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Title: Travels in North America, From Modern Writers
With Remarks and Observations; Exhibiting a Connected View
of the Geography and Present State of that Quarter of the
Globe
Author: William Bingley
Release Date: March 13, 2009 [EBook #28323]
Language: English
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TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA,
FROM
MODERN WRITERS.
[Illustration:
_Frontispiece._ _Plate 1._
WASHINGTON.
PYRAMID OF CHOLULA.
NEW YORK.]
_Pub^d. by Harvey & Darton,_
_Jan^y. 1, 1823._
TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA,
FROM
Modern Writers.
WITH
REMARKS AND OBSERVATIONS;
EXHIBITING A CONNECTED VIEW OF
THE GEOGRAPHY AND PRESENT STATE
OF THAT
QUARTER OF THE GLOBE.
BY THE
REV. WILLIAM BINGLEY, M. A. F. L. S.
_Late of Peter-house, Cambridge, and Author of Animal Biography, &c._
[Illustration]
DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF YOUNG PERSONS.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR HARVEY AND DARTON, GRACECHURCH-STREET.
1821.
ADVERTISEMENT.
In the preparation of this, and of the preceding volumes, of Travels in
the South of Europe, in South America, and in Africa; as well as in the
Biographical Conversations on Celebrated Voyagers and Travellers, it has
been the design of the author, by a detail of anecdotes of extraordinary
adventures, connected by illustrative remarks and observations, to
allure young persons to a study of geography, and to the attainment of a
knowledge of the character, habits, customs, and productions of foreign
nations. The whole is supposed to be related in a series of daily
instructions, from a parent to his children.
The "Biographical Conversations on Celebrated Travellers," contain a
further account of the United States and of Canada, in Professor's
Kalm's Travels through those countries; and of the northern regions of
America, in the Narratives of Hearne's Journeys from Hudson's Bay, to
the Northern Ocean.
The vignette represents the natural arch, called Rockbridge, described
in page 102.
_Charlotte Street, Bloomsbury,
London, 22d July, 1821._
INDEX OF THE COUNTRIES, AND PRINCIPAL PLACES AND OBJECTS DESCRIBED.
Page
NORTH AMERICA in General, 1
UNITED STATES in General, 3
_Account of New York and its vicinity._
Inhabitants of New York, 12--Situation, Streets, Population,
Hotels, 13--Stores, Public Buildings, Columbia College,
14--Town Hall, Trades and Professions, 15--House-rent,
Provisions, Religion, Courts of Law, 16--Long Island, New
Jersey, River Hudson, Newark, Fishkill, Steam-boats,
17--Emigrants, 18.
_Narrative of Fearon's Journey from New York to Boston._
New Haven, 18--New London, Norwich, New Providence, 19--
Pawtucket, Boston, 20--Bunker's Hill, Cambridge, Harvard
College, 21.
_Weld's Voyage up the River Hudson, from New York to Lake
Champlain._
River Hudson, 22--West Point, Albany, 23--River Mohawk,
Cohoz Waterfall, Saratoga, 25--Skenesborough, Lake Champlain,
26--Ticonderoga, Crown Point, 27.
_Hall's Journey from Canada to the Cataract of Niagara._
Prescott, 28--River St. Lawrence, Lake Ontario, Kingston,
29--Sackett's Harbour, Watertown, Utica, 30--Skaneactas,
Waterloo, Geneva, Canandaigua, Burning Spring, 32--Rochester,
33--Lewistown, Queenston, 34--York, Ancaster, Mohawk Indians,
35--Mohawk Village, 36--Falls of Niagara, 37.
_Hall's Journey from Niagara to Philadelphia._
Fort Erie, Buffalo, Batavia, Caledonia, 41--Genesee River,
Bath, Painted Post, 42--Susquehanna River, Wilksbarre,
43--Wyoming, Blue Ridge, Bethlehem, Nazareth, 44--Moravians,
45--Lehigh Mountain, German Town, 46.
_Description of Philadelphia._
Streets, Houses, 46--Shops, Wharfs, Water-Street, Public
Buildings, 47--State-house, University, Prison, 48--Markets,
Inhabitants, 49--Funerals, Climate, 50--Carriages, 51--
Taverns, 52--Delaware River, Schuylkil River, 53.
Trenton, College, 53--Residence of Joseph Buonaparte, 54.
_Fearon's Journey from Philadelphia to Pittsburg._
Great Valley, Mines, 54--Lancaster, Harrisburgh, Carlisle,
Chambersburgh, 55--London, Waggons, North Mountain,
56--Bloody Run, Bedford, Dry Ridge, Alleghany Mountains,
Inhabitants, Log-houses, 57--Laurel Hill, Little Chesnut
Ridge, Greensburg, Turtle Creek Hill, Inhabitants, 58--
Pittsburg, 59--Manufactures, 60--Climate, American Population,
61--Farms, Emigration, 62.
_Birkbeck's Expedition from Pittsburg into the Illinois
Territory._
Travelling, 63--Cannonsburg, Washington in Pennsylvania,
State of Ohio, Wheeling, 64--St. Clairsville, 65--Farms,
Zanesville, Rushville, Lancaster, 66--Chillicothe, Pike Town,
67--Hurricane tract, 68--Lebanon, Cincinnati, Schools, 69--
State of Indiana, 70--Camp Tavern, 71--Vincennes, Indians,
72--Princeton, 74--Harmony, Mount Vernon, Big Prairie, 75--
Woods, and Farms, 76--Hunters, Little Wabash, Skillet Fork,
77--Shawnee Town, 78--Harmony, 79--Animals, 80--English
Prairie, 81.
_Weld's Excursion from Philadelphia to Washington._
Schuylkil River, Chester, Brandywine River, Wilmington,
82--Elkton, Susquehannah River, Havre de Grace, Baltimore, 83.
_Description of Washington._
Origin, situation, form, Streets, Inhabitants, Capitol,
85--President's House, Post-Office, River Potomac,
Tiber, 86--Markets, Shops, Inhabitants, Congress,
Senate, 87--Representative Chamber, George Town,
88--Alexandria, Mount Vernon, 89.
_Weld's Journey from Washington to Richmond in Virginia._
Country, 89--Hoe's Ferry, Rappahannoc River, Plantations in
Virginia, 90--Tappahannoc or Hob's Hole, Urbanna, 91--Fires
in the Woods, 92--Gloucester, York, Williamsburgh, College,
93--Hampton, Chesapeak, Norfolk, 94--Dismal Swamp, James River,
95--Taverns, Petersburgh, Richmond, 96--Falls of the James
River, Inhabitants of Virginia, 97.
_Weld's Return from Richmond to Philadelphia._
South-west or Green Mountains, Country and Animals, 98--
Fire-flies, 99--Seat of Mr. Jefferson, Lynchburgh, 100--Peaks
of Otter, Fincastle, Soil and Climate, 101--Sweet Springs,
Jackson's Mountains, Rockbridge, 102--Maddison's Cave,
Emigrants, 103--Lexington, Staunton, Winchester, Potomac
River, Stupendous Scene, 104--Frederic, Philadelphia, 105.
_Michaux's Journey from Pittsburgh to Lexington._
Wheeling, River Ohio, 106--Marietta, Point Pleasant,
107--Gallipoli, Alexandria, 108--Limestone, Kentucky,
109--Inhabitants, 110--Mays Lick, Lexington, 111--
Louisville, 112--Caverns in Kentucky, 114.
_Michaux's Journey from Lexington to Charleston._
Vineyards, 114--Kentucky River, Harrodsburgh, Mulder Hill,
Barrens or Kentucky Meadows, 115--Nasheville, 117--Cairo,
Fort Blount, 118--West Point, Cherokee Indians, 119--
Kingstown, 120--Knoxville, Holstein River, Tavern, Macby,
121--Woods, Log-houses, Greenville, Jonesborough, 122--
Alleghany Mountains, Linneville Mountains, Morganton,
123--Lincolnton, 124--Chester, Winesborough, Columbia,
125--Charleston, 126.
_Description of Charleston._
Situation, Quays, 126--Streets, Houses, 127--Public Buildings,
Trees in the Streets, Inhabitants, 128--Vauxhall, Hotels,
Market, Provisions, 129--Marshes, 130.
Adjacent country, 130--Raleigh, Newbern, Savannah, in Georgia,
131.
_Bartram's Excursion from Charleston into Georgia and West
Florida._
Augusta, 133--Country, fossil shells, Fort James, Dartmouth,
134--Indian monuments, 135--Cherokee Settlements, Sinica, 135
--Keowe, Tugilo river, 136--Sticoe, Cowe, 137--Cherokee
Indians, 138--Fort James, 140--Country near the Oakmulge and
Flint rivers, Uche, 141--Apalachula, Coweta, Talasse,
Coloome, 142--Alabama river, Mobile, Pensacola, 144--Mobile,
Pearl river, Manchac, Mississippi river, 145--Mobile, Taensa,
146--Tallapoose river, Alabama, Mucclasse, Apalachula river,
Chehau, Usseta, 147--Oakmulge, Ocone river, Ogeche, Augusta,
Savannah, 148.
_Mr. Bartram's Journey from Savannah into East Florida._
Sunbury, 148--Fort Barrington, St. Ille's, 149--Savannahs
near river St. Mary, River St. Juan, or St. John, Cowford,
150--Plantation, 151--Indian Village, 152 Charlotia or
Rolle's Town, Mount Royal, 153--Lake George, Spalding's
Upper Store, 154--Adventure with Alligators, 155--Alligators'
nests, 157--Lake, Forests, Plantation, Hot Fountain, Upper
Store, Cuscowilla, 159--Sand-hills, Half-way Pond, Turtles,
Lake of Cuscowilla, 160--Alachuas and Creek or Siminole
Indians, 161--Talahasochte, Little St. John's River, 162.
_The River Mississippi._
Source, Length, Banks, 165--Tides, New Orleans, 166--Adjacent
Country, Natchez, 167--Navigation of the Mississippi, 168--
New Madrid, the Ohio, Illinois Territory, Kaskaski, 169--St.
Louis, 170.
_Pike's Voyage from St. Louis to the Source of the Mississippi._
St. Louis, 170--Illinois River, Buffalo River, Sac Indians,
Salt River, 171--Rapids des Moines, Jowa River, Jowa Indians,
Rock River, 172--Turkey River, Reynard Indians, Ouisconsin
River, Pecant or Winebagoe Indians, 173--Sioux Indians,
Prairie des Chiens, 174--Sauteaux or Chippeway River, Scenery
of the Mississippi, Sioux village, Canoe. River, St. Croix
River, 176--Cannon River, Indian Burying-place, Falls of St.
Anthony, 177--Rum River, Red Cedar Lake, Beaver Islands,
Corbeau or Raven River, 178--Pine Creek, Lake Clear, Clear
River, Winter Quarters, Indians, 179--Falls of the Painted
Rock, Pine River, Chippeway Indians, 180--Leech Lake, Pine
Creek, 181--Indians, Falls of St. Anthony, Prairie des Chiens,
182--Sioux and Puant Indians, Salt River, 183.
WESTERN TERRITORY OF AMERICA 184
_The River Missouri._
_Lewis and Clarke's Voyage from St. Louis to the Source of
the Missouri._
St. Louis, Osage River, Osage Indians, Big Manitou Creek,
185--Kanzes River, Platte River, 186--Pawnee Indians, Ottoe
and Missouri Indians, 187--Indian Villages 188--Water of the
Missouri, Fruit, Yankton Indians, 189--Teton Indians, 191--
Ricara Indians, Chayenne River, 194--Le Boulet or Cannon-ball
River, Mandan Indians, 196--Winter Quarters, 197--Fort Mandan,
Ahanaway and Minnetaree Indians, 198--Knife River, 199--Little
Missouri, Indian Burying-place, 201--Yellow Stone River, 202
--Porcupine River, Muscle-shell River, 203--Great Falls of
the Missouri, 205--Maria's River, 207--Three Forks of the
Missouri, 209--Source of the Missouri, 210.
_Lewis and Clarke's Travels from the Source of the Missouri
to the Pacific Ocean._
Rocky Mountains, 210--Mountainous Country, Indians, 211--
Travellers' Rest Creek, Koos-koos-kee River, Chopunnish
Indians, 213--Shoshonees and Snake Indians, 214--Pierced-nose
Indians, 217--Indian Fisheries, 218--Solkuk Indians, 218--
Columbia or Oregan River, Echeloot Indians, 219--The Pacific
Ocean, Indians in the Vicinity of the Coast, 221.
_Lewis and Clarke's Return from the Pacific Ocean to St. Louis._
Rocky Mountains, 225--Travellers' Rest Creek, Clarke's River,
Maria's River, Missouri River, 226--Yellow-stone River,
Jefferson's River, 227--La Charette, St. Louis, 228.
_Pike's Journey from St. Louis, through Louisiana to Santa
Fé, New Spain._
Missouri River, St. Charles, Osage River, Gravel River, 229
--Yungar River, Grand Fork, Osage Indians, 230--Kanzes River,
Pawnee Indians, 231--Arkansaw River, 232--Indians, 233--Grand
Pawnees, Rio Colorado, 234--Rio del Norte, 236--Santa Fé, 237.
MEXICO or NEW SPAIN in general 239
_Pike's Journey from Santa Fé to Montelovez._
St. Domingo, Albuquerque, Sibilleta, 247--Passo del Norte,
Carracal, Chihuahua, 248--Florida River, Mauperne, Hacienda
of Polloss, 249--Montelovez, Durango, 250.
_Description of the City of Mexico._
Situation, 250--Ancient City, 251--Quarters, Teocallis or
Temples, 252--School of Mines, Valley of Mexico, 253--Streets,
Aqueducts, Dikes or Embankments, Public Edifices, 254--Public
Walk, Markets, Chinampas, 255--Hill of Chapoltepec, Lakes of
Tezcuco and Chalco, 256.
_Description of some of the most important Places in Mexico._
Tlascala, 256--Puebla, Cholula, Vera Cruz, 257--Xalapa,
Volcano of Orizaba, Coffre de Perote, Volcano of Tuxtla,
Papantla, Indian Pyramid, 259--Acapulco, 260--Guaxaca or
Oaxaca, Intendancy of Yucatan, Bay of Campeachy, 261--
Merida, Campeachy, Honduras, Balize, 262--Nicaragua, Yare
River, 263--Leon de Nicaragua, 264.
BRITISH AMERICAN DOMINIONS 264
_Nova Scotia_ in general ib.
Halifax 265
_Canada_ in general 265
_Description of Quebec._
Situation, Cape Diamond, 267--Lower Town, Houses, Streets,
Mountain Street, 268--Shops or Stores, Taverns, Public
Buildings, Upper Town, 269--Charitable Institutions, Wolf's
Cove, Heights of Abram, Markets, 270--Maple Sugar, Fruit,
Climate, 271.
_Mr. Hall's Journey from Quebec to Montreal._
Jacques Cartier Bridge, Cataract, Country Houses, 272--
Post-houses, Trois Rivieres, River St. Maurice, Falls of
Shawinne Gamme, Beloeil Mountain, 273--Beloeil, Montreal
Mountain, 274.
_Description of Montreal._
Situation, Buildings, Streets, Square, Upper and Lower Towns,
Suburbs, Religious and Charitable Institutions, 275--Public
Edifices, Parade, 276--Markets, Climate, 277.
_Route from Montreal to Fort Chepewyan._
La Chine, 277--St. Ann's, Lake of the two Mountains, Utawas
River, Portage de Chaudiere, 278--Lake Nepisingui, Nepisinguis
Indians, Riviere de François, Lake Huron, Lake Superior,
Algonquin Indians, 279--Grande Portage, River Au Tourt, 280--
Lake Winipic, Cedar Lake, Mud Lake, Sturgeon Lake, Saskatchiwine
River, Beaver Lake, Lake of the Hills, Fort Chepewyan, 281.
_Account of the Knisteneaux and Chepewyan Indians._
Knisteneaux, 282--Chepewyans, 285.
_Mackenzie's Voyage from Fort Chepewyan, along the Rivers
to the Frozen Ocean._
Fort Chepewyan, 288--Lake of the Hills, Slave River, Great
Slave Lake, 289--Red-knife Indians, 290--Slave and Dog-rib
Indians, 291--Quarreller Indians, 294--North Frozen Ocean,
Whale Island, 295.
_Mackenzie's Return from the Frozen Ocean to Fort Chepewyan._
Indians, 296--Account of the country, 297--Woods and Mountains,
298--Fort Chepewyan.
_Description of the Western Coast of America, from California
to Behring's Strait._
California, Gulf of California, Missionary Establishment,
Indians of California, 299--Monterey, New Albion, Nootka
Sound, 300--Indians of Nootka Sound, 301--Port St. François,
Indians, Prince William's Sound, 302--Cook's River, Alyaska,
Cape Newenham, 303--Behring's Strait, Cape Prince of Wales,
304.
DAVIS'S STRAIT and BAFFIN'S BAY 304
_Ross's Voyage of Discovery, for the purpose of exploring
Baffin's Bay, and enquiring into the Probability of a
North-west Passage._
Cape Farewell, Icebergs, Disco Island, 305,--Kron Prin's
Island, Danish Settlement, Wayat's or Hare Island, Four Island
Point, Danish Factory, 306,--Esquimaux of Greenland, Danger
from the Ice, Whales, 307--Arctic Highlanders, 308--Arctic
Highlands, Prince Regent's Bay, 315--Sea Fowls, Crimson Snow,
Cape Dudley Digges, 317--Wolstenholme and Whale Sounds, Sir
Thomas Smith's Sound, Alderman Jones's Sound, Lancaster Sound,
Croker Mountains, 318, 319.
_Parry's Voyage for the Discovery of a North-west Passage._
Lancaster's Sound, Possession Bay, 319--Croker's Bay,
Wellington Channel, Barrow's Straits, 320--Bounty Cape, Bay
of the Hecla and Griper, Melville Island, 321--Cape Providence,
North Georgian Islands, 322--Winter Quarters at Melville
Island, 323--Cape Providence, Lancaster's Sound, Baffin's Bay,
the Clyde, Esquimaux Indians, 333.
LABRADOR in general 336
GREENLAND in general 339
_Explanation of the Plates in this Volume._
Plate Page
_Vignette_, Rock Bridge 102
1. Washington (_Frontispiece_) 85
Pyramid of Cholula, near Mexico 257
New York 13
2. Philadelphia, Second Street 46
Philadelphia, United States Bank 48
Philadelphia, High Street 46
3. Quebec 268
Cataract of Niagara 37
Montreal 276
The Binder is requested to place the Frontispiece opposite to the Title,
and the above Explanation, with the other Plates, together, after the
Table of Contents.
[Illustration: _Plate 2._
PHILADELPHIA, SECOND STREET.
UNITED STATES BANK.
PHILADELPHIA, HIGH STREET.]
[Illustration: _Plate 3._
QUEBEC.
CATARACT OF NIAGARA.
MONTREAL.]
TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA,
FROM
MODERN WRITERS.
First Day's Instruction.
NORTH AMERICA.
This division of the great western continent is more than five thousand
miles in length; and, in some latitudes, is four thousand miles wide. It
was originally discovered by Europeans, about the conclusion of the
fifteenth century; and, a few years afterwards, a party of Spanish
adventurers obtained possession of some of the southern districts. The
inhabitants of these they treated like wild animals, who had no property
in the woods through which they roamed. They expelled them from their
habitations, established settlements; and, taking possession of the
country in the name of their sovereign, they appropriated to themselves
the choicest and most valuable provinces. Numerous other settlements
have since been established in different parts of the country; and the
native tribes have nearly been exterminated, while the European
population and the descendants of Europeans, have so much increased
that, in the United States only, there are now more than ten millions of
white inhabitants.
The _surface_ of the country is extremely varied. A double range of
mountains extends through the United States, in a direction, from
south-west to north-east; and another range traverses nearly the whole
western regions, from north to south. No part of the world is so well
watered with rivulets, rivers, and lakes, as this. Some of the _lakes_
resemble inland seas. Lake Superior is nearly 300 miles long, and is
more than 150 miles wide; and lakes Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario, and
Champlain, are all of great size. The principal navigable _rivers_ of
America are the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Missouri, and the Illinois.
Of these the _Mississippi_ flows from the north, and falls into the Gulf
of Mexico. The _Ohio_ flows into the Mississippi: it extends in a
north-easterly direction, and receives fifteen large streams, all of
which are navigable. The _Missouri_ and the _Illinois_ also flow into
the Mississippi: and, by means of these several rivers, a commercial
intercourse is effected, from the ocean to vast distances into the
interior of the country. Other important rivers are the _Delaware_ and
the _Hudson_, in the United States, and the _St. Lawrence_, in Canada.
The _bays_ and harbours of North America are numerous, and many of them
are well adapted for the reception and protection of ships. _Hudson's
Bay_ is of greater extent than the whole Baltic sea. _Delaware Bay_ is
60 miles long; and, in some parts, is so wide, that a vessel in the
middle of it cannot be seen from either bank. _Chesapeak Bay_ extends
270 miles inland. The _Bay of Honduras_ is on the south-eastern side of
New Spain, and is noted for the trade in logwood and mahogany, which is
carried on upon its banks.
The _natural productions_ of North America are, in many respects,
important. The forests abound in valuable timber-trees; among which are
enumerated no fewer than forty-two different species of oaks.
Fruit-trees of various kinds are abundant; and, in many places, grapes
grow wild: the other vegetable productions are numerous and important.
Among the quadrupeds are enumerated some small species of tigers, deer,
elks of immense size, bisons, bears, wolves, foxes, beavers, porcupines,
and opossums. The American forests abound in birds; and in those of
districts that are distant from the settlements of men, wild turkeys,
and several species of grouse are very numerous. In some of the forests
of Canada, passenger-pigeons breed in myriads; and, during their
periodical flight, from one part of the country to another, their
numbers darken the air. The coasts, bays, and rivers, abound in fish;
and various species of reptiles and serpents are known to inhabit the
interior of the southern districts. Among the mountains most of the
important metals are found: iron, lead, and copper, are all abundant;
and coals are not uncommon.
THE UNITED STATES.
That part of North America which is under the government of the United
States, now constitutes one of the most powerful and most enlightened
nations in the world. The inhabitants enjoy the advantage of a vast
extent of territory, over which the daily increasing population is able,
with facility, to expand itself; and much of this territory, though
covered with forests, is capable of being cleared, and many parts of it
are every day cleared, for the purposes of cultivation.
The origin of the United States may be dated from the time of the
formation of an English colony in Virginia, about the year 1606. Other
English colonies were subsequently formed; and, during one hundred and
fifty years, these gradually increased in strength and prosperity, till,
at length, the inhabitants threw off their dependance upon England, and
established an independent republican government. This, after a long and
expensive war, was acknowledged by Great Britain, in a treaty signed at
Paris on the 30th of November, 1782.
The _boundaries_ of the States were determined by this treaty; but, some
important acquisitions of territory have since been made. In April,
1803, _Louisiana_ was ceded to them by France; and this district, in
its most limited extent, includes a surface of country, which, with the
exception of Russia, is equal to the whole of Europe. _Florida_, by its
local position, is connected with the United States: it belonged to
Spain, but, in the year 1820, it was annexed to the territories of the
republic.
Geographical writers have divided the United States into three regions:
the _lowlands_ or flat country; the highlands, and the mountains. Of
these, the first extend from the Atlantic ocean to the falls of the
great rivers. The _highlands_ reach from the falls to the foot of the
mountains; and the _mountains_ stretch nearly through the whole country,
in a direction from south-west to north-east. Their length is about 900
miles, and their breadth from 60 to 200. They may be considered as
separated into two distinct chains; of which the eastern chain has the
name of _Blue Mountains_, and the western is known, at its southern
extremity, by the name of _Cumberland_ and _Gauley Mountains_, and
afterwards by that of the _Alleghany Mountains_. The Alleghanies are
about 250 miles distant from the shore of the Atlantic. Towards the
north there are other eminences, called the _Green Mountains_ and the
_White Mountains_. The loftiest summits of the whole are said to be
about 7000 feet in perpendicular height above the level of the sea.
Few countries can boast a greater general fertility of _soil_ than North
America. The soil of the higher lands consists, for the most part, of a
brown loamy earth, and a yellowish sandy clay. Marine shells, and other
substances, in a fossil state, are found at the depth of eighteen or
twenty feet below the surface of the ground. Some of these are of very
extraordinary description. In the year 1712, several bones and teeth of
a vast nondescript quadruped, were dug up at Albany in the state of New
York. By the ignorant inhabitants these were considered to be the
remains of gigantic human bodies. In 1799 the bones of other individuals
of this animal, which has since been denominated the _Mastodon_ or
_American Mammoth_, were discovered beneath the surface of the ground,
in the vicinity of Newburgh, on the river Hudson. Induced by the hope of
being able to obtain a perfect skeleton, a Mr. Peale, of Philadelphia,
purchased these bones, with the right of digging for others. He was
indefatigable in his exertions, but was unable, for some time, to
procure any more. He made an attempt in a morass about twelve miles
distant from Newburgh, where an entire set of ribs was found, but
unaccompanied by any other remains. In another morass, in Ulster county,
he found several bones; among the rest a complete under jaw, and upper
part of the head. From the whole of the fragments that he obtained, he
was enabled to form two skeletons. One of these, under the name of
mammoth, was exhibited in London, about a year afterwards. Its height at
the shoulder was eleven feet; its whole length was fifteen feet; and its
weight about one thousand pounds. This skeleton was furnished with large
and curved ivory tusks, different in shape from those of an elephant,
but similar in quality. In 1817 another skeleton was dug up, from the
depth of only four feet, in the town of _Goshen_, near Chester. The
tusks of this were more than nine feet in length.
In a region so extensive as the United States, there must necessarily be
a great variety of _climate_. In general, the heat of summer and the
cold of winter are more intense, and the transitions, from the one to
the other, are more sudden than in the old continent. The predominant
winds are from the west; and the severest cold is felt from the
north-west. Between the forty-second and forty-fifth degrees of
latitude, the same parallel as the south of France, the winters are very
severe. During winter, the ice of the rivers is sufficiently strong to
bear the passage of horses and waggons; and snow is so abundant, as to
admit the use of sledges. In Georgia the winters are mild. South
Carolina is subject to immoderate heat, to tremendous hurricanes, and
to terrific storms of thunder and lightning.
The United States are usually classed in three divisions: the northern,
the middle, and the southern. The _northern states_ have the general
appellation of _New England_: they are Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The _middle states_ are New
York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. The
_southern states_ are Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tenessee, and Louisiana.
Besides these, the United States claim the government of the
_territories_ of the Illinois, Alabama, and Mississippi. By a public
ordinance, passed in the year 1787, a territory cannot be admitted into
the American Union, until its population amounts to 60,000 free
inhabitants. In the mean time, however, it is subject to a regular
provisional form of government. The administration of this is entrusted
to a governor, who is appointed by the president and congress of the
United States; and who is invested with extensive powers, for protection
of the interests of the States, and the observance of a strict faith
towards the Indians, in the exchange of commodities, and the purchase of
lands.
The _government_ of the United States is denominated a "Federal
Republic." Each state has a constitution for the management of its own
internal affairs; and, by the federal constitution, they are all formed
into one united body. The legislative power is vested in a _congress_ of
delegates from the several states; this congress is divided into two
distinct bodies, the _senate_ and the _house of representatives_. The
members of the latter are elected every two years, by the people; and
the senators are elected every six years, by the state legislatures. A
senator must be thirty years of age, an inhabitant of the state in which
he is elected, and must have been nine years a citizen of the United
States: the present number of senators is thirty-eight. The executive
power is vested in a _president_, who is chosen every four years. In
the election both of members of congress, and of the president of the
United States, it is asserted, that there is much manoeuvering, and
much corrupt influence exerted. In the electioneering addresses of the
defeated parties, these are, perhaps, as often made a subject of
complaint and reproach, as they are in those of defeated candidates for
the representation of counties or boroughs in the British House of
Commons.
Washington is the seat of government; and the president, when there,
lives in a house destined for his use, and furnished at the expense of
the nation. His annual salary is 25,000 dollars, about £.5600 sterling.
The president, in virtue of his office, is commander-in-chief of the
army and navy of the United States, and also of the militia, whenever it
is called into actual service. He is empowered to make treaties, to
appoint ambassadors, ministers, consuls, judges of the supreme court,
and all military and other officers whose appointments are not otherwise
provided for by the law.
The _national council_ is composed of the President and Vice President;
and the heads of the treasury, war, navy, and post-office establishment.
The _inhabitants_ of the United States (says Mr. Warden[1]) have not
that uniform character which belongs to ancient nations, upon whom, time
and the stability of institutions, have imprinted a particular and
individual character. The general physiognomy is as varied as its origin
is different. English, Irish, Germans, Scotch, French, and Swiss, all
retain some characteristic of their ancient country.
The account given by Mr. Birkbeck is somewhat different from this. He
asserts that, as far as he had an opportunity of judging, the native
inhabitants of the towns are much alike; nine out of ten (he says) are
tall and long limbed, approaching or even exceeding six feet. They are
seen in pantaloons and Wellington boots; either marching up and down,
with their hands in their pockets, or seated in chairs poised on the
hind feet, and the backs rested against the walls. If a hundred
Americans, of any class, were to seat themselves, ninety-nine (observes
this gentleman) would shuffle their chairs to the true distance, and
then throw themselves back against the nearest prop. The women exhibit a
great similarity of tall, relaxed forms, with consistent dress and
demeanour; and are not remarkable for sprightliness of manners.
Intellectual culture has not yet made much progress among the generality
of either sex; but the men, from their habit of travelling, and their
consequent intercourse with strangers, have greatly the advantage, in
the means of acquiring information. Mr. Birkbeck says that, in every
village and town, as he passed along, he observed groups of young
able-bodied men, who seemed to be as perfectly at leisure as the
loungers of Europe. This love of indolence, where labour is so
profitable, is a strange affection. If these people be asked why they so
much indulge in it, they answer, that "they live in freedom; and need
not work, like the English."
In the interior of the United States, and in the back settlements,
_land_ may be purchased, both of individuals and of the government, at
very low rates. The price of uncleared land, or of land covered with
trees, and not yet in a state fit for cultivation, is, in many
instances, as low as two dollars an acre. The public lands are divided
into townships of six miles square; each of which is subdivided into
thirty-six sections, of one mile square, or 640 acres; and these are
usually offered for sale, in quarter sections, of 160 acres. The
purchase money may be paid by four equal instalments; the first within
forty days, and the others within two, three, and four years after the
completion of the purchase.
Mr. Birkbeck thus describes the mode in which _towns_ _are formed_ in
America. On any spot, (says he,) where a few settlers cluster together,
attracted by ancient neighbourhood, or by the goodness of the soil, or
vicinity to a mill, or by whatever other cause, some enterprising
proprietor perhaps finds, in his section, what he deems a good site for
a town: he has it surveyed, and laid out in lots, which he sells, or
offers to sale by auction. When these are disposed of, the new town
assumes the name of its founder: a store-keeper builds a little framed
store, and sends for a few cases of goods; and then a tavern starts up,
which becomes the residence of a doctor and a lawyer, and the boarding
house of the store-keeper, as well as the resort of the traveller. Soon
follow a blacksmith, and other handicraftsmen, in useful succession. A
school-master, who is also the minister of religion, becomes an
important acquisition to this rising community. Thus the town proceeds,
if it proceed at all, with accumulating force, until it becomes the
metropolis of the neighbourhood. Hundreds of these speculations may have
failed, but hundreds prosper; and thus trade begins and thrives, as
population increases around favourite spots. The town being established,
a cluster of inhabitants, however small it may be, acts as a stimulus on
the cultivation of the neighbourhood: redundancy of supply is the
consequence, and this demands a vent. Water-mills rise on the nearest
navigable streams, and thus an effectual and constant market is secured
for the increasing surplus of produce. Such are the elements of that
accumulating mass of commerce which may, hereafter, render this one of
the most important and most powerful countries in the world.
Though the Americans boast of the freedom which they personally enjoy,
they, most inconsistently, allow the importation and employment of
_slaves_; and, with such unjust detestation are these unhappy beings
treated, that a negro is not permitted to eat at the same table, nor
even to frequent the same place of worship, as a white person. The white
_servants_, on the contrary, esteem themselves on an equality with
their masters. They style themselves "helps," and will not suffer
themselves to be called "servants." When they speak to their masters or
mistresses, they either call them by their names; or they substitute the
term "boss," for that of master. All this, however, is a difference
merely of words; for the Americans exhibit no greater degree of feeling,
nor are they at all more considerate in their conduct towards this class
of society, than the inhabitants of other nations. Indeed the contrary
is very often the case. Most persons, in America, engage their servants
by the week, and no enquiry is ever made relative to character, as is
customary with us.
The _constitution_ of the United States guarantees freedom of speech and
liberty of the press. By law all the inhabitants are esteemed equal. The
chief military strength of the country is in the militia; and, whenever
this is embodied, every male inhabitant beyond a certain age, is
compellable either to bear arms, or to pay an equivalent to be excused
from this service. Trial by jury is to be preserved inviolate. A
republican form of government is guaranteed to all the states, and
hereditary titles and distinctions are prohibited by the law. With
regard to religion, it is stipulated that no law shall ever be passed to
establish any particular form of religion, or to prevent the free
exercise of it; and, in the United States, no religious test is required
as a qualification to any office of public trust.
In _commerce_ and _navigation_ the progress of the States has been rapid
beyond example. Besides the natural advantages of excellent harbours,
extensive inland bays, and navigable rivers, the Americans assert that
their trade is not fettered by monopolies, nor by exclusive privileges
of any description. Goods or merchandise circulate through the whole
country free of duty; and a full drawback, or restitution of the duties
of importation, is granted upon articles exported to a foreign port, in
the course of the year in which they have been imported. Commerce is
here considered a highly honourable employment; and, in the sea-port
towns, all the wealthiest members of the community are merchants. Nearly
all the materials for manufactures are produced in this country. Fuel is
inexhaustible; and the high wages of the manufacturers, and the want of
an extensive capital, alone prevent the Americans from rivalling the
English in trade. The produce of cultivation in America is of almost
every variety that can be named: wheat, maize, rye, oats, barley, rice,
and other grain; apples, pears, cherries, peaches, grapes, currants,
gooseberries, plums, and other fruit, and a vast variety of vegetables.
Lemons, oranges, and tropical fruits are raised in the southern States.
Hops, flax, and hemp are abundant. Tobacco is an article of extensive
cultivation in Virginia, Maryland, and some other districts. Cotton and
sugar are staple commodities in several of the states. The northern and
eastern states are well adapted for grazing, and furnish a great number
of valuable horses, and of cattle and sheep; and an abundance of butter
and cheese.
* * * * *
It will be possible to describe nearly all the most important places
within the limits of the United States, by reciting, in succession, the
narratives of different travellers through this interesting country. In
so doing, however, it may perhaps be found requisite, in a few
instances, to separate the parts of their narrations, for the purpose of
more methodical illustration; but this alteration of arrangement will
not often occur.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Statistical, political, and historical account of the United
States.
Second Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_An account of New York and its vicinity. From Sketches of America by_
HENRY BRADSHAW FEARON.
Mr. Fearon was deputed by several friends in England, to visit the
United States, for the purpose of obtaining information, by which they
should regulate their conduct, in emigrating from their native country,
to settle in America. He arrived in the bay of New York, about the
beginning of August, 1817.
Here every object was interesting to him. The pilot brought on board the
ship the newspapers of the morning. In these, many of the advertisements
had, to Mr. Fearon, the character of singularity. One of them,
announcing a play, terminated thus: "gentlemen are informed that no
smoking is allowed in the theatre." Several sailing boats passed, with
respectable persons in them, many of whom wore enormously large straw
hats, turned up behind. At one o'clock, the vessel was anchored close to
the city; and a great number of persons were collected on the wharf to
witness her arrival. Many of these belonged to the labouring class;
others were of the mercantile and genteeler orders. Large straw hats
prevailed, and trowsers were universal. The general costume of these
persons was inferior to that of men in the same rank of life in England:
their whole appearance was loose, slovenly, careless, and not remarkable
for cleanliness. The wholesale stores, which front the river, had not
the most attractive appearance imaginable. The carts were long and
narrow, and each was drawn by one horse. The hackney-coaches were open
at the sides, an arrangement well suited to this warm climate; and the
charge was about one fourth higher than in London.
This city, when approached from the sea, presents an appearance that is
truly beautiful. It stands at the extreme point of Manhattan, or York
island, which is thirteen miles long, and from one to two miles wide;
and the houses are built from shore to shore. Vessels of any burden can
come close up to the town, and lie there in perfect safety, in a natural
harbour formed by the _East_ and _Hudson's rivers_. New York contains
120,000 inhabitants, and is, indisputably, the most important commercial
city in America.
The _streets_ through which Mr. Fearon passed, to a boarding-house in
State-street, were narrow and dirty. The _Battery_, however, is a
delightful walk, at the edge of the bay; and several of the houses in
State-street are as large as those in Bridge-street, Blackfriars,
London. At the house in which Mr. Fearon resided, the hours of eating
were, breakfast, eight o'clock; dinner half-past three, tea seven, and
supper ten; and the whole expence of living amounted to about eighteen
dollars per week.
The _street population_ of New York has an aspect very different from
that of London, or the large towns in England. One striking feature of
it is formed by the number of blacks, many of whom are finely dressed:
the females are ludicrously so, generally in white muslin, with
artificial flowers and pink shoes. Mr. Fearon saw very few well-dressed
white ladies; but this was a time of the year when most of them were
absent at the springs of Balston and Saratoga, places of fashionable
resort, about 200 miles from New York.
All the native inhabitants of this city have sallow complexions. To have
colour in the cheeks is here considered a criterion by which a person is
known to be an Englishman. The young men are tall, thin, and solemn:
they all wear trowsers, and most of them walk about in loose great
coats.
There are, in New York, many _hotels_; some of which are on an extensive
scale. The City Hotel is as large as the London Tavern. The dining-room
and some of the private apartments seem to have been fitted up
regardless of expense. The _shops_, or stores, as they are here called,
have nothing in their exterior to recommend them to notice: there is not
even an attempt at tasteful display. In this city the linen and
woollen-drapers expose great quantities of their goods, loose on boxes,
in the street, without any precaution against theft. This practice, a
proof of their carelessness, is at the same time an evidence as to the
political state of society which is worthy of attention. Great masses of
the population cannot be unemployed, or robbery would be inevitable.
There are, in New York, many excellent private dwellings, built of red
painted brick, which gives them a peculiarly neat and clean appearance.
In Broadway and Wall-street, trees are planted along the side of the
pavement. The City Hall is a large and elegant building, in which the
courts of law are held. Most of the _streets_ are dirty: in many of them
sawyers prepare their wood for sale, and all are infested with pigs.
On the whole, a walk through New York will disappoint an Englishman:
there is an apparent carelessness, a laziness, an unsocial indifference,
which freezes the blood and disgusts the judgment. An evening stroll
along Broadway, when the lamps are lighted, will please more than one at
noonday. The shops will look rather better, but the manners of the
proprietors will not greatly please an Englishman: their cold
indifference may be mistaken, by themselves, for independence, but no
person of thought and observation will ever concede to them that they
have selected a wise mode of exhibiting that dignified feeling.
[There is, in New York, a seminary for education, called _Columbia
College_. This institution was originally named "King's College," and
was founded in the year 1754. Its annual revenue is about 4000 dollars.
A botanic garden, situated about four miles from the city, was, not long
ago, purchased by the state, of Dr. Hosach, for 73,000 dollars, and
given to the college. The faculty of medicine, belonging to this
institution, has been incorporated under the title of "The College of
Physicians and Surgeons of the University of New York."]
The _Town Hall_ of this city is a noble building, of white marble; and
the space around it is planted and railed off. The interior appears to
be well arranged. In the rooms of the mayor and corporation, are
portraits of several governors of this state, and of some distinguished
officers. The state rooms and courts of justice are on the first floor.
In the immediate vicinity of the hall is an extensive building,
appropriated to the "New York Institution," the "Academy of fine Arts,"
and the "American Museum." There are also a state prison, an hospital,
and many splendid churches.
When a traveller surveys this city, and recollects that, but two
centuries since, the spot on which it stands was a wilderness, he cannot
but be surprised at its present comparative extent and opulence.
With regard to _trades_ in New York, Mr. Fearon remarks that building
appeared to be carried on to a considerable extent, and was generally
performed by contract. There were many timber, or lumber-yards, (as they
are here called,) but not on the same large and compact scale as in
England. Cabinet-work was neatly executed, and at a reasonable price.
Chair-making was an extensive business. Professional men, he says,
literally swarm in the United States; and lawyers are as common in New
York as paupers are in England. A gentleman, walking in the Broadway,
seeing a friend pass, called out to him, "Doctor!" and immediately
sixteen persons turned round, to answer the call. It is estimated that
there are, in New York, no fewer than 1500 spirit shops, yet the
Americans have not the character of being drunkards. There are several
large carvers' and gilders' shops; and glass-mirrors and picture-frames
are executed with taste and elegance. Plate-glass is imported from
France, Holland, and England. Booksellers' shops are extensive; but
English novels and poetry are the primary articles of a bookseller's
business. Many of the popular English books are here reprinted, but in a
smaller size, and on worse paper than the original. There are, in this
city, a few boarding-schools for ladies; but, in general, males and
females, of all ages, are educated at the same establishment. No species
of correction is allowed. Children, even at home, are perfectly
independent; subordination being foreign to the comprehension of all
persons in the United States.
The _rents of houses_ are here extremely high. Very small houses, in
situations not convenient for business, and containing, in the whole,
only six rooms, are worth from £.75 to £.80 per annum; and for similar
houses, in first-rate situations, the rents as high as from £.160 to
£.200 are paid. Houses like those in Oxford-street and the best part of
Holborn, are let for £.500 or £.600 pounds per annum.
_Provisions_ are somewhat cheaper than in London; but most of the
articles of clothing are dear, being chiefly of British manufacture.
With regard to _religion_ in the United States, there is legally the
most unlimited liberty. There is no established religion; but the
professors of the presbyterian and the episcopalian, or church of
England tenets, take the precedence, both in numbers and respectability.
Their ministers receive each from two to eight thousand dollars per
annum. All the churches are said to be well filled. The episcopalians,
though they do not form any part of the state, have their bishops and
other orders, as in England.
Mr. Fearon remarks, generally, respecting the United States, that every
industrious man may obtain a living; but that America is not the
political elysium which it has been so floridly described, and which the
imaginations of many have fondly anticipated.
In the _courts of law_ there appears to be a perfect equality between
the judge, the counsel, the jury, the tipstaff, and the auditors; and
Mr. Fearon was informed that great corruption exists in the minor
courts.
New York is called a "free state;" and it may perhaps be so termed
theoretically, or in comparison with its southern neighbours; but, even
here, there are multitudes of negroes in a state of slavery, and who are
bought and sold as cattle would be in England. And so degrading do the
white inhabitants consider it, to associate with blacks, that the latter
are absolutely excluded from all places of public worship, which the
whites attend. Even the most degraded white person will neither eat nor
walk with a negro.
_Long Island_ is a part of the state of New York, one hundred and twenty
miles in length, and twelve in breadth. It is chiefly occupied by
farmers; and is divided into two counties.
* * * * *
Mr. Fearon made several excursions into the state of _New Jersey_,
situated opposite to that of New York, and on the southern side of the
river _Hudson_. The valleys abound in black oaks, ash, palms, and poplar
trees. Oak and hickory-nut trees grow in situations which are
overflowed. The soil is not considered prolific. _Newark_ is a
manufacturing town, in this province, of considerable importance, and
delightfully situated. It contains many excellent houses, and a
population of about eight thousand persons, including slaves. Carriages
and chairs are here made in great numbers, chiefly for sale in the
southern markets.
For the purpose of visiting the property of a gentleman who resided in
the vicinity of _Fishkill_, a creek somewhat more than sixty miles from
New York, Mr. Fearon took his passage in a steam-boat. He paid for his
fare three dollars and a half, and the voyage occupied somewhat more
than eight hours. The vessel was of the most splendid description. It
contained one hundred and sixty beds; and the ladies had a distinct
cabin. On the deck were numerous conveniences, such as baggage-rooms,
smoking-rooms, &c. The general occupation, during the voyage, was
card-playing. In the houses of two gentlemen whom Mr. Fearon visited
near Fishkill, he was much gratified by the style of living, the
substantial elegance of the furniture, and the mental talents of the
company. Here he found both comfort and cleanliness, requisites which
are scarcely known in America.
In a general summary of his opinion respecting persons desirous of
emigrating from England to America, Mr. Fearon says, that the capitalist
may obtain, for his money, seven per cent. with good security. The
lawyer and the doctor will not succeed. An orthodox minister would do
so. The proficient in the fine arts will find little encouragement. The
literary man must starve. The tutor's posts are all occupied. The
shopkeeper may do as well, but not better than in London, unless he be a
man of superior talent, and have a large capital: for such requisites
there is a fine opening. The farmer must labour hard, and be but
scantily remunerated. The clerk and shopman will get but little more
than their board and lodging. Mechanics, whose trades are of the _first
necessity_, will do well: but men who are not mechanics, and who
understand only the cotton, linen, woollen, glass, earthenware, silk, or
stocking manufactories, cannot obtain employment. The labouring man will
do well; particularly if he have a wife and children who are capable of
contributing, not merely to the consuming, but also to the earning of
the common stock.
_Narrative of_ MR. FEARON'S _Journey from New York to Boston._
ON the 8th of September this gentleman left New York for Boston. After a
passage of twelve hours, the vessel in which he sailed arrived at _New
Haven_, a city in Connecticut, distant from New York, by water, about
ninety miles. This place has a population of about five thousand
persons, and has the reputation of ranking among the most beautiful
towns in the United States. [It is situated at the head of a bay,
between two rivers, and contains about five hundred houses, which are
chiefly built of wood, but on a regular plan: it has also several public
edifices, and about four thousand inhabitants. The harbour is spacious,
well protected, and has good anchorage. There is at New Haven a college,
superintended by a president, a professor in divinity, and three
tutors.]
From this place Mr. Fearon proceeded to _New London_, a small town on
the west side of the river Thames. Here he took a place in the coach for
Providence. American stages are a species of vehicles with which none in
England can be compared. They carry twelve passengers: none outside. The
coachman, or driver, sits inside with the company. In length they are
nearly equal to two English stages. Few of them go on springs. The sides
are open; the roof being supported by six small posts. The luggage is
carried behind, and in the inside. The seats are pieces of plain board;
and there are leathers which can be let down from the top, and which,
though useful as a protection against wet, are of little service in cold
weather.
The passengers breakfasted at _Norwich_, a manufacturing and trading
town, about fourteen miles from New London; and, at six o'clock in the
evening, they arrived at _New Providence_, the capital of Rhode Island,
having occupied thirteen hours in travelling only fifty miles. In the
general appearance of the country, Mr. Fearon had been somewhat
disappointed. All the houses within sight from the road were
farm-houses. He remarks that, in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the land
was stony, and the price of produce was not commensurate to that of
labour.
On entering Providence, Mr. Fearon was much pleased with the beauty of
the place. In appearance, it combined the attractions of Southampton and
Doncaster, in England. There are, in this town, an excellent
market-house, a workhouse, four or five public schools, an university
with a tolerable library, and an hospital. Several of the churches are
handsome, but they, as well as many private houses, are built of wood
painted white, and have green Venetian shutters. Mr. Fearon had not seen
a town either in America or Europe which bore the appearance of general
prosperity, equal to Providence. Ship and house-builders were fully
occupied, as indeed were all classes of mechanics. The residents of this
place are chiefly native Americans; for foreign emigrants seem never to
think of New England. Rent and provisions are here much lower than in
New York.
At _Pawtucket_, four miles from Providence, are thirteen cotton
manufactories; six of which are on a large scale. Mr. Fearon visited
three of them. They had excellent machinery; but not more than one half
of this was in operation, and the persons employed in all the
manufactories combined, were not equal in number to those at one of
moderate size in Lancashire.
The road from Providence to Boston is much better than that which Mr.
Fearon had already passed from New London. The aspect of the country
also was improved; but there was nothing in either, as to mere
appearance, which would be inviting to an inhabitant of England.
From its irregularity, and from other circumstances, _Boston_ is much
more like an English town than New York. The names are English, and the
inhabitants are by no means so uniformly sallow, as they are in many
other parts of America. This town is considered the head quarters of
Federalism in politics, and of Unitarianism in religion. It contains
many rich families. The Bostonians are also the most enlightened, and
the most hospitable people whom Mr. Fearon had yet seen in America:
they, however, in common with all New Englanders, have the character of
being greater sharpers, and more generally dishonourable, than the
natives of other sections of the Union.
The _Athæneum public library_, under the management of Mr. Shaw, is a
valuable establishment. It contained, at this time, 18,000 volumes, four
thousand of which were the property of the secretary of state.
The society in Boston is considered better than that in New York. Many
of the richer families live in great splendour, and in houses little
inferior to those of Russell-square, London. Distinctions here exist to
an extent rather ludicrous under a free and popular government: there
are the first class, second class, third class, and the "old families."
Titles, too, are diffusely distributed.
Boston is not a thriving, that is, not an increasing town. It wants a
fertile back country; and it is too far removed from the western states
to have much trade.
On an eminence, in the Mall, (a fine public walk,) is built the _State
House_, in which the legislature holds its meetings. The view from the
top of this building is peculiarly fine. The islands, the shipping, the
town, the hill and dale scenery, for a distance of thirty miles, present
an assemblage of objects which are beautifully picturesque. Boston was
the birth-place of Dr. Franklin, and in this town the first dawnings of
the American revolution broke forth. The heights of Dorchester and
Bunker's Hill are in its immediate vicinity.
On the 20th of September Mr. Fearon walked to _Bunker's Hill_. It is of
moderate height. The monument, placed here in commemoration of the
victory obtained by the English over the Americans, on the 17th of June,
1776, is of brick and wood, and without inscription.
[At _Cambridge_, four miles from Boston, is a college, called _Harvard
College_, in honour of the Rev. John Harvard of Charleston, who left to
it his library, and a considerable sum of money. This college is upon a
scale so large and liberal, as to consist of seven spacious buildings,
and to contain two hundred and fifty apartments for officers and
students. It has an excellent library of about 17,000 volumes, a
philosophical apparatus, and a museum of natural history. The average
number of students is about two hundred and sixty. Admission into this
college requires a previous knowledge of mathematics, Latin, and Greek.
All the students have equal rights; and each class has peculiar
instructors. Degrees are here conferred, as in the English universities;
and the period of study requisite for the degree of bachelor of arts is
four years. The professorships are numerous. Harvard College furnishes
instructors and teachers to the most distant parts of the union; and, in
general, for the extent of its funds, the richness of its library, the
number and character of its establishments, and the means it affords of
acquiring, not only an academical, but a professional education, it is
considered to be without an equal in the country. It is, however,
remarked, that this college is somewhat heretical in matters of
religion; as most of the theological students leave it disaffected
towards the doctrine of the Trinity.]
* * * * *
From this place we must return to New York, for the purpose of
accompanying Mr. Weld on a voyage up the river Hudson to Lake Champlain.
Third Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES, AND PART OF CANADA.
_Narrative of a Voyage up the River Hudson, from New York to Lake
Champlain. By_ ISAAC WELD, Esq.
Mr. Weld, having taken his passage in one of the sloops which trade on
the North or Hudson's river, betwixt New York and Albany, embarked on
the second of July. Scarcely a breath of air was stirring, and the tide
carried the vessel along at the rate of about two miles and a half an
hour. The prospects that were presented to his view, in passing up this
magnificent stream, were peculiarly grand and beautiful. In some places
the river expands to the breadth of five or six miles, in others it
narrows to that of a few hundred yards; and, in various parts, it is
interspersed with islands. From several points of view its course can be
traced to a great distance up the Hudson, whilst in others it is
suddenly lost to the sight, as it winds between its lofty banks. Here
mountains, covered with rocks and trees, rise almost perpendicularly out
of the water; there a fine champaign country presents itself, cultivated
to the very margin of the river, whilst neat farm-houses and distant
towns embellish the charming landscapes.
After sunset a brisk wind sprang up, which carried the vessel at the
rate of six or seven miles an hour for a considerable part of the night;
but for some hours it was requisite for her to lie at anchor, in a place
where the navigation of the river was intricate.
Early the next morning the voyagers found themselves opposite to _West
Point_, a place rendered remarkable in the history of the American war,
by the desertion of General Arnold, and the consequent death of the
unfortunate Major André. The fort stands about one hundred and fifty
feet above the level of the water, and on the side of a barren hill. It
had, at this time, a most melancholy aspect. Near West Point the
Highlands, as they are called, commence, and extend along the river, on
each side, for several miles.
About four o'clock in the morning of the 4th of July, the vessel reached
_Albany_, the place of its destination, one hundred and sixty miles
distant from New York. Albany is a city which, at this time, contained
about eleven hundred houses; and the number was fast increasing. In the
old part of the town, the streets were very narrow, and the houses bad.
The latter were all in the old Dutch taste, with the gable ends towards
the street, and ornamented at the top with large iron weather-cocks; but
in that part of the town which had been lately erected, the streets
were commodious, and many of the houses were handsome. Great pains had
been taken to have the streets well paved and lighted. In summer time
Albany is a disagreeable place; for it stands in a low situation on the
margin of the river, which here runs very slowly, and which, towards the
evening, often exhales clouds of vapour.
[In 1817, Albany is described, by Mr. Hall, to have had a gay and
thriving appearance, and nothing Dutch about it, except the names of
some of its inhabitants. Being the seat of government for New York, it
has a parliament-house, dignified with the name of Capitol. This stands
upon an eminence, and has a lofty columnar porch; but, as the building
is small, it seems to be all porch. There is a miserable little museum
here, which contains a group of waxen figures brought from France,
representing the execution of Louis the Sixteenth. Albany is now a place
of considerable trade; and, if a canal be completed betwixt this town
and Lake Erie, it will become a town of great importance.]
The 4th of July, the day of Mr. Weld's arrival at Albany, was the
anniversary of the declaration of American independence. About noon a
drum and trumpet gave notice that the rejoicings would immediately
commence; and, on walking to a hill, about a quarter of a mile from the
town, Mr. Weld saw sixty men drawn up, partly militia, partly
volunteers, partly infantry, partly cavalry. The last were clothed in
scarlet, and were mounted on horses of various descriptions. About three
hundred spectators attended. A few rounds from a three-pounder were
fired, and some volleys of small-arms. When the firing ceased, the
troops returned to the town, a party of militia officers, in uniform,
marching in the rear, under the shade of umbrellas, as the day was
excessively hot. Having reached the town, the whole body dispersed. The
volunteers and militia officers afterwards dined together, and thus
ended the rejoicings of the day.
Mr. Weld remained in Albany for a few days, and then set off for
Skenesborough, upon Lake Champlain, in a carriage hired for the purpose.
In about two hours he arrived at the small village of _Cohoz_, close to
which is a remarkable cataract in the _Mohawk River_. This river takes
its rise to the north-east of Lake Oneida, and, after a course of one
hundred and forty miles, joins the Hudson about ten miles above Albany.
The _Cohoz fall_ is about three miles from the mouth of this river, and
at a place where its width is about three hundred yards: a ledge of
rocks extends quite across the stream, and from the top of these the
water falls about fifty feet perpendicular: the line of the fall, from
one side of the river to the other, is nearly straight. The appearance
of this cataract varies much, according to the quantity of water: when
the river is full, the water descends in an unbroken sheet from one bank
to the other; but, at other times, the greater part of the rocks is left
uncovered.
From this place Mr. Weld proceeded along the banks of the _Hudson
River_, and, late in the evening, reached _Saratoga_, thirty-five miles
from Albany. This place contained about forty houses; but they were so
scattered, that it had not the least appearance of a town.
Near Saratoga, on the borders of a marsh, are several remarkable mineral
springs: one of these, in the crater of a rock, of pyramidical form, and
about five feet in height, is particularly curious. This rock seems to
have been formed by the petrifaction of the water; and all the other
springs are surrounded by similar petrifactions.
Of the works thrown up at Saratoga, during the war, by the British and
American armies, there were now scarcely any remains. The country around
was well cultivated, and most of the trenches had been levelled by the
plough. Mr. Weld here crossed the Hudson River, and proceeded, for some
distance, along its eastern shore. After this the road was most
wretched, particularly over a long causeway, which had been formed
originally for the transporting of cannon. This causeway consisted of
large, trees laid side by side. Some of them being decayed, great
intervals were left, in which the wheels of the carriage were sometimes
locked so fast, that the horses alone could not possibly extricate them.
The woods on each side of the road had a much more majestic appearance
than any that Mr. Weld had seen since he had left Philadelphia. This,
however, was owing more to the great height than to the thickness of the
trees, for he could not see one that appeared more than thirty inches in
diameter. The trees here were chiefly oaks, hiccory, hemlock, and beech;
intermixed with which appeared great numbers of smooth-barked, or
Weymouth pines. A profusion of wild raspberries were growing in the
woods.
After having experienced almost inconceivable difficulty, in consequence
of the badness of the road; and having occupied five hours in travelling
only twelve miles, Mr. Weld arrived at _Skenesborough_. This is a little
town, which stands near the southern extremity of Lake Champlain. It
consisted, at this time, of only twelve houses, and was dreadfully
infested with musquitoes, a large kind of gnats, which abound in the
swampy parts of all hot countries. Such myriads of these insects
attacked Mr. Weld, the first night of his sleeping there, that, when he
rose in the morning, his face and hands were covered with large
pustules, like those of a person in the small-pox. The situation of
Skenesborough, on the margin of a piece of water which is almost
stagnant, and which is shaded by thick woods, is peculiarly favourable
to the increase of these insects.
Shortly after their arrival in Skenesborough, Mr. Weld, and two
gentlemen by whom he was accompanied, hired a boat of about ten tons
burden, for the purpose of crossing _Lake Champlain_. The vessel sailed
at one o'clock in the day; but, as the channel was narrow, and the wind
adverse, they were only able to proceed about six miles before sunset.
Having brought the vessel to an anchor, the party landed and walked to
some adjacent farm-houses, in the hope of obtaining provisions; but they
were not able to procure any thing except milk and cheese. The next day
they reached _Ticonderoga_. Here the only dwelling was a tavern, a large
house built of stone. On entering it, the party was shown into a
spacious apartment, crowded with boatmen and other persons, who had just
arrived from St. John's in Canada. The man of the house was a judge; a
sullen, demure old gentleman, who sate by the fire, with tattered
clothes and dishevelled locks, reading a book, and was totally
regardless of every person in the house.
The old fort and barracks of Ticonderoga, are on the top of a rising
ground, just behind the tavern: they were at this time in ruins, and it
is not likely that they ever will be rebuilt; for the situation is a
very insecure one, being commanded by a lofty hill, called Mount
Defiance. During the great American war, the British troops obtained
possession of this place, by dragging cannon and mortars up the hill,
and firing down upon the fort.
Mr. Weld and his friends, on leaving Ticonderoga, pursued their voyage
to _Crown Point_: Here they landed to inspect the old fort. Nothing,
however, was to be seen but a heap of ruins; for, shortly before it was
surrendered by the British troops, the powder-magazine blew up, and a
great part of the works was destroyed; and, since the final evacuation
of the place, the people of the neighbourhood have been continually
digging in different parts, in the hope of procuring lead and iron shot.
At the south side only the ditches remain perfect: they are wide and
deep, and are cut through immense rocks of limestone; and, from being
overgrown, towards the top, with different kinds of shrubs, they have a
grand and picturesque appearance.
While the party were here, they were agreeably surprised with the sight
of a large birch-canoe, upon the lake, navigated by two or three
Indians, in the dresses of their nation. These made for the shore, and
soon landed; and, shortly afterwards, another party arrived, that had
come by land.
_Lake Champlain_ is about one hundred and twenty miles in length, and is
of various breadths: for the first thirty miles it is, in no place, more
than two miles wide; beyond this, for the distance of twelve miles, it
is five or six miles across; but it afterwards narrows, and again, at
the end of a few miles, expands. That part called the _Broad Lake_,
because broader than any other, is eighteen miles across. Here the lake
is interspersed with a great number of islands. The soundings of Lake
Champlain are, in general, very deep; in many places they are sixty and
seventy, and in some even one hundred fathoms in depth.
The scenery, along the shores of the lake, is extremely grand and
picturesque; particularly beyond Crown Point. Here they are beautifully
ornamented with hanging woods and rocks; and the mountains, on the
western side, rise in ranges one behind another, in the most magnificent
manner possible.
* * * * *
Crossing from the head of Lake Champlain, westward to the river St.
Lawrence, we shall describe the places adjacent to that river, and some
of the north-western parts of the state of New York, in
_A Narrative of_ LIEUTENANT HALL'S _Journey from Canada to the
Cataract of Niagara._
Mr. Hall had travelled from Montreal, in Canada, to Prescott, in a
stage-waggon, which carried the mail; and he says that he can answer for
its being one of the roughest conveyances on either side of the
Atlantic.
The face of the country is invariably flat; and settlements have not,
hitherto, spread far from the banks of the _St. Lawrence_.
_Prescott_ is remarkable for nothing but a square redoubt, or fort,
called Fort Wellington. The accommodations at this place were so bad
that Mr. Hall, at midnight, seated himself in a light waggon, in which
two gentlemen were proceeding to Brockville. These gentlemen afterwards
offered him a passage to Kingston, in a boat belonging to the British
navy, which was waiting for them at _Brockville_.
The banks of the river St. Lawrence, from the neighbourhood of
Brockville, are of limestone, and from twenty to fifty feet in height.
