Letter I.—First Impressions of an American in France.—Tokens of
Antiquity: churches, old towns, cottages, colleges, costumes, donkeys,
shepherds and their flocks, magpies, chateaux, formal gardens, vineyards,
fig-trees.—First Sight of Paris; its Gothic churches, statues, triumphal
arches, monumental columns.—Parisian gaiety, public cemeteries, burial
places of the poor
Letter II.—Journey from Paris to Florence.—Serenity of the Italian
Climate.—Dreary country between Paris and Chalons on the Saone.—Autun.
—Chalons.—Lyons.—Valley of the Rhine.—Avignon.—Marseilles; its growth
and prosperity.—Banking in France.—Journey along the Mediterranean.—
American and European Institutions
Letter III.—Tuscan Scenery and Climate.—Florence in Autumn.—
Deformities of Cultivation.—Exhibition of the Academy of the Fine
Arts.—Respect of the Italians for Works of Art
Letter IV.—A Day in Florence.—Bustle and Animation of the Place.—Sights
seen on the Bridges.—Morning in Florence.—Brethren of Mercy.—Drive on
the Cascine.—Evening in Florence.—Anecdote of the Passport
System.—Mildness of the Climate of Pisa
Letter V.—Practices of the Italian Courts.—Mildness of the Penal Code in
Tuscany.—A Royal Murderer.—Ceremonies on the Birth of an Heir to the
Dukedom of Tuscany.—Wealth of the Grand Duke
Letter VI.—Venice.—Its peculiar Architecture.—Arsenal and Navy
Yard.—The Lagoons.—Ceneda.—Serravalle.—Lago Morto.—Alpine Scenery.—A
June Snow-Storm in the Tyrol.—Splendor of the Scenery in the
Sunshine.—Landro.—A Tyrolese Holiday.—Devotional Character of the
People.—Numerous Chapels.—Sterzing.—Bruneck.—The Brenner.—Innsbruck.
—Bronze Tomb of Maximilian I.—Entrance into Bavaria
Letter VII.—An Excursion to Rock River in Illinois.—Birds and Quadrupeds
of the Prairies.—Dad Joe's Grove.—Beautiful Landscape.—Traces of the
Indian Tribes.—Lost Rocks.—Dixon.—Rock River; beauty of its banks.—A
Horse-Thief.—An Association of Felons.—A Prairie Rattlesnake.—The
Prairie-Wolf; its habits.—The Wild Parsnip
Letter VIII.—Examples of Lynch Law.—Practices of Horse-Thieves in
Illinois.—Regulators.—A Murder.—Seizure of the Assassins, their trial
and execution.—One of the Accomplices lurking in the Woods.—Another
Horse-Thief shot
Letter IX.—An Example of Senatorial Decorum.—The National Museum at
Washington.—Mount Vernon.—Virginia Plantations.—Beauty of
Richmond.—Islands of James River.—An Old Church.—Inspection of
Tobacco.—Tobacco Factory.—Work and Psalmody.—Howden's Statue of
Washington.
Letter X.—Journey from Richmond to Charleston.—Pine Forests of North
Carolina.—Collection of Turpentine.—Harbor of Charleston.—Aspect of the
City.
Letter XI.—Interior of South Carolina.—Pine Woods.—Plantations.—Swamps.
—Birds.—A Corn-Shucking.—Negro Songs.—A Negro Military Parade.—
Character of the Blacks.—Winter Climate of South Carolina.
Letter XII.—Picolata.—Beauty of the Season.—The St. John's.—A
Hammock.—Voyage from Charleston to Savannah.—City of Savannah.—Quoit
Club.—A Negro Burial-Place.—Curious Epitaphs.—Bonaventure.—Majestic
Avenues of Live-Oaks.—Alligators.—Black Creek.
Letter XIII.—Woods of Florida.—Anecdotes of the Florida War.—Aspect of
St. Augustine.—Its Streets.—Former Appearance of the City.—Orange
Groves.—Fort of St. Mark.—Palm Sunday.—A Frenchman preaching in
Spanish.
Letter XIV.—Climate of St. Augustine.—Tampa Bay.—Melons in
January.—Insects in Southern Florida.—Healthfulness of East Florida.—A
Sugar Plantation.—Island of St. Anastasia.—Quarries of
Shell-Rock.—Customs of the Mahonese.—A Mahonese or Minorcan hymn.
