Early Western Travels
1748-1846
A Series of Annotated Reprints of some of the best
and rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive
of the Aborigines and Social and
Economic Conditions in the Middle
and Far West, during the Period
of Early American Settlement
Edited with Notes, Introductions, Index, etc., by
Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL.D.
Editor of “The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents,” “Original
Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition,” “Hennepin’s
New Discovery,” etc.
Volume IX
Flint’s Letters from America, 1818-1820
[Illustration]
Cleveland, Ohio
The Arthur H. Clark Company
1904
COPYRIGHT 1904, BY
THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The Lakeside Press
R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
CHICAGO
CONTENTS OF VOLUME IX
PREFACE. _The Editor_ 9
LETTERS FROM AMERICA, containing Observations on the
Climate and Agriculture of the Western States, the Manners
of the People, the Prospects of Emigrants, &c., &c.
_James Flint_
Dedication 19
Author’s Table of Contents 21
Text 25
ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME IX
Facsimile of original title-page 17
Wooden fence (text cut) 40
Horse rake (text cut) 41
Buck saw (text cut) 61
Cradle scythe (text cut) 125
Island in the Ohio (text cut) 159
Typical township map (text cut) 177
Typical subdivision of a township (text cut) 178
PREFACE TO VOLUME IX
Had all the travellers from Great Britain who visited America during
the early decades of the nineteenth century been of so discriminating
a temperament as the Scotchman whose work we republish as volume ix of
our series, Americans might have lacked that sensitiveness that arose
from unjust and flippant portrayal and criticism of American manners.
James Flint was of a good family, had been carefully educated, and
possessed a sound and just judgment, with capacity for philosophic
insight. Coming to the United States to observe conditions, he
depicts them with candor and good will. While confessing favorable
preconceptions, due to a personal liking for democratic institutions,
our author does not omit the shadows in his pictures; but he presents
them with such dispassionate fairness that the sting of criticism is
removed.
Flint was particularly interested in the Middle West. Therefore, after
a brief sojourn in New York and Philadelphia, where he commented
judiciously on all that made for the higher life of these two young
cities, he followed the great Western thoroughfare which crossed
Pennsylvania to Pittsburg, then the gateway of trans-Allegheny America.
Here he purchased a skiff and floated down the Ohio, occasionally
landing to make visits and observations; from Portsmouth he proceeded
on a circuit through Ohio and Kentucky, settling at length at the falls
of Ohio, in the Indiana town of Jeffersonville.
A resident at this place for several months, his investigation
of Western conditions assumed a new phase. No longer the passing
traveller, noting the novelties and peculiarities of the people, Flint
began a systematic observation of American institutions in general,
and particularly the political, social, and economic life of the
Middle West. In his succinct but comprehensive study of the national
constitution and local state governments, he anticipates De Tocqueville
and Bryce. His comments upon the judicial system show an appreciation
of the stern necessities of primitive justice, coupled with the
law-abiding spirit characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon race. His notes
upon the power of public opinion as a restraining force in political
life, and upon the universal veneration for the constitution, show that
he discovered the fundamental principles underlying American political
life. His comprehension of the historical development of the West is
remarkable for keen insight and prophetic vision. He realized what
the acquisition of Louisiana had meant in dispelling the dangers of a
Western secession from the republic; and showed that the true interests
of the West allied her with Eastern markets.
Looming large on the horizon, Flint discerned the second factor which
was to rend American life. The discussion of the Missouri Compromise
had scarce begun, but already he saw that the nation could not always
exist half-slave and half-free. He saw also that the long border line
forming a kind of moral boundary, was the crucial difficulty, and that
the acute stage in the controversy would be reached over the question
of fugitive slaves. To the present generation these seem self-evident
truths; but few Americans and fewer foreigners had the keenness to
perceive this before 1820. Flint, however, unlike many Englishmen of
his day, was no radical condemner of slavery; he appreciated its
patriarchal features and its real benefits for the negroes. He also saw
that the masters suffered more deterioration by the system than the
slaves; that the responsibility for the system rested not upon present,
but historic conditions; and that wholesale denunciation was not only
unjust, but useless.
In addition to his comments on this great social question, Flint throws
much light on general conditions in the young West. He studies the
spectacular drama of the camp-meeting revival not only from the point
of picturesqueness, but of educational and religious development.
He realizes the need of the people for education, but appreciates
the provisions made therefor in public lands. Throughout the West
he finds the saving remnant--people of culture and refinement, who
welcome strangers with hospitality, and are laboring to erect a worthy
civilization in this newest community. The social equality everywhere
evident among whites pleases him, and he remarks not unkindly upon the
general dislike for personal service that characterizes the ambitious
West. His satire on the excess of the honorary titles of “major,”
“colonel,” and “judge,” as well as upon the readiness with which the
“land of liberty” is vociferously proclaimed, is gentle and kindly.
But all these features of Flint’s work are secondary to his economic
study. Not only did he prove himself a wise and trained observer, but
he was a scientific economist, and had come to the United States for
research material. At each stage of his travels he sets forth the
ratio between prices and wages, explains the industrial aspects, and
the prospects for emigrants. Already, he tells us, nearly all the
best land of Kentucky and Ohio is taken up. Settlement is flooding
Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, where cheap lands are yet available.
