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Title: 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]
Author: Weld, Isaac
Language: English
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NORTH AMERICA, AND THE PROVINCES OF UPPER AND LOWER CANADA, DURING THE
YEARS 1795, 1796, AND 1797 [VOL. 1 OF 2] ***
Travels Through the States of North America,
and the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada,
During the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797, Vol. I.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+TRAVELS+
THROUGH THE STATES
OF
+NORTH AMERICA+,
AND THE
PROVINCES OF
UPPER AND LOWER CANADA,
DURING
THE YEARS 1795, 1796, AND 1797.
──────────
BY +ISAAC WELD+, JUNIOR.
──────────
SECOND EDITION.
ILLUSTRATED AND EMBELLISHED WITH SIXTEEN PLATES.
──────────
+IN TWO VOLUMES+.
+VOL. I+
════════════════════════════════════
+LONDON+:
PRINTED FOR JOHN STOCKDALE, PICCADILLY.
═══
1799.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+PREFACE+.
AT a period when war was spreading desolation over the fairest parts of
Europe, when anarchy seemed to be extending its frightful progress from
nation to nation, and when the storms that were gathering over his
native country[1] in particular, rendered it impossible to say how soon
any one of its inhabitants might be forced to seek for refuge in a
foreign land; the Author of the following pages was induced to cross the
Atlantic, for the purpose of examining with his own eyes into the
Footnote 1:
Ireland.
truth of the various accounts which had been given of the flourishing
and happy condition of the United States of America, and of ascertaining
whether, in case of future emergency, any part of those territories
might be looked forward to, as an eligible and agreeable place of abode.
Arrived in America, he travelled pretty generally through the states of
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York; he
afterwards passed into the Canadas, desirous of obtaining equal
information as to the state of those provinces, and of determining from
his own immediate observations, how far the present condition of the
inhabitants of the British dominions in America might be inferior, or
otherwise, to that of the people of the States, who had now indeed
thrown off the yoke, but were formerly common members of the same
extensive empire.
WHEN abroad, he had not the most distant intention of publishing his
travels; but finding on his return home, that much of the matter
contained in the following letters was quite new to his friends, and
being induced to think that it might prove equally new, and not wholly
unacceptable to the Public, he came to the resolution of committing them
to print: accordingly the present volume[2] is now offered to the world,
in an humble hope, that if not entertaining to all readers, it will at
least be so to some, as well as useful to future travellers.
Footnote 2:
The first edition was printed in one quarto volume.
IF it shall appear to any one, that he has spoken with too much asperity
of American men and American manners, the Author begs that such language
may not be ascribed to hasty prejudice, and a blind partiality for every
thing that is European. He crossed the Atlantic strongly prepossessed in
favour of the people and the country, which he was about to visit; and
if he returned with sentiments of a different tendency, they resulted
solely from a cool and dispassionate observation of what chance
presented to his view when abroad.
AN enthusiastic admirer of the beauties of nature, the scenery of the
countries through which he passed did not fail to attract a great part
of his attention; and interspersed through the book will be found views
of what he thought would be most interesting to his readers: they are
what he himself sketched upon the spot, that of Mount Vernon, the Seat
of General Washington, indeed, excepted, for which he is indebted to an
ingenious friend that he met in America, and the View of Bethlehem. He
has many more views in his possession; but he thought it better to
furnish his Publisher with a few only, in hopes that the engraving from
them would be well executed, rather than with a great many, which, had
they been given, must either have been in a style unworthy of the public
eye, or else have swelled the price of the volume beyond the reach of
many that may now read it. Of the resemblance which these views bear to
their respective archetypes, those alone can be judges who have been
spectators of the original scenes. With regard to the Cataract of
Niagara, however, it must be observed, that in views on so small a scale
no one must expect to find a lively representation of its wonderful and
terrific vastness, even were they executed by artists of far superior
merit; the inserting of the three in the present work is done merely in
the hope that they may help, together with the ground plan of the
precipice, if it may be so called, to give a general idea of the
position and appearance of that stupendous Cataract. Those who are
desirous of becoming more intimately acquainted with it, will soon be
gratified, at least so he has been given to understand by the artist in
whose hands they at present are, with a set of views from the masterly
pencil of Captain Fisher, of the Royal British Artillery, which are
allowed by all those who have visited the Falls of Niagara, to convey a
more perfect idea of that wonderful natural curiosity, than any
paintings or engravings that are extant.
FINALLY, before the Reader proceeds to the perusal of the ensuing pages,
the Author will just beg leave to apprize him, that they are the
production of a very youthful pen, unaccustomed to write a great deal,
far less to write for the press. It is now for the first time that one
of its productions is ventured to be laid before the public eye. As a
first attempt, therefore, it is humbly hoped that the present work may
meet with a generous indulgence, and not be too severely criticised on
account of its numerous imperfections.
Dublin,
20th December 1798.
-------------------------------------------
+ERRATA+.[3]
+VOL+. I.
Page 205 line 10, for 60° read 6°.
Page 381 line 7, dele there.
+VOL+. II.
Page 18 line 28, for take, read take on.
Page 23 line 14, for houses, read storehouses.
Page 171 line 4 of the note, dele not.
Footnote 3:
These corrections have been applied to these two volumes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+CONTENTS+
To +VOLUME + I.
─────────
+LETTER + I.
_Arrival on the Coast of America.—Trees page 1
the first Object visible.—Description
of the Bay and River of
Delaware.—Passengers bound for
Philadelphia not suffered to land till
examined by the Health
Officers.—Arrival at
Philadelphia.—Poor Appearance of the
City from the Water.—Plan of the
City.—Wharfs.—Public and private
Buildings.—Some Account of the
Hospital, and of the Gaol_
+LETTER + II.
_Population of Philadelphia.—Some page 20
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_
+LETTER + III.
_Journey to Baltimore.—Description of page 31
the Country about
Philadelphia.—Floating Bridges over
the Schuylkill, how constructed.—Mills
in Brandy-wine Creek.—Improvement in
the Machinery of Flour Mills in
America.—Town of Wilmington.—Log
Houses.—Bad Roads.—Fine Prospects.—How
relished by
Americans.—Taverns.—Susquehannah
River.—Town of Baltimore.—Plan of the
Town.—Harbour.—Public and private
Buildings.—Inhabitants.—Country
between Baltimore and
Washington.—Execrable Roads_
+LETTER + IV.
_Foundation of the City of page 49
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_
+LETTER + V.
_Some Account of Alexandria.—Mount page 90
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_
+LETTER + VI.
_Arrival at Philadelphia.—Some page 96
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_
+LETTER + VII.
_Philadelphia gayer in the Winter than page 104
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_
+LETTER + VIII.
_Singular Mildness of the Winter of page 109
1795-6.—Set out for
Lancaster.—Turnpike Road between that
Place and Philadelphia.—Summary View
of the State of
Pennsylvania.—Description of the Farms
between Lancaster and
Philadelphia.—The Farmers live in a
penurious Style.—Greatly inferior to
English Farmers.—Bad Taverns on this
Road.—Waggons and Waggoners.—Customs
of the latter.—Description of
Lancaster.—Lately made the Seat of the
State Government.—Manufactures carried
on there.—Rifle Guns.—Great Dexterity
with which the Americans use
them.—Anecdote of Two Virginian
Soldiers belonging to a Rifle
Regiment_
+LETTER + IX.
_Number of Germans in the Neighbourhood page 120
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_
+LETTER + X.
_Of the Country near York.—Of the Soil page 131
of the Country on each Side of the
Blue Mountains.—Frederic-town.—Change
in the Inhabitants and in the Country
as you proceed towards the
Sea.—Numbers of Slaves.—Tobacco
chiefly cultivated.—Inquisitiveness of
the People at the
Taverns.—Observations
thereon.—Description of the Great
Falls of the Patowmac River.—George
Town.—Of the Country between that
Place and Hoe’s Ferry.—Poisonous
Vines.—Port Tobacco.—Wretched
Appearance of the Country bordering
upon the Ferry.—Slaves
neglected.—Passage of the Patowmac
very dangerous.—Fresh Water
Oysters.—Landed on a deserted Part of
the Virginian Shore.—Great Hospitality
of the Virginians_
+LETTER + XI.
_Of the Northern Neck of Virginia.—First page 145
settled by the English.—Houses built
by them remaining.—Disparity of
Condition amongst the
Inhabitants.—Estates worked by
Negroes.—Condition of the
Slaves.—Worse in the Carolinas.—Lands
worn out by Cultivation of
Tobacco.—Mode of cultivating and
curing Tobacco.—Houses in
Virginia.—Those of Wood
preferred.—Lower Classes of People in
Virginia.—Their unhealthy Appearance_
+LETTER + XII.
_Town of Tappahannock.—Rappahannock page 158
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_
+LETTER + XIII.
_Hampton.—Ferry to Norfolk.—Danger in page 169
crossing the numerous Ferries in
Virginia.—Norfolk.—Laws of Virginia
injurious to the Trading
Interest.—Streets narrow and dirty in
Norfolk.—Yellow Fever
there.—Observations on this
Disorder.—Violent Party Spirit amongst
the Inhabitants.—Few Churches in
Virginia.—Several in Ruins.—Private
Grave Yards_
+LETTER + XIV.
_Description of Dismal Swamp.—Wild Men page 178
found in it.—Bears, Wolves,
&c.—Country between Swamp and
Richmond.—Mode of making Tar and
Pitch.—Poor Soil.—Wretched
Taverns.—Corn Bread.—Difficulty of
getting Food for
Horses.—Petersburgh.—Horse Races
there.—Description of Virginian
Horses.—Style of Riding in
America.—Description of Richmond,
Capital of Virginia.—Singular Bridge
across James River.—State House.—Falls
of James River.—Gambling common in
Richmond.—Lower Classes of People very
quarrelsome.—Their Mode of
Fighting.—Gouging_
+LETTER + XV.
_Description of Virginia between page 193
Richmond and the Mountains.—Fragrance
of Flowers and Shrubs in the
Woods.—Melody of the Birds.—Of the
Birds of Virginia.—Mocking Bird.—Blue
Bird.—Red Bird, &c.—Singular Noises of
the Frogs.—Columbia.—Magazine
there.—Fire Flies in the Woods.—Green
Springs.—Wretchedness of the
Accommodation there.—Difficulty of
finding the Way through the
Woods.—Serpents.—Rattle-Snake.—Copper-Snake.—Black
Snake.—South-west, or Green
Mountains.—Soil of them.—Mountain
Torrents do great Damage.—Salubrity of
the Climate.—Great Beauty of the
Peasantry.—Many Gentlemen of Property
living here.—Monticello, the Seat of
Mr. Jefferson.—Vineyards.—Observations
on the Culture of the Grape, and the
Manufacture of Wine_
+LETTER + XVI.
_Of the Country between the South-west page 209
and Blue Mountains.—Copper and Iron
Mines.—Lynchburgh.—New London.—Armoury
here.—Description of the Road over the
Blue Mountains.—Peaks of Otter,
highest of the Mountains.—Supposed
Height.—Much over-rated.—German
Settlers numerous beyond the Blue
Mountains.—Singular Contrast between
the Country and the Inhabitants on
each Side of the Mountains.—Of the
Weevil.—Of the Hessian Fly.—Bottetourt
County.—Its Soil.—Salubrity of the
Climate.—Medicinal Springs here.—Much
frequented_
+LETTER + XVII.
_Description of the celebrated Rock page 220
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_
+LETTER + XVIII.
_Description of the Passage of Patowmac page 239
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_
+LETTER + XIX.
_Travelling in America without a page 256
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_
+LETTER + XX.
_Departure from Albany.—Difficulty of page 274
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_
+LETTER + XXI.
_Embark on Lake Champlain.—Difficulty of page 288
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_
+LETTER + XXII.
_Description of the Town of Montreal.—Of page 309
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_
+LETTER + XXIII.
_Voyage to Quebec down the St. page 331
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_
+LETTER + XXIV.
_Situation of the City of page 341
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
Recollects.—College of the
Jesuits.—One Jesuit remaining of great
Age.—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_
+LETTER + XXV.
_Of the Constitution, Government, Laws, page 361
and Religion of the Provinces of Upper
and Lower Canada.—Estimate of the
Expences 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._
+LETTER + XXVI.
_Of the Soil and Productions of Lower page 379
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_
+LETTER + XXVII.
_Inhabitants of Lower Canada.—Of the page 399
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_
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+LIST + OF + PLATES. +
──────
VOL. I.
Map of the NORTHERN STATES of America _Page_ 1
Plan of the CITY of WASHINGTON 81
View of MOUNT VERNON, the Seat of 92
General Washington
American STAGE WAGGON 27
View of the Natural ROCK BRIDGE in 221
Virginia
View on the HUDSON RIVER[_N.B._] 268
View of the COHOZ FALL 275
Map of UPPER and LOWER CANADA 305
Plan of the CITY of QUEBEC 342
View of CAPE DIAMOND, from Wolfe’s Cove, 346
near Quebec
CANADIAN CALASH or MARCHE-DONC 306
_N.B._: In some of the Impressions, by mistake, called “View of the
Patowmac River from Mount Vernon.”
VOL. II.
An Eye Sketch of the FALLS of NIAGARA 118
View of the HORSE-SHOE FALL of NIAGARA 118
── Lesser FALLS of NIAGARA 118
General View of the FALLS of NIAGARA 121
View of BETHLEHEM, a MORAVIAN Settlement 355
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
_PART_ of the
UNITED STATES _of_ NORTH AMERICA.
Click on the map for a higher resolution version.
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+TRAVELS+
THROUGH THE STATES OF
+NORTH AMERICA+.
---------------------
+LETTER + I.
_Arrival on the Coast of America.—Trees the first Object
visible.—Description of the Bay and River of Delaware.—Passengers
bound for Philadelphia not suffered to land till examined by the
Health Officers.—Arrival at Philadelphia.—Poor Appearance of the City
from the Water.—Plan of the City.—Wharfs.—Public and private
Buildings.—Some Account of the Hospital, and of the Gaol._
MY DEAR SIR, Philadelphia, November, 1795.
OUR passage across the Atlantic was disagreeable in the extreme. The
weather for the most part was bad, and calms and heavy adverse gales so
frequently retarded our progress to the westward, that it was not until
the fifty-ninth day from that on which we left Ireland, that we
discovered the American coast. I shall not attempt to describe the joy
which the sight of land, a sight that at once relieved the eye from the
uninteresting and wearisome view of sky and water, and that afforded to
each individual a speedy prospect of delivery from the narrow confines
of a small trading vessel, diffused amongst the passengers. You, who
have yourself made a long voyage, can best imagine what it must have
been.
The first objects which meet the eye on approaching the American coast,
south of New York, are the tops of trees, with which the shore is
thickly covered to the very edge of the water. These, at a distance,
have the appearance of small islands; but as you draw nearer they are
seen to unite; and the tall forest rising gradually out of the ocean, at
last presents itself in all its majesty to your view. The land which we
made was situated very near to the bay of Delaware, and before noon we
passed between the capes Henlopen and May, which guard the entrance of
the bay. The capes are only eighteen miles apart, but within them the
bay expands to the breadth of thirty miles. It afterwards becomes
gradually narrower, until it is lost in the river of the same name, at
Bombay Hook, seven leagues distant from the Atlantic. The river
Delaware, at this place, is about six miles wide; at Reedy Island,
twenty miles higher up, it is three miles wide; and at Philadelphia, one
hundred and twenty miles from the sea, one mile wide.
[Sidenote: SHORES OF THE DELAWARE.]
The shores of the bay and of the river Delaware, for a very considerable
distance upwards, are low; and they are covered, like the coast, with
one vast forest, excepting merely in a few places, where extensive
marshes intervene. Nothing, however, could be more pleasing than the
views with which we were entertained as we sailed up to Philadelphia.
The trees had not yet quite lost their foliage, and the rich red and
yellow tints which autumn had suffused over the leaves of the oaks and
poplars appeared beautifully blended with the sombre green of the lofty
pines; whilst the river, winding slowly and smoothly along under the
banks, reflected in its glassy surface the varied colours of the objects
on shore, as well as the images of multitudes of vessels of various
sizes, which, as far as the eye could reach, were seen gliding silently
along with the tide. As you approach towards Philadelphia, the banks of
the river become more elevated; and on the left hand side, where they
are much cleared, they are interspersed with numberless neat farm
houses, with villages and towns; and are in some parts cultivated down
to the very edge of the water. The New Jersey shore, on the right hand
side, remains thickly wooded, even as far as the city.
Vessels very commonly ascend to Philadelphia, when the wind is
favourable, in twenty-four hours; but unfortunately, as our ship entered
the river, the wind died away, and she had to depend solely upon the
tide, which flows at the rate of about three miles only in the hour.
Finding that the passage up to the city was likely therefore to become
tedious, I would fain have gone on shore far below it; but this the
captain would not permit me to do. By the laws of Pennsylvania, enacted
in consequence of the dreadful pestilence which raged in the capital in
the year 1793, the master of any vessel bound for that port is made
subject to a very heavy fine, if he suffers any person from on board
her, whether mariner or passenger, to go on shore in any part of the
state, before his vessel is examined by the health officer: and any
person that goes on shore, contrary to the will of the master of the
vessel, is liable to be imprisoned for a considerable length of time. In
case the existence of this law should not be known on board a vessel
bound for a port in Pennsylvania, it is the business of the pilot to
furnish the matter and the passengers on board with copies of it, with
which he always comes provided. The health officer, who is a regular
bred physician, resides at Mifflin Fort, four miles below the city,
where there is a small garrison kept. A boat is always sent on shore for
him from the ship. After having been tossed about on the ocean for nine
weeks nearly, nothing could be more tantalizing than to be kept thus
close to the shore without being permitted to land.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
Philadelphia, as you approach by the river, is not seen farther off than
three miles, a point of land covered with trees concealing it from the
view. On weathering this point it suddenly opens upon you, and at that
distance it looks extremely well; but on a nearer approach, the city
makes a poor appearance, as nothing is visible from the water but
confused heaps of wooden storehouses, crowded upon each other, the chief
of which are built upon platforms of artificial ground, and wharfs which
project a considerable way into the river. The wharfs are of a
rectangular form, and built of wood; they jut out in every direction,
and are well adapted for the accommodation of shipping, the largest
merchant vessels being able to lie close alongside them. Behind these
wharfs, and parallel to the river, runs Water-street. This is the first
street which you usually enter after landing, and it does not serve to
give a stranger a very favourable opinion either of the neatness or
commodiousness of the public ways of Philadelphia. It is no more than
thirty feet wide; and immediately behind the houses, which stand on the
side farthest from the water, a high bank, supposed to be the old bank
of the river, rises, which renders the air very confined. Added to this,
such stenches at times prevail in it, owing in part to the quantity of
filth and dirt that is suffered to remain on the pavement, and in part
to what is deposited in waste houses, of which there are several in the
street, that it is really dreadful to pass through it. It was here that
the malignant yellow fever broke out in the year 1793, which made such
terrible ravages; and in the summer season, in general, the street is
found extremely unhealthy. That the inhabitants, after suffering so much
from the sickness that originated in it, should remain thus inattentive
to the cleanliness of Water-street is truly surprising; more especially
so, when it is considered, that the streets in the other parts of the
town are as much distinguished for the neatness that prevails throughout
them, as this one is for its dirty condition.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
On the level plot of ground on the top of the bank which rises behind
Water-street, the city of Philadelphia was originally laid out, and it
was intended by the founder that no houses should have been erected at
the bottom of it; however, as there was no positive law to this effect,
the convenience of the situation soon tempted numbers to build there,
and they are now encroaching, annually, on the river, by throwing wharfs
farther out into the stream. In another respect also the original plan
of the city was not adhered to. The ground allotted for it was in the
form of an oblong square, two miles in length, reaching from the river
Schuylkill to the Delaware, and one mile in breadth. Pursuant to this
scheme, the houses were begun on the Delaware side; but instead of
having been carried on towards the Schuylkill, the current of building
has kept entirely on one side. The houses extend for two miles nearly
along the Delaware, but, on an average, not more than half a mile
towards the Schuylkill: this is to be attributed to the great
superiority of the one river over the other. All the houses built beyond
the boundary line of the oblong square are said to be in the
“Liberties,” as the jurisdiction of the corporation does not extend to
that part of the town. Here the streets are very irregularly built, but
in the city they all intersect each other at right angles, according to
the original plan. The principal street is one hundred feet wide; the
others vary from eighty to fifty. They are all tolerably well paved with
pebble stones in the middle; and on each side, for the convenience of
passengers, there is a footway paved with red brick.
The houses within the limits of the city are for the most part built of
brick; a few, and a few only, are of wood.
In the old parts of the town they are in general small, heavy, and
inconvenient; but amongst those which have been lately erected, many are
to be found that are light, airy, and commodious. In the whole city,
however, there are only two or three houses that particularly attract
the attention, on account of their size and architecture, and but little
beauty is observable in the designs of any of these. The most spacious
and the most remarkable one amongst them stands in Chesnut-street, but
it is not yet quite finished. At present it appears a huge mass of red
brick and pale blue marble, which bids defiance to simplicity and
elegance. This superb mansion, according to report, has already cost
upwards of fifty thousand guineas, and stands as a monument of the
increasing luxury of the city of Philadelphia.