Letter XV.—Florida the "Poor Man's Country."—Settlement of the
Peninsula.—The Indian War.—Its Causes.—Causes of the Peace.—The
Everglades.—St. Mary's in Georgia.—Plague of Sand-Flies.—Alligator
Shooting.—Tobacco Chewing.
Letter XVI.—The Champlain Canal.—Beauty of its Banks.—Whitehall.—
Canadian French.—A Family setting out for the West.—The Michigan Lay.—
Vermont Scenery.
Letter XVII.—Grasshoppers.—White Clover.—Domestic Arrangements of two
unmarried Ladies.—Canadian French Laborers.—Quakers.—A Pretty Mantua
Maker.—Anecdote told by a Quakeress.—Walpole.—Keene.—A Family of
healthy young Women.
Letter XVIII.—A Voyage to Liverpool.—Mountains of Wales.—Growth of
Liverpool.—Aspect of the Place.—Zoological Gardens.—Cemetery among the
Rocks.—Ornamental Cultivation.—Prince's Park.—Chester.—Manchester.
—Calico Printing.
Letter XIX.—Edale in Derbyshire.—A Commercial
Traveller.—Chapel-en-le-Frith.—The Winnets.—Mam Tor.—Heathy
Hills.—The Lark.—Caverns of the Peak of Derbyshire.—Castle of the
Peverils.—People of Derbyshire.—Matlock.—Derby.
Letter XX.—Works of Art.—Power's Greek Slave.—Exhibition of the Royal
Academy.—Turner's late Pictures.—Webster.—Thorburn.—New Houses of
Parliament.—Artists in Water-Colors.
Letter XXI.—The Parks of London.—Their Extent.—Want of Parks in New
York.—Sweeping of the Streets.—Safety from Housebreaking.—Beggars.—
Increase of Poverty.
Letter XXII.—Edinburg.—The Old Town.—The Castle.—Solid Architecture of
the New Town.—Views from the different Eminences.—Poverty in the Wynds
and Alleys.—Houses of Refuge for the Destitute.—Night Asylums for the
Houseless.—The Free Church.—The Maynooth Grant.—Effect of Endowments.
Letter XXIII.—Fishwomen of Newhaven.—Frith of Forth.—Stirling.—
Callander.—The Trosachs.—Loch Achray.—Loch Katrine.—Loch Lomond.
—Glenfalloch.—Dumbarton.—The Leven.
Letter XXIV.—Glasgow.—Its Annual Fair.—Its Public Statues.—The Free
Church.—Free Church College.—Odd Subject of a Sermon.—Alloway.—Burns's
Monument.—The Doon.—The Sea.—Burns's Birthplace.—The River Ayr.
Letter XXV.—Voyage to Ireland.—Ailsa Craig.—County of Down.—County of
Lowth.—Difference in the Appearance of the Inhabitants.—
Peat-Diggers.—A Park.—Samples of different Races of Men.—Round
Towers.—Valley of the Boyne.—Dublin.—Its Parks.—O'Connell.—The Repeal
Question.—Wall, the Artist.—Exhibition of the Royal Hibernian Society.
Letter XXVI.—Lunatic Asylum at Hanwell.—Humanity and Skill.—Quiet
Demeanor of the Patients.—Anecdotes of the Inmates.—The Corn-law
Question.—Coleman's Improvement on the Piano.
Letter XXVII.—Changes in Paris.—Asphaltum Pavements.—New and Showy
Buildings.—Suppression of Gaming-Houses.—Sunday Amusements.—Physical
Degeneracy.—Vanderlyn's Picture of the Landing of Columbus.
Letter XXVIII.—A Journey through the Netherlands.—Brussels.—Waterloo.
—Walloons and Flemings.—Antwerp.—Character of Flemish Art.—The
Scheldt.—Rotterdam.—Country of Holland.—The Hague.—Scheveling.—
Amsterdam.—Broek Saardam.—Utrecht.
Letter XXIX.—American Artists abroad.—Düsseldorf: Leutze.—German
Painters.—Florence: Greenough, Powers, Gray, G. L. Brown.—Rome: H. K.
Brown, Rossiter, Lang.
Letter XXX.—Buffalo.—The New Fort.—Leopold de Meyer.—Cleveland.—
Detroit.
