II & RAR.Y

OF THE

UNIVERSITY
OF ILLINOIS

974,8

I .H.S.

NOTICE

AFTER CAREFUL EXAMINATION OF THE
INNER MARGIN AND TYPE OF MATERIAL
WE HAVE SEWN THIS VOLUME BY HAND
SO IT CAN BE MORE EASILY OPENED
AND READ.

,

&BTTER8

FROM

THE BRITISH SETTLEMENT

IN

PENNSYLVANIA:

To which are added,

fi CONSTITUTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND
OF PENNSYLVANIA; AND EXTRACTS FROM THE

LAWS RESPECTING ALIENS AND
NATURALIZED CITIZENS.

BY C. B. JOHNSON, M. D.

SontJon:

PRINTED FOR JOHN MILLER, BURLINGTON ARCADE,
PICCADILLY^ AND FOR II. HALL, PHILADELPHIA.

1819.

Printed \>j W. SMITH, King Street, Seven Dials.

3. \

THE

BRITISH EMIGRANT SOCIETY

TO

THEIR COUNTRYMEN.

The British Emigrant Society t established in Sus-
quehanna county, have read with much attention
the following Letters, from one of their members.
They have carefully examined the statements con-
tained in them, and fully concur in opinion as to
their correctness.

The object of the Society has been to secure an
eligible situation for their countrymen ; and by ob-
taining a large tract of land, to enable them to set-
tle together, and, at the same time, to procure the
land at a low price. In this, they have been met
by the liberality of the proprietor, who was pleased

687983

V PREFACE.

with their intentions, and desirous of promoting
them. As the Society disclaim all speculations,
they invite their countrymen to the spot, which
they have selected, on the terms of their contract ;
requiring only, as a claim to the privileges>hich it
ofFers, that those who come, shall bring with them
a good moral character.

From the following work it will be seen, that in
Susquehanna county the first crop usually pays
more than all the expenses of clearing and fencing
the land, and of sowing, harvesting, and threshing
the grain. Consequently the clearing of land is a
profitable business. That land encreases rapidly
in value. That the difference or saving of expense
of a family of seven persons, young and old, which
together with the sundry articles taken with them,
should weigh a ton and an half, going to Susque-
hanna county ; and the same family going to the
state of Illinois, in the western part of the United
States, is sufficient to purchase one hundred and
twenty acres of land in Susquehanna county, under
the Society's contract.

That the saving of a mechanic, with a family of
common site, bttweeu the expense of maintaining

PREFACE. T

it in Philadelphia, or in Susquehanna county, will
in one year, purchase an hundred acres of land.

That the produce of the farmer in Susquehanna
county would sell for double the amount it will
bring in the Western states.

That the work of the mechanic is proportionally
more valuable.

That all imported articles are cheaper than in
the Western states.

That the settlement is removed from all danger,
in case of war.

That it has the advantage of provisions, already
raised within itself.

That materials for building, and for furniture,
are abundant and cheap.

That taxes are scarcely worth naming, and that
there are no poor.

That the situation is particularly eligible, from its
vicinity to good markets ; the soil of a good quality,
the water excellent, and the climate healthy.

The Society have laid off ground for a town, on
one of the turnpikes, which pass through their pur-
chase- A half acre lot on the turnpike, cleared,

will be given, free of all expense, to each of the first
A2

Yi PREFACE,

fifty mechanics who shall build a house on the same
and commence his trade. Every person in the
town is at liberty to build his house or shop on such
a plan, and of such a size, as may best suit his con-
venience or his purse ; but as a handsome house
may be built at as small an expense as an homely
one, the Society require that the fronts of all the
houses and shops, &c. erected in the town, shall be
built on the designs furnished by their architect,
who wjll be careful to accommodate them to the
sum which each person may be desirous of invest-
ing in his buildings. The front must be painted.
The sides, back and interior, may be finished, or
not, as the person concerned shall desire. By this
regulation, the Society hope to unite utility and
beauty in their establishments. Ground has been
given for the situation of public buildings, and a
fund appropriated for them, which it is believed
will be sufficient for their erection.

It is the wish of the Society to introduce a suffi-
cient number of good farmers, to cultivate the
ground in the manner which English farmers are
accustomed to, and to settle industrious mechanics
ic towns, iu numbers sufficient to consume the far-

PREFACE. Tii

mer's produce. Factors will be established in the
cities of Philadelphia and New York, to whom
waggons will be regularly sent with such of the ma-
nufactured articles as it may be desirable to sell m
those places ; and for the purpose of bringing back
such imported articles as shall be necessary for
their consumption. The advantages of such an
arrangement for both farmers and mechanics, must
be very apparent. Many of those articles of light
carriage, on which thousands of mechanics and
manufacturers are employed in the metropolis, can
be made at the Society's establishment, sent to the
city, and sold at a less price than they can be af-
forded by those who make them there. The supe-
rior comforts of the mechanic, who has his own
bouse, his own garden, pasture, and wood lots, over
him wko is pent up in the city throughout the year,
and lives at great expense for house rent, fuel, &c.
are very obvious. The manufactured articles dis
posed of in the country are generally sold at
higher price than they bring in the city. But in case
of the country being overstocked, the Society con-
template an arrangement with their factors, which
will enable them to make advances, if the article*'

Viii PREFACE.

sent to them shall arrive at any time when the mar
kets are dull, so that the members of the Society
will have a further advantage in thpir sales, over
those who manufacture the same articles in the city.
It will be readily seen, that the result of this ar-
rangement must be a good market in the farmer's
neighbourhood for all his produce, and the profit-
able sale of all the result of the mechanic's labour*
Instead, therefore, of the necessity of taking to the
cities such heavy articles as flour, beef, butter and
cheese, they will appear there, metamorphosed
into some of the light effects of the mechanic's skill.
If the affairs of the Society shall be conducted
with a well-ordered exactness, and if the spirit of
harmony shall preside over the conduct of their
members, as there is good reason to hope, the
Society may look forward with confident expecta-
ion to a British settlement of unexampled pros-
\vJrity, where the farmer's industry, stimulated by
i exemption from his former burthen of taxes
,jid tythes, shall be rewarded by encreasing com-
forts, and the consciousness of being able to bring
up his children with a good education, and to
leave them with ample possessions; and where

PREFACE. IX

each mechanic, surrounded by his garden, his
pasture and wood lots, may rival the prosperity
and ease of the farmer.

The Society wish sedulously to guard their coun-
trymen from coming to them with the absurd hope
of finding a place where idleness may repose itself,
while the earth shall produce its fruits spontane-
ously. They know that many have been led to the
United States by such visionary expectations ; but
such persons they do not wish to see, and would
not receive as their associates; the happiness and
prosperity of the Society must depend on the in-
dustry and general good conduct of all its members.

CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

Arrival in the United States Settlers returning from
the West Cobbett's " Year's .Residence" Advanta-
ges of settling near a market Favourable accounts
of Susquehanna county Makes a large purchase-
Terms 1321

LETTER II.

Objects in selecting a settlement Comparison between
the prices of produce in Illinois and Susquehanna
Manners of the Western people Proneness to quar-
rel Security of the British Settlement The port-
folio Erratic disposition of the Americans Grist
mills and saw mills Price of farms 21 31

LETTER III.

Boundaries of Susquehanna county Face of the coun-
try Soil Forest trees Bushes Maple sugar
Beer Fruit Salt Iron Population 32 39

LETTER IV.

Rivers Valley of Wyoming ^-Campbell's Poem Fish-
ingWalton, the angler Lakes Canals 39 42

LETTER V.

Game Deer Bears Wolves- Elks Foxes Phea-
sants Ducks Teal Game Laws 42 44

CONTENTS.

LETTER VI.

Manner of clearing land Rapid increase of value
Prosperity of settlers Cultivation Philadelphia So-
ciety for promoting Agriculture Expense of cultiva-
tion Profits on crops Rent, taxes, stock,&c. of a faim
in England, compared with the purchate of the same
property in Susquehanna county Mr. King's speech

4458

LETTER VII.

Houses Barns Mills Fences Hedges 58 62

LETTER VIII.

Cattle Sheep Mr. B irkbeck Corn Oats Buck
wheat Potatoes Carelessness of American farmers
Rise of value The policy of Pennsylvania Go-
vernor's speech 63 73

LETTER IX.

Price of labour Expense of living in Philadelphia com-
pared with the cost at the British Settlement Castle
of Indolence Mechanics 73 79

LETTER X.

Roads Road to the British SettlementLetters, how
to be addressed 7983

LETTER XI.

No STATE TAXES in Pennsylvania American coins
No poor New York The Courier Labourers En-
glish revenue 8386

Xii CONTENTS.

LETTER XII.

Climate ArthurYoung Cobbett Mortality Musqui-
toes Brissot Diseases of the Western Country
Volney, Latham, Schultz, & Breckenridge 86 97

LETTER XIII.

Manners Literature Public Library Partiality for
England Yankee Marriage Education Religion
Slavery Robbery MendicityIndians Idleues-
Politics The navy The army American andBri-
tish Sailors Versatality of the Americans Netf
Orleans General Jackson Mr. Ames's speech *
General Packenham Mutual interest of Great Bri-
tain and the United States British manufactures
ElectionsCaucusStability and extent of the Unioi<

97_ -iir,
LETTER XIV.

Remarks on Birkbeck's Letters Price of Land Law-
yersTurbulent Character Moss Troopers Con
tempt of Religion Unhealthiness Parching heat-
Expense of travelling Conclusion 116121)

Extract from the Village Record 132136

APPENDIX.

The Constitution of the United States 1 3T

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Penn-
sylvania 167

Act of Assembly enabling Aliens to hold lands 180

Directions to persons who with to become citizens ih.

LETTERS, &c.

LETTER I.

British Settkment, Sutquehanna County, Pennsylvania^

MY DEAR FRIEND,

MY last letter was dated at Philadelphia, a
short time after my arrival there, and detailed the
few occurrences of my voyage, and the favourable
impressions which were made by the appearance
of that city. You will have seen by that letter, that
my intentions with regard to a settlement in the
western part of the United States, were much af-
fected by the unfavourable accounts which I had
received from some of our countrymen, who had
returned from thence, after a journey of nearly
three thousand miles, (going and coming) by land.
I was, indeed, so disheartened by these representa-
tions, that I was almost tempted to commence the
practice of my profession in Philadelphia, and give
up all thoughts of the country. You will, however,
be surprised to find this letter dated from Susque-
hanna county, in Pennsylvania, instead of Phila-
delphia, Illinois, or Indiana.
B

14 PRELIMINARY ENQUIRIES.

This intention of encountering so toilsome a
journey, in order to judge for myself of the " Wes-
tern Country," as it is here called, was formed
very much on the principles of " Hobson's choice ;"
for in some way, which is to me now unac-
countable, we had been led into an opinion, that
the only part of the United States for an English-
man to go to, was the western wilderness. Of the
error of this opinion I was convinced in a short time
after my arrival, by an inspection of the farms in
the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, and a reflection
on the great advantages of vicinity to markets; ad-
vantages which I readily saw a farmer must relin-
quish, who settles in any part of the United States^
beyond the mountains. At this period, I met with
a little work published by Mr. Cobbett, since his
last visit to this country, called, "The. First Part of
a Year's Residence in the United States of America"
which I send you with this. You will find in it a
diary of the weather; together with many useful
practical observations, detailed in a plain and easy
manner. Mr. Cobbett has shown the advantage of
farming on this side of the mountains ; and while I
felt a growing disposition to avoid the prairies, or

flats, of the Illinois, our friend S mentioned to

me, that the lands of Susquehanua county, in this
state, and within a short distance of Philadelphia
and New-York, had been very favourably spoken

of by Mr. V , a highly respected gentleman of

Philadelphia, of whose philanthropy and benevo-
lence most of the Englishmen who arrive there can

PRELIMINARY ENQUIRIES. 15

bear witness. Mr. S ~ directed me to a Mr.

Young, an Englishman, then in Philadelphia, who
had been to what he called Mr. Rose's settlement,
in Susquehanna county, and who could therefore
give me correct information about it. I called on
Mr. Young, and found his account to be very fa-
vourable respecting the soil and climate , and that
he intended to settle there. Mr. Y. described the
land as being of a good quality, the country healthy,
the water plentiful and excellent, and the timber of
great variety : that there were about five hundred
families, mostly from the New England States, on
Mr. R.'s tract ; a number of grist and saw mills,
and four post-offices on it : that Montrose, the seat
of justice for the county, was 170 miles from Phila-
delphia, and, by a turnpike now making, it would
be about 130 miles from New- York : that mea-
sures have been also taken for making another
turnpike in nearly a due south direction to Phila-
delphia, which will lessen considerably the pre-
sent distance : that the Susquehanna river was na-
vigable from the vicinity of the tract to Baltimore :
the price of the lands on the turnpikes was six dol-
lars, and for those back from them, five dollars
per acre ; that the title was indisputable, and a
deed of general warranty given : that several of
the settlers on the tract, who were desirous of get-
ting their neighbours to settle near them, and who
were, doubtless, good judges of land, had given a
statement of the quality, from which he bad, when
on the spot, copied the following :

16 PRELIMINARY ENQUIRIES.

" We, the subscribers, have purchased farms on
the lands of Robert H. Rose. The soil is, gene-
rally, of a good quality, deep, and lasting; and the
situation very favourable, on account of a market
for our produce. (Signed by)

Daniel Gaige, Alpheus Finch, Isaac Howard,
Mortimer Gaige, Abraham Gaige, Joseph
Whipple, Philip GrifFeth, Peleg Butts, Charles
Davies, Christian Shillop, Nathan Brewster,
John Griffiths, Jonathan Ellsworth, Henry
Ellsworth, Jacob Bump, George Bump, Bela
More, Joseph Addison, Charles Chalker.
Daniel Chalker, Seth Baldwyn, Richard
Daniels, Ephraim Fancher, Zephania Cornell,
Benjamin Fancher, Caleb Bush, Asa Bald-
wyn, Samuel Baldwyn, Thurston Carr, Isaac
Soule, Hiel Tupper, Jabez A. Birchard, David
Owen, Jeremiah Glover, Albert Camp, H. P.
Corbiu, D. Taylor, Lemuel Walbridge, Leman
Turrel, Camfield Stone, Philo Bostwick, Sal.
inon Bradshaw, Billings Babcock, Robinson
Bolles, Zenas Bliss, Jon. C. Sherman, Philo
Morehouse, Reuben Faxen, Darius Bixby,
Asahel Southwell, Asa Brown, Edward Cox,
Peter Brown, Daniel Chamberlain."
All this seemed to be good authority, and as there
were at that time in Philadelphia, many of our
countrymen, whose object was, like our own, the
selection of an eligible spot for their abode, it was
thought prudent to call them together, and unite
the information we had received of various places,

PRELIMINARY ENQUIRIES. 17

in the hope of being able to choose that one which
would be best for a tc British settlement," and in
which could be combined advantages for both far-
mers and mechanics.

