, than that of a certificate, they are completely tied down to their farms, unless, indeed, they think proper to abandon them, together with the fruits of many years labour, without receiving any compensation whatsoever for so doing.

It is not probable, however, that these people, if they had a clear title to their lands, would return back to the United States; the royalists, who were driven out of the country by the ill treatment of the other inhabitants, certainly would not; nor would the others, who have voluntarily quitted the country, return, whilst self-interest, which led them originally to come into Canada, operated in favour of their remaining there. It was the prospect of getting land on advantageous terms which induced them to emigrate; land is still a cheaper article in Canada than in the United States; and as there is much more waste land in the former, than in the latter country, in proportion to the number of the inhabitants, it will probably continue so for a length of time to come. In the United States, at present, it is impossible to get land without paying for it; and in parts of the country where the soil is rich, and where some settlements are already 408made, a tract of land, sufficient for a moderate farm, is scarcely to be procured under hundreds of dollars. In Canada, however, a man has only to make application to government, and on his taking the oath of allegiance, he immediately gets one hundred acres of excellent uncleared land, in the neighbourhood of other settlements, gratis; and if able to improve it directly, he can get even a larger quantity. But it is a fact worthy of notice, which banishes every suspicion relative to a diminution of the inhabitants taking place by emigrations into the States, that great numbers of people from the States actually emigrate into Canada annually, whilst none of the Canadians, who have it in their power to dispose of their property, emigrate into the United States, except, indeed, a very few of those who have resided in the towns.

According to the opinion of others again, it is not for either of the purposes already mentioned, that clear titles are withheld to the lands granted by the crown, but for that of binding down to their good behaviour the people of each province, more particularly the Americans that have emigrated from the States lately, who are regarded by many with an eye of suspicion, notwithstanding they have taken the oaths of allegiance to the crown. It is very unfair, however, to imagine that these 409people would be ready to revolt a second time from Great Britain, if they were made still more independent than they are now, merely because they did so on a former occasion, when their liberties and rights as men and as subjects of the British empire were so shamefully disregarded; on the contrary, were clear titles granted with the lands bestowed by the crown on them, and the other subjects of the province, instead of giving rise to disaffection, there is every reason to think it would make them still more loyal, and more attached to the British government, as no invidious distinction could then be drawn between the condition of the landholders in the States and those in Canada. The material rights and liberties of the people would then be full as extensive in the one country as in the other; and as no positive advantage could be gained by a revolt, it is not likely that Americans, of all people in the world the most devoted to self-interest, would expose their persons and properties in such an attempt.

If, however, the Americans from the States are people that would abuse such favours from the crown, why were they admitted into the province at all? The government might easily have kept them out, by refusing to them any grants of lands; but at any rate, were it thought expedient to admit them, and were such measures 410necessary to keep them in due subjection, it seems hard that the same measures should be adopted in regard to the inhabitants of the province, who stood firm to the British government, even at the time when the people in every other part of the continent revolted.

For whatever reason this system of not granting unexceptionable titles with the land, which the crown voluntarily bestows on its faithful subjects, has been adopted, one thing appears evident, namely, that it has very considerably retarded the improvement of both the provinces; and indeed, as long as it is continued, they must both remain very backward countries, compared with any of the adjoining states. Were an opposite system, however, pursued, and the lands granted merely with such restrictions as were found absolutely necessary, in order to prevent jobbing, the happy effects of a measure of that nature would soon become visible; the face of the country would be quickly meliorated, and it is probable that there would not be any part of North America, where they would, after a short period, be able to boast that improvement had taken place more rapidly.

It is very certain, that were the lands granted in this manner, many more people would annually emigrate into Canada from the United States than at present; for there are numbers 411who come yearly into the country to “explore it,” that return back solely because they cannot get lands with an indisputable title; I have repeatedly met with these people myself in Upper Canada, and have heard them express the utmost disappointment at not being able to get lands on such terms even for money; I have heard others in the States also speak to the same purport after they had been in Canada; it is highly probable, moreover, that many of the people, who leave Great Britain and Ireland for America, would then be induced to settle in Canada instead of the United States, and the British empire would not, in that case, lose, as it does now, thousands of valuable citizens every year.

What are the general inducements, may here be asked, to people to quit Great Britain for the United States? They have been summed up by Mr. Cooper[39], in his letters published in 1794, on the subject of emigrating to America; and we cannot have recourse, on the whole, to better authority.