Immense masses of reddish granite are also scattered along the bed of
the stream, and sometimes project from the shore. The numerous islands
which crowd the approach to _Lake Ontario_, have all a granite basis:
they are clothed with cedar and pine-trees, and with an abundance of
raspberry plants. The bed of the _Gananoqua_ is also of granite. This
river is rising into importance, from the circumstance of a new
settlement being formed, under the auspices of the British government,
on the waters with which it communicates.
This settlement lies at the head of the lakes of the _Rideau_, and, in
case of another American war, is meant to secure a communication betwixt
Montreal and Kingston, by way of the Utawa. The settlers are chiefly
disbanded soldiers, who clear and cultivate the land, under the
superintendance of officers of the quarter-master-general's department.
A canal has been cut to avoid the falls of the Rideau; and the
communication, either by the Gananoqua, or Kingston, will be improved by
locks. _Kingston_, which is within the Canadian dominions, is admirably
situated for naval purposes.
The basis of the soil on which this town is situated is limestone,
disposed in horizontal strata. Kingston contains some good houses and
stores; a small theatre, built by the military, for private theatricals;
a large wooden government house, and all the appendages of an extensive
military and naval establishment; with as much society as can
reasonably be expected, in a town but lately created from the "howling
desert." The adjacent country is flat, stony, and barren. Mr. Hall says
that fleets of ships occasionally lie off Kingston, several of which are
as large as any on the ocean. Vessels of large dimensions were at this
time building, on the spot where, a few months before, their
frame-timbers had been growing.
Mr. Hall left Kingston, in a packet, for the American station of
_Sackett's harbour_. This, after Kingston, has a mean appearance: its
situation is low, its harbour is small, and its fortifications are of
very different construction, both as to form and materials, from those
of the former town. The navy-yard consists merely of a narrow tongue of
land, the point of which affords just space sufficient for the
construction of one first-rate vessel; with room for work-shops, and
stores, on the remaining part of it. One of the largest vessels in the
world, was at this time on the stocks. The town consists of a long
street, in the direction of the river, with a few smaller streets
crossing it at right angles: it covers less ground than Kingston, and
has fewer good houses; but it has an advantage which Kingston does not
possess, in a broad flagged footway.
The distance from Sackett's harbour to _Watertown_ is about ten miles.
This is an elegant village on the _Black River_. It contains about
twelve hundred inhabitants, chiefly emigrants from New England. The
houses are, for the most part, of wood, but tastefully finished; and a
few are built of bricks.
At Watertown there was a good tavern, which afforded to Mr. Hall and his
companions a luxury unusual in America, a private sitting-room, and
dinner at an hour appointed by themselves. Within a few miles of
Watertown the country rises boldly, and presents a refreshing contrast,
of hill and valley, to the flat, heavy woods, through which they had
been labouring from Sackett's harbour.
_Utica_, the town at which the travellers next arrived stands on the
right bank of the _River Mohawk_, over which it is approached by a
covered wooden bridge, of considerable length. The appearance of this
town is highly prepossessing: the streets are spacious; the houses are
large and well built; and the stores, the name given to shops throughout
America, are as well supplied, and as handsomely fitted up, as those of
New York or Philadelphia.
There are at Utica two hotels, on a large scale; one of which, the York
House, was equal in arrangement and accommodation, to any hotel beyond
the Atlantic: it was kept by an Englishman from Bath. The inhabitants,
from three to four thousand in number, maintained four churches: one
episcopal, one presbyterian, and two Welsh.
This town is laid out on a very extensive scale. A small part of it only
is yet completed; but little doubt is entertained that ten years will
accomplish the whole. Fifteen years had not passed since there was here
no other trace of habitation than a solitary log-house, built for the
occasional reception of merchandise, on its way down the Mohawk. The
overflowing population of New England, fixing its exertions on a new and
fertile soil, has, within a few years, effected this change.
Independently of its soil, Utica has great advantages of situation; for
it is nearly at the point of junction betwixt the waters of the lakes
and of the Atlantic.
With Utica commences a succession of flourishing villages and
settlements, which renders this tract of country the astonishment of
travellers. That so large a portion of the soil should, in less than
twenty years, have been cleared, brought into cultivation, and have
acquired a numerous population, is, in itself, sufficiently surprising;
but the surprise is considerably increased, when we consider the
character of elegant opulence with which it every where smiles on the
eye. Each village teems, like a hive, with activity and employment. The
houses, taken in the mass, are on a large scale; for (except the few
primitive log-huts that still survive) there is scarcely one below the
appearance of an opulent London tradesman's country box. They are, in
general, of wood, painted white, with green doors and shutters; and with
porches, or verandas, in front.
The travellers passed through _Skaneactas_, a village, pleasantly
situated, at the head of the lake from which it is named. They then
proceeded to _Cayuga_, which, besides its agreeable site, is remarkable
for a bridge, nearly a mile in length, over the head of the Cayuga lake:
it is built on piles, and level. Betwixt Cayuga and Geneva is the
flourishing little village of _Waterloo_, formed since the battle so
named. _Geneva_ contains many elegant houses, beautifully placed, on the
rising shore, at the head of the Geneva lake.
From Geneva to _Canandaigua_, a tract of hill and vale extends, for
sixteen miles, and having (within that space) only two houses.
Canandaigua is a town of villas, built on the rising shore of the
_Canandaigua lake_. The lower part of the main street is occupied by
stores and warehouses; but the upper part of it, to the length of nearly
two miles, consists of ornamented cottages, tastefully finished with
colonnades, porches, and verandas; and each within its own garden or
pleasure-ground. The prospect, down this long vista, to the lake, is
peculiarly elegant.
From Canandaigua the travellers turned from the main road, nine miles,
south-west, to visit what is called "_the burning spring_." On arriving
near the place, they entered a small but thick wood, of pine and
maple-trees, enclosed within a narrow ravine. Down this glen, the width
of which, at its entrance, may be about sixty yards, trickles a scanty
streamlet. They had advanced on its course about fifty yards, when,
close under the rocks of the right bank, they perceived a bright red
flame, burning briskly on the water. Pieces of lighted wood were applied
to different adjacent spots, and a space of several yards in extent was
immediately in a blaze. Being informed by the guide that a repetition of
this phenomenon might be seen higher up the glen, they scrambled on,
for about a hundred yards, and, directed in some degree by a strong
smell of sulphur, they applied their match to several places, with
similar effect. These fires continue burning unceasingly, unless they
are extinguished by accident. The phænomenon was originally discovered
by the casual rolling of lighted embers, from the top of the bank,
whilst some persons were clearing it for cultivation; and, in the
intensity and duration of the flame, it probably exceeds any thing of
the kind that is known.
_Rochester_ stands immediately on the great falls of the Genesee, about
eight miles above its entrance into lake Ontario. When Mr. Hall was
here, this town had been built only four years, yet it contained a
hundred good houses, furnished with all the conveniences of life;
several comfortable taverns, a cotton-mill, and some large corn-mills.
Its site is grand. The Genesee rushes through it, over a bed of
limestone, and precipitates itself down three ledges of rock,
ninety-three; thirty, and seventy-six feet in height, within the
distance of a mile and a half from the town. The immediate vicinity of
Rochester is still an unbroken forest, consisting of oak, hickory, ash,
beech, bass, elm, and walnut-trees. The wild tenants of the woods have,
naturally, retired before the sound of cultivation; but there are a few
wolves and bears still in the neighbourhood. One of the latter had
lately seized a pig close to the town. Racoons, porcupines, squirrels
black and grey, and foxes, are still numerous. The hogs have done good
service in destroying the rattlesnakes, which are already becoming rare.
Pigeons, quails, and blackbirds abound. At Rochester, the line of
settled country, in this direction, terminates; for, from this place to
Lewistown, are eighty miles of wilderness.
The traveller, halting on the verge of these aboriginal shades, is
inclined to pause in thought, and to consider the interesting scenes
through which he has been passing. They are such as reason must admire,
for they are the result of industry, temperance, and freedom. Five or
ten, or, at the utmost, twenty years before Mr. Hall was in America,
where there are now corn-fields, towns, and villages, the whole country
was one mass of forest.
Notwithstanding the bad state of the roads, the stage-waggon runs from
Rochester to Lewistown in two days. This journey is so heavy, that it is
sometimes necessary to alight, and walk several miles, or to suffer
almost a dislocation of limbs, in jolting over causeys or logged roads,
formed of pine, or oak-trees, laid crossways. At different intervals,
square patches seem cut out of the forest, in the centre of which low
log-huts have been constructed, without the aid of saw or plane; and are
surrounded by stumps of trees, black with the fires kindled for the
purpose of clearing the land.
_Lewistown_ was one of the frontier villages burnt during the last war,
to retaliate upon the Americans for the destruction of Newark. It has,
however, been since rebuilt, and all the marks of its devastation have
been effaced. It is agreeably situated, at the foot of the limestone
ridge, on the steep bank of the river St. Lawrence, which here rushes,
with a boiling and eddying torrent, from the falls to Lake Ontario.
Lewistown, notwithstanding its infancy, and its remote situation,
contains several good stores.
_Queenston_, on the opposite side of the river, stands in the midst of
corn-fields and farm-houses; a rare and interesting sight in Canada. It
is built on the river's edge, at the foot of the heights. Before the
late war it was embosomed in peach-orchards; but these were all felled,
to aid the operations of the English troops. The heights are still
crowned by a redoubt, and by the remains of batteries, raised to defend
the passage of the river. It was near one of these that Sir Isaac Brocke
was killed, on the 13th of October, 1812, while, with four hundred men,
he gallantly opposed the landing of fifteen hundred Americans, the whole
of whom were afterwards captured by g\General Sheaffe.
From Queenston Mr. Hall proceeded to _York_, a town within the British
territory, situated on the north-western bank of lake Ontario. The
country through which he passed abounded in game of various kinds. From
the head of the lake it was, however, less varied than on the Niagara
frontiers; and, for many miles, it was an uniform tract of sandy
barrens, unsusceptible of culture.
York, being the seat of government for Upper Canada, is a place of
considerable importance in the eyes of its inhabitants. To a stranger,
however, it presents little more than about one hundred wooden houses,
several of them conveniently, and even elegantly built; one or two of
brick. The public buildings were destroyed by the Americans.
From York, Mr. Hall went, through the little town of _Ancaster_, to
visit a _Settlement of Mohawk Indians_, on the banks of the _Grand
River_. In the American war the Mohawks were strongly attached to the
British interest, and first followed Sir William Johnson in Canada,
under their chieftain, a celebrated warrior, whose name was Brandt. This
man accustomed his people to the arts of civilized life, and made
farmers of them. He built a church, and himself translated one of the
gospels into the Mohawk language. His grave is to be seen under the
walls of his church. The son of this extraordinary Indian is now living,
and is a fine young man, of gentlemanly manners and appearance: he both
speaks and writes the English language with correctness; and he dresses
nearly in the English fashion. Brandt left also a daughter, who is
living, and who would not disgrace the fashionable circles of Europe.
Her face and person are fine and graceful: she speaks English, not only
correctly, but elegantly; and, both in her speech and manners, she has a
softness approaching oriental languor. She retains so much of her
national dress as to identify her with her people; over whom she affects
no superiority, but with whom she seems pleased to preserve all the ties
and duties of relationship. She held the infant of one of her relations
at the font, on the Sunday that Mr. Hall visited the church at Ancaster.
The usual church and baptismal service was performed by a Dr. Aaron, an
Indian, and an assistant priest; the congregation consisted of sixty or
seventy persons, male and female. Many of the young men were dressed in
the English fashion, but several of the old warriors came with their
blankets, folded over them; and, in this dress, with a step and mien of
quiet energy, they forcibly reminded Mr. Hall of ancient Romans. Some of
them wore large silver crosses, medals, and other trinkets, on their
backs and breasts; and a few had bandeaus, ornamented with feathers. Dr.
Aaron, a grey-headed Mohawk, had touched his cheeks and forehead with a
few spots of vermilion, in honour of Sunday: he wore a surplice, and
preached at considerable length; but his delivery was unimpassioned and
monotonous.
The Mohawk village stands on a little plain, and looks down upon the
Grand River. The houses of the inhabitants, built of logs, rudely put
together, exhibit, externally, a great appearance of neglect and want of
comfort: some few are in a better condition. The house belonging to
Brandt's family resembled that of a petty English farmer: Dr. Aaron's
was neat and clean. The doctor, who had been regularly ordained, and
spoke very good English, told Mr. Hall that the village had been much
injured by the wars, which had impeded its improvements, and had
dispersed the inhabitants over the country.
Mr. Hall had little opportunity of observing the manners and character
of these Indians. It may, however, be conjectured that European
intercourse is fast obliterating the characteristic features of their
former social system. Their increased knowledge of European arts and
enjoyments, has been probably followed by a proportionate increase of
wants and desires. Their manners seemed, to Mr. Hall, remarkable for
nothing so much as for that quiet self-possession, which constitutes
the reverse of vulgarity. Their women, before strangers, are extremely
timid: most of those who lived at a distance from the church, came
mounted, with their husbands walking by their sides; a symptom, perhaps,
that the sex is rising among them into an European equality of rights
and enjoyments. The whole of the settlements are reckoned to furnish
about five hundred warriors to the British government.
Mr. Hall next describes the celebrated _Cataract_ or _Falls of Niagara_.
At the distance of about a mile from this cataract, a white cloud,
hovering over the trees, indicates its situation: it is not, however,
until the road emerges from a close country, into the space of open
ground immediately in its vicinity, that white volumes of foam are seen,
as if boiling up from a sulphureous gulph. Here a foot-path turns from
the road, towards a wooded cliff. The rapids are beheld on the right,
rushing for the space of a mile, like a tempestuous sea. A narrow tract
descends about sixty feet down the cliff, and continues across a plashy
meadow, through a copse, encumbered with masses of limestone. Beyond
this, Mr. Hall found himself upon what is called the Table Rock, on the
west side of the upper part of the cataract, at the very point where the
river precipitates itself into the abyss. The rapid motion of the
waters, the stunning noise, and the mounting clouds, almost persuade the
startled senses, that the rock itself is tottering, and is on the point
of being precipitated into the gulph, which swallows the mass of
descending waters. He bent over it, to mark the clouds rolling white
beneath him, as in an inverted sky, illuminated by a most brilliant
rainbow; one of those features of softness which nature delights to
pencil amid her wildest scenes, tempering her awfulness with beauty, and
making even her terrors lovely.
There is a ladder about half a mile below the Table Rock; and, by this,
Mr. Hall descended the cliff, to reach the foot of the fall. There was
formerly much difficulty in the descent, but a few years have made a
great change: the present dangers and difficulties may easily be
enumerated. The first is, the ordinary hazard that every one runs who
goes up or down a ladder: this ladder is a very good one, of thirty
steps, or about forty feet; and, from it, the path is a rough one, over
the fragments and masses of rock which have gradually crumbled, or have
been forcibly riven, from the cliff, and which cover a broad declining
space, from its foot to the brink of the river. The only risk, in this
part of the pilgrimage, is that of a broken shin from a false step. The
path gradually becomes smooth as it advances towards the cataract. Mr.
Hall, as he drew near, says that he felt a sensation of awe, like that
caused by the first cannon, on the morning of a battle. He passed, from
sunshine, into gloom and tempest. The spray beat down in a heavy rain; a
violent wind rushed from behind the sheet of water: it was difficult to
respire, and, for a moment, it seemed temerity to encounter the
convulsive workings of the elements, and to intrude into the dark
dwellings of their power. But the danger is in appearance only: it is
possible to penetrate only a few yards beyond the curtain, and, in these
few, there is no hazard; the footing is good, and the space is
sufficiently broad and free. There is even no necessity for a guide: the
eyes amply suffice to point out all that is to be seen or avoided.
During Mr. Hall's first visit, there were two young American ladies on
the same errand; and they, as well as himself, were drenched in the
cloud of spray.
The larger fall was formerly called the "Horse-shoe," but this name is
no longer applicable; for its shape has become that of an acute angle.
An officer, who had been stationed in the neighbourhood thirty years,
pointed out to Mr. Hall the alteration which had taken place in the
centre of the fall, and which he estimated at about eighteen feet in
that time.
The lesser fall, on the American side, had the appearance of a
considerable elevation, above the bed of the greater: on enquiry, Mr.
Hall found that there was a difference between them, of about fifteen
feet, caused, probably, by the greater weight of water descending down
one than the other.
The island which divides the falls has, of late years, been frequently
visited; nor is the visit to it an adventure of much hazard. At the
point where the rapids commence, the current separates, and is drawn, on
either side, towards the centre of the two falls, while the centre of
the stream, being in the straight line of the island, descends towards
it, without any violent attraction; and, down this still water, American
boats, well manned, and furnished with poles to secure them from the
action of the two currents, have frequently dropt to the island.
There is a whirlpool about half way betwixt Niagara and Queenston. The
river, boiling and eddying from the falls, enters a circular basin,
round which the lofty cliff sweeps, like an antique wall, overgrown with
trees at its base, and amid its clefts and crevices. The cause of the
whirlpool is perceptible to the spectator, who looks down, and observes
that the stream, being compelled into this basin, by the direction of
its channel, and unable to escape with celerity, is forced to gain time
by revolving within its own circumference.
[Mr. Weld, who visited Niagara, about the year 1797, observes that,
although the spray, and the noise of the cataract, are sometimes not
observable so far as half a mile, yet, at other times, the noise has
been heard at the distance of forty miles; and that he has himself seen
the spray, like a cloud, at the distance of fifty-four miles. The river,
as it approaches the falls, runs with astonishing impetuosity. Just at
the precipice, down which it tumbles, it takes a considerable bend
towards the right; and the line of the falls, instead of extending from
bank to bank, in the shortest direction, runs obliquely across. The
whole width of the fall is estimated to be about three quarters of a
mile, including a rocky island, a quarter of a mile wide, by which the
stream is divided. This cataract is divided, by islands, into three
distinct falls, the loftiest of which is one hundred and sixty feet in
perpendicular height.
Mr. Weld observes that it is possible not merely to pass to the very
foot of the great fall; but even to proceed behind the tremendous sheet
of water which comes pouring down from the top of the precipice; for the
water falls from the edge of a projecting rock, and, by its violent
ebullition, caverns of considerable size have been hollowed out of the
rocks at the bottom, and extend some way beneath the bed of the upper
part of the river. Mr. Weld advanced within about six yards of the edge
of the sheet of water, just far enough for him to peep into the caverns
behind it. But here his breath was nearly taken away by the violent
whirlwind, that always rages at the bottom of the cataract, occasioned
by the concussion of such a vast body of water against the rocks. Indeed
Mr. Weld had no inclination either to go further, or to explore the
dreary confines of these caverns, where death seemed to await any one
who should be daring enough to enter their threatening jaws. No words,
he says, can convey an adequate idea of the awful grandeur of the scene,
at this place. The senses are appalled by the sight of the immense body
of water that comes pouring from the top of the precipice; and by the
thundering sound of the billows dashing against the rocky sides of the
cavern below. He trembled with reverential fear, when he considered that
a blast of the whirlwind might have swept him from off the slippery
rocks on which he stood, and have precipitated him into the dreadful
gulph beneath; whence all the power of man could not have extricated
him. He here felt what an insignificant being man is in the creation;
and his mind was forcibly impressed with an awful idea of the power of
that mighty Existence, who commanded the waters to flow.]
Fourth Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_Narrative of Lieutenant_ HALL'S _Journey from Niagara to
Philadelphia._
Mr. Hall crossed the river from _Fort Erie_, and proceeded to _Buffalo_,
one of the frontier villages which had been burnt during the great
American war. Not a house had been left standing; yet, when Mr. Hall was
there, it was not merely a flourishing village, but a considerable town,
with good shops and hotels. The celerity with which Buffalo had risen
from its ashes, indicates the juvenile spirit of life and increase,
which so eminently distinguishes the American population.
As Mr. Hall proceeded on his journey, he found the country thickly
settled, but dull and uniform in feature; being an entire flat. The
autumn had been dry, and water was, in many places, extremely scarce.
This is an evil not uncommon in newly-settled districts. Draining
follows clearing; the creeks, no longer fed by the swamps, disencumbered
also of fallen trunks of trees, and other substances, by which their
waters were, in a great degree, stayed, easily run dry in summer, and
soon fail altogether.
The principal inn at _Batavia_ is large, and yet constructed upon an
economical principle; for one roof covers hotel, prison, court-house,
and assembly-room. The inhabitants were, at this time, building, by
subscription, an episcopal church, the cost of which was to be twenty
thousand dollars.
_Caledonia_ is a small, but flourishing village, which has a handsome
inn, with very comfortable accommodations; and, close to the road, is a
large sheet of water, from which a clear and rapid stream descends,
through a pleasing valley, into Allen's Creek, before the latter unites
with the _Genesee River_. The banks of this creek are adorned with
natural groves and copses, in which Mr. Hall observed the candleberry
myrtle in great abundance: but a more interesting sight was afforded by
numerous organic remains, with which the blocks of limestone, scattered
through the low ground around it, are encrusted, as if with rude
sculpture. These blocks are mixed with nodules of granite, and present
innumerable forms, both of shells and aquatic plants. This district had
been settled fifteen years; and, when Mr. Hall was here, cleared land
was worth fifty dollars, and uncleared land about fifteen dollars per
acre. At _Avon_ Mr. Hall quitted the main road, and followed the right
bank of the Genesee. The scenery, in the vicinity of this place, began
to improve, but the roads were proportionally deteriorated. Wild even to
savageness, mountain heights branched thickly across the country, with
no seeming order or direction. The only level ground was in the narrow
valleys, along the course of the streams.
The woods in the vicinity of the Genesee abound in large black
squirrels, some of which are as big as a small cat. They are destructive
to grain, and are, therefore, keenly pursued by sportsmen, who
frequently make parties to kill them, and who destroy several thousands
at one chase: their flesh is considered a great delicacy. These animals
migrate, at different seasons; and have the credit of ingeniously
ferrying themselves over rivers, by using a piece of bark for a raft,
and their tails for sails.
_Bath_ is embosomed in wild mountains. The principal houses are
constructed round the three sides of a square, or green; and, as most of
them were at this time new, white, and tastefully finished, they had a
lively appearance, and were agreeably contrasted with the dark adjacent
mountain scenery.
The road from Bath to _Painted Post_, though stony, is tolerably level.
The adjacent mountains have a slaty appearance, with horizontal strata.
Mr. Hall was disappointed at Painted Post, to find the post gone,
broken down or rotted, within the last few years. It had been an Indian
memorial, either of triumph or death, or of both.
When he was at Ancaster, this gentleman had been shown the grave of an
Indian, among the woods, near the head of the stream: it was covered
with boards, and a pole was erected at each end, on which a kind of
dance was rudely painted with vermilion. The relatives of the deceased
brought offerings to it daily, during their stay in the neighbourhood.
After passing through some other villages, Mr. Hall reached the banks of
the _Susquehanna_: these have no great variety of scenery, though they
frequently present grand features. The space betwixt the mountains and
the river is often so narrow, that it barely suffices for one carriage
to pass; and, in many places, the road, for a mile or two, seems to have
been hewn from the rock. Near the creeks there is tolerable land, and
two or three pleasant villages. The face of the landscape is no where
naked: mountain and vale are alike clothed with pine and dwarf
oak-trees; the swamp lands are covered with hemlock-trees, and the
bottoms of the woods with rhododendrons.
_Wilksbarre_ is a neat town, regularly laid out, on the left bank of the
Susquehanna. Its locality is determined by the direction of one of the
Alleghany ridges, which recedes from the course of the river, a few
miles above the town, and, curving south-west, encloses a semicircular
plot of land, towards the centre of which the town is built. Its
neighbourhood abounds in coal. The pits are about a mile distant. They
lie under a stratum of soft clay slate, which contains impressions of
ferns, oak-leaves, and other vegetables, usually found in such
situations. The town itself, in consequence of the frequent separation
of its streets and houses, by grass-fields and gardens, has a quiet and
rural aspect. It contains a neat church, appropriated to the alternate
use of episcopalians and presbyterians. Wilkesbarre is built on the
site of _Wyoming_: a small mound, near the river, is pointed out, as
that on which the fort stood; and the incursion of the Indians, when
most of the inhabitants fell, in an unsuccessful battle, is still
remembered. Some few escaped, by swimming across the stream, and fled,
naked, through the woods, for several days, till they reached the
nearest settlement; and this is all the record that exists of Albert and
Gertrude, the foundation of Campbell's poem of Gertrude of Wyoming.
At Wilkesbarre the road quits the Susquehanna, and, ascending a ridge of
the Alleghany Mountains, crosses through deep forests and hemlock
swamps, sparingly interspersed with settlements. The Pokono Mountain,
over which Mr. Hall passed, is famous with the sportsmen and epicures of
Philadelphia, for its grouse. Mr. Hall crossed the _Blue Ridge_, at the
stupendous fissure of the _Wind Gap_, where the mountain seems forcibly
broken through, and is strewed with the ruin of rocks. There is a
similar aperture, some miles north-east, called the Water Gap. This
affords a passage to the Delaware; and all the principal rivers of the
states, that rise in the Alleghanys, pass through similar apertures.
Betwixt the Blue Ridge and the Lehigh River, are two Moravian
settlements, called _Bethlehem_ and _Nazareth_. [The inhabitants of the
former constitute a large society, and occupy several farms. They have a
spacious apartment, in which they all daily assemble, for the purpose of
public worship. The single men and women have each a separate dwelling.
The women are occupied in various domestic employments; in fancy and
ornamental works; and, occasionally, in musical practice, under the
direction of a superintendant. The walls of the large hall, where the
society dine, are adorned with paintings, chiefly Scripture pieces,
executed by members. Various branches of trade and manufacture are
carried on, the profits of which go to the general stock; and, from
this, all are supplied with the necessaries of life. Their whole time
is spent in labour, and in prayer; except an hour in the evening, which
is allotted for a concert. Among the Moravians marriage is contracted in
a singular manner. If a young man has an inclination to marry, he makes
application to the priest, who presents a young woman, designated by the
superintendant as the next in rotation for marriage. Having left the
parties together for an hour, the priest returns, and, if they consent
to live together, they are married the next day; if otherwise, each is
put at the bottom of the list, containing perhaps sixty or seventy
names; and, on the part of the girl, there is no chance of marriage,
unless the same young man should again feel disposed for matrimony. When
united, a neat habitation, with a pleasant garden, is provided; and
their children, at the age of six years, are placed in the seminary. If
either of the parties die, the other returns to the apartment of the
single people. In the Moravian establishment at Bethlehem, there is a
tavern, with extensive and excellent accommodations.]
Madame de Stael, in describing the Moravians, says, "Their houses and
streets are peculiarly neat. The women all dress in the same manner,
conceal their hair, and surround their heads with a ribbon, the colour
of which indicates whether they are single, married, or widows. The men
dress in brown, somewhat like quakers. A mercantile industry occupies
nearly the whole community; and all their labours are performed with
peculiar regularity and tranquillity." Mr. Hall attended one of the
meetings which the inhabitants of Bethlehem commonly hold every evening,
for the joint purposes of amusement and devotion. The women were ranged
at one end of the room, and the men at the other. Their bishop presided:
he was an old man, dressed in the plainest manner, and possessed a
countenance singularly mild and placid. He gave out a psalm, and led the
choir; and the singing was alternately in German and English.
There is another Moravian settlement about a mile and a half from
Nazareth. This, though small, exceeds both the others, in the calm and
pensive beauty of its appearance. The houses are built of limestone:
they are all on a similar plan, and have their window-frames, doors, and
other wood-work, painted fawn-colour: before each house are planted
weeping willows, whose luxuriant shade seems to shut out worldly glare,
and throws an air of monastic repose over the whole village.
The _Lehigh Mountain_ is the last of the Allegheny Ridges; the country
is thenceforth level, fertile, and thickly inhabited, by steady Germans,
who wear broad hats, and purple breeches; and whose houses and villages
have the antique fashion of Flemish landscape. German is so generally
spoken here, that the newspapers and public notices are all printed in
that language.
The approach to Philadelphia is announced by a good turnpike road.
_German Town_ is a large suburb to the city, and the traveller here
feels himself within the precincts of a populous and long-established
capital.
_A Description of Philadelphia._
The first impressions, on entering this city, are decidedly favourable.
It possesses a character essentially different from that of New York. It
has not so much business, nor so much animation; but there is, in
Philadelphia, a freedom from mere display; an evidence of solidity, of
which its more commercial rival is nearly destitute.
All the _streets_ are spacious; the names of many of them, as Sassafras,
Chesnut, and Locust, record their sylvan origin: rows of Lombardy
poplars are planted in them. The private _houses_ are characterized by
elegant neatness; the steps and window-sills of many of them are of grey
marble, and they have large mats placed before the doors. The streets
are carefully swept, as well as the foot-paths, which are paved with
brick. The _shops_ do not yield, in display, to those of London. The
principal street is one hundred feet wide; and the others vary from
eighty to fifty. In the foot-paths a great inconvenience is experienced
by the injudicious mode in which cellars are constructed, the openings
of which project into the street; and also by the slovenly practice of
the store or shopkeepers placing great quantities of loose goods on the
outside of their doors.
Philadelphia stands on the bank of the river _Delaware_; and, in 1795,
when Mr. Weld was there, its appearance, as approached from the water,
was not very prepossessing. Nothing was visible but confused heaps of
wooden store-houses, crowded upon each other, and wharfs, which
projected a considerable way into the river. The wharfs were built of
wood; they jutted out, in every direction, and were well adapted for the
accommodation of shipping; the largest merchant vessels being able to
lie close alongside of them. Behind the wharfs, and parallel to the
river, runs a street called _Water-street_. This is the first street
which the stranger in America usually enters, after landing; and (says
Mr. Weld) it will not give him a very favourable opinion either of the
neatness or commodiousness of the public ways of Philadelphia. Such
stenches, at times, prevail in it, owing in part to the quantity of
filth and dirt that is suffered to remain on the pavement, and in part
to what is deposited in waste-houses, of which there are several in the
street, that it is really dreadful to pass through it. It was here, in
the year 1793, that the malignant yellow fever broke out, which made
such terrible ravages among the inhabitants; and, in the summer season,
in general, this street is extremely unhealthy.
Few of the _public buildings_ in Philadelphia pretend to great
architectural merit. The churches are neat, but plain. The Masonic Hall
is an unsightly combination of brick and marble, in the Gothic style.
The Philadelphia bank is in a similar style. The United States and
Pennsylvania banks are the finest edifices in the city: the first has a
handsome portico, with Corinthian columns of white marble, and the
latter is a miniature representation of the temple of Minerva at Athens,
and is the purest specimen of architecture in the states: the whole
building is of marble.
The _State House_ is a plain brick building, which was finished in 1735,
at the cost of £.6000. The most interesting recollections of America are
attached to this edifice. The Congress sat in it during the greatest
part of the war; and the Declaration of Independence was read, from its
steps, on the 4th of July, 1776. The Federal Convention also sat in it,
in 1787. It is now occupied by the supreme and district courts below,
and by Peale's Museum above. This museum, among other articles, contains
an immense fossil skeleton of the great Mastodon, or American Mammoth,
which, some years ago, was publicly exhibited in London.
The _University_ of Pennsylvania was instituted several years ago, by
some of the citizens of Philadelphia; among whom was Dr. Franklin, who
drew up the original plan. It is governed by a provost and vice-provost.
In 1811, the number of students amounted to five hundred. The lectures
commence the first Monday in November, and end on the first day of
March. Among others, are professors of anatomy, surgery, midwifery,
chemistry, moral philosophy, mathematics, and natural philosophy, belles
lettres, and languages.
The Philadelphia _prison_ is a more interesting object to humanity than
the most gorgeous palaces. Its exterior is simple, and has rather the
air of an hospital than a gaol: a single grated door separates the
interior from the street. On entering the court, Mr. Hall found it full
of stone-cutters, employed in sawing and preparing large blocks of stone
and marble; smiths' forges were at work on one side, and the whole
court was surrounded by a gallery and a double tier of work-shops, in
which were brush-makers, tailors, shoemakers, weavers, all at their
several occupations, labouring, not only to defray, to the public, the
expenses of their confinement, but to provide the means of their own
honest subsistence for the future. It had none of the usual features of
a prison; neither the hardened profligacy which scoffs down its own
sense of guilt, nor the hollow-eyed sorrow which wastes away in a living
death of unavailing expiation: there was neither the clank of chains,
nor the yell of execration; but a hardworking body of men were seen,
who, though separated by justice from society, were not supposed to have
lost the distinctive attribute of human nature: they were treated as
rational beings, were operated upon by rational motives; and they repaid
this treatment by improved habits, by industry, and submission. They had
been profligate, they were now sober and decent in their behaviour; they
had been idle, they were now actively and usefully employed; they had
disobeyed the laws, they now submitted (armed as they were with all
kinds of utensils) to the government of a single turnkey, and the
barrier of a single grating.
The _markets_ of Philadelphia are well supplied; and the price of
provisions is considerably lower than in London. No butchers are
permitted to slaughter cattle within the city, nor are live cattle
permitted to be driven to the city markets.
The _inhabitants_ of this city are estimated at one hundred and twenty
thousand, and many of them live in houses which would adorn any city in
the world. They have, universally, a pallid and sallow countenance,
except the younger females; and many of these, even quakers, adopt the
disgusting practice of ornamenting their faces with rouge. In their
dress, the gentlemen follow the fashions of England, and the ladies
those of France. Mr. Fearon perceived here, what, he says, pervades the
whole of the new world, an affectation of splendour, or, what may be
called style, in those things that are intended to meet the public eye;
with a lamentable want, even of cleanliness, in such matters as are
removed from that ordeal. To this may be added an appearance of
uncomfortable extravagance, and an ignorance of that kind of order and
neatness, which, in the eyes of those who have once enjoyed it,
constitute the principal charm of domestic life. The Philadelphians
consist of English, Irish, Scotch, Germans, and French; and of
American-born citizens, descended from people of those different
nations. It is a remark very generally made, not only by foreigners, but
also by persons from distant parts of the United States, that they are
extremely deficient in hospitality and politeness towards strangers.
Among the uppermost circles in Philadelphia, pride, haughtiness, and
ostentation, are conspicuous; and, in the manners of the people in
general, there is much coldness and reserve.
Philadelphia is the grand residence of the quakers in America, but their
number does not now bear the same proportion to that of the other
citizens, which it formerly did. This, however, is not occasioned by a
diminution of quakers, so much as by the great influx, into the city, of
persons of a different persuasion.
In this city _funerals_ are uniformly attended by large walking
processions. The newspapers frequently contain advertisements, stating
the deaths of individuals, and inviting all friends to attend the
burial. The dead are seldom kept more than two days. At the time
appointed, intimate friends enter the house; others assemble on the
outside, and fall into the procession when the body is brought out.
With regard to the _climate_ of Philadelphia, it is observed that the
heats of summer are excessive; and that the cold of winter is equally
extreme. During the few days which Mr. Weld spent at Philadelphia, in
the month of June, 1795, the heat was almost intolerable. For two or
three days the thermometer stood at 93°, and, during these days, no one
stirred out of doors who was not compelled to do so. Light white hats
were universally worn, and the young men appeared dressed in cotton or
linen jackets and trowsers. The window-shutters of the houses were
closed early in the mornings, so as to admit no more light than what was
absolutely necessary for domestic business. Indeed, many of the houses
were kept so dark, that, on going into them from the street, it was
impossible, at first entrance, to perceive who was present. The best
houses in the city are furnished with Venetian blinds, at the outside,
to the windows and hall doors, which are made to fold together like
common window-shutters. A very different scene was presented after
sunset. Every house was then thrown open, and all the inhabitants
crowded into the streets, to take their evening walks, and to visit
their acquaintance. This usually lasted till about ten o'clock: at
eleven all was quiet; and a person might have passed over half the town
without seeing a single human being, except the watchmen. Heavy dews
sometimes fall after the sun is down, and the nights are then very cold:
at other times there are no dews, and the air continues hot all the
night through. At this season of the year meat cannot be kept sweet,
even for a single day, except in an icehouse or a remarkably cold
cellar. Milk generally turns sour in an hour or two; and fish is never
brought to market without being covered with lumps of ice. Poultry,
intended for dinner, is never killed till about four hours before it is
wanted, and even then it is kept immersed in water.
The _carriages_ used in Philadelphia consist of coaches, chariots,
chaises, coachees, and light waggons. The equipages of a few individuals
are extremely ostentatious; but there does not appear, in any, that
neatness and elegance which might be expected among people who are
desirous of imitating the fashions of England, and who are continually
procuring models from that country. The coachee is a carriage peculiar
to America; the body of it is somewhat longer than that of a coach, but
of the same shape. In front it is left quite open, down to the bottom,
and the driver sits on a bench under the roof. It has two seats for the
passengers, who sit with their faces towards the horses. The roof is
supported by small props, which are placed at the corners. On each side
of the doors, above the pannels, it is quite open; and, to guard against
bad weather, there are curtains, which are made to let down from the
roof, and which fasten to buttons, placed for the purpose, on the
outside. There is also a leathern curtain, to hang occasionally between
the driver and passengers.
The light waggons are on the same construction, but are calculated to
accommodate from four to twelve people. The only difference between a
small waggon and a coachee, is, that the latter is better finished, has
varnished pannels, and doors at the side. The former has no doors; but
the passengers scramble in, the best way they can, over the seat of the
driver. These waggons are universally used for stage-carriages.
The accommodations at the _taverns_, in Philadelphia, are very
indifferent; as, indeed, with very few exceptions, they are throughout
the country. The mode of conducting them is nearly the same every where.
The traveller, on his arrival, is shown into a room, which is common to
every person in the house, and which is generally the one set apart for
breakfast, dinner, and supper. All the strangers that are in the house
sit down, to these meals, promiscuously; and, excepting in the large
towns, the family of the house also forms a part of the company. It is
seldom that a private parlour or drawing-room can be procured at
taverns, even in the towns; and it is always with reluctance that
breakfast or dinner is served up separately to any individual. If a
separate bed-room can be procured, more ought not to be expected; and it
is not always that even this is to be had; and persons who travel
through the country must often submit to be crammed into rooms where
there is scarcely sufficient space to walk between the beds.
The _Delaware_, on the banks of which this city is built, rises in the
state of New York. At Philadelphia it is thirteen hundred and sixty
yards wide, and is navigable for vessels of any burden. It is frozen in
the winter months; a circumstance which materially affects the
commercial interests of Philadelphia, and gives a great advantage to New
York. The tide reaches as high as the falls of Trenton, thirty-five
miles above Philadelphia, and one hundred and fifty-five miles from the
sea. Six or seven steam-boats, of large size, ply on the Delaware, and
form a communication with New York, by Trenton and Bordentown; and with
Baltimore, by Wilmington and Newcastle. These vessels are all fitted up
in an elegant manner.
Over the river _Schuylkil_, near Philadelphia, there is a singular
bridge of iron wire. It is four hundred feet in length, and extends,
from the window of a wire factory, to a tree on the opposite shore. The
wires which form the curve are six in number; three on each side, and
each three-eighths of an inch in diameter. The floor of the bridge is
elevated sixteen feet above the water; and the whole weight of the wires
is about four thousand seven hundred pounds. It is possible to construct
a bridge of this kind in the space of a fortnight; and the whole expense
would not exceed three hundred dollars.
* * * * *
About thirty miles north-east of Philadelphia, and betwixt that city and
New York, is _Trenton_, the capital of New Jersey. Mr. Weld visited this
place in the year 1796; and he says that it then contained only about
eighty dwellings, in one long street. It had a college, which was in
considerable repute. The number of students was about seventy; but, from
their appearance, and the course of their studies, it more correctly
deserved the appellation of a grammar-school, than a college. The
library was a miserable one; and, for the most part, contained only old
theological books. There were an orrery out of repair, and a few
detached parts of philosophical apparatus. At the opposite end of the
room were two small cupboards, which were shown as the museum. These
contained two small alligators, stuffed, and a few fishes, in a wretched
state of preservation.
Not far from Trenton, and on the bank of the Delaware, is the residence
of Joseph Buonaparte, who, since the re-establishment of the ancient
families on the thrones of Europe, has retired to America. The estate on
which he lives he purchased for ten thousand dollars; and he is said to
have expended, twenty thousand more in finishing the buildings, and
laying out the grounds in a splendid style. At present it has much the
appearance of the villa of a country gentleman in England.
Fifth Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_Narrative of Mr._ FEARON'S _Journey from Philadelphia to
Pittsburgh._
In the month of October, 1817, Mr. Fearon left Philadelphia for
Pittsburgh. He passed through an extensive, fertile, well-cultivated,
and beautiful tract of land called the _Great Valley_. Farms in this
district are chiefly owned by Dutch and Germans, and their descendants.
They consist of from fifty to two hundred acres each; and are
purchasable at the rate of about £.46 sterling per acre, the buildings
included; and, in well-improved land, the average produce of wheat may
be estimated at twenty-five bushels.
At the distance of about twenty miles from Philadelphia there is a
copper and zinc mine. Iron ore abounds throughout the state of
Pennsylvania; and many of the rocks are of limestone. A coarse kind of
grey marble is found in great quantity, and is used for steps and
chimney-pieces.
The towns of _Lancaster_, _Harrisburgh_, and _Carlisle_, through which
Mr. Fearon passed, are all considerable, both in extent and population.
[_Lancaster_ is nearly the largest inland town of North America. It
contains upwards of nine hundred houses, built chiefly of brick and
stone, and, in general, two stories high. It has also six churches, a
market-house, and a gaol. The streets are laid out regularly, and cross
each other at right angles. Several different kinds of wares are
manufactured here, and chiefly by German mechanics. The rifled barrel
guns made at this place are considered to have great excellence. In
1787, a college was founded at Lancaster, and named Franklin College, in
honour of Dr. Franklin. The founders were an association of Germans, who
were desirous of establishing a seminary for the education of their
sons, in their own language and habits. But it has not flourished; and,
in 1815, the number of students did not exceed fifty.]
Lancaster, Harrisburgh, and Carlisle, each contain many excellent brick
buildings, and the usual erections of market-houses, gaols, and
churches, all evincing an extent of national property, and an
advancement to European establishments, truly extraordinary, when we
recollect that this is a country which may be said to be but of
yesterday. The German character is very prevalent throughout this state;
and even the original language is preserved.
[At _Carlisle_ there are many excellent shops and warehouses. This place
has a college, which was founded in 1783, by Mr. John Dickenson of
Pennsylvania. The number of students is about one hundred and forty; and
there are professors of logic, metaphysics, languages, natural
philosophy, and chemistry.]
Mr. Fearon next arrived at _Chambersburgh_, a town which contains about
two hundred and forty houses, and two or three churches. He here secured
a place, in the stage, to Pittsburgh, and set off the next morning at
three o'clock. About eight he arrived at _Loudon_, a small town at the
foot of the north mountain, one of the Alleghany ridges, and at this
time containing seventeen log and twenty frame or brick houses. The
tavern was cheerless and dirty.
On the road Mr. Fearon counted thirty regular stage-waggons, which were
employed in conveying goods to and from Pittsburgh. Each of these was
drawn by four horses; and the articles carried in them, were chiefly
hardware, and silk, linen, cotton, and woollen goods. The waggons, in
return, conveyed from Pittsburgh farming produce, and chiefly flour. It
is, however, necessary to observe that this is the only trading waggon
route to the whole western country; and that there is no water-carriage
through this part of America.
The road, for a considerable distance, was excellent, and was part of a
new national turnpike, which had been projected to extend from the head
of the river Potomac to Wheeling. This road, when completed, will be of
great advantage to the whole western country. The stage passed over the
_North Mountain_, whence there was a most extensive view, of a wide and
beautiful valley, containing several thousand acres, which have not yet
been cultivated. The prospect combined some grand mountain-scenery, and
was the most magnificent that Mr. Fearon had ever beheld. The travellers
passed through a little town situated in the midst of this apparently
trackless wild.
They afterwards overtook twenty small family waggons, those chiefly of
emigrants from one part of the state to another. These persons were
travelling in company, and thus formed an unity of interest, for the
purpose of securing, when necessary, an interchange of assistance. The
difficulties they experienced, in passing through this mountainous
district, were very great.
Mr. Fearon and the other stage-passengers supped and slept at a place
called _Bloody Run_, having, for several miles, proceeded over roads
that were almost impassable. Early the next morning they again set out;
and they arrived at _Bedford_ about nine o'clock. [This little town,
like most others on the great western road, trades in all kinds of corn,
flour, and provisions.] They were not, however, permitted to stop here,
as the stage-proprietor had a house further on, where they breakfasted.
In passing over a range of mountains called the _Dry Ridge_, the view
was peculiarly magnificent. The eye, at one glance, took in a varied and
most interesting view of mountain scenery, intermingled with wooded
vales, and much fertile land. The travellers continued to overtake many
waggons of emigrants from different states.
About five o'clock in the afternoon they reached the top of the
_Alleghany Mountains_. The road had of late been so bad, that they had
walked more than sixteen miles, leaving the stage far behind. The
character of the mountain _inhabitants_ appeared to be cold, friendless,
unfeeling, callous, and selfish. All the emigrants with whom Mr. Fearon
conversed, complained of the enormous charges at taverns. Log-houses are
the only habitations for many miles. These are formed of the trunks of
trees, about twenty feet in length, and six inches in diameter, cut at
the ends, and placed on each other. The roof is framed in a similar
manner. In some houses there are windows; in others the door performs
the double office of window and entrance. The chimney is erected on the
outside, and in a similar manner to the body of the house. The hinges of
the doors are generally of wood; and locks are not used. In some of the
houses there are two apartments; in others but one, for all the various
operations of cooking, eating, and sleeping; and even the pigs come in
for their due share of the log residence. About eleven o'clock at
night, the travellers safely arrived at _Somerset_, a small town
distant two hundred and thirty-seven miles from Philadelphia.
In the morning of their third day's journey, they crossed _Laurel Hill_.
The vegetation on this ridge appears superior to that of the Allegheny.
The mountain called _Little Chesnut Ridge_ succeeds Laurel Hill. The
difficulties of the road were here extremely great. These arose not only
from the height of the mountains, but from the enormous stones and deep
mud-holes with which the road abounded. The trees on Chesnut Ridge are
chiefly oak and chesnut; and the soil appeared to be chalky. At half
past ten at night they arrived at _Greensburg_, [a town built upon the
summit of a hill. The land, in its vicinity is, in general, very
fertile; and the inhabitants, who are of German origin, cultivate wheat,
rye, and oats, with great success.]
The party started, on the fourth day, at four in the morning, and with
the high treat of a turnpike-road; but the advantages, arising from
this, were but of short continuance. They had to descend _Turtle Creek
Hill_, the road over which, in consequence of late rains, had become, if
possible, even worse than those across Laurel Hill. The passengers all
got out; and, up to their knees in mud, they took their turns, in
holding up the stage. This tract bore decided evidence of being embedded
with coal. About two o'clock they reached _Pittsburg_.
From Chambersburgh to Greensburgh the condition of the people is that of
an absence of wealth and of the conveniences of life, with, however, the
means of obtaining a sufficient quantity of food. The blacksmith and the
tavern-keeper are almost the only occupations. The former earns from
twenty shillings and sixpence to twenty-seven shillings per week; and
the profits of the latter must be very great, if we may judge from the
high charges and bad quality of the accommodations. From Greensburgh to
Pittsburgh the improvement, in size and quality, of the houses, is
evident, and the cultivation and condition of the land is much superior
to those of the country through which the travellers had before past.
_Pittsburg_ is, in several points of view, a most interesting town. Its
situation, which is truly picturesque, is at the termination of two
rivers, and at the commencement of a third river, that has a direct
communication with the ocean, though at the immense distance of two
thousand five hundred miles. This place possesses an exhaustless store
of coal.
During the great American war, Pittsburg was an important military post
called _Du Quesne_, and was remarkable for two signal defeats of the
British troops. It is, at present, a place of great importance: the
connecting link between _new_ and _old_ America; and though it is not a
"Birmingham," as the natives bombastically style it, yet it certainly
contains the seeds of numerous important and valuable manufactories.
Agricultural produce finds here a ready and advantageous market. Farming
in this neighbourhood is not, indeed, the most profitable mode of
employing capital; but here, as in other parts of the union, it is an
independent mode of life. The farmer, however, must labour hard with his
own hands. The labourers, or "helps," as they style themselves, are paid
high wages, and are not to be relied on. In many instances they expect
to sit down at table with their master, to live as well as he, and to be
on terms of equality with every branch of the family.
Mr. Fearon remained at Pittsburgh several days, during which time the
rain never ceased. The smoke, also, from the different manufactories, is
extreme, giving, to the town and its inhabitants, a very sombre aspect.
The articles manufactured here are various, and chiefly of copper, iron,
and glass. In one of the glass-warehouses, Mr. Fearon saw chandeliers
and numerous other articles, of a very splendid description, in cut
glass. Among the latter was a pair of decanters, cut from a London
pattern, the price of which was to be eight guineas. And it is
remarkable that the demand for these articles of elegant luxury lies in
the western states; the inhabitants of eastern America being still
importers from the "old country." Not thirty years ago, the whole right
bank of the Ohio was termed the "Indian side." Spots in Tenessee, in
Ohio and Kentucky, which, within the lifetime of even young men,
witnessed only the arrow and the scalping knife, now present, to the
traveller, articles of elegance, and modes of luxury, which might rival
the displays of London and of Paris: within the last half century, the
beasts of the forest, and men more savage than the beasts, were the only
inhabitants of the whole of that immense tract, which is peculiarly
denominated the western country. This tract is now partially inhabited;
and promises soon to be generally so, by civilized man, possessed of the
arts and pursuits of civilized life.
On the whole, Pittsburgh is a very important town. When Mr. Fearon was
here, it was supposed to contain about ten thousand inhabitants.
The face of the country, beyond this town, is an uninterrupted level,
and many parts of it are occupied by agriculturists. Mr. Fearon,
however, was informed that there were still for sale one million of
acres of United States' land, at the rate of two dollars per acre, or
one dollar and sixty-four cents for prompt payment. The principal towns
are situated on the banks of the river. There are no canals, nor, indeed
is there much occasion for them, as the whole state abounds with rivers
and creeks, which fall into the Ohio.
The trees produced by the best kind of land are honey-locust, black
walnut, and beech; by land of second quality, the sugar maple tree,
sycamore, or butter-wood, and what is called white wood, which is used
for building and joiner's work; and land of the third quality produces
oak. There is but little underwood; for the great height and the
spreading tops of the trees, prevent the sun from penetrating to the
ground, and nourishing inferior articles of vegetation.
The winters are severe, and of from three to four months continuance,
with a keen and dry air, and cloudless sky. During summer excessive heat
prevails, with heavy dews at night. In the spring there are cold and
heavy rains. The autumns are fine, and are followed by what is called
"Indian summer," which is truly delightful. Along the route that Mr.
Fearon had travelled in this state, there was scarcely an elevation
which could be called a hill, with exception of rising grounds on the
margins of rivers. The dreary monotony of limited views, of such endless
uniformity, produces sensations of the most depressing melancholy. The
atmosphere, after a hot day, causes headaches, which frequently
terminate in intermittent fevers.
Judging from the beds of the rivers, and the quality of the water, Mr.
Fearon presumes that coal must be abundant. Salt is found in several
situations, particularly on the Kenaway. There is much limestone. The
wild animals, in this part of America, are neither numerous, nor
troublesome.
The interior population of the United States, Mr. Fearon considers, may
be divided into three classes: first, the "squatter," or man, who "sets
himself down," upon land which is not his own, and for which he pays
nothing; cultivates a sufficient extent of ground to supply himself and
his family with the necessaries of life, remains until he is
dissatisfied with his choice, has realized a sufficiency to become a
land-owner, or is expelled by the real proprietor. Second, the small
farmer, who has recently emigrated, and has had barely sufficient to pay
the first instalment for his eighty or one hundred and sixty acres, of
two-dollar land; cultivates, or, what he calls, improves, from ten to
thirty acres; raises a sufficient "feed" for his family; is in a
condition, which, if compelled by legislative acts, or by external force
to endure, would be considered truly wretched; but, from being his own
master, and having made his own choice, joined with the consciousness,
that, though slowly, he is regularly advancing towards wealth, the
breath of complaint is seldom heard to escape from his lips. Third, the
wealthy, or "strong-handed" farmer, who owns from five to twelve hundred
acres, has from one-fourth to one-third under cultivation, of a kind
much superior to the former; raises live stock for the home, and
Atlantic city markets; sends beef, pork, cheese, lard, and butter, to
New Orleans: is a man of plain, business-like sense, though not in
possession, nor desirous, of a very cultivated intellect; understands
his own interest, and that of his country; and lives in sufficient
affluence, and is possessed of comfort, according to the American
acceptation of the term, but to which, an Englishman must feel inclined
to take an exception.
The management of farms is here full a century behind that in England:
there being a want of improved machinery for the promotion of economy in
time and labour; and no regular attention being paid to the condition of
live stock; while the mode of culture, in general, appears slovenly and
unsystematic.
* * * * *
On the subject of emigration to America, Mr. Fearon remarks, that the
capitalist will here receive legal interest of six or seven per cent.
for his money; and perhaps eight per cent. might be made upon good
security, as capital is wanted throughout the country. A London
shopkeeper, with a capital of three thousand pounds or upwards, and who
is well acquainted with the principles of business, might succeed.
Lawyers, doctors, clerks, shopmen, literary men, artists, and
schoolmasters, to use an American phrase, would "come to a bad market."
Mechanics are able to obtain employment, but many who have emigrated
have been lamentably deceived in their expectations. The person of small
property, who is desirous to live on the interest of his money, and
wants to remove to a cheaper country than England, should pause before
the object of his choice is America. From what Mr. Fearon had hitherto
seen of large towns, living is not, on the whole, cheaper than in the
English cities. In the interior it may be less expensive than in the
country parts of England; but such a man must, of necessity, have his
ideas of happiness associated with many sources of comfort and
gratification, which he would seek for in vain within the United States.
With regard to certain Yorkshire and Leicestershire manufacturers, in
whose welfare he was particularly interested, Mr. Fearon says, he was
convinced that they could not profitably succeed here.
Sixth Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_Narrative of an Expedition from Pittsburg into the Illinois territory.
From Notes on a Journey in America, by MORRIS BIRKBECK._
Leaving Mr. Fearon at Pittsburgh, we will thence accompany Mr. Birkbeck
on his tour into the western settlements of the United States. About the
end of May, 1817, this gentleman and his family, consisting of nine
persons, five male and four female, arrived at _Pittsburgh_; and, on the
5th of June, well mounted, and well furnished with saddle-bags and
blankets, they set out on their journey westward, in search of a place
where they might form an advantageous settlement. Each person had a
blanket under his saddle, another upon it, and a pair of saddle-bags,
with a great coat and an umbrella strapped behind.
In this manner, says Mr. Birkbeck, even women, and those of advanced
age, often take long journeys without inconvenience. The day before he
left Pittsburgh, he was told of a lady who was coming from Tenessee to
Pittsburgh, twelve hundred miles; and, although she had with her an
infant, she preferred travelling on horseback to boating up the river.
Seventeen miles of the ride from Pittsburgh on to _Cannonsburg_, was
chiefly over clayey hills, well adapted for grass; but, in the present
circumstances of the country, too stiff for profitable cultivation under
the plough. From Cannonsburg to _Washington_, in Pennsylvania, eight
miles, is a very desirable tract, containing much excellent land, with
fine meadows.
Washington is a pretty, thriving town, which contains about two thousand
five hundred inhabitants. It has a college, with about a hundred
students; but, from the dirty condition of the schools, and the
loitering habits of the young men, Mr. Birkbeck suspected it to be an
ill-regulated institution.
From Washington, Mr. Birkbeck and his family proceeded still westward,
and, on entering the _State of Ohio_, they found themselves in a country
beautiful and fertile, and affording, to a plain, industrious, and
thriving population, all that nature has decreed for the comfort of man.
It contains rich land, good water, wholesome air; limestone, coal,
mills, and navigation. It is also fully appropriated, and thickly
settled; and land is worth from twenty to thirty dollars per acre: an
advance of a thousand per cent. in about ten years!
A heavy fall of wet had rendered the roads muddy and unpleasant. On the
10th of June, the party arrived at _Wheeling_, a considerable but
mean-looking town, of inns and stores, on the banks of the Ohio. Here
they baited their horses, and took a repast of bread and milk. At this
place the Ohio is divided into two channels, of five hundred yards each,
by an island of three hundred acres.
Between Wheeling and St. Clairsville, they had sundry foaming creeks to
ford; and sundry log-bridges to pass, which are a sort of commutation of
danger. They had also a very muddy road, over hills of clay; and thunder
and rain during nearly the whole of this their first stage: such
thunder, and such rain, as they had heard of, but had seldom witnessed
in England.
They were detained some days at _St. Clairsville_. This place consists
of about one hundred and fifty houses; stores, taverns, doctors'-shops,
and lawyers' offices, with the dwellings of sundry artisans; such as
tailors, shoemakers, hatters, and smiths. Its chief street runs over one
of the beautiful, round, and fertile hills which form this country. The
court-house, a handsome brick edifice, on the summit, has a cheerful and
a rather striking appearance. If the streets were paved, St. Clairsville
would be a pleasant town, but, from the continued rains, they were, at
this time, deep in mud.
The rich clay of this country is very favourable to grass, and the
pastures are extremely fine. When the timber is destroyed, a beautiful
turf takes immediate possession of the surface.
As they proceeded westward, towards Zanesville, the soil did not
improve. It is here a yellow clay, well adapted for grass; but, when
exhausted by repeated cropping, it will be unprofitable for tillage. In
some places, the clay is over limestone, and exhibits marks of great and
durable fertility.
During their journey, on the 13th of June, they met a group of nymphs,
with their attendant swains, ten in number, on horseback: for no
American walks who can obtain a horse; and there are few indeed who
cannot. The young men were carrying umbrellas over the heads of their
partners; and the appearance of the whole was very decent and
respectable.
At the distance of eighteen miles east of Zanesville, whilst taking
shelter from a thunder-storm, they were joined by four industrious
pedestrians, who were returning eastward from a tour of observation
through this state. These all agreed in one sentiment, that there is no
part of the Union, either in the new settlements or in the old, where an
industrious man need be at a loss for the comforts of a good
livelihood.
The land continued of the same character as before, a weak yellow clay,
under a thin covering of vegetable mould, profitable for cultivation
merely because it is new. The timber is chiefly oak. Little farms, of
from eight to one hundred and sixty acres, with simple erections, a
cabin and a stable, may be purchased, at the rate of from five to twenty
dollars per acre. This is a hilly and romantic country; and affords many
pleasant situations. Sand-stone is common; limestone more rare; but
clay-slate appears to be the common basis.
The inhabitants are friendly and homely, not to say coarse; but they are
well informed. This day the travellers passed various groups of
emigrants, proceeding westward: one waggon, in particular, was the
moving habitation of twenty souls.
_Zanesville_ is a thriving town, on the beautiful _river Muskingum_,
which is, at all times, navigable downward. The country around it is
hilly and pleasant; not rich, but dry, and tolerably fertile. It abounds
in coal and lime, and may, at some future period, become a grand station
for manufactures.
At _Rushville_ Mr. Birkbeck, another gentleman, and three children, sat
down to a breakfast, consisting of the following articles: coffee,
rolls, biscuits, dry toast, waffles, (a kind of soft hot cake, of German
extraction, covered with butter,) salted pickerell, (a fish from Lake
Huron,) veal-cutlets, broiled ham, gooseberry-pie, stewed currants,
preserved cranberries, butter, and cheese: and Mr. Birkbeck, for himself
and three children, and four gallons of oats, and a sufficient quantity
of hay for four horses, was charged only six shillings and ninepence
sterling.
South-west of Zanesville, instead of steep hills of yellow clay, the
country assumes a more gently undulating surface; but it is sufficiently
varied both for health and ornament, and has an absorbent, gravelly, or
sandy soil, of moderate fertility.
_Lancaster_ is on the edge of a marsh, or fen, which, at present,
should seem to be a source of disease; though its bad effects, on the
inhabitants of that town, are not by any means obvious.
The three towns, Zanesville, Lancaster, and _Chillicothe_, were founded
by a sagacious man of the name of Zane, one of the earliest of the
settlers. They are admirably placed, geographically, but with little
regard to the health of their future inhabitants. The local advantages
of Zanesville might have been equally secured, had the site of the town
been on the higher, rather than the lower bank of the Muskingum: and the
Sciota might have afforded equal facilities to the commerce of the
inhabitants of Chillicothe, had they viewed it flowing beneath them,
from those lovely eminences which adorn its opposite banks. Chillicothe
is surrounded by the most charming elevations, but is itself in a
bottom; and Lancaster is on the brink of an extensive marsh.
Seven miles north-west of Chillicothe the traveller enters on a tract of
river bottom, the first rich land, for which this state, and indeed the
whole western country, is so justly famous. It is agreeably varied in
surface, occasionally rises into hills, and is never flat.
At Chillicothe there is an office for the several transactions regarding
the disposal of the public lands of this district; and, on Mr.
Birkbeck's arrival, he repaired to this office, for the purpose of
inspecting a map of the district; and he found a great quantity of
unentered lands, comprehending many entire townships, of eight miles
square, lying about twenty miles south of Chillicothe; and, in several
parts, abutting on the Sciota. Though it appeared certain that
substantial objections had deterred purchasers from this extensive
tract, in a country so much settled, yet Mr. Birkbeck, accompanied by
his son, determined to visit it. They rode over twenty miles of fertile
country, on the bank of the Sciota, and crossed that river to _Pike
Town_; not far from which place was the land they were seeking.
