Mr. Waterton intended to present to public institutions might pass duty
free; but those which he intended to keep for himself must pay the
duty! A friend now wrote to me from Liverpool requesting that I would
come over and pay the duty in order to save the collection, which had
just been detained there six weeks. I did so. On paying an additional
duty (for the moderate duty first imposed had already been paid), the
man who had detained the collection delivered it up to me, assuring me
that it had been well taken care of, and that a fire had been
frequently made in the room. It is but justice to add that on opening
the boxes there was nothing injured.
I could never get a clue to these harsh and unexpected measures, except
that there had been some recent smuggling discovered in Liverpool, and
that the man in question had been sent down from London to act the part
of Argus. If so, I landed in an evil hour: "nefasto die," making good
the Spanish proverb, "Pagan a las veces, justos por pecadores": At
times the innocent suffer for the guilty. After all, a little
encouragement, in the shape of exemption from paying the duty on this
collection, might have been expected, but it turned out otherwise; and
after expending large sums in pursuit of natural history, on my return
home I was doomed to pay for my success:
Hic finis, Caroli fatorum, hic exitus illum,
Sorte tulit!
Thus my fleece, already ragged and torn with the thorns and briers
which one must naturally expect to find in distant and untrodden wilds,
was shorn, I may say, on its return to England.
However, this is nothing new. Sancho Panza must have heard of similar
cases, for he says, "Muchos van por lana, y vuelven trasquilados": Many
go for wool and come home shorn. In order to pick up matter for natural
history I have wandered through the wildest parts of South America's
equatorial regions. I have attacked and slain a modern Python, and rode
on the back of a cayman close to the water's edge; a very different
situation from that of a Hyde Park dandy on his Sunday prancer before
the ladies. Alone and barefoot I have pulled poisonous snakes out of
their lurking-places; climbed up trees to peep into holes for bats and
vampires, and for days together hastened through sun and rain to the
thickest parts of the forest to procure specimens I had never got
before. In fine, I have pursued the wild beasts over hill and dale,
through swamps and quagmires, now scorched by the noon-day sun, now
drenched by the pelting shower, and returned to the hammock to satisfy
the cravings of hunger, often on a poor and scanty supper.
These vicissitudes have turned to chestnut hue a once English
complexion, and changed the colour of my hair before Father Time had
meddled with it. The detention of the collection after it had fairly
passed the Customs, and the subsequent order from the Treasury that I
should pay duty for the specimens unless they were presented to some
public institution, have cast a damp upon my energy, and forced, as it
were, the cup of Lethe to my lips, by drinking which I have forgot my
former intention of giving a lecture in public on preparing specimens
to adorn museums. In fine, it is this ungenerous treatment that has
paralysed my plans, and caused me to give up the idea I once had of
inserting here the newly-discovered mode of preparing quadrupeds and
serpents; and without it the account of this last expedition to the
wilds of Guiana is nothing but a--fragment.
Farewell, gentle reader.
* * * * *
FOURTH JOURNEY
Nunc huc, nunc illuc et utrinque sine ordine curro.
Courteous reader, when I bade thee last farewell I thought these
wanderings were brought to a final close; afterwards I often roved in
imagination through distant countries famous for natural history, but
felt no strong inclination to go thither, as the last adventure had
terminated in such unexpected vexation. The departure of the cuckoo and
swallow and summer birds of passage for warmer regions, once so
interesting to me, now scarcely caused me to turn my face to the south;
and I continued in this cold and dreary climate for three years. During
this period I seldom or never mounted my hobby-horse; indeed, it may be
said, with the old song,
The saddle and bridle were laid on the shelf,
and only taken down once, on the night that I was induced to give a
lecture in the Philosophical Hall of Leeds. A little after this
Wilson's _Ornithology of the United States_ fell into my hands.
The desire I had of seeing that country, together with the animated
description which Wilson had given of the birds, fanned up the
almost-expiring flame. I forgot the vexations already alluded to, and
set off for New York in the beautiful packet _John Wells_, commanded by
Captain Harris. The passage was long and cold, but the elegant
accommodations on board and the polite attention of the commander
rendered it very agreeable; and I landed in health and merriment in the
stately capital of the New World.
