It rains & we shall have a dismal day I am afraid-M^r W's harness last
night was very much injur'd by being chew'd to pieces by a cow- I have
broken my parasol handle a little, but it will not much injure it-I have
a bad cold to day- which I know not how I have taken- I more than ever
wish to reach Warren--
Pennsylvania- Monday-eve- A Dutchman's inn- I dont know where. Palks
County-or some thing like it--
We have only pass'd thro' 2 small towns to day, Allenstown & Kluztown-
The former is about 3 miles from Hannover, where we spent the sabbath, &
6 from Bethlehem- Before we enter'd the town, we cross'd the Lehi in 2
places- It was not deep, & we forded it to save time & _expence_- It
runs I believe through Bethlehem or at the side of it & is a very small
river- Allentown is not a pleasant place-The houses are almost all
stone- It contains 2 small stone churches- We went into a store, where I
bought me a coarse tooth comb for 15 cents- I should never get
accustom'd to the Pensylvania currency- It diverts me to hear them talk
of their fippenny bits (as they pronounce it) & their eleven penny
bits-- Kluztown is but a few miles from Allentown-It has but one short
street which is very thickly built with Stone & log houses-- It is
rather a dirty street & not more pleasant than the others Stone is used
for everything in this state- The barns & houses are almost entirely
built of it- I imagine the dutch pride themselves on building good
barns, for a great many of them are very elegant- they are 3 & 4 stories
high, have windows & one or 2. I saw with blinds- They are larger &
handsomer than most of the houses- The dutch women are all out as we
pass, dressing flax, picking up apples &c &c-The dress of the women
grows worse & worse-We find them now with very short petticoats, no
short gown & barefoot-- The country is not pleasant, at least does not
appear so as we ride thro' it at all- I should think the land must be
good as we see large fields of grain very frequently- There does not
appear to be as much fruit as in N Y & N J--We saw immense quantities of
apples in each of those states, particularly N J- there would be
thousands of bushels at the cider presses, & still the trees would be
borne down with them-- The roads in this state are pretty good, where,
dame Nature has not undertaken to pave them- but she has so much other
business on hand that she has never learn'd to pave, & makes a wretched
hand at it- I wish she could be persuaded to leave it to Art for the
future; for we are very great sufferers for her work- It is quite
amusing to see the variety of paintings on the innkeeper's signs- I saw
one in N J with Tho^s Jeff'^{ns} head & shoulders & his name above it-
to day I saw Gen G Washington- his name underneath- Gen Putnam riding
down the steps at Horseneck- one sign was merely 3 little kegs hanging
down one after the other- They have the sun rising, setting, & at
Meridian, here a full moon, a new moon, the moon & 7 stars around her,
the Lion & Unicorn "fighting &c", & every thing else that a dutchman has
ever seen or heard of- I do not believe one of them has wit enough to
invent any thing, even for a sign----Several of these creatures sit by
Jabbering dutch so fast, that my brain is turn'd & my thoughts
distracted, & I wonder I have been able to write a word- If you find it
unintelligible you must not wonder or blame me- A dozen will talk at
once & it is really intolerable- I wish Uncle Porter was here-How can I
live among them 3 weeks? We have come about 24 miles to day- it rain'd a
very little this morning & the rest of the day has been quite pleasant
tho' somewhat cold- Tomorrow we pass thro' Reading--