As for the public buildings, they are all heavy tasteless piles of red
brick, ornamented with the same sort of blue marble as that already
mentioned, and which but ill accord together, unless indeed we except
the new Bank of the United States, and the presbyterian church in
High-street. The latter building is ornamented with a handsome portico
in front, supported by six pillars in the Corinthian order; but it is
seen to great disadvantage on account of the market house, which
occupies the center of the street before it. The buildings next to
these, that are most deserving of notice, are the State House, the
President’s House, the Hospital, the Bettering House, and the Gaol.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
The State House is situated in Chesnut-street; and, considering that no
more than fifty-three years elapsed from the time the first cabin was
built on the spot marked out for the city, until it was erected, the
architecture calls forth both our surprise and admiration. The State
House is appropriated to the use of the legislative bodies of the state.
Attached to this edifice are the congress and the city-halls. In the
former, the congress of the United States meets to transact business.
The room allotted to the representatives of the lower house is about
sixty feet in length, and fitted up in the plainest manner. At one end
of it is a gallery, open to every person that chuses to enter it; the
stair-case leading to which runs directly from the public street. The
senate chamber is in the story above this, and it is furnished and
fitted up in a much superior style to that of the lower house. In the
city hall the courts of justice are held, the supreme court of the
United States, as well as that of the state of Pennsylvania, and those
of the city.
The president’s house, as it is called, was erected for the residence of
the president, before the removal of the seat of the federal government
from Philadelphia was agitated. The original plan of this building was
drawn by a private gentleman, resident in the neighbourhood of
Philadelphia, and was possessed, it is said, of no small share of merit;
but the committee of citizens, that was appointed to take the plan into
consideration, and to direct the building, conceiving that it could be
improved upon, reversed the positions of the upper and lower stories,
placing the latter at top, so that the pilasters, with which it is
ornamented, appear suspended in the air. The committee also contrived,
that the windows of the principal apartments, instead of opening into a
spacious area in front of the house, as was designed at first, should
face towards the confined back yards of the adjoining houses. This
building is not yet finished, and as the removal of the seat of
government to the federal city of Washington is so shortly to take
place, it is most probable that it will never be occupied by the
president. To what purpose it will be now applied is yet undetermined.
Some imagine, that it will be converted into a city hotel; others, that
it will be destined for the residence of the governor of the state. For
the latter purpose, it would be unfit in the extreme, the salary of the
governor being so inconsiderable, that it would not enable him to keep
up an establishment suitable to a dwelling of one-fourth part the size
of it.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
The hospital, for its airiness, for its convenient accommodation for the
sick and infirm, and for the neatness exhibited throughout every part of
it, cannot be surpassed by any institution of the kind in the world. The
plan of the building is in the form of the letter H. At present but one
wing and a part of the center are finished; but the rest of the building
is in a state of forwardness. It is two stories high, and underneath the
whole are cells for lunatics. Persons labouring under any disorder of
body or mind are received into this hospital, excepting such as have
diseases that are contagious, and of a malignant nature; such patients,
however, have the advice of the attending physicians gratis, and are
supplied with medicine from the hospital dispensary.
The productive stock of this hospital, in the year 1793, was estimated
£.17,065 currency; besides which there are estates belonging to it that
as yet produce nothing. The same year, the legislature granted £.10,000
for enlarging the building, and adding thereto a Lying-in and Foundling
hospital. The annual private donations are very considerable. Those that
contribute a certain sum have the power of electing the directors, who
are twelve in number, and chosen yearly. The directors appoint six of
the most skilful surgeons and physicians in the city to attend; there is
also a surgeon and apothecary resident in the home. From the year 1756,
when it was built, to the year 1793 inclusive, nearly 9,000 patients
were admitted into this hospital, upwards of 6,000 of whom were relieved
or cured. The hospital stands within the limits of the city, but it is
more than a quarter of a mile removed from any of the other buildings.
There are spacious walks within the inclosure for such of the patients
as are in a state of convalescence.
The Bettering House, which is under the care of the overseers of the
poor, stands in the same neighbourhood, somewhat farther removed from
the houses of the city. It is a spacious building of brick, with
extensive walks and gardens. The poor of the city and neighbourhood are
here furnished with employment, and comfortably lodged and dieted.
During the severity of the winter season, many aged and reduced persons
seek refuge in this place, and leave it again on the return of spring.
Whilst they stay there, they are under very little restraint, and go in
and out when they please; they must, however, behave orderly. This
institution is supported by a tax on the town.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
The gaol is a spacious building of common stone, one hundred feet in
front. It is fitted up with solitary cells, on the new plan, and the
apartments are all arched, to prevent the communication of fire. Behind
the building are extensive yards, which are secured by lofty walls. This
gaol is better regulated, perhaps, than any other on the face of the
globe. By the new penal laws of Pennsylvania, lately enacted, no crime
is punishable with death, excepting murder of the first degree, by which
is meant, murder that is perpetrated by wilful premeditated intention,
or in attempts to commit rape, robbery, or the like. Every other
offence, according to its enormity, is punished by solitary imprisonment
of a determined duration. Objections may be made to this mode of
punishment, as not being sufficiently severe on the individual to atone
for an atrocious crime; nor capable, because not inflicted in public, of
deterring evil-minded persons in the community from the commission of
offences which incur the rigour of the law; but on a close examination,
it will be found to be very severe; and as far as an opinion can be
formed from the trial that has been hitherto made by the state of
Pennsylvania, it seems better calculated to restrain the excesses of the
people than any other. If any public punishment could strike terror into
the lawless part of the multitude, it is as likely that the infliction
of death would do it as any whatsoever: but death is divested of many of
his terrors, after being often presented to our view; so that we find in
countries, for instance in England, where it occurs often as punishment,
the salutary effects that might be expected from it are in a great
measure lost. The unfortunate wretch, who is doomed to forfeit his life
in expiation of the crimes he has committed, in numberless instances,
looks forward with apparent unconcern to the moment in which he is to be
launched into eternity; his companions around him only condole with him,
because his career of iniquity has so suddenly been impeded by the
course of justice: or, if he is not too much hardened in the paths of
vice, but falls a prey to remorse, and sees all the horrors of his
impending fate, they endeavour to rally his broken spirits by the
consoling remembrance, that the pangs he has to endure are but the pangs
of a moment, which they illustrate by the speedy exit of one whose death
he was perhaps himself witness to but a few weeks before. A month does
not pass over in England without repeated executions; and there is
scarcely a vagabond to be met with in the country, who has seen a fellow
creature suspended from the gallows. We all know what little good effect
such spectacles produce. But immured in darkness and solitude, the
prisoner suffers pangs worse than death a hundred times in the day: he
is left to his own bitter reflections; there is no one thing to divert
his attention, and he endeavours in vain to escape from the horrors
which continually haunt his imagination. In such a situation the most
hardened offender is soon reduced to a state of repentance.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
But punishment by imprisonment, according to the laws of Pennsylvania,
is imposed, not only as an expiation of past offences, and an example to
the guilty part of society, but for another purpose, regarded by few
penal codes in the world, the reform of the criminal. The regulations of
the gaol, are calculated to promote this effect as soon as possible, so
that the building, indeed, deserves the name of a penitentiary house
more than that of a gaol. As soon as a criminal is committed to the
prison he is made to wash; his hair is shorn, and if not decently
clothed, he is furnished with clean apparel; then he is thrown into a
solitary cell, about nine feet long and four wide, where he remains
debarred from the sight of every living being excepting his gaoler,
whose duty it is to attend to the bare necessities of his nature, but
who is forbidden, on any account, to speak to him without there is
absolute occasion. If a prisoner is at all refractory, or if the offence
for which he is imprisoned is of a very atrocious nature, he is then
confined in a cell secluded even from the light of heaven. This is the
worst that can be inflicted upon him.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
The gaol is inspected twice every week by twelve persons appointed for
that purpose, who are chosen annually from amongst the citizens of
Philadelphia. Nor is it a difficult matter to procure these men, who
readily and voluntarily take it upon them to go through the troublesome
functions of the office without any fee or emolument whatever. They
divide themselves into committees; each of these takes it in turn, for a
stated period, to visit every part of the prison; and a report is made
to the inspectors at large, who meet together at times regularly
appointed. From the report of the committee an opinion is formed by the
inspectors, who, with the consent of the judges, regulate the treatment
of each individual prisoner during his confinement. This is varied
according to his crime, and according to his subsequent repentance.
Solitary confinement in a dark cell is looked upon as the severest
usage; next, solitary confinement in a cell with the admission of light;
next, confinement in a cell where the prisoner is allowed to do some
sort of work; lastly, labour in company with others. The prisoners are
obliged to bathe twice every week, proper conveniencies for that purpose
being provided within the walls of the prison, and also to change their
linen, with which they are regularly provided. Those in solitary
confinement are kept upon bread and water; but those who labour are
allowed broth, porridge, puddings, and the like: meat is dispensed only
in small quantities, twice in the week. Their drink is water; on no
pretence is any other beverage suffered to be brought into the prison.
This diet is found, by experience, to afford the prisoners strength
sufficient to perform the labour that is imposed upon them; whereas a
more generous one would only serve to render their minds less humble and
submissive. Those who labour, are employed in the particular trade to
which they have been accustomed, provided it can be carried on in the
prison; if not acquainted with any, something is soon found that they
can do. One room is set apart for shoemakers, another for taylors, a
third for carpenters, and so on; and in the yards are stone-cutters,
smiths, nailers, &c. &c.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
Excepting the cells, which are at a remote part of the building, the
prison has the appearance of a large manufactory. Good order and decency
prevail throughout, and the eye of a spectator is never assailed by the
sight of such ghastly and squalid figures as are continually to be met
with in our prisons; so far, also, is a visitor from being insulted,
that he is scarcely noticed as he passes through the different wards.
The prisoners are forbidden to speak to each other without there is
necessity; they are also forbidden to laugh, or to sing, or to make the
smallest disturbance. An overseer attends continually to see that every
one performs his work diligently; and in case of the smallest resistance
to any of the regulations, the offender is immediately cast into a
solitary cell, to subsist on bread and water till he returns to a proper
sense of his behaviour; but the dread all those have of this treatment,
who have once experienced it, is such, that it is seldom found necessary
to repeat it. The women are kept totally apart from the men, and are
employed in a manner suitable to their sex. The labourers all eat
together in one large apartment; and regularly, every Sunday, there is
divine service, at which all attend. It is the duty of the chaplain to
converse at times with the prisoners, and endeavour to reform their
minds and principles. The inspectors, when they visit the prison, also
do the same; so that when a prisoner is liberated, he goes out, as it
were, a new man; he has been habituated to employment, and has received
good instructions. The greatest care is also taken to find him
employment the moment he quits the place of his confinement. According
to the regulations, no person is allowed to visit the prison without
permission of the inspectors. The greatest care is also taken to
preserve the health of the prisoners, and for those who are sick there
are proper apartments and good advice provided. The longest period of
confinement is for a rape, which is not to be less than ten years, but
not to exceed twenty-one. For high treason, the length of confinement is
not to be less than six nor more than twelve years. There are prisons in
every county throughout Pennsylvania, but none as yet are established on
the same plan as that which has been described. Criminals are frequently
sent from other parts of the state to receive punishment in the prison
of Philadelphia.
So well is this gaol conducted, that instead of being an expense, it now
annually produces a considerable revenue to the state.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+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._
MY DEAR SIR, Philadelphia, November.
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 any 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.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
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
chills 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.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
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 has
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, which 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.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
The president finds it necessary, in general, to 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].
Footnote 4:
Whether the levee is kept up by the present president, or not, I have
not heard. Many objections were made to it by the democratic party
during the administration of General Washington, as being inconsistent
with the spirit of a republican government, and destructive of that
equality which ought to reign amongst the citizens of every class.
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
from 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.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
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 two 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.
[Illustration:
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 breakfast, 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.
Footnote 5:
Having stopped one night at Elkton, on my journey to Baltimore in the
public carriage, my first enquiries from the landlord, on alighting,
as there were many passengers in the stage, were to know what
accommodation his house afforded. He seemed much surprized that any
enquiries should be made on such a subject, and with much consequence
told me, I need not give myself any trouble about the extent of his
accommodations, as he had no less than _eleven_ beds in _one_ of his
rooms.
[Sidenote: PHILADELPHIA.]
At 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 those 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 is really in a land of liberty, but by being surly
and ill mannered in his presence.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+LETTER + III.
_Journey to Baltimore.—Description of the Country about
Philadelphia.—Floating Bridges over the Schuylkill, how
constructed.—Mills in Brandy-wine Creek.—Improvement in
the Machinery of Flour Mills in America.—Town of Wilmington.—Log
Houses.—Bad Roads.—Fine Prospects.—How relished by
Americans.—Taverns.—Susquehannah River.—Town of Baltimore.—Plan of the
Town.—Harbour.—Public and private Buildings.—Inhabitants.—Country
between Baltimore and Washington.—Execrable Roads._
MY DEAR SIR, Washington, November.
[Sidenote: JOURNEY TO BALTIMORE.]
ON the 16th of November I left Philadelphia for Baltimore. The only mode
of conveyance which offers for a traveller, who is not provided with his
own horses or carriage, is the public stage waggon; it is possible,
indeed, to procure a private carriage at Philadelphia to go on to
Baltimore, for which a great price is always demanded; but there is no
such thing as hiring a carriage or horses from stage to stage. The
country about Philadelphia is well cultivated, and it abounds with neat
country houses; but it has a bare appearance, being almost totally
stripped of the trees, which have been cut down without mercy for
firing, and to make way for the plough; neither are there any hedges, an
idea prevailing that they impoverish the land wherever they are planted.
The fences are all of the common post and rail, or of the angular kind.
These last are made of rails about eight or nine feet long, roughly
split out of trees, and placed horizontally above one another, as the
bars of a gate; but each tier of rails, or gate as it were, instead of
being on a straight line with the one next to it, is put in a different
direction, so as to form an angle sufficient to permit the ends of the
rails of one tier to rest steadily on those of the next. As these
fences, from their serpentine course, occupy at least six times as much
ground as a common post and rail fence, and require also a great deal
more wood, they are mostly laid aside whenever land and timber become
objects of importance, as they soon do in the neighbourhood of large
towns.
[Sidenote: FLOATING BRIDGES.]
The road to Baltimore is over the lowest of three floating bridges,
which have been thrown across the river Schuylkill, in the neighbourhood
of Philadelphia. The view on passing this river, which is about two
hundred and fifty yards wide, is beautiful. The banks on each side are
high, and for many miles above afford the most delightful situations for
villas. A very elegant one, laid out in the English taste, is seen on
passing the river just above the bridge. Adjoining to it are public
gardens, and a house of entertainment, with several good rooms, to which
the citizens of Philadelphia resort in great numbers during the summer
season.
The floating bridges are formed of large trees, which are placed in the
water transversely, and chained together; beams are then laid lengthways
upon these, and the whole boarded over, to render the way convenient for
passengers. On each side there is a railing. When very heavy carriages
go across these bridges, they sink a few inches below the surface of the
water; but the passage is by no means dangerous. They are kept in an
even direction across the river, by means of chains and anchors in
different parts, and are also strongly secured on both shores. Over that
part of the river where the channel lies, they are so contrived that a
piece can be removed to allow vessels to pass through. These bridges are
frequently damaged, and sometimes entirely carried away, during floods,
at the breaking up of winter, especially if there happens to be much ice
floating in the river. To guard against this, when danger is apprehended
and the flood does not come on too rapidly, they unfasten all the chains
by which the bridge is confined in its proper place, and then let the
whole float down with the stream to a convenient part of the shore,
where it can be hauled up and secured.
The country, after passing the Schuylkill, is pleasingly diversified
with rising grounds and woods, and appears to be in a good state of
cultivation. The first town of any note which you come to is Chester,
fifteen miles from Philadelphia; this town contains about sixty
dwellings, and is remarkable for being the place where the first
colonian assembly sat. From the neighbourhood of this town there is a
very grand view of the river Delaware.
[Sidenote: FLOUR MILLS.]
About half a mile before you come to Wilmington is Brandy-wine River,
remarkable for its mills, no less than thirteen being built almost close
to each other upon it. The water, just above the bridge which is thrown
over it, comes tumbling down with great violence over a bed of rocks;
and seats, at a very trifling expense, could be made for three times the
number of mills already built. Vessels carrying 1,000 bushels of wheat
can come close up to them, and by means of machinery their cargoes are
received from, or delivered to them in a very expeditious manner. Among
the mills, some are for flour, some for sawing of wood, and others for
stone. The improvements which have been made in the machinery of the
flour mills in America are very great. The chief of these consist in a
new application of the screw, and the introduction of what are called
elevators, the idea of which was evidently borrowed from the chain pump.
The screw is made by sticking small thin pieces of board, about three
inches long and two wide, into a cylinder, so as to form the spiral
line. This screw is placed in a horizontal position, and by turning on
its axis it forces wheat or flour from one end of a trough to the other.
For instance, in the trough which receives the meal immediately coming
from the stones, a screw of this kind is placed, by which the meal is
forced on, to the distance of six or eight feet perhaps, into a
reservoir; from thence, without any manual labour, it is conveyed to the
very top of the mill by the elevators, which consist of a number of
small buckets of the size of tea-cups, attached to a long band that goes
round a wheel at the top, and another at the bottom of the mill. As the
band revolves round the wheels, these buckets dip into the reservoir of
wheat or flour below, and take their loads up to the top, where they
empty themselves as they turn round the upper wheel. The elevators are
inclosed in square wooden tubes, to prevent them from catching in any
thing, and also to prevent dust. By means of these two simple
contrivances no manual labour is required from the moment the wheat is
taken to the mill till it is converted into flour, and ready to be
packed, during the various processes of screening, grinding, sifting,
&c.
[Sidenote: MARYLAND.]
Wilmington is the capital of the state of Delaware, and contains about
six hundred houses, which are chiefly of brick. The streets are laid out
on a plan somewhat similar to that of Philadelphia. There is nothing
very interesting in this town, and the country round about it is flat
and insipid. Elkton, twenty-one miles distant from Wilmington, and the
first town in Maryland, contains about ninety indifferent houses, which
are built without any regularity; it is a dirty disagreeable place. In
this neighbourhood I first took notice of log-houses; those which I had
hitherto seen having been built either of brick or stone, or else
constructed with wooden frames, sheathed on the outside with boards. The
log-houses are cheaper than any others in a country where there is
abundance of wood, and generally are the first that are erected on a new
settlement in America. The sides consist of trees just squared, and
placed horizontally one upon the other; the ends of the logs of one side
resting alternately on the ends of those of the adjoining sides, in
notches; the interstices between the logs are stopped with clay; and the
roof is covered with boards or with shingles, which are small pieces of
wood in the shape of slates or tiles, and which are used for that
purpose, with a few exceptions, throughout America. These habitations
are not very sightly, but when well built they are warm and comfortable,
and last for a long time.
A considerable quantity of wheat and Indian corn is raised in this
neighbourhood, to the production of which the soil is favourable; but
the best cultivated parts of the country are not seen from the road,
which passes chiefly over barren and hilly tracts, called “ridges.” The
reason for carrying the road over these is, because it is found to last
longer than if carried over the flat part of the country, where the soil
is deep, a circumstance which the people of Maryland always take into
consideration; for after a road is once cut, they never take pains to
keep it in good repair. The roads in this state are worse than in any
one in the union; indeed so very bad are they, that on going from Elkton
to the Susquehannah ferry, the driver frequently had to call to the
passengers in the stage, to lean out of the carriage first at one side,
then at the other, to prevent it from oversetting in the deep ruts with
which the road abounds: “Now, gentlemen, to the right;” upon which the
passengers all stretched their bodies half way out of the carriage to
balance it on that side: “Now, gentlemen, to the left,” and so on. This
was found absolutely necessary at least a dozen times in half the number
of miles. Whenever they attempt to mend these roads, it is always by
filling the ruts with saplings or bushes, and covering them over with
earth. This, however, is done only when there are fields on each side of
the road. If the road runs contiguous to a wood, then, instead of
mending it where it is bad, they open a new passage through the trees,
which they call making a road. It is very common in Maryland to see six
or seven different roads branching out from one, which all lead to the
same place. A stranger, before he is acquainted with this circumstance,
is frequently puzzled to know which he ought to take. The dexterity with
which the drivers of the stages guide their horses along these new
roads, which are full of stumps of trees, is astonishing, yet to
appearance they are the most awkward drivers possible; it is more by the
different noises which they make, than by their reins, that they manage
their horses.
[Sidenote: ROADS.]
Charleston stands at a few miles distance from Elkton; there are about
twenty houses only in it, which are inhabited chiefly by people who
carry on a herring fishery. Beyond it the country is much diversified
with hill and dale, and the soil being but of an indifferent quality,
the lands are so little cleared, that in many parts the road winds
through uninterrupted woods for four or five miles together. The scenery
in this neighbourhood is extremely interesting. From the top of the
hills you meet with numberless bold and extensive prospects of the
Chesapeak Bay and of the river Susquehannah; and scarcely do you cross a
valley without beholding in the depths of the wood the waters of some
little creek or rivulet rushing over ledges of rock in a beautiful
cascade. The generality of Americans stare with astonishment at a person
who can feel any delight at passing through such a country as this. To
them the sight of a wheat field or a cabbage garden would convey
pleasure far greater than that of the most romantic woodland views. They
have an unconquerable aversion to trees; and whenever a settlement is
made, they cut away all before them without mercy; not one is spared;
all share the same fate, and are involved in the general havoc. It
appears strange, that in a country where the rays of the sun act with
such prodigious power, some few trees near the habitations should not be
spared, whose foliage might afford a cooling shade during the parching
heats of summer; and I have oftentimes expressed my astonishment that
none were ever left for that purpose. In answer I have generally been
told, that they could not be left standing near a house without danger.