Near Pike Town was a small cultivated prairie, the first Mr. Birkbeck
had seen. It contained about two hundred acres of rich land, and was
divided by a road, which ran through the middle; and nearly the whole of
it was covered by fine Indian corn, neatly cultivated. The surrounding
hills were crowned with woods. Nothing that Mr. Birkbeck had before seen
in America at all resembled this delightful spot; but, from its low
situation near the Sciota, it was unhealthy.
Pike Town was laid out, and received its name, about the year 1815. When
Mr. Birkbeck was here, it contained a tavern, a store, and about twenty
other dwellings.
The land of which Mr. Birkbeck came in quest was, as he supposed, of
inferior quality. But though he found it unfit for his purpose, he had
been repaid his trouble by the pleasure of his ride, through a fine
portion of country. In leaving Chillicothe, to proceed towards
Cincinnati, he and his party travelled through about seven miles of rich
alluvial land, and over fertile uplands. But, as they proceeded, the
country became level, with a cold heavy soil, better adapted to grass
than tillage. Much of this tract remained in an unimproved state. They
had passed some hills which were covered with the grandest white
oak-timber imaginable. Within view from the road there were thousands of
these magnificent trees, each of which measured fourteen or fifteen feet
in circumference: their straight stems rising, without a branch, to the
height of seventy or eighty feet, not tapering and slender, but
surmounted by full, luxuriant heads.
For the space of a mile in breadth, a hurricane, which had traversed the
entire western country in a north-east direction, about seven years
before Mr. Birkbeck was here, had opened itself a passage through the
forests, and had left a scene of extraordinary desolation. The trees lay
tumbled over each other, like scattered stubble; some torn up by the
roots, others broken off at different heights, or splintered only, and
their tops bent over, and touching the ground. These hurricane tracts
afford strong holes for game, and for all animals of savage kind.
As Mr. Birkbeck approached the _Little Miami River_, the country became
more broken, much more fertile, and better settled than before. After
crossing this rapid and clear stream, he had a pleasant ride to Lebanon,
which is not a mountain of cedars, but a valley, so beautiful and
fertile that, at its first opening on the view, it seemed rather a
region of fancy than a real back-settlement scene.
_Lebanon_ is itself one of those wonders which are the natural growth of
these back woods. In fourteen years, from two or three cabins of
half-savage hunters, it has grown to be the residence of a thousand
persons, with habits and looks in no respect differing from their
brethren of the east. Before Mr. Birkbeck and his party entered the
town, they heard the supper-bells of the taverns; and they arrived just
in time to take their seats at one of the tables, together with
travellers like themselves, and several store-keepers, lawyers, and
doctors; men who regularly board at taverns, and make up a standing
company for the daily public table.
Mr. Birkbeck and his family next passed through _Cincinnati_, [a town
which presents a scene of great life and activity. The market-house is
an excellent building; and the market is under judicious regulations.
Provisions are here plentiful and cheap; but articles of clothing,
house-rent, and journeymen's wages are all very high.
This interesting town is situated on the banks of the _Ohio_, and
contains from eight to ten thousand inhabitants, including blacks, who
are numerous. It is built on the same plan as Philadelphia. There is a
school, in which children are educated on the Lancasterian plan; and
which, in 1817, contained one hundred and fifty children. Owing,
however, to the "untamable insubordination of the scholars, it was found
impossible to put in practice most of the punishments that are directed
by the founder of the system. Two weekly newspapers are published at
Cincinnati; one called "The Western Spy," and the other, "Liberty
Hall."
There are, at this place, a woollen manufactory, a steam corn-mill, and
a glass-house, on a tolerably large scale; and, in the main street,
English goods abound in as great profusion as in Cheapside. The
tradesmen import some of their goods direct from England, but they
usually purchase them at Philadelphia; the journey to and from which
place occupies three months; and goods are generally about fifty days in
arriving.
There are, in Cincinnati, three banks; and paper-money is here so
abundant, that specie, even of the smallest amount, is rarely to be
seen. The little that does exist, consists chiefly of _cut_ Spanish
dollars. Notes of two shillings and two-pence, thirteen pence, sixpence
halfpenny, and even of three-pence farthing, are very common: indeed,
they constitute the chief part of the circulating medium.
Cincinnati is a very handsome town; a town, in fact, which must astonish
every traveller, when he considers how recently it has been formed. Some
of the houses are on a large scale; and the number of moderate-sized and
well-built brick buildings is considerable. The churches are neat; and
the post-office, in arrangement and management, would bear comparison
with that of London.]
After having passed through Cincinnati, Mr. Birkbeck and his family
entered the _state of Indiana_, and proceeded towards Vincennes. Indiana
was, evidently, newer than the state of Ohio; and the character of the
settlers appeared superior to that of the settlers in Ohio, who, in
general, were a very indigent people. Those who fix themselves in
Indiana, bring with them habits of comfort and the means of procuring
the conveniences of life. These are observable in the construction of
their cabins, and the neatness surrounding them; and, especially, in
their well-stocked gardens, so frequent here, and so rare in the state
of Ohio.
The country, from the town of Madison to the _Camp Tavern_, is not
interesting, and a great part of the land is but of medium quality. At
the latter place commences a broken country, approaching to mountainous,
which, if well watered, would form a fine grazing district. In their
progress, Mr. Birkbeck, one of the ladies, and a servant boy, were
benighted at the foot of one of these rugged hills; and, without being
well provided, they were compelled to make their first experiment of
"camping out," as it is called.
A traveller, in the woods, says this gentleman, should always carry with
him a flint, steel, tinder, and matches; a few biscuits, a half-pint
vial of spirits, a tin cup, and a large knife or tomahawk; then, with
his two blankets, and his great coat and umbrella, he need not be
uneasy, should any unforeseen delay require his sleeping under a tree.
In the present instance, the important articles of tinder and matches
were in the baggage of the division that had proceeded; and, as the
night was rainy and excessively dark, the benighted party were, for some
time, under considerable apprehension, lest they should be deprived of
the comfort and security of a fire. Fortunately, Mr. Birkbeck's
powder-flask was in his saddle-bags, and he succeeded in supplying the
place of tinder, by moistening a piece of paper, and rubbing it with
gunpowder. He then placed the touchpaper on an old cambric handkerchief.
On this he scattered gunpowder pretty copiously, and with a flint and
steel he soon succeeded in raising a flame: then, collecting together a
quantity of dry wood, he made a noble fire. There was a mattress for the
lady, a bear-skin for Mr. Birkbeck, and the load of the pack-horse
served as a pallet for the boy. Thus, by means of great coats and
blankets, and their umbrellas spread over their heads, they made their
quarters tolerably comfortable; and, placing themselves to the leeward
of the fire, with their feet towards it, they lay more at ease than they
could have done in the generality of taverns. They had a few biscuits,
a small bottle of spirits, and a phial of oil. By twisting some cord
very hard, and dipping it in the oil, they contrived to make torches;
and, after several fruitless attempts, they succeeded in finding water.
"Camping out," when the tents are pitched by day-light, and the party
are furnished with the articles, which Mr. Birkbeck was obliged to
supply by expedients, is pleasant in fine weather. The lady was
exceedingly ill, which had in fact occasioned their being benighted; and
never was the night's charge of a sick friend undertaken with more
dismal forebodings. The rain, however, having ceased, the invalid passed
the night in safety; so that the morning found them more comfortable
than they could have anticipated.
The town of _Vincennes_ is scattered over a plain, lying some feet lower
than the banks of the _Wabash_: a situation seemingly unfavourable to
health; and, in fact, agues and bilious fevers are frequent here during
the autumn.
The road from Sholt's Tavern to this place, thirty-six miles distant,
lies partly across "barrens," that is, land of middling quality, thinly
set with timber, or covered with long grass and shrubby underwood;
generally level and dry, and gaudy with marigolds, sunflowers, martagon
lilies, and many other beautiful flowers. On the whole, the country is
tame, poorly watered, and not desirable as a place of settlement; but,
from its varied character, it is pleasant to travel over. Vincennes
exhibits a motley assemblage of inhabitants as well as visitors. The
inhabitants are Americans, French Canadians, and Negroes. The visitors
are chiefly Americans from various states; and Indians from various
nations: Shawnees, Delawares, and Miamies, who live about a hundred
miles northward, and who come here to trade for skins. The Indians were
encamped, in considerable numbers, round the town, and were continually
riding into the place, to the stores and the whiskey-shops. Their horses
and accoutrements were generally mean, and their persons disagreeable.
Their faces were painted in various ways, which gave an appearance of
ferocity to their countenances.
One of them, a Shawnee, had his eyes, or rather his eyelids and the
surrounding parts, daubed with vermilion. He thus looked hideous enough
at a distance; but, on a nearer view, he had good features, and was a
fine, stout, and fierce-looking man. Some of the Indians were well
dressed. One young man, in particular, of the Miami nation, wore a
clear, light blue cotton vest, with sleeves; and had his head ornamented
with black feathers.
They all wear pantaloons, or rather long moccasins of buck-skin,
covering the foot and leg, and reaching half way up the thigh, which is
bare: a covering of cloth, a foot square, passes between the thighs, and
hangs behind like an apron. Their complexion was various: some were
dark, and others were not so swarthy as even Mr. Birkbeck; but he saw
none of the copper-colour, which he had imagined to be their
distinguishing characteristic. These Indians are addicted to drinking
spirits, and are often intoxicated. They use much action in their
discourse, and laugh immoderately. Their hair is straight and black, and
their eyes are dark. Many of the women are decently dressed and
good-looking.
Mr. Birkbeck remarks that, in Great Britain, the people are so
circumscribed in their movements, that, with them, miles seem equal to
tens of miles in America. He says that, in America, travellers will
start on an expedition of three thousand miles, by boats, on horseback,
or on foot, with as little deliberation or anxiety, as an Englishman
would set out on a journey of three hundred.
At Vincennes, the foundation had just been laid of a large establishment
of mills to be worked by steam. Water-mills of great power were building
on the Wabash, near Harmony; and undertakings of similar kind will, no
doubt, be called for and executed, along the banks of this river, and
of its various tributary streams.
On entering Vincennes there is nothing which tends to make a favourable
impression on a stranger; but it improves on acquaintance, for it
contains agreeable people: and there is a spirit of cleanliness, and
even of neatness, in the houses and manner of living. There is also a
strain of politeness in the inhabitants, which marks the origin of this
settlement to be French.
At _Princeton_, a place scarcely three years old, Mr. Birkbeck and his
family went to a log-tavern, where neatness was as well observed as at
many taverns in the cities of England. The people of this town belong to
America in dress and manners; but they would not disgrace old England in
the general decorum of their deportment.
Mr. Birkbeck lamented here, as in other parts of America, the small
account that is had of time. Subsistence is easily secured, and liberal
pursuits are yet too rare to operate as a general stimulus to exertion:
the consequence is, that life is whiled away in a painful state of
yawning lassitude.
Twenty or thirty miles west of this place, in the Illinois territory, is
a large country where settlements were beginning; and where, Mr.
Birkbeck says, there was an abundant choice of unentered lands, of a
description, which, if the statements of travellers and surveyors, even
after great abatements, can be relied on, he imagined would satisfy his
wishes.
Princeton affords a very encouraging situation for a temporary abode. It
stands on an elevated spot, in an uneven country, ten miles from the
river Wabash, and two from the navigable stream of the Patok; but the
country is rich, and the timber is vast in bulk and height.
The small-pox is likely soon to be excluded from this state; for
vaccination is very generally adopted, and inoculation for the small-pox
is prohibited altogether; not by law, but by common consent. If it
should be known that an individual had undergone this operation, the
inhabitants would compel him to withdraw from society. If he lived in a
town, he must absent himself, or he would be driven away.
On the 25th of July, Mr. Birkbeck explored the country as far as
_Harmony_ and the banks of the Ohio. He lodged in a cabin, at a very new
town, on the banks of the Ohio, called _Mount Vernon_. Here he found the
people of a character which confirmed the aversion he had previously
entertained to a settlement in the immediate vicinity of a large
navigable river. Every hamlet was demoralized, and every plantation was
liable to outrage, within a short distance of such a thoroughfare.
Yet, to persons who had been long buried in deep forests, the view of
that noble expanse was like the opening of a bright day upon the gloom
of night. To travel, day after day, among trees a hundred feet high,
without a glimpse of the surrounding country, is oppressive to a degree
which those cannot conceive who have not experienced it.
Mr. Birkbeck left Harmony after breakfast, on the ensuing day, and,
crossing the Wabash, at a ferry, he proceeded to the _Big Prairie_,
where, to his astonishment, he beheld a fertile plain of grass and
arable; and some thousand acres of land covered with corn, more
luxuriant than any he had before seen. The scene reminded him of some
open well-cultivated vale in Europe, surrounded by wooded uplands. But
the illusion vanished on his arrival at the habitation of Mr. Williams,
the owner of an estate, on which, at this time, there were nearly three
hundred acres of beautiful corn in one field; for this man lived in a
way apparently as remote from comfort, as the settler of one year, who
thinks only of the means of supporting existence.
The inhabitants of the Prairie are healthy, and the females and children
are better complexioned than their neighbours of the timber country. It
is evident that they breathe better air: but they are in a low state of
civilization, being about half Indian in their mode of life. They are
hunters by profession, and would have the whole range of the forests for
themselves and their cattle. Strangers appear, to them, invaders of
their privileges; as they have intruded on the better founded and
exclusive privileges of their Indian predecessors.
After viewing several Prairies, which, with their surrounding woods,
were so beautiful as to seem like the creation of fancy; (gardens of
delight in a dreary wilderness;) and after losing their horses, and
spending two days in recovering them, Mr. Birkbeck and his party took a
hunter, as their guide, and proceeded across the little Wabash, to
explore the country between that river and the Skillet Fork.
The lonely settlers, in the districts north of Big Prairie, are in a
miserable state: their bread-corn must be ground thirty miles off; and
it occupied three days to carry to the mill, and bring back, the small
horse-load of three bushels. To struggle with privations has now become
the habit of their lives, most of them having made several successive
plunges into the wilderness.
Mr. Birkbeck's journey across the little Wabash was a complete departure
from all mark of civilization. Wandering without track, where even the
sagacity of the hunter-guide had nearly failed, they at length arrived
at the cabin of another hunter, in which they lodged. This man, his
wife, his eldest son, a tall, half-naked youth, just initiated in the
hunter's arts; his three daughters, growing up into great rude girls,
and a squalling tribe of dirty brats, of both sexes, were of one pale
yellow colour, without the slightest tint of healthful bloom. They were
remarkable instances of the effect, on the complexion, produced by
living perpetually in the midst of woods.
Their cabin, which may serve as a specimen of these rudiments of houses,
was formed of round logs, with apertures of three or four inches: there
was no chimney, but large intervals were left between the "clapboards,"
for the escape of the smoke. The roof, however, was a more effectual
covering, than Mr. Birkbeck had generally experienced, as it protected
him and his party very tolerably from a drenching night. Two bedsteads,
formed of unhewn logs, and cleft boards laid across; two chairs, (one of
them without a bottom,) and a low stool, were all the furniture
possessed by this numerous family. A string of buffalo-hide, stretched
across the hovel, was a wardrobe for their rags; and their utensils,
consisting of a large iron-pot, some baskets, one good rifle, and two
that were useless, stood about in corners; and a fiddle, which was
seldom silent, except when the inhabitants were asleep, hung by them.
These hunters, in the back-settlements of America, are as persevering as
savages, and as indolent. They cultivate indolence as a privilege: "You
English (they say) are industrious, but we have freedom." And thus they
exist, in yawning indifference, surrounded by nuisances and petty wants;
the former of which might be removed, and the latter supplied, by the
application of one tenth part of the time that is loitered away in their
innumerable idle days.
The _Little Wabash_, which Mr. Birkbeck crossed in search of some
Prairies, that had been described to him in glowing colours, was, at
this season, a sluggish and scanty stream; but, for three months of the
latter part of winter and the beginning of spring, it covers a great
space of ground, by the overflow of waters collected in its long course.
The _Skillet Fork_ is a river of similar character; and the country that
lies between them must labour under the inconvenience of absolute
seclusion, for many months every year, until bridges and ferries are
established. Having made his way through this wildest of wildernesses to
the Skillet Fork, Mr. Birkbeck crossed that river at a shoal. The
country, on each side of it, is flat and swampy; so that the water, in
many places, even at this season, rendered travelling disagreeable; yet
here and there, at ten miles' distance, perhaps, the very solitude
tempts persons to pitch their tents for a season.
At one of these lone dwellings Mr. Birkbeck found a neat, respectable
looking female, spinning under the little piazza at one side of the
cabin, which shaded her from the sun. Her husband was absent on
business, which would detain him some weeks: she had no family, and no
companion except her husband's dog, which usually attended him during
his bear-hunting, in the winter. She said she was quite overcome with
"lone," and hoped the party would tie their horses in the wood, and sit
awhile with her, during the heat of the day. They did so, and she
rewarded them with a basin of coffee. She said her husband was kind and
good, and never left her without necessity. He was a true lover of
bear-hunting; and, in the preceding winter, had killed a great number of
bears.
On the second of August the party lodged at another cabin, where similar
neatness prevailed, both within and without. The woman was neat, and the
children were clean in skin, and whole in their clothes. The man
possessed good sense and sound notions, and was ingenious and
industrious. He lived on the edge of the Seven Miles' Prairie, a spot
charming to the eye, but deficient in water.
Mr. Birkbeck considers _Shawnee Town_ as a phænomenon, evincing the
pertinacious adherence of man to the spot where he has once established
himself. Once a year, for many successive springs, the Ohio, in its
annual overflowings, has carried away the fences from the cleared lands
of the inhabitants, till at length they have given them up, and ceased
to cultivate them. Once a year the inhabitants of Shawnee Town either
make their escape to higher lands, or take refuge in the upper stories
of their houses, until the waters subside, when they recover their
position on this desolate sand-bank.
At Shawnee Town there is an office for the south-east district of
Illinois. Here Mr. Birkbeck constituted himself a land-owner, by paying
seven hundred and twenty dollars, as one-fourth part of the
purchase-money of fourteen hundred and forty acres. This land, with a
similar purchase made by a Mr. Flower, constituted part of a beautiful
and rich Prairie, about six miles distant from the Big Wabash, and the
same distance from the Little Wabash.
The land was rich, natural meadow, bounded by timbered ground: it was
within reach of two navigable rivers; and, at a small expence, was
capable of being rendered immediately productive.
The geographical position of this portion of territory appeared to be
extremely favourable. The Big Wabash, a noble stream, which forms its
eastern boundary, runs four hundred miles, through one of the most
fertile portions of this most fertile region. By means of a portage of
eight miles to the Miami of the lakes, it has a communication, well
known to the Indian traders, with Lake Huron, and with all the
navigation of the north.
Mr. Birkbeck left Shawnee town on the third of August. He had found here
something of river-barbarism, the genuine Ohio character; but he had met
with a greater number, than he had expected, of agreeable individuals:
and the kind and hospitable treatment he experienced at the tavern,
formed a good contrast to the rude society and wretched fare he had left
at the Skillet Fork.
On his return to _Harmony_, the day being Sunday, he had an opportunity
of seeing, grouped and in their best attire, a large part of the members
of this wonderful community. It was evening when he arrived, and he
observed no human creature about the streets: soon the entire body of
the people, about seven hundred in number, poured out of the church, and
exhibited the appearance of health, neatness, and peace.
This colony is useful to the neighbourhood. It furnishes, from its
store, many articles of great value, not so well supplied elsewhere; and
it is a market for all spare produce. Many kinds of culinary plants, and
many fruit-trees are cultivated here; and the Harmonites set a good
example of neatness and industry. When we contrast their neatness and
order, with the slovenly habits of their neighbours, we see (says Mr.
Birkbeck) the good that arises from association, which advances these
poor people a century, at least, on the social scale, beyond the
solitary beings who build their huts in the wilderness.
At Harmony Mr. Birkbeck and his family lived at the tavern, and their
board there cost two dollars per week, each person: for these they
received twenty-one meals. Excellent coffee and tea, with broiled
chickens, bacon, &c. for breakfast and supper, and a variety of good,
but simple fare at dinner. Except coffee, tea, or milk, no liquor but
water is thought of at meals in this country.
Mr. Birkbeck observes that, when the back country of America is
mentioned in England, musquitoes by night, and rattlesnakes by day,
never fail to alarm the imagination: to say nothing of wolves and bears,
and panthers, and Indians still more ferocious than these. His course of
travelling, from the mouth of James River, and over the mountains, up to
Pittsburg, about five hundred miles; then three hundred miles through
the woods of the state of Ohio, down to Cincinnati; next, across the
entire wilderness of Indiana, and to the extreme south of the
Illinois:--this long and deliberate journey, (he says,) one would
suppose, might have introduced his party to an intimate acquaintance
with some of these pests of America. It is true that they killed several
of the serpent tribe; black snakes, garter-snakes, &c. and that they saw
one rattlesnake of extraordinary size. They experienced inconvenience
from musquitoes in a few damp spots, just as they would have done from
gnats in England. In their late expeditions in the Illinois, where they
led the lives of thorough backwoods-men, if they were so unfortunate as
to pitch their tent on the edge of a creek, or near a swamp, and
mismanaged their fire, they were teased with musquitoes, as they would
have been in the fens of Cambridgeshire: but this was the sum total
of their experience of these reported plagues.
Wolves and bears are extremely numerous, and commit much injury in the
newly-settled districts. Hogs, which are a main dependance for food as
well as profit, are the constant prey of the bears; and the holds of
these animals are so strong, that the hunters are unable to keep down
their numbers.
* * * * *
[In the autumn of the year 1817, Mr. Birkbeck removed, with his family,
to the property he had purchased, between the Great and Little Wabash,
and to which he has given the name of "_English Prairie_." In his "Notes
on America," and in his "Letters from the Illinois," he has described,
in an interesting manner, the face of the country, its soil,
productions, mode of culture, and capacities of improvement; and has
pointed out the great advantages which it offers to settlers, especially
to labourers and to farmers with small capital. The confidence that is
reposed in his judgment and agricultural skill, has already induced
several persons to emigrate into the same neighbourhood, both from
England and the United States; but the singularity of his religious
opinions, and his objection to the admission of religious instructors of
any description into his settlement, had prevented many conscientious
persons from joining him, who might have proved useful members of his
little community.]
* * * * *
From this place we must return to _Philadelphia_, for the purpose of
accompanying Mr. Weld on a journey to Washington, the federal city or
metropolis of the United States.
Seventh Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_Narrative of_ MR. WELD'S _Excursion from Philadelphia to
Washington_.
On the 16th of November, 1795, Mr. Weld left _Philadelphia_ in one of
the public stage-waggons. The country around this city was well
cultivated, and abounded with neat villas and farm-houses; but it had a
naked appearance, for all the trees had been cut down, either for fuel
or to make way for the plough.
The road to Baltimore passed over the lowest of three floating bridges,
which had been thrown across the _river Schuylkill_. The view, on
crossing this river, which is about two hundred and fifty yards wide, is
peculiarly beautiful. The banks on each side are high, and, for many
miles, afford extremely delightful situations for villas.
The country, after passing the Schuylkill, is pleasingly diversified
with rising grounds and woods; and appears to be in a good state of
cultivation. The first town of any note at which Mr. Weld arrived, was
_Chester_; which at this time contained about sixty dwellings, and was
remarkable for being the place where the first colonial assembly sat.
From the vicinity of Chester, there is a grand view of the river
Delaware.
About half a mile from Wilmington is _Brandywine River_, remarkable for
its mills: no fewer than thirteen having been built, almost close to
each other, upon it.
_Wilmington_ is the capital of the state of Delaware, and contained, at
this time, about six hundred houses, which were chiefly of brick. The
streets are laid out in a manner somewhat similar to those of
Philadelphia. There is, however, nothing very interesting in this town,
and the country around it is flat and unpleasant. _Elkton_, twenty-one
miles from Wilmington, and the first town in Maryland, is a dirty and
disagreeable place; which contains about ninety indifferent houses, that
are built without any regularity.
Every ten or twelve miles upon this road there are taverns. These are
all built of wood, and much in the same style; with a porch in front,
which extends the entire length of the house. Few of them have any
signs, and they are only to be distinguished from other houses, by a
number of handbills pasted upon the walls near the door. Each of them is
named, not from the sign, but from the person who keeps it; as Jones's,
Brown's, &c. and all are kept nearly in the same manner. At each house
there are regular hours for breakfast, dinner, and supper: and, if a
traveller arrive somewhat before the time appointed for any one of these
meals, it is in vain to desire a separate repast for himself: he must
patiently wait till the regulated hour; and must then sit down with such
other guests as happen to be in the house.
The _Susquehannah_ river is crossed, on the way to Baltimore, at a ferry
five miles above its entrance into the Chesapeak. The river is here
about a mile and a quarter wide, and deep enough for vessels of any
burden. The banks are high and thickly wooded, and the scenery is grand
and picturesque. A small town, called _Havre de Grace_, which contains
about forty houses, stands on this river at the ferry. From Havre to
Baltimore the country is extremely poor; the soil is of a yellow gravel
mixed with clay, and the road is execrable.
_Baltimore_ is supposed to have, at this time, contained about sixteen
thousand _inhabitants_. Though not the capital of the state, it is the
largest town in Maryland; and, after Philadelphia and New York, is the
most considerable place of trade in North America. [It is built round
the head of a bay or inlet of the _river Patuxent_, and about eight
miles above its junction with the Chesapeak.] The _plan_ of the town is
somewhat similar to that of Philadelphia. Most of the _streets_ cross
each other at right angles. The main street, which runs nearly east and
west, is about eighty feet wide, and the others measure from forty to
sixty feet. The streets are not all paved, so that, in wet weather, they
are almost impassable; the soil being a stiff yellow clay, which retains
the water a long time. On the south of the town is the harbour, which
affords about nine feet water, and is large enough to contain two
thousand sail of merchant-vessels.
The greatest number of private _houses_ in Baltimore, are of brick; but
many, particularly in the skirts of the town, are of wood. In some of
the new streets, a few appeared to be well built; but, in general, they
are small, heavy, and inconvenient. [The public buildings have very
little architectural beauty.
In the year 1817, Baltimore contained fifty thousand inhabitants; and
was still rapidly increasing.] Among the inhabitants are to be found
English, Irish, Scotch, and French; but the Irish appear to be most
numerous. With a few exceptions, they are all engaged in trade; and they
are, for the most part, a plain people, sociable among themselves, and
friendly and hospitable towards strangers. Cards and dancing are here
favourite amusements. During the autumn, Baltimore is unhealthy, and
such persons as can afford it, retire to country-seats in the
neighbourhood, some of which are delightfully situated.
From Baltimore to Washington, a distance of forty miles, the country has
but a poor appearance. The soil, in some parts, consists of yellow clay
mixed with gravel: in other parts it is sandy. In the neighbourhood of
the creeks, and between the hills, there are patches of rich black
earth, called bottoms, the trees upon which grow to a large size.
_A description of the City of Washington._
This city was laid out in the year 1792; and was expressly designed for
the seat of government, and the metropolis of the United States.
Accordingly, in the month of November, 1800, the congress assembled here
for the first time. It stands on a neck of land, between the forks
formed by the eastern and western branches of the river _Potomac_. This
neck of land, together with an adjacent territory, ten miles square, was
ceded to the American congress by the states of Maryland and Virginia.
The ground on which the city has been built, was the property of private
individuals, who readily relinquished their claim to one half of it in
favour of congress, conscious that the value of what was left to them
would increase, and amply compensate them for their loss.
The _plan_ of the buildings was drawn by a Frenchman, whose name was
L'Enfant; and the ground, marked out for them, was fourteen miles in
circumference. The _streets_ run north and south, east and west; but, to
prevent that sameness which would result from their all crossing each
other at right angles, several avenues have been laid out, in different
parts of the city, which run transversely. The streets are, in general,
from ninety to a hundred feet, and the avenues one hundred and sixty
feet wide. There is also an arrangement for several squares.
Including the suburb of George Town, this city contains about twenty
thousand _inhabitants_, who are scattered over a vast space, in detached
masses of buildings, which appear like petty hamlets in a populous
country. The intended _streets_ are, for the most part, only
distinguishable from the rugged waste, by a slight trace, like that of a
newly-formed road; or, in some instances, by rows of poplar trees, which
afford neither ornament nor shade.
The _Capitol_, and the house appropriated to the president of the United
States, are situated on opposite hills, and are the chief public
buildings in Washington. During the late war, they were both nearly
destroyed by the British forces; but they are now rising into increased
splendour. The capitol, in which are the houses of the legislature, and
several public offices, stands on a bank of the Potomac, seventy feet
above the level of that river. It as yet consists of only two wings; but
these are intended to be connected by a centre, surmounted by a dome.
The _president's house_ is at the opposite end of "Pennsylvania Avenue,"
and commands a most beautiful prospect. On each side of it stands a
large brick building: one of which is the treasury, and the other is
appropriated to the war and navy offices. These are hereafter to be
connected with the palace.
The _post office_ is a large brick edifice, situated at about an equal
distance from the president's house and the capitol. Under the same roof
is the patent-office, and the national library, for the use of members
of the congress. In 1817 there were, in Washington, many brick
buildings, two and three stories high. There were also some small wooden
houses; though, according to the original plan, no houses were to be
built less than three stories high, and all were to have marble steps.
The _river Potomac_, at Washington, is navigable only for small craft;
but, besides this, there is a river, about the width of the Paddington
canal, which is dignified by the name of _Tiber_. The ridiculous, though
characteristic vanity displayed in changing its original appellation
from "Goose-creek" to that of "Tiber," has been happily exposed by the
English poet Moore. Speaking of this city, he says,
In fancy now, beneath the twilight gloom,
Come, let me lead thee o'er this modern Rome,
Where tribunes rule, where dusky Davi bow,
And what was Goose-creek once is Tiber now.
This fam'd metropolis, where fancy sees
Squares in morasses, obelisks in trees.
There are, at Washington, four market-days in the week, and negroes are
the chief sellers of provisions; but the supplies are neither good nor
various. In this city rents are very high; and mechanics are fully
employed and well paid. Shopkeepers too are numerous; but its increase
cannot be rapid, for it has no decidedly great natural advantages. It
has little external commerce, a barren soil, and a scanty population; is
enfeebled by the deadly weight of absolute slavery, and has no direct
communication with the western country.
With regard to the manners of the _inhabitants_, it is remarked that
both sexes, whether on horseback or on foot, carry umbrellas at all
seasons: in summer, to keep off the sunbeams; in winter, as a shelter
from the rain and snow; and in spring and autumn, to intercept the dews
of the evening. At dinner and at tea parties, the ladies sit together,
and seldom mix with the gentlemen, whose conversation usually turns upon
political subjects. In almost all houses toddy, or spirits and water, is
offered to guests a few minutes before dinner. Boarders in
boarding-houses, or in taverns, sometimes throw off their coats during
the heat of summer; and, in winter, their shoes, for the purpose of
warming their feet at the fire; customs which the climate only can
excuse. The barber always arrives on horseback, to perform the operation
of shaving; and here, as in some towns of Europe, he is the organ of all
the news and scandal of the place.
In the year 1817, when Mr. Fearon was in Washington, the congress was
sitting, and that gentleman several times attended the debates. The
place of meeting was a temporary one: it had been designed for an hotel,
and was in the immediate vicinity of the capitol. The congress assembled
at eleven o'clock in the morning, and adjourned at four in the
afternoon. Mr. Fearon's first visit was to the _senate_. This body is
composed of forty members, the states having increased their original
number of thirteen to that of twenty; and each state, regardless of its
population, sends two. The gallery of the senate-house is open to all;
and the only form observed, is that of taking off the hat. When Mr.
Fearon was at Washington, the chairman's seat was central, under a
handsome canopy; and the members were seated, on rich scarlet cushions,
some at double, and some at single desks. There were two large fires;
and the room was carpeted, as was also the gallery. In the congress, the
forms of business, with a few minor exceptions, are taken from those of
the British parliament. There is, however, one point of variation: every
speech is apparently listened to; and all the speeches, whether good or
bad, seem regarded with equal apathy, and with a complete lifeless
endurance, neither applause nor censure being allowed.
The _Representative Chamber_ was in the same building, and about twice
the extent. A gallery was here also open to the public of both sexes.
This assembly consists of nearly two hundred members. These want, in
appearance, the age, experience, dignity, and respectability, which an
Englishman associates with the idea of legislators, and which are
possessed by the superior branch of the congress. The members sat on
very common chairs, and at unpainted desks, which were placed in rows. A
few of the speakers commanded attention; but others talked on as long
they pleased, while the rest were occupied in writing letters or reading
newspapers. A spitting-box was placed at the feet of each member, and,
contrary to the practice of the upper house, both the members and
visitors wore their hats.
During the sitting of congress, the president, or rather his lady, holds
a drawing-room weekly. He takes by the hand all those persons who are
presented to him; shaking of hands being here considered more rational
and more manly than kissing them.
_George Town_ may be described as a suburb of Washington. It is finely
situated, on the north-east side of the Potomac river, and is divided,
from Washington, by the Rock Creek, over which are two bridges. The
houses are chiefly of brick, and have a neat appearance. Several of
them were built before the streets were formed, which gave rise to an
observation by a French lady, that "George Town had houses without
streets; Washington, streets without houses."
_Alexandria_, formerly called Belhaven, is a small, but peculiarly neat
town, on the western side of the Potomac, and about six miles south of
Washington. Its streets, like those of Philadelphia, run in straight
lines, and intersect each other at right angles. The houses are of neat
construction. The public buildings are an episcopal church, an academy,
a court-house, a bank, and gaol. This place carries on a considerable
trade; and the warehouses and wharfs are very commodious. The distance
from Alexandria to George Town is about ten miles; and there is a daily
communication between the two places, by means of a packet-boat.
Nine miles below Alexandria, and also on the bank of the Potomac, stands
_Mount Vernon_, formerly the country-seat of general Washington. The
house is of wood, but cut and painted so as to resemble stone. It has a
lawn in front; and, when Mr. Weld was here, the garden had the
appearance of a nursery-ground.
_Narrative of Mr._ WELD'S _Journey from Washington to Richmond
in Virginia_.
In proceeding from Washington southward, Mr. Weld passed through a part
of the country which was flat, sandy, and had a most dreary aspect. For
many successive miles nothing was to be seen but extensive plains, that
had been worn out by the culture of tobacco, and were overgrown with
yellow sedge, and interspersed with groves of pine and cedar-trees, the
dark green colour of which formed a singular contrast with the yellow of
the sedge. In the midst of these plains there were, however, the remains
of several good houses, which showed that the country had once been in a
flourishing state.
Mr. Weld crossed the Potomac at a place called _Hoe's Ferry_, The
ferry-man told him that, in the river, was a bank of oysters, and that,
if he wished it, the men should take up some. The singularity of
obtaining oysters from fresh water induced Mr. Weld to stop at the bank;
and the men, in a few minutes, collected as many as would have filled a
bushel. The oysters were extremely good when cooked, but were
disagreeable when eaten raw. The Potomac, as well as the other rivers in
Virginia, abounds with excellent fish of various kinds. At the ferry it
is about three miles wide.
Mr. Weld prevailed with the ferry-man to take him about ten miles down
the river, and land him on the Virginian shore, in a part of the country
which appeared to be a perfect wilderness. No traces of a road or
pathway were visible on the loose white sand; and the cedar and
pine-trees grew so closely together, on all sides, that it was scarcely
possible to see further forward, in any direction, than a hundred yards.
Taking a course, as nearly as he could guess, in a direct line from the
river, at the end of about an hour, he found a narrow road, which led to
a large and ancient brick house. The master of it was from home, and Mr.
Weld was obliged to proceed onward, several miles further, to a wretched
hovel which had the name of a tavern. On the ensuing morning he
proceeded to the residence of a gentleman, which was between the rivers
Potomac and _Rappahannoc_, and where he had been invited to pass a few
weeks.
The principal planters in Virginia possess large estates, and have, on
them, nearly every thing they can want. Among their slaves are found
tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, smiths, turners, wheelwrights, weavers,
and tanners. Woollen cloths and cotton goods, of several kinds, are
manufactured at this province. Cotton grows here in great luxuriance:
the plants, indeed, are often killed by the frost in winter, but they
always produce abundantly, the first year in which they are sown.
The large estates in Virginia are managed by stewards and overseers; and
the work is done wholly by slaves. The cottages of the slaves are
usually at the distance of a few hundred yards from the dwelling-house,
and give the appearance of a village, to the residence of every planter.
Adjoining to these cottages the slaves usually have small gardens, and
yards for poultry. They have ample time to attend to their own concerns:
their gardens are generally well stocked, and their flocks of poultry
numerous. Many of their little huts are comfortably furnished, and they
are themselves, in general, well clad. But Mr. Weld remarked, that this
class of persons is much more kindly treated in Virginia, than in the
other states of America.
The part of Virginia in which Mr. Weld was now passing his time, was, in
general, flat and sandy, and abounded in pine and cedar-trees: some
districts, however, were well cultivated, and afforded good crops of
corn; but these were intermixed with extensive tracts of waste land,
worn out by the culture of tobacco, and almost destitute of verdure.
The common people, in the lower parts of Virginia, have very sallow
complexions, owing to the burning rays of the sun in summer, and the
bilious complaints to which they are subject during the fall of the
year; but those in the upper parts of the country, towards the
mountains, have a healthy and comely appearance.
After Mr. Weld had left the house of his friend, he crossed the
_Rappahannoc River_, to a small town called _Tappahannoc_, or _Hob's
Hole_, containing about one hundred houses. The river is here about
three quarters of a mile wide, and, though the distance from its mouth
is seventy miles, sharks are very often seen.
From Tappahannoc to _Urbanna_, another small town on the Rappahannoc,
and about twenty-five miles lower down, the country wears but a poor
aspect. The road, which is level and sandy, runs, for many successive
miles, through woods. The habitations that are seen from it are but few,
and these of the poorest description. The woods chiefly consist of black
oak, pine, and cedar-trees, which only grow on land of the worst
quality.
Mr. Weld observed many traces of fires in the woods. Such fires, he was
informed, were frequent in the spring of the year; and they were usually
occasioned by the negligence of people who burnt the underwood, for the
purpose of clearing the lands. He was himself witness to one of them.
The day had been remarkably serene, and the underwood had been fired in
several places. During the afternoon, the weather was sultry, and, about
five o'clock, the horizon, towards the north, became dark, and a
terrible whirlwind arose. Mr. Weld was standing, with some gentlemen, on
an eminence, and perceived it gradually advancing. It carried along with
it a cloud of dust, dried leaves, and pieces of rotten wood; and, in
many places, as it passed along, it levelled the fence-rails, and
unroofed the cattle-sheds. Mr. Weld and his friends endeavoured, but in
vain, to reach a place of shelter. In the course of two minutes the
whirlwind overtook them: the shock was violent; it was hardly possible
to stand, and was difficult to breathe. It passed over in about three
minutes; but a storm, accompanied by heavy thunder and lightning,
succeeded: this lasted more than half an hour. On looking round,
immediately after the whirlwind had passed, a prodigious column of fire
appeared in a part of the wood where some underwood had been burning. In
many places the flames rose considerably above the summit of the trees,
which were of large growth. It was a tremendous, and, at the same time,
a sublime sight. The Negroes, on the surrounding plantations, were all
assembled with their hoes; and guards were stationed, at every corner,
to give alarm, if the fire appeared elsewhere, lest the conflagration
should become general. To one plantation a spark was carried by the wind
more than half a mile; happily, however, a torrent of rain, shortly
afterwards, came pouring down, and enabled the people to extinguish the
flames in every quarter.
The country between Urbanna and Gloucester is neither so sandy nor so
flat as that bordering upon the Rappahannoc. The trees, chiefly pines,
are of large size, and afford abundance of turpentine, which is
extracted from them, in great quantities, by the inhabitants.
_Gloucester_ contained, at this time, only ten or twelve houses. It is
situated on a neck of land nearly opposite to the town of York, and on
the bank of the _York River_, here about a mile and half wide. _York_
consisted of about seventy houses, an episcopalian church, and a gaol.
It is remarkable for having been the place where lord Cornwallis
surrendered his army to the combined forces of the Americans and French.
The banks of the river are, for the most part, high and inaccessible;
and the principal part of the town is built upon them; only a few
fishing-huts and store-houses standing at the bottom.
Twelve miles from York is _Williamsburgh_, formerly the seat of
government in Virginia. At this time it consisted of one principal
street, and two others, which ran parallel to it. At one end of the main
street stands the college, and, at the other end, the old capitol or
State-house, a capacious building of brick, which was crumbling to
pieces, from neglect. The houses around it were mostly uninhabited, and
presented a melancholy appearance.
The college of William and Mary, as it is still called, is at the
opposite end of the main street: it is a heavy pile of building,
somewhat resembling a large brick-kiln. The students were, at this time,
about thirty in number; but, from their boyish appearance, the seminary
ought rather to be termed a grammar-school than a college.
Mr. Weld dined with the president of the college. Half a dozen, or more,
of the students, the eldest about twelve years old, were at table; some
without shoes and stockings, and others without coats. A couple of
dishes of salted meat, and some oyster-soup, formed the whole of the
repast.
The town of Williamsburgh contained, at this time, about twelve hundred
inhabitants; and the society in it was thought to be more extensive, and
at the same time more genteel, than in any other place of its size in
America. No manufactures were carried on here, and there was scarcely
any trade.
From Williamsburgh to Hampton the country is flat and uninteresting.
_Hampton_ is a small town, situated at the head of a bay, near the mouth
of James River. It contained about thirty houses and an episcopal
church; and was a dirty, disagreeable place.
From this town there is a regular ferry to Norfolk, across Hampton
Roads, eighteen miles over. _Norfolk_ stands nearly at the mouth of the
eastern branch of Elizabeth River, the most southern of the rivers which
fall into _Chesapeak Bay_. This is the largest commercial town in
Virginia, and carries on a flourishing trade to the West Indies. Its
exports consist principally of tobacco, flour, and corn, and various
kinds of timber. Of the latter it derives an inexhaustible supply, from
the great "Dismal Swamp," which is immediately in its neighbourhood.
The houses in Norfolk were about five hundred in number; but most of
them were of wood, and meanly built. These had all been erected since
the year 1776; when the place had been totally burnt, by order of lord
Dunmore, then the British governor of Virginia. The losses sustained, on
this occasion, were estimated at three hundred thousand pounds sterling.
Near the harbour the streets are narrow and irregular: in the other
parts of the town they are tolerably wide. None of them, however, are
paved, and all are filthy. During the hot months of summer, the stench
that proceeds from some of them is horrid.
There were, at this time, two churches, one for episcopalians, and the
other for methodists; but, in the former, service was not performed more
than once in two or three weeks. Indeed, throughout all the lower parts
of Virginia, that is, between the mountains, and the sea, the people
seemed to have scarcely any sense of religion; and, in the country
districts, all the churches were falling into decay.
From Norfolk Mr. Weld went to the _Dismal Swamp_. This commences at the
distance of nine miles from the town, extends into North Carolina, and
occupies, in the whole, about one hundred and fifty thousand acres. The
entire tract is covered with trees, some of which are of enormous size;
and between them, the underwood springs up so thick, that the swamp is,
in many parts, absolutely impervious. It abounds also with cane-reeds,
and with long rich grass, on which cattle feed with great avidity, and
become fat in a short time. In the interior of the swamp, large herds of
wild cattle are found; the offspring, probably, of animals which have at
different times been lost, or turned out to feed. Bears, wolves, deer,
and other wild indigenous animals, are also found here.
As the Dismal Swamp lies so very near to Norfolk, where there is a
constant demand for timber, staves, and other similar articles, for
exportation; and, as the best of these are made from trees grown upon
the swamp, it of course becomes a valuable species of property. A canal,
which the inhabitants of Norfolk were, at this time, cutting through it,
would also tend to enhance its value.
From the Dismal Swamp to Richmond, a distance of about one hundred and
forty miles, along the south side of _James River_, the country is flat
and sandy, and, for many successive miles, is covered with pine-trees.
In some parts there are peach-orchards, which are very profitable. From
the peaches, the inhabitants make brandy, which, when properly matured,
is an excellent liquor, and much esteemed: they give it a delicious
flavour by infusing dried pears in it.
The accommodation at the taverns along this road, was most wretched;
nothing was to be had but rancid fish, fat salt pork, and bread made of
Indian corn. Mr. Weld's horses were almost starved. Hay is scarcely ever
used in this part of the country, but, in place of it, the inhabitants
feed their cattle with what they call fodder, the leaves of the Indian
corn-plant. Not a bit of fodder, however, was to be had on the whole
road from Norfolk to Richmond, except at two places.
_Petersburgh_ stands at the head of the navigable part of _Appommattox
River_, and is the only place of importance between Norfolk and
Richmond. The houses in Petersburgh were about three hundred in number,
and built without regularity. A flourishing trade was carried on in this
place. About two thousand four hundred hogsheads of tobacco were
inspected annually at the warehouses; and, at the falls of the
Appamatox, near the upper end of the town, were some of the best
flour-mills in Virginia.
_Richmond_, the capital of Virginia, is situated immediately below the
Falls of _James River_, which is here about four hundred yards wide, and
was at this time crossed by two bridges, separated from each other by an
island. The houses in Richmond were not more than seven hundred in
number, yet they extended nearly a mile and a half along the banks of
the river. The lower part of the town is built close to the water; and
opposite to it, lies the shipping. It is connected with the upper town
by a long street, which runs parallel to the course of the river, and
about fifty yards from the banks. The situation of the upper town is
very pleasing: it is on an elevated spot, and commands a fine prospect
of the falls of the river, and of the adjacent country. The best houses
stand here, and also the capitol or state-house, which is a clumsy,
ill-shaped edifice. Richmond, at this time, contained about four
thousand inhabitants, one half of whom were slaves.
The _Falls_ in the river, or the _Rapids_, as they ought to be called,
extend six miles above the city. Here the river is full of large rocks;
and the water rushes along in some places with great impetuosity. At the
north side of the falls is a canal, which renders the navigation
complete from Richmond to the Blue Mountains.
There is, perhaps, no place in the world of equal size, in which more
gambling is carried on, than in Richmond. Mr. Weld had scarcely alighted
from his horse, when the landlord of the tavern at which he stopped,
inquired what game he was most partial to, as in such a room there was a
faro-table, in another a hazard-table, in a third a billiard-table; to
any of which he was ready to conduct him. Not the slightest secrecy is
employed in keeping these tables. They are always crowded with people,
and the doors of the apartments are only closed to prevent the rabble
from entering. Cock-fighting is another favourite diversion. The lower
classes of people, however, are those chiefly who partake of such
amusements; but the circumstance of having the taverns thus infested,
renders travelling extremely unpleasant.
The common people of Virginia are usually represented to be more
quarrelsome than those of any other American state; and, when they come
to blows, they fight like wild beasts. They bite and kick each other
with indescribable fury; and endeavour to tear each other's eyes out
with their nails.
Eighth Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_Narrative of_ MR. WELD'S _return from Richmond to
Philadelphia, through the central parts of Virginia._
Having continued at _Richmond_ somewhat more than a week, Mr. Weld
mounted his horse, and, accompanied by his servant, proceeded towards
the _South-west_ or _Green Mountains_.
The country around Richmond is sandy; but it is not so much so, nor so
flat, as on the south side of James River, towards the sea. When Mr.
Weld was here it wore a most pleasing aspect. The first week in May had
arrived; the trees had acquired a considerable part of their foliage;
and the air, in the woods, was perfumed with the fragrant smell of
numberless flowers and flowering shrubs. The music of the birds also was
delightful: the notes of the mocking-bird or Virginia nightingale, in
particular, were extremely melodious.
In this part of America there is a singular bird, called whipper-will,
or whip-poor-will, which has obtained its name from the plaintive noise
that it makes. This it commences every evening about dusk, and continues
through the greatest part of the night. The frogs in America make a most
singular noise. Some of them absolutely whistle; and others croak so
loudly, that it is difficult, at times, to tell whether the sound
proceeds from a calf or a frog. Mr. Weld, whilst walking in the meadows,
was more than once deceived by it. The largest kinds are called
bull-frogs: they chiefly live in pairs, and are never found but where
there is good water; their bodies measure from four to seven inches, and
their legs are of proportionate length. These animals are extremely
active, and take prodigious leaps.
In one part of his journey, the road extended almost wholly through
pine-forests, and was very lonely. Night came on before he reached the
end of it; and, as commonly happens with travellers in this part of the
world, he soon lost his way. A light, however, seen through the trees,
seemed to indicate that a house was not far distant. His servant eagerly
rode up to it, but the poor fellow's consternation was great indeed when
he observed it moving from him, presently coming back, and then, with
swiftness, departing into the woods. Mr. Weld was himself at a loss to
account for this singular appearance, till, after having proceeded a
little further, he observed the same sort of light in many other places;
and, dismounting from his horse to examine a bush, where one of these
sparks appeared to have fallen, he found that it proceeded from a
fire-fly. In the present instance Mr. Weld was much surprised; but, as
the summer advanced, these flies appeared every night. After a light
shower in the afternoon, this gentleman says he has seen the woods
sparkling with them in every direction. The light is emitted from the
tail, and the animal has the power of emitting it or not at pleasure.
After wandering about till near eleven o'clock, he came at last to a
house, where he obtained information respecting the road: and, about
midnight, he arrived at a miserable tavern. During the next day's ride
he observed a great number of snakes, which were now beginning to come
forth from their holes.
The _South-west Mountains_ run nearly parallel to the _Blue Ridge_, and
are the first that are seen in Virginia, on going up the country, from
the sea-coast. They are not lofty, and ought indeed rather to be called
hills than mountains. These mountains are not seen till the traveller
comes within a few miles of them; and the ascent is so gradual, that he
reaches their top almost without perceiving it.
The soil is here a deep clay, particularly well suited to the culture of
grain and clover, and it produces abundant crops.
The salubrity of the climate, in this part of Virginia, is equal also
to that of any part of the United States; and the inhabitants have, in
consequence, a healthy and ruddy appearance, totally different from that
of the residents in the low country.
In these mountains live several gentlemen of large property, who farm
their own land. Among the number was Mr. Jefferson, the vice-president
of the United States. His house was about three miles from
Charlottesville, and was most singularly situated, being built on the
top of a small mountain, the apex of which had been cut off. At this
time it was in an unfinished state; but, if carried on, according to a
plan which had been laid down, it promised to be one of the most elegant
private habitations in America. Several attempts have been made in this
neighbourhood, to bring the manufacture of wine to perfection; none of
them, however, have succeeded to the wish of the parties concerned in
it.
The country between the South-west Mountains and the Blue Ridge is very
fertile, and is much more closely inhabited than that in the lower parts
of Virginia. The climate is good, and the people have a healthy and
robust appearance. Several valuable mines of iron and copper have been
discovered here.
Having crossed the South-west Mountains, Mr. Weld proceeded to
_Lynchburgh_, a town on the south side of _Fluvanna River_, and one
hundred and fifty miles beyond Richmond. This town contained about one
hundred houses; and a warehouse for the inspection of tobacco, where
about two thousand hogsheads were annually inspected. It had been built
within the last fifteen years, and, in consequence of its advantageous
situation for trade, was rapidly increasing.
Between Lynchburgh and the Blue Mountains, the country is rough and
hilly, and but thinly inhabited. The few inhabitants, however, who are
seen here, are uncommonly robust and tall: it is rare to observe a man
amongst them who is not six feet high. The Blue Ridge is thickly covered
with large trees, to the very summit. Some of the mountains are rugged
and stony; others are not so; and on the latter the soil is rich and
fertile. It is only in particular places that this ridge can be crossed;
and at some of the gaps the ascent is steep and difficult.
The _Peaks of Otter_, near which Mr. Weld crossed it, are the highest
mountains in the Blue Ridge, and, measured from their bases, they are
supposed to be more lofty than any others in North America. The
principal peak is said to be about four thousand feet in perpendicular
height.
Beyond the Blue Ridge, Mr. Weld observed very few settlements, till he
approached _Fincastle_. This town is about twenty miles from the
mountains, and fifteen south of _Fluvanna River_. It was only begun
about the year 1790; yet, when Mr. Weld was there, it contained sixty
houses, and was rapidly increasing. The inhabitants consisted
principally of Germans.
On the eastern side of the Blue Mountains, cotton grows extremely well;
and, in winter, the snow scarcely ever remains more than a day or two
upon the ground. On the opposite side, cotton never comes to perfection;
the winters are severe, and the fields are covered with snow for many
successive weeks. In every farm-yard are seen sleighs or sledges, a kind
of carriages that are used for travelling upon the snow.
In this part of America, the soil consists chiefly of a rich brown
mould, in which white clover grows spontaneously. To have a fertile
meadow, it is only necessary to leave a piece of ground to the hand of
nature for one year. A bed of limestone also runs entirely through the
country.
It appeared to Mr. Weld that there was no part of America where the
climate would be more congenial to the constitution of a native of Great
Britain or Ireland than this. The frost in winter is more regular, but
is not more severe than what commonly takes place in those islands.
During summer the heat is somewhat greater; but there is not a night in
the year in which a blanket is not found comfortable. Fever and ague are
disorders here unknown; and the air is so salubrious, that persons who
come from the low country, afflicted with those disorders; get rid of
them in a short time.
In the western part of the country there are several medicinal springs,
to which, about the end of summer, great numbers of people resort, as
much for the sake of escaping the heat in the low country, as for
drinking the waters. Those that are most frequented are called the
_Sweet Springs_; but there are others in _Jackson's Mountains_, a ridge
that runs between the Blue Mountains and the Alleghany. One of these is
warm, and another quite hot. There is also a sulphur spring near them,
into which, if the leaves of trees fall, they become thickly incrusted
with sulphur, in a very short time; and silver, if put into them, will
be turned black almost immediately.
Mr. Weld, now bending his course in a northerly direction, again crossed
the _Fluvanna River_. About ten miles from this stream, there is, among
the mountains, a deep cleft or chasm, about two miles long, and, in some
places, three hundred feet deep. Over one part of this is a natural
arch, called _Rockbridge_, which consists of a solid mass of stone, or
of several stones so strongly cemented together that they appear but as
one. The road extends over this natural bridge. On one side of it is a
parapet or wall of fixed rocks, but on the other there is a gradual
slope, to the very brink of the chasm. The slope is thickly covered with
large trees, principally cedars and pines. The whole width of the bridge
is about eighty feet: the road runs nearly along the middle of it, and
is passed daily by waggons.
At the distance of a few yards from the bridge there is a narrow path,
which winds, along the sides of the fissure, and amidst immense rocks
and trees, down to the bottom of the chasm. Here the stupendous arch
appears in all its glory, and seems even to touch the skies. The height,
to the top of the parapet, is two hundred and thirteen feet. The rocks
are of limestone, and nearly perpendicular; and the sides of the chasm
are thickly clad with trees, wherever there is space sufficient to admit
of their growth. A small stream runs at the bottom of the fissure, over
beds of rock, and adds much to the beauty of the scene.
About fifty miles beyond Rockbridge, there is another remarkable natural
curiosity: a large cavern, known by the name of _Maddison's Cave_. It is
in the heart of a mountain, and about two hundred feet high. Persons who
reside in a house, not far distant from this cave, act as guides, and
use, as lights, splinters from the wood of the pitch pine-tree, a bundle
of which they carry with them for this purpose. This cave is of great
extent, and is divided into many large, and singularly-shaped
apartments, covered with stalactites, or petrifactions, at the top and
sides. Before these were blackened by the smoke of the torches, they are
said to have been extremely beautiful. The floor is of a deep sandy
earth, which has been repeatedly dug up, for the purpose of obtaining
saltpetre, with which it is strongly impregnated.
The country immediately behind the Blue Mountains, is agreeably
diversified with hill and dale, and abounds in extensive tracts of rich
land. Clover grows here in great luxuriance. Wheat also is raised, and
in crops as abundant as in any part of the United States. Tobacco is not
grown, except for private use. The climate is not here so warm as in the
lower parts of the country, on the eastern side of the mountains.
As Mr. Weld passed along, he met great numbers of people who were
proceeding from Kentucky, and from the state of Tenessee, towards
Philadelphia and Baltimore. He also saw many others, who were going in a
contrary direction, to "explore," as they called it; that is, to search
for, lands in the western country, conveniently situated for new
settlements. These all travelled on horseback, armed with pistols and
swords; and each had a large blanket, folded up under his saddle, for
sleeping in, whenever they were obliged to pass the night in the woods.
Of all the uncouth human beings that Mr. Weld met with in America, the
people from the western country were the most so. Their curiosity was
boundless. Often has he been stopped abruptly by them, even in solitary
parts of the road; and, without any further preface, has been asked
where he came from? if he was acquainted with any news? where bound to?
and what was his name?
The first town that Mr. Weld reached was _Lexington_, a neat little
place, which had contained about one hundred dwelling-houses, a
court-house, and a gaol; but most of these had been destroyed by fire,
just before he was there. Great numbers of Irish are settled in this
place. Thirty miles further on is _Staunton_. This town carries on a
considerable trade with the back country, and contains nearly two
hundred dwellings, mostly built of stone.
_Winchester_ stands one hundred miles north of Staunton, and is the
largest town in the United States, on the western side of the Blue
Mountains. The houses were, at this time, estimated at three hundred and
fifty, and the inhabitants at two thousand. There were four churches,
which, as well as the houses, were plainly built. The streets were
regular, but very narrow. There was nothing particularly deserving of
attention, either in this place, or in any of the small towns that have
been mentioned.
Mr. Weld reached the _Potomac_, at the place where that river passes
through the Blue Ridge; and where a scene is exhibited which has been
represented as one of the most "stupendous in nature, and even worth a
voyage across the Atlantic." The approach towards it is wild and
romantic. After crossing a number of small hills, which rise in
succession, one above another, the traveller at last perceives a break
in the Blue Ridge; at the same time, the road, suddenly turning, winds
down a long and steep hill, shaded with lofty trees, whose branches
unite above. On one side of the road are large heaps of rocks, overhead,
which threaten destruction to any one who passes beneath them; on the
other, a deep precipice presents itself, at the bottom of which is heard
the roaring of the waters, that are concealed from the eye, by the
thickness of the foliage. Towards the end of this hill, about sixty feet
above the level of the water, stand a tavern and a few houses; and from
some fields in the rear of them, the passage of the river, through the
mountain, is seen to great advantage.
The Potomac, on the left, winds through a fertile country, towards the
mountain. On the right flows the _Shenandoah_. Uniting together, they
roll on, in conjunction, through the gap; then, suddenly expanding to
the breadth of about four hundred yards, they pass on towards the sea,
and are finally lost to the view, amidst surrounding hills.
After crossing the Potomac, Mr. Weld passed on to _Frederic_, in
Maryland, which has already been mentioned, and thence to Baltimore. The
country between Frederic and Baltimore is by no means so rich as that
west of the Blue Ridge, but it is tolerably well cultivated. Iron and
copper are found here in many places.
From Baltimore Mr. Weld returned to _Philadelphia_, where he arrived on
the fourteenth of June, after an absence of about three months.
* * * * *
We must now return to Pittsburgh, for the purpose of proceeding, from
that place, with M. Michaux a French naturalist of considerable
eminence, in a journey through Kentucky, Tenessee, North and South
Carolina.
Ninth Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_Narrative of a Journey from Pittsburgh to Lexington in Kentucky. From
Travels in North America, by_ F. A. MICHAUX.
This gentleman, in company with a Mr. Craft, set out from Pittsburgh, on
the 14th of July, 1802; and, two days afterwards, arrived at Wheeling, a
small town on the bank of the Ohio, and about eighty miles distant from
Pittsburgh. _Wheeling_ had not been more than twelve years in existence,
yet it contained, at this time, about seventy houses, built of wood. It
is bounded by a long hill, nearly two hundred fathoms high, and the base
of which is not more than four hundred yards from the river. In this
space the houses are built: they form but one street, along which runs
the main road. From fifteen to twenty large shops supply the
inhabitants, twenty miles, round, with provisions. This little town
shares largely in the export trade that is carried on with the western
country at Pittsburgh.
At Wheeling the travellers purchased a canoe, twenty-four feet long,
eighteen inches wide, and about as many in depth. Canoes of this
description are made from the single trunk of a tree: they are too
narrow for the use of oars, and, in shallow water, they are generally
forced along either with a paddle or a staff. As a shelter from the sun,
M. Michaux and his friend covered their canoe, a quarter of its length,
with a piece of cloth thrown upon two hoops; and, having placed on board
of it a sufficient stock of provisions, they embarked about five o'clock
in the afternoon of the ensuing day. They floated twelve miles down the
stream that evening, and slept on the right bank of the Ohio. Both M.
Michaux and his friend were excessively fatigued with their first day's
voyage; but not so much by paddling their canoe along, as by remaining
constantly seated in one position. For, the canoe being very narrow at
the bottom, they were obliged to keep their legs extended; as the least
motion of the vessel would have exposed them to the danger of being
overset. In the course, however, of a few days, they became accustomed
to these inconveniences, and attained the art of travelling comfortably.
They were three days and a half in proceeding to _Marietta_, about a
hundred miles from Wheeling. This town is situated on the right bank of
the _Great Muskingum_, and near the place of its junction with the Ohio.
Although fifteen years before M. Michaux was here, it was not in
existence, Marietta now contained more than two hundred houses, some of
which were built of brick; but the greatest number were of wood. Several
of them were from two to three stories high, and somewhat elegantly
constructed. The mountains which, from Pittsburgh, extend along the side
of the river, are, at Marietta, distant from its banks, and leave a
considerable space of level ground, which will facilitate, in every
respect, the enlarging of the town.