He shows the sanitary disadvantages of this newer, more reeking soil,
as against the possibilities it offers to the emigrant to secure the
profits of his own industry. With keen indignation he condemns the
unsound banking system of the West, deprecates the booming of town
sites, and the “log-rolling” in state legislatures. But in the face
of criticism, and as though eager to forestall unfavorable judgments,
he contrasts American conditions with those of Great Britain, with no
undue favor for the latter, reminding his English readers that here are
no boroughs to monopolize business interests, no clergymen to control
education, no nobility to exact special privileges. “I have never heard
of any parson who acts as Justice of the Peace, or who intermixes his
addresses to _the Great Object of Religious Worship_, with the eulogy
of the Holy Alliance.... The farming interest has no monopoly against
manufacturing: nor has the manufacturing any positive prohibition
against the farmer.” Free industry is the dominating factor of American
life, the keystone of its prosperity.
In short, we have in Flint’s _Letters_ a remarkable study of American
life in the beginning of its new era, at the close of the second war
with England. Charitable, comprehending, thoughtful, he does not slur
over national faults nor unduly praise local virtues. Dangers, both
financial and political, are pointed out; but the basic principles of
American society are distinctly and clearly laid bare, and the progress
and possibilities of the New West revealed.
In the present reprint, the original edition, published in Edinburgh in
1822, has been followed; save that the Addenda given in the latter (pp.
303-330), have been omitted, as being composed of material of small
present importance:
1. Two letters from a Jeffersonville (Indiana) lawyer dated Dec.
20, 1820, and Aug. 1, 1821, commenting satirically upon the wildcat
currency of that day.
2. Three other letters, by various persons, giving an account of
material progress in Indiana.
3. “The American Tariff, with alterations and additions.”
In the preparation of this volume for the press, the Editor has had the
assistance of Louise Phelps Kellogg, Ph.D., Edith Kathryn Lyle, Ph.D.,
and Mr. Archer Butler Hulbert.
R. G. T.
MADISON, WIS., October, 1904.
FLINT’S LETTERS FROM AMERICA--1818-1820
Reprint of the original edition: Edinburgh, 1822
[Illustration:
LETTERS
FROM
AMERICA,
CONTAINING
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE OF
THE WESTERN STATES, THE MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE,
THE PROSPECTS OF EMIGRANTS, &c. &c.
BY JAMES FLINT.
“From the disorders that disfigure the annals of the Republics
of Greece and Italy, the advocates of despotism have drawn arguments,
not only against the forms of republican government, but against the
very principles of civil liberty. They have decried all free
governments as inconsistent with the order of society, and
have indulged themselves in malicious exultation over its friends
and partizans. Happily for mankind, stupendous fabrics reared on the
basis of liberty, which have flourished for ages, have, in a few
glorious instances, refuted their gloomy sophisms. And, I trust,
America will be the broad and solid foundation of other edifices not
less magnificent, which will be equally permanent monuments of their
error.”--_General Alexander Hamilton._
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR W. & C. TAIT, PRINCE’S STREET;
AND LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,
LONDON.
1822.
]
TO
JAMES STUART, ESQUIRE
YOUNGER OF DUNEARN
THE
FOLLOWING SHEETS
ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY
THE AUTHOR
CONTENTS
LETTER I
Voyage from Greenock to New York--Circumstances of
Passengers--Arrival, &c. 25
LETTER II
Observations on New York--Removal to Long Island--Miscellaneous
Remarks--Return to New York--Farther
Observations on the City 30
LETTER III
Journey from New York to Philadelphia--Observations on
Philadelphia--Institutions--Manufactures--People 48
LETTER IV
Journey from Philadelphia to Pittsburg--Remarks on the
Country--Notices of Emigrants, and occurrences by the
way 64
LETTER V
Pittsburg--Situation--Manufactures--Occurrences--People 82
LETTER VI
Descend the Ohio from Pittsburg to Beaver--Occurrences
and Remarks there 89
{vi} LETTER VII
Descend the Ohio from Beaver to Portsmouth--Occurrences
and Remarks Interspersed 100
LETTER VIII
Leave Portsmouth--Digression on Economical
Travelling--Chillicothe--Progress of a Scotch
Family--Game--Trees and Shrubs--Rolled Pieces of Primitive
Rocks--Implements--Antiquities--Organic Remains--Missouri
and Illinois--Paper Currency 114
LETTER IX
Lexington--Paper Currency--Bankers--Menials--Habits--Prices
of Live Stock--Provisions, &c.--Slavery, and
its Effects--Recrimination against Illiberal
Reflections--Descend the Ohio to Cincinnati--Occurrences and
Reflections 132
LETTER X
Cincinnati--Weather--Descend the Ohio to the Falls of the
Ohio--Taverns and Accommodation 149
LETTER XI
Morals and Manners--Education--Generosity--The President
of the United States 165
LETTER XII
On Emigration--The Prospects of Emigrants--Inconveniences--The
Method of Laying out and Disposing of
Public Lands 173
LETTER XIII
Comparative Advantages of Different Parts of the United
States--Temperature at Philadelphia and
Cincinnati--Reflections on Slave-Keeping 181
LETTER XIV
Lawyers--Doctors--Clergy--Mechanics--Justices of the