For this purpose, a number of persons interested,
met at the Chester and Montgomery hotel, in Phi-
ladelphia, a house kept by Mr. Davis, an English-
man. The impressions amongst all who met, ap-
peared to be very unfavourable to a settlement in
the Western States, in consequence of the various
information that had been received, from different
sources, as well as from several of our own country-
men, who had returned dissatisfied with the priva-
tions of society, and the loss of many comforts to
which they had been accustomed, which they found
they would be compelled to endure in a settlement
there.

At this meeting, it was deemed to be of great im-
portance to find a suitable situation for the contem-
plated establishment, on the eastern side of the
mountains, and within a reasonable distance from
some of the sea-ports, in which all the surplus pro-
duce of the mechanic's labour might be vended,
where the toil of the farmer would be rewarded
by a good price for his produce, and where, in
consequence of the country not being filled with
settlers, land might yet be had at a low price.

I found the favourable impression I had of Sus-
quehanna county, corroborated by the information
which several who attended this meeting had re-
ceived of it ; aud it was resolved unanimously, that
B2

18 PRELIMINARY ENQUIRIES.

a letter should be written to Mr. Rose, to ascertain
the terms on which he would sell his lands to a so-
ciety of British emigrants. The time that elapsed
before the receipt of his answer, was spent by me
in endeavouring to add to the information I had
acquired of the United States generally, and parti-
cularly, in reading the journals of different persons
who had travelled over the western parts of them,
on the waters of the Ohio and Mississippi, to which
my attention had been directed previous to my lear-
iug England. I found these, generally, to repre-
sent those portions of the country in terms very
different from the language of Mr. Birkbeck, whose
" Notes" had been, in some degree, the occasion of
my voyage across the ocean. On receiving an
answer from Mr. Rose to our communications, a
meeting of the British emigrants was again con-
vened, and it was determined that a committee of
five, (of whom I was one,) should immediately
proceed to Susquehanna county, and examine the
lands carefully, ascertain the quantity which could
be procured, and on their return, make a report
of the situation, soil, water, &c. and of the various
advantages, or disadvantages, which it would offer
to the contemplated settlement. In pursuance of
this resolution, we came here, and diligently and
carefully investigated the different objects to wh'ch
our-attention had been directed, and which, as you
will have perceived, v. ere precisely the same as
those on which my instructions had been founded,
before I left my native land. The result of th

SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 19

investigation by the committee was, an unanimous
opinion in favour of this place, as affording all the
essential requisites for a British settlement.

We were treated with much kindness lay Mr.
Rose, who was pleased with our objects, which he
thought would be very useful to the county, and
even'to the state ; and with this view he gave us a
contract for his lands, at a price much below what
he had sold for some time past, and lower than any
other land is selling in the county. Since his set-
tlement in this county, he has made it a rule to sell
to none but actual settlers, and in his contract with
us, he has enjoined a perseverance in the same rule,
and the obligation, that for twelve months from the
date of our contract, we shall keep the land open,
on the same terms we received it, for any of our
own countrymen who may be desirous of joining us,
and who shall bring good moral characters with
them. These were precisely the intentions of the
meeting in Philadelphia, which in seeking a place of
settlement for British emigrants, disclaimed all ob-
jects of speculation, and sought only to procure an
eligible situation, in all the benefits of which their
countrymen might participate. The committee were,
therefore, much pleased that Mr. Rose had taken
the same view of the subject, and advised the mea-
sures on which they had previously resolved.

The following are the terms of our contract,
made 15th Nov. 1818, in distinct propositions, with
a view either to the whole or a part of the lands,
about forty thousand acres, as shall be found most
convenient to the society.

20 PRICE OF LAND,

For the whole

1st. Four dollars per acre, [13 shil. stg.] one
tenth part paid, and the remainder with interest,
in nine equal annual instalments ; or, 2d. Three dol-
lars fifty certs per acre, one fifth part paid, and the
remainder in four equal annual instalments ; or, 3d.
Three dollars per acre, to be paid within one year.

Or, in parts to suit individual settlers

The lots on the turnpikes, five dollars per acre :
the lots back from the turnpikes, four dollars per
acre. Interest to commence at this date, one eighth
part of the principal to be paid within twelve months,
and an eighth part annually afterwards. If the
whole of the price of any lot be paid for within the
first year, an abatement of one dollar per acre to be
made. The society to proceed to settle their mem-
bers on the latter terms ; but to have the privilege
of closing the contract for the whole, should they be
desirous of doing so, according to either of the three
first propositions; provided their desire be ex-
pressed to that effect within twelve months.

It should be particularly noticed in this negotia-
tion, that we sought the proprietor, and that he
neither laid in wait for us, nor did he allure us by
captivating accounts of Elysian fields. We found
in him a gentleman of elegant manners and known
integrity ; who offered the best recommendation of
his lands in the simple fact that he had built an
elegant mansion in the midst of them, and had re-
sided there for several years.

I shall now proceed to lay before you all the in-

SELECTION OP SETTLEMENT. 21

formation that I have acquired respecting the soil,
climate, manners, &c. of this interesting section of
the United States.

LETTER II.

Selection of Settlement, fyc.

IN the selection of a place of residence in a new
country, it is very important to take into view the
ultimate market for the farmer's produce. While
the country is settling, there will be no difficulty on
this score; for the encreasing population will de-
mand all the supplies that can be raised. But the
prudent settler will look beyond that period, and
consider what he is to do, when every one shall
raise more grain than he will be able to consume.
In that case, vicinity to market, and facility of
transportation, are all important. The immense
distance which grain has to be sent from the wes-
tern states, occasions the expense to be so great, as
to reduce extremely the profits of the farmer.
This is particularly the case in all articles of much
weight, and all the farmer's produce comes withi'
that description ; so much so, indeed, that on
bushel of wheat here, is worth one and a half i
the western part of this state, and two, or more,

22 VALUE OF PRODUCE.

the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois; the only
important market for those states is New Orleans ;
the distance to which is upwards of one thousand
miles from the nearest part of Illinois, and still fur-
ther from Indiana and Ohio. The value of the
different articles in Susquehanna and in the Illinois,
will be more easily seen by the following statement
of the prices. Those of the Illinois I collect from
Mr. Bhkbeck's " Notes" on that country.

SUSQUEHANNA.

D. C.

Wheat per bushel 1 60

Indian Corn do. 1 00

Oats do. 50

Hay per ton 7 .00

Butter per lb. 15

Cheese per Ib. 10

Fowls per couple 25

ILLINOIS.

D. C.

Wheat per bushel 75

Indian Corn do. 21

Oats do. 31

Hay per ton, 7 80

Butter per lb. 11

Cheese per lb. 25

Fowls per couple 20

The same cause which tends to lessen the value
of the articles, which the farmer raises in the wes-
tern states, and which he has for sale, operates
equally to increase the dearness of those which are
imported, and which he has to purchase. The
shop-keeper, who is at a great distance from the
place, where the articles he deals in are procured,
will add to the price, when he disposes of them, the
additional expense of bringing, and the time lost in
procuring them. To him, who is obliged to take a
journey of a thousand miles to procure the articles
that are to fill his warehouse, the cost and the
trouble must be very great; and that cost and

VALUE OP PRODUCE. 23

trouble he expects to be paid for, by the consumer.
The journey which he is annually compelled to take,
is a very serious one, compared to that of the shop-
keeper of Susquehanna county, who can go to New-
York and back again in four days. The latter, in
consequence of his situation,can trade with a smaller
capital than the former ; because he can, at any
time procure a supply of those articles of which he
is in immediate need ; while the former can lay in
a supply only once a year. All these difficulties are
to be paid for by the farmers and mechanics, who
consume the articles imported ; and the difference
to them, in the course of a twelvemonth, by re-
ceiving less for the articles they sell, and paying
more for t/iose which they purchase, will be found to
be very great. It is not merely the quantum he
shall raise, but the sum he shall get for it, which
constitutes the farmer's advantage. It is not sim-
ply to get enough to eat and drink, that is to bound
the desires of the farmer; it is to procure the
means of converting his log cabin into a handsome
and convenient house ; to erect a large barn for
his grain, and suitable buildings for his cattle ; to
educate his children, and, as he grows old, to enjoy
the satisfaction of rinding that his industry has
supplied the comforts of life, and enabled him to
satisfy the wants of society wants to which we
are indebted for the amelioration of mankind.
Perhaps it is even worse for the morals of the set-
tier, distant from a market where he can exchange
the articles in which he abounds, for those of

24 VALUE OF PRODUCE*

which he is in want, that he is placed upon a fertile
soil. The fertility gives him abundance ; and he
cannot dispose of his surplus. The consequence*
is, a want of stimulus to industry, He finds, that
the labour of three days in the week, will support
his family, and he will not work six ; for the pro-
duce of the other three will be of no service to
him. He cannot build his house, his bam, nor
his granary with it. Hence, he becomes idle. He
finds neighbours like himself. He takes his gun,
and goes into the woods to hunt, or to some neigh-
bouring log house at which whiskey is sold, and
where lie is sure to find persons in his own situa-
tion, led there by the same feelings which govern
him ; with those he consumes his time, shooting at
marks, or matching his miserable horse to run
against some other miserable horse ; and thus the
day, that in more fortunate situations would have
been spent in healthful industry, is squandered in
riot and intemperance. It is reasonable to expect
such consequences to flow from the situations I have
mentioned; and such, I have been assured by
intelligent travellers, is the case. I do not rest on
the narration of our own countrymen, who have re-
turned dissatisfied with the western wilderness.
American travellers themselves are obliged to ac-
knowledge the universal prevalence of these ruinous
habits. That we should find a proneness to quarrel
in minds that have shaken off the salutary restraints
of society, is to be expected. Even Mr. Birkbeck,
who has been so fortunate as to find quarrelling

WESTERN MANNERS. 25

rare, mentions the case of a member of a religious
community, who/* on being brought before the spi-
ritual court, for indulging a propensity to boxing,
and hearing all the arguments derived from texts
of Scripture, which oppose that unchristian
practice, declared that he should not like to live
longer than he had a right to knock down any
man who told him he lied." Mr. Schultz, in
his description of the country near St. Louis, on the
Mississippi, ia the immediate neighbourhood of
Illinois, mentions that " it is a very unpleasant
" place of residence, as the continual broils and
" quarrels amongst the workmen, as well as the
*' proprietors, keep up a constant scene of warfare.
" You would certainly feel yourself in very suspici-
" ous company, were you to discover that most of
" those amongst whom you were, wore a concealed
" dagger, and sometimes even two, one in the bosom,
" and another under the coat ; whilst others carried
" a brace of pistols in the girdle behind the back.
" I have heard of a number of quarrels since I have
" been here, and of two or three being wounded
" by pistol shot, but no lives were lost; which has
*' rather been owing to a precipitancy of firings rhari
want of inclination to kill. It is not always that
an honourable challenge takes place on account
of an affront or difference of opinion ; but an in-
stantaneous plunge of the dirk, or a pistol to your
face, is the first signal of war. They have however
become so naturalized to these ideal dangers, that
of three shots made within two yards of the object,
C

26 WESTERN MANNERS.

" none was followed by any thing more serious than
" the loss of three fingers on one hand, and a hole
" through the lower part of the crown of a hat,
" grazing the skin and hair. This bad, or good
" luck, is owing to the activity of the antagonist,
" who is generally aware of his opponent's inteu-
" tion, and prepared to knock his pistol up with his
" own, as soon as it is presented. Rifle barrelled
" pistols are altogether used at this place, and
" likewise at Genevieve ; and pistol shooting at a
" mark for wagers, seems to be a very general kind
" of amusement among the people."

Much more of this kind might be quoted from
American authors, and I should prefer quoting
from them ; for we cannot suspect them of having
any intention to deceive, especially when they speak
against the habits of their own countrymen, in par-
ticular places ; but I have already adduced enough
to convince you that the western part of theUnitec
States is a pface, if report speak correctly of it,
that would promise nearly as much work for a sur-
geon as a physician. At any rate these representa-
tions from so many sources, were sufficient to in-
duce *ne to set my face another way, and to make
me seek to discover a place, where a husbandman
might find sufficient inducements to call forth his
industry,

" and hear

At distance safe, the human tempest roar,
Wrapt close in conscious peace."