We will soon pen down a few remarks on this magnificent city, but not
just now. I want to venture into the north-west country, and get to
their great canal, which the world talks so much about, though I fear
it will be hard work to make one's way through bugs, bears, brutes and
buffaloes, which we Europeans imagine are so frequent and ferocious in
these never-ending western wilds.
I left New York on a fine morning in July, without one letter of
introduction, for the city of Albany, some hundred and eighty miles up
the celebrated Hudson. I seldom care about letters of introduction, for
I am one of those who depend much upon an accidental acquaintance. Full
many a face do I see as I go wandering up and down the world whose mild
eye and sweet and placid features seem to beckon to me and say, as it
were, "Speak but civilly to me, and I will do what I can for you." Such
a face as this is worth more than a dozen letters of introduction; and
such a face, gentle reader, I found on board the steamboat from New
York to the city of Albany.
There was a great number of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen in the
vessel, all entire strangers to me. I fancied I could see several whose
countenances invited an unknown wanderer to come and take a seat beside
them; but there was one who encouraged me more than the rest. I saw
clearly that he was an American, and I judged by his manners and
appearance that he had not spent all his time upon his native soil. I
was right in this conjecture, for he afterwards told me that he had
been in France and England. I saluted him as one stranger gentleman
ought to salute another when he wants a little information; and soon
after I dropped in a word or two by which he might conjecture that I
was a foreigner, but I did not tell him so; I wished him to make the
discovery himself.
He entered into conversation with the openness and candour which is so
remarkable in the American, and in a little time observed that he
presumed I was from the old country. I told him that I was, and added
that I was an entire stranger on board. I saw his eye brighten up at
the prospect he had of doing a fellow-creature a kind turn or two, and
he completely won my regard by an affability which I shall never
forget. This obliging gentleman pointed out everything that was grand
and interesting as the steamboat plied her course up the majestic
Hudson. Here the Catskill Mountains raised their lofty summit; and
there the hills came sloping down to the water's edge. Here he pointed
to an aged and venerable oak which, having escaped the levelling axe of
man, seemed almost to defy the blasting storm and desolating hand of
Time; and there he bade me observe an extended tract of wood by which I
might form an idea how rich and grand the face of the country had once
been. Here it was that, in the great and momentous struggle, the
colonists lost the day; and there they carried all before them:
They closed full fast, on every side
No slackness there was found;
And many a gallant gentleman
Lay gasping on the ground.
Here, in fine, stood a noted regiment; there moved their great captain;
here the fleets fired their broadsides; and there the whole force
rushed on to battle:
Hic Dolopum manus, hic magnus tendebat Achilles,
Classibus hic locus, hic acies certare solebat.
At teatime we took our tea together, and the next morning this worthy
American walked up with me to the inn in Albany, shook me by the hand,
and then went his way. I bade him farewell and again farewell, and
hoped that Fortune might bring us together again once more. Possibly
she may yet do so; and should it be in England, I will take him to my
house as an old friend and acquaintance, and offer him my choicest
cheer. It is at Albany that the great canal opens into the Hudson and
joins the waters of this river to those of Lake Erie. The Hudson, at
the city of Albany, is distant from Lake Erie about 360 miles. The
level of the lake is 564 feet higher than the Hudson, and there are
eighty-one locks on the canal. It is to the genius and perseverance of
De Witt Clinton that the United States owe the almost incalculable
advantages of this inland navigation: "Exegit monumentum ære
perennius." You may either go along it all the way to Buffalo on Lake
Erie or by the stage; or sometimes on one and then in the other, just
as you think fit. Grand indeed is the scenery by either route and
capital the accommodations. Cold and phlegmatic must he be who is not
warmed into admiration by the surrounding scenery, and charmed with the
affability of the travellers he meets on the way.
