THE EAST RIVER.--HURL-GATE.--THE SOUND.--POINT JUDITH.--NEWPORT
HARBOUR.--PROVIDENCE.
On Saturday morning, at 7 A.M. Sept. 28th, quitted Philadelphia; arrived
in New York at 2 P.M.; and transferring my baggage from the steamer on
the North River to the one about to depart for Providence, and whose
wharf lay upon the East River, I had a couple of hours' leisure, which I
employed in writing home, for the packet of the 1st of October; and at
five o'clock P.M. left the city, in the noblest steam-vessel I had yet
seen.
The view of Brooklyn, the Navy Yard, and this part of the harbour, is
very attractive from the point of departure; and the numerous little
steamers, actively plying to and fro at the various ferries, give an
unceasing air of bustle to the scene. I was greatly charmed by our sail
up this passage into the Sound dividing Long Island from the continent,
which it flanks and protects for a distance of one hundred miles.
The banks on either side do not vary a great deal in elevation, but are
of a slightly undulating character, beautifully wooded, and sprinkled
with the attractive-looking villas of the country. Mr. Cooper's graphic
description of Hurl-gate, in his novel of the "Red Rover," led me to
look out for it with an interest which the reality did not repay,
although the tide was in a favourable state. I confess, however, I think
that my imagination rather outran discretion than that the whirlpool
lacked grandeur: that it was not to be encountered without some peril we
had very good evidence; for, on a rocky islet to the southward of the
worst part of the fall, a large schooner lay hove up on her beam-ends,
with all her spars aloft and her sails half furled, as she had been
abandoned by her crew. Our pilot informed me that the accident had
occurred the day previous, and was by no means a rare example, the
downward passage at the last of the ebb requiring great care and
experience.
Our powerful engines forced the vessel through the dark eddies,
apparently without difficulty; and in a little while this long
looked-for wonder was forgotten.
I remained on deck until after midnight; for there was a bright moon and
a calm clear sky, and the Sound was sprinkled with craft of all kinds.
I must not omit to notice supper, or tea,--for it was both, and an
excellent meal it was,--served about eight o'clock upon two parallel
tables, which ran the whole length of the cabin, at least one hundred
and eighty feet; and to which sat down about one hundred persons of all
ranks,--the richest merchants, the most eminent statesmen, and the
humblest mechanic who chose to pay for a cabin fare, as most of these
persons who travel do. I was seated with an exceeding lady-like and
well-bred woman on my left hand, and on my right sat a man who, although
decently dressed, was evidently a working operative of the humblest
class; yet was there nothing in either his manner or appearance to annoy
the most refined female: he asked for what he wanted respectfully,
performed any little attention he could courteously, and evinced better
breeding and less selfishness than I have witnessed at some public
dinners at home, where the admission of such a person would have been
deemed derogatory.
I do not mean by this description to infer that a crowded table of this
kind is as agreeable as a party whose habits, education, and sympathies,
being on a level, render intercourse a matter of mutual pleasure: what I
would show is, that in this mingling of classes, which is inevitable in
travelling here, there is nothing to disgust or debase man or woman,
however exclusive; for it would really be impossible to feed a like
multitude, of any rank or country, with slighter breaches of decency or
decorum, or throw persons so wholly dissimilar together with less
personal inconvenience either to one class or another.
I had been accustomed to see this set down as one of the chief nuisances
of travelling in this country, and the consequences greatly exaggerated:
things must have improved rapidly; since, as far as I have hitherto
gone, I protest I prefer the steam-boat arrangements here to our own,
and would back them to be considered less objectionable by any candid
traveller who had fairly tested both.
During the night it blew fresh, and the vessel pitched a little, the
consequence of which movement was evident in the desertion of the upper
deck in the morning. I had noticed it, the evening previous, occupied by
sundry little groups reading or chatting, and with more than one couple
of merry promenaders: I now made its circuit, meeting with but one
adventurer, a lively-looking old gentleman, of whom I inquired where all
our passengers were vanished to.
"Most of them in bed yet," said the old gentleman, "or keeping out of
the way in one hole or another. If there's any wind or sea, you always
find the deck pretty clear till we get round Point Judith. Once let us
get to the other side that hill yonder, and you'll see the swarm begin
to muster pretty smart."