SECURITY OF SETTLEMENT 27

This is completely the case in Susquehanna county,
where, I am informed, that during the late war be-
tween the United States and Great Britain, " its
disturbances were known only by the arrival of the
mail."* How different is this from the frontier situa-
tion of the western states, whose infant settlements
are always exposed to the scalping knife of the
savages ! In ruy estimation of the advantages which
different places might offer to settlers, security
would be a most important consideration. That de-
sideratum is, I think, possessed in the greatest pos-
sible degree by this place, which is equally remote
from dangers by sea and by land ; being surrounded
on all sides by countries thickly populated. A per-
fect wilderness should be avoided by an English-
man. The Americans alone appear calculated to
commence a settlement. They make excellent pio-
neers.and overcome difficulties in the "wild woods,"
which an Englishman could not encounter. A jour-
ney of two or three days to a mill, is nothing to
them ; even a journey of a thousand miles, is but as

* This remark is quoted from a description of Mr.
Rose's possessions in this county, with an engraved
view of his mansion, which appeared in " the Port
Folio," for June, 1816. This miscellany, published
monthly, is edited by J. E. Hall, Esq. and was com-
menced in the year 1801. It may be procured in London,
of the publisher of theseLetter*,and it deserves the atten-
tion of an emigrant, on account of its sketches of life and
manners and other particulars respecting this country.

28 ERRATIC DISPOSITION.

a step to visit a friend. It is fortunate for a country,
possessing such a boundless territory, the arm of one
of whose rivers extends to a distance as great as
from my native place to the one in which I am now
writing, that her children are of so erratic a dispo-
sition, as to consider her amplitude as a narrow
limit. But although all this is extremely well for an
American, it is much better for English settlers to
confine themselves to a reasonable distance from
the sea ports ; and to endeavour to procure a situa-
tion in a country, in which the toils of a first settle-
ment have already been encountered and overcome.

For this reason it is, that my selection has been
made of lands interspersed in all directions, with
improvements, where good roads are already made,
and where grist and saw mills, and other machi-
nery, are erected.

In the immediate neighbourhood, for which the
company have contracted, there are five grist mills,
and thirteen saw mills. The great advantage of
these, and of the roads, which are made in all di-
rections through the lands, I need not mention.
The English farmer having been accustomed to
good roads at home, can ill brook those which he
will find in any wilderness. Here are turnpike
roads leading to the two most important cities of
the United States, laid out and much labour done
on them; and there is every prospect that they
will be completed in another season.

There is a point of time in the settling of new
countries, in which purchases by such a company

SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 2&

as ours, can be best made. To;a perfect wilderness
there is an objection, in the difficulty and uncer-
tainty of forming a settlement ; and many would find
it very unpleasant to endure the privations which
must necessarily be experienced by a residence
there. When nearly all the land is settled, the
small remainder is held at a high price ; but at an
intermediate point of time, when a considerable
part of the land is occupied, the quality of the soil,
and the real value of the country ascertained, the
difficulties of the first improvements overcome,
grain raised, mills built, roads made, and the n^ces-
saries, and many of the comforts of life to be ob-
tained this is, undoubtedly, the most eligible time
for a man to pitch his tent ; for the land which has
not yet been appropriated, may generally be had
at a price very low, in proportion to its real worth,
estimated by the farmer's profit, which is its in-
trinsic value.

I have mentioned the settlements or improve-
ments, with which the lands contracted for by the
society are interspersed. The greater part of these
can be purchased, at a fair price, from the present
occupants who, being paid for what they have done,
are ready to commence anew. It may be better for
many emigrants to purchase these improvements,
than to take new lands. They can be had in farms
of various sizes, from twenty to an hundred acres
of cleared land, with a house and barn t These
buildings are, in general, made of logs, and wheD

30 PRICE OF FARMS.

that is the case, are of little value ; but in some in-
stances they are of a better kind, being made of
framed timber, and boarded.

The sum at which improvements are estimated,
depends upon the care with which the lands are
cleared, and the kind of house and barn on them,
in addition to the price of the land. As a general
rate, a farm of one huudred acres of land, one half
of it cleared, with a common log house and barn on
it, would be estimated at from 225J. to 270/. or from
one thousand to twelve hundred dollars. This
however may alter very soon ; and will be likely
to increase rapidly, in consequence of our settle-
ment, and the money which will be brought into the
country by us. Such is the price at which impro-
ved lots (of which I have made several purchases)
are at present sold. By the purchase of an improve-
ment, an emigrant will be at once able to keep his
cattle and horses ; he will have pasture, meadow,
and plough land ; and can purchase new lands ad-
joining, and increase his clearings to what size he
pleases. In this manner he may commence bis
farming with very little of the inconvenience, and
all the advantage of a new settler ; and the new
lands which he can purchase on the terms of the
society's contract will answer for the establishment
of his family around him. I have devoted, and shall
continue to devote, much of my time to the acqui-
sition of a thorough knowledge of the extent,
quality and value of these improved lots, amounting
to several hundreds, in order to point out to those

PRICE OP FARMS. *1

of our countrymen who prefer making purchases
of that kind of property, such as will best suit their
different tastes ; so that each one may be accom-
modated in the way he prefers ; and I shall spare
no pains in the business, for I have the welfare of
the settlement very much at heart, which derives the
more interest from its being the first BRITISH
SETTLEMENT, attempted on a large scale, in the
United States. It will therefore be useful for all
those who are desirous of purchasing improvements,
to make their applications either through the society
at Philadelphia, or directly to me at this place. I
can then make the desired purchases for them, or
provisional contracts, to be ratified within a rea-
sonable length of time, after the applicants shall
have seen and approved of the lots.

32 BOUNDARIES.

LETTER III.

Boundaries Face of the country - Soil ~ Forest
trees Bushes Cultivated fruits Minerals, fyc.

SUSQUEHANNA county is situated in the 42c
degree of north latitude,, on the line which divide:
Pennsylvania from the state of New York. It com
mences about six miles from the Delaware river
and runs west thirty-four miles, and south twenty
four miles. On the north it is bounded by the stat<
of New York ; on the south by Luzerne county ; 01
the east by Wayne county ; and on the west ty
Bradford county.

The face of the country is very picturesque
There is no fiat land ; it is all in undulations. Rivu
lets and springs are in the greatest abundance.-
There is no farm and scarcely a field, without s
stream or spring in it of excellent water, and a:
clear as crystal. There are no stagnant waters
DO swamps, nor marshes, nor musquitoes, whicl
abound so much in many other parts of the Unitec
States.

The soil is deep that is, generally, from one t<
two feet ; in some places, three or four feet. Be

SOIL, CULTURE. S3

neath this, there is an inferior stratum, or sub-soil,
composed of clay and extremely fine silicious sand,
intimately commingled. By us it would be called
stony ; but the stones lie almost entirely on the
surface, are easily removed, and will be very useful
for buildings and walls. I have taken particular
notice where trees have been taken out by the
root, and at the sides of the turnpike roads where
the ditches are dug, that it is rare to find any stones
beneath the surface. I am told that some of the
settlers from the eastern states, who have been ac-
customed to stone walls round their fields, say that
there are not stones enough ; I should be satisfied
with less. Of the fertility of the soil, the usual crops
offer a strong evidence ; for if a farmer in England
was to put his grain into the ground, in the manner
it is generally done here, I should calculate upon
his having a very diminutive harvest. In this coun-
try there is little or no alluvial soil deposited by the
overflowing of the rivers or brooks. It is a common
remark, and it accords with my own observations,
that the soil is deeper on the tops of the hills than
in thevallies. As it does not wash off, the hills re-
tain all their native fertility. You see no traces, or
furrows, worn by the waters. In the western part of
the United States, where extensive flats of alluvial
soil are formed on the rivers, the hills are propor-
tionably poor, being robbed of the soil, which is de-
posited on the flat, or bottom. In most of the waters
of the western states, during floods or freshets, there
is a reflux, or eddy, formed at the margin of the usual

34 WESTERN RIVERS, TREES.

water courses, aiid the soil brought down from the
hiils i deposited in the greates oundance on the
bank, which usually confines the current ; conse-
quently, the bank is higher than the land back from
the river, where the bottom joins the hill. The re-
sult is, that when the river retires within its banks,
an extensive, but narrow, pond is left along the has*
of the hill ; and as the hot weather gradually dries
it up, a pestilential miasma is formed, which pro
duces bilious and intermittent fevers, and all then
train of horrors. In Susquehanna county nothing oi
that kind is found. I cannot learn of a single in-
stance of fever and ague having occurred within it,
I see no sallow, sickly looking complexions. Everj
log hut abounds with children, whose brown faces
indicate health and hardihood. This is a bad place
you will say for my profession. I am very happy thai
it is so. I came to seek for land ; and shall be more
pleased to practice farming than phlebotomy. I do
not however, intend to give up my profession till one
of my son^ shall be able to take it off my hands ; foi
physicians are necessary evils in all countries.

I have measured many of the forest trees, in
order to be exact as to their height. It is, in gene-
ral, about eighty feet. Many are much higher ; but
that is the common altitude. The white, or silver
pine overtops all the other timber, and grows to the
height of one hundred and fifty feet, and from six
to twelve feet in circumference. The hemlock
spruce also grows to a large size ; but not so high
as the pine. The diameter of the beech is from one

TREES, BUSHES 85

> two feet ; the birch, larger. Chesnut is found
:arly twenty feet in circumference, very straight,
id sixty feet to the lowest limbs. White oak,
;arly as large. The wild cherry grows large, and
rnifure is made from it resembling mahogany.
he curled maple affords also a beautiful wood for
rniture, of the fine and silky appearance of satin
aod. I have observed the following kinds of tim-
:r, viz. beech of two or three varieties ; sugar
aple (acer saccharinum) and several other species
5 the acer Pennsylvanicum, rubrum, 3fc.) ; hem-
ck spruce (pinus abies Americana) ; chesnut,
fferent from the English, the nuts small, but very
>od ; cherry of two kinds (prunus cerasus Vir~
niana et montana) ; white and black ash ; oak ;
lite pine ; linden (tilia) ; elm ; button wood (pla-
nus occidental^ : cucumber tree (magnolia acu-
\nata) ; crab apple, dog wood (cornus Florida);
ckory (juglans alba ovata) ; black walnut ( jug-
fis nigva) ; butternut (juglans oblo?iga alba) ;
rnbeam (caprinus ostrya) ; locust (robinid) ; wild
um ; poplar; tulip treQ(liriodendrori); sassafras ;
d service tree (sorbus Americana). Among the
ishes are blackberries of several kinds, currants,
oseberries, raspberries, elder, hawthorn, laurel,
ither wood, (dirca palustris] ; hazlenut, sumach
two kinds, and the rose. You will observe that
e currants, gooseberries, and raspberries all grow
Id in the woods. There is also a small grape
lich ripens late, and is acid : perhaps those of a
ore generous kind would flourish if they were

86 TIMBEfi, SUGAR MAPLE.

cultivated. The bills in this country are all covered
with timber. You see none bare. Along the Sus-
quehanna river, there is a belt of oak timber which
extends back from it for three or four miles ; you
then pass into what are called the beech woods, which
are composed of various kinds of timber, but take
their name from that which predominates. In the
latter the soil is much superior to the former, both
as to depth and quality ; the oak lands having a
thin and gravelly soil, while the beech timber grows <
in a deep loam. From the ashes formed by burning
the timber in their clearings, the new settlers might
derive a handsome profit, by the manufacture of
pot and pearl ashes ; but this is neglected, and the
ashes are suffered to be blown away by the winds,
or washed off by theTains. Great profit mightalso
be made by the manufacture of sugar, from the sap
of the sugar maple ;* and it is now made to an ex-
tent equal to the wants of the country ; but it might
be manufactured for exportation. There is a great
abundance of the sugar maple in this country, and
HI HoweH's large map of Pennsylvania, this part
i* designated as abounding in that valuable trte. It
is one of the most beautiful of the forest. But not-
withstanding its great usefulness, it is cut dowa in-
discriminately with the others. A proof of the ad-
vantage that may be derived from it, was exempli-
fied by one of our countrymen whom we found set-

* See the process in Evelyn'a " Sylva," vol. 1. p. 188.

SUGAR MAPLE, FRUIT. 37

tied here. He purchased of Mr. Rose a lot of
eighty-four acres, and before he began his work of
clearing, he tapped a number of the sugar maple
trees on the lot ; and the price of the sugar which
he made in three weeks, amounted to two thirds of
the price he was to pay for the whole lot. This
you will observe was done before a tree had been cut
down on the lot, except what was necessary to boil
the sugar. Maple sugar is much like that pro-
duced from the cane ; but for many purposes I
think it pleasanter; and the person who uses it
has the satisfaction of knowing that it is clean,
which, it is probable, is frequently far from being
the case with that which is made by the slaves of
the West Indies ; or indeed, by slaves any where.
The usual time of making it is at the breaking up
of winter, when cold nights are succeeded by warm
days ; a season when there is but little to occupy
the farmer. It is not unusual for a family to make
half a ton in two or three weeks. The sugar mak-
ing season seldom lasts longer than that time. One
of the first things a settler should do is to plant
an orchard, and in a very short time he may eat
his own fruit, and drink his own cider.

In all the old settled parts of the United States,
fruit is in such great abundance that the traveller
is permitted to take, without ceremony, whatever
he pleases.