Peace--Anecdotes--Punishments--Reflections 194
{vii} LETTER XV
Outline of the American Constitution--From the Frequency
of Revolutions in Europe, the Instability of the American
Republic is not to be inferred 205
LETTER XVI
State Legislatures--Predilection for Dividing Counties, Laying
out New Towns and Roads--The Influence of Slavery on
the Habits of the People--Banking 215
LETTER XVII
Depreciated Paper Money--Want of Employment--State
Expenses--The Progress of New Settlements 224
LETTER XVIII
Passage to Cincinnati--Trade--Manufactures--Institutions--
Banks--Climate--Notice of three Indian Chiefs--Remarks
on the Indian People 237
LETTER XIX
Descend the Ohio from Cincinnati to Madison--Notices of a
Scotch Settlement--Excess of Male Population--Roads--
Harvest--Crops--Orchards--Timber--Elections--Methodist
Camp Meeting 250
LETTER XX
Circumstances that Retard Manufacturing Industry, and
Causes of its Prosperity 264
LETTER XXI
Circuit Court of Indiana--Lands--Crops--Salt
springs--Corydon--Barrens--Caves--Tornado--Alluvial
Lands--Large Trees--Wild Vines--Steam boats--the Falls
of the Ohio--Bilious and Intermittent
Fevers--Taciturnity--Americanisms 276
LETTER XXII
Miscellaneous Remarks on the Manners and Habits of the
People 290
{viii} LETTER XXIII
Passage from the Falls of the Ohio to Cincinnati--Journey to
Lake Erie--the Great Sciota--Pickaway Plains
Prairies--Sickly State of the Country--Indians--People 296
LETTER XXIV
Passage on Lake Erie--The Falls of Niagara--Passage on
Lake Ontario--Descend the River St. Lawrence--Falls--Montreal--
Quebec--Indians--Remarks on the People--Timber
Trade--Government--Climate 313
LETTERS FROM AMERICA
LETTER I
Voyage from Greenock to New York--Circumstances of
Passengers--Arrival, &c.
_New York, July 10, 1818._
As I have already informed you, I sailed from Greenock on the 24th of
May last, in the American ship Glenthorn, Stillman Master, bound for
this place.
I observed that my fellow emigrants were much affected when about to
take a final leave of their native land: some regretting the separation
from their native soil, while others, mute and thoughtful, seemed to
suffer under feelings of a more tender kind.
To some it may appear inconsistent in people to regret leaving
their homes and their friends, while the emigration is voluntarily
undertaken; but on this occasion, the paradox will be explained, when
their circumstances and views are taken into consideration.
Of our party were three farmers, with their families, whose leases
were expired; all of them having declined engaging for a new term of
years, {2} under the apprehension of seeing their paternal stock, and
the savings of many years’ industry, divided between the landholder and
the collector of taxes. A native of Scotland, who had resided several
years in America, returned with the intention of resuming business in
the town where he was born, but the thick ranks of a necessitous and
half employed population, had closed on the place he had left. There
was a widow, with two children, on her way to put herself under the
protection of a brother in America. With us also were several of the
labouring class, whose utmost exertions could only procure the bare
support of existence; and ploughmen, who prudently refrained from
marrying with fourteen pounds a-year. In short, there was scarcely one
of our number whose condition might not perhaps be bettered, or whose
prospects could be rendered worse, by the change of country.
In a voyage from Europe to America, most passengers may expect to be
sea-sick. Nearly all of them on board the Glenthorn, on this occasion,
suffered more or less. For my own part, I never was entirely free
from it for more than three-fourths of the passage. This disease is
dispiriting while it continues, but as it is believed to produce no
permanent injury, but, on the contrary, is thought conducive to future
health, the attack is not at all dreaded. People unaccustomed to the
seafaring life ought to carry with them those kinds of provisions to
which they have been previously accustomed, as the stores of the ship
soon become loathsome to the sick. Potatoes will be found acceptable,
when the caprice of taste rejects almost every other food; and walking
on deck is of service, as the air is better, and the pitching of the
ship is considerably less felt, than below.
{3} It is very improper to go to sea in crowded vessels; as epidemic
diseases are engendered, and the most dreadful mortality is the
consequence. That law of Britain which allows only one passenger for
every five tons of burden in American ships (including seamen) is a
most beneficial regulation; and while, in American bottoms, the cabin
passenger pays L.21, and the steerage passenger L.12, the expense
cannot be complained of, while health and comfort are taken into
consideration. It is much to be regretted that the government of
England does not extend its humane restriction to its own Canadian
settlers, and to emigrants who sail for the United States in British
ships.
The 4th of July is celebrated by Americans as the anniversary of their
independence, declared in 1776. The captain and seamen were disposed
to be joyful in commemoration of this great event. The striped flag
was displayed, guns and pistols were fired, accompanied with loud
cheers. The passengers, no less enthusiastic, joined in the strongest
expressions of their devotedness to the democratic form of government.