“In my mind,” he says, “the first and principal inducement to a person to quit England for America is, the total absence of anxiety 412respecting the future success of a family. There is little fault to find with the government of America, that is, of the United States, either in principle or practice. There are few taxes to pay, and those are of acknowledged necessity, and moderate in amount. There are no animosities about religion, and it is a subject about which few questions are asked; there are few respecting political men or political measures; the present irritation of men’s minds in Great Britain, and the discordant state of society on political accounts, is not known there. The government is the government of the people, and for the people. There are no tythes nor game laws; and excise laws upon spirits only, and similar to the British only in name. There are no great men of rank, nor many of great riches; nor have the rich the power of oppressing the less rich, for poverty is almost unknown; nor are the streets crowded with beggars. You see no where the disgusting and melancholy contrast, so common in Europe, of vice and filth, and rags and wretchedness, in the immediate neighbourhood of the most wanton extravagance, and the most useless and luxurious parade; nor are the common people so depraved as in Great Britain. Quarrels are uncommon, and boxing matches unknown 413in the streets. There are no military to keep the people in awe. Robberies are very rare. All these are real advantages; but great as they are, they do not weigh with me so much as the single consideration first mentioned.”

Any person that has travelled generally through the United States must acknowledge, that Mr. Cooper has here spoken with great partiality; for as to the morality and good order that prevails amongst the people, he has applied to all of them what only holds true with respect to those who live in the most improved parts of the country.

He is extremely inaccurate also, in representing the people of the States as free from all animosities about political measures; on the contrary, there is no country on the face of the globe, perhaps, where party spirit runs higher, where political subjects are more frequently the topic of conversation amongst all classes, and where such subjects are more frequently the cause of rancorous disputations and lasting differences amongst the people. I have repeatedly been in towns where one half of the inhabitants would scarcely deign to speak to the other half, on account of the difference of their political opinions; and it is scarcely possible, in any part of the country, to remain for a few hours in a mixed company of men, without 414witnessing some acrimonious dispute from the same cause.

Let us, however, compare the inducements which he holds out to people in England to leave that country for America, that is, for the United States, with the inducements there would be to settle in Canada, under the premised supposition, that the land was there granted in an unexceptionable manner.

From the land being plentiful in Canada, and consequently at a very low price, but likely to increase in value, whilst in the States, on the contrary, it has risen to an exorbitant value, beyond which it is not likely to rise for some time to come, there can be no doubt but that a man of moderate property could provide for his family with much more ease in Canada than in the United States, as far as land were his object.

In Canada, also, there is a much greater opening for young men acquainted with any business or profession that can be carried on in America, than there is in the United States. The expence of settling in Canada would be far less also than in any one of the States; for in the former country the necessaries and conveniencies of life are remarkably cheap, whilst, on the contrary, in the other they are far dearer than in England; a man therefore would certainly have no greater anxiety about the future 415success of a family in Canada than in the United States, and the absence of this anxiety, according to Mr. Cooper, is the great inducement to settle in the States, which weighs with him more than all other considerations put together.

The taxes of Lower Canada have already been enumerated; they are of acknowledged necessity, and much lower in amount and number than those paid in the States.

There are no animosities in Canada about religion, and people of all persuasions are on a perfect equality with each other, except, indeed, it be the protestant dissenters, who may happen to live on lands that were subject to tithes under the French government; they have to pay tithes to the English episcopalian clergy; but there is not a dissenter living on tithe lands, perhaps, in the whole province. The lands granted since the conquest are not liable to tithes. The English episcopalian clergy are provided for by the crown out of the waste lands; and all dissenters have simply to pay their own clergy.

There are no game laws in Canada, nor any excise laws whatsoever.

As for the observation made by Mr. Cooper in respect to the military, it is almost too futile to deserve notice. If a soldier, however, be an object of terror, the timid man will not find 416himself at ease in the United States any more than in England, as he will meet with soldiers in New York, on Governor’s Island, at Mifflin Fort near Philadelphia, at the forts on the North River, at Niagara, at Detroit, and at Oswego, &c. on the lakes, and all through the western country, at the different posts which were established by General Wayne.

In every other respect, what Mr. Cooper has said of the United States holds good with regard to Canada; nay more, it must certainly in addition be allowed by every unprejudiced person that has been in both countries, that morality and good order are much more conspicuous amongst the Canadians of every description, than the people of the States; drunkenness is undoubtedly much less common amongst them, as is gambling, and also quarrels.

But independent of these inducements to settle in Canada, there is still another circumstance which ought to weigh greatly with every British emigrant, according to the opinion even of Mr. Cooper himself. After advising his friends “to go where land is cheap and fertile, and where it is in a progress of improvement,” he recommends them “to go somewhere, if possible, in the neighbourhood of a few English, whose society, even in America, is interesting to an English settler, 417who cannot entirely relinquish the memoria temporis acti;” that is, as he particularly mentions in another passage, “he will find their manners and conversation far more agreeable than those of the Americans,” and from being chiefly in their company, he will not be so often tormented with the painful reflection, that he has not only left, but absolutely renounced his native country, and the men whom he once held dear above all others, and united himself, in their stead, with people whose vain boasts and ignorant assertions, however harsh and grating they may sound to his ears, he must listen to without murmuring.