Beer is seldom made or used in the country parts
of the United States. We shall, doubtless, intro-
duce it ; which may be easily done ; for good bar-
D

38 STONES, HALT, IRON.

ley is raised here, and hops grow wild. Apples
pears, plums and cherries thrive well. Peaches
are not so good as in the southern states, although
the trees last longer. Perhaps the inferiority of
the fruit may in some degree be in consequence of
want of care respecting the kind ; for I do not
find any grafted. The trees are all raised from the
stones. However, as this tree was originally
brought from a southern climate (mala Ptrsica),
the presumption is that it finds in Maryland or
Virginia a more congenial situation. Susquehanna
is in the secondary formation. The stone is prin-
cipally grej or reddish shistose sandstone, and
clay slate, in some instances mingled with a small
proportion of calcareous earth ; but I believe none
has been found in which the latter predominates.

On some of the branches of Wyal using, one of
the streams of this county, there is an appearance
of salt ; and a small quantity has been made very
pure and white. It is supposed, that it might be
manufactured extensively and profitably. Some
persons are now at work, in digging a well for it
on the waters of Silver Creek. The salt at pre-
sent used here, is brought from the salt works in
the state of New.York, a distance of eighty miles
to the north of this, where it is made in great
quantities, and sold at half a dollar per bushel.

Small specimens of iron ore have been shown to
me, and there is reason to believe that jnore might
be found if search were made below the surface.
In one place, for more than a mile in extent, the

COAL, RIVERS. 39

needle of the surveyor's compass cannot be made
to traverse ; yet no one has been at the trouble to
search for the cause. I do not know of any coal
in this county ; but near the southern boundary of
it, coal resembling the Welch culm, or Kilkenny
coal, is found in great abundance.

Susquehanna was formed into a county in 1812,
and there are now within its limits, one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-seven taxables ; which,
at a computation of five and one third inhabitants
to each taxable, and which I am informed is a com-
mon one, give ten thousand one hundred and se-
venteen inhabitants within the limits of the county.

From this statement you will see, that you are
not invited to a wilderness.

LETTER IV.

llivers, Streams, and Lakes.

THE Susquehanna river rises in the state of
New-York, and runs nearly a south course, till it
passes the Pennsylvania line, about twelve miles
from the Delaware river. It then turns to the
west, and repasses the state line, near the twentieth
milestone ; and after receiving the Chenango and

40 RIVERS, STREAMS, LAKES.

Owego rivers, it turns again to the south, and en-
tering Pennsylvania near the fifty-seventh mile-
stone, continues a general south course, passing
Harrisburg, the seat of government in Pennsyl-
vania, till it enters into the Chesapeake Bay. In
its course it receives several other rivers as tribu-
taries. It is a clear and beautiful river, but rather
too shallow when the waters are low. In the
spring and autumn, immense quantities of grain,
boards, timber, salt, and gypsum, are sent down it
to market. There are many flourishing villages
on its banks. One of these, called Wilkesbarre,
is beautifully situated in the valley of Wyoming,
which has been immortalized in the song of one of
our poets. But

" On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming, 1 *

is now so safe from Indian, or any other warfare,
that perhaps there is not an inhabitant of the val-
ley, who could be induced to believe that all the
powers in the pay of the allied sovereigns could
reach it, if the attempt were made in hostile array.
On looking at the map, you will perceive that the
Susquehanna makes a large bend round this coun-
ty, from which the streams flow into it in all direc-
tions. From a field within half a mile of me, the
eye can trace the line of hills the whole extent of
this great sweep, which on the north is twelve
miles, on the west thirty, and the same distance on
the south. The small streams are very abundant;

RIVERS, STREAMS, LAKES. 41

and there are a number of beautiful little lakes, of

various sizes, from half a mile to a mile long.

These are generally at the heads of the streams ;

where the hills, sloping gradually, form a kind of

basin. Their waters are extremely pure, and

abound with fish of different sorts, as the trout,

perch, pike, sunfish, chub, mullet, catfish, and eel.

The rivulets, or brooks, are in the United States

called creeks ; and in this county their waters are

as pure as the springs. Trout abound in them, as

may be best seen by the result of a day's fishing

with the rod and line, in the outlet of Silver Lake,

by two gentlemen, at three different times. The

first time, they caught twenty-seven dozen ; the

second time, twenty dozen ; and the third time,

thirty-five dozen and an half. If old Walton were

alive, this would be enough to bring him to Sus-

quehanna. There is no hard water here ; every

stream will wash ; and the thirsty traveller may

drink pleasantly of every brook or lake.

It is considered to be of immense advantage to
Philadelphia, to draw the produce of the lands
watered by the Susquehanna to that city ; and dif-
ferent companies have been incorporated by the
legislature for the purpose of uniting that river
with the Delaware and Schuylkill, which flow by
the wharves of Philadelphia. Much labour has
been done on a canal, intended to connect their
branches ; and companies are now engaged in im-
proving the Schuylkill, Lehigh, and different rivers
D 2

42 GAME.

on the rout, by darns and locks ; which promise to
be very successful in their result.

It is not, therefore, by our own labour alone, that
we are likely to be benefited ; the legislature, as
well as individuals, are actually employed in faci-
litating the means of transporting our produce to
the sea side, from which our distance is now but
a ride of two or three days.

LETTER V.

Game.

DEER are very numerous in the woods, and
frequently commit depredations on the young
grain. Venison, indeed, is so abundant, as to be
the cheapest meat here. You will get the best
haunches for two pence per pound. Deer are
commonly shot with a rifle ball, or chased by dogs ;
in which case, it is usual, in order to avoid their
pursuers, to betake themselves to seme stream or
lake. In the latter case, they are easily overtaken
by means of a boat. There appears to be a great
certainty in talung them, whenever they are wanted,
in this way ; for I heard a hunter, whom Mr.
Rose sometimes employs, say, that he brought his
dog to Silver Lake, twelve times last fall, and each

GAME. 43

time caught a deer. There is a good deal of
amusement for a sportsman in this watery chase ;
but I cannot say I have felt that spirit of" sublime
elevation of soul'* which we are told, in the Guide
to the Lakes of Killarney, induces a thorough
bred sportsman there " in his raptures and ecsta-
cies, so far to forget himself, as to jump out of the
[boat." I am assured that the deer are as abun-
[daut now, as they were at the first settlement of
the county ; and this is attributed to the disappear-
ance of their enemies, the wolves. Deer usually
have two fawns at a time ; and these are so easily
tamed, that on being caught when very young,
and carried a few hundred yards, they will imme-
diately follow you. The facility with which they
are tamed, 1 should not have credited, had I not
derived my information from unquestionable au-
thority.

Bears and wolves, which once were numerous
in this part of Pennsylvania, are now seldom heard
of. They have retired before the population ; so
have also the elks, which once inhabited these
woods, as is proved by their immense horns being
sometimes found. Foxes are in great numbers,
and, as at home, are frequent marauders in the hen
roosts.

Pheasaqts, different from and smaller than ours,
are plenty ; partridges are scarce. Wild pigeons
commonly visit this place in the spring and autumn,
when their numbers are truly astonishing. Flocks
of them are sometimes seen, so large as to contain

44 CLEARING OF LAND.

millions ; their flesh is dark, and when fat, very
good. Ducks and teal, at particular seasons, fre-
quent the Jakes. Woodcocks are in abundance
amongst the bushes. As to hunting, shooting, and
fishing, I suppose I need not tell you that they are
free to all ; and that the man would be called a
great churl, who should forbid any one to catch
game on his grounds, or fish in his waters*

LETTER VI.

Clearing of Land, fyc.

THE common mode of clearing land in this
place, is by first cutting the underwood, or brush,
close to the ground. The timber is then cut
down, as much as possible in one direction, and
into lengths of about twelve feet. A few months
after, sometimes immediately after, fire is set to
the collected mass, which generally burns up all
the limbs and small stuff, leaving the logs. Two
or three men then go with a pair of oxen, and
haul the logs which ar left, into piles. They are
again set on fire, and in this second burning con-
sumed. When the timber is cut down, ready for
burning, it is called a fallow. The piling of the
logs is done during the day, and they are set on

CLEARING OF LAND. 45

fire towards evening, and generally suffered to
burn unattended during the night ; at which time
the burning piles on several acres, present a very
t>rilliant spectacle ; and when seen with the con-
sciousness of this being the first step in the con-
version of the wild into cultivated fields, the re-
flection is attended with no small share of interest
in the scenery.

I am surprised to see so little taste shown in
clearing land here. No reservation, or selection, is
made of groves to serve hereafter, as shelter from
the sun, for both man and beast. These beautiful
woods are indiscriminately hewn down and cast
into the fire ; and it is left to another generation to
find out the inconvenience of this general destruc-
tion of the timber. With a little care in the com-
mencement of an improvement, the most delight-
ful groves could be left, interspersed with the fields ;
nothing is requisite but to leave them. What a
treat it would be to a landscape gardener in Eng-
land, to have such cutting and carving ! What
would not Price, Gilpin, Repton, or Capability
Brown have given for such materials to work with,
instead of being obliged to plant saplings for other
ages to admire as trees; or what would even your
burgesses and freeholders give for such logs of fine
timber as are here consumed, to cleave into posts
and rails to divide their lands at the enclosure of
their hills. The very refuse of an acre would be
worth more than is paid for hundreds of acres of
the land here.

46 CLEARING OF LAND.

Besides the beauty of what 1 mention, much ad-
vantage would he derived to the farmer from the
practice of leaving groves interspersed with his
fields, for the time when timber shall become
scarce, as it must in a few years ; and the wood be
considered valuable as fuel. What delightful ave-
nues might be formed, what vistas cut by the hand
of taste ! Some traveller describes an American,
who, on landing on a part of England or Ireland,
which was remarkably destitute of trees, exclaimed,
if What a charming country this is, without any
woods to intercept one's view !** and from what I
see, I am induced t think the story a very true one ;
for I am sure there are many here that would cry,
** how charming the country, if there were no woods
in it!" To a new settler the sound of the axe is the
cheering indication of comfort and competence ; and
if idleness, or a fondness for hunting, as is too fre-
quentlv the case with this class of men, seduces
them from their business, in a way which the indus-
trious habits of an English farmer would not allow,
it is only one of the many proofs before my eyes, of
the ease with which every man may support his
family here. The close calculations which an
English farmer is obliged to make of the probable
result of his labour, appear to these people to be in-
credible; and they cannot conceive a state of things,
in which it is necessary to ascertain the price which
grain is likely to bringat the ensuing harvest, in or-
der to know how much rent, per acre, he can afford
to give for his farm. Indeed, accuracy of calcula-

INCREASE OF PROPERTY. 47

tion is little thought of. A common way of purchas-
ing a farm here is this; a person goes to the owner
and makes a contract for a lot of one or two hun-
dred acres, to be paid for in a certain number of an-
nual instalments. He has no money, perhaps no
kind of property ; he goes to work for a few days in
the neighbourhood, and with the profit of this he
purchases an axe and some provisions. He then
begins to cut down the trees on his own lot ; and
so either becomes the owner of a good farm, if
industrious, by gradually converting the forests
into fields, and his log hut into a comfortable
house and barn, or if idle and a hunter, after a
few years, he gives place to one of more application,
who performs on the lot that which the first ought
to have done. Wherever industry is found here,
it appears to be attended with success. I have
been particular in asking, as a general question, do
you know any industrious, prudent man, whose
circumstances are not improving, and I can hear of
none.

A few days ago, two men came into Mr. Rose's
office. He said to me, " Here are two of my in-
dustrious settlers ; ask them how they have made
out." I did so. One had come into the country
three years before ; he brought with him about
five hundred dollars worth of property, not money,
but cattle, furniture, &c. : his farm of two hundred
acres, which he has paid for by his industry, and
his stock, are now worth three thousand dollars.
The other came into the country eight years ago ;

48 INCREASE OF PROPERTY.

he brought with him property worth six hundred
dollars ; he has also paid for two hundred acres of
land, and is now worth five thousand dollars.
They had scarcely gone, before a very decent
looking man came on some business with Mr. Rose.
After it was done, Mr. R. said to him, " Squire
Bosworth," (for he had been a magistrate,) " this
gentleman is desirous of procuring all the infor-
mation he can, respecting this county; I believe
your circumstances are very comfortable; I pre-
sume you were worth but little when you came,
and 1 know you have so much good sense as not
to be ashamed of it ; tell him how you have pros-
pered here." " You say right," replied the other,
" I am not ashamed of having been poor ; there
is no disgrace in that, when poverty is not attended
with bad conduct. I served some time with a black-
smith, before I came here. When I arrived, I had
a knapsack on my back, with some clothes in it,
and twenty-seven dollars in my pocket. I was in-
dustrious, and moderately careful. I have lived
very comfortably, and have never denied myself,
or my family, any thing in reason. When my cir-
cumstances permitted it, I put others into my shop,
and attended to my farm and other business. I do
not know what my property is worth, but I believe
I should not over rate it, to say ten or twelve
thousand dollars." I am not surprised that these
men, and others like them, should so rapidly im-
prove their circumstances ; but that, in this county,

INCREASE OF PROPERTY. 49

many should be found with such confirmed ha-
bits of improvidence, that if the miracle of the
manna were repeated, they would scarcely take
the trouble of gathering it from beneath their feet.
This disregard of the things around them, which
is very conspicuous in the characters of many
Americans, who appear strongly impressed with
the notion of letting the things of to-morrow take
care of themselves, is a cause of much surprise to
an Englishman, who has found it necessary to exert
his faculties at all times to the utmost, to avoid
becoming a burthen to the parish. The only
difference, therefore, to him, is between having
enough to eat and drink, and more than enough
between being above want, and being far above
it ; and he is disposed to join with the enchanter
in the Castle of Indolence, and exclaim,