The trees it seems in the American forests have but a very slender hold
in the ground, considering their immense height, so that when two or
three fully grown are deprived of shelter in consequence of the others
which stood around them being cut down, they are very apt to be levelled
by the first storm that chances to blow. This, however, would not be the
case with trees of a small growth, which might safely be spared, and
which would soon afford an agreeable shade if the Americans thought
proper to leave them standing: but the fact of the matter is, that from
the face of the country being entirely overspread with trees, the eyes
of the people become satiated with the sight of them. The ground cannot
be tilled, nor can the inhabitants support themselves, till they are
removed; they are looked upon as a nuisance, and the man that can cut
down the largest number, and have the fields about his house most clear
of them, is looked upon as the most industrious citizen, and the one
that is making the greatest improvements[6] in the country.
Footnote 6:
I have heard of Americans landing on barren parts of the north west
coast of Ireland, and evincing the greatest surprise and pleasure at
the beauty and improved state of the country, “so clear of trees!!”
[Sidenote: TAVERNS.]
Every ten or twelve miles upon this road there are taverns, which are
all built of wood, and much in the same stile, with a porch in front the
entire length of the house. Few of these taverns have any signs, and
they are only to be distinguished from the other houses by the number of
handbills pasted up on the walls near the door. They take their name,
not from the sign, but from the person who keeps them, as Jones’s,
Brown’s, &c. &c. All of them are kept nearly in the same manner. At each
house there are regular hours for breakfast, dinner, and supper, and if
a traveller arrives somewhat before the time appointed for any one of
these, it is in vain to call for a separate meal for himself; he must
wait patiently till the appointed hour, and then sit down with the other
guests that may happen to be in the house. Breakfasts are generally
plentifully served; there is tea, coffee, and different sorts of bread,
cold salt meat, and, very commonly besides, beef steaks, fried fish, &c.
&c.[7] The charge made for breakfast is nearly the same as that for
dinner.
Footnote 7:
The landlady always presides at the head of the table to make the tea,
or a female servant attends for that purpose at breakfast and in the
evening; and at many taverns in the country the whole of the family
sit down to dinner with the guests.
This part of Maryland abounds with iron ore, which is of a quality
particularly well adapted for casting. The ore is found in banks so near
the surface of the earth that there is never occasion to sink a shaft to
get at it. Near Charleston there is a small foundery for cannon. The
cannon are bored by water. As I passed by, they were making twenty-four
pounders, two of which I was informed they finished every week. The iron
is extremely tough; very few of the guns burst on being proved.
The Susquehannah river is crossed, on the way to Baltimore, at a ferry
five miles above its entrance into the Chesapeak. The river is here
about a mile and quarter wide, and deep enough for any vessels; the
banks are high and thickly wooded, and the scenery is grand and
picturesque. A small town called Havre de Grace, which contains about
forty houses, stands on this river at the ferry. A petition was
presented to congress the last year to have it made a port of entry; but
at present there is very little trade carried on there. A few ships are
annually built in the neighbourhood. From hence to Baltimore the country
is extremely poor; the soil is of a yellow gravel mixed with clay, and
the roads execrable.
[Sidenote: BALTIMORE.]
Baltimore is supposed to contain about sixteen thousand inhabitants, and
though not the capital of the state, is the largest town in Maryland,
and the most considerable place of trade in North America, after
Philadelphia and New York. The plan of the town is somewhat similar to
that of Philadelphia, most of the streets crossing each other at right
angles. The main street, which runs east and west nearly, is about
eighty feet wide; the others are from forty to sixty feet. The streets
are not all paved, so that when it rains heavily they are rendered
almost impassable, the soil being a stiff yellow clay, which retains the
water a long time. On the south side of the town is a harbour commonly
called the Bason, which affords about nine feet water, and is large
enough to contain two thousand sail of merchant vessels. There are
wharfs and stores along it, the whole length of the town; but as a
particular wind is necessary to enable ships to get out of this bason,
by far the greater number of those which enter the port of Baltimore
stop at a harbour which is formed by a neck of land near the mouth of
the bason, called Fell’s Point. Here also wharfs have been built,
alongside which vessels of six hundred tons burthen can lie with perfect
safety. Numbers of persons have been induced to settle on this Point, in
order to be contiguous to the shipping. Upwards of seven hundred houses
have already been built there, and regular streets laid out, with a
large market place. These houses, generally speaking, are considered as
a part of Baltimore, but to all appearance they form a separate town,
being upwards of a mile distant from the other part of the town. In the
neighbourhood, Fell’s Point and Baltimore are spoken of as distinct and
separate places. Fell’s Point is chiefly the residence of seafaring
people, and of the younger partners of mercantile houses, who are
stationed there to attend to the shipping.
[Sidenote: BALTIMORE.]
The greater number of private houses in Baltimore are of brick, but
many, particularly in the skirts of the town, are of wood. In some of
the new streets a few appear to be well built, but in general the houses
are small, heavy, and inconvenient. As for the public buildings, there
are none worthy of being mentioned. The churches and places for public
worship are ten in number; one respectively for Episcopalians,
Presbyterians, German Lutherans, German Calvinists, Reformed Germans,
Nicolites or New Quakers, Baptists, Roman Catholics, and two for
Methodists. The Presbyterian church, which has lately been erected, is
the best building among them, and indeed the handsomest building in
town. It is of brick, with a portico in front supported by six pillars
of stone.
They have no less than three incorporated banks in this town, and the
number of notes issued from them is so great, as almost to preclude the
circulation of specie. Some of the notes are for as small a sum as a
single dollar, and being much more portable than silver, are generally
preferred. As for gold, it is very scarce; I hardly ever met with it
during two months that I remained in Maryland.
Amongst the inhabitants of Baltimore are to be found English, Irish,
Scotch, and French. The Irish appear to be most numerous; and many of
the principal merchants in town are in the number. Since the war, a
great many French have arrived both from France and from the West India
Islands. With a few exceptions the inhabitants are all engaged in trade,
which is closely attended to. They are mostly plain people, sociable
however amongst themselves, and very friendly and hospitable towards
strangers. Cards and dancing are favourite amusements, both in private
and at public assemblies, which are held every fortnight. There are two
theatres here, in which there are performances occasionally. The oldest
of them, which stands in the road to Fell’s Point, is most wretched, and
appears little better than a heap of loose boards; for a long time it
lay quite neglected, but has lately been fitted up for a company of
French actors, the only one I ever heard of in the country. Baltimore,
like Philadelphia, has differed from the ravages of the yellow fever.
During the autumn it is generally unhealthy, and those who can afford it
retire to country seats in the neighbourhood, of which some are most
delightfully situated.
[Sidenote: ROAD, AND BRIDGES.]
From Baltimore to Washington, which is forty miles distant, the country
wears but a poor appearance. The soil in some parts consists of a yellow
clay mixed with gravel; in other parts it is very sandy. In the
neighbourhood of the creeks and between the hills are patches of rich
black earth, called Bottoms, the trees upon which grow to a large size;
but where there is gravel they are very small. The roads passing over
these bottoms are worse than any I ever met with elsewhere. In driving
over one of them, near the head waters of a branch of Patuxent river, a
few days after a heavy fall of rain, the wheels of a sulky which I was
in sunk up to the very boxes. For a moment I despaired of being able to
get out without assistance, when my horse, which was very powerful,
finding himself impeded, threw himself upon his haunches, and
disengaging his fore-feet, made a vigorous plunge forwards, which
luckily disengaged both himself and the sulky, and freed me from my
embarrassment. I was afterwards informed that General Washington, as he
was going to meet congress a short time before, was stopped in the very
same place, his carriage sinking so deep in the mud that it was found
necessary to send to a neighbouring house for ropes and poles to
extricate it. Over some of the bottoms, which were absolutely impassable
in their natural slate, causeways have been thrown, which are made with
large trees laid side by side across the road. For a time these
causeways afford a commodious passage; but they do not last long, as
many of the trees sink into the soft soil, and others, exposed to the
continual attrition of waggon wheels in a particular part, breaking
asunder. In this state, full of unseen obstacles, it is absolutely a
matter of danger for a person unacquainted with the road to attempt to
drive a carriage along it. The bridges over the creeks, covered with
loose boards, are as bad as the causeways, and totter as a carriage
passes over. That the legislature of Maryland can be so inactive, and
not take some steps to repair this, which is one of the principal roads
in the state, the great road from north to south, and the high road to
the City of Washington, is most wonderful!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+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._
MY DEAR SIR, Washington, November.
THE City of Washington, or the Federal City, as it is indiscriminately
called, was laid out in the year 1792, and is expressly designed 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.
[Sidenote: CITY OF WASHINGTON.]
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 state. 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 in 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 the 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.
[Sidenote: VIEW OF THE TRADING TOWNS.]
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, for 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
trade at the same time. The truth of this position must appear obvious
on taking survey of the principal towns in the United States.
Footnote 8:
Sugar is not sent very far back into the country, as it is procured at
much less expence from the maple-tree.
[Sidenote: VIEW OF THE TRADING TOWNS.]
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; none of the other towns between Boston and New York
contain more than five hundred.
[Sidenote: VIEW OF THE TRADING TOWNS.]
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 with 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 upon 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.
Footnote 9:
Six inhabitants may be reckoned for every house in the United States.
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, and about the same number in
Trenton on Delaware, the capital of the state.
[Sidenote: VIEW OF THE TRADING TOWNS.]
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, comes 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.
[Sidenote: VIEW OF TRADING TOWNS.]
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 laws
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.
Footnote 10:
For some account of them see Letter XIII.
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
creek, 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.
[Sidenote: VIEW OF TRADING TOWNS.]
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 parts 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 a 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.
[Sidenote: PATOWMAC RIVER.]
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 the 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 also
appear that it is well situated for trading with the interior parts of
the country.
[Sidenote: WATER COMMUNICATIONS.]
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 a 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.
Footnote 11:
For a further description of these Falls see Letter XXXI in Volume II.
If 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.
[Sidenote: RIVERS AND LAKES.]
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 rivers 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 hundreds 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.
[Sidenote: NATIONAL BANK.]
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 Patowmac 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, will 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.
[Sidenote: PROBABLE TRADE OF WASHINGTON.]
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 miles. 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.
[Sidenote: WATER CARRIAGE.]
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
has 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 of 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 home 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.
[Sidenote: FLOODS AND EDDIES.]
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 great 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;
there are no eddies in the river; wherefore floods are found to
facilitate the passage downwards; but to render that against the stream
difficult.
Footnote 12:
In the year 1722, as a party of Canadians were going down the river,
they found at one place such a bend in it, that although the distance
across land, from one part of the river to the other, was not more
perhaps than two hundred yards, yet by water it was no less than forty
miles—The Canadians cut a trench across the land for curiosity—The
soil bordering upon the Mississippi is remarkably rich and soft, and
the current being strong, the river in a short time forced a new
passage for itself, and the Canadians took their boat through it. This
place is called Pointe Coupée. There are many similar bends in the
river at present, but none so great.
[Sidenote: NAVIGATIONS.]
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, that 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 the 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.
[Illustration:
_Plan of the_ CITY _of_ WASHINGTON
]
[Sidenote: 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 scale 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 country. 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.
[Sidenote: ERECTIONS.]
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, within 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.
Footnote 13:
Upon the granting possession of waste lands to any person, commonly
called the _location_ of lands, it is usual to give particular names
to different spots, and also to the creeks and rivers. On the original
location of the ground now allotted for the seat of the federal city,
this creek received the name of Tiber Creek, and the identical spot of
ground on which the capitol now stands was called Rome. This anecdote
is related by many as a certain prognostic of the future magnificence
of this city, which is to be, as it were, a second Rome.
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, who 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.
[Sidenote: BUILDINGS.]
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. It 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 of 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.
[Sidenote: CITY OF WASHINGTON.]
[Sidenote: DISCONTENTS.]
In addition to what has already been said upon the subject, I have only
to observe, that notwithstanding 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, that 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
such, 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._
MY DEAR SIR, Washington, December.
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.
[Sidenote: MOUNT VERNON.]
Very thick woods remain standing within four or five miles of the place;
the roads through 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.
[Illustration:
VIEW _of_ MOUNT VERNON _the seat of_ GEN. WASHINGTON
_Published Dec. 21. 1798, by J. Stockdale, Piccadilly._
]
[Sidenote: MOUNT VERNON.]
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 same 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 whole building, is a lawn with
a gravel walk round it, planted with trees, and separated by hedges 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.
Footnote 14:
These are amongst the first of the buildings which are seen on coming
to Mount Vernon; and it is not without astonishment and regret they
are surveyed by the stranger, whose mind has dwelt with admiration
upon the inestimable blessings of liberty, whilst approaching the
residence of that man who has distinguished himself so gloriously in
its cause. Happy would it have been, if the man who stood forth the
champion of a nation contending for its freedom, and whose declaration
to the whole world was, “That all men were created equal, and that
they were endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,
amongst the first of which were life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness;” happy would it have been, if this man could have been the
first to wave all interested views, to liberate his own slaves, and
thus convince the people he had fought for, that it was their duty,
when they had established their own independence, to give freedom to
those whom they had themselves held in bondage!!
But material objections, we must suppose, appeared against such a
measure, otherwise, doubtless, General Washington would have shewn the
glorious example. Perhaps he thought it more for the general good,
that the first step for the emancipation of slaves should be taken by
the legislative assembly; or perhaps there was reason to apprehend,
that the enfranchisement of his own slaves might be the cause of
insurrections amongst others who were not liberated, a matter which
could not but be attended with evil consequences in a country where
the number of slaves exceeded that of freemen; however, it does not
appear that any measures have been pursued, either by private
individuals or by the legislature in Virginia, for the abolition of
slavery; neither have any steps been taken for the purpose in
Maryland, much less in the more southern states; but in Pennsylvania
and the rest, laws have passed for its gradual abolition. In these
states the number of slaves, it is true, was very small, and the
measure was therefore easily carried into effect; in the others then
it will require more consideration. The plan, however, which has been
adopted for the liberation of the few has succeeded well; why then not
try it with a larger number? If it does not answer, still I cannot but
suppose that it might be so modified as to be rendered applicable to
the enfranchisement of the number of ill-fated beings who are enslaved
in the southern parts of the country, let it be ever so large.
However, that there will be an end to slavery in the United States, on
some day or other, cannot be doubted; negroes will not remain deaf to
the inviting call of liberty for ever; and if their avaricious
oppressors do not free them from the galling yoke, they will liberate
themselves with a vengeance.
[Sidenote: MOUNT VERNON.]
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 of 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._
MY DEAR SIR, Philadelphia, February.
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 was found
pleasant to keep the windows up during dinner time. This, however, was
an unusual circumstance.
[Sidenote: WINDS.]
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 roads; 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.
[Sidenote: INTENSE COLD.]
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, for 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 at last over-ruled, and
every thing was prepared for cutting a way across the river.
[Sidenote: THE SUSQUEHANNAH.]
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 would 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.
[Sidenote: DISPUTATIONS.]
At 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. Neither 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._
MY DEAR SIR, Philadelphia, February.
[Sidenote: GENERAL WASHINGTON.]
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 this day. As early as eleven o’clock in the morning he
was prepared to receive them, and 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.
Footnote 15:
On this day General Washington terminated his sixty-fourth year; but
though not an unhealthy man, he seemed considerably older. The
innumerable vexations he has met with in his different public
capacities have very sensibly impaired the vigour of his constitution,
and given him an aged appearance. There is a very material difference,
however, in his looks when seen in private and when he appears in
public full drest; in the latter case the hand of art makes up for the
ravages of time, and he seems many years younger.
Few persons find themselves for the first time in the presence of
General Washington, a man so renowned in the present day for his
wisdom and moderation, and whose name will be transmitted with such
honour to posterity, without being impressed with a certain degree of
veneration and awe; nor do these emotions subside on a closer
acquaintance; on the contrary, his person and deportment are such as
rather tend to augment them. There is something very austere in his
countenance, and in his manners he is uncommonly reserved. I have
heard some officers, that served immediately under his command during
the American war, say, that they never saw him smile during all the
time that they were with him. No man has ever yet been connected with
him by the reciprocal and unconstrained ties of friendship; and but a
few can boast even of having been on an easy and familiar footing with
him.
The height of his person is about five feet eleven; his chest is full;
and his limbs, though rather slender, well shaped and muscular. His
head is small, in which respect he resembles the make of a great
number of his countrymen. His eyes are of a light grey colour; and, in
proportion to the length of his face, his nose is long. Mr. Stewart,
the eminent portrait painter, told me, that there are features in his
face totally different from what he ever observed in that of any other
human being; the sockets for the eyes, for instance, are larger than
what he ever met with before, and the upper part of the nose broader.
All his features, he observed, were indicative of the strongest and
most ungovernable passions, and had he been born in the forests, it
was his opinion that he would have been the fiercest man amongst the
savage tribes. In this Mr. Stewart has given a proof of his great
discernment and intimate knowledge of the human countenance; for
although General Washington has been extolled for his great moderation
and calmness, during the very trying situations in which he has so
often been placed, yet those who have been acquainted with him the
longest and most intimately say, that he is by nature a man of a
fierce and irritable disposition, but that, like Socrates, his
judgment and great self-command have always made him appear a man of a
different cast in the eyes of the world. He speaks with great
diffidence, and sometimes hesitates for a word; but it is always to
find one particularly well adapted to his meaning. His language is
manly and expressive. At levee, his discourse with strangers turns
principally upon the subject of America; and if they have been through
any remarkable places, his conversation is free and particularly
interesting, as he is intimately acquainted with every part of the
country. He is much more open and free in his behaviour at levee than
in private, and in the company of ladies still more so than when
solely with men.
General Washington gives no public dinners or other entertainments,
except to those who are in diplomatic capacities, and to a few
families on terms of intimacy with Mrs. Washington. Strangers, with
whom he wishes to have some conversation about agriculture, or any
such subject, are sometimes invited to tea. This by many is attributed
to his saving disposition; but it is more just to ascribe it to his
prudence and foresight; for as the salary of the president, as I have
before observed, is very small, and totally inadequate by itself to
support an expensive style of life, were he to give numerous and
splendid entertainments, the same might possibly be expected from
subsequent presidents, who, if their private fortunes were not
considerable, would be unable to live in the same style, and might be
exposed to many ill-natured observations, from the relinquishment of
what the people had been accustomed to; it is most likely also that
General Washington has been actuated by these motives, because in his
private capacity at Mount Vernon every stranger meets with a
hospitable reception from him.
General Washington’s self-moderation is well known to the world
already. It is a remarkable circumstance, which redounds to his
eternal honour, that while president of the United States he never
appointed one of his own relations to any office of trust or
emolument, although he has several that are men of abilities, and well
qualified to fill the most important stations in the government.
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 not 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, just 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.
_Singular Mildness of the Winter of 1795-6.—Set out for
Lancaster.—Turnpike Road between that Place and Philadelphia.—Summary
View of the State of Pennsylvania.—Description of the Farms between
Lancaster and Philadelphia.—The Farmers live in a penurious
Style.—Greatly inferior to English Farmers.—Bad Taverns on this
Road.—Waggons and Waggoners.—Customs of the latter.—Description of
Lancaster.—Lately made the Seat of the State Government.—Manufactures
carried on there.—Rifle Guns.—Great Dexterity with which the Americans
use them.—Anecdote of Two Virginian Soldiers belonging to a Rifle
Regiment._
MY DEAR SIR, Lancaster, March.
THIS winter has proved one of the mildest that has ever been experienced
in the country. During the last month there were two or three slight
falls of snow, but in no one instance did it remain two days on the
ground. A smart frost sat in the first week of this month, and snow fell
to the depth of six or seven inches; but on the third day a sudden thaw
came on, and it quickly disappeared: since then the weather has remained
uncommonly mild. The season being so fine, and so favourable for
travelling, I was unwilling to stay at Philadelphia; accordingly I set
out for this place on horseback, and arrived here last night, at the end
of the second day’s journey. From hence I intend to proceed towards the
south, to meet the approaching spring.
The road between Philadelphia and Lancaster has lately undergone a
thorough repair, and tolls are levied upon it, to keep it in order,
under the direction of a company. Whenever these tolls afford a profit
of more than fifteen per cent. on the stock originally subscribed for
making the road, the company is bound, by an act of assembly, to lessen
them. This is the first attempt to have a turnpike road in Pennsylvania,
and it is by no means relished by the people at large, particularly by
the waggoners, who go in great numbers by this route to Philadelphia
from the back parts of the state.
[Sidenote: ROADS.]