They indulged in such sentiments as, a sincere wish that the United
States may long continue exempt from that excessive corruption, as they
thought, which has so long and so much degraded a large portion of the
human race;--and their avowed satisfaction at the near prospect of
becoming people of the Republic.
On the 8th we came in sight of Long Island, and the high lands of New
Jersey; a welcome occurrence to people who had been so long at sea. In
the afternoon a pilot came on board. He informed us that the city was
in great bustle, as the inhabitants were assembled to deposit the bones
of General Montgomery, who fell at Quebec, on the 31st of December,
1775.[1] The remains of the patriotic {4} leader were buried by the
ministerialists without the fort, and were to-day interred by his
grateful countrymen under the portico of St. Paul’s church, New York.
We were sorry that it was not in our power to witness the solemnity.
In the evening we were off the point Sandyhook. The smell of the new
hay on the adjacent fields regaled us very agreeably. All seemed elated
with joy. A bagpipe and two violins played by turns, and our young
people danced on deck till a late hour. During this season of mirth, we
were entertained by a sight, perhaps unequalled in the phenomena of an
European climate. Some dense black clouds which hung over Long Island,
were frequently illuminated by flashes of lightning. It is in vain to
attempt a description. About midnight we passed through the Narrows,
and soon afterwards anchored on the quarantine ground, about seven
miles from New York.
On the morning of the 9th of July, the inspecting surgeon visited us,
and allowed the anchor to be weighed. In this situation we had a full
view of the shores of Staten and Long Islands. The wooden houses are
neat, and the orchards and natural woods have a thriving appearance.
It would seem that the people here have a partiality to the Lombardy
poplar, which grows to a great height, shooting up its branches nearly
perpendicularly; assuming something of the appearance of a spire.
The straight rows of these trees, so common here, have an insipid
regularity and sameness, more like a file of armed soldiery than an
ornamental grove.
Some of the frame houses are painted red, those of the finer sort,
white; ornamental railings are also painted white. To an European eye,
these colours appear too glaring. The lands seen from the bay are sandy
and poor.
{5} The first glimpse of the city of New York is by no means a distinct
one. The buildings are much obscured by the forest of masts in front of
them; and as the site of the town rises but gently inland, the houses
in front conceal, in a great measure, those in the rear, so that the
shipping and the numerous spires are the objects most distinctly seen.
Before entering the port we were twice boarded by agents from the
Newspaper offices. They inquired for British newspapers, and generally
for the news of Europe; they noted down the names of several of our
passengers, which they intended to publish in the papers of the
afternoon. There are no less than seven newspapers printed in New York
daily; the competition of these Journalists is keen, and their industry
seems to be great.
We have experienced much good treatment from Captain Stillman. Every
passenger is so sensible of this, that a committee of their number was
requested to make public testimony of their esteem for him.
We landed yesterday about noon, all in good health and spirits. During
the voyage, passengers have experienced no kind of sickness, except
that peculiarly incident to the sea.
This letter cannot come immediately into the hands of all my friends;
most of them, I hope, will hear that I am arrived in this place in good
health. Should you adopt any way of making this and any subsequent
communications generally known to them, it will be very gratifying
to me, and, besides, will relieve me of the labour of writing many
letters; a labour, dictated by the strongest ties of gratitude and
affection, but one which it is doubtful if I can accomplish to the
satisfaction of my own mind.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] General Richard Montgomery (1737-1775) was a native of Ireland,
and served with Wolfe at Quebec in 1759. At the outbreak of the
Revolutionary War he was appointed commander of the American forces in
the Northern Department, being killed in his heroic assault on Quebec,
December 31, 1775. Through the courtesy of the British general his
body was buried with the honors of war within the unconquered walls
of Quebec. Forty-three years later the remains were disinterred, in
compliance with a special act of the New York legislature, brought to
New York City and deposited with great solemnity beneath a monument
in front of St. Paul’s church (July 8, 1818). A full account of the
ceremony is contained in the New York _Daily Advertiser_ of that
date.--ED.
{6} LETTER II
Observations on New York--Removal to Long Island--Miscellaneous
Remarks--Return to New York--Farther Observations on the City.
_New York, August 4, 1818._
On entering New York, I was struck with its appearance. Streets lined
with lofty trees, most of them the Lombardy poplar, which affords a
very agreeable shade in hot weather; indeed, they are so numerous, that
the new comer, when he looks before him, is apt to suppose himself
in the midst of a wood. The streets, with a few exceptions, are too
narrow, and are deficient in sewers. Many parts of the town prevent me
from thinking that it deserves the character of extreme cleanliness
bestowed upon it. The greater part of the houses are of brick, neatly
built; but, to eyes accustomed to towns of hewn stone, New York has, on
the whole, what (for want of a more descriptive word) may be called a
gingerbread appearance.
The markets here are amply supplied with fine vegetables, and an
immense variety of excellent fish, a great proportion of which are sold
alive. Beef and pork are good, but the mutton and veal that I have seen
are of inferior quality. Marketing is carried on more after the manner
in some English country towns. No servants, but masters, attend and
carry home the provisions.