This is now the season of roving and joy and merriment for the gentry
of this happy country. Thousands are on the move from different parts
of the Union for the springs and lakes and the Falls of Niagara. There
is nothing haughty or forbidding in the Americans; and wherever you
meet them they appear to be quite at home. This is exactly what it
ought to be, and very much in favour of the foreigner who journeys
amongst them. The immense number of highly-polished females who go in
the stages to visit the different places of amusement and see the
stupendous natural curiosities of this extensive country incontestably
proves that safety and convenience are ensured to them, and that the
most distant attempt at rudeness would by common consent be immediately
put down.
By the time I had got to Schenectady I began strongly to suspect that I
had come into the wrong country to look for bugs, bears, brutes and
buffaloes. It is an enchanting journey from Albany to Schenectady, and
from thence to Lake Erie. The situation of the city of Utica is
particularly attractive: the Mohawk running close by it, the fertile
fields and woody mountains, and the Falls of Trenton forcibly press the
stranger to stop a day or two here before he proceeds onward to the
lake.
At some far distant period, when it will not be possible to find the
place where many of the celebrated cities of the East once stood, the
world will have to thank the United States of America for bringing
their names into the western regions. It is, indeed, a pretty thought
of these people to give to their rising towns the names of places so
famous and conspicuous in former times.
As I was sitting one evening under an oak in the high grounds behind
Utica, I could not look down upon the city without thinking of Cato and
his misfortunes. Had the town been called Crofton, or Warmfield, or
Dewsbury, there would have been nothing remarkable in it; but Utica at
once revived the scenes at school long past and half-forgotten, and
carried me with full speed back again to Italy, and from thence to
Africa. I crossed the Rubicon with Cæsar; fought at Pharsalia; saw poor
Pompey into Larissa, and tried to wrest the fatal sword from Cato's
hand in Utica. When I perceived he was no more, I mourned over the
noble-minded man who took that part which he thought would most benefit
his country. There is something magnificent in the idea of a man taking
by choice the conquered side. The Roman gods themselves did otherwise.
_Victrix_ causa Diis placuit, sed _victa_ Catoni.
In this did Cato with the gods divide,
_They_ chose the conquering, _he_ the conquer'd side.
The whole of the country from Utica to Buffalo is pleasing; and the
intervening of the inland lakes, large and deep and clear, adds
considerably to the effect. The spacious size of the inns, their
excellent provisions, and the attention which the traveller receives in
going from Albany to Buffalo, must at once convince him that this
country is very much visited by strangers; and he will draw the
conclusion that there must be something in it uncommonly interesting to
cause so many travellers to pass to and fro.
Nature is losing fast her ancient garb and putting on a new dress in
these extensive regions. Most of the stately timber has been carried
away; thousands of trees are lying prostrate on the ground; while
meadows, cornfields, villages and pastures are ever and anon bursting
upon the traveller's view as he journeys on through the remaining
tracts of wood. I wish I could say a word or two for the fine timber
which is yet standing. Spare it, gentle inhabitants, for your country's
sake. These noble sons of the forest beautify your landscapes beyond
all description; when they are gone, a century will not replace their
loss; they cannot, they must not fall; their vernal bloom, their summer
richness, and autumnal tints, please and refresh the eye of man; and
even when the days of joy and warmth are fled, the wintry blast soothes
the listening ear with a sublime and pleasing melancholy as it howls
through their naked branches.
Around me trees unnumber'd rise,
Beautiful in various dyes.
The gloomy pine, the poplar blue,
The yellow beech, the sable yew;
The slender fir, that taper grows,
The sturdy oak, with broad-spread boughs.
A few miles before you reach Buffalo the road is low and bad, and in
stepping out of the stage I sprained my foot very severely; it swelled
to a great size, and caused me many a day of pain and mortification, as
will be seen in the sequel.
Buffalo looks down on Lake Erie, and possesses a fine and commodious
inn. At a little distance is the Black Rock, and there you pass over to
the Canada side. A stage is in waiting to convey you some sixteen or
twenty miles down to the falls. Long before you reach the spot you hear
the mighty roar of waters and see the spray of the far-famed Falls of
Niagara rising up like a column to the heavens and mingling with the
passing clouds.