I had often heard "Point Judith" mentioned by the New-Yorkers, as the
Cockney voyager talks of Sea-reach, or the buoy at the Nore; and here it
was close under our lee,--a long, low point of land, with a lighthouse
upon it.
We soon after opened the entrance to the fine harbour of Newport, and,
as my informant predicted, the deck gradually recovered its population:
some came up because they felt, and others because they were told, we
had passed Point Judith.
It was about seven o'clock A.M. that we ran alongside the wharf at
Newport to land passengers. The appearance of the town, rising boldly
from the water's edge, was imposing enough; but trade, judging from the
deserted state of the wharves, is now inconsiderable, although formerly
of much importance.
After a delay of a quarter of an hour, we once more got under weigh; and
one of the chief advantages of a steamer is the ease and facility with
which this important movement is effected: nowhere is the management of
these immense bodies, in my thinking, so perfect: the commanding
position of the wheel, clear of all obstruction, and under the hand of
the pilot, whose finger also directs the machinery below, through the
medium of a few well-arranged bells,--the absence of all bawling and
shouting, and the being independent of transmitted directions, gives
these craft facilities which make their movements appear like
inspiration.
This system I found prevailing all through the States; and, as far as
possible, it would be well to adopt it here. The arrangement of the
wheel, or steering apparatus, if I remember rightly, was fully and
technically described by Captain Hall. I do not know whether it has in
any case been adopted; but if it were enforced upon our crowded rivers,
there would, I feel assured, be fewer accidents.
The fogs of the Sound, in this passage,--a highway as much travelled as
the Clyde,--and indeed on all the great American rivers, are only to be
paralleled by a London specimen about Christmas, in addition to the
former being more frequent; yet accidents arising from running foul are
of very rare occurrence, although the desire to drive along is yet
stronger than with ourselves.
The river up to Providence is of a breadth and character to command the
voyager's attention, but offers little in detail to repay him for it.
With the exception of the time devoted to breakfast, which a supply of
newly-caught fish, taken on board at Newport, rendered a positive treat
to me, I paced the upper deck, according to my custom, until we arrived
at Providence, a very thriving place, seated on a commanding ridge, and
already having, as viewed from the river, an air and aspect quite
city-like.
Here we found a line of coaches drawn up upon the wharf, awaiting our
arrival. I had already secured a ticket for the Mail Pilot: and in a
few minutes the luggage was packed on; the passengers, four in number,
were packed in; and away we went, rolling and pitching, at the heels of
as likely a team of four dark bays as I would wish to sit behind. At our
first halt, I left the inside to the occupation of my companions,--a
handsome girl, with, "I guess," her lover, and a rough specimen of a
Western hunter or trader, who had already dubbed my younger companion
Captain and myself Major, and invited us both to "liquor with him." I
declined, but _the Captain_, to his evident satisfaction, frankly
accepted his offer; and whilst I mounted the box, and the horses were
changing, they entered the house together.
This is a courtesy the traveller to the South will find constantly
proffered to him by a class of honest souls, whose good-fellowship
sometimes exceeds their discretion; and I had been told it was not at
all times possible to decline the offer without risking insult. I
discovered by experience this to be one of the numerous imaginary
grievances conjured up to affright the innocent. In this, as in all
other points, I have never departed from my own habits; and although
often in remote parts of the Union strongly urged "to liquor," have
always found my declaration that it was a custom which disagreed with
me, an excuse admitted without hesitation or ill-humour.
In this, my first experiment, indeed, I had to deal with the most
punctilious specimen I ever afterwards encountered; for when, some two
hours after I had declined his request, I called for a glass of
lemonade, my friend popped his head out of the coach-window, calling out
with a most beseeching air--
"Well but, Major, I say; stop till I get out: you'll drink _that_ with
me any how, won't you?"
He was in the bar-room at my heels in a twinkling, and I need hardly say
we emptied our glasses together very cordially, although their contents
would, I fancy, in my friend's opinion, have assimilated best in a mixed
state; for, giving his _sling_ a knowing twist as I swallowed my
excellent lemonade, he observed:
"Now that's a liquor I never could bring myself to try nohow, though I'm
sometimes rather speculatin' in drink, when I'm travellin' or out on a
frolic. Poorish stuff, I calculate: but _you_ hav'nt got the dyspepsy,
have you, Major?"
I assured my friend that I was perfectly free from dyspepsia, and that
it was because I desired to continue so that I avoided any stronger
drink before dinner.