Now in Canada, particularly in Lower Canada, in the neighbourhood of Quebec and Montreal, an English settler would find himself surrounded by his countrymen; and although his moderate circumstances should have induced him to leave England, yet he would not be troubled with the disagreeable reflection that he had totally renounced his native land, and sworn allegiance to a foreign power; he would be able to consider with heartfelt satisfaction, that he was living under the protection of the country wherein he had drawn his first breath; that he was contributing to her prosperity, and the welfare of many of his countrymen, while he was ameliorating his own fortune.

418From a due consideration of every one of the before mentioned circumstances, it appears evident to me, that there is no part of America so suitable to an English or Irish settler as the vicinity of Montreal or Quebec in Canada, and within twenty miles of each of these places there is ample room for thousands of additional inhabitants.

I must not omit here to give some account of a new settlement in the neighbourhood of Quebec, which I and my fellow travellers visited in company with some neighbouring gentlemen, as it may in some degree tend to confirm the truth of what I have said respecting the impolicy of withholding indisputable titles to the lands lately granted by the crown, and as it may serve at the same time to shew how many eligible spots for new settlements are to be found in the neighbourhood of this city.

We set off from Quebec in calashes, and following, with a little deviation only, the course of the River St. Charles, arrived on the margin of the lake of the same name, about twelve miles distant from Quebec.

The River St. Charles flows from the lake into the bason, near Quebec; at its mouth it is about thirty yards wide, but not navigable for boats, except for a few miles up, owing to the numerous rocks and falls. In the spring 419of the year, when it is much swollen by floods, rafts have been conducted down the whole way from the lake, but this has not been accomplished without great difficulty, some danger, and a considerable loss of time in passing the different portages. The distance from the lake to Quebec being so short, land carriage must always be preferred to a water conveyance along this river, except it be for timber.

The course of the St. Charles is very irregular; in some places it appears almost stagnant, whilst in others it shoots with wonderful impetuosity over deep beds of rocks. The views upon it are very romantic, particularly in the neighbourhood of Lorette, a village of the Huron Indians, where the river, after falling in a beautiful cascade over a ledge of rocks, winds through a deep dell, shaded on each side with tall trees.

The face of the country between Quebec and the lake is extremely pleasing, and in the neighbourhood of the city, where the settlements are numerous, well cultivated; but as you retire from it the settlements become fewer and fewer, and the country of course appears wilder. From the top of a hill, about half a mile from the lake, which commands a fine view of that and the adjacent country, not more than five or six houses are to be 420seen, and beyond these there is no settlement beside that on Stoneham township, the one under immediate notice.

On arriving at the lake, we found two canoes in waiting for us, and embarked on board.

Lake St. Charles is about four miles and a half in length, and its breadth on an average about three quarters of a mile; It consists of two bodies of water nearly of the same size; they communicate together by a narrow pass, through which a smart current sets towards Quebec. The scenery along the lower part of the lake is uninteresting, but along the upper part of it the views are highly picturesque, particularly upon a first entrance through the pass. The lake is here interspersed with large rocks; and close to the water on one side, as far as the eye can reach, rocks and trees appear blended together in the most beautiful manner. The shores are bold, and richly ornamented with hanging woods; and the head of the lake being concealed from the view by several little promontories, you are led to imagine that the body of water is far more extensive than in reality. Towards the upper end the view is terminated by a range of blue hills, which appear at a distance, peeping over the tops of the tall trees. When a few settlements come to be 421made here, open to the lake, for the land bordering upon it is quite in its natural state, this must indeed be a heavenly little spot.

The depth of the water in the lake is about eight feet, in some places more, in others less. The water is clear, and as several small streams fall into it to supply what runs off by the River St. Charles, it is kept constantly in a state of circulation; but it is not well tasted, owing as is conceived to the bottom being in some parts overgrown with weeds. Prodigious numbers of bull frogs, however, are found about the shores, which shews that springs of good water abound near it, for these creatures are never met with but where the water is of a good quality.

At the upper part of the lake we landed, and having proceeded for about half a mile over some low ground bare of trees, from being annually flooded on the dissolution of the snow, we struck into the woods. Here a road newly cut soon attracted our attention, and following the course of it for a mile or two, we at last espied, through a sudden opening between the trees, the charming little settlement.