At this stupendous cascade of Nature the waters of the lake fall 176
feet perpendicular. It has been calculated, I forget by whom, that the
quantity of water discharged down this mighty fall is 670,255 tons per
minute. There are two large inns on the Canada side; but after you have
satisfied your curiosity in viewing the falls, and in seeing the
rainbow in the foam far below where you are standing, do not, I pray
you, tarry long at either of them. Cross over to the American side, and
there you will find a spacious inn which has nearly all the
attractions: there you meet with great attention and every
accommodation.
The day is passed in looking at the falls and in sauntering up and down
the wooded and rocky environs of the Niagara; and the evening is often
enlivened by the merry dance.
Words can hardly do justice to the unaffected ease and elegance of the
American ladies who visit the Falls of Niagara. The traveller need not
rove in imagination through Circassia in search of fine forms, or
through England, France and Spain to meet with polished females. The
numbers who are continually arriving from all parts of the Union
confirm the justness of this remark.
I was looking one evening at a dance, being unable to join in it on
account of the accident I had received near Buffalo, when a young
American entered the ballroom with such a becoming air and grace that
it was impossible not to have been struck with her appearance.
Her bloom was like the springing flower
That sips the silver dew,
The rose was budded in her cheek,
Just opening to the view.
I could not help feeling a wish to know where she had
Into such beauty spread, and blown so fair.
Upon inquiry I found that she was from the city of Albany. The more I
looked at the fair Albanese the more I was convinced that in the United
States of America may be found grace and beauty and symmetry equal to
anything in the Old World.
I now for good and all (and well I might) gave up the idea of finding
bugs, bears, brutes and buffaloes in this country, and was thoroughly
satisfied that I had laboured under a great mistake in suspecting that
I should ever meet with them.
I wished to join in the dance where the fair Albanese was "to brisk
notes in cadence beating," but the state of my unlucky foot rendered it
impossible; and as I sat with it reclined upon a sofa, full many a
passing gentleman stopped to inquire the cause of my misfortune,
presuming at the same time that I had got an attack of gout. Now this
surmise of theirs always mortified me; for I never had a fit of gout in
my life, and, moreover, never expect to have one.
In many of the inns in the United States there is an album on the table
in which travellers insert their arrival and departure, and now and
then indulge in a little flash or two of wit.
I thought under existing circumstances that there would be no harm in
briefly telling my misadventure; and so taking up the pen I wrote what
follows, and was never after asked a single question about the gout.
C. Waterton, of Walton Hall, in the county of York, England, arrived at
the Falls of Niagara in July 1824, and begs leave to pen down the
following dreadful accident:
He sprained his foot, and hurt his toe,
On the rough road near Buffalo.
It quite distresses him to stagger a-
Long the sharp rocks of famed Niagara.
So thus he's doomed to drink the measure
Of pain, in lieu of that of pleasure.
On Hope's delusive pinions borne
He came for wool, and goes back shorn.
_N.B._--Here he alludes to nothing but
Th' adventure of his toe and foot;
Save this,--he sees all that which can
Delight and charm the soul of man,
But feels it not,--because his toe
And foot together plague him so.
I remember once to have sprained my ankle very violently many years
ago, and that the doctor ordered me to hold it under the pump two or
three times a day. Now in the United States of America all is upon a
grand scale, except taxation; and I am convinced that the traveller's
ideas become much more enlarged as he journeys through the country.
This being the case, I can easily account for the desire I felt to hold
my sprained foot under the Fall of Niagara. I descended the
winding-staircase which has been made for the accommodation of
travellers, and then hobbled on to the scene of action. As I held my
leg under the fall I tried to meditate on the immense difference there
was betwixt a house-pump and this tremendous cascade of Nature, and
what effect it might have upon the sprain; but the magnitude of the
subject was too overwhelming, and I was obliged to drop it.