" O grievous folly, to heap up estate,

" Losing the days you see beneath the sun.'*

However, this is not to be considered as a general
character of the people ; and I believe it is less
seen in the old settlements than in the new. In the
former, there is a pride of property, which does
not appear to be much felt in the latter. This
feeling stimulates to exertion, and serves in the
place of that pressure, that vis a tergo, which we
receive in Great Britain from our taxes and tythes.
I believe there are few who would not think the
former the most agreeable. The quantity of land in
the farmer's occupation, even in the older settled
E

50 CULTURE.

parts of the United States, and in the vicinity of
the cities, and the higli rate of labour, prevent
that garden -like appearance, so frequently met
with in England ; where a man will sometimes pay
as much for the manure he puts on his farm, as he
could purchase a farm of the same size for in the
United States. The culture here is unsightly ; but
if a foreigner objects to it, the defence of an
American is, look at our exports. These, indeed,
loudly proclaim the opulence of his soil, and the
rewards of his industry ; and perhaps his state-
ment may be true, that the labour bestowed by
their farmers will produce more than if expended
in the minute culture of England. Here, a man
runs over an hundred acres, in what he calls cul-
tivation, while an English farmer is getting over
ten ; while one is hoeing his crop carefully, the
other passes over it rapidly with the plough ; while
one is attentively drilling his rows, tne other scat-
ters his seed broadcast. To a certain extent, this
may be good. It is difficult to say where liberty
degenerates into licentiousness; but when I see a
woodsman here, extending his clearings beyond
his power to keep them in subjection ; when he
is cutting down trees on the one side of his farm,
while he is suifering the bushes to grow up on the
other ; then, I think, the liberty has grown into
licentiousness, and that the plan pursued has
ceased to be a proper one. It has been remarked
by many, and I think by Dr. Franklin amongst
them, that in most of the settlements, in the United

SETTLERS. 51

States, there are two or three occupants before a
permanent settler is> found. The first is entirely
without property ; he comes, builds a log house,
clears a dozen acres, and is ready to sell his situa-
tion for a trifle, to any one that shall desire it.
Such a person at length purchases, makes an ad-
dition to his house, builds a barn, and increases
the improvement to fifty or sixty acres. Then
comes the last, who builds a substantial house, in-
creases the size of the barn and clearings, and
leaves them an inheritance of his children. I be-
lieve there will be fewer of these changes in this
county than common. This will be, in some degree,
owing to a better population than is usual in new
countries, and to much forbearance on the part of
the land owners. Mr. R. has upwards of five
hundred families on his lands, very few of whom
have paid him any thing ; yet he has never brought
a suit against any one, however delinquent ; and I
have been myself a witness of his disposition to
find excuses for those who go off in his debt.

I have related the common mode of clearing, by
burning the timber in its green stale. This is the
most expensive way, and generally costs about
twelve dollars per acre ; which expense, together
with all others of sowing, harvesting, &c. is usually
more than repaid by the first crop, which is raised
in this place without the trouble of ploughing; the
grain being merely sowed on the newly cleared
ground, and harrowed in. It is surprising to me
that the ground, treated in this way, and with all

52 PROFIT OF CLEARING.

the roots and stumps left in it, produces such
crops as are mentioned here. It surely would
produce double what it does now, if it were com-
pletely cleared, well ploughed, and cultivated by
a good English farmer, in the manner he has been
accustomed to at home. The clearing and sowing
of new lands is found to be very profitable. In
the third volume of the Memoirs of the Philadelphia
Society for Promoting Agriculture, is a paper on
the breeding of sheep in Susquehanna county, from
which I shall 6opy a part which relates to the
clearing of lands here, and in which results of the
clearing, by some of the settlers, are given. The
calculation is made on the principle, that every
part of the clearing, harvesting, &c. is paid for,
and not done by the farmer.

Dolls. C.
" It is calculated with us that clearing

and fencing cost per acre 12 00

One bushel of wheat sowed on ditto- 1 50

Harrowing (we don't plough) ditto- 3 00

Harvesting ditto- 2 00

Threshing ditto" 3 75

22 25

The crop may be estimated at 20 bush-
els of wheat, per acre, which at Idoll.
50c. the price it commonly sells for, be-
tween spring and harvest, is 30 00

PROFIT OF CLEARING. 58

Dolls. C.

Which leaves a profit (besides paying the
above expenses) of per acre ........ 7 75

I. Swan, I. Hiscock, and A. Pearce had the pre-
sent season 25 bushels of wheat, per acre. W. Ladd
bad 33 bushels of rye, L. Moore had 33 bushels of
wheat

Dollt. C.
Swan, Hiscock, and Pearce's crops, 25

bushels at I doll. 50c. would be 37 50
Deduct for clearing ditto 22 25

And they had a profit per acre of 15 25

W. Ladd's erop of rye, 33 bush, at Idoll. 33 00
Deduct as aforesaid 22 25

And his profit per acre, was ........ 10 75

L. Moore's crop of wheat, 33 bushels at

Udott. 55c 49 50

Deduct for clearing, &c. 22 26

And bis profit per acre, was 27 25

The foregoing statements I hare copied, as I

have mentioned, from the Agricultural Society's

Transactions ; and from my enquiries here, I am

satisfied of their accuracy. It will be seen from

2

54 PROFIT OF CLEARING.

these, that the profits on clearing land are very
great; for, according to the least of those men-
tioned, the profits on clearing an hundred acres,
would be one thousand and seventy-five dollars, in-
dependant of the additional value given to the land,
by the clearing of it, which would be twelve hun-
dred dollars more, making together the sum of
two thousand two hundred and seventy-five dollars,
on an investment of two thousand two hundred and
twenty-five dollars, which sum was returned in the
crop. So that this would give, were it continued
with equal success, an annual income of an hun-
dred per cent, on the capital employed. This is a
fact with which every settler here appears to be
acquainted, and it is the source of their prosperity ;
and of the great increase in the value of the land
in new countries, where the soil is of a good qua-
lity, and the situation favourable for the sale of
the articles raised.

These calculations are made on the most expen-
sive mode of clearing, which is by burning the
timber whilst it is green. A great saving of ex.
pense may be made, by cutting down the timber
two or three years before it is burnt ; in conse-
quence of which it becomes dry, and one half of
the labour of burning is saved.

I believe the rent, taxes, tythes, manure, and
stock of a farm of one hundred acres, in our part
of England, mil purchase double the quantity of
land in this country, with one hundred acres of it
cleared , and put the same stock upon it. I have made

COMPARISON. 55

the estimate very carefully, so far as it respects the
American side of the water : you must be a judge,
whether it is so on the English side. I submit both
to your deliberate reflection.

Rent, Taxes, Stock, fyc.for 100 acres in England.

. s. d. Dolls.

Rent, 200 or 889

Taxes and poor rates, 50 00 222

Tythes, 20 88

Manure,* 20 00 88

12 Cows, 156 693

60 Sheep, 67 10 300

4Horses, 100 00 444

6 young Cattle, 40 00 176

Waggon and Cart, .50 00 222

Ploughs and Harrows, 10 00 44

Geering,&c. 18 00 80

4 Hogs, e ... 9 00 40

740 10 3286

56 COMPARISON.

Two hundred acres of land, one half cleared, with
a farm house and buildings on it, would in Sus-
quthanna county,

Dolls. . t.d.

64
27
63
18
50
10
18
900

. 999

Sur

3106
plus 180

699
41 10

3286 740 10

Leaving a difference in favour of the Susquehanna
farm of forty one pounds ten shillings, or one
hundred and eighty dollars. I have omitted the
fractions of the dollar in this estimate. I have con-
sulted three English farmers who are here, and who
have had opportunities of examining the cattle, and
various kinds of stock ; and drawing a comparison
of the prices of those of the same quality in Eng-
land. The poor rates and tythcs will differ in dif-
crent parishes. But the best way for you is to

MR. KING'S SPEECH. 57

draw up for yourself, a statement of the expenses
of the English farm : I will be answerable for the
American estimate.

At the beginning of the next year, and every suc-
ceeding year of his life, our English farmer has to
go over the same weary round of his rent, taxes,
tythcs, and poor rates ; while here, the land would
be his own. Here he would be the proprietor of a
valuable estate, sufficient to maintain him in comfort
and competence in his old age, and enable him to
establish his children handsomely about him. You
will probably be amused at the American tone I al-
ready assume ; and, indeed, lam somewhat surpri-
sed to find myself speaking and writing with such
feelings, as I might be supposed to entertain had I
resided here for ten years past. But why should I
uot feel thus ? I am among a people essentially
English English in their language and their laws,
both, perhaps, a little purer than is common in the
mother country. Some of these people, it is true,
indulge themselves in bitter feelings against our na-
tion, but you may rely upon, it that the best men
in this country entertain no such sentiments.
On this subject I need only quote the lan-
guage in which Mr. King, formerly ambassa-
dor to the court of Great Britain, concluded a
most powerful and eloquent speech in the Senate
of the United States, on the American navigation
act.

" England," said this high-minded statesman,
" is a great and illustrious nation, having attained

58 HOUSES.

to this pre-eminence by generous and successful
efforts, in breaking down the civil and religious
bondage of former ages. Her patriots, her scholars,
and her statesmen have adorned her history, and
offer models for the imitation of others. We are 1
the powerful descendants of England, desiring
perpetual friendship, and the uninterrupted inter-
change of kind offices, and reciprocal benefits.
We have demonstrated, in circumstances the most
critical, constant and persevering evidence of this?
disposition. We still desire the impartial adjust-
ment of our mutual intercourse, and the establish-
ment of some equitable regulations, by which our
personal and maritime rights may be secure from
arbitrary violation. A settlement that, instead of
endless collision and dispute, may be productive
of concord, good humour and friendship : and it
depends on her whether such is to be the relation
between us/'

LETTER VII.

Houses, Bams, Mills, Fences.

THE first thing that is done by a settler in the
woods, is to put Up a log house. For this purpose
he cuts down trees of a suitable size, and of a
length in proportion to the dimensions he intends

BARNS, MILLS. 59

his house to be. His neighbours assemble and
raise it for him, by laying the logs in a square form
with the ends notched so as to interlock with one
another; by which means the whole are secured
and bound together. The spaces for the doors
and windows are then cut through, and the inter-
stices of the logs filled with earth or inoss ; the
boards are laid for the floor, and the chimney built.
A house of this kind is made at a very trifling
expense. Whea time and circumstances admit,
a better one is erected with framed timber, covered
neatly with boards planed and painted. Window-
glass is made in a neighbouring county, and costs
here about fourteen ^dollars per hundred square
feet.

Barns are usually made of framed timber, and
the sides covered with rough boards. A good
barn of this kind, fifty feet long by forty wide, and
finished with stables, can be built, including the
cast of the materials, for two hundred and fifty
dollars. The expense of the house will depend on
its size, and the work employed on it. The ma-
terials cost less than the labour.

Grist mills usually cost from one to two thou-
sand dollars. The stones used are of the kind
called pudding stone, which is much inferior to the
French burr, or the common English mill stones.

Saw mills, which are extremely important in all
settlements, cost from three to six hundred dollars.
They are set in motion by water, and use a single

60 BOARDS, FENCES.

saw, which cuts from one to two thousand feet of
boards in a day.

Pine boards sell at the mill for from six to ten
dollars a thousand square feet ; boards made of the
hemlock spruce^about one fifth less; cherry boards,
nearly equal to mahogany, sell for fifteen dollars
per thousand feet.

All buildings here are covered with shingles.
These are made of the white pine, and are laid on
the roof so as to lap over each other, like tiles. A
thousand of them, which cover somewhat less than
two hundred square feet, sell for two dollars. They
form a roof which is very close and impenetrable
to rain, but is much exposed to fire. They may, in
some degree, be preserved from that element by
thick coats of a composition, which is sometimes
applied to them.

Fences are usually made, when the land is just
cleared, with logs of about twelve feet long, placed
in a zig-zag manner, with their ends resting on
each other, to the height of five feet. This forms
a sufficient fence for a few years, and, at the same
time, saves the trouble of burning the logs used
for this purpose ; but it has a very rude appearance.
Those settlers who are somewhat neater in their
clearings, split the logs into rails, and lay them up
in the same manner as the other, with stakes set at
the angles, on which a heavy rail rests to bind the
fence together. Even this kind of fence has a
very slovenly appearance, and occupies much

HEDGES. 61

ground. A better kind is called post and rail, and
is made in the same manner as in our country. All
these fences have a very bad effect, in comparison
with' walls or hedges. But they are quickly made,
and if at any time it should be desirable to alter the
shape or extent of the field, they can be easily re-
moved. There are materials, however, in sufficient
abundance to make the most beautiful hedges.
When I cast my eyes on the bushes of the hemlock
spruce, it immediately struck me, that they would
be the very thing for hedges.

On this subject an American writer makes the
following observations : " While my attention was
" turned to live fences on a great scale for our
" fields, it occurred to me that I had some of the
4< best specimens of hedges in my garden. These
' have been planted at least sixty years ; I have
" some planted about six years, they are composed
' of the hemlock spruce of our forests. The old
" hedges are now as vigorous as they could have
" been in the first years of their being set out.
" They are close, strong, and impervious ; and
' never like the cedar, die at bottom. They have
" out-grown the dimensions in which I formerly
" wished to confine them ; being about six feet in
" thickness, and five feet in height. These hedges
" bear plashing, cutting, and clipping, without
" injury ; and nothing of the kind can be neater
" than their appearance, when newly clipped.
" They retain their verdure through the winter,
" far beyond most of the resinous tribe ; none
F

62 HEDGES,

' whereof are subject to be eaten by mice or other
*' vermin, or browsed by cattle, as the deciduous
" trees or shrubs. They were planted in a single
" rew ; the stalks about a foot from each other.
" They permit wearing or training in any way ;
" being hardy, pliant, and tough. They can be
" raised with little trouble from the cones. I
" never saw any other ever-green hedge equal to
" one of hemlock spruce ; when in blossom, it is
" the handsomest of all its tribe, the limbs are
" horizontal ; layers will strike out and fill the
" bottom."*

The white thorn is a native of this countrv, and
easily procured. Mr. Cobbett speaks 01 some
white thorn brought from England, which he saw
growing near Philadelphia, and observes, that they
clearly proved that the white thorn would, with lets
care, make as good hedges as they do at Farnham,
in Surry.