Letter XXXI.—Trip from Detroit to Mackinaw.—The Chippewa Tribe.—The
River St. Clair.—Anecdote.—Chippewa Village.—Forts Huron and
Saranac.—Bob Low Island.—Mackinaw.
Letter XXXII.—Journey from Detroit to Princeton.—Sheboygan.—Milwaukie.
—Chicago.—A Plunge in the Canal.—Aspect of the Country.
Letter XXXIII.—Return to Chicago.—Prairie-Hens.—Prairie Lands of Lee
County.—Rock River District.
Letter XXXIV.—Voyage to Sault Ste. Marie.—Little Fort.—Indian Women
gathering Rice.—Southport.—Island of St. Joseph.—Muddy Lake.—Girdled
Trees.
Letter XXXV.—Falls of the St. Mary.—Masses of Copper and
Silver.—Drunken Indians.—Descent of the Rapids.—Warehouses of the
Hudson Bay Company.—Canadian Half-breeds.—La Maison de Pierre.—Tanner
the Murderer.
Letter XXXVI.—Indians at the Sanlt.—Madeleine Island.—Indian
Dancing-girls.—Methodist Indians.—Indian Families.—Return to Mackinaw.
Letter XXXVII.—The Straits of Mackinaw.—American Fur Company.—Peculiar
Boats.—British Landing.—Battle-field.—Old Mission Church.—Arched Rock.
Letter XXXVIII.—Excursion to Southern New Jersey.—Easton.—The
Delaware.—The Water Gap.—Bite of a Copper-head snake.
Letter XXXIX.—The Banks of the Pocano.—Deer in the Laurel
Swamps.—Cherry Hollow.—The Wind Gap.—Nazareth.—Moravian Burying
Grounds.—A Pennsylvania German.
Letter XL.—Paint on Brick Houses.—The New City of Lawrence.—Oak Grove.
Letter XLI.—Islands of Casco Bay.—The Building of Ships.—A Seal in the
Kennebeck.—Augusta.—Multitude of Lakes.—Appearances of Thrift.
Letter XLII.—The Willey House.—Mount Washington.—Scenery of the White
Mountains.—A Hen Mother of Puppies.
Letter XLIII.—Passage to Savannah.—Passengers in the Steamer.—Old Times
in Connecticut.—Cape Hatteras.—Savannah.—Bonaventure.—Charleston.—
Augusta.
Letter XLIV.—Southern Cotton Mills.—Factory Girls.—Somerville.
Letter XLV.—The Florida Coast.—Key West.—Dangerous Navigation.—A
Hurricane and Flood.—Havana.
Letter XLVI.—Women of Cuba.—Airy Rooms.—Devotion of the Women.—Good
Friday.—Cascarilla.—Cemetery of Havana.—Funerals.—Cock-fighting.—
Valla de Gallos.—A Masked Ball.
Letter XLVII.—Scenery of Cuba.—Its Trees.—Sweet-Potato Plantation.—San
Antonio de los Barios.—Black and Red Soil of Cuba.—A Coffee Estate.—
Attire of the Cubans.
Letter XLVIII.—Matanzas.—Valley of Yumuri.—Cumbre.—Sugar
Estate.—Process of its Manufacture.
Letter XLIX.—Negroes in Cuba.—Execution by the Garrote.—Slave
Market.—African, Indian, and Asiatic Slaves.—Free Blacks in
Cuba.—Annexation of Cuba to the United States.
Letter L.—English Exhibitions of Works of Art.—The Society of
Arts.—Royal Academy.—Jews in Parliament.
Letter LI.—A Visit to the Shetland Isles.—Highland Fishermen.—Lerwick.
—Church-goers in Shetland.—Habitations of the Islanders.—The Noup of
the Noss.—Sheep and Ponies.—Pictish Castle.—The Zetlanders.—A Gale in
the North Sea.—Cathedral of St. Magnus.—Wick.
Letter LII.—Europe under the Bayonet.—Uses of the State of Siege.—The
Hungarians.—Bavaria.—St. Gall.—Zurich.—Target-shooting.—France.—
French Expedition to Rome.
Letter LIII.—Volterra; its Desolation.—The Balza.—Etruscan
Remains.—Fortress of Volterra.
Letters of a Traveller.
Letter I.
First Impressions of an American in France.
Paris, _August_ 9, 1834.