Beggars do not abound here as in some countries of Europe. I am told
that every man who is {7} able to work can earn a dollar per day, and
that his board costs two or three dollars per week; thus it is in his
power to banish every appearance of poverty, and to save some money,
provided he is disposed to economy. Mechanics have good encouragement.
Joiners one and three-quarters, and masons two dollars a-day. They
usually pay three dollars, or upwards, a-week for their board.
Many of the necessaries of life are here purchased at high prices.
Woollen cloths and most articles of wearing apparel imported, pay
duties, varying, in different cases, from 25 to 33 per cent. In
transacting with the merchant and the tailor, farther American
enhancements may be calculated upon. Washing and dressing of shirts,
neckcloths, &c. costs a dollar and a half per dozen. Every thing that
an American does, must be liberally paid for. This tends to render
living dear, even where provisions are cheap.
Some imported articles, as silks, wines, foreign spirituous liquors,
teas, sugar, and coffee, are much cheaper than in Britain. The
difference of custom-house duties is the cause of this.
The condition of animals bespeak the great plenty of food that falls
to their share. The horses employed in removing goods to and from the
wharfs, and in stage coaches, are fat, and in high spirits. They are
not so rough-legged, so broad, or so strong-limbed, as the draught
horses of Britain; but they are better adapted for speed. Hogs, running
in the streets, are numerous, but they are not starvelings. I have
seen several of them that would yield upwards of 300 lbs. of pork
without special feeding. Speaking of hogs, I would mention by the way,
that they are allowed to run at large for the purpose of cleaning the
streets. An economical way of procuring scavengers, {8} but one that
leads to a commutation of nuisance rather than a final removal of it.
_July 12._ Last night the heat was excessive, and not accompanied with
a breath of wind. It was in vain that I thrust my head out at an open
window to be cooled. The effluvia arising from the streets is, in a
great measure, occasioned by a high temperature. I imagine that a
copious evolution of phosphorized hydrogen gas goes on in such weather.
I could not sleep till three or four o’clock. This morning I heard that
some people who had suffered from the heat and stillness of the air,
had stretched themselves on carpets, or sat by open room doors, or in
passages. Nights so very oppressive are said to occur rarely. In high
and inland parts of the country they do not occur at all.
This is not the most proper season of the year for Europeans arriving
here. Yesterday and to-day the heat has been excessive, the thermometer
in the shade stood at 97¹⁄₂°. In such a degree of heat it is imprudent
to take much exercise. The temperature of the human body being lower
than that of the air, the former is deprived of the cooling process
usually produced by evaporation. Should the heat of the blood be
increased in such a case, fever commences. We had an example of this,
in a young man, one of the emigrants on board the Glenthorn, who
exerted himself too much in getting baggage ashore. He was this day
removed to Brooklyn, a high-lying village on Long Island, about a mile
from New York. Transitions from heat to cold are, perhaps, still more
dangerous; of late, eleven persons have died in the city by drinking
cold water. Several of them were strangers newly landed. Water should
not be drunk immediately from the {9} well, but should be allowed
previously to stand for a few minutes in the air. It should be taken in
small mouthfuls, and these heated in the mouth for two or three seconds
before swallowing. Precautions of this kind ought to be strictly
attended to, while heated by exercise or the sun’s rays. Spirits are
often mixed with water, to prevent the injurious effects of the latter.
This corrective, however much extolled, ought to be taken in very
small quantities. Here, as in Britain, there are many who resort to
spirituous liquors as the sovereign medicine, both in hot and in cold
weather.
Strangers lodge in boarding houses, and are charged from three dollars
to twenty a-week. I have got lodgings in a good one, where I find
interesting company. Previous to our meals a servant rings a small
hand-bell, summoning every lodger to the public room, where we all eat
together. A polite, well-dressed, hostess presides.
Servants are not here so attentive to their duty as elsewhere; many of
them are free blacks, slow in their motions, and often treating the
most reasonable commands with neglect. _Master_ is not a word in the
vocabulary of hired people. _Bos_, a Dutch one of similar import, is
substituted.[2] The former is used by Negroes, and is by free people
considered as synonymous with slave-keeper.
This afternoon much thunder was heard. After twilight the lightning
flashed incessantly, so that the illumination was almost permanent.
Thunder storms in America are more frequent, more severe, and often
accompanied with greater rains than in Europe. A respectable gentleman
of Delaware county, in this State, told me, that during a thunder
storm there, he laid his watch on the table, and found that an hour
and forty-eight minutes elapsed {10} without one cessation of sound.
He thinks it probable that the peal lasted about two hours, as a few
minutes must have passed before the idea of noting the time suggested
itself.
_July 13._ This evening, after dark, I was surprised to see a large
object standing in the centre of one of the principal streets; on
approaching it, I discovered that it was a frame-house, with a wheel
affixed to each corner. Its length was about twenty-two feet, breadth
about sixteen feet, and two stories high. I am just told that much
larger buildings than this are often dragged off by horses, with their
roofs, floors, plaster, doors, and windows, entire; furniture sometimes
included. This sort of removal happens at the expiry of leases of small
lots, where the occupier is not bound to leave the buildings.