Perhaps, indeed, there was an unwarrantable tincture of vanity in an
unknown wanderer wishing to have it in his power to tell the world that
he had held his sprained foot under a fall of water which discharges
670,255 tons per minute. A gentle purling stream would have suited
better. Now it would have become Washington to have quenched his
battle-thirst in the Fall of Niagara; and there was something royal in
the idea of Cleopatra drinking pearl-vinegar made from the grandest
pearl in Egypt; and it became Caius Marius to send word that he was
sitting upon the ruins of Carthage. Here we have the person suited to
the thing, and the thing to the person.
If, gentle reader, thou wouldst allow me to indulge a little longer in
this harmless pen-errantry, I would tell thee that I have had my ups
and downs in life as well as other people: for I have climbed to the
point of the conductor above the cross on the top of St. Peter's in
Rome and left my glove there; I have stood on one foot upon the
Guardian Angel's head on the Castle of St. Angelo; and, as I have just
told thee, I have been low down under the Fall of Niagara. But this is
neither here nor there; let us proceed to something else.
When the pain of my foot had become less violent, and the swelling
somewhat abated, I could not resist the inclination I felt to go down
Ontario, and so on to Montreal and Quebec, and take Lakes Champlain and
George in my way back to Albany.
Just as I had made up my mind to it, a family from the Bowling-Green in
New York, who was going the same route, politely invited me to join
their party. Nothing could be more fortunate. They were highly
accomplished. The young ladies sang delightfully; and all contributed
their portion to render the tour pleasant and amusing.
Travellers have already filled the world with descriptions of the bold
and sublime scenery from Lake Erie to Quebec:
The fountain's fall, the river's flow,
The woody valleys, warm and low;
The windy summit, wild and high,
Roughly rushing to the sky.
And there is scarce one of them who has not described the achievements
of former and latter times on the different battle-grounds. Here great
Wolfe expired. Brave Montcalm was carried, mortally wounded, through
yonder gate. Here fell the gallant Brock; and there General Sheaffee
captured all the invaders. And in yonder harbour may be seen the
mouldering remnants of British vessels. Their hour of misfortune has
long passed away. The victors have now no use for them in an inland
lake. Some have already sunk, while others, dismantled and
half-dismasted, are just above the water, waiting in shattered state
that destiny which must sooner or later destroy the fairest works of
man.
The excellence and despatch of the steamboats, together with the
company which the traveller is sure to meet with at this time of the
year, render the trip down to Montreal and Quebec very agreeable.
The Canadians are a quiet and apparently a happy people. They are very
courteous and affable to strangers. On comparing them with the
character which a certain female traveller, a journalist, has thought
fit to give them, the stranger might have great doubts whether or not
he were amongst the Canadians.
Montreal, Quebec and the Falls of Montmorency are well worth going to
see. They are making tremendous fortifications at Quebec. It will be
the Gibraltar of the New World. When one considers its distance from
Europe, and takes a view of its powerful and enterprising neighbour,
Virgil's remark at once rushes into the mind:
Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves.
I left Montreal with regret. I had the good fortune to be introduced to
the Professors of the College. These fathers are a very learned and
worthy set of gentlemen, and on my taking leave of them I felt a
heaviness at heart in reflecting that I had not more time to cultivate
their acquaintance.
In all the way from Buffalo to Quebec I only met with one bug; and I
cannot even swear that it belonged to the United States. In going down
the St. Lawrence in the steamboat I felt something crossing over my
neck, and on laying hold of it with my finger and thumb it turned out
to be a little half-grown, ill-conditioned bug. Now whether it were
going from the American to the Canada side, or from the Canada to the
American, and had taken the advantage of my shoulders to ferry itself
across, I could not tell. Be this as it may, I thought of my Uncle Toby
and the fly; and so, in lieu of placing it upon the deck, and then
putting my thumb-nail vertically upon it, I quietly chucked it amongst
some baggage that was close by and recommended it to get ashore by the
first opportunity.
When we had seen all that was worth seeing in Quebec and at the Falls
of Montmorency, and had been on board the enormous ship _Columbus_, we
returned for a day or two to Montreal, and then proceeded to Saratoga
by Lakes Champlain and George.