The inhabitants of Marietta were the first, in the interior of America,
who entertained an idea of exporting, directly to the Caribbee Islands,
the produce of their country. This they did in a vessel, built in their
own town. The vessel was sent to Jamaica, and the success which crowned
this first attempt, excited great emulation among the inhabitants of the
western country. The ship-yard at Marietta is near the town, on the
great Muskingum. When M. Michaux was there, the inhabitants were
building three brigs, one of which was of two hundred and twenty tons
burden.
On the 21st of July the voyagers set out from Marietta, for Gallipoli,
distant about a hundred miles. On the 23rd, at ten in the morning, they
discovered _Point Pleasant_, situated a little above the mouth of the
_Great Kenaway_, and on a promontory which is formed by the right bank
of that river. Its situation is peculiarly beautiful. The Ohio, into
which the Kenaway falls, is here four hundred fathoms wide, and
continues of the same width for four or five miles. Its borders, sloping
and elevated from twenty-five to forty feet, are, in the whole of its
windings, overgrown, at their base, with willow, from fifteen to
eighteen feet in height, the drooping branches and foliage of which form
a pleasing contrast to the sugar-maples, red-maples, and ash-trees,
which are seen immediately above. The latter are overhung by palms,
poplars, beeches, and magnolias, of the highest elevation; the enormous
branches of which, attracted by a more splendid light and an easier
expansion, extend towards the borders, overshadowing the river, at the
same time that they completely cover the trees that are beneath them.
This natural display, which reigns upon the two banks, forms, from each
side, a regular arch, the shadow of which, reflected by the stream,
embellishes, in an extraordinary degree, the magnificent _coup
d'oeil_.
_Gallipoli_ is on the right bank of the Ohio, four miles below Point
Pleasant. It was, at this time, composed of about sixty log-houses, most
of which, being uninhabited, were falling into ruins; the rest were
occupied by Frenchmen, two only of whom appeared to enjoy the smallest
comfort.
On the 25th of July, M. Michaux and his friend set out, in their canoe,
for _Alexandria_, about a hundred and four miles distant; and they
arrived there in three days and a half. The ground designed for this
town is at the mouth of the _Great Scioto_, and in the angle which the
right bank of this river forms with the north-west border of the Ohio.
Although the plan of Alexandria had long been laid out, few people had
settled there: the number of its edifices was not, at this time, more
than twenty, and the major part of these were constructed of wood. The
inhabitants are subject, every autumn, to intermittent fevers, which
seldom abate till the approach of winter.
On the 1st of April the voyagers arrived at _Limestone_ in Kentucky,
fifty miles lower than Alexandria; and, at this place, their voyage on
the Ohio terminated. They had floated, in their canoe, three hundred and
forty miles from Wheeling; and, during the ten days which their voyage
had occupied, they had been obliged, almost incessantly, to paddle their
vessel along. This labour, although in itself painful to persons who are
unaccustomed to it, was, in the present instance, still more so, on
account of the intense heat which prevailed. They also suffered much
inconvenience from thirst, not being able to procure any thing to drink,
but by stopping at the plantations on the banks of the river; for,
during summer, the water of the Ohio acquires such a degree of heat,
that it is not fit to be drunk till it has been kept twenty-four hours.
At Limestone M. Michaux relinquished an intention which he had formed of
proceeding further down the Ohio; and here he took leave of Mr. Craft,
who prosecuted the remaining part of the voyage alone.
The banks of the Ohio, though elevated from twenty to sixty feet,
scarcely afford any hard substances, betwixt Pittsburgh and Limestone;
except large detached stones, of a greyish colour, which M. Michaux
observed, in an extent of ten or twelve miles, below Wheeling: the
remainder of the country seems wholly covered with vegetable earth. A
few miles before this gentleman reached Limestone, he observed a chalky
bank, the thickness of which, being very considerable, left no room to
doubt that it must be of great extent. The Ohio abounds in fish, some of
which are of great size and weight.
Till the years 1796 and 1797, the banks of the Ohio were so little
populated, that there were scarcely thirty families in the space of four
hundred miles; but, since that time, a great number of emigrants had
settled here, from the mountainous parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia;
consequently the plantations had, at this time, so much increased, that
they were not further than two or three miles asunder; and, when M.
Michaux was on the river, he always had some of them in view.
The inhabitants of the banks of the Ohio employ the greatest part of
their time in stag and bear-hunting, for the sake of the skins, which
are important articles of traffic. The dwellings of this people are, for
the most part, in pleasant situations; but they are only log-houses,
without windows, and so small that they hold no more than two beds each.
A couple of men, in less than ten days, could erect and finish one of
them. No attention is here paid to any other culture than that of Indian
corn.
The favourable situation of the Ohio entitles this river to be
considered as the centre of commercial activity, between the eastern and
western states; and it is the only open communication with the ocean,
for the exportation of provisions, from that part of the United States,
which is comprised between the Alleghany Mountains, the lakes, and the
left bank of the Mississippi.
All these advantages, blended with the salubrity of the climate and the
general beauty of the country, induced M. Michaux to imagine that, in
the course of twenty years, the banks of the Ohio, from Pittsburgh to
Louisville, would become the most populous and the most commercial part
of the United States. _Limestone_ consisted only of thirty or forty
houses, constructed with wood. This little town had been built upwards
of fifteen years. It was for some time the place where such emigrants
landed as came from the northern states, by way of Pittsburgh: it was
also the mart for merchandise, sent from Philadelphia and Baltimore to
Kentucky.
M. Michaux resolved to travel on foot, from this place to Lexington. The
distance is sixty-five miles, and he performed the journey in two days
and a half. In his journey he passed through _Mays Lick_, where there
is a salt-work. The wells that supply the salt-water are about twenty
feet in depth, and not more than fifty or sixty fathoms from the _River
Salt Lick_; the waters of which, during the summer, are somewhat
brackish. In this part of the country salt-springs are usually found in
places which are described by the name of _Licks_; and where, before the
arrival of Europeans, the bisons, elks, and stags, that existed in
Kentucky, went, by hundreds, to lick the saline particles; with which
the soil is impregnated.
In the country around Mays Lick the soil is dry and sandy; and the road
is covered with large, flat, chalky stones, of a bluish colour within,
and the edges of which are round. The only trees that M. Michaux
observed here, were white oaks and hickory; and the stinted growth and
wretched appearance of these, clearly indicated the sterility of the
soil.
In the year 1796, _Lexington_ consisted of only eighteen houses; but it
now contained more than a hundred and fifty, half of which were of
brick. This town is situated on a delightful plain, and is watered by a
small river, near which were several corn-mills. Every thing seemed to
announce the comfort of its inhabitants. It is built on a regular plan.
The streets are broad, and cross each other at right angles. The want of
pavement, however, renders it very muddy in winter. There were, at this
time, in Lexington, two printing-offices, at each of which a newspaper
was published twice a week. Two extensive rope-walks, constantly in
employ, supplied, with rigging, the ships that were built upon the Ohio.
Independently of other manufactories which had been established in this
town, there were several common potteries, and one or two
gunpowder-mills. The sulphur for the latter was obtained from
Philadelphia, and the saltpetre was manufactured from substances dug out
of grottos, or caverns, that are found on the declivity of lofty hills,
in the mountainous parts of the state. The soil of these is extremely
rich in nitrous particles.
[About fifty miles west of Lexington, on the bank of the Ohio, and near
the falls of that river, is the town of _Louisville_. This place forms a
connecting link between New Orleans and the whole western parts of the
United States. Mechanics can here obtain full employment, and they are
able to earn from forty to fifty-four shillings a week. Every article of
clothing is excessively expensive; and the rents of houses are very
high. This place was formerly very unhealthy, the inhabitants being
subject to fevers, agues, and other complaints; but it is said to be
improving in healthiness. Mr. Fearon, who visited this place in the year
1817, does not speak favourably of the character of the Kentuckians. He
says they drink a great deal, swear a great deal, and gamble a great
deal; and that even their amusements are sometimes conducted with
excessive barbarity. The expence of sending goods, by water, from New
Orleans to Louisville, is about twenty shillings per hundred weight; and
down the stream, to New Orleans, about four shillings. The boats usually
make the voyage upward in about ninety days; and downward in
twenty-eight days. Steam-vessels accomplish the former voyage in
thirty-six, and the latter in twenty-eight days.
There are in Louisville, two great hotels, one of which has, on an
average, one hundred and forty, and the other eighty boarders. A person,
on going to either of them, applies to the bar-keeper for admittance:
and the accommodations are very different from those in an English
hotel. The place for washing is not, as with us, in the bed-rooms; but
in the court-yard, where there are a large cistern, several towels and a
negro in attendance. The sleeping-room usually contains from four to
eight bedsteads, having mattresses and not feather-beds; sheets of
calico, two blankets, and a quilt: the bedsteads have no curtains. The
public rooms are, a news-room, a boot-room, (in which the bar is
situated,) and a dining-room. The fires are generally surrounded by
parties of about six persons. The usual custom with Americans is to pace
up and down the news-room, in a manner similar to walking the deck of a
ship at sea. Smoking segars is practised by all, and at every hour of
the day. Argument or discussion, in this part of the world, is of very
rare occurrence; social intercourse seems still more unusual;
conversation on general topics, or taking enlarged and enlightened views
of things, rarely occurs: each man is in pursuit of his own individual
interest. At half past seven, the first bell rings for the purpose of
collecting all the boarders, and, at eight, the second bell rings;
breakfast is then set, the dining-room is unlocked, a general rush
commences, and some activity, as well as dexterity, is necessary to
obtain a seat at the table. The breakfast consists of a profuse supply
of fish, flesh, and fowl, which is consumed with a rapidity truly
extraordinary. At half-past one, the first bell rings, announcing the
approach of dinner; the avenues to the dining-room become thronged. At
two o'clock the second bell rings, the doors are thrown open, and a
repetition of the breakfast-scene succeeds. At six, tea, or what is here
called supper, is announced, and partaken of in the same manner. This is
the last meal, and it usually affords the same fare as breakfast. At
table there is neither conversation nor drinking: the latter is effected
by individuals taking their liquor at the bar, the keeper of which is in
full employ from sunrise to bed-time. A large tub of water, with a
ladle, is placed at the bar; and to this the customers go and help
themselves. When spirits are called for, the decanter is handed; the
person calling for them takes what quantity he pleases, and the charge
is sixpence-halfpenny. The life of boarders at an American tavern,
presents a senseless and comfortless mode of killing time. Most houses
of this description are thronged to excess; and few of the persons who
frequent them, appear to have any other object in view than spitting and
smoking.
In the state of Kentucky there are several subterraneous _caverns_,
which have attracted much attention, and which are described as among
the most extraordinary natural curiosities in the world. They are also
of considerable importance in a commercial view, from the quantity of
nitre they afford. The great cave, near Crooked Creek, is supposed to
contain a million pounds of nitre. This cave has two mouths or
entrances, about six hundred and fifty yards from each other, and one
hundred and fifty yards from the creek.]
Tenth Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_Narrative of the Journey of M. Michaux, from Lexington to Charleston in
South Carolina._
On the tenth of August, M. Michaux set out from Lexington to Nasheville,
in the state of Tenessee; and, as an establishment for the purpose of
naturalizing the vine in Kentucky, was not very far out of his road, he
resolved to visit it. Consequently, about fourteen miles from Lexington,
he quitted the road, turned to the left, strolled through some woods,
and reached the vineyard in the evening. It was, at this time, under the
superintendance of a M. Dufoux, the principal person of a small Swiss
colony, which had settled in Kentucky some years before. The vines had
been selected chiefly from the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia.
Many of them had failed; but those of the kinds which produce the
Madeira wines, appeared to give considerable hopes of success. The whole
of the vines occupied a space of about six acres; and they were planted
and fixed with props similar to those in the environs of Paris.
From this place M. Michaux was conducted, through the woods, to a ferry
over the _Kentucky River_. The borders of the river at this ferry are
formed by an enormous mass of chalky stones, remarkably peaked, and
about a hundred and fifty feet high.
Near _Harrodsburgh_ M. Michaux visited the plantation and residence of
General Adair. A spacious and commodious house, a great number of black
servants, equipages: every thing announced the opulence of the general.
Magnificent peach-orchards, and immense fields of Indian wheat,
surrounded the house. The soil was extremely fertile, as was evident
from the largeness of the blades of corn, their extraordinary height,
and the abundance of the crops.
About forty miles beyond the general's plantation, M. Michaux passed
over _Mulder Hill_, a steep and lofty mountain, that forms a kind of
amphitheatre. From its summit the neighbouring country presents the
aspect of an immense valley, covered with forests of imperceptible
extent. As far as the eye can reach, nothing but a gloomy verdant space
is seen, formed by the tops of the close-connected trees, and, through
which, not even the vestige of a plantation can be discerned. The
profound silence that reigns in these woods, uninhabited by savage
beasts, and the security of the place, forms an _ensemble_ rarely to be
seen in other countries.
About ten miles beyond _Green River_ commence what are called the
_Barrens_, or _Kentucky Meadows_. On the first day of his journey over
them, M. Michaux travelled fifteen miles; and, on the ensuing morning,
having wandered to some distance out of the road, in search of a spring,
at which to water his horse, he discovered a plantation in a low and
narrow valley. The mistress of the house told him that she had resided
there upwards of three years, and that, for eighteen months, she had not
seen any individual except of her own family: that, weary of living thus
isolated, her husband had been more than two months from home in quest
of another spot, towards the mouth of the Ohio. A daughter, about
fourteen years of age, and two children, considerably younger, were all
the company she had: her house was abundantly stocked with vegetables
and corn.
This part of the Barrens was precisely similar to that which M. Michaux
had traversed the day before; and the same kind of country extends as
far as the line which separates the state of Tenessee from that of
Kentucky. Here, to the great satisfaction of M. Michaux, he once more
entered the woods. Nothing, he says, can be more tiresome than the
doleful uniformity of these immense meadows, where there is no human
creature to be met with; and where, except a great number of partridges,
no species of living beings are to be seen.
The Barrens comprise a portion of country from sixty to seventy miles in
length, by sixty miles in breadth. According to the signification of the
name, M. Michaux had imagined that he should have to cross a naked
space, scattered here and there with a few plants; but he was agreeably
surprised to find a beautiful meadow, where the grass was from two to
three feet high. He here discovered a great variety of interesting
plants. In some parts he observed several species of wild vines, and, in
particular, one which is called by the inhabitants "summer grapes:" the
bunches of fruit were as large, and the grapes as good in quality, as
those in the vineyards round Paris. And it appeared to M. Michaux that
the attempts which had been made in Kentucky, to establish the culture
of the vine, would have been more successful in the Barrens, the soil of
which appeared to him better adapted for this kind of culture, than that
on the banks of the Kentucky. The Barrens are very thinly populated;
for, on the road where the plantations are closest together, M. Michaux
counted but eighteen in a space of sixty or seventy miles.
_Nasheville_, the principal and the oldest town in this part of
Tenessee, is situated on the _river Cumberland_, the borders of which
are here formed by a mass of chalky stone, upwards of sixty feet in
height. Except seven or eight houses, built of brick, the rest, to the
number of about a hundred and twenty, were constructed of wood, and were
distributed over a surface of twenty-five or thirty acres, where the
rock appeared almost naked in every part.
This little town, although it had been built more than fifteen years,
contained no kind of manufactory or public establishment; but there was
a printing-office, at which a newspaper was published once a week. A
college had also been founded here; but it was yet in its infancy,
having not more than seven or eight students, and only one professor.
The price of labour in the vicinity of Nasheville was higher than at
Lexington. There appeared to be from fifteen to twenty shops, which were
supplied from Philadelphia and Baltimore; but they did not seem so well
stocked as those of Lexington, and the articles, though dearer, were of
inferior quality.
All the inhabitants of the western country, who go by the river to New
Orleans, return by land and pass through Nasheville, which is the first
town beyond Natchez. The interval which separates these towns is about
six hundred miles, and was, at this time, entirely uninhabited. Several
persons who had travelled this road, assured M. Michaux that, for a
space of four or five hundred miles beyond Natchez, the country was very
irregular; that the soil was sandy, in some parts covered with pines,
and not much adapted for culture; but that, on the contrary, the borders
of the river Tenessee were fertile, and superior even to the richest
parts of Kentucky.
On the fifth of September, M. Michaux set out from Nasheville for
Knoxville. He was accompanied by a Mr. Fisk, one of the commissioners
who had been appointed to determine the boundaries between the states
of Tenessee and Kentucky. They stopped on the road, with different
friends of Mr. Fisk; among others, with General Smith, one of the oldest
inhabitants of the country. M. Michaux saw, _en passant_, General
Winchester. He was at a stone house which was building for him on the
road. This mansion, the state of the country considered, bore the
external marks of grandeur: it consisted of four large rooms on the
ground-floor, one story, and a garret. The workmen employed to finish
the inside had come from Baltimore, a distance of near seven hundred
miles.
A few miles from the residence of General Winchester, and at a short
distance from the road, is a small town which had been founded but a few
years, and to which the inhabitants had given the name of _Cairo_, in
memory of the taking of Cairo by the French.
Between Nasheville and Fort Blount the plantations, though always
isolated in the woods, were, nevertheless, by the side of the road, and
within two or three miles of each other: the inhabitants resided in
log-houses, and most of them kept negroes, and appeared to live happily
and in abundance. Through the whole of this space the soil was but
slightly undulated: in some places it was level, and in general it was
excellent.
_Fort Blount_ had been constructed about eighteen years before M.
Michaux was in America. It had been built for the purpose of protecting,
against the attacks of the Indians, such emigrants as came, at that
time, to settle in its vicinity. But peace having been concluded with
the Indians, and the population having much increased, the
fortifications now no longer existed.
On the eleventh of September M. Michaux and Mr. Fisk left Fort Blount;
and, at the house of Major Russel, some miles distant, they were
obligingly furnished with provisions for two days' journey through the
territory of the Cherokees.
The country became now so mountainous, that they could not proceed more
than forty-five miles the first day, though they travelled till
midnight. They encamped near a small river, where there was an
abundance of grass; and, after having lighted a fire, they slept in
their rugs, keeping watch alternately, in order to guard their horses.
During this day's journey they had seen no animals, except some flocks
of wild turkeys.
The second day after their departure, they met a party of eight or ten
Indians, who were searching for grapes and chinquapins, a small species
of chesnuts, superior in taste to those of Europe. As M. Michaux and his
friend had only twenty miles to go before they reached West Point, they
gave to these men the remainder of their provisions. With the American
Indians bread is a great treat; for their usual food consists only of
venison and wild-fowl.
The road, which crosses this part of the Indian territory, cuts through
the mountains of Cumberland; and, in consequence of the great number of
emigrants who travel through it, to settle in the western country, it
was, at this time, as broad and commodious as the roads were near
Philadelphia. In some places, however, it was very rugged. Little boards
painted black and nailed against the trees, every three miles, indicated
to travellers the distance they had to go.
In this part of Tenessee the mass of the forests is composed of all the
species of trees which belong more particularly to the mountainous
regions of North America; such as oaks, maples, hickory-nut trees, and
pines.
At _West Point_ there was a fort palisadoed round with trees, and built
upon a lofty eminence, at the conflux of the _rivers Clinch_ and
_Holstein_. A company of soldiers was kept here, for the purpose of
holding the Indians in check, and also of protecting them against the
inhabitants on the frontiers, whose cruelty and illiberal proceedings
had frequently excited them to war.
These _Indians_ are above the middle size, are well-proportioned, and
healthy in appearance, notwithstanding the long fasting they are
frequently obliged to endure, whilst in pursuit of animals, the flesh of
which forms their chief subsistence. The carbine is the only weapon
they use: they are very dexterous with it, and are able to kill animals
at a great distance. The usual dress of the men consists of a shirt,
which hangs loose, and of a slip of blue cloth, about half a yard in
length, which serves them for breeches; they put it between their
thighs, and fasten the two ends, before and behind, to a sort of girdle.
They wear long gaiters, and shoes made of prepared goat-skins. When full
dressed they wear a coat, waistcoat, and hat; but they never have
breeches. On the top of their heads they have a tuft of hair, which they
form into several tresses, that hang down the sides of their face; and
they frequently attach quills or little silver tubes to the extremities.
Many of them pierce their noses, in order to put rings through. They
also cut holes in their ears, which are made to hang down two or three
inches, by pieces of lead, which are fastened to them. They paint their
faces red, blue, or black.
A shirt and a short petticoat constitute the chief dress of the women,
who also wear gaiters like the men. Their hair, which is of jet-black
colour, they suffer to grow to its natural length; but they do not
pierce their noses, nor disfigure their ears. In winter both the men and
women, in order to guard against cold, wrap themselves in blue rugs,
which they always carry with them, and which form an essential part of
their luggage.
M. Michaux was informed, at West Point, that the Cherokees had lately
begun to cultivate their possessions, and that they had made a rapid
progress in agriculture. Some of them had good plantations, and even
negro slaves. Several of the women spin cotton and manufacture
cotton-stuffs.
The distance from West Point to Knoxville is thirty-five miles. About a
mile from West Point the travellers passed through _Kingstown_, a place
consisting of thirty or forty log-houses. After that the road extended,
upwards of eighteen miles, through a rugged and flinty soil, covered
with a kind of grass. The trees that occupied this space, grew within
twenty or thirty yards of each other.
_Knoxville_, the seat of government for the state of Tenessee, is
situated on the _river Holstein_, here a hundred and fifty fathoms
broad. The houses were, at this time, about two hundred in number, and
were built chiefly of wood. Although it had been founded eighteen or
twenty years, Knoxville did not yet possess any kind of commercial
establishment, or manufactory, except two or three tan-yards. Baltimore
and Richmond are the towns with which this part of the country transacts
most business. The distance from Knoxville to Baltimore is seven hundred
miles, and to Richmond four hundred and twenty. The inhabitants of
Knoxville send flour, cotton, and lime, to New Orleans, by the river
Tenessee; but the navigation of this river is much interrupted, in two
places, by shallows interspersed with rocks.
In the tavern at Knoxville travellers and their horses are accommodated
at the rate of about five shillings per day; but this is considered dear
for a country where the situation is by no means favourable to the sale
of provisions. A newspaper is published at Knoxville twice a week.
On the 17th of September, M. Michaux took leave of Mr. Fisk, and
proceeded alone towards Jonesborough, a town about a hundred miles
distant; and situated at the foot of the lofty mountains which separate
North Carolina from Tenessee. On leaving Knoxville the soil was uneven,
stony, and bad; and the forests contained a great number of pine-trees.
Before he reached _Macby_, M. Michaux observed, for the space of two
miles, a copse extremely full of young trees, the loftiest of which was
not more than twenty feet high. The inhabitants of the country informed
him that this place had formerly been part of a barren, or meadow, which
had clothed itself again with trees, after its timber, about fifteen
years before, had been totally destroyed by fire. This appears to
prove, that the spacious meadows in Kentucky and Tenessee owe their
origin to some great conflagration which has consumed the forests and
that they continue as meadows, by the practice, still continued, of
annually setting them on fire, for the purpose of clearing the land.
M. Michaux stopped, the first day, at a place where most of the
inhabitants were Quakers. One of these, with whom he lodged, had an
excellent plantation, and his log-house was divided into two rooms.
Around the house were growing some magnificent apple-trees: these,
although produced from pips, bore fruit of extraordinary size and
excellent flavour, a circumstance which proves how well this country is
adapted for the culture of fruit-trees. At this house there were two
emigrant families, consisting of ten or twelve persons, who were going
to settle in Tenessee. Their clothes were ragged, and their children
were barefooted and in their shirts.
Beyond this place the road divided into two branches, both of which led
to Jonesborough; and, as M. Michaux was desirous of surveying the banks
of the _river Nolachuky_, renowned for their fertility, he took the
branch which led him in that direction. As he proceeded he found many
small rock crystals, two or three inches long, and beautifully
transparent. They were loose, and disseminated upon the road, in a
reddish kind of earth.
On the twenty-first he arrived at _Greenville_, a town which contained
scarcely forty houses, constructed with square beams, and somewhat in
the manner of log-houses. The distance between this place and
Jonesborough, is about twenty-five miles: the country was slightly
mountainous, the soil was more adapted to the culture of corn than that
of Indian wheat; and the plantations were situated near the road, two or
three miles distant from each other.
_Jonesborough_, the last town in Tenessee, consisted, at this time, of
about a hundred and fifty houses, built of wood, and disposed on both
sides of the road. Four or five respectable shops were established
there, and the tradespeople, who kept them, received their goods from
Richmond and Baltimore.
On the twenty-first of September, M. Michaux set out from Jonesborough
to cross the _Alleghany Mountains_, for North Carolina. In some places
the road, or rather the path, was scarcely distinguishable, in
consequence of the plants of various kinds that covered its surface. It
was also encumbered by forests of rhododendron: shrubs, from eighteen to
twenty feet in height, the branches of which, twisted and interwoven
with each other, greatly impeded his progress. He had also to cross
numerous streams; particularly a large torrent, called Rocky Creek, the
winding course of which cut the path in twelve or fifteen directions.
On the twenty-third this gentleman proceeded twenty-two miles, through a
hilly country; and, in the evening, arrived at the house of a person
named Davenport, the owner of a charming plantation upon _Doe River_. M.
Michaux staid here a week, in order to rest himself and recruit his
strength, after a journey of six hundred miles which he had just made.
On the second of October, he again set out, and proceeded towards
Morganton. About four miles from Doe River he passed the chain of the
_Blue Ridges_, and afterwards that of the _Linneville Mountains_. From
the summit of the latter he observed an immense extent of mountainous
country, covered with forests. Only three small places appeared to be
cleared, which formed as many plantations, three or four miles distant
from each other.
From the Linneville Mountains to Morganton, the distance is about
twenty-five miles: in this interval the country was slightly
mountainous, and the soil extremely bad.
_Morganton_, the principal town of the county of Burke, contained about
fifty houses built of wood, almost all of which were inhabited by
tradesmen. There was only one warehouse, and this was supported by a
commercial establishment at Charleston. To it the inhabitants of the
country, for twenty miles round, came to purchase English manufactured
goods and jewellery; or to exchange, for these, a portion of their own
produce, consisting of dried hams, butter, tallow, bear-skins and
stag-skins.
From Morganton to Charleston the distance is two hundred and eighty-five
miles. There are several roads; but M. Michaux took that which led
through Lincolnton, Chester, and Columbia. The distance from Morganton
to Lincolnton, is forty-five miles. Through the whole of this space the
soil is extremely barren; and the plantations, straggling five or six
miles from each other, have an unfavourable appearance. The woods are
chiefly composed of different kinds of oaks; and the surface of the
ground is covered with grass, intermixed with other plants.
_Lincolnton_, at this time, consisted of forty houses, and, like all the
small towns in the interior of the United States, was surrounded by
woods. There were, at Lincolnton, two or three large shops, which
transacted the same kind of business as that at Morganton. The tradesmen
who kept them sent the produce of the adjacent country to Charleston,
but they sometimes stocked themselves with goods from Philadelphia.
At Lincolnton a newspaper was published twice a week. The price of
subscription was two dollars per annum, but the printer, who was his own
editor, took, by way of payment, flour, rye, wax, or other traffic, at
the market-price. As in England, the advertisements were the most
important source of profit. The foreign news was almost wholly extracted
from papers published at the sea-ports.
The district around Lincolnton was peopled, in a great measure, by
Germans from Pennsylvania. Their plantations were kept in excellent
order, and their lands were well cultivated. Almost all had negro
slaves, and there reigned among them a greater independence than in the
families of English origin.
From Lincolnton to Chester, in the state of South Carolina, the distance
is about seventy miles. Through the whole of this space the earth is
light, and of a quality inferior to that between Morganton and
Lincolnton, although the mass of the forests is composed of various
species of oaks. In some places, however, pine-trees are in such
abundance that, for several miles, the ground is covered with nothing
else.
_Chester_ contained about thirty houses, built of wood; and among the
number were two inns and two respectable shops.
From Chester the country becomes worse in every respect than before; and
the traveller is obliged to put up at inns, where he is badly
accommodated both in board and lodging, and at which he pays dearer than
in any other part of the United States. The reputation of these inns is
esteemed according to the quantity and different kinds of spirits which
they sell.
From Chester to Columbia the distance is fifty-five miles. M. Michaux
passed through _Winesborough_, containing about a hundred and fifty
houses. This place is one of the oldest inhabited towns in Carolina, and
several planters of the low country go thither every year to spend the
summer and autumn.
[_Columbia_, now the seat of government for the state of South Carolina,
is situated below the confluence of the _Broad_ and _Saluda Rivers_. It
is laid out on a regular plan, the streets intersecting each other at
right angles. The buildings are erected at the distance of about three
quarters of a mile from the _Cangaree River_, on a ridge of high land,
three hundred feet above the level of the water. In 1808, Columbia
contained about one hundred and fifty houses. Vineyards, cotton, and
hemp-plantations are successfully cultivated in its vicinity; and
oil-mills, rope walks, and some other manufactories have been
established here.]
The distance from Columbia to Charleston is about a hundred and twenty
miles; and, through the whole of this space, the road crosses an even
country, sandy and dry during the summer, whilst in the autumn and
winter, it is so covered with water that, in several places, for the
space of eight or ten miles, the horses are up to their middle. Every
two or three miles there were, by the side of the road, miserable
log-houses, surrounded by little fields of Indian corn.
The extreme unwholesomeness of the climate is shown by the pale and
livid countenances of the inhabitants, who, during the months of
September and October, are almost all affected with tertian fevers. Very
few persons take any remedy for this complaint: they merely wait the
approach of the first frosts, which, if they live so long, generally
effect a cure.
M. Michaux arrived at _Charleston_ on the eighteenth of October, 1802,
three months and a half after his departure from Philadelphia, having,
in that time, travelled over a space of nearly eighteen hundred miles.
Eleventh Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_A Description of Charleston, and of some places in the adjacent parts
of Carolina and Georgia._
Charleston is situated at the conflux of the rivers Ashley and Cooper.
The ground that it occupies is about a mile in length. From the middle
of the principal street the two rivers might be clearly seen, were it
not for a public edifice, built upon the banks of the Cooper, which
intercepts the view. The most populous and commercial part of the town
is situated along the Ashley. Several ill-constructed _quays_ project
into the river, to facilitate the trading-vessels taking in their
cargoes. These quays are formed of the trunks of palm-trees, fixed
together, and laid out in squares, one above another. The _streets_ of
Charleston are wide, but not paved; consequently, every time the foot
slips, from a kind of brick pavement before the doors, it is immersed,
nearly ancle deep, in sand. The rapid and almost incessant motion of
carriages grinds this moving sand, and pulverizes it in such a manner,
that the most gentle wind fills the shops with it, and renders it very
disagreeable to foot-passengers. The principal streets extend east and
west between the two rivers, and others intersect these nearly at right
angles.
From its exposure to the ocean, this place is subject to storms and
inundations, which affect the security of its harbour. The town also has
suffered much by fires. The last, in 1796, destroyed upwards of five
hundred houses, and occasioned damage to the amount of £.300,000
sterling.
The _houses_, in the streets near the water-side, are, for the most
part, lofty, and built close together. The bricks are of a peculiar
nature, being porous, and capable of resisting weather better than the
firm, close, and red bricks of the northern states. They are of a dark
brown colour, which gives to the buildings a gloomy appearance. The
roofs are tiled or slated. In this part of the town the principal
shopkeepers and merchants have their stores and warehouses. Houses here
bear a very high rent: those in Broad and Church-streets, which are
valuable for shops, let for more than £.300 per annum; and those along
the bay, with warehouses, let for £.700 and upwards, according to the
size and situation of the buildings. The houses in Meeting-street and
the back part of the town, are in general lofty and extensive, and are
separated from each other by small gardens or yards, in which are the
kitchens and out-offices. Almost every house is furnished with balconies
and verandas, some of which occupy the whole side of the building, from
top to bottom, having a gallery for each floor. The houses are sometimes
shaded with Venetian blinds, and afford to the inhabitants a cool and
pleasant retreat, from the scorching rays of the sun. Most of the modern
houses are constructed with taste and elegance; but the chief design
seems to be, to render them as cool as possible. The town is also
crowded with wooden buildings, of an inferior description.
Three of the _public buildings_ in Charleston, and the episcopal church
of St. Michael, are situated at the corners, formed by the intersection
of Broad and Meeting-streets. St. Michael's is a large and substantial
edifice, with a lofty steeple and spire. The Branch Bank of the United
States occupies one of the corners: this is a substantial, and, compared
with others in the town, is a handsome building; but, from an
injudicious intermixture of brick, stone, and marble, it has a very
motley appearance. Another corner of the street is occupied by the gaol
and armory: the fourth corner has a large and substantial brick
building, cased with plaster. The ground-floor of this building is
appropriated to the courts of law: in the first story are most of the
public offices; and the upper story contains the public library and the
museum.
A kind of tree, called the "pride of India," (_melia azedarach_,) is
planted, in rows, along the foot-paths and the streets of Charleston. It
does not grow very high; but its umbrageous leaves and branches afford,
to the inhabitants, an excellent shelter from the sun. It has the
advantage also of not engendering insects; for, in consequence of its
poisonous qualities, no insect can live upon it. When in blossom, the
large clusters of its flowers resemble those of the lilac; these are
succeeded by bunches of yellow berries, each about the size of a small
cherry. It is a deciduous tree; but the berries remain during the
winter, and drop off in the following spring.
The health of the _inhabitants_ is very much injured, in consequence of
their general neglect of cleanliness. The drains that are formed for
carrying off the filth and putrid matter, which collect from all parts
of the town, are too small for the purpose. This circumstance, added to
the effluvia of the numerous swamps and stagnant pools in the
neighbourhood, are known to be extremely injurious. Another neglect of
health and comfort arises from a filthy practice, which prevails, of
dragging dying horses, or the carcasses of dead ones, to a field in the
outskirts of the town, near the high road, and there leaving them, to be
devoured by troops of ravenous dogs and vultures. The latter, in
appearance, are not much unlike turkeys, and thence have obtained the
name of turkey buzzards; but, from their carnivorous habits, they have a
most offensive smell. These birds hover over Charleston in great
numbers; and are useful in destroying putrid substances, which lie in
different parts of the city.
At Charleston there is a garden dignified by the name of _Vauxhall_. It
is situated in Broad-street, at a short distance from the theatre; but
it possesses no decoration worthy of notice. It cannot even be compared
with the common tea-gardens in the vicinity of London. On one side of it
are warm and cold baths, for the accommodation of the inhabitants.
During summer, vocal and instrumental concerts are performed here, and
some of the singers from the theatre are engaged for the season. The
situation and climate of Charleston are, however, by no means adapted
for entertainments of this description.
There are, in this town, four or five _hotels_ and coffee-houses; but,
except the Planters' Hotel, in Meeting-street, not one of them is
superior to an English public-house.
Charleston contains a handsome and commodious _market-place_, which
extends from Meeting-street to the water-side, and is as well supplied
with _provisions_ as the country will permit. Compared, however, with
the markets in the towns of the northern states, the supply is very
inferior, both in quality and quantity. The beef, mutton, veal, and
pork, of South Carolina, are seldom in perfection; and the hot weather
renders it impossible to keep meat many hours after it is killed. Though
the rivers abound in a great variety of fish, yet very few are brought
to market. Oysters, however, are abundant, and are cried about the
streets by negroes. They are generally shelled, put into small pails,
which the negroes carry on their heads, and are sold, by measure, at the
rate of about eight-pence per quart. Vegetables have been cultivated, of
late years, with great success; and, of these, there is generally a
tolerable supply in the market.
In winter, the markets of Charleston are well supplied with fish, which
are brought from the northern parts of the United States, in vessels so
constructed as to keep them in a continual supply of water, and alive.
The ships, engaged in this traffic, load, in return, with rice and
cotton.
At Charleston, wood is extravagantly dear: it costs from forty to fifty
shillings a _cord_, notwithstanding forests of almost boundless extent,
commence at six miles, and even at a less distance, from the town. Hence
a great portion of the inhabitants burn coals that are brought from
England.
The pestilential marshes around Charleston yield a great abundance of
rice. It is true that no European frame could support the labour of its
cultivation; but Africa can produce slaves, and, amid contagion and
suffering, both of oppressors and oppressed, Charleston has become a
wealthy city.
* * * * *
The road from Charleston towards North Carolina, extends, for some
distance, through the districts adjacent to the sea-coast; and much of
the country is clad with bright evergreens, whence, in many places, it
appears like the shrubbery of a park. In this part of America the trees
are covered with a curious kind of vegetable drapery, which hangs from
them in long curling tendrils, of gray or pale green colour. It bears a
small blue flower, which is succeeded by a plumed seed, that adheres to
the bark of the trees. Though the bark of the oak seems to afford the
most favourite soil, it suspends itself to trees of every description;
and, as it has no tenacity, but hangs like loose drapery, it probably
does them no injury.
In the interior of the country the road traverses a desolate tract of
swamps and sandy pine-forests, and afterwards a series of granite rocks.
The capital of North Carolina is _Raleigh_, a clean little country town.
At one end of the only street stands the governor's brick house; and, at
the other, the senate or court-house, surrounded by a grass-plot, neatly
laid out. The houses are, in general, small, and built of wood; but some
of them have foundations of granite, which is the only kind of stone in
the country. The total want of limestone, and the scarcity of
brick-earth, render it here extremely difficult and expensive to give to
buildings any degree of stability.
Although Raleigh is considered the capital of North Carolina, _Newbern_
is the largest town in the state. So long ago as the year 1790, it
contained four hundred houses; but these were chiefly built of wood. In
September, 1791, about one-third of this town was consumed by fire; but,
since that period, more of the houses have been built of brick than
before. Newbern is situated on a flat, sandy point of land, near the
junction of the two rivers Neus and Trent, and about thirty miles from
the sea. It carries on a trade with the West Indies and the interior of
Carolina, chiefly in tar, pitch, turpentine, lumber, and corn.
* * * * *
About a hundred miles south-west of Charleston is the town of
_Savannah_, situated upon an open, sandy plain, which forms a bluff or
cliff, about fifty feet above the level of the river of the same name.
It is laid out, in the form of a parallelogram, about a mile and a
quarter long, and half a mile wide. The streets are broad, and open into
spacious squares, each of which has in the middle a pump, surrounded by
trees. There are neither foot-paths nor pavement in this place; and,
consequently, every one walking in the streets, sinks, at each step, up
to the ancles in sand; and, in windy weather, the eyes, mouth, and
nostrils, are filled with sand.
The houses in Savannah are, for the most part, built of wood, and stand
at a little distance from each other. In two or three of the streets,
however, they are close together, and many of them are built with brick:
these contain the shops and stores. The principal street is that called
the Bay; and in this there are several good houses, of brick and wood.
It extends nearly three quarters of a mile in length; and opposite to it
is a beautiful walk, planted with a double row of trees. Similar trees
are planted in other parts of the town. This agreeable promenade is near
the margin of the height, upon which the town stands; and the merchants'
stores, warehouses, and wharfs, for the landing, housing, and shipping
of goods, are immediately below. From the height there is a fine view of
the Savannah river, as far as the sea; and, in a contrary direction, to
the distance of several miles above the town.
About the centre of the walk, and just on the verge of the cliff, stands
the Exchange, a large brick building, which contains some public
offices; and an assembly-room, where a concert and ball are held every
fortnight, during the winter.
The situation of Savannah, and the plan upon which it is laid out, if
the town contained better houses, would render it far more agreeable, as
a place of residence, than Charleston. Its greater elevation must also
be more conducive to the health of the inhabitants, than the low and
flat site of the other city. Both, however, are in the neighbourhood of
swamps, marshes, and thick woods, which engender diseases, injurious to
the constitution of white people. On the swamps, around Savannah, great
quantities of rice are grown.
Twelfth Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_Narrative of an excursion from Charleston into Georgia and West
Florida. From Travels in North America, by_ WILLIAM BARTRAM.
At the request of Dr. Fothergill, an eminent physician in London, Mr.
Bartram went to North America, for the purpose, chiefly, of collecting,
in Florida, Carolina, and Georgia, some of the rare and useful
productions which had been described, by preceding travellers, to abound
in those states. He left England in the month of April, 1773, and
continued abroad several years.
In 1776, he was at _Charleston_; and on the 22d of April, in that year,
he set off on horseback, intending to make an excursion into the country
of the Cherokee Indians. He directed his course towards Augusta, a town
on the Savannah river.
During his first day's journey he observed a large orchard of
mulberry-trees, which were cultivated for the feeding of silkworms. The
notes of the mocking-bird enlivened all the woods. He crossed into
Georgia, by a ferry over the Savannah; and he thence passed through a
range of pine-forests and swamps, about twelve miles in extent. Beyond
these, in a forest, on the border of a swamp, and near the river, he
reached a cow-pen, the proprietor of which possessed about fifteen
hundred head of cattle. He was a man of amiable manners, and treated Mr.
Bartram with great hospitality. The chief profits made by this person
were obtained from beef, which he sent, by the river, for the supply of
distant markets.
About one hundred miles beyond this place is _Augusta_, in one of the
most delightful and most eligible situations imaginable. It stands on
an extensive plain, near the banks of the river Savannah, which is here
navigable for vessels of twenty or thirty tons burden. Augusta, thus
seated near the head of an important navigation, commands the trade and
commerce of the vast and fertile regions above it; and, from every side,
to a great distance. [Since Mr. Bartram was here, this place has become
the metropolis of Georgia.]
Below Augusta, and on the Georgia side of the river, the road crosses a
ridge of high swelling hills, of uncommon elevation, and sixty or
seventy feet higher than the surface of the river. These hills, from
three feet below the common vegetative surface, to the depth of twenty
or thirty feet, are entirely composed of fossil oyster-shells, which,
internally, are of the colour and consistency of white marble. The
shells are of immense magnitude; generally fifteen or twenty inches in
length, from six to eight wide, and from two to four inches in
thickness; and their hollows are sufficiently deep to receive a man's
foot.
From Augusta, Mr. Bartram proceeded to Fort James. For thirty miles the
road led him near the banks of the Savannah. The surface of the land was
uneven, in ridges or chains of swelling hills, and corresponding vales,
with level downs. The latter afforded grass and various herbage; and the
vales and hills produced forest-trees and shrubs of several kinds. In
the rich and humid lands, which bordered the creeks and bases of the
hills, Mr. Bartram discovered many species of plants which were entirely
new to him.
_Fort James_ enclosed about an acre of ground, and contained barracks
for soldiers, and a house for the governor or commandant. It was
situated at the extreme point of a promontory, formed by the junction of
the _Broad_ and _Savannah rivers_; and, at the distance of two miles,
there was a place laid out for the construction of a town, which was to
have the name of _Dartmouth_.
The surgeon of the garrison conducted Mr. Bartram, about five miles from
the fort, to a spot where he showed him some remarkable Indian
monuments. These were on a plain, about thirty yards from the river, and
they consisted of conical mounds of earth, with square terraces. The
principal mount was in the form of a cone, forty or fifty feet high, and
two or three hundred yards in circumference at the base. It was flat at
the top; a spiral track, leading from the ground to the summit, was
still visible; and it was surmounted by a large and spreading
cedar-tree. On the sides of the hill, facing the four cardinal points,
were niches or centry-boxes, all entered from the winding path. The
design of these structures Mr. Bartram was unable to ascertain. The
adjacent grounds had been cleared, and were at this time planted with
Indian corn.
On the 10th of May, Mr. Bartram set out from Fort James. He rode six or
eight miles along the bank of the river, and then crossed it into South
Carolina. The road led him over a country, the surface of which was
undulated by ridges or chains of hills, and sometimes rough with rocks
and stones; yet generally productive of forests, and of a great variety
of curious and interesting plants.
The season was unusually wet: showers of rain fell almost daily, and
were frequently attended with thunder. Hence travelling was rendered
disagreeable, toilsome, and hazardous; particularly in the country
through which he had to pass; an uninhabited wilderness, abounding in
rivers and brooks.
During his progress, Mr. Bartram was kindly received into the houses of
such planters as lived near the road. In his journey betwixt Fort James
and the Cherokee town of _Sinica_, he observed an abundance of
grape-vines, which ramble and spread themselves over the shrubs and low
trees. The grapes, when ripe, are of various colours, and yield
excellent juice.
_Sinica_ is a respectable Cherokee settlement, on the east bank of the
_Keowe river_; but the greatest number of Indian habitations are on the
opposite shore, where also stands the council-house, in a plain, betwixt
the river and a range of lofty hills, which rise magnificently, and seem
to bend over the green plains and the river. Sinica had not, at this
time, been long built. The number of inhabitants was estimated at about
five hundred, among whom about a hundred warriors could be mustered.
From Sinica Mr. Bartram went to another Indian town, about sixteen miles
distant, called _Keowe_. It stood in a fertile vale, which was now
enamelled with scarlet strawberries and blooming plants, of innumerable
kinds, through the midst of which the river meandered, in a most
pleasing manner. The adjacent heights were so formed and disposed, that,
with little, expence of military architecture, they might have been
rendered almost unassailable. In the vicinity of Keowe, Mr. Bartram saw
several ancient Indian mounts or tumuli, and terraces.
On leaving this place he crossed the river at a ford, and, soon
afterwards, began to ascend the steep ridges on the west side of the
valley. The prospects of the surrounding country here presented to his
view, were, in many instances, peculiarly beautiful. Having reached the
summits of the mountains, he afterwards passed through a series of
magnificent forests, and then approached an ample meadow, bordered with
a high circular amphitheatre of hills, the ridges of which rose
magnificently one above another. After this the surface of the land was
level, and, in some places exhibited views of grand forests, and dark,
detached groves, and in others of fertile vales and meadows.
After having crossed a delightful river, a main branch of the _Tugilo_,
Mr. Bartram passed through a mountainous country. Here, being overtaken
by a tremendous hurricane, accompanied with torrents of rain, and the
most awful thunder imaginable, in the midst of a solitary wilderness,
he was glad to obtain shelter in a forsaken Indian dwelling. In this he
lighted a fire, dried his clothes, comforted himself with a frugal
repast of biscuit and dried beef, and afterwards passed the night.
At some distance beyond this cottage, were the ruins of an Indian town
called _Sticoe_. At this place was a vast Indian mount or tumulus, with
a great terrace. Here also were old peach and plum-orchards, some of the
trees of which still appeared to be thriving and fruitful. From Sticoe,
proceeding along a vale, and crossing a delightful brook, which falls
into the Tenessee, Mr. Bartram followed its course nearly as far as
_Cowe_, an Indian town which stands in a valley on the bank of one of
the branches of the _river Tenessee_. He had letters of introduction to
a gentleman resident in this place, who had, for many years, been a
trader with the Indians, and who was noted for his humanity, his
probity, and his equitable dealings with them. By this gentleman he was
received with every demonstration of hospitality and friendship.
After having staid two days at Cowe, and, in the mean time, having made
some excursions to places in its vicinity, Mr. Bartram proceeded on his
journey, and was accompanied, about fifteen miles, by his hospitable
friend, the trader. After this gentleman had left him, he was in the
midst of solitude, surrounded by dreary and trackless mountains; and,
for some time, he was unable to erase from his mind a notion that his
present situation in some degree resembled that of Nebuchadnezzar, when
expelled from the society of men, and constrained to roam in the
wilderness, there to herd and to feed with the beasts of the forest. He,
however, proceeded with all the alacrity which prudence would permit.
His present object was, at all events, to cross the Jore Mountains, said
to be the highest land in the Cherokee country. These he soon afterwards
began to ascend; and, at length, he accomplished one part of his arduous
task. From the most elevated peak of these mountains, he beheld, with
rapture and astonishment, a sublimely awful scene of magnificence, a
world of mountains piled upon mountains.
On the ensuing day, still proceeding in his journey westward, Mr.
Bartram, on descending from the heights, observed a company of Indians
on horseback. They rapidly approached him; and, under an impression that
one of them, who was at the head of the troop, was the emperor or grand
chief of the Cherokees, Mr. Bartram turned out of the path in token of
respect. In this supposition he was correct, and the compliment was
accepted, for the chief, with a cheerful smile, came up to him, and
placing his hand on his breast, then offered it to Mr. Bartram, and
heartily shook hands with him. The chief made enquiry respecting a
gentleman of Charleston, with whom he was acquainted, and afterwards
welcomed Mr. Bartram into his country, as a friend and brother. Being,
at this time, on a journey to Charleston, he shook hands with Mr.
Bartram, bade him heartily farewell, and then proceeded.
Describing the _Cherokee_ Indians, our traveller says that these people
construct their habitations in a square form, each building being only
one story high. The materials consist of logs or trunks of trees,
stripped of their bark, notched at the ends, fixed one upon another, and
afterwards plastered both inside and out, with clay well tempered with
dry grass; and the whole covered or roofed with the bark of the
chesnut-tree, or with broad shingles or wooden tiles. The principal
building is partitioned transversely, so as to form three apartments,
which communicate with each other by inside doors. Each habitation has
also a little conical house, which is called the winter or hot-house;
this stands a few yards from the mansion-house, and opposite to the
front door.
The council or town-house at Cowe, is a large rotunda, capable of
accommodating several hundred people. It stands on the summit of an
ancient artificial mount, about twenty feet high; and the rotunda at the
top, being about thirty feet more, gives to the whole fabric an
elevation of sixty feet from the ground. But the mount on which the
rotunda stands, is of much more ancient date than the building, and
perhaps was raised for some other purpose than to support it. The
Cherokees themselves are ignorant by what people, or for what purpose,
these artificial hills were raised. According to their traditions, they
were found in much the same state as they now appear, when their
forefathers arrived from the west, and possessed themselves of the
country, after vanquishing the nations of red men who then inhabited it,
and who themselves found these mounts when they took possession of the
country.
Mr. Bartram, in company with some Europeans that were resident here,
went one evening to the rotunda, to witness a grand entertainment of
music and dancing. This was held principally for the purpose of
rehearsing what is called a ball-play dance; the inhabitants of Cowe
having received a challenge to play against those of another town.
The people, being assembled and seated, and the musicians having taken
their station, the ball was opened, first with a long harangue or
oration, spoken by an aged chief, in commendation of the manly exercise
of ball-play. This chief recounted the many and brilliant victories
which the town of Cowe had gained over the other towns in the nation;
not forgetting to recite his own exploits, together with those of other
aged men now present, coadjutors in the performance of these athletic
games during their youthful days.
This oration ended, the music, both vocal and instrumental, began.
Presently a company of girls, hand in hand, dressed in clean white
robes, and ornamented with beads, bracelets, and a profusion of gay
ribbons, entering the door, sang responses in a gentle, low, and sweet
tone of voice; and formed themselves in a semicircular file, or line of
two ranks, back to back, facing the spectators, and moving slowly round.
This continued about a quarter of an hour, when the strangers were
surprised by a sudden loud and shrill whoop, uttered by a company of
young men, who came in briskly, after one another, each with a racket or
hurl in his hand. These champions likewise were well dressed, painted,
and ornamented with silver bracelets, gorgets, and wampum, and having
high waving plumes in their diadems: they immediately formed themselves
in a semicircular rank in front of the girls; on which these changed
their position, and formed a single rank parallel to that of the men.
They raised their voices, in responses to the tunes of the young
champions, the semicircles continually moving round during the time.
The Cherokees, besides the ball-play dance, have several others, equally
entertaining. The men, especially, exercise themselves in a variety of
gesticulations and capers, some of which are extremely ludicrous. They
have others of a martial kind, and others illustrative of the chase:
these seem to be somewhat of a tragical nature, in which they exhibit
astonishing feats of military prowess, masculine strength, and activity.
Indeed, all their dances and musical entertainments seem to be
theatrical exhibitions or plays, varied with comic, and sometimes
indecent interludes.
On the ensuing morning, Mr. Bartram set off on his return to Fort James;
and, two days afterwards, he again arrived at _Keowe_, where he
continued two or three days. In the environs of this place he observed
some very singular Indian antiquities. They each consisted of four flat
stones, two set on edge for the side, another closed one end, and a very
large flat stone was laid horizontally on the top. Mr. Bartram
conjectures that they must have been either altars for sacrifices, or
sepulchres.
This gentleman accompanied the traders to _Sinica_, where he continued
some time, employing himself in observations, and in making collections
of such things as were deserving of notice; and, not long afterwards, he
once more reached _Fort James_.
From this place he set out with a caravan, consisting of twenty men and
sixty horses. Their first day's journey was, for the most part, over
high gravelly ridges, and hills of considerable eminence. Many scarce
and interesting plants were discovered along the sides of the roads.
They passed several considerable creeks, branches of the _Ocone_, and,
on the first of July, encamped, on the banks of that river, in a
delightful grove. They forded the river at a place where it was about
two hundred and fifty yards wide. Subsequently they crossed the
_Oakmulge_ and _Flint rivers_. In many places they observed that the
soil was rich, and admirably adapted to every branch of agriculture and
grazing. The country was diversified with hills and dales, savannas, and
vast cane-meadows, and watered by innumerable rivulets and brooks.
During the day the horses were excessively tormented by flies of several
kinds, and the numbers of which were almost incredible. They formed,
around the caravan, a vast cloud, so thick as to obscure every distant
object. The heads, necks, and shoulders of the leading horses were
continually covered with blood, the consequence of the attacks of these
tormenting insects. Some of them were horse-flies, as large as
humble-bees; and others were different species of gnats and musquitoes.
During the day the heat was often intense.
After traversing a very delightful country, the party reached the _Chata
Uche_ river, which was betwixt three and four hundred yards in width.
They crossed it to _Uche_ town, situated on a vast plain. This, Mr.
Bartram observes, was the most compact and best situated Indian town he
had ever seen. The habitations were large and neatly built, having their
walls constructed of a wooden frame, then lathed and plastered inside
and out with a reddish, well-tempered clay or mortar, which gave them
the appearance of brick. Uche appeared to be populous and thriving. The
whole number of inhabitants was about fifteen hundred, of whom about
five hundred are gun-men or warriors.
Beyond this the travellers arrived at another Indian town called
_Apalachucla_, the capital of the Creek Indians. This place is sacred to
peace. No captives are here put to death, and no human blood is spilt.
And when a general peace is proposed, deputies from all the towns in the
confederacy assemble at this capital, in order to deliberate on the
subject. On the contrary, the great _Coweta_ town; about twelve miles
distant, is called the bloody town, for here the micos, chiefs, and
warriors assemble, when a general war is proposed; and here captives and
state malefactors are executed.
The caravan continued at Apalachucla about a week, for the purpose of
recruiting the strength of the horses, by turning them out into the
swamps to feed. After this, having repaired their equipage, and
replenished themselves with fresh supplies of provisions, on the
thirteenth of July they resumed their journey for Mobile.
Beyond _Talasse_, a town on the Tallapoose river, they changed their
course to a southerly direction, and, not long afterwards, arrived at
_Coloome_, a settlement, where they continued two days. The houses of
this place are neat and commodious; each of the buildings consists of a
wooden frame with plastered walls, and is roofed with cypress bark or
shingles. Every habitation consists of four oblong square houses, of one
story, and so arranged as to form an exact square, encompassing an area
or court-yard of about a quarter of an acre of ground, and leaving an
entrance at each corner. There was a beautiful square, in the centre of
the new town; but the stores of the principal trader, and two or three
Indian habitations, stood near the banks of the opposite shore, on the
side of the old Coloome town. The Tallapoose river is here three hundred
yards wide, and fifteen or twenty feet deep.
Having procured a guide, to conduct them into the great trading path of
West Florida, they set out for Mobile. Their progress, for about
eighteen miles, was through a magnificent forest, which, at intervals,
afforded them a view of distant Indian towns. At night, they encamped
beneath a grove of oaks; but, shortly afterwards, there fell so
extraordinary a shower of rain, that, suddenly, the whole adjacent
ground was inundated, and they were obliged to continue standing through
the whole of the night. Early in the morning, the guide, having
performed his duty, returned home; and the travellers continued their
journey, over an extended series of grassy plains, more than twenty
miles in length, and eight or nine miles wide. These plains were bounded
by high forests, which, in some places, presented magnificent and
pleasing sylvan landscapes, of primitive and uncultivated nature. They
crossed several rivulets and creeks, branches of the _Alabama_, the
eastern arm of the Mobile. These rivulets were adorned with groves of
various trees and shrubs. Immediately beyond the plains, the travellers
entered a high, and grand forest; and the road, for several miles, led
them near the banks of the _Alabama_. The surface of the land was broken
into hills and vales; some of them of considerable elevation, and
covered with forests of stately trees.
After many miles' travelling, over a varied and interesting country,
they arrived at the eastern channel of the _river Mobile_, and, on the
same day, reached the city to which they were proceeding. _Mobile_
stands on the easy ascent of a rising bank, near the western side of the
bay of that name. This place has been nearly a mile in length; but it
was now in ruins. Many of the houses were, at this time, unoccupied, and
mouldering away; yet there were a few good buildings, inhabited by
French, English, Scotch, and Irish, and emigrants from the northern
parts of America. The principal French buildings were constructed of
brick, and were one story high, but on an extensive scale. They were
square, and were built so as to encompass, on three sides, a large area
or court-yard. The principal apartment was on the side fronting the
street. This plan of habitations seems to have been copied from that of
the Creek Indians. The houses of the poorer class of inhabitants were
constructed of a strong frame of cypress-timber, filled up with brick;
plastered and white-washed inside and out.
On the 5th of August, having procured a light canoe, Mr. Bartram set out
on a voyage up the river. He sailed along the eastern channel, and
passed several well-cultivated plantations, on fertile islands. Here the
native productions exceeded, in luxuriance, any that he had ever seen:
the reeds and canes, in particular, grew to an immense height and
thickness. On one part of the shore of the river, he was delighted by
the appearance of a great number of plants, of a species of oenothera,
each plant being covered with hundreds of large golden yellow flowers.
Near the ruins of several plantations, were seen peach and fig-trees,
richly laden with fruit. Beyond these, were high forests and rich
swamps, where canes and cypress-trees grew of astonishing magnitude. The
_magnolia grandiflora_, here flourished in the utmost luxuriance; and
flowering-trees and shrubs were observed, in great numbers and beauty.
Several large alligators were seen basking on the shores, and others
were swimming along the river. After having pursued his course for
several miles, and made many important botanical discoveries, Mr.
Bartram returned to _Mobile_, for the purpose of proceeding thence, in a
trading-vessel, westward, to the Pearl river.
Previously, however, to setting out on his voyage westward, he had an
opportunity of visiting _Pensacola_, the capital of West Florida, about
a hundred miles east of Mobile. This city possesses some natural
advantages, superior to those of any other port in this province. It is
situated on a gently rising ground, environing a harbour, sufficiently
capacious to shelter all the navies of Europe. Several rivers fall into
this _harbour_; but none of them are navigable for ships of burden, to
any considerable distance. In Pensacola there are several hundred
habitations. The governor's palace is a large brick building, ornamented
with a tower. The town is defended by a fortress, within which is the
council-chamber, houses for the officers, and barracks for the soldiers
of the garrison. On the sand-hills, near this place, Mr. Bartram
discovered several species of plants, which at that time had not been
described.
Having again returned to Mobile, he left that place, in a trading-boat,
the property of a Frenchman, who was about to sail to his plantations,
on the banks of the Pearl river. Before Mr. Bartram set out on this
expedition, he had been attacked by a severe complaint in his eyes,
which occasioned extreme pain, and almost deprived him of sight: it did
not, however, deter him from proceeding. On his arrival at _Pearl
river_, he was, however, so ill, as to be laid up, for several weeks, at
the house of an English gentleman, who resided on an island in that
river. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered to prosecute his
journey, he proceeded, in a boat, to Manchac on the Mississippi.
Having sailed westward for some days, he entered the _river Amite_, and,
ascending it, arrived at a landing-place, from which he crossed, by
land, to _Manchac_, about nine miles distant. The road was straight,
spacious, and level, and extended beneath the shadow of a grand forest.
On arriving at the banks of the _Mississippi_, Mr. Bartram stood, for
some time, fascinated by the magnificence of this grand river. Its width
was nearly a mile, and its depth at least two hundred and forty feet.
But it is not merely the expansion of its surface which astonishes and
delights: its lofty banks, the steady course of its mighty flood, the
trees which overhang its waters, the magnificent forests by which it is
bounded; all combine in exhibiting prospects the most sublime that can
be imagined. At Manchac, the banks are at least fifty feet in
perpendicular height.
After having continued in this place a short time, Mr. Bartram made an
excursion several miles up the Mississippi. At his return, he once more
set sail for _Mobile_, where, not long afterwards, he safely arrived.
On the 27th of November, he sailed up the river, from Mobile, in a large
trading-boat, and the same evening arrived at _Taensa_. Here the
merchandise, which the boat had conveyed, was formed into small
packages, and placed on horses, for the purpose of being conveyed
overland. The party now consisted of between twenty and thirty horses,
two drivers, the owner of the goods, and Mr. Bartram; who found this
mode of travelling very unpleasant. They seldom set out till the sun had
been some hours risen. Each of the men had a whip, made of cow-skin;
and, the horses having ranged themselves in a line, the chief drove them
by the crack of his whip, and by a whoop or shriek, so loud as to ring
through the forests and plains. The pace was a brisk trot, which was
incessantly urged, and continued as long as the miserable creatures were
able to move forward. Each horse had a bell; and the incessant
clattering of the bells, smacking of the whips, and whooping of the men,
caused an uproar and confusion which was inexpressibly disagreeable. The
time for encamping was generally about the middle of the afternoon; a
time which, to Mr. Bartram, would have been the pleasantest for
travelling.