The state of Pennsylvania lies nearly in the form of a parallelogram,
whose greatest length is from east to west. This parallelogram is
crossed diagonally from the north-east to the south-west by several
different ridges of mountains, which are about one hundred miles in
breadth. The valleys between these ridges contain a rich black soil, and
in the south-west and north-east angles also, at the outside of the
mountains, the soil is very good. The northern parts of this state are
but very thinly inhabited as yet, but towards the south, the whole way
from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, it is well settled. The most populous
part of it is the south-east corner, which lies between the mountains
and the river Delaware; through this part the turnpike road passes which
leads to Lancaster. The country on each side of the road is pleasingly
diversified with hill and dale. Cultivation is chiefly confined to the
low lands, which are the richest; the hills are all left covered with
wood, and afford a pleasing variety to the eye. The further you go from
Philadelphia the more fertile is the country, and the more picturesque
at the same time.
[Sidenote: FARMS.]
On the whole road from Philadelphia to Lancaster there are not any two
dwellings standing together, excepting at a small place called Downing’s
Town, which lies about midway; numbers of farm houses, however, are
scattered over the country as far as the eye can reach. These houses are
mostly built of stone, and are about as good as those usually met with
on an arable farm of fifty acres in a well cultivated part of England.
The farms attached to these houses contain about two hundred acres each,
and are, with a few exceptions only, the property of the persons who
cultivate them. In the cultivated parts of Pennsylvania the farms rarely
exceed three hundred acres; towards the north, however, where the
settlements are but few, large tracts of land are in the hands of
individuals, who are speculators and land jobbers. Adjoining to the
houses there is generally a peach or an apple orchard. With the fruit
they make cyder and brandy; the people have a method also of drying the
peaches and apples, after having sliced them, in the sun, and thus cured
they last all the year round. They are used for pies and puddings, but
they have a very acrid taste, and scarcely any of the original flavour
of the fruit. The peaches in their best state are but indifferent, being
small and dry; I never eat any that were good, excepting such as were
raised with care in gardens. It is said that the climate is so much
altered that they will not grow now as they formerly did. In April and
May nightly frosts are very common, which were totally unknown formerly,
and frequently the peaches are entirely blighted. Gardens are very rare
in the country parts of Pennsylvania, for the farmers think the labour
which they require does not afford sufficient profit; in the
neighbourhood of towns, however, they are common, and the culinary
vegetables raised in them are equal to any of their respective kinds in
the world, _potatoes_ excepted, which generally have an earthy
unpleasant taste.
Though the south-east part of the state of Pennsylvania is better
cultivated than any other part of America, yet the style of farming is
on the whole very slovenly. I venture, indeed, to assert, that the
farmers do not raise more on their two hundred acres than a skilful
farmer in Norfolk, Suffolk, or Essex, or in any well cultivated part of
England, would do on fifty acres of good land there. The farmer also,
who rents fifty acres of arable land in England, lives far more
comfortably in every respect than the farmer in Pennsylvania, or in any
other of the middle states, who owns two hundred acres of land, his
house will be found better furnished, and his table more plentifully
covered. That the farmers do not live better in America, I hardly know
whether to ascribe to their love of making money, or to their real
indifference about better fare; perhaps it may be owing, in some
measure, to both; certain it is however, that their mode of living is
most wretched.
[Sidenote: WAGGONS.]
The taverns throughout this part of the country are kept by farmers, and
they are all very indifferent. If the traveller can procure a few eggs
with a little bacon he ought to rest satisfied; it is twenty to one that
a bit of fresh meat is to be had, or any salted meat except pork.
Vegetables, seem also to be very scarce, and when you do get any, they
generally consist of turnips, or turnip tops boiled by way of greens.
The bread is heavy and sour, though they have as fine flour as any in
the world; this is owing to their method of making of it; they raise it
with what they call _sots_; hops and water boiled together. No
dependance is to be placed upon getting a man at these taverns to rub
down your horse, or even to give him his food, frequently therefore you
will have to do every thing of the kind for yourself if you do not
travel with a servant; and indeed, even where men are kept for the
purpose of attending to travellers, which at some of the taverns is the
case, they are so sullen and disobliging that you feel inclined to do
every thing with your own hands rather than be indebted to them for
their assistance: they always appear doubtful whether they should do any
thing for you or not, and to be reasoning within themselves, whether it
is not too great a departure from the rules of equality to take the
horse of another man, and whether it would not be a pleasing sight to
see a gentleman strip off his coat, and go to work for himself; nor will
money make them alter their conduct; civility, as I before said, is not
to be purchased at any expence in America; nevertheless the people will
pocket your money with the utmost readiness, though without thanking you
for it. Of all beings on the earth, Americans are the most interested
and covetous.
It is scarcely possible to go one mile on this road without meeting
numbers of waggons passing and repassing between the back parts of the
state and Philadelphia. These waggons are commonly drawn by four or five
horses, four of which are yoked in pairs. The waggons are heavy, the
horses small, and the driver unmerciful; the consequence of which is,
that in every team, nearly, there is a horse either lame or blind. The
Pennsylvanians are notorious for the bad care which they take of their
horses. Excepting the night be tempestuous, the waggoners never put
their horses under shelter, and then it is only under a shed; each
tavern is usually provided with a large one for the purpose. Market or
High-street, in Philadelphia, the street by which these people come into
the town, is always crowded with waggons and horses, that are left
standing there all night. This is to save money; the expence of putting
them into a stable would be too great, in the opinion of these people.
Food for the horses is always carried in the waggon, and the moment they
stop they are unyoked, and fed whilst they are warm. By this treatment
half the poor animals are foundered. The horses are fed out of a large
trough carried for the purpose, and fixed on the pole of the waggon by
means of iron pins.
Lancaster is the largest inland town in North America, and contains
about nine hundred houses, built chiefly of brick and stone, together
with six churches, a court-house, and gaol. Of the churches, there is
one respectively for German Lutherans, German Calvinists, Moravians,
English Episcopalians, and Roman Catholics. The streets are laid out
regularly, and cross each other at right angles.
[Sidenote: RIFLE GUNS.]
An act of assembly has been passed, for making this town the seat of the
state government instead of Philadelphia, and the assembly was to meet
in the year 1797. This circumstance is much in favour of the improvement
of the town. The Philadelphians, inimical to the measure, talked of it
much in the same style that they do now of the removal of the seat of
the federal government, saying, that it must be again changed to
Philadelphia; but the necessity of having the seat of the legislature as
central as possible in each state is obvious, and if a change does take
place again, it is most likely that it will only be to remove the seat
still farther from Philadelphia. On the same principle, the assembly of
Virginia meets now at Richmond instead of Williamsburgh, and that of New
York state at Albany instead of the city of New York.
Several different kinds of articles are manufactured at Lancaster by
German mechanics, individually, principally for the people of the town
and the neighbourhood. Rifled barrel guns however are to be excepted,
which, although not as handsome as those imported from England, are more
esteemed by the hunters, and are sent to every part of the country.
[Sidenote: RIFLE GUNS.]
The rifled barrel guns, commonly used in America, are nearly of the
length of a musket, and carry leaden balls from the size of thirty to
sixty in the pound. Some hunters prefer those of a small bore, because
they require but little ammunition; others prefer such as have a wide
bore, because the wound which they inflict is more certainly attended
with death; the wound, however, made by a ball discharged from one of
these guns is always very dangerous. The inside of the barrel is fluted,
and the grooves run in a spiral direction from one end of the barrel to
the other, consequently when the ball comes out it has a whirling motion
round its own axis, at the same time that it moves forward, and when it
enters into the body of an animal, it tears up the flesh in a dreadful
manner. The best of powder is chosen for a rifled barrel gun, and after
a proper portion of it is put down the barrel, the ball is inclosed in a
small bit of linen rag, well greased at the outside, and then forced
down with a thick ramrod. The grease and the bits of rag, which are
called patches, are carried in a little box at the but-end of the gun.
The best rifles are furnished with two triggers, one of which being
first pulled sets the other, that is, alters the spring, so that it will
yield even to the slight touch of a feather. They are also furnished
with double sights along the barrel, as fine as those of a surveying
instrument. An experienced marksman, with one of these guns, will hit an
object not larger than a crown piece, to a certainty, at the distance of
one hundred yards. Two men belonging to the Virginia rifle regiment, a
large division of which was quartered in this town during the war, had
such a dependance on each other’s dexterity, that the one would hold a
piece of board, not more than nine inches square, between his knees,
whilst the other shot at it with a ball at the distance of one hundred
paces. This they used to do alternately, for the amusement of the town’s
people, as often as they were called upon. Numbers of people in
Lancaster can vouch for the truth of this fact. Were I, however, to tell
you all the stories I have heard of the performances of riflemen, you
would think the people were most abominably addicted to lying. A rifle
gun will not carry shot, nor will it carry a ball much farther than one
hundred yards with certainty.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+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._
MY DEAR SIR, York, March.
[Sidenote: WHITE SLAVE TRADE.]
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 their 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].
Footnote 16:
Thousands of people were brought from the north of Ireland in the same
way before the war with France.
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:
“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.
[Sidenote: GERMAN SETTLERS.]
The Germans are a quiet, sober, and industrious set of people, and are
most valuable citizens. 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, a
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.
Footnote 17:
In speaking of the Americans here, and in the following lines, it is
those of the lower and middling classes of the people which I allude
to, such as are met with in the country parts of Pennsylvania.
[Sidenote: GERMAN SETTLERS.]
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 to 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.
[Sidenote: THE SUSQUEHANNAH.]
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, on 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
to 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 under
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.
[Sidenote: LAWYERS.]
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 others: 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.
[Sidenote: PENNSYLVANIA COURTS.]
On 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 gaol 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.
Footnote 18:
This is also the case in Philadelphia, where we find practising
physicians and surgeons sitting on the bench as judges in a court of
justice.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+LETTER + X.
_Of the Country near York.—Of the Soil of the Country on each Side of
the Blue Mountains.—Frederic-town.—Change in the Inhabitants and in
the Country as you proceed towards the Sea.—Numbers of Slaves.—Tobacco
chiefly cultivated.—Inquisitiveness of the People at the
Taverns.—Observations thereon.—Description of the Great Falls of the
Patowmac River.—George Town.—Of the Country between that Place and
Hoe’s Ferry.—Poisonous Vines.—Port Tobacco.—Wretched Appearance of the
Country bordering upon the Ferry.—Slaves neglected.—Passage_ _of the
Patowmac very dangerous.—Fresh Water Oysters.—Landed on a deserted
Part of the Virginian Shore.—Great Hospitality of the Virginians._
Stratford, March.
IN the neighbourhood of York and Lancaster, the soil consists of a rich,
brown, loamy earth; and if you proceed in a south westerly course,
parallel to the Blue Mountains, you meet with the same kind of soil as
far as Frederic in Maryland. Here it changes gradually to a deep reddish
colour, and continues much the same along the eastern side of the
mountains, all the way down to North Carolina. On crossing over the
mountains, however, directly from Frederic, the same fertile brown soil,
which is common in the neighbourhood of York and Lancaster, is again met
with, and it is found throughout the Shenandoah Valley, and as far down
as the Carolinas, on the west side of the mountains.
[Sidenote: FACE OF THE COUNTRY.]
Between York and Frederic in Maryland there are two or three small
towns; viz. Hanover, Petersburgh, and Woodsburg, but there is nothing
worthy of mention in any of them. Frederic contains about seven hundred
houses and five churches, two of which are for German Lutherans, one for
Presbyterians, one for Calvinists, and one for Baptists. It is a
flourishing town, and carries on a brisk inland trade. The arsenal of
the state of Maryland is placed here, the situation being secure and
central.
From Frederic I proceeded in a southerly course through Montgomery
county in Maryland. In this direction the soil changes to a yellowish
sort of clay mixed with gravel, and continues much the same until you
come to the federal city, beyond which, as I have before mentioned, it
becomes more and more sandy as you approach the sea coast. The change in
the face of the country after leaving Frederic is gradual, but at the
end of a day’s journey a striking difference is perceptible. Instead of
well cultivated fields, green with wheat, such as are met with along
that rich track which runs contiguous to the mountains, large pieces of
land, which have been worn out with the culture of tobacco, are here
seen lying waste, with scarcely an herb to cover them. Instead of the
furrows of the plough, the marks of the hoe appear on the ground; the
fields are overspread with little hillocks for the reception of tobacco
plants, and the eye is assailed in every direction with the unpleasant
sight of gangs of male and female slaves toiling under the harsh
commands of the overseer. The difference in the manners of the
inhabitants is also great. Instead of being amongst the phlegmatic
Germans, a traveller finds himself again in the midst of an inquisitive
and prying set of Americans, to gratify whose curiosity it is always
necessary to devote a certain portion of time after alighting at a
tavern.
[Sidenote: FALLS OF THE PATOWMAC.]
A traveller on arriving in America may possibly imagine, that it is the
desire of obtaining useful information which leads the people, wherever
he stops, to accost him; and that the particular enquiries respecting
the object of his pursuits, the place of his abode, and that of his
destination, &c. are made to prepare the way for questions of a more
general nature, and for conversation that may be attended with some
amusement to him; he therefore readily answers them, hoping in return to
gain information about the country through which he passes; but when it
is found that these questions are asked merely through an idle and
impertinent curiosity, and that by far the greater part of the people
who ask them are ignorant, boorish fellows; when it is found that those
who can keep up some little conversation immediately begin to talk upon
politics, and to abuse every country excepting their own; when, lastly,
it is found that the people scarcely ever give satisfactory answers at
first to the enquiries which are made by a stranger respecting their
country, but always hesitate, as if suspicious that he was asking these
questions to procure some local information, in order to enable him to
overreach them in a bargain, or to make some speculation in land to
their injury; the traveller then loses all patience at this disagreeable
and prying disposition, and feels disposed to turn from them with
disgust; still, however, if he wishes to go through the country
peaceably, and without quarrelling at every place where he stops, it is
absolutely necessary to answer some few of their questions.
Having followed the high way as far as Montgomery court-house, which is
about thirty miles from Frederic, I turned off along a bye road running
through the woods, in order to see the great falls of Patowmac River.
The view of them from the Maryland shore is very pleasing, but not so
much so as that from the opposite side. Having reached the river
therefore close to the falls, I rode along through the woods, with which
its banks are covered, for some distance higher up, to a place where
there was a ferry, and where I crossed into Virginia. From the place
where I landed to the Falls, which is a distance of about three miles,
there is a wild romantic path running along the margin of the river, and
winding at the same time round the base of a high hill covered with
lofty trees and rocks. Near to the shore, almost the whole way, there
are clusters of small islands covered with trees, which suddenly
opposing the rapid course of the stream, form very dangerous eddies, in
which boats are frequently lost when navigated by men who are not active
and careful. On the shore prodigious heaps of white sand are washed up
by the waves, and in many places the path is rendered almost impassable
by piles of large trees, which have been brought down from the upper
country by floods, and drifted together.
[Sidenote: PORT TOBACCO.]
The river, at the ferry which I mentioned, is about one mile and a
quarter wide, and it continues much the same breadth as far as the
falls, where it is considerably contracted and confined in its channel
by immense rocks on either side. There also its course is very suddenly
altered, so much so indeed, that below the falls for a short distance it
runs in an opposite direction from what it did above, but soon after it
resumes its former course. The water does not descend perpendicularly,
excepting in one part close to the Virginian shore, where the height is
about thirty feet, but comes rushing down with tremendous impetuosity
over a ledge of rocks in several different falls. The best view of the
cataract is from the top of a pile of rocks about sixty feet above the
level of the water, and which, owing to the bend in the river, is
situated nearly opposite to the falls. The river comes from the right,
then gradually turning, precipitates itself down the falls, and winds
along at the foot of the rocks on which you stand with, great velocity.
The rocks are of a slate colour, and lie in strata; the surface of them
in many places is glossy and sparkling.
From hence I followed the course of the river downwards as far as George
Town, where I again crossed it; and after passing through the federal
city, proceeded along the Maryland shore of the river to Piscatoway, and
afterwards to Port Tobacco, two small towns situated on creeks of their
own name, which run into the Patowmac. In the neighbourhood of
Piscatoway there are several very fine views of the Virginian shore;
Mount Vernon in particular appears to great advantage.
I observed here great numbers of the poisonous vines which grow about
the large trees, and are extremely like the common grape vines. If
handled in the morning, when the branches are moist with the dew, they
infallibly raise blisters on the hands, which it is sometimes difficult
to get rid of.
Port Tobacco contains about eighty houses, most of which are of wood,
and very poor. There is a large English episcopalian church on the
border of the town, built of stone, which formerly was an ornament to
the place, but it is now entirely out of repair; the windows are all
broken, and the road is carried through the church-yard over the graves,
the paling that surrounded it having been torn down. Near the town is
Mount Misery, towards the top of which is a medicinal spring, remarkable
in summer for the coldness of the water.
[Sidenote: HOE’S FERRY.]
From Port Tobacco to Hoe’s Ferry, on the Patowmac River, the country is
flat and sandy, and wears a most dreary aspect. Nothing is to be seen
here for miles together but extensive plains, that have been worn out by
the culture of tobacco, overgrown with yellow sedge,[19] and
interspersed with groves of pine and cedar trees, the dark green colour
of which forms a curious contrast with the yellow of the sedge. In the
midst of these plains are the remains of several good houses, which shew
that the country was once very different to what it is now. These were
the houses, most probably, of people who originally settled in Maryland
with Lord Baltimore, to go to decay, as the land around them is worn
out, and the people find it more to their interest to remove to another
part of the country, and clear a piece of rich land, than to attempt to
reclaim these exhausted plains. In consequence of this, the country in
many of the lower parts of Maryland appears as if it had been deserted
by one half of its inhabitants, but which have now been suffered
Footnote 19:
This sedge, as it is called, is a sort of coarse grass, so hard that
cattle will not eat it, which springs up spontaneously, in this part
of the country, on the ground that has been left waste; it commonly
grows about two feet high; towards winter it turns yellow, and remains
standing until the ensuing summer, when a new growth displaces that of
the former year. At its first springing up it is of a bright green
colour.
Such a number of roads in different directions cross over these flats,
upon none of which there is any thing like a direction post, and the
face of a human being is so rarely met with, that it is scarcely
possible for a traveller to find out the direct way at once. Instead of
twelve miles, the distance by the straight road from Port Tobacco to the
ferry, my horse had certainly travelled twice the number before we got
there. The ferry-house was one of those old dilapidated mansions that
formerly was the residence perhaps of some wealthy planter, and at the
time when the fields yielded their rich crops of tobacco would have
afforded some refreshment to the weary traveller; but in the state I
found it, it was the picture of wretchedness and poverty. After having
waited for two hours and a half for my breakfast, the most I could
procure was two eggs, a pint of milk, and a bit of cake bread, scarcely
as big as my hand, and but little better than dough. This I had also to
divide with my servant, who came to inform me, that there was absolutely
nothing to eat in the house but what had been brought to me. I could not
but mention this circumstance to several persons when I got into
Virginia, and many of them informed me, that they had experienced the
same treatment themselves at this house; yet this house had the name of
a tavern. What the white people who inhabited it lived upon I could not
discover, but it was evident that they took care of themselves. As for
the poor slaves, however, of which there were many in the huts adjoining
the tavern, they had a most wretched appearance, and seemed to be half
starved. The men and women were covered with rags, and the children were
running about stark naked.
[Sidenote: EXCELLENT FISH.]
After having got into the ferry boat, the man of the house, as if
conscious that he had given me very bad fare, told me that there was a
bank of oysters in the river, close to which it was necessary to pass,
and that if I chose to stop the men would procure abundance of them for
me. The curiosity of getting oysters in fresh water tempted me to stop,
and the men got near a bushel of them in a very few minutes. These
oysters are extremely good when cooked, but very disagreeable eaten raw;
indeed all the oysters found in America, not excepting what are taken at
New York, so close to the ocean, are, in the opinion of most Europeans,
very indifferent and tasteless when raw. The Americans, on their part,
find still greater fault with our oysters, which they say are not fit to
be eat in any shape, because they taste of copper. The Patowmac, as well
as the rest of the rivers in Virginia, abounds with excellent fish of
many different kinds, as sturgeon, shad, roach, herrings, &c. which form
a very principal part of the food of the people living in the
neighbourhood of them.
The river at the ferry is about three miles wide, and with particular
winds the waves rise very high; in these cases they always tie the
horses, for fear of accidents, before they set out; indeed, with the
small open boats which they make use of, it is what ought always to be
done, for in this country gusts of wind rise suddenly, and frequently
when they are not at all expected: having omitted to take this
precaution, the boat was on the point of being overset two or three
different times as I crossed over.
On the Virginian shore, opposite to the ferry-house from whence I
sailed, there are several large creeks, which fall into the Patowmac,
and it is impossible to cross these on horseback, without riding thirty
or forty miles up a sandy uninteresting part of the country to the fords
or bridges. As I wished to go beyond these creeks, I therefore hired the
boatmen to carry me ten miles down the Patowmac River in the ferry boat,
past the mouths of them all; this they accordingly did, and in the
afternoon I landed on the beach, not a little pleased at finding that I
had reached the shore without having been under the necessity of
swimming any part of the way, for during the last hour the horses had
not remained quiet for two minutes together, and on one or two
occasions, having got both to the same side of the boat, the trim of it
was very nearly destroyed, and it was with the utmost difficulty that we
prevented it from being overset.
[Sidenote: VIRGINIANS.]
The part of the country where I landed appeared to be a perfect
wilderness; no traces of a road or pathway were visible on the loose
white sand, and the cedar and pine trees grew so closely together on all
sides, that it was scarcely possible to see farther forward in any
direction than one hundred yards. Taking a course, however, as nearly as
I could guess, in a direct line from the river up the country, at the
end of an hour I came upon a narrow road, which led to a large old brick
house, somewhat similar to those I had met with on the Maryland shore.