_July 16._ For two days past, the skin of my face has been spotted,
accompanied with blotches, and with partial swelling. This is called
the prickly heat, from the pungent feeling that attends it. A medical
gentleman has told me, that this has been occasioned by a sudden
cooling, which has put a stop to perspiration. He congratulated me
on having escaped a fever, prescribed a hot bath, and subsequent
sea-bathing. I am about to set out for Long Island, in obedience to the
latter part of the Doctor’s prescription.
_Afternoon._ Arrived at New Utrecht, a village near the south-western
extremity of Long Island.[3] On leaving New York, I crossed the ferry
to Brooklyn, by a steam-boat of singular construction: this vessel
is composed of two hulls, at a little distance from, and parallel
to, one another; they are connected by a deck common to both. The
water-wheel, turned by a steam-engine, is placed between {11} the keels
of the boats. There is a rudder at each end, so that she can cross and
re-cross, without putting about.
A stage coach runs from Brooklyn to New Utrecht. The distance is nine
miles; and the fare for one person, half a dollar. This coach, like the
other public ones of the country, has no glass windows in the front or
the sides of it, these parts are furnished with curtains, which are
let down in bad weather. The coach is long, containing four seats that
run across; and travellers sit with their faces forward, as in the pews
of a church.
I have agreed to stop a few days at New Utrecht. My host is an
intelligent man, obliging, but not fawning; he and his wife take the
principal drudgery of the house upon themselves, as the slaves are
extremely slow in the execution of their work. Sometimes the landlord
presides at the head of the table, and at other times he acts as
servant. At dinner we were joined by the coach-driver who brought us
from Brooklyn; he is very unlike the drivers of some other coaches,
is well dressed, active, and attentive to his business, by no means
obsequious, answers every question with propriety, and without
embarrassment. He does not depend on the gratuities of travellers for
his wages. That system, which so universally prevails in Britain, is
unknown here.
At the inn there were three boarders, all Scotsmen. One of them, a
young gentleman from Edinburgh, who was confined to bed by a broken
thigh bone, occasioned by a horse running away with a gig, from which
he fell while attempting to disengage himself; he was occasionally
attended by a young lady, whose visits were frequent, although she
lived at the distance of ten miles. The people of the neighbourhood
were also very attentive to this {12} person, often calling for him;
and several of the young men sat with him all night by rotation. It was
pleasing to see so creditable a display of the benevolent affections.
The good people here are the descendants of the original Dutch
settlers. They are placed in comfortable circumstances, their style
of living somewhat resembling that of farmers in the more fertile and
improved parts of Scotland. If the situations of farmers in the two
countries were compared, it would appear that the advantage of the Long
Islanders consists in a climate highly conducive to vegetation, their
freedom from rent, being owners of the soil, and the total absence of
any heavy taxes; and that their comparative disadvantage is, the want
of such active domestic and agricultural servants as the farmer of the
other country employs.
Mr. Cobbett[4] is now farming about nine miles from this place. His
people (it is said) could not bear the opprobrious name _servant_, and,
with the exception of one person, left him.[5]
The fishermen here drag ashore many fishes in their seines. Without
other evidence than the vast quantities of smaller ones left on the
shore, the abundant supply of the New York market might be inferred. I
bathe twice a-day, on the spot where General Howe first effected the
landing of his army.[6] A farmer very obligingly gives me the key of
his fishing house on the beach, that I may dress and undress in it.
The farmers here catch great quantities of fish, with which they manure
their land.
There are still a considerable number of slaves in Long Island; they
are treated with a degree of {13} humanity that slaves in some other
parts of the world never experience; they are well fed, and the
whip is very seldom resorted to. Notwithstanding their comparative
advantages, they detest the unnatural yoke, and frequently run off.
It often happens that the master neither pursues nor inquires after
the fugitive. What becomes of the self-emancipated is not here well
understood. I have heard that many of them get to Boston, or some other
of the northern ports, from whence they are carried to the Southern
States, sold, and placed under a harsher treatment.
A great part of the slaves of the State of New York are to be
emancipated in the year 1827.[7] It is difficult to predict the
consequences of this liberation. It is to be feared that people
who have been compelled to work, will, of their own choice, become
banditti, rather than adopt industrious habits. Arrangements must
necessarily be made before the arrival of this revolution; but many
satisfy themselves by saying, that the legislature will devise some
plan that will enable them to get over the difficulty. Some suggest
that the Negroes shall be returned to Africa. On this measure, the
African Association, so much talked of in America, proceeds.[8]
The expense of transporting, settling, supporting, and governing
a new colony, must be immense. The design is as benevolent as the
difficulties to be encountered are great. The support it meets with in
slave-keeping states, looks like a pledge of sincerity, and an omen
that forebodes success to the undertaking.
{14} The project of removing blacks to the back-woods of America
seems to be altogether objectionable. It would be difficult, if not
impossible, to prevent their return from exile; their previous habits
and disposition render them ill-calculated to the work of subduing the
forests. Besides, they would commit depredations on the neighboring
settlers, and on the Indian people.