The dwelling house, a neat boarded little mansion painted white, together with the offices, were situated on a small eminence; to the right, at the bottom of the slope, stood the 422barn, the largest in all Canada, with a farm yard exactly in the English style; behind the barn was laid out a neat garden, at the bottom of which, over a bed of gravel, ran a purling stream of the purest water, deep enough, except in a very dry season, to float a large canoe. A small lawn laid down in grass appeared in front of the house, ornamented with clumps of pines, and in its neighbourhood were about sixty acres of cleared land. The common method of clearing land in America is to grub up all the brushwood and small trees merely, and to cut down the large trees about two feet above the ground: the remaining slumps rot in from six to ten years, according to the quality of the timber; in the mean time the farmer ploughs between them the best way he can, and where they are very numerous he is sometimes obliged to use even the spade or the hoe to turn up the soil. The lands, however, at this settlement had been cleared in a different manner, for the trees and roots had all been grubbed up at once. This mode of proceeding is extremely expensive, so that few of those destined to make new settlements could afford to adopt it; and, moreover, it has not been accurately proved that it is the most profitable one; but the appearance of lands so cleared is greatly superior to those cleared in the common method.

423In another respect also the lands at this settlement had been cleared in a superior manner to what is commonly to be met with in America; for large clumps of trees were left adjoining to the house, and each field was encircled with wood, whereby the crops were secured from the bad effects of storms. The appearance of cultivated fields thus situated, as it were, in the midst of a forest, was inconceivably beautiful.

The economy of this little farm equalled its beauty, The fields, neatly fenced in and furnished with handsome gates, were cultivated according to the Norfolk system of husbandry, and had been brought to yield the most plentiful crops of every different sort of grain; the farm yard was filled with as fine cattle as could be seen in any country; and the dairy afforded excellent butter, and abundance of good cheese.

Besides the dwelling house before mentioned, there were several log houses on different parts of this farm, inhabited by the people who were engaged in clearing the land. All these appeared delighted with the situation; nor were such of them as had come a short time before from England at all displeased with the climate; they informed me, that they had enjoyed perfect health from the moment of their landing, and found no inconvenience 424from the intense cold of the winter season, which appears such an insuperable objection to many against settling in Canada.

This settlement, together with the township it is situated upon, are the property of a clergyman formerly resident at Quebec. The township is ten miles square, commencing where the most remote of the old seigniories end, that is, within eighteen miles of the city of Quebec; but though within this short distance of a large city, it was almost totally unknown until about five or six years ago, when the present proprietor, with a party of Indians and a few friends, set out himself to examine the quality of the lands. They proved to be rich; the timber was luxuriant; the face of the country agreeably diversified with hill and dale, interspersed with beautiful lakes, and interspersed by rivers and mill streams in every direction. Situated also within six miles of old settlements, through which there were established roads, being convenient to a market at the capital of Canada, and within the reach of society at least as agreeable, if not more so, than is to be found in all America, nothing seemed wanting to render it an eligible spot for a new settlement; accordingly the proprietor made application to government; the land was surveyed, the township marked out, and it was 425allotted to him merely, however, by a certificate of occupation.

Several other gentlemen, charmed with the excellent quality and beautiful disposition of the lands in this part of the country, have taken up adjoining townships; but at none of them have any settlements been made, nor is it probable that any will be, until the proprietaries get better titles: indeed, it has excited the surprise of a numerous set of people in the province, to see even the little settlement I have spoken of established on land held under such a tenure.

That unexceptionable titles may be speedily made out to these lands is sincerely to be hoped; for may we not, whenever that measure shall take place, expect to see these beautiful provinces, that have so long remained almost unknown, rising into general notice? May we not then expect to behold them increasing rapidly in population, and making hasty strides towards the attainment of that degree of prosperity and consequence, which their soil, climate, and many other natural advantages have so eminently qualified them for enjoying? And surely the empire at large would be greatly benefitted by such a change in the state of Canada; for as the country increased in population, it would increase in 426riches, and there would then be a proportionably greater demand for English manufactures; a still greater trade would also be carried on then between Canada and the West Indies than at present, to the great advantage of both countries[40]; a circumstance that would give employment to a greater number of British ships: as Canada also increased in wealth, it would be enabled to defray the expences of its own government, which at present falls so heavily upon the people of Great Britain: neither is there reason to imagine that Canada, if allowed to attain such a state of prosperity, would be ready to disunite herself from Great Britain, supposing that Great Britain should remain as powerful as at present, and that Canada continued to be governed with mildness and wisdom; for she need but turn towards the United States to be convinced that the great mass of her people were in the possession of as much happiness 427and liberty as those of the neighbouring country; and that whatever she might lose by exposing herself to the horrors of a sanguinary war, she could gain no essential or immediate advantages whatsoever, by asserting her own independence.