After having proceeded on their journey several days, they came to the
banks of a large and deep river, a branch of the _Alabama_. The waters
ran furiously, being overcharged with the floods of a violent rain,
which had fallen the day before. There was no possibility of crossing
this river by fording it. With considerable difficulty, a kind of raft
was made, of dry canes and pieces of timber, bound together by a species
of vines or vegetable cords, which are common in the woods of the
tropical districts of America. When this raft was completed, one of the
Indians swam over the river, having in his mouth the end of a long vine
attached to it; and, by hauling the raft backward and forward, all the
goods were safely landed on the opposite side: the men and horses swam
across.
In the evening of the day on which they passed this stream, the party
arrived at the banks of the great _Tallapoose river_; and encamped, for
the night, under the shelter of some Indian cabins. On the ensuing day
they were conducted across the river, in the canoes of a party of
Indians who were resident in the neighbourhood. Not long afterwards, the
travellers arrived at the Indian town of _Alabama_, situated near the
junction of two fine rivers, the _Tallapoose_ and the _Coosa_. At this
place were seen the traces of an ancient French fortress, with a few
pieces of cannon, half-buried in the earth. This, says Mr. Bartram, is
perhaps one of the most eligible situations in the world for a large
town: it is a level plain, at the conflux of two majestic rivers, each
navigable for vessels, to the distance of at least five hundred miles
above it, and spreading their numerous branches over a great extent of
fertile and delightful country.
The travellers continued all night at Alabama, where a grand
entertainment was made for them, with music and dancing, in the great
square. They then proceeded along the Tallapoose to _Mucclasse_. In
their journey they passed through numerous plantations and Indian towns,
and were every where treated by the inhabitants with hospitality and
friendship.
About three weeks after this, Mr. Bartram joined a company of traders,
and proceeded with them to Augusta. They set out in the morning of the
2d of January, 1788, the whole surface of the ground being covered with
a white and beautifully sparkling frost. The company, besides Mr.
Bartram, consisted of four men, with about thirty horses, twenty of
which were laden with leather and furs. In three days they arrived at
the _Apalachula_ or _Chata Uche_ river, and crossed it at the towns of
_Chehau_ and _Usseta_. These towns nearly join each other, yet the
inhabitants speak different languages. Beyond this river nothing of
importance occurred, till they arrived at _Oakmulge_. Here they
encamped in expansive, ancient Indian fields, and within view of the
foaming flood of the river, which now raged over its banks. There were,
at this place, two companies of traders from Augusta, each consisting of
fifteen or twenty men, with seventy or eighty horses. The traders whom
Mr. Bartram accompanied, had with them a portable leather boat, eight
feet long. It was made of thick sole-leather, was folded up, and carried
on one of the horses. This boat was now put together, and rigged; and in
it the party was ferried across the river. They afterwards crossed the
_Ocone_, in the same manner; and encamped in fertile fields on the banks
of that beautiful river. Proceeding thence, they encamped, the next day,
on the banks of the _Ogeche_; and, after two days hard travelling,
beyond this river, they arrived at _Augusta_, whence, shortly
afterwards, Mr. Bartram proceeded to _Savannah_.
Thirteenth Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_Narrative of_ MR. BARTRAM'S _Journey from Savannah into East
Florida._
Leaving _Savannah_ at the most beautiful season of the year, Mr. Bartram
proceeded, on horseback, to _Sunbury_, a sea-port, about forty miles
distant; and thence to Fort Barrington. Much of the intervening country
was level, and well watered by large streams. The road was straight,
spacious, and in excellent repair. For a considerable distance it was
bordered on each side by groves, of various kinds of trees and shrubs,
entwined with bands and garlands of flowering-plants. Extensive
plantations of rice and corn, now in early verdure, were seen,
decorated, here and there, with groves of floriferous and fragrant trees
and shrubs, through which, at intervals, appeared the neat habitations
of the proprietors.
At Fort Barrington, Mr. Bartram crossed the river Alatamaha, here about
five hundred yards in width. When safely landed on the opposite side, he
mounted his horse, and followed the high road, through an uninhabited
wilderness, to the ferry on _St. Ille_. The sudden transition, from rich
cultivated settlements, to high pine-forests, and dark grassy savannas,
formed, he says, no disagreeable contrast; and the new objects, in the
works of nature, which here excited his attention, soon reconciled him
to the change. In the midst of the woods he observed great numbers of
dens, or caverns, which had been dug in the sand-hills, by the gopher,
or great land tortoise.
The next day's progress, presented scenes nearly similar to these;
though the land was lower, more level and humid, and the produce was
more varied. Mr. Bartram passed some troublesome cane-swamps, in which
he saw several herds of horned-cattle, horses, and deer, and noticed
many interesting plants.
In the evening, he arrived at _St. Ille's_, where he lodged; and, next
morning, having crossed the river in a ferry-boat, he proceeded towards
St. Mary's. The appearance of the country, its soil, and productions,
between these rivers, were nearly similar to those which he had already
passed, except that the savannas were more frequent and extensive.
Mr. Bartram had now passed the utmost frontier of the white settlements,
on that border; and the day was drawing towards a close, when, on a
sudden, an Indian, armed with a rifle, crossed the path, at a
considerable distance before him. This man, turning short round, came up
at full gallop. Though his intentions, at first, seemed hostile, he,
after some hesitation, shook Mr. Bartram by the hand, directed him on
his way, and then proceeded in his former course. Mr. Bartram again set
forward, and, after riding eight or ten miles, arrived at the banks of
_St. Mary's_, opposite to the stores, and got safely over that river,
before dark.
The savannas about St. Mary's displayed a very charming appearance, of
flowers and verdure: their more elevated borders were varied with beds
of violets, lupines, and amaryllis; and with a new and beautiful species
of sensitive plant.
In a subsequent excursion, Mr. Bartram, accompanied by some other
gentlemen, passed the mouth of St. Mary's, and entered the _river St.
Juan_, or _St. John_.
At _Cowford_, a public ferry over this river, and about thirty miles
from its mouth, he procured a neat little sail-boat; and, having stored
it with necessaries for his voyage, he proceeded up the river alone, in
search of new productions of nature; having his chief happiness centered
in tracing and admiring the infinite power, majesty, and perfection of
the great Creator, and in the contemplation that, through divine
permission, he might be instrumental in introducing into his native
country, some productions which might become useful to society. His
little vessel, being furnished with a good sail, and with
fishing-tackle, a swivel gun, powder, and ball, Mr. Bartram found
himself well equipped for his voyage, of about one hundred miles, to the
trading houses of the Indians.
Having proceeded about eight miles above Cowford, to a place where the
river was nearly three miles broad, he was obliged to land, as his boat
had sustained some damage from the wind; and, a thunder-storm coming on,
he resolved to continue on shore till the morning. Observing a large
oak-tree, which had been thrown down by a hurricane, and which offered
him a convenient shelter, as its branches bore up the trunk a sufficient
height from the earth, to admit him either to, sit or to lie down
beneath it, he spread his sail, slanting from the trunk of the tree to
the ground, on the windward side; and, having collected a quantity of
wood sufficient to keep up a fire during the night, he kindled one in
front. He then spread skins on the ground, and upon these he placed a
blanket, one half of which he lay down upon, and the other he turned
over him for a covering.
The wind was furious, and the thunder and lightning were tremendous;
but, happily, not much-rain fell. Next morning, on reconnoitring the
neighbourhood, he was roused by the report of a musket not far off; and,
shortly afterwards, an Indian stepped out of a thicket, having a large
turkey-cock slung across his shoulders. He saw Mr. Bartram, and,
stepping up to him, spoke in English, bidding him good morning. He
stated that he lived at an adjacent plantation, and that he was employed
as a hunter. Mr. Bartram accompanied him to the house of his master,
about half a mile distant, and was there received in the most polite and
friendly manner imaginable. The owner of this plantation invited him to
stay some days, for the purpose of resting and refreshing himself; and
he immediately set his carpenters to work, to repair the damaged vessel.
Mr. Bartram spent one day with this gentleman. The house in which he
resided was on an eminence, about one hundred and fifty yards from the
river. On the right of it was an orangery, consisting of many hundred
trees, natives of the place, and left standing when the ground about it
was cleared. Those trees were large, flourishing, in bloom, and, at the
same time, loaded with ripe golden fruit. On the other side was a
spacious garden, occupying a regular slope of ground, down to the water;
and a pleasant lawn lay between. The owner of this plantation having,
with great liberality, supplied him with an abundance of ammunition and
provision, Mr. Bartram departed on the ensuing morning. He again
embarked on board his little vessel, and had a favourable, steady gale.
The day was extremely pleasant; the shores of the river were level and
shallow; and, in some places, the water was not more than eighteen
inches or two feet in depth. At a little distance it appeared like a
green meadow; having water-grass, and other amphibious vegetables,
growing from its oozy bottom, and floating upon its surface.
Mr. Bartram kept as near the shore as possible; and he was greatly
delighted with the prospect of cultivation, and the increase of human
industry, which were often visible from the water. In pursuing his
voyage, he sometimes slept at plantations that were near the banks of
the river; but sometimes he was obliged to pitch his tent upon the
shore, or to sleep under the protection of his sail. In the latter case
he was, not unfrequently, disturbed at night, by the plunging and
roaring of alligators, and the loud croaking of frogs; and, in the
morning, by the noise of wild turkeys, hundreds of which roosted around
him. During his progress he saw great numbers of alligators, some of
them immensely large. He was successful in collecting seeds, and
specimens of uncommon trees and plants. In some places he was astonished
to see the immense magnitude to which the grape-vines grew. These were
not unfrequently from nine to twelve inches in diameter: they twined
round the trunks of trees, climbed to their very tops, and then spread
along, from tree to tree, almost throughout the forest. The fruit,
however, was small and ill-flavoured.
As Mr. Bartram was coasting along the shore, he suddenly saw before him
an Indian settlement or village. It was in a fine situation, on the
slope of a bank which rose gradually from the water. There were eight or
ten habitations, in a row or street, fronting the water, and about fifty
yards distant from it. Some of the youths of this settlement were naked,
and up to their hips in water, fishing with rods and lines; whilst
others, younger, were diverting themselves in shooting frogs with bows
and arrows. As Mr. Bartram passed, he observed some elderly people
reclining on skins, spread upon the ground, beneath the cool shade of
oaks and palm-trees, that were ranged in front of the houses. These
persons arose, and eyed him as he passed; but, perceiving that he
proceeded without stopping, they resumed their former position.
There was an extensive orange-grove, at the upper end of the village:
the trees were large, and had been carefully pruned; and the ground
beneath them was clean, open, and airy. Around the village were several
acres of cleared land, a considerable portion of which was planted with
maize, batatas, beans, pompions, squashes, melons, and tobacco.
After leaving this village, the river became much contracted, and
continued so till Mr. Bartram reached _Charlotia_ or _Rolle's Town_,
where it was not more than half a mile wide. Here he came to an anchor.
This town was founded by Denis Rolle, Esq. and is situated on a cliff on
the east side of the river.
Having obtained directions for discovering a little remote island, where
the traders and their goods were secreted, he set sail again, and, in
about an hour and a half, arrived at the desired place. At this island
he was received with great politeness; and he was induced to continue
there several months, during which he was treated with the utmost
hospitality, by the agents of one of the British mercantile houses.
The numerous plains and groves in the vicinity of the island, afforded
to Mr. Bartram much gratification in his botanical pursuits; and, at the
termination of his residence here, he set out with a party of traders,
who were about to proceed to the upper parts of the river. The traders,
with their goods in a large boat, went first, and Mr. Bartram, in his
little vessel, followed them. The day was pleasant, and the wind fair
and moderate. In the evening they arrived at _Mount Royal_, a house
belonging to a Mr. Kean. This place was surrounded by magnificent groves
of orange-trees, oaks, palms, and magnolias; and commanded a most
enchanting view of the great Lake George, about two miles distant.
_Lake George_ is a beautiful piece of water, a dilatation of the river
St. John, and about fifteen miles wide. It is ornamented with two or
three fertile islands. Mr. Bartram landed, and passed the night on one
of them; and he found, growing upon it, many curious flowering shrubs, a
new and beautiful species of convolvulus, and some other species of
plants, which he had never before seen.
A favourable gale enabled the voyagers, towards the close of the ensuing
day, to enter the river at the southern extremity of the lake. Here they
found a safe and pleasant harbour, in a most desirable situation.
Opposite to them was a vast cypress swamp, environed by a border of
grassy marshes; and, around the harbour, was a grove of oaks, palm,
magnolia, and orange-trees. The bay was, in some places, almost covered
with the leaves of a beautiful water-lily, the large, sweet-scented
yellow flowers of which grew two or three feet above the surface of the
water. A great number of fine trout were caught, by fishing, with a hook
and line, near the edges of the water-lilies; and many wild turkeys and
deer were seen in the vicinity of this place.
On the ensuing day the party reached a trading-house, called _Spalding's
upper Store_, where Mr. Bartram resided for several weeks. Being
afterwards desirous of continuing his travels and observations higher up
the river, and, having received an invitation to visit a plantation, the
property of an English gentleman, about sixty miles distant, he resolved
to pursue his researches to that place. For several miles the left bank
of the river had numerous islands of rich swamp land. The opposite coast
was a perpendicular cliff ten or twelve feet high: this was crowned by
trees and shrubs, which, in some places, rendered the scenery extremely
beautiful. The straight trunks of the palm-trees were, in many
instances, from sixty to ninety feet high, of a bright ash colour, and
were terminated by plumes of leaves, some of them nearly fifteen feet in
length.
Mr. Bartram landed, for the night, in a little bay, not far from the
entrance to a small lake, another expansion of the river. Near this
place there was much low and swampy land, and the islands in the river
were numerous. The evening was cool and calm, and he went out in his
canoe, to fish for trout. As the evening closed, alligators appeared in
great numbers along the shores and in the river. Mr. Bartram states that
he was witness to a combat between these dreadful animals, which
inspired him with horror, especially as his little harbour was
surrounded by them. In endeavouring to paddle his canoe through a line
of alligators, he was pursued by several large ones; and, before he
could reach the shore, he was assailed on every side. His situation
became extremely precarious. Two very large alligators attacked him
closely, rushing with their heads and part of their bodies above the
water, roaring terribly, and, from their mouths, throwing floods of
water over him. They struck their jaws together so close to his ears as
almost to stun him; and he, every moment, expected to be dragged out of
the boat and devoured by them. He held in his hand a large club, which
he used so efficaciously, as to beat them off: he then hastened towards
the shore, as the only means of preservation left. Here the water was
shallow; and his ferocious opponents, some of which were twelve feet in
length, returned into deeper water. After this, as Mr. Bartram was
stepping out of his canoe, an alligator rushed up to him, near his feet,
and, with its head and shoulders out of the water, lay there for some
time. Mr. Bartram ran for his gun, and, having a heavy charge in it, he
shot the animal in the head and killed him. While Mr. Bartram was
employed in cleansing some fish for his supper, he raised his head, and
beheld, through the clear water, another of these animals of large size,
moving slowly towards him; and he stepped back, at the instant the beast
was preparing to spring upon him. This excessive boldness gave him great
uneasiness, as he feared he should be obliged to keep on watch through
the whole night. He had made the best preparation, in his power, for
passing the night, when he was roused by a tumultuous noise, which
seemed to come from the harbour. On going to the water's edge he beheld
a scene so astonishing, that it was some time before he could credit the
evidence even of his own senses. The river, though of great width,
appeared, from shore to shore, to be almost a solid bank of fish. These
were of various species, and were pushing along the river, towards the
little lake, pursued by alligators in such incredible numbers, and so
close together, that, had the animals been harmless, Mr. Bartram
imagined it might have been possible to have walked across the water
upon their heads. During this extraordinary passage, thousands of fish
were caught and swallowed by them. The horrid noise of their closing
jaws, their plunging amid the broken banks of fish, and rising with
their prey some feet above the water, the floods of water and blood
rushing from their mouths, and the clouds of vapour issuing from their
nostrils, were truly frightful. This scene continued, at intervals,
during the whole night. After it was ended, Mr. Bartram says he found
himself more reconciled to his situation than he had before been; as he
was convinced that the extraordinary assemblage of alligators at this
place had been owing to the annual passage of these shoals of fish; and
that they were so well employed in their own element, that he had little
occasion to fear they would wander from the banks for the purpose of
annoying him.
It being now almost night, he returned to his tent, where he had left
his fish broiling, and his kettle of rice stewing; and having, in his
packages, oil, pepper, and salt, and, in place of vinegar, excellent
oranges hanging in abundance over his head, he sat down and regaled
himself cheerfully. Before he retired to rest, he was suddenly roused by
a noise behind him, towards the land. He sprang up, seized his gun, and,
going cautiously in the direction from which the sound approached, he
beheld two large bears, advancing towards him. He waited till they were
about thirty yards distant, when he snapped his piece at them. It
flashed in the pan, but they both galloped off, and did not return.
After this he passed the night without any other molestation than being
occasionally awaked by the whooping of owls, the screaming of bitterns,
or by wood-rats running among the leaves. When he arose in the morning
there was perfect peace: very few alligators were to be seen, and these
were asleep near the shore. His mind was not, however, free from alarm.
He could not but entertain considerable dread lest, in pursuing his
voyage up the river, he should, every evening, encounter difficulties
similar to those which he had now experienced.
Having loaded his gun and re-embarked, he set sail cautiously along the
shore; and was, not long afterwards, attacked by an alligator, which he
beat off with his club; another passed close by his boat, having a brood
of young ones, a hundred or more in number, following her, in a long
train. On one part of the shore Mr. Bartram beheld a great number of
hillocks, or small pyramids, in shape resembling haycocks, and ranged
like an encampment. They were on a high marsh, fifteen or twenty yards
from the water, and each about four feet in height. He knew them to be
the nests of alligators, and now expected a furious and general attack,
as he saw several large alligators swimming near them. Notwithstanding
this he was determined to land and examine them. Accordingly, he ran his
canoe on shore; and, having ascended a sloping bank or road which led to
the place, he found that most of the nests were deserted, and thick
whitish egg-shells lay broken and scattered upon the ground around them.
These nests were in the form of obtuse cones, and were constructed with
mud, grass, and herbage. In the formation of them, the alligators had
made a kind of floor of these substances, upon the ground; on this they
had deposited a layer of eggs, and upon that a stratum of mortar, seven
or eight inches in thickness, and then another layer of eggs; and, in
this manner, one stratum upon another, nearly to the top. Mr. Bartram
supposes that the eggs are hatched by the heat of the sun; and that the
female alligator carefully watches her own nest of eggs until they are
all hatched. He says it is certain that the young ones are not left to
shift for themselves, for he had frequent opportunities of seeing female
alligators leading about the shores their offspring, as a hen does her
chickens.
After having gratified his curiosity, he continued his voyage up the
river. In his progress he observed several small floating islands. The
swamps on the banks of the river were, in general, three or four feet
above the level of the water; and the timber upon them was large, but
thinly scattered. The black mould of these swamps was covered with a
succulent and tender kind of grass, which, when chewed, was sweet and
agreeable to the taste, somewhat like young sugar-canes. Alligators were
still numerous. Exposed, during the day, to the rays of a vertical sun,
Mr. Bartram experienced great inconvenience in rowing his canoe against
the stream; and, at night, he was annoyed by the stings of musquitoes,
and he was obliged to be constantly on guard against the attacks of
alligators. In one instance an alligator, of immense size, came up to
his tent, and approached within six feet of him, when he was awakened by
the screaming owl. Starting up, he seized his musket, which, during the
night, he always kept under his head; and the animal, alarmed by the
noise, rushed again into the water.
In many places the banks of the river were ornamented with hanging
garlands of various climbing vegetables, both shrubs and plants. One of
these had white flowers, each as big as a small funnel, the tube five or
six inches in length, and not thicker than a tobacco-pipe. It was
curious to observe the wild squash, (a species of cucurbita,) which grew
upon the lofty limbs of the trees: its yellow fruit, somewhat of the
size and shape of a large orange, pendant over the water. In some parts
there were steep cliffs on each side of the river. During the middle of
the day the weather was so intensely hot, that Mr. Bartram was obliged
to seek for shelter under the shade of the trees which grew upon the
banks.
He passed another lake, the eastern shores of which were adorned with
dark, high forests: on the north and south were apparently endless
plains and meadows, embellished with islets and promontories covered
with trees. Whilst he was navigating this lake, he was exposed to the
most tremendous storm of thunder and lightning that he had ever
witnessed. The lofty forests bent beneath the fury of the blast, and the
sturdy limbs of the trees cracked under the weight of the wind. Groves
were torn up; and the spreading branches of the trees were rent asunder,
and, like leaves or stubble, were whirled aloft in the air. After a
while the wind and rain abated. Mr. Bartram then crossed the lake, about
a mile in length, and arrived in safety at a plantation near its
southern extremity. Here he found that nearly all the buildings had been
overturned by the hurricane; and that a hundred acres of indigo plants,
almost ripe for cutting, and several acres of sugar-canes, had been
ruined.
About four miles beyond this plantation, Mr. Bartram was shown a vast
fountain of hot mineral water, which issued from a ridge or bank of the
river, in a great cove or bay. The water, though hot and of a
disagreeable brassy and vitriolic taste, and very offensive to the
smell, was perfectly transparent, and exhibited to view a prodigious
number of fish, and alligators, which were lying about the bottom.
Mr. Bartram now returned, in his canoe, to the station called the _Upper
Store_. Thence, in company with five persons who had been commissioned
to make some commercial arrangements with the Indians, he set out for an
Indian town called _Cuscowilla_. For four or five miles they travelled
westward, over a level plain, which, before and on each side of them,
appeared like a green meadow, thinly planted with low and spreading
pine-trees. The whole surface seemed clad with grass, herbage, and low
shrubs, and with many kinds of plants, which were rare and highly
interesting. Here also many species of birds were seen, the plumage of
some of which was extremely beautiful. Snakes, lizards, and insects were
also very abundant. Beyond this plain was a hill, ornamented with a
great variety of herbaceous plants and grasses, and with a magnificent
grove of pines. After the pine-groves were passed, the travellers
entered a district called the _Sand-hills_.
They encamped, for the first night, at the _Half-way Pond_. This is a
lake, about three miles in circumference, which extends, through an
apparently spacious meadow, and beneath a chain of elevated sand-hills.
It is inhabited by numerous kinds of fish, by alligators, and by a kind
of turtles with soft shells. The latter are so large as to weigh from
twenty to thirty, and even forty pounds each. They are extremely fat and
delicious; but, if eaten to excess, are unwholesome. Numerous herds of
deer, and extensive flocks of turkeys, frequent the vicinity of this
place.
From Half-way Pond the travellers proceeded, still westward, through the
high forests of Cuscowilla. The country, for five or six miles,
presented nearly the same scenery as before. After this the sand-ridges
became higher, and their bases proportionally more extensive. The
savannahs and ponds were larger; the summits of the ridges more
gravelly; and here and there rocks, formed of a sort of concrete of sand
and shells, were seen above the sand and gravel.
Having passed an extensive and fruitful orange-grove, through a
pine-forest, and crossed two or three streams that were tributary to the
river St. John, the travellers at length came within sight of the great
and beautiful _Lake of Cuscowilla_. Their course now lay through a
magnificent forest, about nine miles in extent, and consisting of
orange-groves, overtopped by grand magnolias, palm-trees, oaks, beech,
and other trees. This forest bounded one edge of the lake; and, beyond
it, lay the town of _Cuscowilla_, the place of their destination. This
place is situated on the banks of a brook, which, at a little distance,
falls into the lake.
They were welcomed to the town, and conducted, by a party of young men
and maidens, to the house of the chief. This stood on an eminence, and
was distinguished from the other dwellings by its superior magnitude,
and by having a flag hoisted, on a high staff, at one corner. The chief,
attended by several old men, came to them, and shook them by their
hands, or rather their arms, (a form of salutation peculiar to the
American Indians,) saying at the same time, "You are come." They
followed him into an apartment prepared for their reception.
The following customs are practised towards their guests, by the Indians
in this part of America. The pipe being filled, it is handed round to
each. After this a large bowl, containing what is called "thin drink,"
is brought, and is set down on a low table. In the bowl is a great
wooden ladle: each person takes up in the ladle as much of the liquor as
he pleases; and, after drinking until he is satisfied, he returns it
into the bowl, pushing the handle towards the next person in the circle;
and so it goes round.
On the present occasion, after the usual compliments had passed, the
principal trader informed the Indian chief, in the presence of his
council or attendants, respecting the purport of their business; and
with this the chief expressed his satisfaction. When the latter was
informed concerning the object of Mr. Bartram's journey, he received him
with complaisance; giving him unlimited permission to travel over his
country, for the purpose of collecting plants, and saluting him by the
name of _Pug Puggy_, or "Flower-hunter."
This chief was a tall, well-formed man, very affable and cheerful, about
sixty years of age. His eyes were lively and full of lustre, his
countenance was manly and placid, yet ferocious; his nose aquiline, and
his dress extremely simple; but his head was ornamented in the manner of
the Creek Indians. He had been a great warrior, and had now, attending
him as slaves, many captives, which had been taken by himself when
young. They were dressed better than he, and served and waited upon him
with signs of the most abject humility. The manners and customs of these
Indians, who are called _Alachuas_, and of most of the lower _Creeks_ or
_Siminoles_, appear evidently tinctured with Spanish civilization. There
are several Christians among them, many of whom wear little silver
crucifixes, affixed to a collar round their necks, or suspended by a
small chain upon their breasts.
Mr. Bartram and his party had not long been here, before the repast was
brought in. This consisted of venison stewed in bear's oil, of fresh
corn-cakes, milk, and a dish called homony; and the drink was honey and
water, very cool and agreeable.
A few days after this some negotiations took place between the traders
and the Indians, in the public square or council-house. These having
terminated to the satisfaction of both parties, a banquet succeeded; the
ribs and choicest fat pieces of bullocks, well barbecued, were brought
into an apartment of the square: bowls and kettles of stewed flesh and
broth constituted the next course; and with these was brought in a dish,
made of the belly or paunch of an ox, not over-cleansed of its contents,
cut and minced tolerably fine, and then made into a thin kind of soup,
and seasoned with salt and aromatic herbs; but the seasoning was not
quite strong enough to overpower the original taste and smell. This is a
favourite dish with the Indians.
Cuscowilla is the capital of the Alachua Indians; and it, at this time,
contained about thirty habitations, each of which consisted of two
houses, nearly of the same size, about thirty feet in length, twelve
feet wide, and twelve high. Of these, one is divided into two
apartments; the cook-room, or common hall, and the lodging-room. The
other house is nearly of the same dimensions, and stands about twenty
yards from the dwelling-house. This building is two stories high, and is
constructed in a different manner from the former. Like that, it is
divided across; but the end next the dwelling-house is open on three
sides, and is supported by posts or columns. It has an open loft or
platform, the ascent to which is by a portable stair or ladder: this is
pleasant, cool, and airy; and here the master or chief of the family
retires to repose, in the hot seasons, and receives his guests or
visitors. The other half of this building is closed on all sides: the
lowest or ground part is a potatoe-house; and the upper story a granary,
for corn and other provisions.
The town of Cuscowilla stands in an extremely pleasant situation, upon a
high, swelling ridge of sand-hills, within three or four hundred yards
of a large and beautiful lake, which continually washes a sandy beach,
under a moderately high, sloping bank; terminated on one side by
extensive forests of orange-groves, and overtopped with magnolias,
palms, poplars, limes, live oaks, and other trees. The ground, between
the town and the lake, is adorned by an open grove of tall pine-trees,
which, standing at a considerable distance from each other, admit a
delightful prospect of the sparkling waters. The lake abounds with
various kinds of excellent fish and wild fowl.
The inhabitants of Cuscowilla have each a small garden attached to their
dwellings, for the purpose of producing corn, beans, tobacco, and other
useful articles; but the plantation which supplies them with their chief
vegetable provisions, is near the great Alachua savannah, and about two
miles distant. This plantation has one common enclosure, and is worked
and tended by the whole community: yet every family has its particular
part, marked off when planted; and this portion receives the common
labour and assistance, until the corn, or other articles cultivated upon
it, are ripe. Each family then gathers and deposits in its store-house
its own proper share, setting apart a small gift or contribution for a
public granary, which stands near the centre of the plantation.
Mr. Bartram made several excursions to places in the vicinity of
Cuscowilla and the Alachua Swamp. In one of these, he came to a little
clump of shrubs, where he observed several large snakes, entwined
together. They were each about four feet in length, and as thick as a
man's wrist. Mr. Bartram approached, and endeavoured to irritate them,
but they appeared perfectly harmless. Numerous herds of cattle and deer,
and many troops of horses were seen peacefully browsing on the grass of
the savannah, or strolling through the groves on the surrounding
heights. Large flocks of wild turkeys were also observed in the woods.
At some distance from Cuscowilla, is an Indian town called
_Talahasochte_, which Mr. Bartram some time afterwards visited. It is
delightfully situated on the elevated east bank of a river called
_Little St. John's_. The habitations were, at this time, about thirty in
number, and constructed like those of Cuscowilla; but the council-house
was neater and more spacious.
The Indians of this town have large and handsome canoes, which they form
out of the trunks of cypress-trees: some of them are sufficiently
commodious to accommodate twenty or thirty persons. In these canoes they
descend the river, on trading and hunting excursions, as far as the
sea-coast, to the neighbouring islands and shores; and they sometimes
even cross the Gulf of Florida to the West India Islands.
In this neighbourhood are seen many singular and unaccountable cavities.
These are funnel-shaped; and some of them are from twenty to forty yards
across at the rim. Their perpendicular depth is, in many instances,
upwards of twenty feet.
At this time, nearly the whole of East Florida, and a great portion of
West Florida, were in the possession of Indians; and these chiefly a
tribe called _Siminoles_, an apparently contented and happy race of
people, who enjoyed, in superabundance, the necessaries and the
conveniences of life. With the skins of deer, bears, tigers, and wolves,
together with honey, wax, and other productions of their country, this
people purchased, from Europeans, clothing, equipage, and domestic
utensils. They seemed to be free from want or desires: they had no enemy
to dread; and, apparently, nothing to occasion disquietude, except the
gradual encroachments of the white people.
Mr. Bartram returned to the trading-store, on the bank of the river St.
John; and, about the end of September, he reached the place from which
he had commenced his voyage.
* * * * *
We must now proceed, across the southern states, to the mouth of the
Mississippi, for the purpose of tracing the course of that astonishing
river, and describing the most important places in its vicinity.
Fourteen Day's Instruction.
UNITED STATES CONTINUED.
_The River Mississippi._
The Mississippi has its source in about forty-six degrees thirty minutes
of north latitude; and terminates in the Gulf of Mexico, at some
distance below the town of New Orleans. Its length, in a direct line,
exceeds one thousand seven hundred miles; and it falls into the sea, by
many mouths, most of which, like those of the Nile, are too shallow to
be navigable. For a considerable distance, its banks are low, marshy,
and covered with reeds; and are annually overflowed, from the melting
of the snows in the interior of the country. The inundation usually
commences in March, and continues about three months; and the slime
which it deposits on the adjacent lands, tends, in a very important
degree, to fertilize the soil. This river is navigable to a great
distance; but, at spring-tides, the navigation is difficult, on account
of the strength of the currents, and the innumerable islands, shoals,
and sand-banks, with which it is interspersed. Vessels of three hundred
tons burden can ascend it as high as Natchez, four hundred miles from
the sea; and those of lighter burden can pass upward, as far as the
Falls of St. Anthony, in latitude forty-four degrees fifty minutes.
_New Orleans_, the capital of the state of Louisiana, is situated on the
northern bank of the Mississippi, and is a place of great commercial
importance. It was founded in the year 1717, and now contains near
thirty thousand inhabitants. In 1787, it had eleven hundred houses; but,
nine hundred of these having been consumed by fire, it has since been
rebuilt on a regular plan, and a more enlarged scale. Most of the houses
are constructed with wooden frames, raised about eight feet from the
ground, and have galleries round them, and cellars under the floors:
almost every house has a garden.
Louisiana having, till lately, been a French colony, the French language
is still predominant at New Orleans. The appearance of the people too is
French; and even the negroes, by their antics and ludicrous gestures,
exhibit their previous connexion with that nation. Their general manners
and habits are very relaxed. Though New Orleans is now a city belonging
to the United States, the markets, shops, theatre, circus, and public
ball-rooms, are open on Sundays, in the same manner as they are in the
catholic countries of the old continent. Gambling-houses, too, are
numerous; and the coffee-houses and the Exchange are occupied, from
morning till night, by gamesters. The general stile of living is
luxurious. The houses are elegantly furnished; and the ladies dress in
an expensive manner.
Provisions are here of bad quality, and enormously dear. Hams and
cheese, from England; potatoes, butter, and beef from Ireland, are
common articles of import. The rents of houses, also, are very
extravagant.
The country around New Orleans is level, rich, and healthy, and has many
extensive sugar-plantations. And, for the space of five leagues below,
and ten above the town, the river has been embanked, to defend the
adjacent fields from those inundations of the Mississippi which take
place every spring. The land, adjacent to the town, yields abundant
crops of rice, Indian corn, and vegetables.
There is a regular communication, by means of steam-boats and other
vessels, between New Orleans and the towns on the banks of the
Mississippi, the Ohio, and other rivers, in the distant parts of North
America.
The scenery of the Mississippi, to the distance of one hundred and fifty
miles and upwards, from New Orleans, is very uninteresting. The country
is a dead flat; so that the banks of the river, and most of the adjacent
grounds, are annually overflowed. In the vicinity of Natchez it becomes
more varied and pleasing.
_Natchez_ is a town in the state of Mississippi, near the banks of the
river, and about four hundred miles from its mouth. It contains about
thirty dwellings, most of which are whiskey-shops, gambling, and other
houses, where an excess of profligacy prevails, which is not usual in
the United States.
Mr. Fearon visited Natchez in the year 1817; and in the port there were
twenty-five flats, seven keels, and one steam-vessel. The flats are
square covered vessels, of considerable capacity, used for carrying
freight from Pittsburgh, on the Ohio, and other places below that town,
down to New Orleans. Their construction is temporary and of slight
materials; for they are broken up at New Orleans, as not sufficiently
strong to be freighted up the river. The keel is a substantial,
well-built boat, of considerable length; and, in form, somewhat
resembles the floating-bath at Blackfriars' Bridge.
Observing a great many coloured people in these boats, Mr. Fearon
concluded that they were emigrants, who had proceeded thus far on their
route towards a settlement. The fact, however, proved to be, that
fourteen of the flats were freighted with human beings intended for
sale. They had been collected in the United States, by slave-dealers,
and shipped, up the Mississippi, to Kentucky for a market.
There are, at Natchez, numerous stores, and three-fourths of the goods
at every store are articles of British manufacture. Shopkeeping is here
profitable, and mechanics are highly paid. Lotteries are very prevalent
at Natchez. When Mr. Fearon was here, there was a lottery for _building
a Presbyterian church_; and the scheme was preceded by a long address,
on the advantages of religion, and the necessity of all citizens
supporting Christianity, by purchasing tickets in this lottery!
The streets of Natchez were literally crammed with bales of cotton for
the Liverpool market. These are carried to the water-side in carts, each
drawn by two mules, horses being here little used. During Mr. Fearon's
residence at this town, he twice visited the State legislature, which
was composed of men who appeared any thing but legislators. Their place
of meeting was in a superior kind of hay-loft; and the imitation of the
forms of the British parliament were perfectly ludicrous.
Between Natchez, and the mouth of the Ohio, there is not one spot which
could be recommended as a place for an Englishman to settle in.
Throughout the whole of this space, the white population are the victims
of demoralizing habits. The native Indians present, of course, nothing
but a picture of mere savage life; and the negro slaves suffer even more
misery than commonly falls to the lot of their oppressed and degraded
condition. What a foul stain is it upon the American republic,
professing, as they do, the principles of liberty and of equal rights,
that, out of twenty states, there should be eleven in which slavery is
an avowed part of the political constitution; and that, in those called
free, New England excepted, the condition of blacks who are indentured,
for terms of years, should practically amount to slavery!
Beyond the state of Louisiana, the Mississippi divides the Missouri
territory from the territory of Mississippi; and, north of that, from
the states of Tenessee and Kentucky. About the 37th degree of north
latitude, and on the western bank of the river, is a town called _New
Madrid_. This place, from the advantages of its situation, about
forty-five miles from the mouth of the Ohio, may at some future time
become of considerable importance. The _Ohio_, at the place of its
junction with the Mississippi, is about a mile in width, and is
navigable, for vessels of considerable burden, to a distance of more
than a thousand miles.
Beyond the Ohio commences the _Illinois territory_. Here the general
face of the country is flat; but, in some parts, the land is high and
craggy. It abounds in deer, wolves, bears, squirrels, racoons, and
foxes; in wild turkeys and quails; geese and ducks, partially; and
hawks, buzzards, and pigeons in tolerable abundance; and the rivers
contain several species of fish. In the prairies there are rattlesnakes.
The woods supply grapes, pecan nuts, (similar to our walnut,) and
hickory nuts. Hops, raspberries, and strawberries, here grow wild.
Limestone abounds; and salt, copper, and coal have all been found in
this district.
The seat of the territorial government is _Kaskaski_, a town which
stands on a plain, near the western bank of the Mississippi, and
contains about one hundred and fifty houses. This place has been
settled somewhat more than a century, and its inhabitants are chiefly
French. Some parts of the district of Illinois are occupied by Indians.
The other inhabitants are, first, what are here termed "squatters,"
persons half civilized and half savage; and who, both in character and
habits, are extremely wretched: second, a medley of land-jobbers,
lawyers, doctors, and farmers, a portion of those who traverse this
immense continent, founding settlements, and engaging in all kinds of
speculation: and third, some old French settlers, who are possessed of
considerable property, and who live in ease and comfort.
About seventy miles north of Kaskaski, and on the opposite side of the
river, is a town or large village, called _St. Louis_. It stands on a
rock or bank of considerable height, in a beautiful and healthy
situation, and is surrounded by a country of exuberant fertility. The
inhabitants of this place are chiefly employed in the fur-trade, and
seldom occupy themselves in agriculture.
_Narrative of a Voyage from St. Louis to the source of the
Mississippi. By_ ZEBULON MONTGOMERY PIKE.
Major Pike, at that time a lieutenant in the American army, was employed
by the government of the United States, to make a survey of the
Mississippi, from the town of _St. Louis_, upwards, to its source. In
pursuance of his instructions, he embarked, in a keel-boat, at this
place, on the afternoon of Friday the 9th of August, 1805; and was
accompanied by a serjeant and seventeen private soldiers of the American
army.
As far as the mouth of the river Missouri, he says, the eastern shore of
the Mississippi consists of a sandy soil, and is covered with
timber-trees of various kinds. The western shore is, for a little
distance, composed of high land, bordered by prairie or natural
meadow-ground; after which bottom-land occurs, with timber similar to
that on the eastern shore. The current is rapid, and, at low water, the
navigation is obstructed by sand-banks.
Beyond the entrance of the Missouri, the stream is gentle, as far as the
mouth of the _Illinois_; but there, owing to extensive sand-bars, and
many islands, it becomes extremely rapid. From the Illinois to the
_Buffalo River_, the eastern shore exhibits a series of gentle
eminences; but, on the west, the land is a continued prairie. Timber is
found on both sides; generally hackberry, cotton-wood, and ash. The
Buffalo river enters from the west, and is about a hundred yards wide at
its mouth.
On the 14th of August the voyagers passed a camp of the _Sac Indians_,
consisting of three men, with their families. The men were employed in
spearing and landing a large fish. Mr. Pike gave them a small quantity
of whiskey and biscuit; and they, in return, presented him with some
fish. The Sacs are a tribe of Indians which hunt on the Mississippi, and
its confluent streams, from the Illinois to the river Jowa; and on the
plains west of them, which border upon the Missouri. They are much
dreaded by other Indians, for their propensity to deceit, and their
disposition to commit injury by stratagem.
On the ensuing day, the voyagers reached the mouth of _Salt river_, a
considerable stream, which, at high water, is navigable for at least two
hundred miles. From the Illinois to this river, the western shore is
either immediately bordered by beautiful cedar-cliffs, or the ridges of
these cliffs may be seen at a distance. On the east the land is low, and
the soil rich.
On the 16th of August they passed the house of a Frenchman, on the
western side of the river. The cattle belonging to this person appeared
to be in fine order, but his corn-land was in a bad state of
cultivation. Three days afterwards their boat was damaged by striking
against a vessel carrying timber and planks down the stream. While they
were engaged in repairing it, three canoes, with Indians, passed on the
opposite side of the river. The men in the canoes called out, in
English, "How do you do?" wishing for an invitation to come over; but
this was not given, and they proceeded on their voyage.
Beyond Salt river the western shore of the Mississippi is hilly, but the
eastern side consists of lowland, timbered with hickory, oak, ash,
maple, and other trees. The navigation here is easy, and the soil on
both sides tolerably good.
On the 20th of August the voyagers, with great difficulty, passed the
_Rapids des Moines_. These are eleven miles in extent; and, with
successive ledges and shoals, reach from shore to shore, across the bed
of the river. Mr. Pike had here an interview with four chiefs, and
fifteen men of the Sac nation, accompanied by a French interpreter, and
an agent who had been sent from the United States to teach them
agriculture. These men assisted him in his progress up the Rapids; and,
in recompense for the service, they were presented with some tobacco,
knives, and whiskey.
At some distance beyond the Rapids the voyagers had a beautiful
prospect, at least forty miles in extent, down the river. Their average
daily progress appears to have been betwixt twenty and thirty miles.
Above the _river Jowa_, which is one hundred and fifty yards wide at its
mouth, the shore of the Mississippi consists of high prairie, with
yellow clay-banks, and, in some places, banks of red sand: the western
shore also is prairie, but bounded by wood. About ten miles up the Jowa
is a village of _Jowa Indians_. This people subsist chiefly by hunting,
but they cultivate some corn-land. Their chief residence is on the small
streams in the rear of the Mississippi. From the Jowa to _Rock river_,
there are, on the west, beautiful prairies, and, in some places, rich
land, with black walnut and hickory timber.
On the 28th of August the vessel was much injured in passing up a series
of rapids nearly eighteen miles in extent, and, in some places,
reaching from shore to shore. Four days after this they arrived in the
vicinity of some extensive lead-mines, which belonged to a Frenchman
named Dubuque. The only animals they had hitherto seen were a few wild
turkeys and some deer.
From the lead-mines to _Turkey river_, the Mississippi continues nearly
of the same width, and the banks, soil, and productions appear precisely
similar. On the bank of the Turkey river is a village of _Reynard
Indians_, who raise there a considerable quantity of corn. The Reynards
reside in three villages on the Mississippi, two of which Mr. Pike had
already past. They grow corn, beans, and melons; and they annually sell
many hundred bushels of corn to the inhabitants of the United States.
On the 2d of September, Mr. Pike and some of his men landed for the
purpose of shooting pigeons; but the guns were no sooner fired, than a
party of Indians, who were on shore at a little distance, ran to the
water, and escaped in their pirogues or canoes, with great
precipitation. After this the voyagers passed the mouth of the
_Ouisconsin river_, which enters the Mississippi in latitude 43 degrees
44 minutes, and is nearly half a mile wide. This river is an important
source of communication with the great American lakes, and is the route
by which all the traders of Michillimackinac convey their goods to the
Mississippi.
On the 6th of September, a council was held with a party of _Puant_ or
_Winebagoe Indians_, and one of the _Sioux_ chiefs. The former occupy
seven villages, and are supposed to be a nation who originally emigrated
from Mexico, to avoid the oppression of the Spaniards. They are reputed
to be brave; but their bravery resembles the ferocity of tigers, rather
than the deliberate resolution of men. They are so treacherous that, it
is said, a white man should never lie down to sleep in their villages,
without adopting the utmost caution to preserve himself from injury. The
_Sioux_ are a powerful nation, the dread of whom is extended over all
the adjacent country. They are divided into numerous bands, headed by
celebrated chiefs. Few of them cultivate land; but they chiefly live on
the production of the chase, and on a kind of bread which they make from
wild oats. This species of grain is here produced in such abundance,
that a sufficiency for their subsistence is easily collected in the
autumn, without any trouble whatever in cultivating the land.
Not long after their interview with these Indians, the voyagers reached
the _Prairie des Chiens_. The houses of this village, about eighteen in
number, are arranged in two streets, along the front of a marsh. They
are chiefly built of wood; are daubed on the outside with clay, and
white-washed within. The furniture in most of them is decent, and, in
those of the most wealthy inhabitants, displays a considerable degree of
taste. The Prairie des Chiens was first settled under the protection of
the English government, in the year 1783; and derives its name from a
family of Reynards, who formerly lived there, and were distinguished by
the appellation of Dog Indians. It is a place of resort for Indian
traders and others, who reside in the interior. Mr. Pike here engaged
two interpreters to accompany him; one of whom was to perform the whole
voyage, and the other to sail with him as high as the falls of St.
Anthony.
On the 9th of September he had an interview with a party of _Sioux
Indians_. When he went towards the shore to meet them, they saluted him
by firing three rounds from their muskets, loaded with ball. On landing,
Mr. Pike was met by the chief, and invited to his lodge. This invitation
he complied with, having first stationed some of his men as guards, to
protect him in case of danger. In the lodge he found a clean mat and a
pillow arranged for him to sit upon; and the complimentary pipe of peace
was placed before him, on a pair of small crutches. The chief sate at his
right hand, and the interpreter at his left. After they had satisfied
each other of their mutual good wishes, and Mr. Pike had accepted the
pipe, dinner was prepared. This consisted of wild rye and venison.
Mr. Pike was afterwards conducted by the chief to a dance, the
performance of which was accompanied by many curious gestures. Men and
women danced indiscriminately. They were all dressed in the gayest
manner imaginable. Each had, in his hand, a small skin of some kind of
animal. They frequently ran up, pointed their skin, and gave a puff with
their breath; on which the person blown at fell, and either appeared
lifeless, or in great agony; but afterwards slowly recovered, rose, and
joined in the dance. This was understood to be of a religious
description; and the Indians believed that they actually puffed, into
each others bodies, something which occasioned them to fall. For persons
to be permitted to take a part in these dances, it was requisite that
they should make valuable presents to the society, give a feast, and be
admitted with great ceremony. When Mr. Pike returned to his boat, he
sent for the chief, and presented him with a quantity of tobacco, four
knives, half a pound of vermilion, a quart of salt, and several gallons
of spirits.
At some distance beyond this place, Mr. Pike was shewn several holes,
which had been dug in the ground by the Sioux Indians. These were, in
general, of circular shape, and about ten feet in diameter; but some of
them were in the form of half moons. When this people apprehend an
attack from their enemies, or discover an enemy near them, they dig into
the ground, with their knives, tomahawks, and wooden ladles; and, in an
incredibly short space of time, sink holes that are sufficiently
capacious to protect both themselves and their families from the balls
or arrows of their foe.
Though the part of the river which the voyagers were now traversing was
nearly two thousand miles distant from the sea, the width of the stream
was supposed to be at least two miles.
The wet season had commenced, and rain fell, in considerable quantity
almost every day. In this part of his voyage, Mr. Pike was accompanied
by a Mr. Frazer and two other persons, with three birch canoes. On the
16th of September, they passed the mouth of the _Sauteaux_ or _Chippeway
river_, a deep and majestic stream, which has a communication, by a
short passage, with the Montreal river, and, by this river, with Lake
Superior. The shores of the Mississippi were here, in many places, bold
and precipitous, forming a succession of high perpendicular cliffs and
low valleys; and they exhibited some of the most romantic and
picturesque views imaginable. But this irregular scenery was sometimes
interrupted by wide and extensive plains, which brought to the minds of
the voyagers the verdant lawns of civilized countries, and almost
induced them to imagine themselves in the midst of a highly-cultivated
plantation. The timber of this part of the country was generally birch,
elm, and cotton-wood; and all the cliffs were bordered with cedars. The
prevailing species of game were deer and bears.
On the 21st of September, the voyagers breakfasted at a Sioux village,
on the eastern side of the river. It consisted of eleven lodges, and was
situated at the head of an island, just below a ledge of rocks; but the
inhabitants had all left it. About two miles beyond this village, they
saw three bears, swimming over the river, but beyond the reach of
gun-shot.
In a camp of Sioux, which they afterwards passed, Mr. Pike was
astonished by the garrulity of the women. At the other camps the women
had not opened their lips; but here they flocked around the strangers,
and talked without cessation. The cause of this freedom is supposed to
have been the absence of their husbands. In a spot at which the voyagers
arrived this day, the Mississippi was so narrow that Mr. Pike crossed
it, in a boat, with forty strokes of his oars.
From the _Canoe river_ to the _St. Croix_, it becomes still narrower,
and the navigation is less obstructed by islands, than below. From the
_Cannon river_ it is bounded on the east, by high ridges; but the left
shore consists of low ground. The timber is generally ash and maple;
except the cedars of the cliffs, the sugar-tree, and ash. Mr. Pike this
day observed, on the shore, a white flag, and, on landing, he discovered
it to be of silk. It was suspended over a scaffold, on which were laid
four dead bodies; two enclosed between boards, and two between pieces of
bark. They were wrapped in blankets, which appeared quite new; and were
the bodies of two Sioux women, a child, and a relative. This is the
manner in which the Sioux Indians bury such of their people as die a
natural death: such as are killed, they suffer to lie unburied.
On the 23d, the voyagers arrived at the _Falls of St. Anthony_. These
are about seventeen feet in height, and the approach to them is through
rapids, which vessels have great difficulty in passing. At the foot of
the falls, the voyagers unloaded their boats, which they carried up the
hill, and placed and reloaded in the river above. While this process was
going on, a small party of Indians, painted black, and prepared for war,
appeared on the heights. They were armed with guns, bows and arrows,
clubs, and spears; and some of them had cases of pistols. Mr. Pike was
desirous of purchasing from them a set of bows and arrows, and one of
their war-clubs, made of elk-horn, and decorated with inlaid work; but
they took offence at something which occurred, and suddenly went away.
The weather was now so rainy, and the men had been so much fatigued with
conveying the vessels and their lading, to the upper part of the falls,
that seven of the twenty-two, who accompanied Mr. Pike, were taken ill.
It is impossible for vessels of any description, or in any state of the
river, to pass up these falls. The width of the river, immediately below
them, is two hundred and nine yards, and above them, six hundred and
twenty-seven yards. At high-water, the appearance is extremely sublime;
as then, the quantity of water falling throws up a spray, which, in
clear weather, reflects, from some positions, the colours of the
rainbow; and, when the sky is overcast, this spray covers the falls in
gloom and chaotic majesty.
On Tuesday, the 1st of October, Mr. Pike and his men again embarked, to
proceed on their voyage above the falls. At first the river was
sufficiently deep for the easy passage of the boats; but, at the
distance of about four miles, the shoals commenced, and there was much
difficulty in proceeding. Nearly from the Falls of St. Anthony to the
_Rum river_, the Mississippi is a continued chain of rapids, with
eddies, formed by winding channels. The land, on both sides, consists of
Prairie, with scarcely any timber, except small groves of scrubby oaks.
Not far from this spot is _Red Cedar lake_, the grounds in the vicinity
of which are considered, by the Indians, extremely valuable for hunting.
In some parts of the river it was requisite for the men to wade for many
successive hours, in order to force the boats over the shoals, and draw
them through the rapids. The weather was now cold and rainy. On the 10th
of October, in the course of four miles, the voyagers passed a cluster
of more than twenty islands, which Mr. Pike called _Beaver islands_,
from numerous dams and paths which had been made by these animals upon
them. The passage up the river was still much impeded by rocks and
shoals.
About the beginning of October, the voyagers began to look out for a
station in which they could pass the winter. Mr. Pike was determined, if
possible, to reach the _Corbeau_ or _Raven river_, the highest point
that had ever been reached by traders, in bark canoes. But he was not
able to accomplish his intention; for, on the seventeenth, many of his
men were so benumbed with cold, that their limbs became useless, and
others were laid up with illness. He consequently fixed on a station
near _Pine Creek_, where the borders of the Mississippi consisted of
prairie, with groves of pine at the edge of the banks; and, in some
places, with oak, ash, maple, and lime-trees. The banks of _Lake Clear_,
a small and beautiful lake, about three miles distant, are the resort of
immense herds of elks and buffaloes; and _Clear river_, which unites
this lake with the Mississippi, is a delightful little stream, about
eighty yards wide.
On the seventeenth, snow fell during the whole day: Mr. Pike killed four
bears, and his hunter three deer. Several ensuing days were occupied in
cutting down trees, for the formation of winter-huts; and in
constructing the huts, and forming a fence round them. When the latter
was completed, the two boats were hauled out of the water, and turned
over, on each side of the gateways, so as to form a defence against any
Indians who might be inclined to attack the encampment.
At this place, and in its vicinity, the voyagers continued several
weeks, during which they suffered great hardships. Much of their time
was occupied in hunting. They occasionally saw large herds of elks, some
of them of immense size; the horns of the bucks measuring four feet and
upwards in width. Many droves of buffaloes were also seen, and deer of
various kinds: bears, wolves, racoons, and otters, were occasionally
shot.
On the 7th of November the Mississippi was nearly filled with snow; and,
on the land, the snow was knee deep. Before the end of the month, the
river was frozen over.
During his residence at this place, Mr. Pike did not see many Indians.
On one occasion he visited the tent or hut of an Indian chief, whom he
found sitting amidst his children, and grand-children, ten in number.
The hut was constructed of rushes, platted into mats.
In the month of December, Mr. Pike and some of his men proceeded, in
sledges, up the Mississippi. On the twenty-fourth, they reached _Corbeau
river_; which, at its mouth, was nearly as wide as the Mississippi. For
a considerable distance, the Mississippi was interrupted by a continued
succession of rapids, shoals, and falls. One of the latter, called the
_Falls of the Painted Rock_, formed the third important obstacle to the
navigation of the river, which Mr. Pike had encountered. Most of the
timber, now observed near the banks, consisted of pine-trees.
On the thirty-first, Mr. Pike passed _Pine river_. For many miles, the
Mississippi had been much narrower, and more free from islands, than in
the lower parts of the stream. The shores, in general, presented a
dreary prospect of high barren knobs, covered with dead and fallen
pine-timber; and most of the adjacent country was interspersed with
small lakes. Deer of various kinds, were plentiful; but no buffaloes,
nor elks, had been seen.
Near the mouth of the Pine river, an encampment of _Chippeway Indians_
was observed. This had been occupied in the summer, but it was now
vacant. By certain marks which had been left, the voyagers understood
that these Indians had marched a party of fifty warriors against the
Sioux, and had killed four men and four women, who were here represented
by figures carved in wood. The figures of the men were painted, and put
into the ground, to the middle; and, by their sides, were four painted
poles, sharpened at the end, to represent the women. Near this spot were
poles with deer-skins, plumes, silk-handkerchiefs, &c. and a circular
hoop of cedar, with something attached to it which resembled a scalp.
Beyond this place, Mr. Pike observed, on the bank of the river, six
elegant bark-canoes, which had been laid up by the Chippeways, and a
camp, which appeared to have been evacuated about ten days before. After
having endured considerable hardship and much fatigue for some weeks
longer, he accomplished the object of his expedition, by arriving, on
the 1st of February, at _Leech Lake_, from which issues the main source
of the Mississippi. He crossed this lake, (about twelve miles in width,)
to an English fort, an establishment belonging to the North West
Company, and was there received, with great hospitality, by a Mr. Hugh
Mac Gillis. His men reached the fort on the sixth; but, in traversing
the lake, some of them had their ears, some their noses, and others
their chins frozen.
Near this place, Mr. Pike effected some arrangements with the Indians,
which were considered advantageous to the American government; and, not
long afterwards, having examined the adjacent country, as well as the
severity of the weather would permit, he set out on his return,
accompanied by a deputation of Indian chiefs. The river still continued
frozen, and the party travelled chiefly in sledges, drawn by dogs. On
the 5th of March, they again reached the encampment near _Pine Creek_.
About a fortnight after this, Mr. Pike visited a plantation of sugar
maple-trees, at a little distance from the creek, one of the finest he
had ever seen. He was conducted to the lodge of the chief, who received
him in a truly patriarchal style. This person assisted him in taking off
his clothes, conducted him to the best part of his lodge, and offered
him dry clothes. He then presented him with syrup of the maple-tree, to
drink, and asked whether he preferred eating beaver, swan, elk, or deer?
Preference being given to the first, a large kettle was filled with
beavers' flesh, for the purpose of its being made into soup. This was
afterwards served up; and when the repast was ended, Mr. Pike visited
other lodges, at each of which he was presented with something to eat.
He continued here all night; and, on the ensuing day, having purchased
two baskets filled with sugar, he departed, and returned to his camp.
Some Indians, whom Mr. Pike and his men visited not long after this,
were extremely well-formed and elegant people. They were about the
middle size; and their complexions, for savages, were, in general, fair:
their teeth were good: their eyes were large and somewhat languishing;
and they had a mild but independent expression of countenance.
In the evening, these Indians entertained their visitors with the
calumet and dog-dance; and with another dance, in which some of the men
struck a post, and related their war exploits. After the dance, was a
feast of the dead. At this, every two or three persons had a pan or
vessel full of meat set before him; a prayer was then said, and the
eating commenced. Each was expected to devour his whole portion, and not
to drop even a bone; for all the bones were carefully collected and put
into a dish. When the eating was finished, the chief gave an
exhortation, which concluded the ceremony.
About the end of March, Mr. Pike ordered the boats to be prepared for
the voyage, in return, down the river. The ice had not, indeed, yet
broken up; but he was every day in anxious expectation of seeing it
begin to move. On the 6th of April, the river was found sufficiently
clear of ice, to permit the party to re-embark. They accordingly loaded
the boats, and, on the ensuing morning, experienced inexpressible joy,
in leaving the savage wilderness, in which they had been so long
imprisoned. On the 10th, they again reached the _Falls of St. Anthony_.
The appearance of this cataract was much more tremendous than it had
been when they ascended; and the great increase of the water occasioned
the spray to rise much higher than it had done before. The river was
still nearly covered with floating-ice; and much snow continued to fall.
After his arrival at the _Prairie des Chiens_, Mr. Pike held a council,
with the Puant chiefs, respecting some murders which had been committed
by the men of their nation; and, in the afternoon, he was entertained
with a game of "the cross," between the Sioux on one side, and the
Puants and the Reynards on the other. The ball used in this game is made
of a hard substance, and covered with leather. When the parties are
ready, and the bets have been agreed upon, (and these are sometimes to
the amount of several thousand dollars,) the goals are erected on the
prairie, about half a mile asunder. The ball is then thrown up, in the
middle, and each party, with a kind of racket, strives to beat it to the
opposite goal. After the first rubber is gained, which is done by the
ball being driven round one of the posts, it is again taken to the
centre, the ground is changed, and the contest is renewed; and this is
continued until one of the parties has been four times victorious, on
which the bets are decided.
It is an interesting sight, says Mr. Pike, to behold two or three
hundred naked savages contending, on the plain, who shall bear off the
palm of victory; for the man who drives the ball round the goal,
receives the shouts of his companions, in congratulation of his success.
It sometimes happens, that one of them catches the ball in his racket,
and, depending on his speed, endeavours to carry it to the goal; but if
he finds himself too closely pursued, he hurls it, with great force and
dexterity, to an amazing distance, where there are always flankers, of
both parties, ready to receive it. The ball seldom touches the ground;
but it is sometimes kept in the air, for hours, before either party can
gain the victory.
About ten miles above _Salt river_, the voyagers, on the 28th of April,
stopped at some islands where there were numerous roosts of passenger
pigeons; and, in about fifteen minutes, they knocked on the head, and
brought on board the boat, about three hundred. Mr. Pike, though he had
frequently heard of the fecundity of these birds, had never given credit
to it; but, he says, that the most fervid imagination cannot conceive
their numbers. The noise, which they made in the woods, was like the
continued roaring of the wind. The young ones were still in their
nests: these consisted only of small bunches of sticks; and their number
was such, that all the small trees were covered with them.
On the 30th of April, after an absence of eight months and twenty-two
days, Mr. Pike once more reached St. Louis in safety.
Fifteenth Day's Instruction.
WESTERN TERRITORY OF AMERICA.
_The river Missouri._
Previously to the commencement of the expedition commanded by Mr. Pike,
the government of the United States had directed arrangements to be made
for examining the Missouri, from its mouth to its source; thence
exploring the vast and dreary range of mountains, which form the highest
land in the centre of that part of the American continent; and
afterwards, of descending, by some one of the rivers which flow
westward, to the Pacific ocean. This formidable undertaking was
committed to captains Lewis and Clarke, two officers, in the American
army, who were, in every respect, qualified for the arduous duties which
it required; and who had, under their command, a party of forty-two
soldiers and boatmen. Its professed object was to ascertain the
possibility of opening an inland communication, between the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans; but the American government had also in view the
obtaining of information, respecting the country of Louisiana, which
they were desirous of possessing, and which has since been ceded to
them by France.
_Narrative of a voyage from St. Louis to the source of the Missouri.
From the travels of Captains_ LEWIS _and_ CLARKE.
The party having embarked in three boats, set out from St. Louis, on the
14th of May, 1804; and, for several days, they proceeded without
interruption. Early in the morning of the twenty-fourth, they ascended a
difficult rapid, called the _Devil's Race-ground_, and narrowly escaped
having one of their boats upset. Beyond this place, they met two canoes,
laden with furs, which had been eight weeks on their voyage from the
Mahar nation, about seven hundred miles distant. On the banks of the
river was much timber, consisting of cotton-wood, sycamore, hickory, and
white walnut.
On the 1st of June, they passed the mouth of the _Osage river_, which
falls into the Missouri, at the distance of a hundred and thirty-three
miles from its junction with the Mississippi. This stream gives name to
a nation of Indians which inhabit its banks. The _Osage Indians_ are, in
their persons, well formed: they reside in villages, and, having made
considerable progress in agriculture, they seem less addicted to war
than their northern neighbours.