On enquiring here, from two blacks, for a tavern, I was told there was
no such thing in this part of the country; that in the house before me
no part of the family was at home; but that if I rode on a little
farther, I should come to some other gentlemen’s houses, where I could
readily get accommodation. In the course of five or six miles I saw
several more of the same sort of old brick houses, and the evening now
drawing towards a close, I began to feel the necessity of going to some
one of them. I had seen no person for several miles to tell me who any
of the owners were, and I was considering within myself which house I
should visit, when a lively old negro, mounted on a little horse, came
galloping after me. On applying to him for information on the subject,
he took great pains to assure me, that I should be well received at any
one of the houses I might stop at; he said there were no taverns in this
part of the country, and strongly recommended me to proceed under his
guidance to his master’s house, which was but a mile farther on; “Masser
will be so glad to see to you,” added he, “nothing can be like.” Having
been apprized beforehand, that it was customary in Virginia for a
traveller to go without ceremony to a gentleman’s house, when there was
no tavern at hand, I accordingly took the Negro’s advice, and rode to
the dwelling of his master, made him acquainted with my situation, and
begged I might be allowed to put my horses in his stable for the night.
The reception, however, which this gentleman gave me, differed so
materially from what I had been led to expect, that I was happy at
hearing from him, that there was a _good_ tavern at the distance cf two
miles. I apologised for the liberty I had taken, and made the best of my
way to it. Instead of two miles, however, this tavern proved to be about
three times as far off, and when I came to it, I found it to be a most
wretched hovel; but any place was preferable to the house of a man so
thoroughly devoid of hospitality.
[Sidenote: VIRGINIA.]
The next day I arrived at this place, the residence of a gentleman, who,
when at Philadelphia, had invited me to pass some time with him whenever
I visited Virginia. Some of the neighbouring gentlemen yesterday dined
here together, and having related to them my adventures on arriving in
Virginia, the whole company expressed the greatest astonishment, and
assured me that it was never known before, in that part of Virginia,
that a stranger had been suffered to go away from a gentleman’s house,
where he stopped, to a tavern, although it was close by. Every one
seemed eager to know the name of the person who had given me such a
reception, and begged me to tell it. I did so, and the Virginians were
satisfied, for the person was a—Scotchman, and had, it seems, removed
from some town or other to the plantation on which I found him but a
short time before. The Virginians in the lower parts of the state are
celebrated for their politeness and hospitality towards strangers;
beyond the mountains there is a great difference in the manners of the
inhabitants.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+LETTER + XI.
_Of the Northern Neck of Virginia.—First settled by the English.—Houses
built by them remaining.—Disparity of Condition amongst the
Inhabitants.—Estates worked by Negroes.—Condition of the Slaves.—Worse
in the Carolinas.—Lands worn out by Cultivation of Tobacco.—Mode of
cultivating and curing Tobacco.—Houses in Virginia.—Those of Wood
preferred.—Lower Classes of People in Virginia.—Their unhealthy
Appearance._
Stratford, April.
THIS part of Virginia, situated between the Patowmac and Rappahannock
rivers, is called the Northern Neck, and is remarkable for having been
the birth place of many of the principal characters, which distinguished
themselves in America, during the war, by their great talents, General
Washington at their head. It was here that numbers of English gentlemen,
who migrated when Virginia was a young colony, fixed their residence;
and several of the houses which they built, exactly similar to the old
manor houses in England, are still remaining, particularly in the
counties of Richmond and Westmoreland. Some of these, like the houses in
Maryland, are quite in ruins; others are kept in good repair by the
present occupiers, who live in a style which approaches nearer to that
of English country gentlemen than what is to be met with any where else
on the continent, some other parts of Virginia alone excepted.
[Sidenote: MANUFACTURES.]
Amongst the inhabitants here and in the lower parts of Virginia there is
a disparity unknown elsewhere in America, excepting in the large towns.
Instead of the lands being equally divided, immense estates are held by
a few individuals, who derive large incomes from them, whilst the
generality of the people are but in a state of mediocrity. Most of the
men also, who possess these large estates, having received liberal
educations, which the others have not, the distinction between them is
still more observable. I met with several in this neighbourhood, who had
been brought up at the public schools and universities in England,
where, until the unfortunate war which separated the colonies from her,
the young men were very generally educated; and even still a few are
sent there, as the veneration for that country from whence their
ancestors came, and with which they were themselves for a long time
afterwards connected, is by no means yet extinguished.
There is by no means so great a disparity now, however, amongst the
inhabitants of the Northern Neck, as was formerly, and it is becoming
less and less perceptible every year, many of the large estates having
been divided in consequence of the removal of the proprietors to other
parts of the country that were more healthy, and many more on account of
the present laws of Virginia, which do not permit any one son to inherit
the landed estates of the father to the exclusion of his brothers.
The principal planters in Virginia have nearly every thing they can want
on their own estates. Amongst their slaves are found taylors,
shoemakers, carpenters, smiths, turners, wheelwrights, weavers, tanners,
&c. I have seen patterns of excellent coarse woollen cloth made in the
country by slaves, and a variety of cotton manufactures, amongst the
rest good nankeen. Cotton grows here extremely well; the plants are
often killed by frost in winter, but they always produce abundantly the
first year in which they are sown. The cotton from which nankeen is made
is of a particular kind, naturally of a yellowish colour.
[Sidenote: SLAVES.]
The large estates are managed by stewards and overseers, the proprietors
just amusing themselves with seeing what is going forward. The work is
done wholly by slaves, whose numbers are in this part of the country
more than double that of white persons. The slaves on the large
plantations are in general very well provided for, and treated with
mildness. During three months nearly, that I was in Virginia, but two or
three instances of ill treatment towards them came under my observation.
Their quarters, the name whereby their habitations are called, are
usually situated one or two hundred yards from the dwelling house, which
gives the appearance of a village to the residence of every planter in
Virginia; when the estate, however, is so large as to be divided into
several farms, then separate quarters are attached to the house of the
overseer on each farm. Adjoining their little habitations, the slaves
commonly have small gardens and yards for poultry, which are all their
own property; they have ample time to attend to their own concerns, and
their gardens are generally found well stocked, and their flocks of
poultry numerous. Besides the food they raise for themselves, they are
allowed liberal rations of salted pork and Indian corn. Many of their
little huts are comfortably furnished, and they are themselves, in
general, extremely well clothed. In short, their condition is by no
means so wretched as might be imagined. They are forced to work certain
hours in the day; but in return they are clothed, dieted, and lodged
comfortably, and saved all anxiety about provision for their offspring.
Still, however, let the condition of a slave be made ever so
comfortable, as long as he is conscious of being the property of another
man, who has it in his power to dispose of him according to the dictates
of caprice; as long as he hears people around him talking of the
blessings of liberty, and considers that he is in a state of bondage, it
is not to be supposed that he can feel equally happy with the freeman.
It is immaterial under what form slavery presents itself, whenever it
appears there is ample cause for humanity to weep at the sight, and to
lament that men can be found so forgetful of their own situations, as to
live regardless of the feelings of their fellow creatures.
With respect to the policy of holding slaves in any country, on account
of the depravity of morals which it necessarily occasions, besides the
many other evil consequences attendant upon it, so much has already been
said by others, that it is needless here to make any comments on the
subject.
The number of the slaves increases most rapidly, so that there is
scarcely any estate but what is overstocked. This is a circumstance
complained of by every planter, as the maintenance of more than are
requisite for the culture of the estate is attended with great expence.
Motives of humanity deter them from selling the poor creatures, or
turning them adrift from the spot where they have been born and brought
up, in the midst of friends and relations.
[Sidenote: CULTIVATION.]
What I have here said, respecting the condition and treatment of slaves,
appertains, it must be remembered, to those only who are upon the large
plantations in Virginia; the lot of such as are unfortunate enough to
fall into the hands of the lower class of white people, and of hard
task-masters in the towns, is very different. In the Carolinas and
Georgia again, slavery presents itself in very different colours from
what it does even in its worst form in Virginia. I am told, that it is
no uncommon thing there, to see gangs of negroes staked at a horse race,
and to see these unfortunate beings bandied about from one set of
drunken gamblers to another for days together. How much to be deprecated
are the laws which suffer such abuses to exist! yet these are the laws
enacted by people who boast of their love of liberty and independence,
and who presume to say, that it is in the breasts of Americans alone
that the blessings of freedom are held in just estimation.
The Northern Neck, with the exception of some few spots only, is flat
and sandy, and abounds with pine and cedar trees. Some parts of it are
well cultivated, and afford good crops; but these are so intermixed with
extensive tracts of waste land, worn out by the culture of tobacco, and
which are almost destitute of verdure, that on the whole the country has
the appearance of barrenness.
This is the case wherever tobacco has been made the principal object of
cultivation. It is not, however, so much owing to the great share of
nutriment which the tobacco plant requires, that the land is
impoverished, as to the particular mode of cultivating it, which renders
it necessary for people to be continually walking between the plants
from the moment they are set out, so that the ground about each plant is
left exposed to the burning rays of the sun all the summer, and becomes
at the end of the season a hard beaten pathway. A ruinous system has
prevailed also of working the same piece of land year after year, till
it was totally exhausted; after this it was left neglected, and a fresh
piece of land was cleared, that always produced good crops for one or
two seasons; but this in its turn was worn out and afterwards left
waste. Many of the planters are at length beginning to see the absurdity
of wearing out their lands in this manner, and now raise only one crop
of tobacco upon a piece of new land, then they sow wheat for two years,
and afterwards clover. They put on from twelve to fifteen hundred
bushels of manure per acre at first, which is found to be sufficient
both for the tobacco and wheat; the latter is produced at the rate of
about twenty bushels per acre.
In some parts of Virginia, the lands left waste in this manner throw up,
in a very short time, a spontaneous growth of pines and cedars; in which
case, being shaded from the powerful influence of the sun, they recover
their former fertility at the end of fifteen or twenty years; but in
other parts many years elapse before any verdure appears upon them. The
trees springing up in this spontaneous manner usually grow very close to
each other; they attain the height of fifteen or twenty feet, perhaps,
in the same number of years; there is, however, but very little sap in
them, and in a short time after they are cut down they decay.
[Sidenote: TOBACCO PLANTATIONS.]
Tobacco is raised and manufactured in the following manner: When the
spring is so far advanced that every apprehension of the return of frost
is banished, a convenient spot of ground is chosen, from twenty to one
hundred feet square, whereon they burn prodigious piles of wood, in
order to destroy the weeds and insects. The warm ashes are then dug in
with the earth, and the seed, which is black, and remarkably small,
sown. The whole is next covered over with bushes, to prevent birds and
flies, if possible, from getting to it; but this, in general, proves
very ineffectual; for the plant scarcely appears above ground, when it
is attacked by a large black fly of the beetle kind, which destroys the
leaves. Persons are repeatedly sent to pick off these flies; but
sometimes, notwithstanding all their attention, so much mischief is done
that very few plants are left alive. As I passed through Virginia, I
heard universal complaints of the depredations they had committed; the
beds were almost wholly destroyed.
As soon as the young plants are sufficiently grown, which is generally
in the beginning of May, they are transplanted into fields, and set out
in hillocks, at the distance of three or four feet from each other. Here
again they have other enemies to contend with; the roots are attacked by
worms, and between the leaves and stem different flies deposit their
eggs, to the infallible ruin of the plant if not quickly removed; it is
absolutely necessary, therefore, as I have said, for persons to be
continually walking between the plants in order to watch, and also to
trim them at the proper periods. The tops are broken off at a certain
height, and the suckers, which spring out between the leaves, are
removed as soon as discovered. According also to the particular kind of
tobacco which the planter wishes to have, the lower, the middle, or the
upper leaves are suffered to remain. The lower leaves grow the largest;
they are also milder, and more inclined to a yellow colour than those
growing towards the top of the plant.
[Sidenote: TOBACCO WAREHOUSES.]
When arrived at maturity, which is generally about the month of August,
the plants are cut down, pegs are driven into the stems, and they are
hung up in large houses, built for the purpose, to dry. If the weather
is not favourable for drying the leaves, fires are then lighted, and the
smoke is suffered to circulate between the plants; this is also
sometimes done to give the leaves a browner colour than what they have
naturally. After this they are tied up in bundles of six or seven leaves
each, and thrown in heaps to sweat; then they are again dried. When
sufficiently cured, the bundles are packed, by means of presses, in
hogsheads capable of containing eight hundred or one thousand pounds
weight. The planters send the tobacco thus packed to the nearest
shipping town, where, before exportation, it is examined by an inspector
appointed for the purpose, who gives a certificate to warrant the
shipping of it if it is sound and merchantable, if not, he sends it back
to the owner. Some of the warehouses to which the tobacco is sent for
inspection are very extensive, and skilful merchants can accurately tell
the quality of the tobacco from knowing the warehouse at which it has
been inspected[20]. Where the roads are good and dry, tobacco is sent to
the warehouses in a singular manner: Two large pins of wood are driven
into either end of the hogshead by way of axles; a pair of shafts, made
for the purpose, are attached to these, and the hogshead is thus drawn
along by one or two horses; when this is done great care is taken to
have the hoops very strong.
Footnote 20:
By the laws of America, no produce which has undergone any sort of
manufacture, as flour, potash, tobacco, rice, &c. can be exported
without inspection, nor even put into a boat to be conveyed down a
river to a sea-port. The inspectors are all sworn, are paid by the
states, and not suffered to take fees from any individual. This is a
most politic measure; for as none but the best of each article can be
sent out of the country, it enhances the price of American produce in
foreign markets, and increases the demand.
Tobacco is not near so much cultivated now as it was formerly, the great
demand for wheat having induced most of the planters to raise that grain
in preference. Those who raise tobacco and Indian corn are called
planters, and those who cultivate small grain, farmers.
Though many of the houses in the Northern Neck are built, as I have
said, of brick and stone, in the style of the old English manor houses,
yet the greater number there, and throughout Virginia, are of wood;
amongst which are all those that have been built of late years. This is
chiefly owing to a prevailing, though absurd opinion, that wooden houses
are the healthiest, because the inside walls never appear damp, like
those of brick and stone, in rainy weather. In front of every house is a
porch or pent-house, commonly extending the whole length of the
building; very often there is one also in the rear, and sometimes all
round. These porches afford an agreeable shade from the sun during
summer. The hall, or saloon as it is called, is always a favourite
apartment, during the hot weather, in a Virginian house, on account of
the draught of air through it, and it is usually furnished similar to a
parlour, with sofas, &c.
[Sidenote: VIRGINIAN WOMEN.]
The common people in the lower parts of Virginia have very sallow
complexions, owing to the burning rays of the sun in summer, and the
bilious complaints to which they are subject in the fall of the year.
The women are far from being comely, and the dresses, which they wear
out of doors to guard them from the sun, make them appear still more
ugly than nature has formed them. There is a kind of bonnet very
commonly worn, which, in particular, disfigures them amazingly; it is
made with a caul, fitting close on the back part of the head, and a
front stiffened with small pieces of cane, which projects nearly two
feet from the head in a horizontal direction. To look at a person at one
side, it is necessary for a woman wearing a bonnet of this kind to turn
her whole body round.
In the upper parts of the country, towards the mountains, the women are
totally different, having a healthy comely appearance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+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._
Williamsburgh, April.
[Sidenote: SNIPES.]
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 a 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.
[Sidenote: FIRES.]
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 negligence 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 round 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.
There 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.
[Sidenote: GLOUCESTER AND YORK.]
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 a 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
quality, 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.
[Sidenote: YORK TOWN.]
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 till
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 green 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.
[Sidenote: WILLIAMSBURGH COLLEGE.]
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 Botetourt, 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 from 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 manufactures 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.
_Hampton.—Ferry to Norfolk.—Danger in crossing the numerous Ferries in
Virginia.—Norfolk.—Laws of Virginia injurious to the Trading
Interest.—Streets narrow and dirty in Norfolk.—Yellow Fever
there.—Observations on this Disorder.—Violent Party Spirit amongst the
Inhabitants.—Few Churches in Virginia.—Several in Ruins.—Private Grave
Yards._
Norfolk, April.
FROM Williamsburgh to Hampton the country is flat and uninteresting.
Hampton is a small town, situated at the head of a bay, near the mouth
of James River, which contains about thirty houses and an episcopalian
church. A few sea boats are annually built here; and corn and lumber are
exported annually to the value of about forty-two thousand dollars. It
is a dirty disagreeable place, always infested by a shocking stench from
a muddy shore when the tide is out.
From this town there is a regular ferry to Norfolk, across Hampton
roads, eighteen miles over. I was forced to leave my horses here behind
me for several days, as all the flats belonging to the place had been
sent up a creek some miles for staves, &c. and they had no other method
of getting horses into the ferry boats, which were too large to come
close into shore, excepting by carrying them out in these flats, and
then making them leap on board. It is a most irksome piece of business
to cross the ferries in Virginia; there is not one in six where the
boats are good and well manned, and it is necessary to employ great
circumspection in order to guard against accidents, which are but too
common. As I passed along I heard of numberless recent instances of
horses being drowned, killed, and having their legs broken, by getting
in and out of the boats.
Norfolk stands nearly at the mouth of the eastern branch of Elizabeth
River, the most southern of those which empty themselves into the
Chesapeak Bay. It is the largest commercial town in Virginia, and
carries on a flourishing trade to the West Indies. The exports consist
principally of tobacco, flour, and corn, and various kinds of lumber; of
the latter it derives an inexhaustible supply from the Dismal Swamp,
immediately in the neighbourhood.
[Sidenote: NORFOLK.]
Norfolk would be a place of much greater trade than it is at present,
were it not for the impolicy of some laws which have existed in the
state of Virginia. One of these laws, so injurious to commerce, was
passed during the war. By this law it was enacted, that all merchants
and planters in Virginia, who owed money to British merchants, should be
exonerated from their debts if they paid the money due into the public
treasury instead of sending it to Great Britain; and all such as stood
indebted were invited to come forward, and give their money in this
manner, towards the support of the contest in which America was then
engaged.
The treasury at first did not become much richer in consequence of this
law; for the Virginian debtor, individually, could gain nothing by
paying the money that he owed into the treasury, as he had to pay the
full sum which was due to the British merchant; on the contrary, he
might lose considerably: his credit would be ruined in the eyes of the
British merchant by such a measure, and it would be a great impediment
to the renewal of a commercial intercourse between them after the
conclusion of the war.
However, when the continental paper money became so much depreciated,
that one hundred paper dollars were not worth one in silver, many of the
people, who stood deeply indebted to the merchants in Great Britain,
began to look upon the measure in a different point of view; they now
saw a positive advantage in paying their debts into the treasury in
these paper dollars, which were a legal tender; accordingly they did so,
and in consequence were exonerated of their debts by the laws of their
country, though in reality they had not paid more than one hundredth
part of them. In vain did the British merchant sue for his money when
hostilities were terminated; he could obtain no redress in any court of
justice in Virginia. Thus juggled out of his property he naturally
became distrustful of the Virginians; he refused to trade with them on
the same terms as with the people of the other states, and the
Virginians have consequently reaped the fruits of their very
dishonourable conduct[21].
Footnote 21:
In February 1796, this nefarious business was at last brought before
the supreme court of the United States in Philadelphia, by the agents
of the British merchants, and the decision of the judges was such as
redounded to their honour; for, they declared that these debts should
all be paid over again, bona fide, to the British merchant.
[Sidenote: IMPOLITIC LAWS.]
Another law, baneful in the highest degree to the trading interest, is
one which renders all landed property inviolable. This law has induced
numbers to run into debt; and as long as it exists foreigners will be
cautious of giving credit to a large amount to men who, if they chuse to
purchase a tract of land with the goods or money entrusted to their
care, may sit down upon it securely, out of the reach of all their
creditors, under protection of the laws of the country. Owing to this
law they have not yet been enabled to get a bank established in Norfolk,
though it would be of the utmost importance to the traders. The
directors of the bank of the United States have always peremptorily
refused to let a branch of it be fixed in any part of Virginia whilst
this law remains. In Boston, New York, Baltimore, Charleston, &c. there
are branches of the bank of the United States, besides other banks,
established under the sanction of the state legislature.
Repeated attempts have been made in the state assembly to get this last
mentioned law repealed, but they have all proved ineffectual. The
debates have been very warm on the business, and the names of the
majority, who voted for the continuation of it, have been published, to
expose them if possible to infamy; but so many have sheltered themselves
under its sanction, and so many still find an interest in its
continuance, that it is not likely to be speedily repealed.
The houses in Norfolk are about five hundred in number; by far the
greater part of them are of wood, and but meanly built. These have all
been erected since the year 1776, when the town was totally destroyed by
fire, by the order of Lord Dunmore, then regal governor of Virginia. The
losses sustained on that occasion were estimated at £.300,000 sterling.
Towards the harbour the streets are narrow and irregular; in the other
parts of the town they are tolerably wide; none of them are paved, and
all are filthy; indeed, in the hot months of summer, the stench that
proceeds from some of them is horrid. That people can be thus
inattentive to cleanliness, which is so conducive to health, and in a
town where a sixth part of the people died in one year of a pestilential
disorder, is most wonderful!![22]
Footnote 22:
The yellow fever, which has committed such dreadful ravages of late
years in America, is certainly to be considered as a sort of plague.