* See a letter from the HON. RICHARD PE'/EHS, in
the Transactions qf the Philadelphia Agricultural Society.

GRASS. 63

LETTER VIII.
Cattle, Grain, fyc.

SUSQUEHANNA county is peculiarly well
adapted to the raising and fattening of cattle. The
grass which is sown, grows abundantly ; but the
settlers are not careful to procure the best kinds.
Almost the only one raised here is timothy, which
is of little worth for pasture. Red clover, where it
is sowed, grows luxuriantly. The white clover ap-
pears to be a natural grass of the country ; for al-
though never sowed, it covers every field and road
side, where the land has been neglected. No care
is taken of the meadows ; or rather, no selection of
ground ; any field, which the cattle are kejrt from
in the summer, becomes a meadow, and will pro-
duce about a ton and a half of timothy per acre,
at a mowing. It must be observed, that the slo-
venly mode called clearing, in which neither root
nor stone is removed from the surface, (and the
beech timber throws its roots over the surface)
prevents the mower from cutting more than two
thirds of the crop on the ground. But this he
cares little about ; for he says, the cattle will eat
the rest ; but the cattle will not eat the strawey stems
of the timothy in the summer time ; and the part
left, is lost. The cattle here are greatly neglected ;
but I suppose this must be the case in all new
settlements. The cows are seldom put under any
shelter during the winter ; and it frequently occurs,

64 CATTLE.

the first winter after a man has commenced his im-
provement, that his cattle are fed principally with
the branches of trees, which he cuts down for that
purpose, and which they appear to relish tolerably
well ; this is called browsing.

There appears to be but little difference made
between the price of a good and a bad cow. The
consequence must be, indifferent and small cattle
generally. And yet, here are some fine large oxen,
that convince me nothing is wanting but care in the
breed, to raise as fine cattle here as in any part of
the world. In a newspaper which I picked up yes-
terday, I saw an account of a cattle fair, in one of
the states to the north of this, in which is mentioned
the weight of nine oxen, the average of which is
2283lbs. ; the heaviest weighed 2784lbs. He who
is not satisfied with these weights must be desirous
of introducing elephants. Grazing would undoubt-
edly be very profitable her, if pursued in a proper
manner. Large droves of cattle, raised in the
northern parts of the state of New York, are driven
through this country to Philadelphia, where they
are sold to the graziers, and fattened on farms in
the neighbourhood of that city ; and many of the
cattle thus fattened, are sent to the market of New
York ; where, from that circumstance, I presume
they bring a higher price than at Philadelphia.
The farms in the neighbourhood of the latter city,
sell for one hundred dollars and upwards per acre ;
and some of the grazing farms on the margin of the
Delaware, below Philadelphia, I was assured, had

SHEEP. 65

sold as high as three hundred dollars per acre.
Now, as the soil of this country is peculiarly well
calculated for grazing, and as a farm here may be
purchased for less than the cost of manuring one
near Philadelphia, I am persuaded that great pro-
fits may be made by the farmer here, following the
example of the grazier there, and fattening cattle
for the New York market. There can be no doubt
of his being able to undersell any rival, in conse-
quence of the cheapness of the land. The settlers
here are not yet sufficiently aware of the advan-
tages of their situation , but these must become
more apparent as the improvements increase.

In speaking of the sheep of the western country,
Mr. Birkbeck says that " there is not a district,
" and scarcely a spot that he has travelled over,
" where a flock of fine wooled sheep could be kept
" with any prospect of advantage, provided there
" were even a market for the carcase." This cir-
cumstance, which is owing to the flatness of the
country, he must have found very inconvenient to
an English palate. We, you know, are so fond of
mutton, that the phrase " take your mutton with
me," has become synonymous with an invitation to
dinner. This difficulty cannot be complained of
here ; for I kave eaten as fine mutton in this coun-
ty as is to be found in any part of England. On
praising a quarter of mutton, of which I was par-
taking a few days ago, I was informed, that the
sheep had been taken from among the flock, that
usually ran in the woods or roads, without any par-
F2

G6 INDIAN CORN.

ticular feeding; and, that the value of the tallow
was equal to the whole price paid for the sheep.
This, I was assured, was frequently the case.

There is an Essay on the advantage of raising
sheep in Susquehanna county, inserted in the Phi-
ladelphia Agricultural Society's Transactions, but
the limits of my communication to you will prevent
my quoting it ; however, you shall see it when you
arrive amongst us, aad eat your mutton with me ;
which I hope you will relish as much as any essay
on the subject. In this place are raised the differ-
ent kinds of grain which we are accustomed to in
England, together with the Indian corn, or maize,
which we have not. When corn is spoken of here,
this kind is always understood to be meant: Other
grain is called by its specific name. Indian corn
is planted in hills, about three feet apart, some-
thing like our hop yards. Two or three stalks
grow in each hill, to the height of six, eight, or ten
feet, and bear on their sides, each, three or four
ears, nearly a foot long and as thick as a man's
wrist, enveloped in a husk. The top of the stalk is
surmounted with a tassel, and the plant, when
growing, has a very rich and beautiful appearance.
The hills are ploughed or hoed. When the ears
are in a milky state, before the grain is ripe, they
are boiled, and the green corn eaten with butter
and salt, is considered as a great delicacy. When
ripe, it is ground, and made into bread or cakes ;
and by some the, meal is mixed with rye, and made
into bread. Many are fond of the meal boiled to

GRAIN, POTATOES. 67

the consistency of a hasty pudding, and eaten
with milk, or molasses and butter. The grain is
sometimes ground very coarsely, so as to break it
into three or four parts, and used in soups. In this
state it is called hominy ; or the hull or bran is
taken off, by steeping it in a lie of wood ashes. If
an American was suffered to preserve only one
kind of grain, it would be Indian corn. The stalk
and leaves afford an excellent fodder for cattle.

Oats, I believe, are never used here as a food
for man. The grain is generally smaller than the
English oats; but I have heard of upwards of sixty
bushels being raised per acre. I should observe,
that the acre here is the same as the statute acre
of England, and contains one hundred and sixty
perches, of five and a half yards square.

Buck wheat, or French wheat, as it is called in
England, is raised on the river hills, where the
timber is oak ; but the soil in the beech woods is
considered too rich for it. The flour is made into
thin cakes.

Potatoes are very good here, and considered a
certain crop. This root is destroyed by the hot
summers of the southern states, and the most fari-
nacious kinds, when taken there, become viscous
and watery. A very usual way of raising them
here is this, after the timber has been burnt off, a
slight hole is made with a stroke of a hoe in the
ground, which has never been ploughed ; into this
a potatoe is dropped, and the earth turned back
upon it, la that way it is left to take its chance,

68 CARELESSNESS.

without further notice, till it is time to gather the
crop. " What a strange mode of culture !" you
exclaim. But an American woodsman would be
as much surprised at the nice cultivation of an En-
glish farmer, as the latter at the want of care in
the former. Our fields would be American gar-
dens. Even Mr. R.'s farm, where one might ex-
pect to see more care than is usually found here,
has never had a plough in it, until since 1 came
here, when ploughing was commenced by an En-
glish farmer, whom he has employed to take charge
of his grounds. If this man works the ground in
the manner, and with the care, he must have done
at home, I think the farm will bring very different
crops from any thing it yet has done.

There are three barns on the farm, one of which
had been deserted by the former tenant, who found
himself unable to get into it, in consequence of the
great quantity of dung about it, which had been
accumulating since the commencement of the im-
provement. The first thing that the new farmer
did, was to get the dung thrown into heaps. This
labour appeared to excite much curiosity in the
neighbourhood. " What are you doing that lor?"
was asked b\ almost every one who passed. And
on his replying, that he intended to put it on the
fields, the usual observation was " Why, now, I
suppose that would be worth something if you
had it in England."

Notwithstanding all this waste, the American
farmer grows rich. Indeed it appears as if all that

VALUE OF LAND. 69

a man has to do in order to become so, is to go to a
new settlement, where the soil is of a good quality.
. In that situation, if he can purchase and pay for an
hundred acres of land, while it is cheap, and be
almost quiescent, merely maintain himself on it,
j the rapid rise in value of his land, will, in a few
i years, make him wealthy. This rise of value in
jland is truly astonishing; and if good selections of
j situation are made, it appears to be as certain as
; rapid. Mr. R. sold one hundred acres of land,
where Montrose now stands, for one hundred and
.'fifty dollars, and the person to whom he sold it,
before the time expired in which he was allowed
to pay for it, sold half an acre of the same ground
for five hundred dollars. This, to be sure, was a
village ; but farms rise in value astonishingly. One
i lot I saw, which Mr. R. sold to a young man for
one hundred and fifty dollars, and gave him seve-
ral years to pay it in. The person who bought it,
and who had little or no property, went to work,
and by his industry cleared a part, and built a log
house and frame-barn on it ; and before he had
paid any thing for k, sold it for two thousand dol-
lars. I could mention many other instances of
this kind, which are very common to those who are
industrious and careful. And is it wonderful that
such a country should improve and settle fast!
What a blessing it would be for the industrious
poor of England if they could be transported hither,
where there is room for them all and ample rewards
for their industry ! How cheerfully would they

70 POLICY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

toil for a competency, when they should find

" O'er their labour, liberty and law
Impartial watch,"

while, instead of their former state of vassalage,
they became the independent proprietors of the
soil ; and that in a country which is emphatically
the land of freedom.

It is peculiarly pleasing to see the enlightened
policy of Pennsylvania, which has ever been consi -
dered as one of the most important states of the
union, and which instead of squandering its wealth
in the destruction of mankind, is solicitous only for
the welfare of its citizens ; and directs its revenue
and resources to the improvement of its roads, the
making of canals, the erection of bridges, and the
improvement of the various means of facilitating
the intercourse between all its parts. In a pampklet
on the internal improvement of Pennsylvania, lately
published, the author shows that this state alone
has expended on roads, bridges, canals, rivers, and
schools, upwards of eleven millions of dollars, and
the continuance of the same wise policy is recom-
mended by the present governor. In his address to
the legislature now in session, he says " The reve-
*' nues will be sufficient to defray the expenses of
" the government, sustain the plighted faith of the
" commonwealth, liberally patronize agriculture
" and education, and aid internal improvements."
Instead of addresses to the Lords and Cbmuion.s,
calling upon his Majesty's dutiful subjects for new
supplies of millions, we find the chief magistrate

GOVERNOR'S SPEECH. 71

of this Commonwealth saying to his fellow citi-
zens, who have been elected members of the
legislature by the free choice of the people, " As
" agriculture and manufactures are the great
" sources of wealth, and the only solid foundation
" of owr comforts and independence, they areparti-
" culiarly entitled to the fostering care of govern-
" ment. The power of cherishing and protecting
" manufactures, on an extended scale, or beyond
** those of the household, directly connected with
" agriculture, belongs more immediately to the
*' general, than the state government. Agriculture,
" the basis of manufactures, and the most essen-
*' tial of all the arts to the general welfare, is fully
* within the scope of our constitutional powers to
' aid and encourage, and has a strong claim to
" legislative patronage. Pennsylvania, from the
' free principles of her political institutions, her
" genial climate, the fertility of her soil, and the
*' enterprise of her citizens, without having received
*' any direct support from the government, more
" than the common protection afforded to labour
and property, deservedly suitains the character
' of an agricultural state. The knowledge, how-
' ever, of the art of husbandry may be improved ;
and it is not only the interest, but should be the
' pride of the representatives of au agricultural
" people to promote its advancement. Though
" the art may be enlightened and assisted by
" science, it is not from speculations and theories
" alone ; but from various and repeated experi-
" ments, together with close observations, that a

72 GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

" proper knowledge of it is to be obtained. The
" expense of making those experiments, frequently
'* uncertain in their results, few individuals have
*' the ability or inclination to encounter. It might
" therefore be advantageous, if the commonwealth
44 were to purchase within her limits, several saiall
44 farms, embracing various qualities of soil, and
" place them under boards of managers, or voluntary
44 societies, formed for the purpose, (with directions
44 respectively to make experiments of the effects of
" the native manure ; of the differentmodes of tillage ;
" of the cultivation of grains and grasses ; of breed-
" ing domestic animals ; of rearing fruit trees ; of
44 the preservation of fruits , of the utility of newly
" invented implements of husbandry, intended to
" facilitate or abridge labour; of the cheapest and
"most durable mode of fencing; and whatever
" else may be connected with agriculture; andpe-
" riodically to publish the result, with observations
44 thereon. The expenses of such establishments
44 would be trivial, when compared with the know-
" ledge that might be thereby acquired and dif-
' fused, on a subject in which every citizen is
" deeply interested. To encourage and stimulate
" industry, the great spring of the improvement
" and extension of agriculture, easy and safe
44 channels of transportation for the products of
41 the soil to a certain market are indispensable,
44 By the bounty of former legislatures, and
44 the meritorious exertions of companies in-
44 corporated for the purpose, about nine hun-
" dred aiid eighty miles of turnpike road have

PRICE OF LABOUR. 73

fi been completed, and numerous elegant and sub-
" stantial bridges erected across our principal
" streams."