Beyond the Osage river, the southern bank of the Missouri was low, and
covered with rushes; and occasionally with oak, ash, and walnut-trees.
On the north, the land was, in some places, rich, and well adapted to
agriculture. Near the mouth of _Big Manitou Creek_, the voyagers met a
raft, formed of two canoes joined together. On this, two French traders
were descending, from the river Kanzes: it was laden with beaver-skins,
which they had collected during the winter. Not long afterwards,
captains Lewis and Clarke landed, to examine a singular limestone rock,
which was nearly covered with inscriptions and uncouth paintings of
animals; but they found the place occupied by a nest of rattlesnakes,
and left it. In several parts of their voyage, they passed canoes,
boats, and rafts laden with furs.
In many places the river was bordered with prairies or swampy meadows,
on which grew several kinds of fruit, such as mulberries, plums, wild
apples, raspberries, and strawberries. Numerous herds of deer were seen,
pasturing in the plains, or feeding on the young willows of the river.
Near the mouth of the _Kanzes_, the Missouri is about five hundred yards
wide. On the south, the hills or highlands approach within a mile and
half of the shore; but, on the north, they are several miles distant;
and the country, on all sides, is fine. In some places the navigation
was interrupted by sand-banks, and in others, by the remains of trees
which had fallen into the water. On the second of July, the whole
surface of the stream, for a considerable distance, was covered with
drift wood. This had probably been occasioned by the giving way of some
sand-bank, which had before detained the wood, as it floated down the
stream.
The weather was now so hot that some of the men experienced from it
great inconvenience; but the air was occasionally cooled by showers. In
the evenings the voyagers often landed and encamped, for the purpose of
passing the night on shore. In that part of the river at which they
arrived on the 16th, the width, from bank to bank, was about a mile; but
the water was so shallow that they could perceive the remains of fallen
timber scattered quite across the bottom. The Missouri is here wider
than it is below, where the timber, which grows on its banks, resists
the power of the current.
On the 21st of July the voyagers reached the mouth of the great _river
Platte_. Captains Lewis and Clarke ascended it for about a mile, and
found the current very rapid; rolling over sands, and divided into
several channels, none of which, however, appeared to be more than five
or six feet deep.
At this place they encamped for several days, in order to dry their
provisions, make some oars, prepare an account and make maps of the
country through which they had passed. The game they saw here were
chiefly deer, turkeys, and grouse; and they obtained an abundance of
ripe grapes. During the nights they were much annoyed by wolves. The
country behind their camp was a plain, about five miles in extent, one
half covered with wood, and the other dry and elevated.
Not far from this place was a settlement of the _Pawnee Indians_; a race
which had once been extremely numerous, but which now consisted of only
four bands, comprising, in the whole, about one thousand four hundred
persons.
On the 30th of July, the commanders of the expedition directed an
encampment to be formed on the southern bank of the river, for the
purpose of their waiting the arrival of the chiefs of the Ottoe Indians,
with whom an interview had been appointed to take place. From an
elevated station near the camp, they had a beautiful view of the river
and of the adjoining country. The hunters abundantly supplied them with
deer, turkeys, geese, and beavers; and they were well supplied with
fish.
A party of fourteen _Ottoe_ and _Missouri Indians_, came, at sunset, on
the 2d of August, accompanied by a Frenchman who had resided among them
and acted as an interpreter. The next morning an awning was formed with
the mainsail of the largest vessel; and, under this, Captains Lewis and
Clarke received them. A speech was made to these Indians, announcing
that the territory which they inhabited had been ceded to the American
government, and advising them respecting their future conduct towards
the Americans. They promised obedience, requested permission to trade
with the Americans, asked for a supply of arms, and solicited the
mediation of the voyagers, between them and the Mahars, with whom they
were then at war. The chiefs were each presented with a medal, to be
worn round his neck, some paint, garters, and cloth ornaments of dress:
to these were added a canister of gunpowder, a bottle of whiskey, and a
few other articles.
Not long after the ceremonies of the council had concluded, the voyagers
again embarked. The hills which now extended along the river, were
nearly fifteen miles asunder: those on the north were clad with a
considerable quantity of timber; but those on the south had only some
scattered trees in the ravines or narrow valleys.
On the 5th of August they passed round a peninsula; and, having encamped
on the north side of it, Captain Clarke, in pursuing some game, about
three hundred and seventy yards from the camp, found himself at a point
of the river which they had already passed, and which, by water, was
distant nearly twelve miles. Some miles beyond this, on traversing a
part of the country, to reach one of the Indian villages, the vegetation
was so luxuriant, that the men, who had been sent to explore it, were
forced to break their way through grass, sunflowers, thistles, and other
plants, more than ten feet high. This village had once consisted of
three hundred huts; but, about four years before the voyagers were here,
it had been burnt, in consequence of the small-pox having destroyed four
hundred of the men, and a great number of women and children. On a hill
behind the village were seen the graves of the nation.
The accounts which the voyagers received of the effects of the small-pox
among these Indians, were most distressing. They had been a military and
a powerful people; but, when they saw their strength wasting before a
malady which they were unable to resist, their phrensy was extreme. They
burnt their village; and many of them put to death their wives and
children, in order to save them from so cruel an affliction, and that
they might all go together to the unknown and better country.
A party of _Ottoe_ and _Missouri Indians_ with whom the voyagers had an
interview after this, were almost naked, having no covering, except a
cloth round their middle, and a loose blanket or buffalo robe thrown
over their shoulders.
In one place Captain Lewis noticed that the hills which extended to the
edge of the river on the south side, contained alum, copperas, cobalt,
(having the appearance of soft isinglass,) pyrites, and sand-stone: the
two first very pure. In another cliff, seven miles distant, he observed
an alum rock, of dark brown colour, containing, in its crevices, great
quantities of cobalt, cemented shells, and red earth. The appearance of
these mineral substances enabled him to account for some disorders of
the stomach with which his men had of late been much afflicted. They had
been in the habit of dipping up the water of the river inadvertently,
and drinking it; and he had now no doubt but the sickness was occasioned
by a scum which covered its surface along the southern shore. Always
after this the men agitated the water, so as to disperse the scum,
before they drank of it, and these disorders ceased.
The soil of a plain over which the two commanders and some of the men
walked, on the 25th, was exceedingly fine; and was encumbered with but
little timber, except immediately on the banks of the Missouri. They
found delicious plums, grapes, and blue currants. The musquitoes, and
other insects which here abounded, seem, however, to have occasioned
them some inconvenience.
On the 29th they were joined by five chiefs and seventy men of the
_Yanktons_, a tribe belonging to the Sioux Indians. The camps or huts of
this people are of a conical form: they are covered with buffalo robes,
painted with various figures and colours, and have an aperture at the
top for the smoke to pass through. Each hut is calculated to contain
from ten to fifteen persons, and the interior arrangement is compact and
handsome: the kitchen or place for cooking is always detached. Captain
Lewis delivered to these people a speech containing, as he says, the
usual advice and counsel with regard to their future conduct towards the
government and the "great father" (as the Indians are taught to call the
president) of the United States. He gave to the grand chief a flag, a
medal, a certificate, a laced uniform coat of the United States
artillery corps, a cocked hat and a red feather; and to the other chiefs
medals, tobacco, and clothing. Among the inferior men were distributed
knives, tobacco, bells, tape, binding, and other articles of trifling
value. After this the Indian chiefs, and Captains Lewis and Clarke,
smoked together the pipes of peace. These chiefs begged the strangers to
have pity on them, as they were very poor; to send traders to them, as
they wanted powder and ball: they were also anxious to be supplied with
some of "the great father's milk," by which they meant rum, or other
ardent spirits. This people are stout and well proportioned, and have a
peculiar air of dignity and boldness: they are fond of decorations, and
use, for this purpose, paint, porcupine-quills, and feathers. Some of
them wear a kind of necklace of white bear's claws, three inches long,
and closely strung together round their necks. They had among them a few
fowling-pieces, but they were, in general, armed with bows and arrows.
Beyond the village of the Yanktons the country, on both sides of the
river, was low, and, for the most part, destitute of timber; but, in
some places, it was covered with cotton-wood, elm, and oak. The weather
had been intensely hot; but, in the beginning of September, the wind was
violent, and the weather cold and rainy. On the second of this month,
the hunters killed four elks, and the whole party was supplied with an
abundance of grapes and plums, which grew wild near the river. They this
day observed, on the south side of the Missouri, the remains of an
ancient Indian fortification, formed chiefly of walls of earth.
On the 7th of September the weather was very cold. The voyagers, this
evening, encamped at the foot of a round mountain, about three hundred
feet in height, which, at a distance, had the appearance of a dome. In
this part of the country the hunters chiefly killed elks, deer, and
squirrels: and they occasionally brought in beavers, porcupines, and
foxes. On the 12th they passed an island covered with timber; and they
had great difficulty in struggling through the sand-bars, the water
being both rapid and shallow. The weather was now becoming so cold, that
it was requisite to give out flannel-shirts to the men; and several
animals were killed, for the sake of their skins to cover the boats. In
many places the strong current of the river had worn away the banks, to
considerable extent.
An interview took place, on the 25th, with some chiefs of the _Tetons_,
a tribe of the Sioux Indians: nearly the same ceremonies and agreements
were used and entered into, as with the preceding tribes; and similar
presents were made. They promised obedience to the "great father," but
they soon showed how little dependance could be placed on the promises
of uncivilized nations. As they were going away, a party of them
endeavoured to seize one of the boats, declaring that they had not
received presents enough. On being told they should receive no more,
they drew their arrows from their quivers, and were bending their bows,
when the swivel-gun in one of the boats was levelled at them. Perceiving
from this that the most determined resistance would be made, they at
length ceased from their claims.
On the ensuing day these Indians approached the banks of the river,
accompanied by their wives and children, and by a great number of their
friends. Their disposition now seemed friendly, and the voyagers
accepted an invitation to remain, during the night, on shore, to witness
a dance which was preparing for their entertainment.
When Captains Lewis and Clarke landed, they were met by ten young men,
who took each of them up in a robe highly decorated, and carried him to
a large council-house, where he was placed on a dressed buffalo-skin,
by the side of the grand chief. The hall or council-room was in the
shape of three quarters of a circle, and covered, at the top and sides,
with skins sewed together. Under this sate about seventy men, forming a
circle round the chief. In the vacant part of the circle, between these
men and the chief, the pipe of peace was raised, on two forked sticks,
six or eight inches from the ground, and having the down of the swan
scattered beneath it. At a little distance was a fire, at which some of
the attendants were employed in cooking provisions. As soon as Captains
Lewis and Clarke were seated, an old man rose up, and stating that he
approved of what they had done, begged of their visitors to take pity on
them. Satisfactory assurances of amity were made by both parties; and
the chief, after some previous ceremony, held up the pipe of peace,
first pointed it toward the heavens, then to the four quarters of the
globe, and then to the earth, made a short speech, lighted it, and
presented it to the strangers. They smoked it, and he harangued his
people, after which the repast was served up. It consisted of the body
of a dog, a favourite dish among the Sioux; to this was added a dish
made of buffalo-meat dried, pounded, and mixed raw with grease, and a
kind of potatoe. Of this the strangers ate freely, but they could not
relish the roasted dog. The party ate and smoked till it was dark, when
every thing was cleared away for the dance. A large fire was lighted in
the centre of the room, for the purpose of giving, at the same time,
light and warmth. The music was partly vocal and partly instrumental.
The instruments consisted chiefly of a sort of tambourine, formed of
skin stretched across a hoop; and a small skin bag with pebbles in it.
The women then came forward, highly decorated: some with poles in their
hands, on which were hung the scalps of their enemies; and others with
guns, spears, or different trophies, taken in war by their husbands,
brothers, or connexions. Having arranged themselves in two columns, one
on each side of the fire, they danced towards each other till they met
in the centre, when the rattles were shaken, and they all shouted and
returned to their places. They had no step, but shuffled along the
ground. The music appeared to be nothing more than a confusion of
noises, distinguished only by hard or gentle blows upon the skin; and
the song was extemporaneous. In the pauses of the dance, any man in the
company, who chose it, came forward and recited, in a sort of low
guttural tone, some story or incident: this was taken up by the
orchestra and the dancers, who repeated it in a higher strain, and
danced to it. These amusements continued till midnight, when the
voyagers retired on board their vessels, accompanied by four of the
chiefs.
In their persons these Indians were rather ugly and ill made, their legs
and arms being peculiarly slender, their cheek-bones high, and their
eyes projecting. The females, with the same character of form, were
somewhat more handsome. Both sexes appeared cheerful and sprightly, but
afforded many indications of being both cunning and vicious. The men
shave the hair off their heads, except a small tuft on the top, which
they suffer to grow, so as to wear it in plats over the shoulders. In
full dress, the principal chiefs wear a hawk's feather, worked with
porcupine-quills, and fastened to the top of the head. Their face and
body are generally painted with a mixture of grease and coal. The hair
of the women is suffered to grow long, and is parted from the forehead,
across the head; at the back of which it is either collected into a kind
of bag, or hangs down over the shoulders. This people seem fond of
finery. Their lodges are very neatly constructed: they consist of about
one hundred cabins, made of white buffalo hides, supported on poles
fifteen or twenty feet high; and, having a larger cabin in the centre,
for councils and for dances. These lodges may be taken to pieces, packed
up, and carried from place to place. The beasts of burden are dogs. Some
of these Indians had their heads shaved, and others had arrows stuck
through their flesh above and below the elbow: these were indications of
mourning.
On Friday the 28th of September, Captains Lewis and Clarke pursued their
voyage up the river; and on the ensuing day, they passed a spot where a
band of _Ricara Indians_ had had a village, about five years before: but
there were now no remains of it, except a mound which encircled the
town.
Beyond this, the country, on the north side of the river, presented an
extensive range of low prairie, covered with timber: on the south were
high and barren hills; but, afterwards, the land assumed the same
character as that on the opposite side. A great number of Indians were
discovered on the hills at a distance: they approached the river, and
proved to be _Tetons_, belonging to the band which the voyagers had just
left. In the course of this day the navigation was much impeded by logs
and sand-bars. The weather was now very cold. The voyagers next passed
the _Chayenne river_, which flowed from the south-west, and the mouth of
which was four hundred yards wide. On both sides of the Missouri, near
this river, are richly timbered lowlands, with naked hills behind them.
In this part of the country the hunters observed a great numbers of
goats, white bears, prairie-cocks or grouse; and a species of quadrupeds
described to resemble a small elk, but to have large, circular horns.
For many successive days Indians were observed on the shores; and, if
they had been more numerous, some of them seemed inclined to molest the
voyagers. On the sand-bars, which here very much obstructed the course
of the river, great number of geese, swans, brants, and ducks of
different kinds were seen.
On the 9th of October, the voyagers received visits from three chiefs of
the _Ricara Indians_; and, though the wind was violent, and the waves
ran very high, two or three squaws or females rowed off to them, in
little canoes, each made of a single buffalo-skin, stretched over a
frame of boughs, interwoven like a basket. These Indians did not use
spirituous liquors; and had even rejected, with disgust, all attempts
which the traders had hitherto made to introduce them: they said they
were surprised that their "father," meaning the president of the United
States, should present to them a liquor which would make them fools.
Captains Lewis and Clarke visited two of the villages, where they were
presented with corn and beans boiled; and also with bread made of corn
and beans. The Ricara Indians are tall and well proportioned. The men
wear skins round their legs, a cloth round their middle, and they
occasionally have a buffalo robe thrown over their shoulders: their
hair, arms, and ears, are decorated with ornaments of different kinds.
The women, who are handsome and lively, wear long shirts made of goats'
skin, generally white and fringed, and tied round the waist; and, in
addition to these, they have a buffalo robe dressed without the hair.
The lodges of the Ricara Indians are of a circular or octagonal form,
and generally thirty or forty feet in diameter. They are made by placing
forked posts, each about six feet high, round the circumference of a
circle; joining these, by poles lying upon the forks; forming a sloping
roof; interweaving the whole with branches and grass, and covering it
with mud or clay. Before the door there is a sort of entrance about ten
feet from the lodge. This people cultivate maize or Indian corn, beans,
pumpkins, water-melons, and a species of tobacco which is peculiar to
themselves. They are well armed with guns, and carry on a considerable
traffic in furs.
For many successive days the voyagers continued to see Indians every
day. They had occasionally wet and unpleasant weather. In one place they
saw, on the bank of the river, a great number of goats; and, soon
afterwards, large flocks of these animals were driven into the river by
a party of Indians, who gradually lined the shore, so as to prevent
their escape, and fired on them, and beat them down with clubs, with so
much success, that, in a short time, they killed more than fifty. Many
buffaloes, elks, and deer were seen; and a great number of snakes.
On Thursday the 18th, they passed the mouth of _Le Boulet_, or
_Cannon-ball river_, the channel of which is about one hundred and forty
yards wide. This stream, (which is indebted for its name to a great
number of large stones, that are perfectly round and lie scattered about
the shore and on the eminences above,) rises in the Black Mountains, and
falls into the Missouri on the south. Great numbers of goats were
observed to cross the river, and direct their course towards the west.
The country, in general, was level and fine, with broken, short, high
grounds, low timbered mounds near the river, and a range of rugged hills
at a distance. The low grounds had here much more timber than had been
observed lower down the river. So numerous are wild animals in this part
of the country, that the voyagers counted, at a single view, fifty-two
herds of buffaloes, and three of elks.
On the 20th the weather was so cold, that the rain which fell froze on
the ground; and, in the course of the night, the ground was covered with
snow. A Ricara chief told Captain Lewis that, at some distance up one of
the rivers, there was a large rock which was held in great veneration by
the Indians, and was often consulted by them, as to their own, or their
nations' destinies; all of which they imagine they are able to discern,
in some rude figures or paintings, with which it is covered.
The voyagers passed, on each side of the river, the ruins of several
villages of _Mandan Indians_; and, on an island of the river, they found
a Mandan chief, who, with some of his men, was on a hunting excursion.
As they proceeded, several parties of Mandans, both on foot and on
horseback, approached the shore to view them. The vessels here got
aground several times, among the sand-bars and rocks. In this part of
their voyage they saw two Europeans, belonging to the Hudson's Bay
company. These men had arrived about nine days before, to trade for
horses and buffalo robes.
From one of the villages of the Mandans, a crowd of men, women, and
children, came to see the strangers. Some of the chiefs had lost the two
joints of their little fingers; for, with this people, it is customary
to express grief for the death of relations, by some corporeal
suffering, and the usual mode is to cut off the joints of the little
fingers.
There were, in this part of the country, many Indian villages, and
Captains Lewis and Clarke held, with the chiefs, a council, similar in
its nature to those already mentioned; and afterwards presented them
with flags, medals, uniform-coats, and other articles.
Sixteenth Day's Instruction
WESTERN TERRITORY CONTINUED.
_Conclusion of_ LEWIS _and_ CLARKE'S _Voyage from St.
Louis to the Source of the Missouri._
As the winter was now fast approaching, the commanders of the expedition
considered it requisite to look out for some convenient place, where
they might pass those months, during which the river would be frozen and
unnavigable. Accordingly, on the 2d of November, they fixed upon a
place, not far distant from the Indian villages. They cut down a
considerable quantity of timber for the formation of huts; and
constructed tolerably comfortable habitations. Food could here be
procured in such abundance, that, in the course of two days, a Mandan
Indian killed as many as two hundred goats.
In the night of the 5th they were awaked by the man on guard, who called
them to witness a peculiarly beautiful appearance of the aurora
borealis, or northern lights. Along the sky, towards the north, a large
space was occupied by a light of brilliant white colour, which rose from
the horizon, and extended itself to nearly twenty degrees above it.
After glittering for some time, its colours were occasionally overcast
and obscured; but again it would burst out with renewed beauty. The
uniform colour was pale; but its shapes were various and fantastic. At
times the sky was lined with light-coloured streaks, rising
perpendicularly from the horizon, and gradually expanding into a body of
light, in which could be seen the trace of floating columns, sometimes
advancing, sometimes retreating, and shaping into an infinite variety of
forms.
Before the middle of November a store-house was completed, in which the
contents of the boats were laid up for the winter. On the 13th, ice
began to float down the river for the first time; and, on the ensuing
day, the ground was covered with snow. In some traps which had been set,
twenty beavers were caught. On the 16th the men moved into the huts,
although they were not finished. Three days after this the hunters
brought in a supply of thirty-two deer, eleven elks, and five buffaloes,
all of which were hung up to be smoked, for future subsistence.
The huts were ranged in two rows, each row containing four rooms,
fourteen feet square, and seven feet high. The place in which they were
erected was called _Fort Mandan_, and was a point of low ground, on the
north side of the Missouri, covered with tall and heavy cotton-wood. The
computed distance from the mouth of the Missouri was sixteen hundred
miles.
In the vicinity of this place were five villages of three distinct
nations: _Mandans_, _Ahanaways_, and _Minnetarees_. Not many years ago
the Mandans were a very numerous race, occupying, in the whole,
eighteen villages; but their numbers had been so much reduced, by the
small-pox and by their wars with the Sioux, that they were compelled to
emigrate in a body, and unite themselves with the Ricara nation; and
they now occupy only two villages, on opposite sides of the Missouri,
and about three miles asunder. Each of these contains forty or fifty
lodges, built in the same manner as those of the Ricaras. The whole
force of the Ahanaways is not, at present, more than fifty men. Their
residence is on an elevated plain, near the mouth of the _Knife river_.
On the south side of the same river, and about half a mile distant from
this people, is a village of the _Minnetarees_; and there are four other
villages of these Indians at a little distance.
The religion of the Mandans consists in the belief that one great Spirit
presides over their destinies; but they also believe that various
beings, some imaginary and some existing in the form of animals, have
the power of interceding for them with the great spirit. To these they
pay their devotion. They believe in a future state; and that, after
death, they shall go to the original seats of their forefathers, which
they suppose to be underground, immediately beneath a spot on the banks
of the Missouri, where they formerly had nine villages.
On the 7th of December, the Missouri was frozen over, and the ice was an
inch and half in thickness. The cold was so intense, that the air was
filled with icy particles resembling a fog; and the snow was several
inches deep. Notwithstanding this, one of the commanders, accompanied by
some of the men, went out almost every day to hunt. On the tenth,
Captain Clarke and his hunters, after having killed nine buffaloes, were
obliged to spend a wretched night on the snow: having no other covering
than a small blanket and the hides of the buffaloes they had killed. The
next day the wind blew from the north; and the ice in the atmosphere was
so thick, as to render the weather hazy, and to give the appearance of
two suns reflecting each other. On the seventeenth, the mercury in the
thermometer fell to seventy-four degrees below the freezing point. The
fort was completed on the day before Christmas.
The Indians, inured to the severity of the climate, are able to support
the rigours of the season, in a way which Captains Lewis and Clarke had
hitherto considered impossible. Many parts of their bodies were exposed;
and one of the Indians, in particular, although his dress was very thin,
was known to have passed the night on the snow, without a fire; and yet
he did not suffer the slightest inconvenience.
After having spent nearly five months in this dreary abode, the ice
broke up, the boats were repaired and once more got into the river; and
other preparations were made for the voyagers to pursue their course
towards the sources of the Missouri.
In the afternoon of Sunday, the 7th of April, the arrangements being all
completed, the party, consisting of thirty-two persons, once more
embarked. They now occupied six small canoes and two large pirogues. The
barge was sent down the river, to the United States, with presents of
natural curiosities, which had been collected, and with dispatches to
the president.
At some distance from Fort Mandan, the land, on each side of the
Missouri, after ascending the hills near the water, exhibits the
appearance of one fertile and unbroken plain, which extends as far as
the eye can reach, without a solitary tree or shrub, except in moist
situations, or in the steep declivities of hills. In some parts the
plains were on fire; for, every spring, as soon as the ice breaks up in
the river, these plains are set on fire by the Indians, for the purpose
of driving out and attacking the buffaloes, and other wild animals which
inhabit them. Beavers were here very abundant. A herd of antelopes, and
the track of a large white bear, were seen in the plain: geese and
swans were observed, in great numbers. The musquitoes now began to be
very troublesome.
Before the middle of April, the weather became so warm, that, in the
day-time, the men worked with no clothes on, except round their waist.
On the twelfth, the voyagers reached the mouth of the _Little Missouri_,
where they remained during the day, for the purpose of making celestial
observations. This river falls into the Missouri, on its south side, and
at the distance of sixteen hundred and ninety-three miles above its
confluence with the Mississippi. Its current is strong, and its width a
hundred and thirty-four yards; but its greatest depth is only two feet
and half. The adjacent country is hilly and irregular; and the soil is,
for the most part, a rich dark-coloured loam, intermixed with a small
proportion of sand.
On the thirteenth, the voyagers passed the remains of forty-three
temporary lodges, which were supposed to have belonged to the Assiniboin
Indians. The waters of many of the creeks were found to be so strongly
impregnated with mineral salts, that they were not fit to be drunk. On
each bank of the Missouri the country presented the appearance of low
plains and meadows; bounded, at the distance of a few miles, by broken
hills, which end in high, level, and fertile lands: the quantity of
timber was increasing. In the timbered-grounds, higher up the river, the
voyagers observed a great quantity of old hornets' nests. Many of the
hills exhibited a volcanic appearance, furnishing great quantities of
lava and pumice stone: of the latter, several pieces were observed
floating down the river. In all the copses there were remains of
Assiniboin encampments.
On the twentieth, near an Indian camp, the voyagers observed a scaffold,
about seven feet high, on which were two sleds, with their harness; and
under the scaffold was the body of a female, carefully wrapped in
several dressed buffalo-skins. Near it lay a bag, made of buffalo-skin,
and containing some articles of apparel, scrapers for dressing hides,
some dried roots, plats of sweet grass, and a small quantity of tobacco.
These, as well as the body, had probably fallen down by accident, as it
is customary to place the dead bodies on scaffolds. At a little distance
was the body of a dog, not yet decayed: he had, no doubt, been employed
in dragging, in the sled, the body of his mistress, and, according to
the Indian usage, had been sacrificed to her.
From the sand-bars in the river, the wind sometimes blew such vast
quantities of sand into the air, as to appear like clouds, and even to
conceal the opposite bank from view. These clouds of sand floated, like
columns of thick smoke, to the distance of many miles; and the particles
were so penetrating, that nothing could be kept free from them.
Near the junction of _Yellow-stone river_ with the Missouri, the country
was much more woody than it had been in any other part, since the
voyagers had passed the Chayenne; and the trees were chiefly of
cotton-wood, elm, ash, box, and alder. In the low grounds were
rose-bushes, the red-berry, service-berry, red-wood, and other shrubs;
and among the bushes on the higher plains, were observed willows,
gooseberry-trees, purple currant-trees, and honeysuckles. The sources of
Yellow-stone river are said to be in the Rocky Mountains, near those of
the Missouri and the Platte; and this river is navigable, in canoes,
almost to its head.
Near the junction of the Yellow-stone and Missouri rivers, there is a
high plain, which extends three miles in width, and seven or eight miles
in length; and which Captain Lewis says might be rendered a very
advantageous station for a trading establishment.
Beyond this place, the hills were rough and high, and almost overhung
the river. As the voyagers advanced, the low grounds were fertile and
extensive, with but little timber, and that cotton-wood. On the 3d of
May, they reached the mouth of a river, which; from the unusual number
of porcupines that were seen near it, they called _Porcupine river_. For
several days after this, they continued their progress without much
interruption. In many places the river was, at least, half a mile wide.
During their excursions on the shore, in pursuit of food, they
encountered many perils in shooting at bears. Some of these were of vast
size and strength: one of them weighed nearly six hundred pounds, and
measured eight feet seven inches and a half, from the nose to the
extremity of the hind feet.
Beyond the _Muscle-shell river_, which the voyagers reached on the 21st,
the shores of the Missouri were abrupt and bold, and composed of a black
and yellow clay.
After a navigation of two months, and a progress of more than a thousand
miles from their winter camp, the party became considerably embarrassed,
at the conflux of two rivers, which were, apparently, of equal
magnitude. It was important for them to decide which of the streams in
question was the true Missouri; because the river, which it was their
object to ascend, was described to be at no great distance from the head
waters, running, from the opposite side of the Rocky Mountains, towards
the Pacific ocean. Two canoes, with three men, were consequently
dispatched, to survey each of these doubtful streams; and parties were
sent out by land, to discover, if possible, from the rising grounds, the
distant bearings of the lofty ranges of mountains, which were
conspicuous in the west; and some of which, though it was now the month
of June, were covered with snow. Hence, there was no doubt of their
vicinity to the great central ridge of American mountains; but the
direction of the rivers just mentioned, could not be distinguished to
any considerable distance. Of the two, the one coming from the north,
had the brown colour and thick appearance of the Missouri; while the
southern river had a rapid current, a pebbly bed, and transparent
water, as if it issued from a mountainous country. The resemblance of
the former to the river already navigated, led nearly all the privates
of the party to consider it as the Missouri; but the clearness of the
other stream induced the two captains to the conclusion that it
proceeded from those central mountains, which were the grand objects of
their search. After a further investigation, they resolved to pursue the
course of the latter.
It was, however, requisite to make a deposit of all the heavy baggage,
that could possibly be spared, as the increasing shallowness of the
water would soon render the navigation much more laborious than it had
hitherto been. They accordingly adopted a plan, common among traders who
bring merchandise into the country of Indians of doubtful integrity,
that of digging a hole in the ground, small at the top, but widened in
the descent, somewhat like the shape of a kettle. Choice was made of a
dry situation; and the sod, being carefully removed, the excavation was
completed, a flooring of wood and hides was laid at the bottom, and the
goods were covered with skins: the earth was then thrown into the river,
and the sod laid on again with so much care, that not the slightest
appearance remained of the surface having been disturbed.
These arrangements being completed, Captain Clarke took charge of the
canoes; while Captain Lewis, with four men, proceeded by land, in hopes
of soon putting it beyond a doubt that the river which they were now
ascending was the Missouri. The decisive proof was to be sought in its
falls, which the Indians had described as not remote from the Rocky
Mountains, and as of remarkable grandeur. Captain Lewis passed along the
direction of the river, during two days, and, on the next day, found
himself in a position which overlooked a most beautiful plain.
Finding that the river here bore considerably to the south; and fearful
of passing the falls before he reached the Rocky Mountains, he now
changed, his course towards the south, and, leaving these hills to the
right, proceeded across the plain. In this direction he had gone about
two miles, when his ears were saluted with the agreeable sound of a fall
of water; and, as he advanced, a spray, which seemed to be driven by the
high south-west wind, arose above the plain, like a column of smoke, and
vanished in an instant. Towards this point he directed his steps; and
the noise, increasing as he approached, soon became too tremendous to be
mistaken for any thing but the _Great Falls of the Missouri_. Having
travelled seven miles after he first heard the sound, he at length
reached the falls.
The hills became difficult of access, and were two hundred feet high.
Down these he hurried with impatience; and, seating himself on some
rocks under the centre of the falls, he enjoyed the sublime spectacle of
this stupendous object; which, since the creation of the world, had been
lavishing its magnificence on the desert, unknown to civilization. For
ninety or a hundred yards from the left cliff, the water falls in one
smooth, even sheet, over a precipice of at least eighty feet. The
remaining part of the river precipitates itself with a more rapid
current; but, being received, as it falls, by the irregular and somewhat
projecting rocks below, it forms a splendid prospect of perfectly white
foam, two hundred yards in length, and eighty yards in perpendicular
elevation. This spray is dissipated into a thousand shapes, sometimes
flying up in columns fifteen or twenty feet high; and then being
oppressed by larger masses of white foam, which exhibit all the
brilliant colours of the rainbow.
On the 14th of June, one of the men was sent to Captain Clarke, with an
account of the discovery of the falls; and Captain Lewis proceeded to
examine the rapids above. From the falls, he directed his course,
south-west, up the river. After passing one continued rapid, and three
small cascades, each three or four feet high, he reached, at the
distance of five miles, a second fall. Above this, the river bends
suddenly towards the north. Here captain Lewis heard a loud roar above
him; and, crossing the point of a hill, for a few hundred yards, he saw
one of the most beautiful objects in nature: the whole Missouri is
suddenly stopped by one shelving rock, which, without a single niche,
and with an edge as straight and regular as if formed by art, stretches
from one side of the river to the other, for at least a quarter of a
mile. Over this, the water precipitates itself, in an even,
uninterrupted sheet, to the perpendicular depth of fifty feet; whence,
dashing against the rocky bottom, it rushes rapidly down, leaving behind
it a spray of the purest foam.
The scene here presented was indeed singularly beautiful; since, without
any of the wild, irregular, sublimity of the lower falls, it combined
all the regular elegancies which the fancy of a painter would select to
form a beautiful cataract. Captain Lewis now ascended the hill which was
behind him, and saw, from its top, a delightful plain, extending from
the river to the base of the Snowy Mountains. Along this wide, level
country, the Missouri pursued its winding course, filled with water, to
its even and grassy banks; while, about four miles above, it was joined
by a large river, flowing from the north-west, through a valley three
miles in width, and distinguished by the timber which adorned its
shores: the Missouri itself stretched to the south, in one unruffled
stream of water; and bearing on its bosom, vast flocks of geese, while
numerous herds of buffaloes were feeding on the plains which surround
it.
Captain Lewis then descended the hills, and directed his course towards
the river. Here he met a herd of at least a thousand buffaloes; and,
being desirous of providing for his supper, he shot one of them. The
animal immediately began to bleed; and the captain, having forgot to
reload his rifle, was intently watching to see him fall, when he beheld
a large brown bear, cautiously approaching him, and already within
twenty yards. In the first moment of surprise, he lifted his rifle;
but, recollecting that it was not charged, and that he had no time to
reload, he felt that there was no safety but in flight. He was in an
open, level plain; not a bush nor a tree was within three hundred yards
of him; and the bank of the river was sloping, and not more than three
feet high, so that there was no possible mode of concealment. Captain
Lewis therefore thought of retreating, in a quick walk. He did so, but
the bear approached, open mouth and at full speed, upon him. He ran
about eighty yards; but finding that the animal gained on him fast, he
plunged into the river, about waist deep, and, then facing about,
presented the point of an espontoon or kind of spear, which he had
carried in his hand. The bear arrived at the water's edge, within twenty
feet of him; but, as soon as the captain put himself in this posture of
defence, the animal seemed frightened, and, wheeling about, retreated
with as much precipitation as he had pursued.
With respect to Captain Clarke, he and his canoes advanced up the river,
but they proceeded very slowly; for the rapidity of the current, the
number of large stones, and the numerous shoals and islands, greatly
impeded their progress. After they had passed a stream, to which he gave
the name of _Maria's river_, they redoubled their exertions. It,
however, soon became necessary for them once more to lighten the canoes.
They did so, and filled another hole, with a portion of their provisions
and ammunition.
On the 29th of June, Captain Clarke left the canoes, and went on to the
falls, accompanied by a black servant, named York, an Indian and his
wife, with her young child. On arriving there, they observed a very dark
cloud rising in the west, which threatened rain. They therefore looked
around for shelter, but could find no place where they would be secure
from being blown into the river, if the wind should prove as violent as
it sometimes does in the plains. At length, about a quarter of a mile
above the falls, they found a deep ravine, where there were some
shelving rocks; and under these they took refuge. Being now perfectly
safe from the rain, they laid down their guns and compass, and the other
articles which they had brought with them. The shower was, at first,
moderate; but it increased to a heavy rain, the effects of which they
did not feel: soon afterwards, a torrent of intermingled hail and rain
was poured from the clouds: the rain seemed to fall in a solid mass;
and, collecting in the ravine, it came rolling down, like a cataract,
carrying along with it mud and rocks, and every thing that opposed it.
Captain Clarke saw the torrent a moment before it reached them; and,
springing up, with his gun and shot-pouch in his left hand, he, with his
right, clambered up the steep cliff, pushing on before him the Indian
woman, with her child in her arms. Her husband, too, had seized her
hand, and was dragging her up the hill; but he was so terrified at the
danger, that, but for Captain Clarke, himself and his wife and child
would have been lost. So instantaneous was the rise of the water, that
before Captain Clarke had reached his gun, and had begun to ascend the
bank, the water was up to his waist; and he could scarcely get up faster
than it rose, till it reached the height of fifteen feet. Had they
waited a moment longer, it would have swept them all into the river,
just above the great cataract, down which they must inevitably have been
precipitated. They had been obliged to escape so rapidly, that Captain
Clarke lost his compass and umbrella: the Indian left his gun,
shot-pouch, and tomahawk; and the Indian woman had just time to grasp
her child, before the net, in which it had lain at her feet, was carried
down the current.
After the storm was over, they proceeded to a fountain, perhaps the
largest in America. It is situated in a pleasant, level plain, and about
twenty-five yards from the river, into which it falls over some steep,
irregular rocks.
In this part of the country a remarkable phenomenon was noticed. A loud
report, precisely resembling the sound of a cannon, was repeatedly heard
from the mountains, at different times, both of the day and night;
sometimes in one stroke; at others, in five or six successive
discharges. This report was occasionally heard when the air was
perfectly still and without a cloud; and it was supposed to be
occasioned by the bursting of rocks.
The party, continuing indefatigable in their exertions, dragged the
canoes, or pushed them along with poles, up the current of the Missouri.
This they did, day after day, until the 27th of June, when they arrived
at the _Three forks of the river_; that is, at the point at which three
rivers, each of considerable size, flow together, and form the great
stream. As it was difficult to determine the largest of the three,
Captains Lewis and Clarke decided on discontinuing here the appellation
of Missouri; and named the streams, respectively, Jefferson's,
Madison's, and Gallatin's river. As the first of these flowed from the
west, they ascended it in preference to the others; but they continued
to experience great difficulty with the canoes, in consequence of the
rapidity of the current.
They were now approaching the termination of the first great division of
their journey. The river continued to lessen as they proceeded: its
width, in the part at which they arrived on the 8th of July, was not
more than forty yards; and, on the 11th, it was diminished to twelve, so
as to admit of being waded over without hazard. They had now proceeded,
by computation, three thousand miles from the mouth of the Missouri; and
they, not long afterwards, reached its extreme navigable point, in
latitude 43 degrees 30 minutes, and nearly in longitude 112 degrees west
from Greenwich.
Here they laid up their canoes, until they should return from the
Pacific ocean; and, proceeding by land, had the gratification of tracing
the current to its _fountain head_, in the midst of the Rocky Mountains.
Seventeenth Day's Instruction.
WESTERN TERRITORY CONTINUED.
_Narrative of_ LEWIS _and_ CLARKE'S _Travels from the
Source of the Missouri to the Pacific Ocean._
From the source of the Missouri, we will now accompany these gentlemen
in their journey across the Rocky Mountains, and in their subsequent
navigation of the Oregan or Columbia to the Pacific Ocean.
They had reached the highest ground in the _Rocky Mountains_, or that
elevated part of the continent which constitutes the boundary between
the streams flowing to the Atlantic on the one side, and the Pacific on
the other. Their next object was to prosecute their journey westward,
through this cold and barren track, until they should come to a
navigable stream flowing into the Columbia, the great channel of access
to the western ocean.
They had been told, by Indians in the Mandan country, that, immediately
on crossing the central ridge, they would discover copious rivers
running in a direction towards the Columbia. Captain Lewis accordingly
found a clear stream forty yards wide, and three feet deep, which ran
towards the west. It was bounded on each side by a range of high
mountains, and was so closely confined between them, as not only to be
unnavigable, but to be impassable along its banks. A still more
discouraging circumstance was the total want, in this wintry region, of
timber fit for building canoes.
An old Indian, being consulted respecting these mountains, stated them
to be so inaccessible, that neither he nor any of his nation had ever
attempted to cross them; and another Indian, a native of the south-west
mountains, described them in terms scarcely less terrific. The course to
the Pacific lay, he said, along rocky steeps, inhabited by savages, who
lived in holes, like bears, and fed on roots and on horse-flesh. On
descending from the mountainous ridge, he stated that the traveller
would find himself in a parched desert of sand, where no animals, of a
nature to afford subsistence, could be discovered; and, although this
plain was crossed by a large river running towards the Columbia, its
banks had no timber for the construction of canoes.
After all these mortifying communications, there appeared to be left, to
the present travellers, only one route, that by which some individuals
of the Chopunnish Indians, living to the west of the mountains, find
means to make their way to this elevated region; and the accounts that
had been given of this road, were very discouraging; the Indians being
obliged to subsist for many days on berries, and suffering greatly from
hunger. The commanders of the expedition were not, however,
disheartened; for they were convinced that their men could accomplish a
passage without enduring so much hardship as Indians, who are generally
accompanied by women and children.
Having ascertained that the accounts of the impractibility of navigating
the river were well founded, it became indispensable to take measures
for proceeding on horseback. The men had already begun to suffer from
want of food, for the country afforded very little except berries, and a
few river-fish.
Captain Lewis describes the ravenous propensities of the Indians who
reside in this part of America, to be very extraordinary. While some of
them were with the travellers, a deer was killed. They all hastened to
the spot, like so many beasts of prey, and actually tumbled over each
other, to reach the intestines which had been thrown aside. Each tore
away whatever part he could seize, and instantly began to devour it.
Some had the liver, some the kidneys; in short, no part was left, on
which we are accustomed to look with disgust. One of them, who had
seized about nine feet of the entrails, was chewing, at one end, while,
with his hand, he was diligently clearing his way by discharging the
contents at the other. Yet, though suffering from excessive hunger, they
did not attempt, as they might have done, to take by force the whole
deer, but contented themselves with what had been thrown away by the
hunters. After this, Captain Lewis gave one quarter of the body of the
deer to the Indians; and they immediately devoured it raw. A second deer
was killed, and nearly the whole of it was given to the Indians. This
they also devoured, even to the soft parts of the hoofs; and they
shortly afterwards ate nearly three quarters of a third.
It happened fortunately for the travellers, in the prosecution of their
journey by land, that the horses of the country were good, and that
there was no difficulty in purchasing as many as were necessary, for the
conveyance of themselves and their baggage. They were thus enabled to
set out about the end of August, under the guidance of an old man, who,
notwithstanding the dissuasion of his countrymen, undertook to conduct
them to the Indians who live westward of the mountains.
Arriving, soon afterwards, in a district where no tract could be
discovered, they were obliged to cut their way through thickets of trees
and brushwood, along the sides of hills. Here their horses suffered
great fatigue; and the season was still so little advanced, that the
ground was covered with snow. On the 9th of September they reached the
road or path commonly taken by the Indians in crossing from the Columbia
to the Missouri; and here they learned that they might have lessened the
hardships of the mountain journey, had they laid up their canoes and
struck off to the west, before they navigated the latter river to its
furthest-point. A small creek at this station received the name of
_Traveller's Rest-creek_.
From this spot the party proceeded nearly due west, along the Indian
path; but they still experienced considerable inconvenience, from a
deficiency of provisions. On some days they killed only a few birds;
and, being obliged to turn their horses loose at night to feed, the
morning hours were frequently passed in finding and catching them. On
the 15th of August, they reached the upper parts of the river
_Koos-koos-kee_, which affords one of the most direct channels of
communication with the Columbia; but there is no timber, in its
neighbourhood, of size large enough for canoes; nor did its channel
promise an easy navigation. The travellers were consequently obliged to
continue their journey by land; and on the 19th they were cheered with
the prospect, towards the south-west, of an extensive plain, which,
though still distant, assured them of an outlet from the barren region
which they were traversing. By this time they had suffered so much from
hunger, that horse-flesh was deemed a luxury.
At last, on the 22d, having reached the plain, they found themselves
once more in an inhabited country. They explained their pacific
intentions to the people, who were Indians of a tribe called
_Chopunnish_. The removal, however, from a cold to a warm district, and,
still more, the sudden change from scarcity to an abundance of food,
proved very detrimental to the health of the men; and it was fortunate
that the most laborious part of their task was now, for a time at least,
at an end.
The river Koos-koos-kee being navigable in the place which the party had
now reached, it remained only to build the requisite canoes. The wood
was soon obtained; and such of the men as had sufficient strength for
the undertaking, worked at the canoes, during the intervals of cool
weather, and were not very long in completing them. In this part of the
country the weather was cool during an easterly wind; exactly as, on
the opposite side of the mountains, it had been in a westerly one. Their
horses, to the number of thirty-eight, they consigned to the care of
three Indian chiefs, to be kept till their return; and the saddles, with
a small supply of ammunition, they buried in a hole, dug for the
purpose, near the river.
On the 8th of October, the travellers once more proceeded by water; and
they now occupied five canoes. Exertion was still requisite, in the
shoals and other difficult places; but the change was, on the whole,
extremely favourable to them, and their progress down the current was
proportionally rapid.
This part of the country is inhabited by the _Shoshonees_, a tribe of
_Snake Indians_, which, at present, consists of about a hundred
warriors, and thrice as many women and children. Within their own
recollection these Indians had lived in the plains; but they had been
driven thence by the Pawkees and other powerful tribes, and they now
live a wandering and precarious life. From the middle of May till the
beginning of September they reside on the western waters; but, when the
salmon, on which they chiefly subsist there, disappear, they cross the
ridge and descend, slowly and cautiously, till they are joined, near the
Three Forks, by other bands, either of their own nation, or of the
Flat-heads, who make common cause with them. They then venture to hunt
buffaloes in the plains eastward; but such is their dread of the
Pawkees, that, so long as they can obtain the scantiest subsistence,
they do not leave the interior of the mountains; and, as soon as they
collect a large stock of dried meat, they again retreat: thus they
alternately obtain food at the hazard of their lives, and hide
themselves to consume it. Two-thirds of the year they are forced to live
in the mountains, passing whole weeks with no other subsistence than a
few fish and roots. The salmon were, at this time, fast retiring; roots
were becoming scarce, they had not yet attained strength to hazard a
meeting with their enemies, and nothing could be imagined more wretched
than their condition.
Notwithstanding their miseries they were cheerful, and, in many
important points of character, were superior to any other tribes whom
the travellers had seen. They never begged: they were not tempted to a
single act of dishonesty by the sight of the treasures which their
visitors displayed; and they were ready to share with their guests, the
little which they themselves possessed. They were also a high-spirited
people. The Spaniards, the only white men with whom they had hitherto
had any intercourse, would not supply them with fire-arms, alleging
that, if they were possessed of such weapons, they would only be the
more induced to kill one another. The Shoshonees, perhaps, do not
perceive that policy is the real motive of the Spaniards; but they
clearly see that the plea of humanity is fallacious, and they complain
that they are thus left to the mercy of their enemies the Minnetarees,
who, having fire-arms, plunder them of their horses, and slay them at
pleasure.
Though many of their stock had lately been stolen, the Shoshonees
possessed, at this time, not fewer than seven hundred horses, of good
size, vigorous, and patient of fatigue, as well as of hunger. They had
also a few mules, which had been purchased or stolen from the Spaniards,
by the frontier Indians. These were the finest animals of the kind, that
Captain Clarke had ever seen; even the worst of them was considered
worth the price of two horses.
The horse is a favourite animal with this people. His main and tail,
which are never mutilated, they decorate with feathers, and his ears
they cut into various patterns. A favourite horse, also, is sometimes
painted; and a warrior will suspend, at the breast of his horse, the
finest ornaments which he possesses.
The Shoshonees always fight on horseback. They have a few bad guns among
them, which are reserved, exclusively, for war; but their common weapons
are bows and arrows. The bows that are chiefly prized, are made of the
argali's horn, flat pieces of which are cemented together with glue.
They have also lances, and a formidable sort of club, consisting of a
round stone, about two pounds in weight, fastened, by a short thong, to
a wooden handle. Their defensive armour is a shield of buffalo's hide,
manufactured with equal ingenuity and superstition. The skin must be the
whole hide of a male buffalo, two years old, and never suffered to dry,
since it was flayed off. A feast is held, to which all the warriors, old
men, and jugglers, are invited. After the repast, a hole is dug in the
ground, about eighteen inches deep, and of the same diameter as the
intended shield. Red hot stones are thrown into this hole; and water is
poured upon them, to produce a strong steam. Over this, the skin is
laid, with the fleshy side to the ground; and stretched, in every
direction, by as many persons as can take hold of it. As it becomes
heated, the hair separates, and is taken off; and the skin is, at last,
contracted into the compass designed for the shield. It is then removed,
placed on a dry hide; and, during the remainder of the festival, is
pounded by the bare heels of the guests. This operation sometimes
continues for several days. The shield is then actually proof against
any arrow; and, if the old men and the jugglers have been satisfied with
the feast, they pronounce it impenetrable by bullets also, which many of
the warriors believe. It is ornamented with feathers, with a fringe of
dressed leather, and with paintings of strange figures. This people have
also a sort of arrow-proof mail, with which they cover themselves and
their horses. It is made of dressed antelope-skins, in many folds,
united by a mixture of glue and sand.
The Shoshonees are a diminutive and ill-formed race; with flat feet,
thick ancles, and crooked legs. The hair of both sexes is usually worn
loose over the face and shoulders; some of the men, however, divide it,
by leather thongs, into two equal queues, which they allow to hang over
the ears. Their tippet, or rheno, as it is called, is described to have
been the most elegant article of Indian dress, that the travellers had
ever seen. It is of otter-skin, tasselled with ermine; and not fewer
than an hundred ermine-skins are required for each.
The inhabitants of the plains, to the west of the Rocky Mountains,
appear to differ considerably from their neighbours on the higher
grounds. The _Chopunnish_ or _Pierced Nose nation_, who reside on the
Kooskooskee, and the river now called Lewis's river, are, in person,
stout, portly, and, good-looking men. The women are small, with regular
features; and are generally handsome, though dark. Their chief ornaments
are a buffalo or elk-skin robe, decorated with beads; and sea-shells, or
mother-of-pearl, attached to an otter-skin collar, and hung in the hair,
which falls in front in two queues. They likewise ornament themselves
with feathers and paints of different kinds; principally white, green,
and light blue, all of which they find in their own country. In winter,
they wear a shirt of dressed skins, long painted leggings and moccasins,
and a plat of twisted grass round the neck.
The dress of the women is more simple: it consists of a long shirt of
argali-skin, which reaches down to the ankles, and is without a girdle:
to this are tied shells, little pieces of brass, and other small
articles; but their head is not at all ornamented.
The Chopunnish Indians have very few ornaments; for their life is
painful and laborious; and all their exertions are necessary to earn
their subsistence. During the summer and autumn they are busily occupied
in fishing for salmon, and collecting their winter store of roots. In
the winter, with snow-shoes on their feet, they hunt deer over the
plains; and, towards the spring, they cross the mountains to the
Missouri, for the purpose of trafficking for buffalo-robes.
In descending the _Kooskooskee_, the travellers had many opportunities
of observing the arrangements of the Indians for preserving fish,
particularly salmon, which are here very abundant. In some places,
especially in the Columbia, the water was so clear, that these fish were
seen at the depth of fifteen or twenty feet. During the autumn, they
float down the stream in such numbers, that the Indians have only to
collect, split, and dry them. Scaffolds and wooden houses, piled up
against each other, for the purpose of fishing, were frequently
observed. Indeed fish are here so abundant, that, in a scarcity of wood,
dried salmon are often used as fuel.
A considerable trade is carried on in dried fish, which is thus
prepared. The salmon, having been opened, and exposed some time to the
sun, is pounded between two stones; then packed in baskets, neatly made
of grass and rushes, which are lined and covered with salmon-skins,
stretched and dried for that purpose. In these baskets, the pounded
salmon is pressed down as hard as possible. Each basket contains from
ninety to one hundred pounds; seven baskets are placed side by side, and
five on the top. They are then covered with mats, and corded; and then
again matted, thus forming a stack. In this manner the fish is kept
sweet and sound for many years.
The Koo-koos-kee is greatly augmented by the junction of Lewis's river
from the south; and the united streams, after flowing a considerable
distance, fall into the still larger flood of the Columbia. At their
junction, the width of the Columbia is nine hundred and sixty yards.
The Indians, in this part of America, are called _Solkuks_; and seem to
be of a mild and peaceable disposition, and to live in a state of
comparative happiness. Each man is contented with a single wife, with
whom he shares the labours of procuring subsistence, much more than is
usual among savages. What may be considered as an unequivocal proof of
their good disposition, is the great respect which is shown to old age.
Among other instances of it, the travellers observed, in one of the
houses, an old woman perfectly blind; and who, as they were informed,
had lived more than a hundred winters. In this state of decrepitude she
occupied the best position in the house, seemed to be treated with great
kindness, and whatever was said by her, was listened to with much
attention.
The fisheries supply the _Solkuks_ with a competent, if not an abundant
subsistence. Fish is, indeed, their chief food; except roots, and the
casual supplies of the antelope, which, to those who have only bows and
arrows, must be very scanty. Most of the Solkuks have sore eyes, and
many of them are blind of one or both eyes; and decayed teeth are very
common among them.
The party proceeded down the Columbia. Fish was here so abundant, that
in one day's voyage, they counted no fewer than twenty stacks of dried
salmon.
They passed the falls of this river. These are not great; but, at a
little distance below them, a very remarkable scene is presented to the
view. At a place where the river is about four hundred yards wide, and
where the stream flows with a current more rapid than usual, it widens
into a large bend or basin, at the extremity of which a black rock,
rising perpendicularly from the right shore, seems to run wholly across.
So completely did it appear to block up the passage, that the travellers
could not, as they approached, see where the water escaped; except that
the current appeared to be drawn with peculiar velocity towards the left
of the rock, where there was a great roaring. On landing, to survey it,
they found that, for about half a mile, the river was confined within a
channel only forty-five yards wide, whirling, swelling, and boiling, the
whole way, with the wildest agitation imaginable. Tremendous as the pass
was, they attempted it; and, to the astonishment of the Indians, they
accomplished it in safety.
In the vicinity of this place, a tribe of Indians, called _Echeloots_,
were settled. Here the travellers, for the first time, since they had
left the Illinois country, observed wooden buildings. The floors were
sunk about six feet in the ground, a custom implying at the same time a
cold and dry climate.
Proceeding on their way, they saw an Indian, dressed in a round hat and
a sailor's jacket, with his hair tied. Jackets, brass kettles, and other
European or American articles, were observed to be common. These Indians
are fond of ornamenting their boats and houses with rude sculptures and
paintings. One of the chiefs exhibited, from what was called his great
medicine-bag, fourteen fore-fingers, the trophies taken from as many
enemies, whom he had killed in war. This was the first time that the
travellers had known any other trophy preserved than the scalp. The
great medicine-bag, among these Indians, is an useful invention; for, as
it is deemed sacrilegious for any person, except the owner, to touch it,
this bag serves the purpose of a strong-box, in which the most valuable
articles may safely be deposited.
The Echeloots in their mode of sepulture, differ much from the
generality of North American Indians. They have common cemeteries, where
the dead, carefully wrapt in skins, are laid on mats, in a direction
east and west. The vaults, or rather chambers, in which the bodies are
deposited, are about eighty feet square, and six in height. The whole of
the sides are covered with strange figures, cut and painted; and wooden
images are placed against them. At the top of these sepulchral chambers,
and on poles attached to them, brass-kettles are hung, old frying-pans,
shells, skins, and baskets, pieces of cloth, hair, and other similar
offerings. Among some of the tribes, the body is laid in one canoe and
covered with another. Every where the dead are carefully deposited, and
with like marks of respect. Captain Clarke says it is obvious, from the
different articles which are placed by the dead, that these people
believe in a future state of existence.
On the 2d of November, the travellers perceived the first tide-water;
four days afterwards, they had the pleasure of hearing a few words of
English, spoken by an Indian, who talked of a Mr. Haley, as the
principal trader on the coast; and, on the 7th, a fog clearing off, gave
them a sight of the _Pacific Ocean_.
They suffered great hardships near the mouth of the river. At one place,
where they were detained two nights by the violence of the wind, the
waves broke over them, and large trees, which the stream had carried
along with it, were drifted upon them, so that, with their utmost
vigilance, they could scarcely save the canoes from being dashed to
pieces. Their next haven was still more perilous: the hills rose steep
over their heads, to the height of five hundred feet; and, as the rain
fell in torrents, the stones, upon their crumbling sides, loosened, and
came rolling down upon them. The canoes, in one place, were at the mercy
of the waves; the baggage was in another place; and the men were
scattered upon floating logs, or were sheltering themselves in the
crevices of the rocks.
The travellers, having now reached the farthest limits of their journey,
once more began to look out for winter-quarters. But it was not till
after a long search, that they discovered, at some distance from the
shore, and near the banks of the Columbia, a situation in all respects
convenient. But so incessant was the rain, that they were unable to
complete their arrangements, till about the middle of December. Here, in
latitude 46 degrees, 19 minutes, they passed three months, without
experiencing any thing like the cold of the interior; but they were, in
other respects, exposed to numerous inconveniences. The supply of food
was precarious; being confined to the fish caught along the sea-coasts,
and to a few elks and other animals, which were killed in the adjacent
country.
The Indians, in this part of America, had been accustomed to traffic,
along the shore, with European vessels, and had learned to ask
exorbitant prices for their commodities. Their circulating money
consisted of blue beads; but with these, as well as with other
merchandise, their visitors were, at this time, very scantily supplied.
These Indians were unacquainted with the use of ardent spirits, but they
were no strangers to the vice of gaming.
During the winter, Captains Lewis and Clarke occupied much of their time
in acquiring information concerning the country; and obtained some
account of the number of tribes, languages, and population of the
inhabitants, for about three hundred and sixty miles southward, along
the coast; but of those in an opposite direction, they were unable to
learn any thing more than their names.
The people of the four nations with whom they had the most intercourse;
the _Killamucks_, _Clatsops_, _Chinnoocks_, and _Cathlamahs_, were
diminutive and ill-made. Their complexions were somewhat lighter than
those of the other North American Indians: their mouths were wide, their
lips thick, and their noses broad, and generally flat between the eyes.
All the tribes who were seen west of the Rocky Mountain, have their
foreheads flattened. The child, in order to be thus beautified, has its
head placed in a kind of machine, where it is kept for ten or twelve
months; the females longer than the males. The operation is gradual, and
seems to give but little pain; but if it produces headache, the poor
infant has no means of making its sufferings known. The head, when
released from its bandage, Captain Clarke says, is not more than two
inches thick, about the upper part of the forehead; and still thinner
above. Nothing can appear more wonderful, than that the brain should
have its shape thus altered, without any apparent injury to its
functions.
There is an extensive trade carried on upon the Columbia, which must
have existed before the coast was frequented by foreign traders; but to
which the foreign trade has given a new impulse. The great emporium of
this trade is at the falls, the _Shilloots_ being the carriers between
the inhabitants above and below. The Indians of the Rocky Mountains
bring down bear's-grease, horses, and a few skins, which they exchange
for beads, pounded fish, and the roots of a kind of water-plant, which
are produced, in great abundance, in a tract of land between the
Multomah and a branch of the Columbia. The mode of obtaining these roots
is curious. A woman carries a canoe, large enough to contain herself,
and several bushels of them, to one of the ponds where the plants grow;
she goes into the water breast high, feels out the roots with her feet,
and separates the bulbs from them with her toes. These, on being freed
from the mud, float. The women often continue in the water at this
employment for many successive hours, even in the depth of winter. The
bulbs are about the size of a small potato, and, when roasted in wood
ashes, constitute a palatable food.
These Indians are a very ingenious race. Even with their own imperfect
tools, they make, in a few weeks, a canoe, which, with such implements,
might be thought the work of years. A canoe, however, is very highly
prized: it is considered of equal value with a wife, and is what the
lover generally gives a father in exchange for his daughter. The bow and
stern are ornamented with a sort of comb, and with grotesque figures of
men or animals, sometimes five feet high, composed of small pieces of
wood, skilfully inlaid and morticed, without a spike of any kind. Their
bowls or troughs are scooped out of a block of wood; in these they boil
their food. Their best manufacture is a sort of basket, of straw-work or
cedar bark, and bear-grass, so closely interwoven as to be water-tight.
Further south the natives roast their corn and pulse over a slow
charcoal-fire, in baskets of this description, moving the basket about
in such manner that it is not injured, though every grain within it is
completely browned.
Among these Indians the women are well treated, and enjoy an
extraordinary degree of influence. On many subjects their opinions are
consulted: in matters of trade, their advice is generally asked and
pursued. Sometimes they even take upon themselves a tone of authority;
and the labours of the family are almost equally divided. No account is
given by Captain Lewis of the superstitions of these people; and no
inquiry seems to have been made concerning their religious belief.
_Narrative of the return of Captains_ LEWIS _and_
CLARKE, _from the Pacific Ocean to St. Louis._
The commanders of the expedition were desirous of remaining on the coast
of the Pacific till the arrival of the annual trading ships, hoping from
them to be able to recruit their almost exhausted stores of merchandise;
but, though these were expected in April, it was found impossible to
wait. The elks, on which they chiefly depended for subsistence, had
retreated to the mountains; and, if the Indians could have sold them
food, they were too poor to purchase it. The whole stock of goods, on
which they had to depend, for the purchase of horses and food, during a
journey homeward, of nearly four thousand miles, was so much diminished,
that it might all have been tied in two pocket-handkerchiefs. Their
muskets, however, were in excellent order, and they had plenty of powder
and shot.
On the 23d of March, 1806, the canoes were loaded, and they took a final
leave of their encampment. Previously to their departure, they
deposited, in the hands of the Indian chiefs, some papers specifying the
dates of the arrival and departure of the expedition. This was done in a
hope that at least some one of them might find its way into a civilized
country. The course homeward was, during the first month, by water; the
canoes being dragged, or carried overland, in places where the current
of the Columbia was too strong to be navigated. On these occasions, the
travellers were exposed to much annoyance from the pilfering habits of
the Indians; and their provisions were so scanty that they were obliged
to subsist on dog's-flesh: a diet which, at first, was extremely
loathsome to them, but to which they in time became reconciled.