Since we first landed in France, every step of our journey has reminded us
that we were in an old country. Every thing we saw spoke of the past, of
an antiquity without limit; everywhere our eyes rested on the handiwork of
those who had been dead for ages, and we were in the midst of customs
which they had bequeathed to their descendants. The churches were so vast,
so solid, so venerable, and time-eaten; the dwellings so gray, and of such
antique architecture, and in the large towns, like Rouen, rose so high,
and overhung with such quaint projections the narrow and cavernous
streets; the thatched cots were so mossy and so green with grass! The very
hills about them looked scarcely as old, for there was youth in their
vegetation—their shrubs and flowers. The countrywomen wore such high
caps, such long waists, and such short petticoats!—the fashion of
bonnets is an innovation of yesterday, which they regard with scorn. We
passed females riding on donkeys, the Old Testament beast of burden, with
panniers on each side, as was the custom hundreds of years since. We saw
ancient dames sitting at their doors with distaffs, twisting the thread by
twirling the spindle between the thumb and finger, as they did in the days
of Homer. A flock of sheep was grazing on the side of a hill; they were
attended by a shepherd, and a brace of prick-eared dogs, which kept them
from straying, as was done thousands of years ago. Speckled birds were
hopping by the sides of the road; it was the magpie, the bird of ancient
fable. Flocks of what I at first took for the crow of our country were
stalking in the fields, or sailing in the air over the old elms; it was
the rook, the bird made as classical by Addison as his cousin the raven by
the Latin poets.
Then there were the old chateaus on the hills, built with an appearance of
military strength, their towers and battlements telling of feudal times.
The groves by which they were surrounded were for the most part clipped
into regular walls, and pierced with regularly arched passages, leading in
various directions, and the trees compelled by the shears to take the
shape of obelisks and pyramids, or other fantastic figures, according to
the taste of the middle ages. As we drew nearer to Paris, we saw the plant
which Noah first committed to the earth after the deluge—you know what
that was I hope—trained on low stakes, and growing thickly and
luxuriantly on the slopes by the side of the highway. Here, too, was the
tree which was the subject of the first Christian miracle, the fig, its
branches heavy with the bursting fruit just beginning to ripen for the
market.
But when we entered Paris, and passed the Barrière d'Etoile, with its
lofty triumphal arch; when we swept through the arch of Neuilly, and came
in front of the Hotel des Invalides, where the aged or maimed soldiers,
the living monuments of so many battles, were walking or sitting under the
elms of its broad esplanade; when we saw the colossal statues of statesmen
and warriors frowning from their pedestals on the bridges which bestride
the muddy and narrow channel of the Seine; when we came in sight of the
gray pinnacles of the Tuilleries, and the Gothic towers of Notre-Dame, and
the Roman ones of St. Sulpice, and the dome of the Pantheon, under which
lie the remains of so many of the great men of France, and the dark column
of Place Vendòme, wrought with figures in relief, and the obelisk brought
from Egypt to ornament the Place Louis Quatorze, the associations with
antiquity which the country presents, from being general, became
particular and historical. They were recollections of power, and
magnificence, and extended empire; of valor and skill in war which had
held the world in fear; of dynasties that had risen and passed away; of
battles and victories which had left no other fruits than their monuments.
The solemnity of these recollections does not seem to press with much
weight upon the minds of the people. It has been said that the French have
become a graver nation than formerly; if so, what must have been their
gayety a hundred years ago? To me they seem as light-hearted and as easily
amused as if they had done nothing but make love and quiz their priests
since the days of Louis XIV.—as if their streets had never flowed with
the blood of Frenchmen shed by their brethren—as if they had never won
and lost a mighty empire. I can not imagine the present generation to be
less gay than that which listened to the comedies of Molière at their
first representation; particularly when I perceive that even Molière's
pieces are too much burdened with thought for a Frenchman of the present
day, and that he prefers the lighter and more frivolous vaudeville. The
Parisian has his amusements as regularly as his meals, the theatre, music,
the dance, a walk in the Tuilleries, a refection in the café, to which
ladies resort as commonly as the other sex. Perpetual business, perpetual
labor, is a thing of which he seems to have no idea. I wake in the middle
of the night, and I hear the fiddle going, and the sound of feet keeping
time, in some of the dependencies of the large building near the
Tuilleries, in which I have my lodgings.