How praise worthy, and yet how unusal, to see
the governor of a powerful state directing his ef-
forts to promote the blessings of peace, and the
enjoyments of domestic comforts; and instead of
a pompous harangue on the destrution of armies, to
rind him simply observing, " that in witnessing the
protection which every worthy man enjoys in his
person, his religion, his labour and his property ;
and in tracing tbe rapid progress of the improve-
ments in the state, a fair occasion is presented
to us for mutual congratulations.'*

LETTER IX.

Price of Labour.

A LABOURER gets from three quarters of a dollar
to a dollar per day ; a carpenter, or mason, from
one dollar and a quarter to one dollar and three
quarters per day. A dollar will purchase twenty
pounds of beef, or sixteen pounds of mutton or
veal, or one bushel of rye or Indian corn, or two
thirds of a bushel of wheat. Thus, three or four
days' works of a common labourer, will supply
G

74 PRICE OF LABOUR.

liiin with provisions for a month. Hence it is,
that the poorer classes of the Americans live bet-
ter, and consume more animal food, than any other
people of the same description. An English la-
bourer may sing about the roast beef of Old Eng-
land, but it is a dainty which he is rarely permitted
to taste. An American labourer may dine on roast
beef every day in the year, unless he prefers some
other dish. The agricultural exports from Europe,
are in general what the persons employed in rearing
them cannot afford to eat : in America they con-
sist of the surplus beyond what they can consume ;
and the quantity would be immense, if the labour-
ing part of the community here would be satisfied to
put up with the same kind of fare, which millions
of his Majesty's subjects would be glad to obtain.
With you, it is only a privileged class who are

born to live on the fat of the land -frvges con-

sumere nati; here the phrase extends to every

class. Indeed, this is carried to a very improper
and wasteful profusion. I am told that there is
not at family in this county, that would use a sheep's
head ; and of a bullock's the only parts used are
the tongue and lower jaw ; the rest is thrown away,
as is the case with the liver, heart, and feet of all
animals. One of our countrymen observed to me
the other day, these people are the greatest eaters,
and the least workers that I ever saw ; I have been
in {bur houses to-day, and I found the men all sit-
ting quietly within, instead of being on their farms
at work ; and yesterday, when I went to purchase

OST OF LIVING. 75

some meat, I found a man who had just killed five
fat hogs, and on my offering to purchase some of
them, he said, I have none to sell, I want to buy
some myself: his family consisted of himself,
his wife, and three small children.

As it is of importance to the mechanics who
wish to settle here, to make an estimate of the ad-
vantages of the situation, I have endeavoured to
do it with all the care in my power. Here are two
of our countrymen, one a mechanic, the other a
farmer, both have large families, and are men of
good judgment. They say that a family may be
maintained in provision much better than they
were accustomed to live on at home, at an expense
of one dollar per week for each grown person ; or
rating children in a proper proportion. One of
these (the farmer) has his wife, two sons grown up,
and four other children, rating the latter as two
grown persons, they are altogether equal to six.
On these I have made the estimate, and the cost
of the same number in Philadelphia.

Dolls.

Rent of a small house in Philadelphia, fit for
a mechanic with the above named family 200

Cost of provision on an estimate of two dol-
lars per head per week, for one year 624

Extra cost of clothing, 10 dollars each 60

10 cords of fire wood at 6 dollars per cord* -60

Dolk. 944

76 COST OP LIVING.

Dolls.

Amount brought forward Dolls. 944
House rent in Susquehanna county* 24
Maintenance of family at 1 dollar

per week each - 312

20 cords of wood 15

351

Difference, or annual saving Dolls. 593

A very comfortable house may be built in Sus-
quehanna county for 400 dollars. I have, there-
fore, rated the rent at the interest of the principal
employed in it ; but it must be observed, that in a
new and thriving country, all the houses are occu-
pied, and you find none to be rented. You must
build for joarself. Supposing the above state-
ment, which I have been careful in making, to be
over-rated, then form it on the supposition of a
small family, or throw off, in the calculation, one
third of the supposed saving, and there remains
enough to pay for one hundred acres of land under
the society's contract ; and that land in three years
will be worth double the price we are to pay for it.
A few years' settings, without saying any thing of
profits, appropriated in this way, would ensure to
the mechanic a valuable farm, and a comfortable
retirement from the toils of his business in his old
age. Even the author of the Castle of Indolence,
who speaks in such a contemptuous tone of the
" scoundrel maxim" that % a penny saved is a penny
got," might be disposed to view the annual saving

MECHANICS. 77

of one hundred acres of good laud as a very dif-
ferent affair. It is certainly one of great impor-
tance in the calculations of the industrious artisan,
upon whose labour the comforts of his wife and
children are to depend.

The society in their selection of land for a set-
tlement, have had in view the advantages of me-
chanics, as well as farmers. They have seen the
disadvantages which many of the former labour
under in the cities of America, where house rent
and fire wood are very expensive ; and the advan-
tages which would be derived from a situation such
as has been chosen, where the country round can
be supplied with the work of the mechanics ; and
any surplus may be sent, at small expense, to fac-
tors established in the cities of Philadelphia or
New-York. If the work be intended entirely for
those cities, when the articles are not bulky, they
can be sent from Susquehanna county at a very
trifling expense. Let the tanner, for instance,
make his estimate at what he can afford to sell lea-
ther when he tans it in a place where he may h#ve
his bark for the trouble of taking it off the* trees,
and where the materials for his establishment are
all to be had on the lowest terms. Let the shoe-
maker, who manufactures the leather, estimate the
advantage to him, when he gets a higher price for
his shoes here than he does in the cities, and if he
wanted to send them there, to be sold by whole-
sale, he can do it, at an expense of perhaps a half-
penny per pair. Letthetawer or leather dresser,
G 2

78 MECHANICS.

and the glover, calculate upon the advantages of
establishing these trades where the skins of deer
are procured at from three quarters of a dollar to
a dollar each, and where, at present, sheep skins
are thrown away. Let every mechanic, and espe-
cially those who manufacture the lighter articles to
be sold at wholesale, calculate for himself the
cheapness at which they can be made here, and the
trifling expense of carriage, if even they are to be
sent to the cities, and he will see the advantages of
the establishment which we contemplate.

The intention of the society is to lay off a suffi-
ciency of ground, on one of the turnpikes, for a
handsome village, and to g\ve,Jreeofall expense, a
half acre lot, cleared, to each of the first fifty me-
chanics who shall build a house thereon, and com-
mence their trade. And, in order to ensure a sale
for all articles manufactured, they will establish a
factor in Philadelphia, and another in New-York,
to receive and sell, on the most advantageous
terms, all articles sent to them. For this purpose
regular waggons will be employed to ply between
those cities and the society's establishment. In ad-
dition to the half acre lot, given to the mechanics,
and others, lots of from five to ten acres, already
cleared, sufficieut to keep some cows and a horse
if needed ; and also wood lots for firewood, will
be laid out, and sold at very low rates. And the
general .arrangement of the village, and the erec-
tion of schools and other public buildings, will be
placed under the care of the inhabitants of the

ROADS. 79

village, to be managed in such manner as they
shall deem best ; the object of the society being
merely to make arrangements for the general good,
in the commencement of the establishment.

LETTER X.

Roads, 4*c.

THERE are several important turnpike roads in
the county of Susquehanna, of which one is finish-
ed, and the others have a ftir prospect of being
so, the next season. The one finished is from
Newburg, on the Hudson river, to the Susque-
hanna. On this road the stage passes daily. From
the city of New- York to Newburgh, the commu-
nication is by a steam boat. In forty-eight hours
by this route, a passenger arrives in Susquehanna
from the city of New-York. Another road, called
the Milford and Owego turnpike, passes diagon-
ally through the county. At Milford, on the De~
laware river, it unites with three turnpikes, all lead-
ing to the city of New- York, by different routes.
On the west it is connected at Owego, with a turn-
pike which leads to the great lakes. The greater

80 ROADS.

part of this road is finished, and when completed,
it will form the most extensive and important con-
nexion of turnpike roads in the United States ;
opening the way for the trade and travel of rich
and populous districts, with the city of New-York.
Another turnpike, which will be connected with
roads leading to Sacket's harbour, on lake Ontario,
and the St. Lawrence river, is laid out, and partly
made, from the 28th mile stone, on the state line,
to Wilkesbarre ; from which place, there is one
finished to Easton, on the way to Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia and New-York turnpikes in-
tersect each other at Montrose. The state of Penn-
sylvania has been very liberal in its grants of
money to the making of roads. There are two
other turnpikes laid out, but on which the com-
pany have not yet commenced their work. The
one is from the Newburgh turnpike to Wilkes-
barre ; the other a short one to connect the New-
burgh and Owego turnpikes. Besides these, the
state has opened a road which commences in Sus-
quehanua, and extends through all the counties on
its northern line. From this statement, you will
see how rapidly improvements are made in this
place; and as the public attention appears to be
much given to these objects of national importance,
the connexion by roads and canals, of the differ-
ent parts of the republic with each other, will be
persevered in, till the national enterprise, inge-
nuity and perseverance, shall have made it but as
a step to pass from one extremity of this widely

ROADS. 81

extended empire to the other. It is readily per-
ceivedi that this facility of communication adds
greatly to the strength of the nation ; and this
government is too wise not take advantage of the
means which nature has placed in its hands, to
render the country powerful at home, as well as
respected abroad.

The common or private roads, made by the
settlers, are in general very bad. They are made
by cutting down the trees close to the ground,
leaving the roots in, which makes them very un-
pleasant for a horse or waggon ; hi addition to
which, the depth of the soil renders them very
dirty on being much used. But when the roots
have remained long enough to be in some mea-
sure decayed, it is found to be easy to make good
roads, by ploughing a furrow or ditch on the out-
sides and throwing the earth out of it into the mid-
dle of the roads. The labour necessary for this,
would however be thought too great by Americans,
on their first settlement, whose object it is to cut
down the trees in order to get scope enough to
raise grain for their families, and who are contented
with any road that will enable them to get about,
until they find the means of support springing from
their industry. It is not till the settler begins to feel
his abundance, that he cares for the improvement
of his roads. The turnpikes which I have men-
tioned, will open good roads to the cities of Phila-
delphia and New York ; from the former of which
pla^e to Montrose, the capital of this county, it is

82 ROADS.

one hundred and seventy miles ; and from New-
York, one hundred aud thirty miles. The Susque-
hanna river, which nearly surrounds this county,
offers a conveyance by water to Baltimore ; which
is one of the best markets in the United States, for
the produce of the dairy. Between the Society's
settlement and Baltimore all the land carriage is
from ten to twenty miles.

It xvill be useful here to mention the roads by
which settlers had better come to this county from
Philadelphia or New York, which are the usual
landing places for emigrants, one of which you will
endeavour to arrive at. From Philadelphia the
road is by Bethlehem and Wilkesbarre, unless you
take the stage, in which case you go by Easton.
From New-York, the best way is to go by steam-
boat or other vessel, to Newburgh, from thence by
a turnpike, which is finished, you come to within
ten miles of Montrose.

In the winter, if the steam boats are prevented
from passing by the ice, the best way is to come
from New- York by Easton and Wilkesbarre, to
Montrose. The stages now come to within ten
miles on the north, and twenty miles on the
south, and I expect by next season, they will pass
by Montrose in all directions.

The society have desired me to answer all let-
ters that shall be written to me on the subject of
the settlement, which I will do very cheerfully, as
well as give every aid in my power to all our de-
serving countrymen, who wish to join us. Letters

TAXES. 83-

should be directed to me at Silver Lake, Susquc-
luinna county, Pennsylvania.

LETTER XI.
Taxes.

THERE are no state taxes in Pennsylvania.
Tiie funds of the government are sufficient, not
only to pay all the expenses of her legislation,
judges, &c. but to enable her to contribute largely
to the making of canals, roads and bridges, the
erection of colleges and academies, and various
other improvements throughout the state. The
only taxes paid here are two ; a county and a road
tax. The former is raised for the purpose of pay-
ing the fees of juries, the expenses of laying out
roads, and some other trifling county expenses,
and seldom exceeds one dollar on an hundred
acres of land.

You will observe that the coins used here, are
dollars and cents, the dollar being equal to four
shillings and six-pence sterling, and the cent a
small copper coin, one hundred of which are equal
to one dollar; each cent therefore is about an
halfpenny. The road tax is for the purpose of
opening and improving the common roads, and is

84 TAXES*

about the same in amount as the connty tax. The
county tax is levied by three commissioners ap-
pointed by the people to superintend the affairs
of the county, one of whom is chosen annually.
They each serve three years. Is is their duty to
estimate the probable expense of the county for
the ensuing year and to levy a tax accordingly.
The roads are under the inspection of two super-
visors, chosen annually by the people of each
township. Their duty is to open the roads, and
to keep them in repair; and for this purpose they
have the power of levying the tax which I have
mentioned. This tax is paid by labour, and is so
far from its imposing any burthen, that in some
townships the settlers have voluntarily doubled the
amount of labour which the law permitted to be
imposed upon them.

I have mentioned these as being the only taxes ;
an act of assembly provides that overseers of the
poor shall be annually elected in the respective
townships and boroughs ; but this is useless where
there are no poor. I say no poor, for Mr.^ R. who
is the largest proprietor "in the county, and whose
lands extend into eight different townships, in
forms me, that all the poor tax assessed on him
during the nine years which he has resided here,
amounts to but six dollars and ninety eight cents,
and this was for the purpose of conveying a person,
not an inhabitant of this county, home. When
you look over your list of taxes, how many will
you find omitted Iiere4 What a glorious country

V
LABOURERS. 5

this would be for some of your financiers to com-
mence their operations in ! What a crop they
might reap, if the American citizen would suffer
them to put their sickles into the harvest !