The difficulties of the navigation made it expedient for them to leave
the canoes at some distance below the junction of the _Columbia_ with
_Lewis's river_, after which they prosecuted their journey on horseback.
Proceeding in an easterly direction, they arrived, on the seventh of
May, within sight of the _Rocky Mountains_, and saw the tops of these
mountains completely covered with snow. Anxious, however, to cross them
as early as they could, they lost no time in recovering their horses
from the Chopunnish Indians, and in extracting their stores from the
hiding places in the ground. Still it was necessary for them to encamp
for a few weeks, that they might occupy themselves in hunting, and that
the health of the invalids might be reinstated.
Here Captains Lewis and Clarke practised physic among the natives, as
one means of supplying themselves with provisions. Their stock of
merchandise was reduced so low, that they were obliged to cut off the
buttons from their clothes, and to present them, with phials and small
tin boxes, as articles of barter with the Indians; and, by means of
these humble commodities, they were enabled to procure some roots and
bread, as provision during their passage over the Rocky Mountains, which
they commenced on the tenth of June.
Towards the middle of June the fall of the rivers showed that the great
body of snow on the mountains was at last melted; and they ventured to
leave their encampment, against the advice of several of the Indians.
They, however, soon found that they had been premature in their motions;
for, on the higher grounds, there was no appearance whatever of
vegetation. The snow, which covered the whole country, was indeed
sufficiently hard to bear the horses, but it was still ten or twelve
feet deep; so that a further prosecution of their journey was, at
present, impossible; and the travellers, after having deposited, in this
upper region, their baggage, and such provisions as they could spare,
reluctantly traced back their steps to the plain. There they remained
ten days; and, on the 26th, they again began to ascend the lofty ridge;
the snow on which had, in the interval, melted nearly four feet, leaving
still a depth of six or seven. They now implicitly followed the steps of
their guides, who traversed this trackless region with a kind of
instinctive sagacity: these men never hesitated respecting the path, and
were never embarrassed. In three days they once more reached the stream
which, in their former journey, they had named _Traveller's Rest Creek_.
Here Captains Lewis and Clarke agreed to separate, for the purpose of
taking a more comprehensive survey of the country in their journey
homeward. It was considered desirable to acquire a further knowledge of
the Yellow-stone, a large river which flows from the south-west, more
than one thousand miles before it reaches the Missouri; and it was of
importance to ascertain, more accurately than they had hitherto done,
the course of Maria's river.
The separation took place on the 3d of July; and Captain Lewis, holding
on an eastern course, crossed a large stream which flowed towards the
Columbia, and which had already been named _Clarke's river_. On the 18th
of July he came to _Maria's river_, the object of his search; and he
continued for several days, his route along its northern bank. After
having ascertained the course of this river, he again set out on his
journey homeward, that he might not lose the opportunity of returning
before the winter.
He and his companions were only four in number; and, in one part of
their journey, they had an alarming intercourse with a party of Indians.
Not very long after this they embarked on the _Missouri_; and, with the
aid of their oars and the current, they proceeded at the rate of between
sixty and eighty miles a day. On the 7th of August they reached the
mouth of the _Yellow-stone river_, the place of rendezvous, appointed
with Captain Clarke. Here, by a note stuck upon a pole, they were
informed that he had accomplished his voyage along that river, and would
wait for them lower down the Missouri.
Captain Clarke, on quitting the central encampment at _Traveller's Rest
Creek_, had marched in a southerly direction, and had traversed a
distance of one hundred and sixty-four miles, to the head of
_Jefferson's river_. This journey was performed, on horseback, and in
six days, over a country by no means difficult; so that, in future, the
passage of this elevated region will be divested of a considerable
portion of its terrors. He also discovered that the communication
between the _Upper Missouri_ and the _Yellow-stone river_, was attended
with little trouble; for Gallatin's river, one of the tributary streams
of the Missouri, approaches within eighteen miles of the Yellow-stone,
and, at a place, where the latter is completely navigable.
Being unable to find wood of sufficient magnitude for the formation of
canoes, Captain Clarke and his men were obliged to proceed on horseback,
about one hundred miles down the side of this river. At length they
succeeded in constructing boats, and sailed down the remainder of this
stream with great rapidity. On the 27th, at the distance of two hundred
miles from the Rocky Mountains, they beheld that elevated region for the
last time. The Yellow-stone being easy of navigation, they reached the
place of rendezvous earlier than they had expected.
The whole party being now assembled below the conflux of the
Yellow-stone and Missouri rivers, they prosecuted the remainder of their
voyage together; experiencing, in the prospect of home, and in the ease
with which they descended the river, a compensation for all their
fatigues; and receiving the visits of various tribes of Indians who
resided upon its banks.
The greatest change which was experienced by them, in their southward
progress, was that of climate. They had passed nearly two years, in a
cool, open country, and they were now descending into wooded plains,
eight or ten degrees further to the south, but differing in heat much
more than is usual in a correspondent distance in Europe. They were
likewise greatly tormented by musquitoes.
On landing at _La Charrette_, the first village on this side of the
United States, they were joyfully received by the inhabitants, who had
long abandoned all hopes of their return. On the 23d of September they
descended the Mississippi to _St. Louis_, which place they reached about
noon; having, in two years and nine months, completed a journey of
nearly nine thousand miles.
* * * * *
At St. Louis we shall resume the narrative of Mr. Pike, who, in the
month of July, 1806, set out from that place on an expedition westward,
through the immense territory of Louisiana, towards New Spain. The chief
objects of this expedition were to arrange an amicable treaty between
the Americans and Indians of this quarter; and to ascertain the
direction, extent, and navigation, of two great rivers, known by the
names of Arkansaw and Red River.
Eighteenth Day's Instruction.
WESTERN TERRITORY CONCLUDED.
_Narrative of Mr. Pike's Journey from St. Louis, through Louisiana, to
Santa Fé, New Spain._
The party engaged in this expedition, were Mr. Pike and another
lieutenant, a surgeon, a serjeant, two corporals, sixteen private
soldiers, and one interpreter. They had, under their charge, some
chiefs of the Osage and Pawnee nations, who, with several women and
children, had been redeemed from captivity, and now, to the number of
fifty-one, were about to be restored to their friends.
They set out from _St. Louis_ on the 15th of July, 1806, and proceeded,
in two boats, up the _Missouri_. About six miles from the village of
_St. Charles_, they passed a hill of solid coal, so extensive that it
would probably afford fuel sufficient for the whole population of
Louisiana.
Mr. Pike says that, every morning, he was awaked by the lamentations of
the savages who accompanied him. These invariably began to cry about
day-light, and continued to do so for an hour. On enquiry respecting
this practice, he was informed that it was customary, not only with
persons who had recently lost their friends; but also with others who
called to mind the loss of some friend, dead long before. They seemed to
be extremely affected: tears ran down their cheeks, and they sobbed
bitterly; but, when the hour was expired, they, in a moment, ceased
their cries, and dried their cheeks.
In their progress up the river, the Indians walked along the banks, and,
every night, encamped near the boats. On the 28th the boats reached the
mouth of the _Osage river_. For some distance the southern shore of the
Missouri had been hilly, and covered with trees; and on the north were
low bottoms and heavy timber. The soil was rich, and well adapted for
cultivation.
They entered the Osage, and encountered few difficulties in their voyage
up that river. From the shores, the hunters amply supplied the whole
party with provisions; deer, turkeys, geese, and game of different
kinds.
From the mouth of the Osage to that of the _Gravel river_, a distance of
one hundred and eighteen miles, the banks of the former are covered with
timber, which grows in a rich soil. Low hills, with rocks, alternately
border the eastern and western shores: the lower grounds have excellent
soil, and the whole adjacent country abounds in game. From the
Gravel-river to the _Yungar_, the Osage continues to exhibit the
appearance of a fertile and well-timbered country.
The Indians joined their friends on the 15th, after which Mr. Pike and
his party proceeded alone. On the ensuing day they passed the mouth of
the _Grand Fork_, which was nearly as wide as the Osage; and, soon
afterwards, reached the villages of the Osage Indians. The country
adjacent to these villages is extremely beautiful. Three branches of the
river wind round them, giving to their vicinity the advantages of wood
and water, and, at the same time, those of an extensive prairie, crowned
with rich and luxuriant grass and flowers, diversified by rising swells
and sloping lawns.
The _Osage Indians_, in language, habits, and many of their customs,
differ little from other tribes which inhabit the country near the
Missouri and Mississippi. They raise great quantities of corn, beans,
and pumpkins; and all the agricultural labour is performed by women. The
government is vested in a few of the chiefs, whose office is, in most
instances, hereditary; but these never undertake any affair of
importance, without first assembling the warriors, and proposing the
subject for discussion in council. The Osage Indians are divided into
classes: those of the principal class are warriors and hunters; and the
others are cooks and doctors. The last exercise the function of priests
or magicians; and, by pretended divinations, interpretations of dreams,
and magical performances, they have great influence in the councils of
the nation: they also exercise the office of town-criers. Many old
warriors assume the profession of cooks: these do not carry arms, and
are supported by the public, or by particular families to which they are
attached.
When a stranger enters the Osage village, he is received, in a
patriarchal style, at the lodge of the chief. He is then invited, by all
the great men of the village, to a feast. The cooks proclaim the feast,
in different parts of the village, "Come and eat: such a one gives a
feast, come and partake of his bounty." The dishes are generally boiled
sweet corn, served up in buffalo grease; or boiled meat and pumpkins.
From the Osage villages, Mr. Pike, and his men, accompanied by several
Indians, proceeded, on horseback, in a somewhat westerly direction,
towards the river Arkansaw. In some places the country was hilly, and
commanded beautiful prospects. The wild animals were so numerous, that
Mr. Pike, standing on one of the hills, beheld, at a single view,
buffaloes, elks, deer, and panthers. Beyond this they passed through
numerous herds of buffaloes, elks, and other animals. In many places the
country was very deficient in water.
On the 17th of September they reached a branch of the _Kanzes river_,
the water of which was strongly impregnated with salt, as was that of
many of the creeks. At some distance beyond this river, they were met by
a party of Pawnee Indians; one of whom wore a scarlet coat, and had two
medals: each of the others had a buffalo robe thrown over his naked
body.
From the eastern branch of the Kanzes river, to the village of the
Pawnee Indians, the prairies are low, the grass is high, the country
abounds in saline places, and the soil appears to be impregnated with
particles of nitre and of common salt. The immediate borders of the
river near the village, consist of lofty ridges; but this is an
exception to the general appearance of the country.
The _Pawnees_ reside on the rivers Platte and Kanzes. They are divided
into three tribes. Their form is slender, and their cheeks bones are
high. They are neither so brave nor so honest as their more northern
neighbours. Their government, like that of the Osage Indians, is an
hereditary aristocracy; but the power of the chiefs is extremely
limited. They cultivate the soil and raise corn and pumpkins: they also
breed horses, and have vast numbers of excellent animals. The houses or
huts of the Pawnees are circular, except at the part where the door is
placed; and, from this part, there is a projection of about fifteen
feet. The roofs are thatched with grass and earth, and have, at the top,
an aperture for the smoke to pass out: the fire is always made on the
ground, in the middle of the hut. In the interior there are, round the
walls, many small and neat apartments, constructed of wicker-work: these
are the sleeping places of the different members of the family. The
Pawnees are extremely addicted to gaming, and have, for that purpose, a
smooth piece of ground, about one hundred and fifty yards in length,
cleared at each end of their village.
On Monday, the 29th of September, Mr. Pike held a grand council with the
Pawnees; at which were present not fewer than four hundred warriors.
Some attempts were made, by the chief, to prevent the further progress
of the travellers; but Mr. Pike says, that they were not to be deterred
by any impediments that could be opposed to them by a band of savages.
Proceeding onward they came to several places which had evidently been
occupied by Spanish troops; and they were desirous of tracing the course
along which these troops had marched; but the marks of their footsteps
had been effaced by the numerous herds of buffaloes, which abound in
this part of the country.
On the 18th of October, the travellers crossed the _Arkansaw_. From the
Pawnee town, on the Kanzes river, to the Arkansaw, the country may be
termed mountainous; and it contains a vast number of buffaloes. In the
vicinity of this river it is, in many places, low and swampy.
The travellers were occupied several days in cutting down trees and
constructing canoes. During this time the hunters killed several
buffaloes, elks, and other animals. When the canoes were completed, Mr.
Pike dispatched Lieutenant Wilkinson, and three men, down the river,
with letters to the United States; and himself and the rest of his men
proceeded, on horseback, up the side of the river. On the 29th of
October, a considerable quantity of snow fell, and ice floated along the
current. Three days after this, they observed a numerous herd of wild
horses. When within about a quarter of a mile of them, the animals
approached, making the earth tremble, as if under a charge of cavalry.
They stopped; and, among them, were seen some beautiful bays, blacks,
and greys, and, indeed, horses of all colours. The next day the party
endeavoured to catch some of them, by riding up, and throwing nooses
over them. The horses stood, neighing and whinnying, till the assailants
approached within thirty or forty yards; but all attempts to ensnare
them were vain.
Buffaloes were so numerous, that Mr. Pike says he is confident there
were, at one time, more than three thousand within view. Through all the
region which the party had hitherto traversed, they had not seen more
than one cow-buffalo; but now the whole face of the country appeared to
be covered with cows. Numerous herds of them were seen nearly every day.
The course of the travellers still lay along the banks of the river;
which, in this part of the country, were covered with wood on both
sides; but no other species of trees were observed than cotton-wood. On
the 15th of November, a range of mountains was seen, at a great
distance, towards the right: they appeared like a small blue cloud; and
the party, with one accord, gave three cheers, to what they considered
to be the Mexican mountains.
On the 22d, a great number of Indians were seen in the act of running
from the woods, towards the strangers. Mr. Pike and his men advanced to
meet them; and observing that those in front, extended their hands, and
appeared to be unarmed, he alighted from his horse. But he had no sooner
done this, than one of the savages mounted the horse, and rode off with
it. Two other horses were taken away in a similar manner; but, when
tranquillity was restored, these were all afterwards recovered. This was
a war-party of the _Grand Pawnees_, who had been in search of an Indian
nation called Jetans; but, not finding them, they were now on their
return. They were about sixty in number, armed partly with guns, and
partly with bows, arrows, and lances. An attempt was made to
tranquillize them, by assembling them in a circle, offering to smoke
with them the pipe of peace, and presenting them with tobacco, knives,
fire-steels, and flints. With some difficulty they were induced to
accept these presents, for they had demanded many more; and, when the
travellers began to load their horses, they stole whatever they could
carry away.
A few days after this, Mr. Pike and his men reached the Blue Mountain,
which they had seen on the 15th; and, with great difficulty, some of
them ascended it. Along the sides, which were, in many places, rocky,
and difficult of ascent, grew yellow and pitch pine-trees, and the
summit was several feet deep in snow.
From the entrance of the _Arkansaw_ into the mountains, to its source,
it is alternately bounded by perpendicular precipices, and small, narrow
prairies. In many places, the river precipitates itself over rocks, so
as to be at one moment visible only in the foaming and boiling of its
waters, and at the next disappearing in the chasms of the overhanging
precipices. The length of this river is one thousand nine hundred and
eighty-one miles, from its junction with the Mississippi to the
mountains; and thence to its source one hundred and ninety-two; making
its total length two thousand one hundred and seventy-three miles. With
light boats it is navigable all the way to the mountains. Its borders
may be termed the terrestrial paradise of the wandering savages. Of all
the countries ever visited by civilized man, there probably never was
one that produced game in greater abundance than this.
By the route of the Arkansaw and the _Rio Colorado_ of California, Mr.
Pike is of opinion that a communication might be established betwixt
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The land-carriage, at the utmost, would
not exceed two hundred miles; and this might be rendered as easy as
along the public highways over the Alleghany Mountains. The Rio Colorado
is, to the great Gulf of California, what the Mississippi is to the Gulf
of Mexico; and is navigable for ships of considerable burden.
The travellers left the vicinity of the Arkansaw on the 30th of
November; and, though the ground was covered with snow, and they
suffered excessively from the cold, they still persevered in their
journey, and in their labour of examining and ascertaining the courses
of the rivers. They killed a great number of buffaloes and turkeys.
Steering their course in a south-westerly direction, for the head of the
Red river, one of the party found a camp which had been occupied by at
least three thousand Indians: it had a large cross in the middle. They
subsequently found many evacuated camps of Indians.
On the 18th of December, they came to a stream, about twenty-five yards
in width, which they erroneously supposed to be a branch of the Red
river. Its current flowed with great rapidity, and its bed was full of
rocks. On ascending this river, to examine its source, it was found to
run close to the mountains, in a narrow and rocky channel; and to have
its banks bordered with pine-trees, cedar, and other kinds of timber.
The whole party suffered extremely from cold; their clothing being
frozen stiff, and their limbs considerably benumbed.
Their situation, on Christmas-day, was not very enviable. All the food
they possessed, was buffalo-flesh, without salt. Before this time, they
had been accustomed to some degree of comfort, and had experienced even
some enjoyments: but now, at the most inclement season of the year, and
eight hundred miles distant from the frontiers of the United States, not
one person was properly clad for the winter; many were even without
blankets, having cut them up for socks and other articles; and all were
obliged to lie down at night, upon the snow or wet ground, one side
burning and the other frozen. For shoes and clothing they were obliged
to adopt a miserable substitute in raw buffalo hides.
In their further progress, they suffered excessive hardships for several
days. Food became so scarce, that they were obliged to separate into
eight different parties, in order to procure subsistence. The roads were
so mountainous, stony, and slippery, that it was with the greatest
difficulty the horses could be prevented from stumbling; and many of
them fell. In one instance, the whole party were four days without food;
and some of them had their feet frozen. At length, they were obliged to
leave the horses; and each man had to carry a heavy load, and, at the
same time, to march through snow two feet and half deep. Several of the
men, unable to keep pace with the rest, were left behind.
On the 27th of January, Mr. Pike observed, at a distance, a large river,
which he imagined to be the Red river; and, on the 30th, he reached its
banks. This, afterwards, proved to be the _Rio del Norte_. They
proceeded along its banks, for about eighteen miles; and, at length,
came to a spot, where they established a temporary residence, whilst
they sent men to assist, and collect together the unfortunate stragglers
who had been left in the rear.
The region they had traversed betwixt the Arkansaw and the Rio del
Norte, was covered with mountains and small prairies. From the Missouri
to the head of the Osage river, a distance of about three hundred miles,
Mr. Pike says that the country will admit of a numerous, extensive, and
compact population. From the Osage to the rivers Kanzes, La Platte, and
Arkansaw, the country could sustain only a limited population; but the
inhabitants might, with advantage, rear cattle, horses, sheep, and
goats.
On the 16th of February, whilst Mr. Pike and one of his men were
hunting, in the vicinity of their residence, they observed, at a
distance, two horsemen, armed with lances. They proved to be a Spanish
dragoon and an Indian, who had been sent from Santa Fé, a town of New
Spain, about four days before. On the 17th, some of the stragglers
arrived: several of them had lost the joints of their toes, by the
intensity of the frost, and were rendered cripples for life.
The Spanish dragoon and Indian had returned to Santa Fé; and the report
which they made of the appearance of the strangers, induced the governor
to send out fifty dragoons, and fifty mounted militia, for the purpose
of ascertaining their state and numbers. In an interview which took
place with the commanders of these troops, Mr. Pike learnt that the
river, on the bank of which he had encamped, was the Rio del Norte, and
not the Red river, as he had imagined. The officers stated to him that a
hundred mules and horses had been sent to convey him, his men, and
baggage, to Santa Fé; and that the governor was anxious to see them in
that town, to receive an explanation respecting their business on his
frontiers.
Mr. Pike and some of his men accompanied the officers to Santa Fé, while
others were left behind, to wait the arrival of those who had not yet
come up.
In their progress, they were treated, in all the villages, with the
utmost hospitality. On their march, they were frequently stopped by
women, who invited them into their houses to eat; and, in every place
where they halted, there was a contest who should be their hosts. Those
that had suffered by having their limbs frozen, were conducted home by
old men, who caused their daughters to dress the sores, and to provide
for them victuals and drink; and, at night, they gave them the best bed
in the house.
In the evening of the 3d of March, Mr. Pike reached _Santa Fé_. This
city, the capital of New Mexico, is situated along the banks of a small
creek, which issues from the mountains, and runs westward to the Rio
del Norte. It is about a mile in length, and not more than three
streets in width. The houses are, generally, only one story high, and
have flat roofs. There are, in Santa Fé, two churches, the magnificence
of whose steeples forms an extraordinary contrast to the miserable
appearance of the other buildings. On the north side of the town is a
square, constructed for soldiers' houses, each flank of which contains
from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and forty. The public square is
in the centre of the town. On one side of it is the palace or
government-house, with the quarters for the guards; and the other sides
are occupied by the houses of the clergy, and public officers. Most of
the houses have sheds before them, which occasion the streets to be very
narrow. The number of inhabitants in Santa Fé, is supposed to be about
four thousand five hundred.
On Mr. Pike and his men entering this town, the crowd assembled to view
them was excessively great: and, indeed, their extremely miserable
appearance seems to have excited much curiosity. This may easily be
accounted for. After they had left the Arkansaw, they had been obliged
to carry all their baggage on their backs; and, consequently, the useful
were preferred to the ornamental articles. The ammunition, tools,
leather-leggings, boots, and moccasins, had been considered absolutely
requisite. They had left behind their uniform clothing; and, when they
entered Santa Fé, Mr. Pike was dressed in a pair of blue trowsers,
moccasins, a blanket-coat, and a red cap. His men had leggings, cloths
round their waists, and leather coats: there was not a hat among the
whole party. This appearance was extremely mortifying to them all,
especially as soldiers; and it made no very favourable impression on the
people of Santa Fé. They were asked, by many of the common people,
whether they had lived in houses, or in camps, like the Indians; or
whether, in their country, the people wore hats.
They were conducted to the government-house, where they dismounted. On
entering it they were conducted through various rooms, the floors of all
which were covered with the skins of buffaloes, bears, or other animals.
Here they underwent an examination, by the governor, respecting their
objects and number. The conference terminated amicably; but the governor
informed Mr. Pike that he must be conducted to Chihuahua, a town in the
province of New Biscay, and upwards of three hundred leagues distant.
Nineteenth Day's Instruction.
MEXICO OR NEW SPAIN.
The Spanish possessions in North America, extend from the isthmus of
Darien, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, to the distance of more
than two thousand two hundred miles. One half of them is situated under
the burning sky of the tropics, and the other belongs to the temperate
zone. Their whole interior forms an immense plain, elevated from six to
eight thousand feet above the level of the adjacent seas. The chain of
_mountains_ which constitutes this vast plain, is a continuation of that
which, under the name Andes, runs through South America. They are, in
general, little interrupted by valleys, and, for the most part, their
declivity is very gentle. In consequence of this elevation, the Mexican
provinces, situated under the torrid zone, enjoy a cold rather than a
temperate _climate_. The interior provinces, in the temperate zone,
have, like the rest of North America, a climate essentially different
from that of the same parallels in the European continent. A remarkable
inequality prevails between the temperature of the different seasons:
German winters succeed to Neapolitan and Sicilian summers.
This country suffers many inconveniences from a want of water, and
particularly of navigable rivers. The Rio del Norte and the Rio Colorado
are almost the only _rivers_ of any importance. The _lakes_ with which
Mexico abounds, are merely the remains of immense basins of water, which
appear to have formerly existed on the high and extensive plains of the
Cordilleras. The largest of these, the _Lake of Chapala_, contains
nearly one hundred and sixty square leagues, and is about twice as large
as the lake of Constance.
A great portion of high land, in the interior of New Spain, is destitute
of vegetation; and some of the loftiest summits are clad with perpetual
snow. This country is not so much disturbed by earthquakes as several
parts of South America; for, in the whole of New Spain there are only
five _volcanos_; Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Tuxtla, Jorullo, and Colima.
The _volcano of Jorullo_, in the province of Valladolid, was formed
during the night of the 29th of September, 1759. The great catastrophe,
in which this mountain rose from the earth, and by which a considerable
space of ground changed its appearance, is, perhaps, one of the most
extraordinary physical revolutions in the history of the earth. Geology
points out parts of the ocean, where, at recent periods, near the
Azores, in the Egean Sea, and to the south of Iceland, small volcanic
islands have arisen above the surface of the water; but it gives no
example of the formation, amidst a thousand small burning cones, of a
mountain of scoria, near seventeen hundred feet in height, above the
adjoining plain. Till the middle of the year 1759, fields cultivated
with sugar-canes and indigo occupied the extent of ground between the
two brooks called Cultamba and San Pedro. In the month of June, a
subterraneous noise was heard. Hollow sounds of most alarming
description, were accompanied by frequent earthquakes, which succeeded
one another for fifty or sixty days, to the great consternation of the
inhabitants. From the beginning of September every thing seemed to
announce the complete re-establishment of tranquillity; when, in the
night between the 28th and 29th, the subterraneous noises recommenced.
The affrighted Indians fled to the mountains; and a tract of ground,
from three to four square miles in extent, which goes by the name of
_Malpays_, rose up in the shape of a bladder. The bounds of this
convulsion are still distinguishable in the fractured strata. The
Malpays, near its edges, is only about forty feet above the old level of
the plain; but the convexity of the ground thus thrown up, increases
progressively, towards the centre, to an elevation of more than five
hundred and twenty feet.
The persons who witnessed this astonishing catastrophe, assert that
flames were seen to issue forth, for an extent of more than half a
square league; that fragments of burning rocks were thrown up to
prodigious heights; and that, through a thick cloud of ashes, illumined
by the volcanic fire, the softened surface of the earth was seen to
swell up like an agitated sea. The rivers of Cultamba and San Pedro
precipitated themselves into the burning chasms. The decomposition of
the water contributed to invigorate the flames, which were
distinguishable at a vast distance. Eruptions of mud, and other
substances, indicated that subterraneous water had no small share in
producing this extraordinary revolution. Thousands of small cones, from
six to nine feet in height, called by the Indians "hornitos," or ovens,
issued forth from the Malpays. Each small cone is a "fumorola," from
which a thick vapour ascends; and in many of them a subterraneous noise
is heard, which appears to announce the proximity of a fluid in
ebullition. In the midst of the ovens six large masses, elevated from
one thousand three hundred to one thousand six hundred and forty feet
above the old level of the plains, sprung up from a chasm. The most
elevated of these is the great volcano of Jorullo. It is continually
burning, and has thrown up an immense quantity of scorified and
basaltic lavas, containing fragments of primitive rocks. These great
eruptions of the central volcano continued till the month of February,
1760. In the following year they became gradually less frequent. The
Indians, frightened at the horrible noises of the new volcano, had
abandoned all the villages, within seven or eight leagues of it. They,
however, gradually became accustomed to them, and returned to their
cottages. So violent were the eruptions of this mountain, that the roofs
of houses in Queretaro, though at a distance of more than forty-eight
leagues, in a straight line from the scene of explosion, were sometimes
covered with ashes.
The Mexican _population_ consists of seven races, 1. Individuals born in
Europe; 2. Creoles, or Whites of European extraction, born in America;
3. Mesti zos, or descendants of whites and Indians; 4. Mulattoes,
descendants of whites and negroes; 5. Zambos, descendants of negroes and
Indians; 6. Indians, or the copper-coloured indigenous race; and, 7.
African negroes.
The number of _Indians_, including those only who have no mixture of
European or African blood, are more than two millions and a half in
number; and these appear to constitute about two-fifths of the whole
population of Mexico. They bear a general resemblance to the Indians of
Canada, Florida, Peru, and Brazil: they have a similar swarthy and
copper-coloured skin, smooth hair, little beard, squat body, long eyes,
with the corners directed upward towards the temples, prominent cheek
bones, and thick lips. There is a great diversity in their language, but
they appear to have been all descendants from the same original stock.
It is probable that these Indians would live to a great age, did they
not often injure their constitution by drunkenness. Their intoxicating
liquors are rum, a fermentation of maize, and the root of the jatropha;
and especially a wine which is made from the juice of the great
American aloe. The police, in the city of Mexico, sends round tumbrils,
to collect such drunkards as are found lying in the streets. These are
treated like dead bodies, and are carried to the principal guard-house.
The next morning an iron ring is put round each of their ancles, and, as
a punishment, they are made to cleanse the streets for three days.
The Mexican Indian, when not under the influence of intoxicating
liquors, is grave, melancholic, and silent. The most violent passions
are never depicted in his features; and it is sometimes frightful to see
him pass, at once, from a state of apparent repose, to the most violent
and unrestrained agitation. It is stated that these Indians have
preserved, from their ancestors, a particular relish for carving in wood
and stone; and that it is astonishing to see what they are able to
execute with a bad knife, on the hardest wood. Many Indian children,
educated in the college of the capital, or instructed at the academy of
painting, founded by the king of Spain, have considerably distinguished
themselves, but without leaving the beaten track pursued by their
forefathers; they chiefly display great aptitude in the arts of
imitation; and in the purely mechanical arts.
The _Spanish inhabitants_ and the _Creoles_ are noted for hospitality,
generosity, and sobriety; but they are extremely deficient in energy,
patriotism, enterprise, and independence of character. The women have
black eyes and hair, and fine teeth: they are of dark colour, full habit
of body, and have, in general, bad figures. They usually wear short
jackets and petticoats, high-heeled shoes, and no head-dress. As an
upper garment they have a silk wrapper, which, when they are in the
presence of men, they affect to bring over their faces. In the towns on
the frontiers and adjacent to the sea-coast, many of the ladies wear
gowns, like those of our country-women. The lower classes of men are
generally dressed in broad-brimmed hats, short coats, large waistcoats,
smallclothes open at the knees, and a kind of boot or leather wrapper
bound round the leg, and gartered at the knee. The spurs of the
gentlemen are clumsy: they are ornamented with raised work; and the
straps are embroidered with gold and silver thread. The Spanish
Americans are always ready to mount their horses; and the inhabitants of
the interior provinces pass nearly half their day on horseback. In the
towns, and among the higher ranks, the men dress in the European style.
The _amusements_ of this people are music, singing, dancing, and
gambling: the latter is, indeed, officially prohibited; but the
prohibition is not much attended to. At every large town there is a
public walk, where the ladies and gentlemen meet and sing songs. The
females have fine voices, and sing French, Italian, and Spanish music,
the whole company joining in chorus. In their houses the ladies play on
the guitar, and accompany this instrument with their voices. They either
sit on the carpet cross-legged, or loll on a sofa: to sit upright, on a
chair, appears to put them to great inconvenience.
Both in _eating_ and _drinking_ the Spanish Americans are remarkably
temperate. Early in the morning those of the higher class have
chocolate. At twelve they dine on meat, fowls, and fish; after which
different kinds of confectionary are placed on the table; they drink a
few glasses of wine, sing a few songs, and then retire to take their
_siesta_ or afternoon nap. The latter is a practice common both to rich
and poor: the consequence of it is that, about two o'clock, every day,
the windows and doors of the town are all closed, the streets are
deserted, and the stillness of midnight reigns throughout. At four they
rise, wash and dress, and prepare for the dissipation of the evening.
About eleven o'clock refreshments are offered; but few take any thing
except a little wine and water and candied sugar.
The _commerce_ of New Spain, with Europe and the United States, is
carried on through the port of Vera Cruz only; and with the East Indies
and South America, through that of Acapulco. But all the commercial
transactions, and all the productions and manufactures, are subjected to
such severe restrictions, that they are at present of little importance
to the prosperity of the country. Were the various bays and harbours of
Mexico and California to be opened to the trade of the world; and were
correct regulations to be adopted, New Spain might become both wealthy
and powerful. Many parts of the country abound in iron ore, yet iron and
steel articles, of every description, are brought from Europe; for the
manufacturing or working of iron is here strictly prohibited. This
occasions the requisite utensils of husbandry, arms, and tools, to be
enormously dear; and forms a great check to the progress of agriculture,
and to improvements in manufactures.
The _ancient Mexicans_ preserved the memory of events by figures painted
on skins, cloth, or the bark of trees. These hieroglyphical and
symbolical characters, being considered by the ignorant and bigoted
Spaniards to be monuments of idolatry, the first bishop of Mexico
destroyed as many of them as could be collected. In consequence of this
barbarous procedure, the knowledge of remote events was lost, except
what could be derived from tradition, and from some fragments of those
paintings which eluded the search of the monks.
With regard to the _public edifices_ of the Mexicans: their temples were
merely mounds of earth faced with stone; and it is probable that their
other public buildings were equally rude. The ancient natives bestowed
little attention on agriculture, and were strangers to the use of money;
but their ornaments of gold and silver indicated considerable ingenuity.
They were acquainted with the manufacture of paper, of coarse
cotton-cloth, glass, and earthenware; and they possessed the arts of
casting metals, of making mosaic work with shells and feathers, of
spinning and weaving the hair of animals, and of dying with indelible
colours.
The _religion_ of the ancient Mexicans, like that of all unenlightened
nations, seems to have been founded chiefly on fear; and consisted of a
system of gloomy rites and practices, the object of which was to avert
the evils that they suffered or dreaded. They had some notion of an
invisible supreme Being; but their chief anxiety was to deprecate the
wrath of certain imaginary malignant spirits, whom they regarded as the
enemies of mankind. They worshipped idols, formed of wood and stone; and
decorated their temples with the figures of serpents, tigers, and other
destructive animals. They believed in the immortality of the soul; but
their notions of a future state may be collected from their funeral
rites: the bodies, or the ashes of the deceased, were generally buried
with whatever was judged necessary for their accommodation or comfort in
the other world, where it was believed they would experience the same
desires, and be engaged in the same occupations, as in this. The
religion established by the Spaniards is the Roman Catholic; and it is
computed that one-fifth part of the Spanish inhabitants are
ecclesiastics, monks, and nuns.
The _Spanish government_ in America is vested in officers called
viceroys, who represent the person of their sovereign; and who possess
his royal prerogatives, within the precincts of their own territories.
In its present state, New Spain is divided into twelve intendancies, and
three districts, which are called provinces[2].
FOOTNOTES:
[2] For particulars respecting the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards,
see "Biographical Conversations on Eminent Voyagers," p. 59 to 73.
Twentieth Day's Instruction.
MEXICO CONTINUED.
_Narrative of Mr. PIKE'S Journey from Santa Fé to Montelovez._
Mr. Pike and his men were escorted from Santa Fé by a Spanish officer,
and a troop of soldiers. On Thursday, the 5th of March, they arrived at
a village called _St. Domingo_. The inhabitants of this place were about
a thousand in number; and the chiefs were distinguished by canes, with
silver heads and black tassels. Mr. Pike was permitted to visit the
church; and he was much astonished to find, enclosed in mud-brick walls,
many rich paintings, and a statue of the patron saint, as large as life,
and elegantly ornamented with gold and silver.
On the ensuing day, the party marched down the eastern side of the Rio
del Norte, the snow being still a foot deep. Near the village of
_Albuquerque_, they observed that the inhabitants were beginning to open
the canals, for the purpose of letting in the water of the river, to
fertilize the lands. They saw men, women, and children engaged in the
joyful labour, which was to crown, with rich abundance, their future
harvest, and to ensure them plenty for the ensuing year. A little below
Albuquerque, the Rio del Norte was four hundred yards wide, but not more
than three feet deep.
In their journey southward, they passed through several villages. One of
these, called _Sibilleta_, was in the form of a regular square,
appearing, on the outside, like an immense mud-wall. All the doors and
windows faced the interior of the square; and it was the neatest and
most regular village Mr. Pike had ever seen.
Beyond this village, the party met a caravan, consisting of three
hundred men, escorted by an officer and thirty-five or forty troops, who
were proceeding, with about fifteen thousand sheep, to the different
provinces. They afterwards met a caravan of fifty men, and about two
hundred horses, laden with traffic, for New Mexico. On the 21st of March
they arrived at the _Passo del Norte_: the road now led them through a
rough and mountainous country; and passing through _Carracal_, and some
other villages, they reached _Chihuahua_ on the 2d of April.
They were conducted into the presence of the commanding-officer of the
place, before whom Mr. Pike underwent an examination, as he had
previously done at Santa Fé. He was treated with great apparent respect,
and was offered both assistance and money. He afterwards visited in the
houses of some of the principal inhabitants. At the house of the
governor, when wine was put on the table, after dinner, the company was
entertained with songs in the French, Italian, Spanish, and English
languages.
There are, at Chihuahua, and in its vicinity, fifteen mines; thirteen of
silver, one of gold, and one of copper; the furnaces for all of which
are in the suburbs of the town, and present, except on Sundays, volumes
of smoke, rising in every direction. Chihuahua is surrounded by piles of
cinders, from ten to fifteen feet in height. In the public square, stand
the church, the royal treasury, the town-house, and the richest shops;
and, at the western extremity of the town, are two other churches, an
hospital, and the military academy. About a mile south of the town, is a
large aqueduct. The principal church of Chihuahua is a most superb
edifice: its whole front is covered with statues of saints; figures of
different saints are set in niches of the wall; and the windows, doors,
&c. are ornamented with sculpture. The decorations in the interior are
said to be immensely rich. On the south of the town is a public walk,
formed by three rows of trees, the branches of which nearly form a
junction over the heads of the passengers below. At different distances,
there are seats for persons to repose themselves upon; and at each end
of the walks, are circular seats, on, which, in the evenings, the
inhabitants amuse themselves in singing to the music of guitars. This
city contains about eleven thousand inhabitants.
After a residence, in Chihuahua, of somewhat more than three weeks, Mr.
Pike received an intimation that he and his men would be escorted out of
the country. Accordingly, on the 28th of April, he was accompanied,
towards the frontier, by a Spanish officer. Near Chihuahua they passed a
small ridge of mountains, and then encamped in a hollow. At the distance
of about fifty miles they reached the river _Florida_; on the banks of
which are many important settlements, and well-timbered lands. One of
the plantations on this river, extended thirty leagues; and had been
valued at three hundred thousand dollars.
The country through which they now passed was mountainous. On the 11th
of May, they reached _Mauperne_, a village situated at the foot of the
mountains, and near which eight or nine valuable copper-mines were
worked; but the mass of the people were in a starving and wretched
state. The proprietor of the mines, however, gave the travellers an
elegant repast.
They pursued their march three miles further, to a station, on a little
stream, which flowed through gardens, and formed a terrestrial paradise.
Here they remained all day, and at night slept under the shade of the
fig-trees. In the morning, Mr. Pike was awakened by the singing of the
birds, and the perfume of the trees around. This place, however, was no
doubt rendered the more interesting to the travellers, in consequence of
their having previously suffered much inconvenience from want of water.
On the 20th, they arrived at the _Hacienda of Polloss_, a handsome
place, at which the Marquis de San Miguel, a wealthy nobleman, who
possessed extensive property in this part of New Spain, usually passed
the summer. The Hacienda of Polloss is a square enclosure of about three
hundred feet: the building is no more than one story high; but some of
the apartments are very elegantly furnished. In the centre of the square
is a fountain, which throws out water from eight spouts. There is also,
at this place, a handsome church, which, with its ornaments, is said to
have cost at least twenty thousand dollars. The inhabitants are about
two thousand in number.
_Montelovez_, situated on the banks of a small stream, is about a mile
in length. It has two public squares, seven churches, some
powder-magazines, mills, a royal hospital, and barracks. The number of
inhabitants is about three thousand five hundred. This city is
ornamented with public walks, columns, and fountains; and is one of the
handsomest places in New Spain[3].
South-west from Montelovez stands _Durango_, the chief city of the
province of Biscay. In the vicinity of this place are many rich and
valuable mines; and the soil is so fertile as to produce abundant crops
of wheat, maize, and fruit. The climate is mild and healthy. Durango
contains about twelve thousand inhabitants; and has four convents and
three churches.
_A Description of the City of Mexico._
This magnificent city is the capital of New Spain, and the residence of
the viceroy. In its _situation_ it possesses many important advantages.
Standing on an isthmus, which is washed on one side by the Atlantic
Ocean, and on the other by the South-sea, it might possess a powerful
influence over the political events which agitate the world. A king of
Spain, resident at this capital, might, in six weeks, transmit his
orders to Europe, and, in three weeks, to the Philippine islands in
Asia. There are, however, difficulties to be encountered, arising from
the unfavourable state of the coasts, and the want of secure harbours.
During several months in the year, these coasts are visited by tempests.
The hurricanes, also, which occur in the months of September, October,
and March, and which sometimes last for three or four successive days,
are very tremendous.
Mexico was originally founded in the lake of Tezcuco; and, at the time
when the Spaniards first invaded America, it was a magnificent capital.
Cortez, describing it in the year 1520, says, that it was in the midst
of a salt-water lake, which had its tides, like the ocean; and that,
from the city to the continent, there was a distance of two leagues.
Four dikes or embankments, each two lances broad, led to the city. The
principal streets were narrow: some of them had navigable canals running
along them, furnished with bridges, wide enough for ten men on
horseback, to pass at the same time. The market-place was surrounded
with an immense portico, under which were sold all sorts of merchandise,
eatables, ornaments made of gold, silver, lead, pewter, precious stones,
bones, shells, and feathers; earthenware, leather, and spun cotton. In
some places were exposed to sale hewn stone, tiles, and timber for
building; in others game; and, in others, roots, garden-stuff, and
fruit. There were houses where barbers shaved the head, with razors made
of obsidian, a volcanic substance not much unlike bottle-glass; and
there were others, resembling our apothecary-shops, where prepared
medicines, unguents, and plasters were sold. The market abounded with so
many things, that Cortez was unable to name them all. To avoid
confusion, every species of merchandise was sold in a separate place. In
the middle of the great square was a house, which he calls
_L'Audiencia_; and in which ten or twelve persons sate every day, to
determine any disputes which might arise respecting the sale of goods.
The city was divided into four _quarters_: this division is still
preserved, in the limits assigned to the quarters of St. Paul, St.
Sebastian, St. John, and St. Mary; and the present streets have, for the
most part, the same direction as the old ones. But what gives to this
city a peculiar and distinctive character is, that it is entirely on the
continent, between the extremities of the two lakes of Tezcuco and
Chalco. This has been occasioned by the gradual draining of the great
lake, and the consequent drying up of the waters around the city. Hence
Mexico is now two miles and half from the banks of the former, and five
miles and half from those of the latter.
Adorned with numerous _teocallis_, (or temples,) like so many Mahometan
steeples, surrounded with water and embankments, founded on islands
covered with verdure, and receiving, hourly, in its streets, thousands
of boats, which vivified the lake, the ancient Mexico, according to the
accounts of the first conquerors, must have resembled some of the cities
of Holland, China, or the Delta of Lower Egypt.
As reconstructed by the Spaniards, it exhibits, at the present day,
perhaps a less vivid, though a more august and majestic appearance, than
the ancient city. With the exception of Petersburg, Berlin,
Philadelphia, and some quarters of Westminster, there does not exist a
place of the same extent, which can be compared to the capital of New
Spain, for the uniform level of the ground on which it stands, for the
regularity and breadth of the streets, and the extent of its public
places. The architecture is, for the most part, in a pure style; and
many of the edifices are of a very beautiful structure. The exterior of
the houses is not loaded with ornaments. Two sorts of hewn stone, give
to the Mexican buildings an air of solidity, and sometimes even of
magnificence. There are none of those wooden balconies and galleries to
be seen, which so much disfigure all the European cities in both the
Indies. The balustrades and gates are all of iron, ornamented with
bronze; and the houses, instead of roofs, have terraces, like those in
Italy, and other southern countries of the old continent.
Mexico has, of late, received many additional embellishments. An
edifice, for the School of Mines, which was built at an expence of more
than £.120,000 sterling, would adorn the principal places of Paris or
London. Two great palaces have been constructed by Mexican artists,
pupils of the Academy of Fine Arts. One of these has a beautiful
interior, ornamented with columns.
But, notwithstanding the progress of the arts, within the last thirty
years, it is much less from the grandeur and beauty of the monuments,
than from the breadth and straightness of the streets; and much less
from its edifices, than from its uniform regularity, its extent and
position, that the capital of New Spain attracts the admiration of
Europeans. M. De Humboldt had successively visited, within a very short
space of time, Lima, Mexico, Philadelphia, Washington, Paris, Rome,
Naples, and the largest cities of Germany; and notwithstanding
unavoidable comparisons, of which several might be supposed
disadvantageous to the capital of Mexico, there was left on his mind, a
recollection of grandeur, which he principally attributed to the
majestic character of its situation, and the beauty of the surrounding
scenery.
In fact, nothing can present a more rich and varied appearance than the
_valley of Mexico_, when, in a fine summer morning, a person ascends one
of the towers of the cathedral, or the adjacent hill of Chapoltepec. A
beautiful vegetation surrounds this hill. From its summit, the eye
wanders over a vast plain of richly-cultivated fields, which extend to
the very feet of colossal mountains, that are covered with perpetual
snow, The city appears as if washed by the waters of the lake of
Tezcuco, whose basin, surrounded by villages and hamlets, brings to mind
the most beautiful lakes of the mountains of Switzerland. Large avenues
of elms and poplars lead, in every direction, to the capital; and two
aqueducts, constructed over arches of great elevation, cross the plain,
and exhibit an appearance equally agreeable and interesting.
Mexico is remarkable for its excellent police. Most of the _streets_
have broad pavements; and they are clean, and well lighted. Water is,
every where, to be had; but it is brackish, like the water of the lake.
There are, however, two _aqueducts_, by which the city receives
fresh-water, from distant springs. Some remains of the _dikes_ or
_embankments_, are still to be seen: they, at present, form great paved
causeys, across marshy ground; and, as they are considerably elevated,
they possess the double advantage, of admitting the passage of
carriages, and restraining the overflowings of the lake. This city has
six principal _gates_; and is surrounded by a ditch, but is without
walls.
The objects which chiefly attract the attention of strangers, are 1. The
_Cathedral_, which is partly in the Gothic style of architecture, and
has two towers, ornamented with pilasters and statues, of very beautiful
symmetry. 2. The _Treasury_, which adjoins to the palace of the
viceroys: from this building, since the beginning of the 16th century,
more than 270 millions sterling, in gold and silver coin, have been
issued. 3. The _Convents_. 4. The _Hospital_, or rather the two united
hospitals, of which one maintains six hundred, and the other eight
hundred children and old people. 5. The _Acordada_, a fine edifice, of
which the prisons are spacious and well aired. 6. The _School of Mines_.
7. The _Botanical Garden_, in one of the courts of the viceroy's palace.
8. The edifices of the _University_ and the _Public Library_, which,
however, are very unworthy of so great and ancient an establishment. 9.
The _Academy of Fine Arts_.
Mexico is the see of an archbishop, and contains twenty-three convents
for monks, and fifteen for nuns. Its whole population is estimated at
one hundred and forty thousand persons.
On the north-side of the city, near the suburbs, is a _public walk_,
which forms a large square, having a basin in the middle, and where
eight walks terminate.
The _markets_ of Mexico are well supplied with eatables; particularly
with roots and fruit. It is an interesting spectacle, which may be
enjoyed every morning at sunrise, to see these provisions, and a great
quantity of flowers, brought by Indians, in boats, along the canals.
Most of the roots are cultivated on what are called _chinampas_, or
"floating gardens." These are of two sorts: one moveable, and driven
about by the winds, and the other fixed and attached to the shore. The
first alone merit the denomination of floating-gardens.
Simple lumps of earth, in lakes or rivers, carried away from the banks,
have given rise to the invention of chinampas. The floating-gardens, of
which very many were found by the Spaniards, when they first invaded
Mexico, and of which many still exist in the lake of Chalco, were rafts
formed of reeds, rushes, roots, and branches of underwood. The Indians
cover these light and well connected materials with a black mould, which
becomes extremely fertile. The chinampas sometimes contain the cottage
of the Indian, who acts as guard for a group of floating gardens. When
removed from one side of the banks to the other, they are either towed
or are pushed with long poles. Every chinampa forms an oblong square
about three hundred feet in length, and eighteen or nineteen feet broad.
Narrow ditches, communicating symmetrically between them, separate these
squares. The mould fit for cultivation rises about three feet above the
surface of the surrounding water. On these chinampas are cultivated
beans, peas, pimento, potatoes, artichokes, cauliflowers, and a great
variety of other vegetables. Their sides are generally ornamented with
flowers, and sometimes with hedges of rose-bushes. The promenade in
boats, around the chinampas of the river Istracalco, is one of the most
agreeable amusements that can be enjoyed in the environs of Mexico. The
vegetation is extremely vigorous, on a soil which is continually
refreshed with water.
The _Hill of Chapoltepec_, near Mexico, was chosen by the young viceroy
Galvez, as the site of a villa for himself and his successors. The
castle has been finished externally, but the apartments were not
completed when M. de Humboldt was here. This building cost the king of
Spain more than £.62,000 sterling.
With respect to the two great _lakes_, Tezcuco and Chalco, which are
situated in the valley of Mexico, one is of fresh water, and the other
salt. They are separated by a narrow range of mountains, which rise in
the middle of the plain; and their waters mingle together, in a strait
between the hills. On both these lakes there are numerous towns and
villages, which carry on their commerce with each other in canoes,
without touching the continent.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] From this place, Mr. Pike was conducted, through St. Antonio, in a
north-westerly direction, to the territories of the United States; and
he terminates the account of his travels at _Natchitoches_, on the
southern bank of the Red river.
Twenty-first Day's Instruction.
MEXICO CONCLUDED.
_A Description of some of the most important Places in Mexico._
In an easterly direction from the city of Mexico lies _Tlascala_, a
town, which, two hundred years ago, at the time of the Spanish invasion,
had a numerous population, and was in a wealthy and flourishing state.
The inhabitants of this place were implacable enemies of the Mexicans,
and aided the Spaniards in the conquest of their country. It is now,
however, little more than a village, containing about three thousand
inhabitants. Some parts of the ancient walls still remain, and are
composed of alternate strata of brick and clay.
Six leagues south-west from Tlascala, and in the midst of a delightful
valley, watered by a river which runs south-west to the Pacific Ocean,
stands _Puebla_, the capital of an intendancy, and the see of a bishop.
It is a large and regularly built manufacturing town, notorious for the
profligacy of its inhabitants.
_Cholula_, once a sacred Indian town, to which pilgrimages were
frequent, but now a mean village, is not far from Puebla. This place is,
at present, remarkable only for a curious monument of antiquity, a
pyramid which consists of four stages, and is about one hundred and
seventy-seven feet in perpendicular height, and one thousand four
hundred and twenty-three feet at the base. Its structure appears to
consist of alternate strata of bricks and clay. In the midst of this
pyramid there is a church, where mass is, every morning, celebrated by
an ecclesiastic of Indian extraction, whose residence is on the summit.
Eastward of the intendancy of Puebla is that of _Vera Cruz_. This
district is enriched with various natural productions, extremely
valuable both in a commercial and economical view. The sugar-cane grows
here in great luxuriance: chocolate, tobacco, cotton, sarsaparilla, are
all abundant; but the indolence of the inhabitants is so great, and all
their wants are so easily supplied, by the natural fertility of the
soil, that the country does not produce one half of what, under good
management, it might be made to produce. The sugar and cotton
plantations are chiefly attended to; but the progress made in these is
not great.
The chief city of the province is _Vera Cruz_; a sea-port, the residence
of the governor, and the centre of the Spanish West Indian and American
commerce. This city is beautifully and regularly built; but on an arid
plain, destitute of water, and covered with hills of moving sand, that
are formed by the north winds, which blow; with impetuosity, every year,
from October till April. These hills are incessantly changing their
form and situation: they are from twenty to thirty feet in height; and,
by the reflection of the sun's rays upon them, and the high temperature
which they acquire during the summer months, they contribute much to
increase the suffocating heat of the atmosphere.
The houses in Vera Cruz are chiefly built of wood; for no stone whatever
is found in the vicinity of the place. The public edifices are
constructed of materials obtained from the bottom of the ocean: the
stony habitations of a kind of marine animals called madrepores. The
town is of great extent; and is surrounded by a wall, and defended by a
kind of citadel, which stands on an adjacent rocky island. The harbour
is well protected; but the entrance into it is so narrowed by rocks,
that only one ship can pass at a time.
On the annual arrival of the flota, or fleet of merchant-vessels from
Old Spain, Vera Cruz is crowded, from all parts of the adjacent country;
and a kind of fair is opened, which lasts many weeks. The principal
inhabitants are merchants, but very few of them reside wholly in the
town; for the heat of the climate, the stagnant water in the vicinity of
the place, and the bad quality of the water used for drinking, are the
cause of yellow fever and numerous other diseases.
The churches of Vera Cruz are much decorated with silver ornaments. In
the dwelling houses, the chief luxury consists of porcelain and other
Chinese articles. The whole number of inhabitants is estimated at about
thirteen thousand. They are, in general, proud and indolent. The women,
few of whom are handsome, live much in retirement.
During the rainy season, the marshes south of the town are haunted by
alligators. Sea-fowl of various kinds are here innumerable; and the
musquitoes, at certain seasons of the year, are very troublesome.
Earthquakes are not unfrequent. The north winds are so tremendous as
often to drive vessels on shore: these gales sometimes load the walls
with sand; and so much inconvenience is occasioned by them, that,
during their continuance, ladies are excused by the priests from going
to mass.
The richest merchants of this place have country-houses at _Xalapa_, a
town, in a romantic situation, about twenty leagues distant. Here they
enjoy a cool and agreeable retreat from the arid climate and noxious
exhalations of Vera Cruz. In the vicinity of Xalapa, thick forests of
styrax, piper, melastomata, and ferns resembling trees, afford the most
delightful promenades imaginable.
The intendancy of Vera Cruz contains, within its limits, two colossal
summits; one of which, the _volcano of Orizaba_, is of great height, and
has its top inclined towards the south-east, by which the crater is
visible to a considerable distance. The other summit, the _Coffre de
Perote_, according to M. de Humboldt's measurement, is one thousand
three hundred feet higher than the Pic of Tenerife. It serves as a
land-mark to vessels approaching Vera Cruz. A thick bed of pumice-stone
environs this mountain. Nothing at the summit announces a crater; and
the currents of lava observable between some adjacent villages, appear
to be the effects of an ancient explosion.
The small _volcano of Tuxtla_ is about four leagues from the coast, and
near an Indian village, called Saint Jago di Tuxtla. The last eruption
of this volcano took place on the 2d of March, 1793; and, during its
continuance, the roofs of houses at Oaxaca, Vera Cruz, and Perote, were
covered with volcanic ashes. At Perote, fifty-seven leagues distant, the
subterraneous noises resembled heavy discharges of artillery.
In the northern part of the intendancy of Vera Cruz, and two leagues
from the village of _Papantla_, there is a _pyramidal edifice_ of great
antiquity. It is in the midst of a forest; and the Indians, for more
than two centuries, succeeded in concealing, from the knowledge of the
Spaniards, this object of ancient veneration. It was accidentally
discovered, by a party of hunters, about thirty years ago. The
materials that have been employed in its construction are immense stones
cemented with mortar; and it is remarkable for its general symmetry, for
the polish of its stones, and the great regularity of their form. Its
base is an exact square, each side being eighty-two feet in length. The
perpendicular height is about sixty feet. This monument, like all the
Mexican teocallis or temples, is composed of several stages. Six are
still distinguishable, and a seventh appears to be concealed by the
vegetation, with which the sides are covered. A great stair of
fifty-seven steps, conducts to the top, where human victims were
formerly sacrificed; and, on each side of the great stair, is a small
one. The facing of the stories is adorned with hieroglyphics, in which
serpents and alligators, carved in relief, are still discernible. Each
story contains a great number of square niches, symmetrically
distributed.
On the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and at the distance of about three
hundred miles south-west from Vera Cruz, stands _Acapulco_, the great
western sea-port of Mexico. This place is the principal emporium for the
Indian trade over the Pacific Ocean. The harbour is commodious, capable
of containing several hundred ships, and defended by a strong castle.
The town itself is mean and ill-built, but extremely populous.
Earthquakes are here of such frequent occurrence, that the houses are
all very slightly constructed; and the climate, also, is extremely
unhealthy. These circumstances occasion most of the principal merchants
to reside in the adjacent country, at all times except when business
demands their attention in the town.
Several vessels, called "galleons," laden with the precious metals, and
with merchandise of other kinds, are every year sent, from this port, to
Manila, in the Philippine islands; and others return, laden with the
valuable productions of the East Indies. On the arrival of the latter,
the town becomes populous and gay; and is then filled with the
wealthiest merchants of Mexico and Peru. Such, however, is the general
dread of its unhealthiness, that these do not sleep within the walls,
but reside chiefly in tents in its vicinity.
At some distance east of Acapulco, in a beautiful and populous valley,
stands the town of _Guaxaca_ or _Oaxaca_; distinguished by the
magnificence of its situation, the temperature and salubrity of its
climate, the excellence of its soil, and its general majestic
appearance. The streets are wide, straight, and well paved; and the
houses are chiefly built of stone. The churches and monasteries are
numerous, and richly decorated. On one side of the great square is the
town-house, which is constructed with stone of a sea-green colour. The
bishop's palace and the cathedral form two other sides of the same
square: they are surrounded by arcades, as a shelter against both the
sun and the rain. In the suburbs of Guaxaca are gardens, and plantations
of cactus or prickly pear-trees, on which great numbers of cochineal
insects feed. Guaxaca is not only watered by a beautiful river, but is
abundantly supplied, by aqueducts, with pure water from the adjacent
mountains. Its population, including Indians, mulattoes, and negroes,
amounts to about twenty-four thousand persons.
The _intendancy of Yucatan_ forms a peninsula, about a hundred leagues
in length, between the bays of Campeachy and Honduras. A ridge of low
hills extends along it, from south-west to north-east; and, between this
ridge and the _Bay of Campeachy_, the dry and parched soil produces
logwood in great abundance and of excellent quality. For nearly five
months, during the rainy season, the low grounds are partially
inundated: in February the waters are dried up; and, throughout the
remainder of the year, there is scarcely any stream to be found. Hence
the inhabitants can only be supplied with fresh water by pits and wells.
The eastern coast of Yucatan is so shallow and muddy, that large vessels
cannot approach within four leagues of the shore. The chief productions
of this peninsula are maize, cotton, indigo, and logwood.
The governor resides at a small inland town called _Merida_, situated on
an arid plain, and containing about six thousand inhabitants. The
principal sea-port is _Campeachy_, near the north-west extremity of the
peninsula. This town has a good dock, and a fort which protects both the
place and the harbour. The houses are chiefly built of stone. Campeachy
has some cotton manufactories, and a trade in wax and salt; but its
chief trade is in logwood.
_Honduras_ is an important province, south of Yucatan. Its climate is
superior to that of most other parts of America, within the torrid zone.
With the exception of a few months in the year, it is refreshed by
regular sea-breezes. The periodical rains are here excessively heavy.
The dry season is usually comprehended within the months of April, May,
and June; and the sun, during this time, is excessively powerful. This
province is about three hundred and ninety miles in length, from east to
west, and consists of mountains, valleys, and plains, watered by many
rivers. Honduras abounds in honey, wax, cotton, corn, fruit, and dyeing
woods. It has some gold and silver mines; and its pastures feed great
numbers of sheep and cattle. Its vineyards yield grapes twice in the
year; but, from indolence and want of cultivation, many parts of it have
become desert.
There is a British settlement at a place called _Balize_, near the mouth
of a river of the same name. This town is immediately open to the sea;
and, though in a low situation, the groups of lofty cocoa-nut trees, and
the thickly-interspersed and lively foliage of the tamarind trees,
contribute to give a picturesque and pleasing effect to the dwellings of
the inhabitants. The number of houses, of all descriptions, is about two
hundred; and many of them, particularly such as are the property of the
most opulent merchants, are spacious, commodious, and well finished.
They are built of wood, and are generally raised eight or ten feet from
the ground, on pillars of mahogany. The stores and offices are always on
the lower, and the dining and sleeping apartments on the upper story.
Every habitation, likewise, has its upper and lower piazzas, which are
indispensably necessary in hot climates. Balize stands at the edge of a
swamp many miles in extent, which prevents nearly all intercourse with
the interior of the country.
The principal articles at present imported from Europe into Honduras,
are linens, printed cottons, muslins of the most costly manufacture,
negro clothing, broadcloths, hosiery, hats, shoes, boots, earthen and
glass wares, silver and plated goods, hardware, and cutlery: salted
provisions, from Britain or America, are also in continual demand for
the food of the slaves.
Few countries possess greater commercial advantages, in an agricultural
view, than this. The productions of the West Indian islands, might all
unquestionably be cultivated here, as well as most others which are
grown within the tropics. But the cutting of logwood and mahogany is the
chief occupation of the British settlers. The banks of the river Balize
have long been occupied by mahogany-cutters, even to the distance of two
hundred miles from its mouth.
About thirty miles up the Balize, on its banks, are found what are
denominated the Indian hills. These are small eminences, which are
supposed to have been raised by Indians over their dead; human bones,
and fragments of a coarse kind of earthenware, being frequently dug up
from them.
_Nicaragua_ is a Spanish province, between Honduras and the isthmus of
Darien. It is about eighty leagues in length and fifty in breadth; and
consists, for the most part, of high and wooded mountains, some of which
are volcanic. The valleys are watered by many streams, but only one of
these is of any importance. This is the river _Yare_, which runs, from
west to east, through the northern part of the province. The most
important productions of Nicaragua are timber, cotton, sugar, honey,
and wax. The chief town is _Leon de Nicaragua_, a place of considerable
trade, situated near the north-west border of the lake of Nicaragua; and
in a sandy plain, at the foot of a volcanic mountain, several leagues
from the sea.