Long Island being composed of alluvial soil, surrounded by a high
beach, its surface is necessarily what is called a table land: for the
most part the surface is somewhat flat, the soil is dry, and at this
season, without streams of water. Near the surface I have observed
a substratum that is intermixed with clay. If a part of this was
raised above the ground, it would be made to approach to a loam, more
productive, and less liable to be injured by drought, than the present
sandy coating that covers the surface. A trenching, performed by the
spade or by the plough, would no doubt produce the good effect.
A labourer in Long Island receives half a dollar a-day, with his board,
and a dollar in harvest.
The weather, which is said to be hotter at present than it has been
for several years, begins to scorch the surface of the ground. The
stubble from which the hay has recently been removed, retains the
appearance of a newly mown field; pasture grass is withering. In some
fields a rank crop of weeds continues green; amongst these the cattle
are straying nearly two feet deep, but are in reality almost starving;
water is drawn from deep wells, and served out to them in rather too
small quantities. The cows are small, as may be expected. Good crops of
wheat, rye, and Indian corn, are raised. These require manure. Indian
corn is considered a good crop, when at the rate {15} of 40 bushels
per acre. Oats do not ripen well from the excessive heat, and are used
only for the feed of horses. Potatoes are small; their tops grow high
and slender, as when shaded by trees in your country; their leaves are
small and shrivelled. The greatest luxuriance to be met with in Long
Island is in the orchards, the branches of apple and pear trees are
bent down, and not unfrequently broken by the weight of the fruit.
Peach trees were lately productive, but are now falling into decay. I
have met with no one able to assign the cause. The woods are thriving,
but few of the trees are large; they are evidently a new growth, and
not contemporary with the thick trunks that opposed the first settlers.
The owners frequently spare their own timber, and purchase from other
parts of the State, or from New Jersey. In consequence of paying for
timber and carriage, building in Long Island is rendered more expensive
than in more late settlements.
It is not easy to state the price of land in Long Island, as much of
it has descended from father to son, from the first settlement; and
sales have been rare. A farm within ten miles of New York would perhaps
sell at 140 or 150 dollars (from L.31, 10s. to L.33, 15s.) per acre.
The practice of renting land is by shares, the occupier paying to the
proprietor one half of the actual price of the produce, the former
bearing the risk and trouble of collecting the money.
The fences are of wood. The figure is a representation of the railing
commonly adopted here.
{16} A fence of this sort, costs about a dollar for every ten yards
in length. Where the posts are of cedar, and the rails of chesnut,
the erection, it is said, may stand about fifty years. I examined one
reported to be thirty years old, and found it to be so strong, that
it may be expected still to last for years to come. There are neither
hedges nor stone fences to be seen in this neighbourhood.
[Illustration]
The crops, as in most parts of America, are cut down by what is called
the Cradle-scythe. I went into a field where a Negro was reaping wheat
with this sort of implement, and observed that about an English acre
was cut down. On making inquiry, it appeared that he had been engaged
about six hours in the work. The following dialogue ensued:
“You work very hard?”
“No Sir, I can do much more in the time, _but that of no use_.”
“You are not free then?”
“No Sir, I a slave, I longs to Jacob Van ----, there,” (pointing to the
farm house.)
“But you black people are very well treated here?”
“Oh yes, Sir, master very good to me, give me every thing to eat he eat
self, but no Sunday clothes.”
“You may live happier than some poor free people?”
“That may be true, Sir, but put bird in cage, give him plenty to eat,
still he fly away.”
I delay giving a description of the cradle-scythe, as I doubt if the
one that I have just seen is of the best construction.
After the crop is cut, the swath is collected by the hand, and tied
into sheaves; a small quantity of stalks still remain scattered over
the surface, {17} these are commonly collected by the hand-rake. To
facilitate the latter part of the process, a horse rake has been
recently invented; of which the following figure is a representation.
[Illustration]
AB is a beam about six inches square, and about twelve feet long. CD
is an upright rail that prevents the stalks accumulated by the machine
from falling over the beam AB, and so left behind. EF, _ef_, are two
supports to the rail, which also serve as handles for steering, and
occasionally upsetting the machine. ABHG is a tire of wooden teeth,
one and a half inches diameter, and about six inches distant from one
another. These teeth are sharpened at their extremities, and skim along
the ground with their points forward; raising up and collecting the
stalks. IK are trees to which the horses are yoked. The trees are
attached to the beam AB, by the rope BLA.
{18} The field in which I saw the horse rake used is flat and not
ridged; consequently the straight beam operated very well. To adapt a
beam to ridges, it would only be necessary to construct it with two
joints or hinges; one at each side of the handles, and to connect the
central part of the beam by a rope with the point of attachment L.
Otherwise, the implement may be moved across the ridges.
Four wheeled waggons are the vehicles used in carrying home the crops,
carrying manure into the fields, and produce to market. They are drawn
by two horses, which trot, whether loaded or not. Small one-horse
waggons are also used, they are neat, and are furnished with a seat for
conveying families to church, and elsewhere. Many of the farmers who
own but small properties, keep one horse gigs. Ladies drive dexterously.