It first appeared at Philadelphia in the year 1793; in 1794 it
appeared at Baltimore; in 1795, at New York and Norfolk; and in 1796,
though the matter was hushed up as much as possible, in order to
prevent an alarm, similar to that which had injured the city so much
the preceding year, yet in New York a far greater number of deaths
than usual were heard of during the summer and autumn, strongly
supposed to have been occasioned by the same malignant disorder.
The accounts given of the calamitous consequences attendant upon it,
in these different places, are all much alike, and nearly similar to
those given of the plague:—The people dying suddenly, and under the
most shocking circumstances—such as were well flying away—the sick
abandoned, and perishing for want of common necessaries—the dead
buried in heaps together without any ceremony—charity at an end—the
ties of friendship and consanguinity disregarded by many—others, on
the contrary, nobly coming forward, and at the hazard of their own
lives doing all in their power to relieve their fellow citizens, and
avert the general woe.——At Philadelphia, in the space of about three
months, no less than four thousand inhabitants were swept off by this
dreadful malady, a number, at that time, amounting to about one tenth
of the whole. Baltimore and New York did not suffer so severely; but
at Norfolk, which is computed to contain about three thousand people,
no less than five hundred fell victims to it.
The disorder has been treated very differently by different
physicians, and as some few have survived under each system that has
been tried, no general one has yet been adopted. I was told, however,
by several people in Norfolk, who resided in the most sickly part of
the town during the whole time the fever lasted, that as a
preventative medicine, a strong mercurial purge was very generally
administered, and afterwards Peruvian bark; and that few of those who
had taken this medicine were attacked by the fever. All however that
can be done by medicine to stop the progress of the disorder, when it
has broke out in a town, seems to be of no very great effect; for as
long as the excessive hot weather lasts the fever rages, but it
regularly disappears on the approach of cold weather. With regard to
its origin there have been also various opinions; some have contended
that it was imported into every place where it appeared from the West
Indies; others, that it was generated in the country. These opinions
have been ably supported on either side of the question by medical
men, who resided at the different places where the fever has appeared.
There are a few notorious circumstances, however, which lead me, as an
individual, to think that the fever has been generated on the American
continent. In the first place, the fever has always broken out in
those parts of towns which were most closely built, and where the
streets have been suffered through negligence to remain foul and
nasty; in the second place, it has regularly broken out during the
hottest time of the year, in the months of July and August, when the
air on the American coast is for the most part stagnant and sultry,
and when vegetable and animal matter becomes putrid in an incredible
short space of time; thirdly, numbers of people died of the disorder
in New York, in the year 1796, notwithstanding that every West Indian
vessel which entered the port that season was examined by the health
officer, a regular bred physician, and that every one suspected was
obliged to perform quarantine. The people in New York are so fully
persuaded that the fever originates in America from putrid matter,
that they have stopped up one or two docks, which were receptacles for
the filth of the neighbourhood, and which contaminated the air when
the tide was out.
[Sidenote: YELLOW FEVER.]
Amongst the inhabitants are great numbers of Scotch and French. The
latter are almost entirely from the West Indies, and principally from
St. Domingo. In such prodigious numbers did they flock over after the
British forces had got footing in the French islands, that between two
and three thousand were in Norfolk at one time; most of them, however,
afterwards dispersed themselves throughout different parts of the
country; those who staid in the town opened little shops of different
kinds, and amongst them I found many who had been in affluent
circumstances before they were driven from their homes.
[Sidenote: GRAVE YARDS.]
A strong party spirit has always been prevalent amongst the American
inhabitants of this town; so much so that a few years ago, when some
English and French vessels of war were lying in Hampton roads, and the
sailors, from each, on shore, the whole people were up and ready to join
them, on the one side or the other, in open contest; but the mayor drew
out the militia, and sent them to their respective homes.
Here are two churches, one for episcopalians, the other for methodists.
In the former, service is not performed more than once in two or three
weeks, and very little regard is paid by the people in general to
Sunday. Indeed, throughout the lower parts of Virginia, that is, between
the mountains and the sea, the people have scarcely any sense of
religion, and in the country parts the churches are all falling into
decay. As I rode along, I scarcely observed one that was not in a
ruinous condition, with the windows broken, and doors dropping off the
hinges, and lying open to the pigs and cattle wandering about the woods;
yet many of these were not past repair. The churches in Virginia,
excepting such as are in towns, stand for the most part in the woods,
retired from any houses, and it does not appear that any persons are
appointed to pay the smallest attention to them.
A custom prevails in Norfolk, of private individuals holding grave
yards, which are looked upon as a very lucrative kind of property, the
owners receiving considerable fees annually for giving permission to
people to bury their dead in them. It is very common also to see, in the
large plantations in Virginia, and not far from the dwelling house,
cemeteries walled in, where the people of the family are all buried.
These cemeteries are generally built adjoining the garden.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+LETTER + XIV.
_Description of Dismal Swamp.—Wild Men found in it.—Bears, Wolves,
&c.—Country between Swamp and Richmond.—Mode of making Tar and
Pitch.—Poor Soil.—Wretched Taverns.—Corn Bread.—Difficulty of getting
Food for Horses.—Petersburgh.—Horse Races there.—Description of
Virginian Horses.—Stile of Riding in America.—Description of Richmond,
Capital of Virginia.—Singular Bridge across James River.—State
House.—Falls of James River.—Gambling common in Richmond.—Lower
Classes of People very quarrelsome.—Their Mode of Fighting.—Gouging._
Richmond, May.
[Sidenote: GREAT SWAMP.]
FROM Norfolk I went to look at the great Dismal Swamp, which commences
at the distance of nine miles from the town, and extends into North
Carolina, occupying in the whole, about one hundred and fifty thousand
acres. This great tract is entirely covered with trees; juniper and
cypress trees grow where there is most moisture, and on the dry parts,
white and red oaks and a variety of pines.
These trees grow to a most enormous size, and between them the brushwood
springs up so thick that the swamp in many parts is absolutely
impervious. In this respect it differs totally from the common woods in
the country. It abounds also with cane reeds, and with long rich grass,
upon which cattle feed with great avidity, and become fat in a very
short space of time; the canes, indeed, are considered to be the very
best green food that can be given to them. The people who live on the
borders of the swamp drive all their cattle into it to feed; care
however is taken to train them to come back regularly to the farms every
night by themselves, otherwise it would be impossible to find them. This
is effected by turning into the swamp with them, for the first few weeks
they are sent thither to feed, two or three old milch cows accustomed to
the place, round whose necks are fastened small bells. The cows come
back every evening to be milked; the rest of the cattle herd with these,
following the noise of the bells, and when they return to the farm a
handful of salt, or something of which they are equally fond, is given
to each as an inducement for them to return again. In a short time the
cattle become familiar with the place, and having been accustomed from
the first day to return, they regularly walk to the farms every evening.
In the interior parts of the swamp large herds of wild cattle are found,
most probably originally lost on being turned in to feed. Bears, wolves,
deer, and other wild indigenous animals are also met with there. Stories
are common in the neighbourhood of wild men having been found in it, who
were lost, it is supposed, in the swamp when children.
[Sidenote: CANAL.]
The swamp varies very much in different parts; in some the surface of it
is quite dry, and firm enough to bear a horse; in others it is
overflowed with water; and elsewhere so miry that a man would sink up to
his neck if he attempted to walk upon it; in the driest part, if a
trench is cut only a few feet deep, the water gushes in, and it is
filled immediately. Where the canal to connect the water of Albemarle
Sound with Norfolk is cut, the water in many places flows in from the
sides, at the depth of three feet from the surface, in large streams,
without intermission; in its colour it exactly resembles brandy, which
is supposed to be occasioned by the roots of the juniper trees; it is
perfectly clear however, and by no means unpalatable; it is said to
possess a diuretic quality, and the people in the neighbourhood, who
think it very wholesome, prefer it to any other. Certainly there is
something very uncommon in the nature of this swamp, for the people
living upon the borders of it do not suffer by fever and ague, or
bilious complaints, as is generally the case with those resident in the
neighbourhood of other swamps and marshes. Whether it is the medicinal
quality of the water, however, which keeps them in better health or not,
I do not pretend to determine.
As the Dismal Swamp lies so very near to Norfolk, where there is a
constant demand for shingles, staves, &c. for exportation, and as the
very best of these different articles are made from the trees growing
upon the swamp, it of course becomes a very valuable species of
property. The canal which is now cutting through it will also enhance
its value, as when it is completed, lumber can then be readily sent from
the remotest parts. The more southern parts of it, when cleared, answer
uncommonly well for the culture of rice; but in the neighbourhood of
Norfolk, as far as ten feet deep from the surface, there seems to be
nothing but roots and fibres of different herbs mixed with a whitish
sand, which would not answer for the purpose, as rice requires a very
rich soil. The trees, however, that grow upon it, are a most profitable
crop, and instead of cutting them all down promiscuously, as commonly is
done, they only fell such as have attained a large size, by which means
they have a continued succession for the manufacture of those articles I
mentioned. Eighty thousand acres of the swamp are the property of a
company incorporated under the title of “The Dismal Swamp Company.”
Before the war broke out a large number of negroes was constantly
employed by the company in cutting and manufacturing staves, &c. and
their affairs were going on very prosperously; but at the time that
Norfolk was burnt they lost all their negroes, and very little has been
done by them since. The lumber that is now sent to Norfolk is taken
principally off those parts of the swamp which are private property.
[Sidenote: ACCOMMODATION.]
From the Dismal Swamp to Richmond, a distance of about one hundred and
forty miles, along the south side of James River, the country is flat
and sandy, and for miles together entirely covered with pine trees. In
Nansemonde county, bordering on the Swamp, the soil is so poor that but
very little corn or grain is raised; it answers well however for peach
orchards, which are found to be very profitable. From the peaches they
make brandy, and when properly matured it is an excellent liquor, and
much esteemed; they give it a very delicious flavour in this part of the
country by infusing dried pears in it. Spirit and water is the universal
beverage throughout Virginia. They also make considerable quantities of
tar and pitch from the pine trees. For this purpose a sort of pit is
dug, in which they burn large piles of the trees. The tar runs out, and
is deposited at the bottom of the pit, from whence it is taken, cleared
of the bits of charcoal that may be mixed with it and put into barrels.
The tar, inspissated by boiling, makes pitch.
The accommodation at the taverns along this road I found most wretched;
nothing was to be had but rancid fish, fat salt pork, and bread made of
Indian corn. For this indifferent fare also I had to wait oftentimes an
hour or two. Indian corn bread, if well made, is tolerably good, but
very few people can relish it on the first trial; it is a coarse, strong
kind of bread, which has something of the taste of that made from oats.
The best way of preparing it is in cakes; the large loaves made of it
are always like dough in the middle. There is a dish also which they
make of Indian corn, very common in Virginia and Maryland, called
“hominy.” It consists of pounded Indian corn and beans boiled together
with milk till the whole mass becomes firm. This is eat, either hot or
cold, with bacon, or with other meat.
As for my horses, they were almost starved. Hay is scarcely ever made
use of in this part of the country, but in place of it they feed their
cattle upon fodder, that is, the leaves of the Indian corn plant. Not a
bit of fodder, however, was to be had on the whole road from Norfolk to
Richmond, excepting at two places; and the season having been remarkably
dry, the little grass that had sprung up had been eat down every where
by the cattle in the country. Oats were not to be had on any terms; and
Indian corn was so scarce, that I had frequently to send to one or two
different houses before I could get even sufficient to give one feed
each to my horses. The people in the country endeavoured to account for
this scarcity from the badness of the harvest the preceding year; but
the fact, I believe, was, that corn for exportation having been in great
demand, and a most enormous price offered for it, the people had been
tempted to dispose of a great deal more than they could well spare. Each
person was eager to sell his own corn to such advantage, and depended
upon getting supplied by his neighbour, so that they were all reduced to
want.
[Sidenote: HORSE RACING.]
Petersburgh stands at the head of the navigable part of Appamatox River,
and is the only place of consequence south of James River, between
Norfolk and Richmond. The rest of the towns, which are but very small,
seem to be fast on the decline, and present a miserable and melancholy
appearance. The houses in Petersburgh amount to about three hundred;
they are built without any regularity. The people who inhabit them are
mostly foreigners; ten families are not to be found in the town that
have been born in it. A very flourishing trade is carried on in this
place. About two thousand four hundred hogsheads of tobacco are
inspected annually at the warehouses; and at the falls of the Appamatox
River, at the upper end of the town, are some of the best flour mills in
the state.
Great crowds were assembled at this place, as I passed through,
attracted to it by the horse races, which take place four or five times
in the year. Horse racing is a favourite amusement in Virginia; and it
is carried on with spirit in different parts of the state. The best bred
horses which they have are imported from England; but still some of
those raised at home are very good. They usually run for purses made up
by subscription. The only particular circumstance in their mode of
carrying on their races in Virginia is, that they always run to the
left; the horses are commonly rode by negro boys, some of whom are
really good jockies.
[Sidenote: RICHMOND.]
The horses in common use in Virginia are all of a light description,
chiefly adapted for the saddle; some of them are handsome, but they are
for the most part spoiled by the false gaits which they are taught. The
Virginians are wretched horsemen, as indeed are all the Americans I ever
met with, excepting some few in the neighbourhood of New York. They sit
with their toes just under the horse’s nose, their stirrups being left
extremely long, and the saddle put about three or four inches forward on
the mane. As for the management of the reins, it is what they have no
conception of. A trot is odious to them, and they express the utmost
astonishment at a person who can like that uneasy gait, as they call it.
The favourite gaits which all their horses are taught, are a pace and a
_wrack_. In the first, the animal moves his two feet on one side at the
same time, and gets on with a sort of shuffling motion, being unable to
spring from the ground on these two feet as in a trot. We should call
this an unnatural gait, as none of our horses would ever move in that
manner without a rider; but the Americans insist upon it that it is
otherwise, because many of their foals pace as soon as born. These kind
of horses are called “natural pacers,” and it is a matter of the utmost
difficulty to make them move in any other manner but it is not one horse
in five hundred that would pace without being taught. In the wrack, the
horse gallops with his fore feet, and trots with those behind. This is a
gait equally devoid of grace with the other, and equally contrary to
nature; it is very fatiguing also to the horse; but the Virginian finds
it more conducive to his ease than a fair gallop, and this circumstance
banishes every other consideration.
The people in this part of the country, bordering upon James River, are
extremely fond of an entertainment which they call a barbacue. It
consists in a large party meeting together, either under some trees, or
in a house, to partake of a sturgeon or pig roasted in the open air, on
a sort of hurdle, over a slow fire; this, however, is an entertainment
chiefly confined to the lower ranks, and, like most others of the same
nature, it generally ends in intoxication.
Richmond, the capital of Virginia, is situated immediately below the
falls of James River, on the north side. The river opposite to the town
is about four hundred yards wide, and is crossed by means of two
bridges, which are separated by an island that lies nearly in the middle
of the river. The bridge, leading from the south shore to the island, is
built upon fifteen large flat bottomed boats, kept stationary in the
river by strong chains and anchors. The bows of them, which are very
sharp, are put against the stream, and fore and aft there is a strong
beam, upon which the piers of the bridge rest. Between the island and
the town, the water being shallower, the bridge is built upon piers
formed of square casements of logs filled with stones. To this there is
no railing, and the boards with which it is covered are so loose, that
it is dangerous to ride a horse across it that is not accustomed to it.
The bridges thrown across this river, opposite the town, have repeatedly
been carried away; it is thought idle, therefore, to go to the expence
of a better one than what exists at present. The strongest stone bridge
could hardly resist the bodies of ice that are hurried down the falls by
the floods on the breaking up of a severe winter.
[Sidenote: STATEHOUSE.]
Though the houses in Richmond are not more than seven hundred in number,
yet they extend nearly one mile and a half along the banks of the river.
The lower part of the town, according to the course of the river, is
built close to the water, and opposite to it lies the shipping; this is
connected with the upper town by a long street, which runs parallel to
the course of the river, about fifty yards removed from the banks. The
situation of the upper town is very pleasing; it stands on an elevated
spot, and commands a fine prospect of the falls of the river, and of the
adjacent country on the opposite side. The best houses stand here, and
also the capitol or state house. From the opposite side of the river
this building appears extremely well, as its defects cannot be observed
at that distance, but on a closer inspection it proves to be a clumsy
ill shapen pile. The original plan was sent over from France by Mr.
Jefferson, and had great merit; but his ingenious countrymen thought
they could improve it, and to do so placed what was intended for the
attic story, in the plan, at the bottom, and put the columns on the top
of it. In many other respects, likewise, the plan was inverted. This
building is finished entirely with red brick; even the columns
themselves are formed of brick; but to make them appear like stone, they
have been partially whitened with common whitewash. The inside of the
building is but very little better than its exterior part. The principal
room is for the house of representatives; this is used also for divine
service, as there is no such thing as a church in the town. The
vestibule is circular, and very dark; it is to be ornamented with a
statue of General Washington, executed by an eminent artist in France,
which arrived while I was in the town. Ugly and ill contrived as this
building is, a stranger must not attempt to find fault with any part of
it, for it is looked upon by the inhabitants as a most elegant fabric.
The falls in the river, or the rapids, as they should be called, extend
six miles above the city, in the course of which there is a descent of
about eighty feet. The river is here full of large rocks, and the water
rushes over them in some places with great impetuosity. A canal is
completed at the north side of these falls, which renders the navigation
complete from Richmond to the Blue Mountains, and at particular times of
the year, boats with light burthens can proceed still higher up. In the
river, opposite the town, are no more than seven feet water, but ten
miles lower down about twelve feet. Most of the vessels trading to
Richmond unlade the greater part of their cargoes at this place into
river craft, and then proceed up to the town. Trade is carried on here
chiefly by foreigners, as the Virginians have but little inclination for
it, and are too fond of amusement to pursue it with much success.
[Sidenote: GAMBLING.]
Richmond contains about four thousand inhabitants, one half of whom are
slaves. Amongst the freemen are numbers of lawyers, who, with the
officers of the state government, and several that live retired on their
fortunes, reside in the upper town; the other part is inhabited
principally by the traders.
Perhaps in no place of the same size in the world is there more gambling
going forward than in Richmond. I had scarcely alighted from my horse at
the tavern, when the landlord came to ask what game I was most partial
to, as in such a room there was a faro table, in another a hazard table,
in a third a billiard table, to any one of which he was ready to conduct
me. Not the smallest secrecy is employed in keeping these tables; they
are always crowded with people, and the doors of the apartment are only
shut to prevent the rabble from coming in. Indeed, throughout the lower
parts of the country in Virginia, and also in that part of Maryland next
to it, there is scarcely a petty tavern without a billiard room, and
this is always full of a set of idle low-lived fellows, drinking spirits
or playing cards, if not engaged at the table. Cockfighting is also
another favourite diversion. It is chiefly, however, the lower class of
people that partake of these amusements at the taverns; in private there
is, perhaps, as little gambling in Virginia as in any other part of
America. The circumstance of having the taverns thus infested by such a
set of people renders travelling extremely unpleasant. Many times I have
been forced to proceed much farther in a day than I have wished, in
order to avoid the scenes of rioting and quarrelling that I have met
with at the taverns, which it is impossible to escape as long as you
remain in the same house where they are carried on, for every apartment
is considered as common, and that room in which a stranger sits down is
sure to be the most frequented.
Whenever these people come to blows, they fight just like wild beasts,
biting, kicking, and endeavouring to tear each other’s eyes out with
their nails. It is by no means uncommon to meet with those who have lost
an eye in a combat, and there are men who pride themselves upon the
dexterity with which they can scoop one out. This is called _gouging_.
To perform the horrid operation, the combatant twills his forefingers in
the side locks of his adversary’s hair, and then applies his thumbs to
the bottom of the eye, to force it out of the socket. If ever there is a
battle, in which neither of those engaged loses an eye, their faces are
however generally cut in a shocking manner with the thumb nails, in the
many attempts which are made at gouging. But what is worse than all,
these wretches in their combat endeavour to their utmost to tear out
each other’s testicles. Four or five instances came within my own
observation, as I passed through Maryland and Virginia, of men being
confined in their beds from the injuries which they had received of this
nature in a fight. In the Carolinas and Georgia, I have been credibly
assured, that the people are still more depraved in this respect than in
Virginia, and that in some particular parts of these states, every third
or fourth man appears with one eye.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+LETTER + XV.
_Description of Virginia between Richmond and the Mountains.—Fragrance
of Flowers and Shrubs in the Woods.—Melody of the Birds.—Of the
Birds of Virginia.—Mocking Bird.—Blue Bird.—Red Bird,
&c.—Singular Noises of the Frogs.—Columbia.—Magazine there.—Fire
Flies in the Woods.—Green Springs.—Wretchedness of the
Accommodation there.—Difficulty of finding the Way through the
Woods.—Serpents.—Rattle-Snake.—Copper-Snake.—Black Snake.—South-west,
or Green Mountains.—Soil of them.—Mountain Torrents do great
Damage.—Salubrity of the Climate.—Great Beauty of the Peasantry.—Many
Gentlemen of Property living here.— Monticello, the Seat of Mr.
Jefferson.—Vineyards.—Observations on the Culture of the Grape, and
the Manufacture of Wine._
Monticello, May.