The people here listen as to a romance, when I
tell them of our tythes, poor rates, window tax,
horse duty, dog tax, game Jaws, excise laws, &G.&C.
Or when I say that a farmer in England is not suf-
fered to make his own soap and candles, distill his
own spirits, make his own malt, or grow his own
hops, without being taxed for it.

And yet the editor of the Courier tells the peo-
ple of England, " the thinking people of England"
that America is heavily taxed ; that New-York is
full of distressed poor, &c. There are doubtless
poor in New-York, ys there must be in all cities,
but as long as a man able to work, can earn one
dollar per day, and obtain a bushel of rye, or
Indian corn, or 20 pounds of beef, for that dollar,
I ask how can that man be poor. A labourer in
this country can always have six days' work in the
week, for which he will receive six dollars: in
England propably he cannot obtain more than two
or three days' work in the week, and he receives
perhaps Is. 6d. per day. How great the contrast !
Would an industrious English labourer complain
of poverty, if he could earn twenty-seven shillings
per week ; and buy his provisions at the above
prices, and that in a country where he conld buy
good land at or under a pound per acre ! would he
complain? No. The question is, how long he
II

86 CLIMATE.

would continue a labourer. He would soon be-
come a proprietor ; he and his family would be
rendered comfortable in his old sge, without the
unpleasant reflection of becoming a burthen to
the parish.

This same newspaper tells c ' the people of Eng-
land" that the revenue has increased three millions
sterling, this last quarter. How many poor
wretches have suffered for this increase, 1 leave
you to judge, who are in the centre of taxation.

LETTER XII.

Climate.

THE winter here is cold, keen, and dry. This
last particular is a great advantage, both for health
and labour; nothing is more disagreeable than that
kind of weather, in which snow, sleet, and rain are
all mingled. Here the winter snows usually com-
mence about Christmas, or New Year, and con-
tinue on the ground till the beginning of March ;
forming an excellent defence for the roots of the
grain and grass. Little or no rain falls during
that time ; and then it is that the farmer threshes
out his grain, and takes it to market. This is
usually done in sleds or sleighs, which are much

CLIMATE. 87

easier for the horse, and pleasanter to the rider,
than waggons. It is also the time of visitation and
hilarity. People then visit their distant friends or
relations ; and a sleighing frolic is highly delight-
ful to the younger part of the community. You
are driven along like the liquid lapse of a boat
down the stream, or the transition of Milton's
Angels, " smooth sliding without step;" at least
so it is described to me, who have not yet had
an opportunity of enjoying its pleasures. The sum-
mer is much warmer than in England, or there
would be no Indian corn, or maize ; a most impor-
tant grain, the growth of which Arthur Young con-
siders the test of a good climate. It is not, how-
ever, so hot here as, at Philadelphia; and still less
so than in the unsheltered plains, or flats, of the
south western states. I am told, that no day is too
hot here for a man to work in the harvest fields ;
and if so, I am sure I shall never object to the
sun-beams on my hay or corn.

In consequence of the southern latitude of this
place, the difference in the length of the winter and
summer day, is not so great as in England. The
summer day, being here, one hour and forty
minutes shorter, and the winter day one hour and
thirty minutes longer than in England.

In Mr. Cobbett's publication, which I send, you
will see his diary of the weather during the last
year. The weather you will find mentioned there,
is, 1 have reason to think, very much like what is
experienced here. You will remark, that he pre.

CLIMATE.

fers the weather of this country to that of Great
Britain. It has been observed in all countries that
the winter becomes milder as the forests are cleared
away. Virgil, Horace, Pliny, and Juvenal, all
speak of the ice in Italy in their day ; and the
rivers of ancient Gaul were as much frozen iu the
time of Julius Caesar, as the American rivers are
now. From the enquiries which I have made, I
believe the length of time the farmers fodder their
cattle here, to be much about the usual time we
have for the same business in England. The spring
commences sooner in England than it does here ;
but the gra^s grows with more rapidity in this
country than in that, when the winter is gone,

From an examination of meteorological tables,
long kept, it appears that more rain falls in the
United States, in a year, than in Europe, during the
same time; but there are not so many rainy days
here; in other words, less of mist and vapour.
The spring much resembles our English spring,
where in spite of all that is said or sung by our
Poets, it very frequently happens, that

" Winter lingering chills the lap of May."

When the spring commences here, the influence
of the sun, in consequence of the more southern
situation, is more decisive than in England. The
American autumn is much finer than in our island ;
and there is none of that misty, foggy, raining,
soul-subduing weather, over which all the blue
demons hover, like an assemblage of Fuseli's night-
mares ; and to which some Frenchman alludes,

SALUBRITY. 89

when he begins his romance with, " It was in the
" gloomy month of November, when Englishmen
' hang themselves." Here the sun is bright and
beaming, and the November which I have passed
here, was as fine as an English September.

I was desirous of procuring a statement of all the
births and deaths which had occurred in this town-
ship (Silver Lake) since its first settlement , but as
no such record had been kept, and as the early set-
tlers are little careful to remember these events, I
found this impossible. My next attempt was to
learn who amongst all the heads of families had
died within that time ; and in this I was more suc-
cessful. Mr. Bliss, the near neighbour of Mr. R.,
a vej y respectable man, and a magistrate, was the
earliest settler, after him, in the township. He as-
sures me, that among the heads of families only
one had died since the first settlement, which was
nine years ago. There are now seventy families,
or one hundred and forty heads of families, settled
in the township. As the increase of settlement has
been pretty regular, it would be fair to suppose
this equal to the residence of half that number for
the whole time; or seventy multiplied by nine,
which would give 630 for one year. Now, it is
calculated in Europe, that of one thousand persons
living in large cities, thirty-five or thirty* six die
annually; and in country places, twenty -eight or
thirty die out of that number, in the same space
of time ; while, according to the above statement,
the deaths in this township have been only as one
H 2

90 SALUBRITY, MUSQUITOES.

in six hundred and thirty. If it be said, that in
this estimate of from twenty-eight to thirty deaths
happening in a thousand, it is meant to be extended
to young and old, of whom, indiscriminately, more
would die than of heads of families, taken at the
most vigorous period of life ; then, let us make
an estimate on that ground, and take thirty as the
age to make the calculation on. A person if thirty
will, probably, live thirty-two years ; divide six
hundred and thirty by thirty-two, and we find the
chance is, that twenty will die in a twelve month
out of that number. According to Dr. Price's
calculations of life, the chance of a person thirty
years, old is twenty-three years and six months ;
which would give nearly twenty-seven deaths in
six hundred and thirty ; while here there has been
hut one death. This is a very surprising statement ;
but I am well satisfied of its correctness. Indeed
the aspect of the country gives promise of its
healthiness :

The fountain's fall, the rivers flow,
The woody vallies, warm and low,
The windy summit wild and high,

all so opposite to the stagnant waters, and dead
levels of the western " prairies," indicate the purity
of its streams, and the salubrity of its air.

Its exemption from musquitoes, is indicated by its
freedom from the " green mantle of the standing
" pool," so common in the western countries, whose

MUSQUITOES, BRISSOT. 91

musquitoes and frogs chase sleep from the eyes of
many a weary traveller.

" Mali culices ranaeque palustres avertunt sonmos,"

unless they are grossly misrepresented by many of
our disappointed countrymen, who, " through
" brake, through bog, through bush, and through
' brier," have plodded to those distant regions,
in search of a new Utopia, and who, on their re-
turn, spoke of the musquitoe's buz in a tone
which would justify the exclamation of the poet,

Hark, his shrill horn its fearful larum flings !
I wake in horror, and dare sleep no more !

But though this tormentor is diminutive, he is not
the less to be dreaded ; besides his buz and bite,
his presence indicates the neighbourhood of the
pestilential marsh, from which he sprang. The
number of musquitoes, that I was assured 1 should
meet on the western waters, was a strong induce-
ment for me to turn my course to a higher and
drier country, in which I and my friends might
hope to forget the toils of the day in tranquil re*
pose.

In the commencement of the French Revolution,
Brissot was sent to the United States by some of
his co-patriots, to select a body of land for them
to settle on, if they should be so fortunate as to
keep their necks from under the national axe.

92 BRISSOT, DISEASES OF THE WEST.

They desired him to be particularly careful to avoid
every place where there were musquitoes. However
visionary they were in some of their instructions,
there was much sound sense in this caution. I do
not know whether Brissot found what he sought.
Instead of remaining here in safety, he returned
to France, and was sent to the guillotine, by the
sanguinary demon who "rode in the whirlwind, and
directed the storm" of the revolution, at its most
desolating period. Alas ! the sound of the toscin
was worse than even the buz of the niusquitoe,
and the axe's edge sharper than its bite. A
strongly marked passage in the letter of instruc-
tions given to me by my friends in England is

" LET NO CONSIDERATION TEMPT YOU TO
" SELECT AN UNHEALTHY SITUATION.'*

This appears to me to be decisive against a flat
and low country.

Volney, who travelled through them, speaking
of the flat countries in the western parts of Ame-
rica, says, " Autumnal intcrmittents prevail to a
" degree scarcely credible. In a journey of seven
" hundred miles, I scarcely found twenty houses
" free from agues and fevers. Ail the banks of the
" Ohio, and a great part of Kentucky, of Lake
ft Erie, the Genesee country, and its lakes and
" rivers, are annually infested with them. In a
" journey of two hundred and fifty miles, from
" Cincinnati to Detroit, began on the eighth of
" September, in a company of twenty-five persons,
" we did not encamp one night without one, at

DISEASES OF THE WEST. 93

" the least, of the party being seized with a peri'
" oclical fever. At Greenville three hundred per-
" sons, out of three hundred and seventy, were
" sick of fevers. On arriving at Detroit, only three
*' of our party were in health; and on the ensuing
" day, our commander, Major Swan, and myself
" were both seized with a malignant fever. This
" fever annually visits the garrison of Miami Fort,
" where it has more than once assumed the form
" of yellow fever." Those who are most inter-
ested in giving a favourable report of the western
country, cannot avoid its uuhealthiness being dis-
covered. I have before me a publication by a
Mr. Latham, who keeps an office for the sale of
land in Chilicothe, in the state of Ohio, dated on
the 2nd of November last. He is anxious to in-
duce settlers to purchase lauds there, and, conse-
quently, may be supposed to be inclined to think
as favourable as he can of the climate, and to
speak as favourably as he thinks. At least he who
acts as an auctioneer, will not display the worst
side of his goods. Mr. Latham says, " If we have
" any diseases which we may consider endemical,
" they are those of a bilious and febrile character.
-*' In the first settlement of this country bilious and
" intermitting fevers are not unfrequent. The
" cause is obvious: the people in most instances
" locate themselves on the borders of the streams,
" often subject to inundations, and perhaps in the
' immediate vicinity of stagnant ponds of water,
" pr wet marshy ground, and they mostly lived in

94 DISEASES OF THE WEST.

" open cabins, exposed to the damp night air.
" In such situations, and under such circumstan-
" ces, it was hardly possible to escape a ' season-
" ing.* On the contrary, when emigrants have
" selected scites for their dwelling on eminences,
" or on high and dry land, removed from the in-
" undated bottoms, from ponds of stagnant waters,
" and from wet marshy ground ; and have not
" unnecessarily exposed themselves to the damp of
" the evening air : during the summer season there
" are but very few (if any) instances which are
" referable to climate."

The bilious and febrile diseases which Mr. L.
mentions as endemic, are those to be most sedu-
lously avoided. They are, necessarily, attendants
on those situations which border on the streams
subject to inundations; or those which are in the
vicinity of stagnant ponds and marshy grounds.
These are so common in the western states, that a
" seasoning" is spoken of as such a matter of
course, that to have any chance of avoiding if, it
is necessary to seek out particular situations, and
even then the poor settler must be careful to avoid
exposure to the " damp of the evening air during
" the summer season." Is it expected, that in
the most healthy parts of Ohio, a settler, must,
after dusk, confine himself to the house? If so,
the condition of the inhabitants of that part of the
country must be very deplorable. And if Ameri-
cans themselves are so likely to undergo the " sea-
" soiling," what might not an Englishman dread !

DISEASES OF THE WEST. 95

But this exposure to bilious fevers is far from
being confined to the lands watered by the Ohio;
it extends, with few intermissions, along the Mis-
sissipi to its entrance into the Gulf streams, in
consequence of the flat and marshy state of the
country on its banks. Mr. Schultz, a very intelli-
gent traveller, himself an American, speaking of the
Walnut Hills, says, " the men generally had a sickly
" appearance, but the women and girls looked fresh
" and sprightly. From their own account, bow-
" ever, they considered the situation as unhealthy.
" If this is the case, it is my opinion that there is
" flot a spot on the whole Mississipi, below the
" /nouthof the Ohio, fit for the residence of man."
And in a late work on Louisiana, by Mr. Brecken-
ridge, of the Maryland legislature, this gentleman
observes : " The settlements of this territory have,
" in some measure, attained the character of being
" unhealthy. It is a prevailing notion, that to be
" sick the first summer is what every settler must
" expect. In some parts of the territory, this
" seasoning is severely paid ; but in other parts of
*' the territory, I can say with confidence, that
" not more than one tenth undergo it. From the
" first of August to the last of September, is con-
" sidered the most unhealthy. The last season
" was uncommonly unhealthy throughout the wes-
" tern country, and this territory experienced it
" in a degree not much less than many other places.
" The natives and the oldest inhabitants were at-
" tacked, as well as strangers* This season did

96 FIRST QUESTIONS OF AN EMIGRANT.

" great injury to the commencing emigration to
" this country. Many who had suffered retired
" from it; and others who had determined to
" come, changed their mind