The practice of housing the crops, and the ancient one of treading
them out by the feet of horses, shew that the Long Islanders have
yet something to learn in the way of dispatching their agricultural
business.
The high price of land prevents emigrants from settling here. The near
neighbourhood of a market, and the salubrity derived from dry land,
together with sea breezes, might, notwithstanding, form sufficient
inducements to many, who would pursue their immediate advantage; but
those who look forward to the future prospects of a family, commonly
prefer some part of the back country.
_July 24._ Saw the works in progress at Fort Diamond.[9] This is a
large battery raised on a shoal in the narrows, about 200 yards off
the western point of Long Island; _most of the workmen are British_.
{19} Crossed the Narrows to Staten Island. The fortifications are
extensive and commanding. The garrison consists of _one man_!
_25._ Left New Utrecht, where a residence of nine days has completely
cured my blotched face. The climate is delightful, and I have
entertained a very favourable opinion of the people.
The emigrant who was removed sick to Brooklyn, is dead; thus by far
the finest young man of our party, has fallen the first victim to the
climate: twenty-two years of age, of a mild and cheerful disposition,
and of a manly figure, and who had gained our universal esteem. Of a
family consisting of six persons, he was the only one who was able to
endure the fatigues of clearing away the forests. The feelings of the
survivors are deeply wounded, and the tender attachment that pledged
his early return to Scotland is blasted.
I returned to New York, and shall make some more remarks on the city.
The population, at the census of 1816, was 100,619, of which 6985 were
aliens, 9774 free people of colour, and 617 slaves. It is expected that
the enumeration of 1820 will disclose a vast increase.
Literature does not stand on such a broad basis here as in Europe.
Printing, particularly of newspapers, is carried on to a considerable
extent: but the style of many communications and advertisements
which appear in them, shews that the _public_ are not far advanced
in taste. Particular pieces are elegant. Many English publications
are reprinted, frequently with the addition of some introduction,
notes, or an appendix. For the additional matter a patent is procured,
which I suppose has generally the practical effect of securing an
exclusive privilege for the whole work. Some of Lord Byron’s latest
productions, the Memoirs of {20} the Fudge Family,[10] and the Brownie
of Bodsbeck,[11] are exhibited in the windows of the principal
booksellers. When I left Edinburgh the last mentioned book was not
published.
The Kaleidoscope of Dr. Brewster is here fabricated in a rude style,
and in quantities so great, that it is given as a plaything to
children.[12] An artist informed me that a journeyman of his proposes
to take a patent for an improvement he had made on it.
The public museum in this city is a recent collection. An Indian
mummy from the great saltpetre cave in Kentucky, a bear from Warwick
mountains, about sixty miles north of this place, which weighed 700
pounds, and an immensely large turtle, are as yet the most interesting
objects.
The town hall is a splendid building. Lightness, and an apparent want
of solidity in its parts, deprive it in some measure of the august
effect essential to sublime grandeur. The front and columns are made
of white marble of a foliated texture. The interior staircase is
both large and magnificent. It is circular, and furnished with two
elegant flights of steps that wind in contrary directions, so that the
one crosses the other alternately. Upon the whole, it displays that
elegance which becomes an edifice devoted to the administration of
justice.
When I visited the Court of Sessions, the judge on the bench appeared
a plain active-looking gentleman, not distinguished by any robes of
office. The business on hand was the taking of evidence in the case of
a man who had left a vault open during the night. A person passing in
the street happened to fall into the chasm, and raised an action of
damages, on the ground that he had received bodily hurt. The questions
put were numerous {21} and minute, the witnesses, notwithstanding, went
on in giving lengthened details, embracing particulars not asked, and
foreign to the subject. They seemed in no respect embarrassed by the
dignity of the court. The whole of the witnesses were present, and each
heard the examinations which preceded his own.
The Washington, a new ship of war, mounting 96 guns, is much visited
at present.[13] The seamen are a party of stout healthy looking men,
dressed in striped cottons, very suitable to the present hot weather,
and cleanly in the extreme. The decoration, cleanliness of the ship,
and the order that prevailed aboard, can scarcely be surpassed.
Diffident, however, as I am in forming an opinion on any naval affair,
I cannot avoid the impression that a vessel of such strength, and with
such a crew of freemen, must be an overmatch for any other vessel
constructed and manned as European ships of war were wont to be.
The steam-frigate is a novelty in naval architecture. The vessel
is bomb-proof, impelled by a powerful steam-engine; is said to be
furnished with apparatus for heating ball, for throwing hot water, for
moving a sort of arms to prevent boarding, and to carry submarine guns
of one hundred pounds shot.[14]
The steam-boat, Chancellor Livingstone, is the largest and finest
vessel of the kind perhaps ever built; she is 526 tons burden, length
165 feet, and breadth 50 feet. The power of the engine is estimated
as being equal to that of eighty horses. The boiler is of copper, and
weighs twenty tons. The cabin unites something like the horizontal
dimensions of a church, and a degree of elegance not exceeded by
any floating apartment. The Chancellor sails between New York and
Albany.[15]