HAVING staid at Richmond somewhat longer than a week, which I found
absolutely necessary, if it had only been to recruit the strength of my
horses, that had been half starved in coming from Norfolk, I proceeded
in a north-westerly direction towards the South-west or Green Mountains.
[Sidenote: VIRGINIAN BIRDS.]
The country about Richmond is sandy, but not so much so, nor as flat as
on the south side of James River towards the sea. It now wore a most
pleasing aspect. The first week in May had arrived; the trees had
obtained a considerable part of their foliage, and the air in the woods
was perfumed with the fragrant smell of numberless flowers and flowering
shrubs, which sprang up on all sides. The music of the birds was also
delightful. It is thought that in Virginia the singing birds are finer
than what are to be met with on any other part of the continent, as the
climate is more congenial to them, being neither so intensely hot in
summer as that of the Carolinas, nor so cold in winter as that of the
more northern states. The notes of the mocking bird or Virginian
nightingale are in particular most melodious. This bird is of the colour
and about the size of a thrush, but more slender; it imitates the song
of every other bird, but with increased strength and sweetness. The bird
whose song it mocks generally flies away, as if conscious of being
excelled by the other, and dissatisfied with its own powers. It is a
remark, however, made by Catesby, and which appears to be a very just
one, that the birds in America are much inferior to those in Europe in
the melody of their notes, but that they are superior in point of
plumage. I know of no American bird that has the rich mellow note of our
black-bird, the sprightly note of the skylark, or the sweet and
plaintive one of the nightingale.
After having listened to the mocking bird, there is no novelty in
hearing the song of any other bird in the country; and indeed their
songs are for the most part but very simple in themselves, though
combined they are pleasing.
The most remarkable for their plumage of those commonly met with are,
the blue bird and the red bird. The first is about the size of a linnet;
its back, head, and wings are of dark yet bright blue; when flying the
plumage appears to the greatest advantage. The red bird is larger than a
sky lark, though smaller than a thrush; it is of a vermilion colour, and
has a small tuft on its head. A few humming birds make their appearance
in summer, but their plumage is not so beautiful as those found more to
the southward.
[Sidenote: COLUMBIA.]
Of the other common birds there are but few worth notice. Doves and
quails, or partridges as they are sometimes called, afford good
diversion for the sportsman. These last birds in their habits are
exactly similar to European partridges, excepting that they alight
sometimes upon trees; their size is that of the quail, but they are
neither the same as the English quail or the English partridge. It is
the same with many other birds, as jays, robins, larks, pheasants, &c.
which were called by the English settlers after the birds of the same
name in England, because they bore some resemblance to them, though in
fact they are materially different. In the lower parts of Virginia, and
to the southward, are great numbers of large birds, called turkey
buzzards, which, when mounted aloft on the wing, look like eagles. In
Carolina there is a law prohibiting the killing of these birds, as they
feed upon putrid carcases, and therefore contribute to keep the air
wholesome. There is only one bird more which I shall mention, the
whipperwill, or whip-poor-will, as it is sometimes called, from the
plaintive noise that it makes; to my ear it sounded wȳp-ŏ-īl. It begins
to make this noise, which is heard a great way off, about dusk, and
continues it through the greater part of the night. This bird is so very
wary, and so few instances have occurred of its being seen, much less
taken, that many have imagined the noise does not proceed from a bird,
but from a frog, especially as it is heard most frequently in the
neighbourhood of low grounds.
The frogs in America, it must here be observed, make a most singular
noise, some of them absolutely whistling, whilst others croak so loudly,
that it is difficult at times to tell whether the sound proceeds from a
calf or a frog: I have more than once been deceived by the noise when
walking in a meadow. These last frogs are called bull frogs; they mostly
keep in pairs, and are never found but where there is good water; their
bodies are from four to seven inches long, and their legs are in
proportion; they are extremely active, and take prodigious leaps.
The first town I reached on going towards the mountains was Columbia, or
Point of Fork, as it is called in the neighbourhood. It is situated
about sixty miles above Richmond, at the confluence of Rivanna and
Fluvanna rivers, which united form James River. This is a flourishing
little place, containing about forty houses, and a warehouse for the
inspection of tobacco. On the neck of land between the two rivers, just
opposite to the town, is the magazine of the state, in which are kept
twelve thousand stand of arms, and about thirty tons of powder. The low
lands bordering upon the river in this neighbourhood are extremely
valuable.
From Columbia to the Green Springs, about twenty miles farther on, the
road runs almost wholly through a pine forest, and is very lonely. Night
came on before I got to the end of it, and, as very commonly happens
with travellers in this part of the world, I soon lost my way. A light,
however, seen through the trees, seemed to indicate that a house was not
far off; my servant eagerly rode up to it, but the poor fellow’s
consternation was great indeed when he observed it moving from him,
presently coming back, and then with swiftness departing again into the
woods. I was at a loss for a time myself to account for the appearance,
but after proceeding a little farther, I observed the same sort of light
in many other places, and dismounting from my horse to examine a bush
where one of these sparks appeared to have fallen, I found it proceeded
from the fire fly. As the summer came on, these flies appeared every
night: after a light shower in the afternoon, I have seen the woods
sparkling with them in every quarter. The light is emitted from the
tail, and the animal has the power of emitting it or not at pleasure.
[Sidenote: GREEN SPRINGS.]
After wandering about till it was near eleven o’clock, a plantation at
last appeared, and having got fresh information respecting the road from
the negroes in the quarter, who generally sit up half the night, and
over a fire in all seasons, I again set out for the Green Springs. With
some difficulty I at last found the way, and arrived there about
midnight. The hour was so unseasonable, that the people at the tavern
were very unwilling to open their doors; and it was not till I had
related the history of my adventures from the last stage two or three
times that they could be prevailed upon to let me in. At last a tall
fellow in his shirt came grumbling to the door, and told me I might come
in if I would. I had now a parley for another quarter of an hour to
persuade him to give me some corn for my horses, which he was very
unwilling to do; but at last he complied, though much against his
inclination, and unlocked the stable door. Returning to the house, I was
shewn into a room about ten feet square, in which were two filthy beds
swarming with bugs; the ceiling had mouldered away, and the walls
admitted light in various places; it was a happy circumstance, however,
that these apertures were in the wall, for the window of the apartment
was insufficient in itself to admit either light or fresh air. Here I
would fain have got something to eat, if possible, but not even so much
as a piece of bread was to be had; indeed, in this part of the country
they seldom think of keeping bread ready made, but just prepare
sufficient for the meal about half an hour before it is wanted, and then
serve it hot. Unable therefore to procure any food, and fatigued with a
long journey during a parching day, I threw myself down on one of the
beds in my clothes, and enjoyed a profound repose, notwithstanding the
repeated onsets of the bugs and other vermin with which I was molested.
Besides the tavern and the quarters of the slaves, there is but one more
building at this place. This is a large farm house, where people that
resort to the springs are accommodated with lodgings, about as good as
those at the tavern. These habitations stand in the center of a cleared
spot of land of about fifty acres, surrounded entirely with wood. The
springs are just on the margin of the wood, at the bottom of a slope,
which begins at the houses, and are covered with a few boards, merely to
keep the leaves from falling in. The waters are chalybeate, and are
drank chiefly by persons from the low country, whose constitutions have
been relaxed by the heats of summer.
[Sidenote: SNAKES.]
[Sidenote: MOUNTAINS.]
Having breakfasted in the morning at this miserable little place, I
proceeded on my journey up the South-west Mountain. In the course of
this day’s ride I observed a great number of snakes, which were now
beginning to come forth from their holes. I killed a black one, that I
found sleeping, stretched across the road; it was five feet in length.
The black snake is more commonly met with than any other in this part of
America, and is usually from four to six feet in length. In proportion
to the length it is extremely slender; the back is perfectly black, the
belly lead colour, inclining to white towards the throat. The bite of
this snake is not poisonous, and the people in that country are not
generally inclined to kill it, from its great utility in destroying rats
and mice. It is wonderfully fond of milk, and is frequently found in the
dairies, which in Virginia are for the most part in low situations, like
cellars, as the milk could not otherwise be kept sweet for two hours
together in summer time. The black snake, at the time of copulation,
immediately pursues any person who comes in sight, and with such
swiftness, that the best runner cannot escape from him upon even ground.
Many other sorts of harmless snakes are found here, some of which are
beautifully variegated, as the garter, the ribbon, the blueish green
snake, &c. &c. Of the venomous kind, the most common are the rattle
snake, and the copper or moccassin snake. The former is found chiefly on
the mountains; but although frequently met with, it is very rarely that
people are bitten by it; scarcely a summer, however, passes over without
several being bit by the copper snake. The poison of the latter is not
so subtile as that of the rattle snake, but it is very injurious, and if
not attended to in time, death will certainly ensue. The rattle snake is
very dull, and never attacks a person that does not molest him; but, at
the same time, he will not turn out of the way to avoid any one; before
he bites, he always gives notice by shaking his rattles, so that a
person that hears them can readily get out of his way. The copper snake,
on the contrary, is more active and treacherous, and, it is said, will
absolutely put himself in the way of a person to bite him. Snakes are
neither so numerous nor so venomous in the northern as in the southern
states. Horses, cows, dogs, and fowl seem to have an innate sense of the
danger they are exposed to from these poisonous reptiles, and will shew
evident symptoms of fear on approaching near them, although they are
dead; but what is remarkable, hogs, so far from being afraid of them,
pursue and devour them with the greatest avidity, totally regardless of
their bites. It is supposed that the great quantity of fat, with which
they are furnished, prevents the poison from operating on their bodies
as on those of other animals. Hog’s lard, it might therefore reasonably
be conjectured, would be a good remedy for the bite of a snake: however,
I never heard cf its being tried; the people generally apply herbs to
the wound, the specific qualities of which are well known. It is a
remarkable instance of the bounty of providence, that in all those parts
of the country where these venomous reptiles abound, those herbs which
are the most certain antidote to the poison are found in the greatest
plenty.
The South-west Mountains run nearly parallel to the Blue Ridge, and are
the first which you come to on going up the country from the sea coast
in Virginia. These mountains are not lofty, and ought indeed rather to
be called hills than mountains; they are not seen till you come within a
very few miles of them, and the ascent is so gradual, that you get upon
their top almost without perceiving it.
The soil here changes to a deep argilaceous earth, particularly well
suited to the culture of small grain and clover, and produces abundant
crops. As this earth, however, does not absorb the water very quickly,
the farmer is exposed to great losses from heavy falls of rain; the seed
is liable to be washed out of the ground, so that sometimes it is found
necessary to sow a field two or three different times before it becomes
green; and if great care be not taken to guard such fields as lie on a
declivity by proper trenches, the crops are sometimes entirely
destroyed, even after they arrive at maturity; indeed, very often,
notwithstanding the utmost precautions, the water departs from its usual
channel, and sweeps away all before it. After heavy torrents of rain I
have frequently seen all the negroes in a farm dispatched with hoes and
spades to different fields, to be ready to turn the course of the water,
in case it should take an improper direction. On the sides of the
mountain, where the ground has been worn out with the culture of
tobacco, and left waste, and the water has been suffered to run in the
same channel for a length of time, it is surprising to see the depth of
the ravines or gullies, as they are called, which it has formed. They
are just like so many precipices, and are insurmountable barriers to the
passage from one side of the mountain to the other.
[Sidenote: CLIMATE.]
Notwithstanding such disadvantages, however, the country in the
neighbourhood of these mountains is far more populous than that which
lies towards Richmond; and there are many persons that even consider it
to be the garden of the United States. All the productions of the lower
part of Virginia may be had here, at the same time that the heat is
never found to be so oppressive; for in the hottest months in the year
there is a freshness and elasticity in the air unknown in the low
country. The extremes of heat and cold are found to be 90° and 6° above
cipher, but it is not often that the thermometer rises above 84°, and
the winters are so mild in general, that it is a very rare circumstance
for the snow to lie for three days together upon the ground.
The salubrity of the climate is equal also to that of any part of the
United States; and the inhabitants have in consequence a healthy ruddy
appearance. The female part of the peasantry in particular is totally
different from that in the low country. Instead of the pale, sickly,
debilitated beings, whom you meet with there, you find amongst these
mountains many a one that would be a fit subject to be painted for a
Lavinia. It is really delightful to behold the groups of females,
assembled here, at times, to gather the cherries and other fruits which
grow in the greatest abundance in the neighbourhood of almost every
habitation. Their shapes and complexions are charming; and the
carelessness of their dresses, which consist of little more, in common,
than a simple bodice and petticoat, makes them appear even still more
engaging.
The common people in this neighbourhood appeared to me to be of a more
frank and open disposition, more inclined to hospitality, and to live
more contentedly on what they possessed, than the people of the same
class in any other part of the United States I passed through. From
being able, however, to procure the necessaries of life upon very easy
terms, they are rather of an indolent habit, and inclined to
dissipation. Intoxication is very prevalent, and it is scarcely possible
to meet with a man who does not begin the day with taking one, two, or
more drams as soon as he rises. Brandy is the liquor which they
principally use, and having the greatest abundance of peaches, they make
it at a very trifling expence. There is hardly a house to be found with
two rooms in it, but where the inhabitants have a still. The females do
not fall into the habit of intoxication like the men, but in other
respects they are equally disposed to pleasure, and their morals are in
like manner relaxed.
[Sidenote: MONTICELLO.]
Along these mountains live several gentlemen of large landed property,
who farm their own estates, as in the lower parts of Virginia; among the
number is Mr. Jefferson[23], from whose seat I date this letter. His
house is about three miles distant from Charlottesville and two from
Milton, which is on the head waters of Rivanna River. It is most
singularly situated, being built upon the top of a small mountain, the
apex of which has been cut off, so as to leave an area of about an acre
and half. At present it is in an unfinished state; but if carried on
according to the plan laid down, it will be one of the most elegant
private habitations in the United States. A large apartment is laid out
for a library and museum, meant to extend the entire breadth of the
house, the windows of which are to open into an extensive green house
and aviary. In the center is another very spacious apartment, of an
octagon form, reaching from the front to the rear of the house, the
large folding glass doors of which, at each end, open under a portico.
An apartment like this, extending from front to back, is very common in
a Virginian house; it is called the saloon, and during summer is the one
generally preferred by the family, on account of its being more airy and
spacious than any other. The house commands a magnificent prospect on
one side of the blue ridge of mountains for nearly forty miles, and on
the
Footnote 23:
Vice-president of the United States.
opposite one, of the low country, in appearance like an extended heath
covered with trees, the tops alone of which are visible. The mists and
vapours arising from the low grounds give a continual variety to the
scene. The mountain whereon the house stands is thickly wooded on one
side, and walks are carried round it, with different degrees of
obliquity, running into each other. On the south side is the garden and
a large vineyard, that produces abundance of fine fruit.
[Sidenote: VINES.]
Several attempts have been made in this neighbourhood to bring the
manufacture of wine to perfection; none of them however have succeeded
to the wish of the parties. A set of gentlemen once went to the expence
even of getting six Italians over for the purpose, but the vines which
the Italians found growing here were different, as well as the soil,
from what they had been in the habit of cultivating, and they were not
much more successful in the business than the people of the country. We
must not, however, from hence conclude that good wine can never be
manufactured upon these mountains. It is well known that the vines, and
the mode of cultivating them, vary as much in different parts of Europe
as the soil in one country differs from that in another. It will require
some time, therefore, and different experiments, to ascertain the
particular kind of vine, and the mode of cultivating it, best adapted to
the soil of these mountains. This, however, having been once
ascertained, there is every reason to suppose that the grape may be
cultivated to the greatest perfection, as the climate is as favourable
for the purpose as that of any country in Europe. By experiments also it
is by no means improbable, that they will in process of time learn the
best method of converting the juice of the fruit into wine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+LETTER + XVI.
_Of the Country between the South-west and Blue Mountains.—Copper and
Iron Mines.—Lynchburgh.—New London.—Armoury here.—Description of the
Road over the Blue Mountains.—Peaks of Otter, highest of the
Mountains.—Supposed Height.—Much over-rated.—German Settlers numerous
beyond the Blue Mountains.—Singular Contrast between the Country and
the Inhabitants on each Side of the Mountains.—Of the Weevil.—Of the
Hessian Fly.—Bottetourt County.—Its Soil.—Salubrity of the
Climate.—Medicinal Springs here.—Much frequented._
Fincastle, May.
THE country between the South-west Mountains and the Blue Ridge is very
fertile, and it is much more thickly inhabited than the lower parts of
Virginia. The climate is good, and the people have a healthy and robust
appearance. Several valuable mines of iron and copper have been
discovered here, for the working of some of which works have been
established; but till the country becomes more populous it cannot be
expected that they will be carried on with much spirit.
[Sidenote: BLUE MOUNTAINS.]
Having crossed the South-west Mountains, I passed along through this
county to Lynchburgh, a town situated on the south side of Fluvanna
River, one hundred and fifty miles above Richmond. This town contains
about one hundred houses, and a warehouse for the inspection of tobacco,
where about two thousand hogsheads are annually inspected. It has been
built entirely within the last fifteen years, and is rapidly increasing,
from its advantageous situation for carrying on trade with the adjacent
country. The boats, in which the produce is conveyed down the river, are
from forty-eight to fifty-four feet long, but very narrow in proportion
to their breadth. Three men are sufficient to navigate one of these
boats, and they can go to Richmond and back again in ten days. They fall
down with the stream, but work their way back again with poles. The
cargo carried in these boats is always proportionate to the depth of
water in the river, which varies very much. When I passed it to
Lynchburgh, there was no difficulty in riding across, yet when I got
upon the opposite banks I observed great quantities of weeds hanging
upon the trees, considerably above my head though on horseback,
evidently left there by a flood. This flood happened in the preceding
September, when the waters rose fifteen feet above their usual level.
A few miles from Lynchburgh, towards the Blue Mountains, is a small town
called New London, in which there is a magazine, and also an armoury,
erected during the war. About fifteen men were here employed, as I
passed through, repairing old arms and furbishing up others; and indeed,
from the slovenly manner in which they keep their arms, I should imagine
that the same number must be constantly employed all the year round. At
one end of the room lay the musquets, to the amount of about five
thousand, all together in a large heap, and at the opposite end lay a
pile of leathern accoutrements, absolutely rotting for want of common
attention. All the armouries throughout the United States are kept much
in the same style.
Between this place and the Blue Mountains the country is rough and
hilly, and but very thinly inhabited. The few inhabitants, however, met
with here are, uncommonly robust and tall; it is rare to see a man
amongst them who is not six feet high. These people entertain a high
opinion of their own superiority in point of bodily strength over the
inhabitants of the low country. A similar race of men is found all along
the Blue Mountains.
The Blue Ridge is thickly covered with large trees to the very summit;
some of the mountains are rugged and extremely stony, others are not so,
and on these last the soil is found to be rich and fertile. It is only
in particular places that this ridge of mountains can be crossed, and at
some of the gaps the ascent is steep and difficult; but at the place
where I crossed it, which was near the Peak of Otter, on the south side,
instead of one great mountain to pass over, as might be imagined from an
inspection of the map, there is a succession of small hills, rising
imperceptibly one above the other, so that you get upon the top of the
ridge before you are aware of it.
[Sidenote: PEAKS OF OTTER.]
The Peaks of Otter are the highest mountains in the Blue Ridge, and,
measured from their bases, are supposed to be more lofty than any others
in North America. According to Mr. Jefferson, whose authority has been
quoted nearly by every person that has written on the subject since the
publication of his Notes on Virginia, the principal peak is about four
thousand feet in perpendicular height; but it must be observed, that Mr.
Jefferson does not say that he measured the height himself; on the
contrary, he acknowledges that the height of the mountains in America
has never yet been ascertained with any degree of exactness; it is only
from certain data, from which he says a tolerable conjecture may be
formed, that he supposes this to be the height of the loftiest peak.
Positively to assert that this peak is not so high, without having
measured it in any manner, would be absurd; as I did not measure it, I
do not therefore pretend to contradict Mr. Jefferson; I have only to
say, that the most elevated of the peaks of Otter appeared to me but a
very insignificant mountain in companion with Snowden, in Wales; and
every person that I conversed with that had seen both, and I conversed
with many, made the same remark. Now the highest peak of Snowden is
found by triangular admeasurement to be no more than three thousand five
hundred and sixty-eight feet high, reckoning from the quay at Carnarvon.
None of the other mountains in the Blue Ridge are supposed, from the
same data, to be more than two thousand feet in perpendicular height.
[Sidenote: COTTON.]
Beyond the Blue Ridge, after crossing by this route near the Peaks of
Otter, I met with but very few settlements till I drew near to
Fincastle, in Bottetourt County. This town stands about twenty miles
distant from the mountain, and about fifteen south of Fluvanna River. It
was only begun about the year 1790, yet it already contains sixty
houses, and is most rapidly increasing. The improvement of the adjacent
country has likewise been very rapid, and land now bears nearly the same
price that it does in the neighbourhood of York and Lancaster, in
Pennsylvania. The inhabitants consist principally of Germans, who have
extended their settlements from Pennsylvania along the whole of that
rich track of land which runs through the upper part of Maryland, and
from thence behind the Blue Mountains to the most southern parts of
Virginia. These people, as I before mentioned, keep very much together,
and are never to be found but where the land is remarkably good. It is
singular, that although they form three fourths of the inhabitants on
the western side of the Blue Ridge, yet not one of them is to be met
with on the eastern side, notwithstanding that land is to be purchased
in the neighbourhood of the South-west Mountains for one fourth of what
is paid for it in Bottetourt County. They have many times, I am told,
crossed the Blue Ridge to examine the land, but the red soil which they
found there was different from what they had been accustomed to, and the
injury it was exposed to from the mountain torrents always appeared to
them an insuperable objection to settling in that part of the country.
The difference indeed between the country on the eastern and on the
western side of the Blue Ridge, in Bottetourt County, is astonishing,
when it is considered that both are under the same latitude, and that
this difference is perceptible within the short distance of thirty
miles.
On the eastern side of the ridge cotton grows extremely well; and in
winter the snow scarcely ever remains more than a day or two upon the
ground. On the other side cotton never comes to perfection, the winters
are severe, and the fields covered with snow for weeks together. In
every farm yard you see sleighs or sledges, carriages used to run upon
the snow. Wherever these carriages are met with, it may be taken for
granted that the winter lasts in that part of the country for a
considerable length of time, for the people would never go to the
expence of building them, without being tolerably certain that they
would be useful. On the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, in Virginia, not
one of these carriages is to be met with.
It has already been mentioned, that the predominant soil to the eastward
of the Blue Ridge is a red earth, and that it is always a matter of some
difficulty to lay down a piece of land in grass, on account of the
rains, which are apt to wash away the seeds, together with the mould on
the surface. In Bottetourt County, on the contrary, the soil consists
chiefly of a rich brown mould, and throws up white clover spontaneously.
To have a rich meadow, it is only necessary to leave a piece of ground
to the hand of nature for one year. Again, on the eastern side of the
Blue Mountains, scarcely any limestone is to be met with; on the
opposite one, a bed of it runs entirely through the country, so that by
some it is emphatically called the limestone county. In sinking wells,
they have always to dig fifteen or twenty feet through a solid rock to
get at the water.
[Sidenote: INSECTS.]
Another circumstance may also be mentioned, as making a material
difference between the country on one side of the Blue Ridge and that on
the other, namely, that behind the mountains the weevil is unknown. The
weevil is a small insect of the moth kind, which deposits its eggs in
the cavity of the grain, and particularly in that of wheat; and if the
crops are stacked or laid up in the barn in sheaves, these eggs are
there hatched, and the grain is in consequence totally destroyed. To
guard against this in the lower parts of Virginia, and the other states
where the weevil is common, they always thresh out the grain as soon as
the crops are brought in, and leave it in the chaff, which creates a
degree of heat sufficient to destroy the insect, at the same time that
it does not injure the wheat. This insect has been known in America but
a very few years; according to the general opinion, it originated on the
eastern shore of Maryland, where a person, in expectation of a great
rise in the price of wheat, kept over all his crops for the space of six
years, when they were found full of these insects; from thence they have
spread gradually over different parts of the country. For a considerable
time the Patowmac River formed a barrier to their progress, and while
the crops were entirely destroyed in Maryland, they remained secure in
Virginia; but these insects at last found their way across the river.
The Blue Mountains at present serve as a barrier, and secure the country
to the westward from their depredations[24].
Footnote 24:
There is another insect, which in a similar manner made its
appearance, and afterwards spread through a great part of the country,
very injurious also to the crops. It is called the Hessian fly, from
having been brought over, as is supposed, in some forage belonging to
the Hessian troops, during the war. This insect lodges itself in
different parts of the stalk, while green, and makes such rapid
devastations, that a crop which appears in the best possible state
will, perhaps, be totally destroyed in the course of two or three
days. In Maryland, they say, that if the land is very highly manured,
the Hessian fly never attacks the grain; they also say, that crops
raised upon land that has been worked for a long time are much less
exposed to injury from these insects than the crops raised upon new
land. If this is really the case, the appearance of the Hessian fly
should be considered as a circumstance rather beneficial than
otherwise to the country, as it will induce the inhabitants to
relinquish that ruinous practice of working the same piece of ground
year after year till it is entirely worn out, and then leaving it
waste, instead of taking some pains to improve it by manure. This fly
is not known at present south of the Patowmac River, nor behind the
Blue Ridge.
[Sidenote: MEDICINAL SPRINGS.]
Bottetourt County is entirely surrounded by mountains; it is also
crossed by various ridges of mountains in different directions, a
circumstance which renders the climate particularly agreeable. It
appears to me, that there is no part of America where the climate would
be more congenial to the constitution of a native of Great Britain or
Ireland. The frost in winter is more regular, but not severer than
commonly takes place in those islands. In summer the heat is, perhaps,
somewhat greater; but there is not a night in the year that a blanket is
not found very comfortable. Before ten o’clock in the morning the heat
is greatest; at that hour a breeze generally springs up from the
mountains, and renders the air agreeable the whole day. Fever and ague
are disorders unknown here, and the air is so salubrious, that persons
who come hither afflicted with it from the low country, towards the sea,
get rid of it in a very short time.
In the western part of the county are several medicinal springs, whereto
numbers of people resort towards the latter end of summer, as much for
the sake of escaping the heat in the low country, as for drinking the
waters. Those most frequented are called the Sweet Springs, and are
situated at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains. During the last season
upwards of two hundred persons resorted to them with servants and
horses. The accommodations at the springs are most wretched at present;
but a set of gentlemen from South Carolina have, I understand, since I
was there, purchased the place, and are going to erect several
commodious dwellings in the neighbourhood, for the reception of company.
Besides these springs there are others in Jackson’s Mountains, a ridge
which runs between the Blue Mountains and the Alleghany. One of the
springs here is warm, and another quite hot; a few paces from the latter
a spring of common water issues from the earth, but which, from the
contrast, is generally thought to be as remarkable for its coldness as
the water of the adjoining one is for its heat: there is also a sulphur
spring near these; leaves of trees falling into it become thickly
incrusted with sulphur in a very short time, and silver is turned black
almost immediately. At a future period the medicinal qualities of all
these springs will probably be accurately ascertained; at present they
are but very little known. As for the relief obtained by those persons
that frequent the Sweet Springs in particular, it is strongly
conjectured that they are more indebted for it to the change of the
climate than to the rare qualities of the water.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+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._
[Illustration:
VIEW _of the_ ROCK BRIDGE.
]
Winchester, May.
[Sidenote: 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 of 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.
[Sidenote: 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 mass,
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 a 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 the 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.
[Sidenote: 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 grandeur,
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.
Preparatory 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.
[Sidenote: 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
into 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 the 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.
[Sidenote: 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 would 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 visited, 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.
[Sidenote: LANDSCAPES.]
The climate here is not so warm as in the lower parts of the country, on
the eastern side of 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.
With 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.
[Sidenote: 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
mountains, 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.
[Sidenote: LEXINGTON.]
As I passed along it, I met with great numbers of people from Kentucky
and the new state 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 that 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.
Footnote 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
settled 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 stage 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 stress 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+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._
Philadelphia, June.
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 down 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.
[Sidenote: PASSAGE OF RIVERS.]
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 rivers 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 and 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.
[Sidenote: ROCKS LOOSENED.]
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, that 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 rock 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.
[Sidenote: IRON.]
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 description,
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.
The 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.
[Sidenote: WEATHER.]
[Sidenote: CLIMATE.]
From Baltimore I returned to Philadelphia, where I arrived on the
fourteenth day of June, after having been absent about three months.
During 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, and 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 end 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
the 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°.
[Sidenote: CLIMATE.]
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 is 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.
[Sidenote: WEATHER.]
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 and 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 times 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 Baltimore, 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.
[Sidenote: WINDS.]
It is a matter of no difficulty to account for these various effects of
the winds in America. The north-west wind, from coming over 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._
MY DEAR SIR, Albany, July.
[Sidenote: PLEASURES OF A COMPANION.]
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 observations, 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 different 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, that
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.
[Sidenote: PRINCETON.]
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 apparatus, 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.
[Sidenote: NEW JERSEY.]
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 as 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 two 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.
[Sidenote: COPPER MINE.]
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 miscarried, 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.
[Sidenote: NEW YORK.]
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. The 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 breezes 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, when 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.
[Sidenote: INHABITANTS.]
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 and 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.
[Sidenote: PASSAGE TO ALBANY.]
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
as 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, whilst neat farm houses and distant towns embellish the
charming landscapes.
[Illustration:
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 the 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.
[Sidenote: ALBANY.]
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, that 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 powerfully 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.
[Sidenote: ALBANY.]
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 quarter 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.
Footnote 26:
Our landlord, as soon as he found out who we were, immediately came to
us, to request that we would excuse the confused state in which his
house was, as this was the anniversary day of “American Independence,”
or, as some, indeed, more properly called it, of “American
Repentance.” We were all of us not a little surprised at this address,
and from such a person; instances, however, are not wanting of people
openly declaring, that they have never enjoyed so much quiet and
happiness in their own homes since the revolution as they did when the
states were the colonies of Great Britain. Amongst the planters in
Virginia I heard language of this sort more than once.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+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._
[Illustration:
VIEW _of the_ COHOZ FALL.
]
MY DEAR SIR, Skenesborough, July.
[Sidenote: 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 that 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 to 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.
[Sidenote: SARATOGA.]
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 as 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, and 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.
[Sidenote: FORT EDWARD.]
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 between 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.
[Sidenote: WOODS.]
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 of 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 territory, 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.
Footnote 27:
There are upwards of twenty different kinds of oaks in America.
[Sidenote: SKENESBOROUGH.]
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 its 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 was 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 no less than five hours in
travelling the last twelve miles.
[Sidenote: MUSQUITOES.]
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 between 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.
[Sidenote: MUSQUITOES.]
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. The 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 of 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._
Montreal, July.
[Sidenote: LAKE CHAMPLAIN.]
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 wind 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 offered 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.
[Sidenote: LAKE CHAMPLAIN.]
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, however, 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 it, 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.
[Sidenote: TICONDEROGA.]
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 is 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 locks, reading a book,
totally regardless of every person in the room.
Footnote 28:
Though this was the 14th day of July, the weather was so cold that we
found a fire extremely agreeable.
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 and 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.
[Sidenote: CROWN POINT.]
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 the 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 said 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.
[Sidenote: 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, however, 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
Footnote 29:
Female Indians.
habits of his nation, than of one that becomes a trader, and assimilates
his manners to those of the whites.
[Sidenote: LAKE CHAMPLAIN.]
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 is 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.
[Sidenote: SCENERY.]
The 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 know 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.
[Sidenote: BOUNDARY.]
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 once 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 ourselves, 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.
[Illustration:
_A NEW MAP_ OF UPPER & LOWER CANADA 1798.
_Published Nov^r. 20^{th}. 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 opposite 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.
[Sidenote: CHAMBLY.]
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 on 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.
[Illustration:
CANADIAN CALASH _or_ MARCHE-DONC.
_Published Dec. 22 1798, by J Stockdale, Piccadilly._
]
[Sidenote: MONTREAL.]
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 of 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 the 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._
Montreal, July.
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, east, 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.
[Sidenote: MONTREAL.]
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 now,
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. Our 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.
[Sidenote: MONTREAL.]
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 numbers 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, to 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.
Footnote 30:
This island was the last place which the French surrendered to the
British.
[Sidenote: MONTREAL.]
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 measure, 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 of 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.
[Sidenote: FUR TRADE.]
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 spires, 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 particular 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.
[Sidenote: CANOES.]
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, but 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 them 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.
[Sidenote: M‘KENZIE’S EXPEDITIONS.]
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 man 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, never 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.
[Sidenote: M‘KENZIE’S EXPEDITIONS.]
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. M‘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 them 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.
[Sidenote: HUDSON BAY.]
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 is 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, there 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.
[Sidenote: TRADING COMPANIES.]
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 trades, 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 design. 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.
[Sidenote: FUR TRADE.]
About two thousand men are employed by the 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. Added 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._
Quebec, August.
[Sidenote: SORELLE.]
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, but 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 a 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; these 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.
[Sidenote: SCENERY.]
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 great
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 banks 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.
Footnote 31:
The square plates of tin are nailed on diagonally, and the corners are
carefully folded over the heads of the nails, so as to prevent any
moisture from getting to them.
There is scarcely any part of the river, where you pass along, for more
than a league, without seeing a village and church.
[Sidenote: BATISCON.]
The second night of our voyage we landed at 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; the 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.
[Sidenote: SUPERSTITION.]
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 in 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 in 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 preserving 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. —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.
[Illustration:
_A PLAN of the CITY of QUEBEC_
]
[Sidenote: 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, built 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 guns, 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.
[Sidenote: 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, instead 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.
[Sidenote: 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
bold 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.
[Illustration:
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 the 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. Arnold, 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.
[Sidenote: CITADEL.]
Independent of what it owes to its fortifications, and situation on the
top of a rock, Quebec 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 two 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.
[Sidenote: GOVERNOR’S CHATEAU.]
The 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 of 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.
[Sidenote: QUEBEC MARKET.]
The 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 useful 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.
[Sidenote: 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 sublime 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 evening 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.
[Sidenote: 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 people 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 with
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.
[Sidenote: 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, situated 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 feet 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+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._
Quebec.
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 persons 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.
[Sidenote: CONSTITUTION OF CANADA.]
The executive power in each province is vested in the governor, who has
for his advice an executive council appointed by his Majesty. The
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 to 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.
[Sidenote: LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.]
The 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 an 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].
Footnote 32:
No hereditary titles, with this right annexed, have yet been conferred
on any persons in Canada by his Britannic Majesty.
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.
[Sidenote: THE ASSEMBLY.]
The members for districts, circles, or counties, are 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 to
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.
[Sidenote: QUEBEC BILL.]
The present system of judicature in each province was established by the
Quebec bill of 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, and 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.”
Footnote 33:
I must observe here once for all that by English inhabitants I mean
all those whose native language is English, in contradistinction to
the Canadians of French extraction, who universally speak the French
language, and no other.
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.
[Sidenote: TOLERATION.]
Every religion is tolerated, in the fullest extent of the word, in both
provinces; and no 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.
With 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.
[Sidenote: PRESENTS AND SALARIES.]
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 civil 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.
[Sidenote: IMPORT DUTIES.]
The following is a statement of some of the salaries paid to the
officers of government in Lower Canada.
£.
Governor general 2,000
Lieutenant governor 1,500
Executive counsellors, each 100
Attorney general 300
Solicitor general 200
Secretary and register to the province 400
Clerk of the court of appeals, with 120
firewood and stationary
Secretary to the governor 200
French secretary to the governor, and 200
translator to the council
Chief justice of Quebec, who is chief 1,200
justice of the province
Chief justice of Montreal 900
Chief justice of Three Rivers 300
Receiver general 400
Surveyor general of lands 300
Deputy, and allowance for an office 150
Surveyor of woods 200
Grand voyer of Quebec 100
Grand voyer of Montreal 100
Grand voyer of Three Rivers 60
Superintendant of provincial post houses 100
Clerk of the terraro of the king’s 90
domain
Clerk of the crown 100
Inspector of police at Quebec 100
Inspector of police at Montreal 100
Four missionaries to Indians, each 50
One missionary to Indians 45
Schoolmaster at Quebec 100
Schoolmaster at Montreal 50
Schoolmaster at Carlisle, Bay de 25
Chaleurs
Overseers, to prevent fires at Quebec, 60
and to sweep the chimneys of the
poor
Salary of the bishop of Quebec, who is 2,000
bishop of both provinces
The pensions, between January 1794 and January 1795, amounted to
£.1,782. 6_s._ 7_d._
* * * * *
A STATEMENT of the Articles subject to Duty on Importation into Canada,
and of the Duties payable thereon.
_s._
_d._
Brandy and other spirits, the . 3
manufacture of Great Britain, per
gallon
Rum and other spirits, imported from the . 6
colonies in the West Indies, per
gallon
Brandy and spirits of foreign 1 0
manufacture, imported from Great
Britain, per gallon
Additional duty on the same, per gallon . 3
Rum or spirits manufactured in the 1 0
United States, per gallon
Molasses and Syrups imported in British . 3
shipping, per gallon
Additional duty, per gallon . 3
Molasses or Syrups legally imported in . 6
other than British shipping, per
gallon
Additional duty, per gallon . 3
Madeira wine, per gallon . 6
Other wine . 3
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.
Loaf or lump sugar, 1
per lb.
Muscovado or clayed ½
sugar
Coffee, per lb. 2
Leaf tobacco, per 2
lb.
Playing cards, per 2
pack
Salt, the minot 4
N.B. The minot is a measure commonly used in Canada, which is to the
Winchester bushel, as 100 is to 108,765.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: SOIL AND MANUFACTURES.]
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 earthen 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 at 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._
Quebec.
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 there 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.
[Sidenote: VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.]
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 vine 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 side 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.
[Sidenote: MAPLE TREES.]
It is a very remarkable fact, that these trees, after 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 any 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.
[Sidenote: MAPLE TREES.]
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 funds 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 the 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.
[Sidenote: MAPLE SUGAR.]
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 built 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 be 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.
[Sidenote: AIR AND CLIMATE.]
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 white 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 freezes. 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.
[Sidenote: WINTER AMUSEMENTS.]
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
middle 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, such 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.
[Sidenote: WINTER TRAVELLING.]
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 to 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.
[Sidenote: DOMESTIC ANIMALS.]
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 hall, 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. It 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.
The 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 they 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.
[Sidenote: THAW.]
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 the 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._
Quebec.
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.
The 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.
[Sidenote: SEIGNIORIES.]
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 happens 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, have 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].
Footnote 34:
Tracts of waste land, usually ten miles square.
Footnote 35:
I received a letter, dated early in the year 1796, from a gentleman in
Canada, who has taken up one of these townships, which contains the
following paragraph: “At present the matter remains in an unsettled
state, although every step has been taken on my part to accelerate the
completion of the business. Mr. D——’s patent, which was sent home as a
model, is not yet returned. I received a letter lately from Mr.
Secretary R——, in which he informs me, that Mr. G—— is again returned
to the surveyor’s office, and he assures me, that in conjunction with
him, he will do every thing in his power to expedite my obtaining a
patent. The governor, he says, means that the land business should go
forward.”
[Sidenote: SPECULATIONS.]
Different 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 worth, 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].
Footnote 36:
There have been many instances in the United States of a single
individual’s holding upwards of three millions of acres at one time,
and some few individuals have been known to hold even twice that
quantity at once.
Footnote 37:
In the beginning of the year 1796, this traffic was at its highest
pitch, and at this time General Washington, so eminently distinguished
for his prudence and foresight, perceiving that land had risen beyond
its actual value, and persuaded that it could not rise higher for some
years to come, advertised for sale every acre of which he was
possessed, except the farms of Mount Vernon. The event shewed how
accurate his judgment was. In the close of the year, one of the great
land-jobbers, disappointed in his calculations, was obliged to
abscond; the land trade was shaken to its very foundation;
bankruptcies spread like wildfire from one great city to another, and
men that had begun to build palaces found themselves likely to have no
better habitation for a time than the common gaol.
[Sidenote: LAND-JOBBING.]
Speculation 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
should 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.
Footnote 38:
The plan of binding every person that should take up a township to
improve it, by providing a certain number of settlers, has not wholly
escaped the notice of government; for in the licences of occupation,
by which each township is allotted, it is stipulated, that every
person shall provide forty settlers for his township; but as no given
time is mentioned for the procuring of these settlers, the stipulation
becomes nugatory.
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.
[Sidenote: 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 emigrated 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
made, 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.
[Sidenote: OBSERVATIONS.]
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 people 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 necessary 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.
[Sidenote: OBSERVATIONS.]
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 who 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.
Footnote 39:
Mr. Cooper, late of Manchester, who emigrated to America with all his
family, and whose authority has been very generally quoted by the
Americans who have since written on the subject of emigration.
[Sidenote: OBSERVATIONS.]
“In my mind,” he says, “the first and principal inducement to a person
to quit England for America is, _the total absence of anxiety respecting
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 in
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 witnessing 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.
[Sidenote: OBSERVATIONS.]
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 success 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 himself 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.
[Sidenote: OBSERVATIONS.]
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, who
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.
From 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.
[Sidenote: RIVER AND LAKE ST. CHARLES.]
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 of 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 seen, 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.
[Sidenote: STONEHAM TOWNSHIP.]
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 made 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 barn, 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.
[Sidenote: NEAT FARM.]
In 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 from the intense cold of the winter season, which
appears such an insuperable objection to many against settling in
Canada.
[Sidenote: REFLECTIONS.]
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
allotted 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.
[Sidenote: REFLECTIONS.]
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 riches, 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 and 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.
Footnote 40:
All those articles of American produce in demand in the West Indies
may be had on much better terms in Canada than in the United States;
and if the Canadian merchants had sufficient capitals to enable them
to trade thither largely, there can hardly be a doubt but that the
people of the British West Indian isles would draw their supplies from
Canada rather than from any other part of America. The few cargoes at
present sent from Quebec always command a preference in the West
Indian markets over those sent from any part of the United States.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
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● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that:
was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_);
was in bold by is enclosed by “equal” signs (=bold=)
had extra character spacing by “plus” signs (+stretched+).
○ The use of a caret (^) before a letter, or letters, shows that the
following letter or letters was intended to be a superscript, as
in S^t Bartholomew or 10^{th} Century.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "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]" ***
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