* * * * *
From New Spain we must return northward, for the purpose of describing
the British dominions of Nova Scotia and Canada.
Twenty-second Day's Instruction.
BRITISH AMERICAN DOMINIONS.
NOVA SCOTIA,
Is a province bounded on the east by the _Gulf of St. Lawrence_, on the
south by the Atlantic, and on the west by the United States. It is
somewhat more than two hundred miles long, and one hundred and seventy
miles broad. The southern division is a peninsula of triangular form,
having an isthmus not more than thirty miles in breadth. Nova Scotia is
divided into counties, and subdivided into townships; and, in the whole,
contains somewhat more than fifty thousand inhabitants.
The climate is unhealthy. During a considerable part of the year, the
maritime and lower districts are enveloped in fog. The cold of winter is
intense, and the heat of summer excessive. The soil is various. In many
parts it is thin, barren, gravelly, and covered with forests: in others,
especially on the borders of the rivers, it is fertile and agreeable.
Some of the tracts yield hemp and flax; but the inhabitants have not
hitherto made much progress in agriculture. Nova Scotia has many bays
and harbours; but much of the coast is bordered with dangerous rocks.
Great numbers of cod-fish are caught in some of the bays, and in many
parts of the sea adjacent to the coast.
_Halifax_, the capital of Nova Scotia, was built about the year 1749. It
is now a flourishing town on the sea-coast, and has an excellent
harbour, accessible at all seasons of the year, and with depth of water
and anchorage sufficient for the largest vessels. The town is about two
miles in length, and a quarter of a mile in width; and is laid out in
oblong squares, and in streets that run parallel or at right angles to
each other. It is defended by forts of timber, and contains about
fifteen thousand inhabitants. At its northern extremity is the royal
arsenal, which is well built, and amply supplied with naval stores.
CANADA,
Is an extensive but thinly-peopled district, lying between the same
parallels of latitude as France and England, but in a climate infinitely
more severe. During winter the frost is intense, and the surface of the
ground is covered with snow to the depth of several feet. In many parts
of the country, however, the summers are hot and pleasant.
The _boundaries_ of Canada are, the United States on the south; the
Atlantic Ocean, Labrador, and Hudson's Bay, on the east and north; and a
wild and undescribed region on the west. This country is divided into
two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada: the executive power in each
province is vested in a _governor_; and a legislative council and an
assembly are appointed for each, having power, with the consent of the
governor, to make laws. In the legislative council of Lower Canada,
there are fifteen members; and in that of Upper Canada seven; and the
appointments are for life. In the assembly of Lower Canada there are
fifty members; and in that of Upper Canada sixteen: these are chosen by
the freeholders and do not continue in office longer than four years.
Canada was originally discovered by Sebastian Cabot, a navigator sent
out by the English about the year 1497; but in the beginning of the
seventeenth century, it was colonized by the French, who kept possession
of it till the year 1763, when it fell into the hands of the British, to
whom it still belongs. The long possession of this country by the
French, has occasioned the _French language_ to be chiefly spoken: it
has also occasioned the prevailing _religion_ to be Roman Catholic. The
British government permits a toleration of all religions; but by far the
greatest number of inhabitants are catholics. The clergy of the church
of England, in both provinces, are only twelve in number, including the
bishop of Quebec; whereas, those of the church of Rome amount to one
hundred and twenty, including a bishop, and three vicars-general.
The whole number of _inhabitants_ is considered to be about two hundred
thousand, of whom fifty thousand are Indians. "Essentially a Frenchman,
(says Mr. Hall,) the Canadian is gay, courteous, and contented. If the
rigours of the climate have somewhat chilled the overflowing vivacity
derived from his parent stock, he has still a sufficient portion of good
spirits and loquacity. To strangers and travellers he is invariably
civil; and he seems to value their good word beyond their money. He is
considered parsimonious, because all his gains arise from his savings,
and he is satisfied with the humblest fare." The Canadians have a great
antipathy to the inhabitants of the United States. At this day, many
even of the better informed among them believe that the American
government is constantly plotting the ruin of Canada.
Whilst Canada was in the hands of the French, the _commerce_ of the
country was chiefly confined to the fisheries and fur-trade: agriculture
was neglected, and extensive tracts of fertile soil lay uncultivated.
But the English have both peopled and improved a very considerable
portion of territory; and the trade is now of much importance. The
Canadians export to Britain and to different British establishments,
wheat and other grain, biscuit, beef, pork, butter, salmon, oil, timber,
hemp, and various other articles. In many parts of both Canadas the
_soil_ is well adapted for the production of grain. Tobacco also thrives
well in it; and culinary vegetables arrive at great perfection. The
forests produce beech-trees, oaks, elms, ash, pine, sycamore, chesnut,
and walnut; and a species of maple-tree, from the juice of which sugar
is made, abounds throughout the country.
Many extensive tracts in Canada are covered with lakes and marshes; and
the country is intersected by numerous rivers, some of which are
navigable to considerable distances. Of the _lakes_, the most important
are lake Superior, lake Huron, lake Michigan, lake Ontario, and lake
Erie. These are adjacent to the territory of the United States. Lake
Winipic is an expanse of water, more than two hundred and fifty miles in
length, situated about the 53d degree of north latitude. The largest and
noblest _river_ in Canada is the St. Lawrence, which flows from lake
Ontario, past the two towns of Montreal and Quebec, and falls into the
Gulf of St. Lawrence. This river meets the tide four miles from the sea;
and to this place it is navigable for large vessels.
_A Description of Quebec._
This city, the capital of Canada, stands at the northern extremity of a
strip of high land, which follows the course of the river St. Lawrence,
as far as the mouth of the Charles. The basis of these heights is a dark
slate rock, of which most of the buildings in the town are constructed.
_Cape Diamond_ terminates the promontory, with a bold precipice towards
the river. This rock derives its name from numerous transparent
crystals, which are found upon it; and which are so abundant that,
after a shower of rain, the ground glitters with them.
The Lower Town of Quebec is built at the foot of the heights; and the
Upper Town occupies their crest. The former, snug and dirty, is the
abode of persons engaged in trade, and of most of the lower classes: the
latter, lofty and cold, is the seat of government, and the principal
residence of the military.
With few exceptions, the _houses_ in Quebec are built of stone. The
roofs of the better sort are covered with sheets of iron or tin, and
those of an inferior description, with boards. On the roofs ladders are
usually placed, near the garret-windows, for the purpose of the
chimney-sweepers ascending, on the outside, to clean the chimneys: for,
in this country boys do not go up the chimneys, as in England; but two
men, one at the top and the other at the bottom, sweep them, by pulling
up and down a bundle of twigs or furze, tied to a rope.
The _streets_ of the Lower Town are, for the most part, narrow and
irregular. St. Peter's street is the best paved, and the widest of the
whole. It contains several good and substantial _houses_, which are
chiefly occupied by merchants and traders; but, from the colour of the
stone of which the houses are constructed, and of the iron roofs, all
the streets of Quebec have a heavy and gloomy appearance.
A street, called _Mountain Street_, which leads to the Upper Town,
winds, in a serpentine direction, from the market-place up the hill, and
terminates near the Upper Town market-place. This street, in winter, is
extremely dangerous. The quantity of snow and ice, which here accumulate
in large masses, renders it necessary for the inhabitants to wear outer
shoes, that are shod with iron spikes. The boys of Quebec have a
favourite amusement, in lying at full length with their breast upon a
small kind of sledge, and sliding along the snow, from the top of the
hill to the bottom: they glide down with astonishing velocity; yet,
with their feet, they can guide or stop themselves, at pleasure.
The _shops_ or stores of the traders in the Lower Town, do not exhibit
any of that diversified and pleasing appearance which is so remarkable
in London. Here the stranger sees nothing but heavy stone buildings,
gloomy casements, and iron-cased shutters, painted red. If any show is
made at the window, it is with paltry articles of cooking, earthen and
hardware: there is, however, a tolerable display of bear-skins,
seal-skins, foxes-tails, and buffalo-robes.
The _taverns_ in Quebec are numerous; yet a stranger is much surprised
to find only two houses which deserve that high-sounding appellation.
This arises from the vanity that possesses all our trans-Atlantic
brethren, to designate their paltry public-houses or spirit-shops, by
the more dignified title of "tavern;" for through the whole of America,
every dirty hole, where a few glasses of rum, gin, or whisky, are sold,
is so called.
Of the _public buildings_ in Quebec, the most important is the
government-house, or castle of St. Louis, a large, plain, stone edifice,
which forms one side of an open place or square, called the parade. Its
front resembles that of a country gentleman's house in England; and the
interior contains comfortable family apartments. The furniture is
inherited and paid for by the successive owners. Opposite to the
government-house stand the English cathedral church, and the
court-house, both handsome buildings of modern construction. The other
sides of the parade are formed by the Union Hotel, and a row of
buildings which form the commencement of St. Louis Street.
The _Upper Town_ is by far the most agreeable part of Quebec: its
streets are not, indeed, remarkable for width, but many of them are well
paved. In the Upper Town the heat, during summer, is not so intense as
in the Lower Town; nor, in winter, though the cold is much severer, is
it, as a residence, so dreary and uncomfortable.
There are, in Quebec, several catholic _charitable institutions_. Of
these, the principal is the "Hotel Dieu," founded in 1637, for the
accommodation and relief of poor sick people: it is under the management
of a superior and thirty-six nuns. The "General Hospital," which stands
at a little distance from the town, is a somewhat similar institution;
and is governed by a superior and forty-three nuns. In the admission of
patients into each of these establishments, no distinction is made, as
to catholics or protestants. The Ursuline convent, founded in 1639, for
the education of female children, stands within the city, and has a
considerable appearance of wealth. Among the ornaments of the chapel are
the skull and bones of a missionary, who had been murdered by the
Indians for attempting their conversion.
About two miles from the town is a break in the line of cliffs, which
forms a little recess, called _Wolf's Cove_. A steep pathway leads
thence to the heights of the plains of Abram. On these plains are still
to be seen, in the turf, traces of field-works, which were thrown up by
the British army, in the celebrated siege of Quebec; and a stone is
pointed out as that on which General Wolf expired.
The _markets_ of Quebec are well supplied with every thing that the
country affords; and, in general, at a very cheap rate. In the autumn,
as soon as the river betwixt the town and the island of Orleans, is
frozen over, an abundance of provisions is received from that island.
The Canadians, at the commencement of winter, kill the greatest part of
their stock, and carry it to market in a frozen state. The inhabitants
of the towns supply themselves, at this season, with butcher's meat,
poultry, and vegetables, to serve them till spring. These are kept in
garrets or cellars; and, so long as they continue frozen, their goodness
is preserved. Before they are prepared for the table, they are laid for
some hours in cold water, to be thawed. In wintertime, milk is brought
to market in large frozen cakes.
Great quantities of maple-sugar are sold, in Quebec, at about half the
price of West India sugar. The manufacturing of this article takes place
in the spring. The sap or juice, after it has been drawn from the trees,
is boiled, and then poured into shallow dishes, where it takes the form
of a thick and hard cake. Maple-sugar is very hard; and, when used, is
scraped with a knife, as, otherwise, it would be a long time in
dissolving.
The fruit of Canada is not remarkable either for excellence or
cheapness. Strawberries and raspberries are, however, brought to market
in great abundance: they are gathered on the plains, at the back of
Quebec, and in the neighbouring woods, where they grow wild, in the
utmost luxuriance. Apples and pears are chiefly procured from the
vicinity of Montreal. Walnuts and filberts are by no means common; but
hickory-nuts and hazel-nuts are to be obtained in all the woods.
The _climate_ of Lower Canada is subject to violent extremes of heat and
cold. At Quebec, the thermometer, in summer, is sometimes as high as 103
degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer; and, in winter, is at 36 degrees
below 0. The average of summer heat is, in general, from 75 to 80
degrees; and the mean of the cold, in winter, is about 0.
From Christmas to Lady-day the weather is remarkably clear and fine; the
sky is of an azure blue colour, and seldom obscured by fogs or clouds;
and the frost is not often interrupted by falls of snow or rain. These
advantages render a Canadian winter so agreeable, that the inhabitants,
from sudden alterations of the weather, are never under the necessity of
changing their style of dress, unless it be to discard their greatcoats
and fur-caps, which, in consequence of the powerful warmth of the sun,
is sometimes necessary. In the early part of the winter there is always
much snow.
The spring, summer, and autumn of Canada, are all comprised within the
five months of May, June, July, August, and September. The rest of the
year may be considered as winter. During the month of October, the
weather is sometimes pleasant, but nature has then put on her gloomy
mantle; and the chilling blasts, from the north-west, remind the
Canadians of the approach of snow and ice. November and April are the
two most disagreeable months of the year: in one of these the snow is
beginning to fall, and in the other it is going away.
MR. HALL'S _Journey from Quebec to Montreal_.
MR. HALL was in Canada during the summer of 1816; and, on the
28th of July, he left Quebec, on a journey to Montreal. He deviated
somewhat from the usual road, that he might pass by the _Jacques Cartier
bridge_, six or seven miles above the ferry. Here the river falls wildly
down, betwixt its wooded shores; and, after forming several cascades,
foams through a narrow channel, which seems cut out of the solid rock,
to receive it. The rock, which constitutes its bed, is formed into
regular platforms, descending, by natural steps, to the edge of the
torrent. The Jacques Cartier is a river famous for its salmon, which are
caught of large size, and in great abundance, below the bridge. At the
foot of this bridge stands a little inn, where the angler may have his
game cooked for supper, and where he may sleep in the lull of the
torrent, below his chamber-window. After quitting this neighbourhood,
the scenery of the St. Lawrence becomes flat and uniform. The road
follows the direction of the river, sometimes running along the cliff,
which once embanked it, and sometimes descending to the water's edge.
From Quebec to Montreal, the country may be considered as one long
village. On each shore there is a stripe of land, seldom exceeding a
mile in breadth, which is bounded by forests, and thickly studded with
farm-houses, white-washed from top to bottom: to these, log-barns and
stables are attached, and commonly a neat plot of garden-ground.
Mr. Hall preferred the travelling in Lower Canada to that in every other
part of the American continent. You arrive (he says) at the post-house,
(as the words "_maison de poste_," scrawled over the door, give you
notice;) "Have you horses, Madame?" "_Oui, Monsieur, tout de suite._" A
loud cry of "_Oh! bon homme_," forwards the intelligence to her husband,
at work, perhaps, in an adjacent field. "_Mais, asseyez vous,
Monsieur_;" and, if you have patience to do this quietly, for a few
minutes, you will see crebillion, papillon, or some other _on_ arrive,
at a full canter, from pasture, mounted by honest _Jean_, in his blue
nightcap, with all his habiliments shaking in the wind. The preliminary
of splicing and compounding the broken harness having been adjusted, the
whip cracks, and you start to the exhilarating cry of "_marche donc_,"
at the rate of six, and often seven miles an hour.
The village of "_Trois Rivieres_" stands at the three mouths of the
_River St. Maurice_. It contains an Ursuline convent, which marks it for
a place of some note, in a catholic country; but it is still more worthy
of distinction, as being the residence of the amiable Abbé de la
Colonne, brother to the unfortunate French minister of that name.
Having engaged two experienced boatmen, and a bark canoe, Mr. Hall
ascended the St. Maurice, to visit the _falls of Shawinne Gamme_,
distant somewhat more than twenty miles. At his return, he left the St.
Maurice, and, having been ferried from _Berthier_ to _Contrecoeur_, he
proceeded, "_en caleche_," with two crebillions, towards _St. Ours_, in
the direction of the _Beloeil Mountain_, which was seen before him in
the misty horizon. The meadows were profusely decorated with orange
lilies; and the banks and dingles with the crimson cones of the sumac,
and a variety of flowering shrubs. Several brigs and merchants' ships
were dropping down with the tide, their crowded sails scarcely swelling
in the languid summer breeze.
The Canadian summer, observes Mr. Hall, is hot in proportion to the
severity of the winter; and the heat is sufficient to enable the
cultivator to raise Indian corn, water-melons, gourds, capsicums, and
such vegetables as require a short and intense heat. Hence the country
assumes the aspect of a Portuguese summer, by way of appendix to a
Russian winter.
Mr. Hall passed through the village of _Beloeil_; again crossed the
river, and proceeded towards the mountain, which towered, like an
immense wall of rock, above the flat surrounding country. Scattered at
its base were a few wretched houses, the inhabitants of which subsisted
by the produce of their apple-orchards.
The weather was excessively hot; and volumes of smoke, from the casual,
or intentional burning of the woods, every where clouded the horizon,
and seemed to give additional heat to the glowing landscape.
The basis of the _Montreal Mountain_ is freestone; the ascent is
consequently less steep, and the surface less broken, than that of
Beloeil: it is thickly wooded, and, from the river, forms an elegant
back-ground to the city.
_A Description of Montreal._
When approached from the water, the town of _Montreal_, which is
situated on an island in the River St. Lawrence, has a very singular
appearance. This is occasioned by the grey stone of the buildings, and
their tin-covered roofs; the latter of which emit a strong glare, when
the sun shines. The shore is steep, and forms a kind of natural wharf,
upon which the vessels discharge their cargoes: hence the shipping which
frequent the harbour of Montreal are often anchored close to the shore.
Many English vessels visit this place; but the navigation of the St.
Lawrence, above Quebec, is so hazardous, that few captains are willing
to make the voyage a second time.
The interior of the town of Montreal is extremely gloomy. The _streets_
are regularly built, but the buildings are ponderous masses of stone,
erected with little taste, and less judgment. Including the garrets,
they have seldom more than two stories above the ground-floor. The doors
and window-shutters are covered with large sheets of tin, painted red or
lead-colour, and corresponding with the gloomy colour of the stone, with
which most of the houses have been built; hence a heavy sameness of
appearance pervades all the streets.
The only _open places_ in the town, are the two markets, and a square,
called the Place d'Armes, in which, under the French government, the
troops of the garrison are accustomed to parade. The French catholic
church occupies the whole east side of the square; and, on the south
side, is a tavern, called the Montreal Hotel. Every thing, in this
tavern, is neat, cleanly, well conducted, and perfectly agreeable to an
Englishman's taste.
Montreal is divided into the _Upper_ and _Lower towns_, though these
have very little difference in elevation. The principal street of the
latter, extends, from north to south, through the whole length of the
place. This street contains the wholesale and retail stores of the
merchants and traders, the lower market-place, the post-office, the
Hotel Dieu, a large tavern, and several smaller ones. It is narrow, but
it presents a scene of greater bustle than any other part of the town;
and is the chief mart of the trade carried on in Montreal.
Most of the streets are well paved; and the improvements which are going
on throughout the town, will, in a few years, render it much more
commodious and agreeable than it is at present. The four streets or
_suburbs_ occupy a considerable space of ground, and the number of
inhabitants is computed at twelve thousand. The _religious_ and
_charitable institutions_ of this place, are counterparts to those at
Quebec. There are a general hospital, and an Hotel Dieu, for the relief
of sick poor. The principal catholic church is rich and handsome. The
college or seminary, is a capacious stone building, and has lately been
repaired and enlarged. It was originally endowed as a branch of the
seminary at Paris; but, since the French Revolution, it has afforded an
asylum to several members of the latter, whose learning and talents have
been employed in its advancement. Among other _public edifices_ must be
reckoned the English church, an unfinished building; the old monastery
of Franciscan Friars, now converted into barracks; the court-house, and
the government-house. The court-house is a neat and spacious building.
In front of it, a column has been erected in honour of Lord Nelson, and
is crowned with a statue of him. Near the court-house a gaol has been
built, upon the site of the old college of Jesuits.
There seems to be a greater spirit of municipal improvement in Montreal
than in Quebec. It is also, probably, a richer place; for, being the
emporium of the fur-trade, its merchants carry on a considerable traffic
with the United States, and particularly with Vermont and New York.
At the back of the town, and behind the court-house, is a _parade_,
where the troops are exercised. The ground, along this part, is
considerably elevated, and forms a steep bank, several hundred yards in
length. Here the inhabitants walk in an evening, and enjoy a beautiful
view of the suburbs of St. Lawrence and St. Antoine; and of numerous
gardens, orchards, and plantations, adorned with neat, and, in many
instances, even handsome villas. Green fields are interspersed amidst
this rich variety of objects, which are concentrated in an extensive
valley, that gradually rises towards a lofty mountain, about two miles
and a half distant; and covered, towards its upper part, with trees and
shrubs. It is from this mountain that the town obtained its name of
Montreal, or "Royal Mount."
All the principal north-west merchants reside in this town; which is the
emporium of their trade, and the grand mart of the commerce carried on
between Canada and the United States: they live in a splendid style, and
keep expensive tables.
The _markets_ of Montreal are plentifully supplied with provisions,
which are much cheaper here than in Quebec. Large supplies are brought
in, every winter, from the United States; particularly cod-fish, which
is packed in ice, and conveyed in sledges from Boston. Two weekly
newspapers, called the Gazette and the Canadian Courant, are published
here.
At Montreal, the winter is considered to be two months shorter than it
is at Quebec; and the heat of summer is more oppressive.
Twenty-third Day's Instruction.
NORTH WESTERN TERRITORY.
_The Route, from Montreal to Fort Chepewyan, pursued by a company of
traders, called the North-west Company_.
The requisite number of canoes being purchased, the goods being formed
into packages, and the lakes and rivers being free from ice, which they
usually are in the beginning of May, the persons employed by the
North-west Company set out from _La Chine_, eight miles above Montreal.
Each canoe carries eight or ten men, and a luggage consisting of
sixty-five packages of goods, about six hundred weight of biscuit, two
hundred weight of pork, and three bushels of peas, for the men's
provisions: two oil-cloths to cover the goods, a sail, and an axe, a
towing-line, a kettle, and a sponge to bail out the water; together with
a quantity of gum, bark, and watape, to repair the canoe. An European,
on seeing these slender vessels, thus laden, heaped up, and their sides
not more than six inches out of the water, would imagine it impossible
that they should perform a long and perilous voyage; but the Canadians
are so expert in the management of them, that few accidents happen.
Leaving La Chine, they proceed to _St. Ann's_, within two miles of the
western extremity of the island of Montreal. At the rapid of St. Ann,
the navigators are obliged to take out part, if not the whole of the
lading; and to replace it when they have passed the cataract. The _Lake
of the two Mountains_, which they next reach, is about twenty miles
long, but not more than three miles wide, and is, nearly surrounded by
cultivated fields.
At the end of the lake, the water contracts into the _Utawas river_;
which, after a course of fifteen miles, is interrupted by a succession
of rapids and cascades for upwards of ten miles: at the foot of these
the Canadian Seignories terminate. Here the voyagers are frequently
obliged to unload their canoes, and carry the goods upon their backs, or
rather suspended in slings from their heads. Each man's ordinary load is
two packages, though some of the men carry three. In some places, the
ground will not admit of their carrying the whole at once: in this case,
they make two trips; that is, the men leave half their lading, land it
at the distance required, and then return for that which was left. There
are three carrying places; and, near the last of them, the river is a
mile and a half wide, and has a regular current, for about sixty miles,
to the first _portage de Chaudiere_. The whole body of water is here
precipitated, twenty-five feet, down, craggy and excavated rocks, and in
a most wild and romantic manner.
Over this portage, it is requisite to carry the canoe and all its
lading; but the rock is so steep, that the canoe cannot be taken out of
the water by fewer than twelve men, and it is carried by six men.
The next remarkable object which the traders approach, is a lake called
_Nepisingui_, about twelve leagues long, and fifteen miles wide, in the
widest part. The inhabitants of the country adjacent to this lake,
consist of the remainder of a numerous tribe called _Nepisinguis_, of
the Algonquin nation.
Out of the lake flows the _Riviere de François_, over rocks of
considerable height. This river is very irregular, both as to its
breadth and form; and it is so interspersed with islands, that, in its
whole course, its banks are seldom visible. Of its various channels,
that which is generally followed by the canoes is obstructed by five
portages. The distance hence to Lake Huron is about twenty-five leagues.
There is scarcely a foot of soil to be seen from one end of the river to
the other; for its banks consist entirely of rock.
The coast of _Lake Huron_ is similar to this; but it is lower, and
backed, at some distance, by high lands. The canoes pass along the
northern bank of this lake, into _Lake Superior_, the largest and most
magnificent body of fresh water in the world. It is clear, of great
depth, and abounds in fish of various kinds. Sturgeon are caught here,
and trout, some of which weigh from forty to fifty pounds each. The
adjacent country is bleak, rocky, and desolate: it contains no large
animals, except a few moose and fallow deer; and the little timber that
is to be seen, is extremely stunted in its growth. The inhabitants of
the coast of Lake Superior are all of the _Algonquin nation_, who
subsist chiefly on fish. They do not, at present, exceed one hundred and
fifty families; though, a century ago, the whole adjacent country is
said to have been inhabited by them.
Near the north-western shore of Lake Superior, and beneath a hill,
three or four hundred feet in height, is a fort, containing several
houses, erected for the accommodation of the North-west Company and
their clerks. This place is called the _Grande Portage_. The traders,
who leave Montreal in the beginning of May, usually arrive here about
the middle of June. They are met by men who had spent the winter in the
establishments; towards the north, and from whom they receive the furs
which had been collected in the course of their winter traffic. Upwards
of twelve hundred men are thus assembled, every summer, in this remote
wilderness; and live together, for several days, in a comfortable and
convivial manner. After their accounts are settled, the furs are
embarked for Montreal; and the rest of the men proceed to the different
posts and establishments in the Indian country. The canoes which are
used from the Grande Portage, upwards, are but half the size of those
from Montreal. They are each navigated by four, five, or six men,
according to the distance which they have to go.
Having embarked on the river _Au Tourt_; and, having overcome numerous
obstacles, in cataracts, and other impediments to their course, the
persons proceeding on this voyage, reach a trading establishment, on the
north side of the river, in 48 degrees 37 minutes, north latitude. Here
they are met by people from the Athabasca country, and exchange lading
with them. This place also is the residence of the grand chief of the
_Algonquin Indians_; and here the elders of these Indians meet in
council, to treat of peace or war.
The Au Tourt is one of the finest rivers in the north-western parts of
America. Its banks are covered with a rich soil, and, in many parts, are
clothed with groves of oak, maple, and cedar-trees. The southern bank is
low, and displays the maple, the white birch, and cedar; with the
spruce, the alder, and various kinds of underwood. Its waters abound in
fish, particularly in sturgeons. In the low grounds, betwixt Lake
Superior and this river, are seen vast quantities of rice, which the
natives collect, in the month of August, for their winter stores.
_Lake Winipic_, which the traders next approach, is the great reservoir
of several large rivers. It is bounded, on the north, by banks of black
and grey rock; and, on the south, by a low and level country,
occasionally interrupted with ridges or banks of limestone, from twenty
to forty feet in height, bearing timber, but only of moderate growth.
From its peculiar situation, this lake seems calculated to become a
grand depôt of traffic. It communicates, in a direct and short channel,
with the southern shores of Hudson's Bay, by the rivers Severn and
Nelson; and it is connected with the countries at the head of the
Mississippi and Missouri, by the Assiniboin and Red rivers. The Indians,
who inhabit its banks, are of the Knisteneaux and Algonquin tribes.
Beyond lake Winipic, the canoes have to pass along many rapids, and
through several small lakes, called _Cedar lake_, _Mud lake_, and
_Sturgeon lake_. This part of the country is frequented by beavers, and
numerous animals, valuable on account of their furs; and the plains are
inhabited by buffaloes, wolves, and foxes.
On the banks of the rivers, there are factories for the convenience of
trade with the natives; and near each of these are tents of different
nations of Indians; some of whom are hunters, and others deal in
provisions, wolf, buffalo, and fox-skins.
From the mouth of the _Saskatchiwine river_, the canoes proceed, in a
northerly direction, through _Sturgeon lake_, and _Beaver lake_. The
banks of the river are high, and clothed with cypress-trees; and the
inhabitants of the adjacent districts are chiefly Knisteneaux Indians.
This description of country, with some variation, prevails as far as the
trading establishment of Fort Chepewyan, on the south-eastern bank of
the _Lake of the Hills_.
_Fort Chepewyan_ is the residence of a considerable number of persons,
who are employed by the North-west Company. Except during a short time
in the spring and autumn, when thousands of wild-fowl frequent the
vicinity of the lake, these persons subsist almost wholly on fish. This
they eat without the variety of any farinaceous grain for bread, any
root, or vegetable; and without even salt to quicken its flavour.
Every year, in the autumn, the Indians meet the traders, at this and
other forts, where they barter such furs, or provisions, as they have
procured. They are here fitted out, by the traders, with such articles
as they may want, after which they proceed to hunt beavers; and they
return about the end of March or the beginning of April, when they are
again fitted out as before. During the summer, most of these Indians
retire to the barren grounds, and live there, with their relations and
friends.
_Account of the Knisteneaux and Chepewyan Indians_.
When, in the year 1777, the Europeans first penetrated into the
north-western regions of America, these two tribes of Indians were very
numerous; but the small-pox, introduced among them by the strangers,
proved so fatal, that, at the end of fifteen years, not more than
seventy families were left.
The _Knisteneaux_, though at present few in number, occupy a great
extent of country. They are of moderate stature, well-proportioned, and
extremely active. Their complexion is of a copper-colour, and their hair
black. In some of the tribes, the hair is cut into various forms,
according to their fancy; and, by others, it is left in the long and
lank flow of nature. These Indians, in general, pluck out their beards.
Their eyes are black, keen, and penetrating; and their countenance is
open and agreeable. Fond of decoration, they paint their bodies with
different colours of red, blue, brown, white, and black.
Their dress is, at once, simple and commodious. It consists of tight
leggings or leather-gaiters, which reach nearly to the hip; a strip of
cloth or leather, about a foot wide, and five feet long, the ends of
which are drawn inward, and hang behind and before, over a belt, tied
round the waist for that purpose; a close vest or shirt, reaching down
to the former garment, and bound at the waist by a broad strip of
parchment, fastened with thongs behind; and a cap for the head,
consisting of a piece of fur, or a small skin, with the tail of the
animal, as a suspended ornament. A kind of robe is occasionally thrown
over the whole of this dress, and serves them to wear by day, and to
sleep in at night. These articles, with the addition of shoes and
mittens, constitute their chief apparel. The materials vary, according
to the season, and consist of dressed moose-skin, beaver-skins, prepared
with the fur, or European woollens. The leather is neatly painted, and,
in some parts, is fancifully worked with porcupine-quills and moose-deer
hair. The shirts and leggings are adorned with fringe and tassels; and
the shoes and mittens have somewhat of appropriate decoration, and are
worked with a considerable degree of skill and taste. Their head-dresses
are composed of the feathers of the swan, the eagle, and other birds.
The teeth, horns, and claws of different animals, are also the
occasional ornaments of their head and neck.
The female dress is composed of materials similar to those used by the
men; but it is of a somewhat different form and arrangement. Several of
the women have the skin of their faces tatooed or marked with three
perpendicular lines: one from the centre of the chin to the under lip,
and one on each side parallel to the corner of the mouth.
The Knisteneaux women are very comely. Their figure is generally well
proportioned, and the regularity of their features would be acknowledged
even by the civilized nations of Europe.
This people are naturally mild and affable. They are just in their
dealings, not only among themselves, but with strangers. They are also
generous and hospitable; and good-natured in the extreme, except when
under the influence of spirituous liquors. Towards their children they
are indulgent to a fault. The father, however, though he assumes no
command over them, anxiously instructs them, in all the preparatory
qualifications, for war and hunting; while the mother is equally
attentive to her daughters, in teaching them every thing that is
considered necessary to their character and situation.
The Knisteneaux have frequent feasts; and, at some of these, they offer
dogs as sacrifices, and make large offerings of their property. The
scene of their most important ceremonies is usually an enclosure on the
bank of some river or lake, and in a conspicuous situation. On
particular occasions they have private sacrifices in their houses. The
ceremony of smoking precedes every affair of importance. When a feast is
proposed to be given, the chief sends quills or small pieces of wood, as
tokens of invitation, to such persons as he wishes to partake of it. At
the appointed time the guests arrive, each bringing with him a dish or
platter, and a knife; and they take their seats on each side of the
chief. The pipe is then lighted, and the chief makes an equal division
of every thing that is provided for the occasion. During the eating the
chief sings, and accompanies his song with a tambourine. The guest who
has first eaten his share of provision is considered as the most
distinguished person. At all these feasts a small quantity of meat or
drink is sacrificed, by throwing it into the fire or on the earth,
before the guests begin to eat. It is expected that each person should
devour the whole food that is allotted to him, how great soever the
quantity may be; and those who are unable to do this, endeavour to
prevail with their friends to assist them. Care is always taken that the
bones are burned, as it would be considered a profanation, if the dogs
were to touch them.
The medicinal virtues of many herbs are known to the Knisteneaux; and
they apply the roots of plants and the bark of trees in the cure of
various diseases. But there is among them a class of men, called
conjurers, who monopolize the medical science; and who, blending mystery
with their art, do not choose to communicate their knowledge.
Like all their other solemn ceremonials, the funeral rites of the
Knisteneaux begin with smoking, and are concluded by a feast. The body
is dressed in the best habiliments of the deceased, or his relatives,
and is then deposited in a grave lined with branches: some domestic
utensils are placed on it, and a kind of canopy is erected over it.
During this ceremony, great lamentations are made; and, if the deceased
is much regretted, the near relations cut off their hair, pierce the
fleshy part of their thighs and arms with arrows, knives, &c. and
blacken their faces with charcoal. The whole property belonging to him
is destroyed, and the relations take, in exchange for the wearing
apparel, any rags that will cover their nakedness.
* * * * *
The _Chepewyans_ are a sober, timorous, and vagrant people, and of a
disposition so selfish as sometimes to have excited suspicions of their
integrity. Their complexion is swarthy; their features are coarse, and
their hair is lank, but not always of a black colour; nor have they,
universally, the piercing eye, which generally animates the Indian
countenance. The women have a more agreeable aspect than the men; but,
in consequence of their being accustomed, nine months in the year, to
travel on snow-shoes, and to drag heavy sledges, their gait is awkward.
They are very submissive to their husbands, who sometimes treat them
with great cruelty. The men, in general, extract their beards; though
some of them are seen to prefer a bushy beard to a smooth chin. They cut
their hair in various forms, or leave it in a long, natural flow,
according as caprice or fancy suggests. The women always have their
hair of great length, and some of them are very attentive to its
arrangement. Both sexes have blue or black marks, or from one to four
straight lines on their cheeks or forehead, to distinguish the tribe to
which they belong. These marks are either tatooed, or are made by
drawing a thread, dipped in colour, beneath the skin.
Few people are more attentive to the comforts of dress than these. In
winter they wear the skins of deer or fawns, prepared with the hair on,
and rendered as fine and soft as chamois leather. In summer their
apparel is of similar skins, but prepared without the hair. A ruff or
tippet surrounds the neck; and the skin of the head of a deer forms a
curious kind of cap.
Plurality of wives is allowed among the Chepewyans; and the ceremony of
marriage is very simple. At a very early period, the girls are betrothed
to such persons as the parents consider best able to support them. The
desires of the women are never considered; and whenever a separation
takes place, which sometimes happens, it depends entirely on the will of
the husband.
These Indians are not remarkable for activity as hunters: this is owing
to the ease with which they snare deer, and spear fish. They are not
addicted to the use of spirituous liquors; and are, on the whole, an
extremely peaceful tribe. Their weapons and domestic apparatus, in
addition to articles procured from Europeans, are spears, bows and
arrows, fishing-nets, and lines made of deer-skin thongs. Their
amusements are but few. Their music is so inharmonious, and their
dancing so awkward, that they might be supposed to be ashamed of both,
as they seldom practise either. They shoot at marks, and play at
different games; but they prefer sleeping to any of these: and the
greatest part of their time is passed in procuring food, and resting
after the toil of obtaining it.
The notion which these people entertain of the creation of the world is
a very singular one. They believe that the globe was originally one vast
ocean, inhabited by no living creature, except an immense bird, whose
eyes were of fire, whose glances were lightning, and the clapping of
whose wings was thunder. On the descent of this bird to the ocean, and
at the instant of touching it, they say that the earth arose, and
remained on the surface of the waters. This omnipotent bird then called
forth all the variety of animals from the earth, except the Chepewyans,
who were produced from a dog; and to this circumstance they attribute
their aversion to dog's-flesh. The tradition proceeds to relate, that
the great bird, having finished his work, made an arrow, which was to be
preserved with great care, and to remain untouched; but that the
Chepewyans were so devoid of understanding, as to carry it away; and
this sacrilege so enraged the bird, that he has never since appeared.
They believe also, that, in ancient times, their ancestors lived till
their feet were worn out with walking, and their throats with eating;
and they describe a deluge, in which the waters spread over the whole
earth, except the highest mountains, on the tops of which the Chepewyans
preserved themselves.
They are superstitious in an extreme; and almost every action of their
lives, however trivial, is more or less influenced by some superstitious
notion. They believe in a good and evil spirit; and in a future state of
rewards and punishments. They assert that the souls of persons deceased
pass into another world, where they arrive at a large river, on which
they embark, in a stone canoe, and that a gentle current bears them on
to an extensive lake, in the centre of which is a beautiful island.
Within view of this island they receive that judgment for their conduct
during life, which terminates their state. If their good actions
predominate, they are landed upon the island, where there is to be no
end of their happiness. But if their bad actions prevail, the stone
canoe sinks, and leaves them up to their chins in the water, to behold
and regret the reward which is enjoyed by the good; and eternally to
struggle, but with unavailing endeavours, to reach the bliss from which
they are for ever excluded.
Twenty-fourth Day's Instruction.
NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY CONCLUDED.
Fort Chepewyan was, for eight years, the head quarters of Mr.
(now Sir Alexander) Mackenzie, who held an official situation under the
North-west Company; and who, from this place, made two important and
laborious excursions, one northward, to the Frozen Sea; and the other
westward, to the Pacific Ocean.
_Narrative of a Voyage from Fort Chepewyan, along the Rivers to the
north Frozen Ocean. From Voyages through the Continent of North America,
by_ ALEXANDER MACKENZIE.
In the first of his excursions, Mr Mackenzie embarked at _Fort
Chepewyan_, about nine o'clock in the morning of the 3d of June, 1789.
His vessel was a canoe formed of birch-bark, and his crew consisted of
one German and four Canadians, two of whom were attended by their wives.
He was also accompanied, in a small canoe, by an Indian chief and his
two wives. The men were engaged to serve in the twofold capacity of
interpreters and hunters.
Mr. Mackenzie had also with him a canoe which he had equipped for the
purpose of trade, and had given in charge to M. Le Roux, one of the
Company's clerks. In this canoe was shipped part of his provision, the
clothing necessary on the voyage, a requisite assortment of articles of
merchandise as presents, to ensure them a friendly reception among the
Indians; and such arms and ammunition as were considered necessary for
defence, as well as for the use of the hunters.
Crossing the south-western extremity of the _Lake of the Hills_, they
entered the _Slave river_, and steered, along that river, in a northerly
direction. On the ensuing day they arrived at the foot of a succession
of rapids; and, in the course of twelve miles, were obliged five times
to unload the canoes, and carry the luggage considerable distances
overland. One of the Indian canoes was borne, by the fury of the
current, down the last of the cataracts, and was dashed to pieces. The
hunters here killed seven geese, four ducks, and a beaver. The progress
of the boats was much impeded by ice.
The banks of the river, both above and below the rapids, were covered
with wood. This was more particularly the case on the western side,
where the land was low, and had a black and rich soil. The eastern banks
were somewhat elevated; and the soil was a yellow clay, mixed with
gravel. At a little distance from the banks were extensive plains,
frequented by numerous herds of buffaloes; and the woods, adjacent to
the river, were inhabited by elks and rein-deer. The habitations of
beavers were seen in all the small lakes and rivers; and the swamps
adjacent to the Slave-river, were sometimes covered with wild-fowl.
In the morning of the 9th the voyagers arrived at the _Great Slave
Lake_. Here they experienced a most uncomfortable change in the weather,
which became extremely cold. The lake was still frozen; and they were
obliged to delay their progress for several days, until they could
effect a passage across it. In the mean while they occupied themselves
in fishing and hunting, for the purpose of adding to their stock of
provisions. They had more or less rain almost every day.
On the 20th the ice had somewhat given way, and they recommenced their
voyage, in a north-westerly direction. A few days after this, they
landed on the main land, at three lodges of _Red-knife Indians_, so
called from the copper knives which they use. M. le Roux purchased, of
these Indians, some packs of beaver and marten-skins; and Mr. Mackenzie
had several consultations with them concerning the country he was about
to traverse; but he could obtain from them no information that was
important to the objects of his expedition. He, however, engaged one of
them, as a guide, in navigating the bays of the lake.
The musquitoes were now so troublesome as to occasion the voyagers much
inconvenience. After having, with considerable difficulty, navigated the
northern side of the lake, they entered the mouth of a river, which lay
in a westerly direction. On the 2d of July, they perceived, at a
distance before them, a high mountain, or rather a cluster of mountains,
which stretched southward, as far as the view could reach, and had their
tops lost in the clouds. The declivities of these mountains were covered
with wood; and they were sprinkled with glistening patches of snow,
which, at first, Mr. Mackenzie mistook for white stones.
During their progress the voyagers saw several Indian encampments. The
current, in some places, was so rapid as to produce a hissing noise,
somewhat like the boiling of a kettle. Though it was now the month of
July, the weather was extremely cold. The sun set at seven minutes
before ten, and rose at seven minutes before two in the morning.
Having passed several islands, and, not long afterwards having seen, on
the northern shore, the smoke of several fires, the voyagers made every
exertion to approach the spot; and, as they drew near, they observed a
party of Indians, running about in great apparent confusion. Some of
them were endeavouring to escape into the woods, and others were
hurrying to their canoes. The hunters landed, and, in the Chepewyan
language, addressed the few who had not escaped; but, so great was their
terror, that they did not appear to understand it. When, however, they
found it was impossible to conceal themselves, they made signs to the
strangers to keep at a distance. With these the latter complied, and not
only unloaded their canoe, but pitched their tents, before the Indians
made any attempt to approach them. After considerable difficulty they
became reconciled; and, as soon as their fears were dissipated, they
called their fugitive companions from the woods.
The inhabitants of this place were five families of _Slave_ and _Dog-rib
Indians_. They were unacquainted with the use of tobacco and ardent
spirits; but were delighted to receive, as presents, knives, beads,
awls, rings, fire-steels, flints, and hatchets; and, after a little
while, they became so familiar, that it was difficult to keep them out
of the tents.
These Indians seemed totally ignorant respecting the distant parts of
the river, for they believed its course to be so long that it would
occupy the voyagers several years to reach the sea. They also described
the intervening regions to be inhabited by monsters of the most horrid
shapes and destructive powers. One of them, however, by the bribe of a
small kettle, an axe, a knife; and some other articles, was induced to
accompany the voyagers as a guide.
They amused the strangers by dancing and singing; but neither the dance
nor the song had much variety. The men and women arranged themselves
promiscuously in a ring. The former had each a bone-dagger, or a piece
of stick, between the fingers of his right hand, which he kept extended
above his head, in continual motion; while he held his left in an
horizontal direction. They leaped about, and threw themselves into
various antic postures, to the measure of their music, bringing their
heels close together at every pause. Sometimes the men howled, like wild
beasts; and he who continued to howl the longest, appeared to be
considered the best performer. The women suffered their arms to hang
down, as if they were without the power of motion.
These people are of middle stature, thin, ugly, and ill made,
particularly about the legs. Many of them appeared to be in a very
unhealthy state, owing, probably, to their filthiness. As far as could
be discerned, through the grease and dirt that covered them, they were
of fairer complexion than the generality of Indians. The women have two
double lines of black or blue colour upon each cheek, from the ear to
the nose; and the gristle of the nose is perforated, so as to admit a
goose-quill, or a small piece of wood to be passed through it. The
clothing of these Indians is made of the dressed skins of the rein or
moose-deer. Some of them, says Mr. Mackenzie, were decorated with a neat
embroidery of porcupine-quills and hair, coloured red, black, yellow,
and white; and they had bracelets for their wrists and arms, made of
wood, horn, or bone. Round their head they had a kind of band,
embroidered with porcupine quills, and ornamented with the claws of
bears and wild-fowl.
Their huts or lodges are very simple. A few poles, supported by forks,
and forming a semicircle, with some branches or pieces of bark as a
covering, constitute the whole of the architecture. Two of these huts
are constructed facing each other, and a fire is made between them.
Among the furniture are dishes of wood, bark, or horn; and vessels in
which they cook their food, narrow at the top, and wide at the bottom.
The latter are formed of roots of the spruce fir-tree, so closely
interwoven as to hold water. This people have also small leather bags,
to hold their embroidered work, their lines, and fishing-nets. They
twist the fibres of willow-bark, and the sinews of rein-deer, into
fishing-lines; and they make fishing-hooks of horn, wood, or bone. Their
weapons for hunting are bows and arrows, spears, daggers, and clubs.
They kindle fire, by striking together a piece of white or yellow
pyrites and a flint-stone, over a piece of touchwood.
Their canoes are small, pointed at both ends, flat-bottomed, and covered
in the fore part. They are made of the bark of the birch-tree, and of
fir-wood; but are so light, that the man whom one of these vessels bears
on the water, is able to carry it overland, without any difficulty.
On the 9th of July the voyagers had an interview with a party of
Indians, who were more pleasing, both in appearance and manners, than
any they had hitherto seen. They were stout, healthy, and clean in their
persons; and their utensils and weapons resembled those of the Slave and
Dog-rib Indians. They obtained iron, in small pieces, from the
Esquimaux. Their garments were bordered with a kind of fringe; and their
shirts tapered to a point, from the belt downward. One of the men whom
Mr. Mackenzie saw, was clad in a shirt made of the skins of musk-rats.
These Indians tie their hair in a very singular manner. That which grows
on the temples, or on the fore part of the head, is formed into two
queues, which hang down before the ears: and that on the crown of the
head, is fashioned, in the same manner, towards the back of the neck,
and is tied, with the rest of the hair, at some distance from the head.
The women, and indeed some of the men, suffer their hair to hang loose
on their shoulders.
Mr. Mackenzie prevailed with one of these Indians to accompany him on
his voyage; and this man, who was one of the most intelligent Indians he
had seen, stated that it would be requisite to sleep ten nights before
they could reach the sea; and that, after three nights, the voyagers
would reach a settlement of Esquimaux, with whom his nation had formerly
made war.
He accompanied Mr. Mackenzie in a canoe; and two of his companions
followed in two other canoes. The latter sung their native songs; and
this new guide was so much enlivened by these, that the antics he
performed, in keeping time to the singing, excited continual alarm lest
he should overset his boat. He afterwards went on board Mr. Mackenzie's
canoe, where he began to perform an Esquimaux dance, to the no small
alarm of the voyagers.
Lower down the river, Mr. Mackenzie had an interview with a party of
Indians called _Quarrellers_. They consisted of about forty men, women,
and children, and, at first, seemed inclined to offer resistance; but
they were soon pacified by presents, of which blue beads were the most
acceptable articles.
These Indians represented the distance, over land, to the northern sea,
as not very great; and the distance to the sea, westward, (the Pacific
Ocean,) to be still shorter.
The river here flowed between high rocks. Indeed, in this part of the
country, the banks were, in general, lofty. In some places they were
nearly naked, and in others thickly clad with small trees, particularly
fir-trees and birch. The tops of the mountains, towards the north, were
covered with snow. The channels of the river were so various, that the
voyagers were at a loss which to take. They, however, directed their
course chiefly towards the north-west.
In this part of the voyage, Mr. Mackenzie was induced to sit up all
night, for the purpose of observing the sun: which, at half-past twelve
o'clock, was considerably above the horizon.
At four in the morning he landed at three Indian huts. These were of an
oval form, each about fifteen feet long, and ten feet wide; and in the
middle, only, they were high enough for a person to stand upright. In
one part of each the ground was strewed with willow branches, probably
as a bed for the family. The door or entrance was about two feet and a
half high, and had a covered way or porch, five feet in length; so that
it was necessary to creep on all fours, in order to get into or out of
these curious habitations. In the top of each hut there was a hole,
about eighteen inches square, which served the threefold purpose of a
window, a chimney, and occasionally a door. These edifices were formed
of wood, covered with branches and grass. On each side of the huts were
a few square holes in the ground, probably contrived for the
preservation of the winter stock of provisions.
On the 12th of July, the voyagers had reached what they imagined to be
an immense lake; and, shortly after they had retired to rest, at night,
the man on watch called them up, to remove the baggage, on account of
the sudden rising of the water. Some fish were afterwards caught, about
the size of a herring, and resembling a species of fish which abounds in
Hudson's Bay. On the ensuing day, Mr. Mackenzie ascended an adjacent
hill, and saw much ice; and, towards the north-west, two small islands
in the ice. On the 14th, many animals were seen in the water, which, at
first, were supposed to be pieces of floating-ice, but which were
afterwards ascertained to be whales. Hence it became evident that this
apparent lake was a part of the _Northern Ocean_. Mr. Mackenzie sailed
upon it, to some distance from the shore, and landed at the eastern
extremity of an island, which he called _Whale Island_, and which was
about seven leagues in length, but not more than a mile broad. The
ebbing and flowing of the tide were here observed. He subsequently
landed on another island, where an Indian burying-place was observed.
The latitude of the shore of this northern ocean, was ascertained to be
69 degrees 14 minutes, north; and the longitude 135 degrees, west.
_Narrative of the Return of_ MR. MACKENZIE _from the Frozen
Ocean to Fort Chepewyan._
This gentlemen embarked, on his return, at half-past one o'clock, of the
21st of July, the weather being extremely cold and unpleasant. At ten,
the canoes re-entered the river; but the opposing current was so strong,
that the men were obliged, for a considerable distance, to tow them
along. The land on both sides was elevated, and almost perpendicular.
Much rain fell.
Mr. Mackenzie subsequently encamped near an Indian village, the
inhabitants of which were at first considerably alarmed. They
afterwards, however, became familiar. Some of them, having kindled a
fire, laid themselves round it, to sleep; and, notwithstanding the
excessive coldness of the climate, they had neither skins nor garments
to cover them.
The people of this nation are continually at variance with the
Esquimaux, who are said to take every opportunity of attacking them,
when not in a state to defend themselves. From their account it appeared
that a strong party of Esquimaux occasionally ascended the river, in
large canoes, to search for flint-stones, which they used as points for
their spears and arrows. These Esquimaux were said to wear their hair
short; and to have a hole perforated on each side of their mouth, in a
line with the under lip, and to place beads in the holes, by way of
ornament. Their weapons were bows, arrows, and spears; but they also
used slings, from which they threw stones with great dexterity.
The weather was now fine; and Mr. Mackenzie and his men renewed their
voyage on the 27th of July. At seven o'clock they once more reached the
rapids. Here they found three families of Indians, from whom they
obtained some information respecting the adjacent country, and
particularly respecting a river which was stated to run on the opposite
side of the mountains, in a westerly direction; and which, from the
description given of it, Mr. Mackenzie conjectured to be that called
_Cook's River_.
At a subsequent interview, with another party of Indians, a
misunderstanding took place, in which the Indians seized one of Mr.
Mackenzie's boats, and dragged it on shore. Peace, however, being
restored, Mr. Mackenzie endeavoured to obtain some further intelligence
concerning the river to the westward. His enquiries, however, were to
little purpose. The account given by these Indians was very vague; and
their description of the inhabitants of the country adjacent to it, was
extremely absurd. These, it was stated, were of gigantic stature, and
furnished with wings; which, however, they never employed in flying:
that they fed on large birds, which they killed with the greatest ease;
though common men would be the certain victims of the voracity of such
birds. The Indians also described the people who inhabited the mouth of
the river, as possessing the extraordinary power of killing with their
eyes; and as each being able to devour a large beaver at a single meal.
They added that canoes, or vessels of immense size, visited that place.
They did not, however, pretend to relate these particulars from their
own observation, but from the report of other Indians; for they had
themselves never ventured beyond the first range of mountains, from
their own dwellings. It, however, appeared to Mr. Mackenzie that, either
the Indians knew more of this country than they chose to communicate, or
that his interpreter, who had long been tired of the voyage, gave him
purposely a wrong account, in order that he might not be induced to
extend his excursions.
As soon as the conference was ended, the Indians began to dance; and, in
this pastime, old and young, male and female, continued their exertions,
till their strength was exhausted. Their actions were accompanied by
various noises, in imitation of the rein-deer, the bear, and the wolf.
When the dancing was ended, Mr. Mackenzie assumed an angry tone,
expressed his suspicions that information had been purposely withheld
from him; and concluded with a threat, that if they did not give him a
more satisfactory account, he would compel one of them to accompany him,
for the purpose of pointing out the road to the other river. No sooner
did they hear this declaration, than they all, in a moment, became sick;
and answered, in a faint tone, that they knew no more than what they had
already communicated. Finding it useless to persevere in his enquiries,
he ceased them; and having purchased a few beaver-skins, and obtained a
plentiful supply of food, he continued his voyage.
On the 1st of August, the weather was clear and cold. This was the first
night, for many weeks, that the stars had been visible. Nine days
afterwards, they arrived in the vicinity of a range of lofty mountains.
Accompanied by a young Indian, Mr. Mackenzie landed, for the purpose of
ascending one of them. They passed through a wood, chiefly of
spruce-firs, so thick that it was with difficulty they could penetrate
it. After they had walked more than an hour, the underwood decreased;
and was succeeded by birch and poplar trees, the largest and tallest
that Mr. Mackenzie had ever seen. The mountains, which had been
concealed, by the woods, from their view, were again visible, but,
apparently, at as great a distance as when they were first seen from the
river. This was a very mortifying circumstance, for Mr. Mackenzie and
his companion had been walking nearly three hours. The Indian expressed
great anxiety to return; for his shoes and leggings had been torn to
pieces, and he was alarmed at the idea of having to proceed all night,
through this trackless country. Mr. Mackenzie was, however, determined
to proceed, and to return the next day. As they approached the
mountains, the ground became marshy; and they waded, in water and grass,
up to their knees, till they came within a mile of them; when, suddenly,
Mr. Mackenzie sank, up to his armpits, in mud and water. Having, with
considerable difficulty, extricated himself, he found it impossible to
proceed any further. To cross this unexpected morass was impracticable;
and it extended so far, both to the right and left, that he could not
attempt to make the circuit of either extremity. He therefore determined
to return; and, about midnight, he again reached the river, excessively
fatigued with his fruitless expedition.
In the afternoon of the 13th, the voyagers continued their route, and
with very favourable weather. They passed several places, where fires
had recently been made; and beyond these, they observed a party of
Indians, drawing their canoes on the beach, and endeavouring to escape
into the woods. These had been so much terrified, by the appearance of
the strangers, and the report of their guns, in shooting wild-geese,
that they left, on the beach, several weapons and articles of dress. Mr.
Mackenzie directed his men to go into the woods, in search of them, but
in vain; for they had fled too rapidly to be overtaken.
The voyagers had, for some time, subsisted chiefly on fish, which they
had caught in their nets, and on deer and other game, which the hunters
had killed.
On Saturday, the 12th of September, at three o'clock in the afternoon,
they again arrived at _Fort Chepewyan_; and thus concluded an arduous
voyage, which, in the whole, had occupied the space of one hundred and
two days.
_The Western Coast of America, from California to Behring's Strait._
On the western coast of North America, and lying between the
twenty-second and thirty-second degrees of latitude, is a very singular
promontory, near seven hundred miles in length, called _California_. It
is at present subject to Spain; and is separated from New Mexico, by the
_Gulf of California_, an arm of the sea, which is navigable by vessels
of the largest size. The general surface of the country is barren,
rugged, overrun with hills, rocks, and sand-banks, and unfit for
agriculture. But, in a few places, where the Spanish missionaries have
established settlements, the lands are fertile, and singularly
productive of maize, barley, and peas. The plains, in the interior, are
noted for the production of rock-salt.
The Indians of California are very expert in the use of the bow, and
subsist chiefly by hunting and fishing. Their skin is dark, and they
paint their bodies, by way of ornament: they also pierce their ears, and
wear in them trinkets of various kinds. The wealthiest of them wear
cloaks made of sea-otter skins, which cover the loins, and reach below
their middle. Others, however, have only a piece of cloth round their
waist, and a little cloak, formed of rabbit-skin, which covers their
shoulders, and is tied beneath the chin. The huts of these Indians are
the most miserable that can be imagined. Their form is circular; and
about six feet wide and four feet high. In the construction of them,
stakes, eight or ten feet long, are driven into the ground, and are
brought together so as to form an arch at the top; and trusses of straw,
badly arranged upon these stakes, defend the inhabitants from the wind
and rain.
Near the Spanish settlement of _Monterey_, in north latitude 30 degrees
35 minutes, M. de la Perouse, the French navigator, states that the soil
is tolerably fertile and productive; and the climate is mild, though
foggy. This part of California produces, in abundance, olives, figs,
pomegranates, grapes, and peaches; the trees of which have all been
planted by the missionaries. Beyond Monterey, the interior of the
country is covered with immense forests of pines and other trees.
North of California is _New Albion_, a country so called by Sir Francis
Drake, who originally discovered it in the year 1578. It was visited
about two hundred years afterwards, by Captain Cook. The country is
mountainous; and, during the winter and spring, the mountains are
covered with snow. The valleys and the grounds along the sea-coast, are
clad with trees, and appear like a vast forest.
Captain Cook sailed northward along the coast of New Albion, and
anchored his vessels in an inlet called _Nootka Sound_. The inhabitants
of the adjacent country approached his ships, and offered for sale the
skins of various animals; garments of different kinds, some of fur, and
others formed of the bark of trees. But, of all the articles brought to
market, the most extraordinary, were human skulls, and hands not quite
stripped of their flesh, some of which had evident marks of having been
upon the fire. The articles which the natives took, in exchange for
their commodities, were knives, chisels, pieces of iron and tin, nails,
looking-glasses, buttons, or any kind of metal. Though the commerce was,
in general, carried on with mutual honesty, there were some among these
people who were much inclined to theft. And they were extremely
dangerous thieves; for, possessing sharp iron instruments, they could
cut a hook from a tackle, or any other piece of iron from a rope, the
moment that the backs of the English were turned; and the dexterity with
which they conducted their operations of this nature, frequently eluded
the most cautious vigilance. In the progress of the commerce, they would
deal for nothing but metal; and, at length, brass was so eagerly sought
for, in preference to iron, that, before the navigators quitted the
place, scarcely a bit of brass was left in the ships, except what
belonged to the different instruments. Whole suits of clothes were
stripped of every button; bureaus were deprived of their furniture;
copper-kettles, tin-canisters, candlesticks, and whatever of the like
kind could be found, all were seized and carried off.
On Captain Cook's first arrival in this inlet, he had honoured it with
the name of _King George's Sound_; but as it was called _Nootka_, by the
natives, the latter appellation has since been generally adopted. The
climate appeared to be much milder than that on the east coast of
America, in the same parallel of latitude. With regard to trees, those
of which the woods are chiefly composed, are the Canadian pine and white
cypress; of the land animals, the most common were bears, deer, foxes,
and wolves. The sea animals, which were seen off the coast, were whales,
porpoises, seals, and sea-otters. Birds, in general, were not only rare
as to the different species, but few in number.
With respect to the inhabitants, their persons are generally under the
common stature; but they are usually full or plump, though without being
muscular. From their bringing to sale human skulls and bones, it may be
inferred that they treat their enemies with a degree of brutal cruelty.
To the navigators, however, they appeared to be a docile, courteous, and
good-natured people. The chief employments of the men, were those of
fishing, and of killing land or sea animals for the sustenance of
themselves and their families; while the women were occupied in
manufacturing flaxen or woollen garments, and in other domestic offices.
North of Nootka Sound is _Port St. François_, which was visited by M. de
la Perouse. There is, at this place, a deep bay which affords a safe
anchorage. During three or four months of the year, vegetation near Port
St. François is vigorous. In the interior of the country are forests of
stately trees; and mountains of granite rise from the sea, and to such
an elevation that their summits are capped with snow. Some of the
highest mountains were computed by M. de la Perouse, to be ten thousand
feet in perpendicular height.
The inhabitants of this part of America are more robust, and better
proportioned, than the Californians. The faces of the women are,
however, disfigured by having, through the under lip, a piece of wood,
by way of ornament. They paint their body and face, tatoo themselves,
and pierce their ears and the cartilage of their nose, for the purpose
of placing ornaments in them. Their food consists chiefly of game and
fish. Their huts, or cabins, are constructed of rushes, or the branches
of trees, and are covered with bark. The weapons of the men are bows,
javelins, and daggers. The women are chiefly employed in domestic
concerns: their dress consists of a leathern shirt, and a mantle of
skins; and their feet are generally naked.
The inhabitants of the country, adjacent to an inlet which Captain Cook
named _Prince William's Sound_, appeared to have a strong resemblance to
the Esquimaux and Greenlanders. Their canoes, their weapons, and their
implements for fishing and hunting, are exactly similar, in materials
and construction, to those used in Greenland; and the animals are, in
general, similar to those that are found at Nootka. Humming-birds
frequently flew about the ships while at anchor. Waterfowl were in
considerable abundance: but torsk and holibut were almost the only kinds
of fish that were caught. Vegetables were few in number; and the trees
were chiefly the Canadian and spruce pine.
North of Prince William's Sound, Captain Cook entered an inlet, which,
it was hoped, would be found to communicate either with Baffin's or
Hudson's Bay to the east; but, after an examination of it, to the
distance of seventy leagues from the sea, it was proved to be a river.
It is now called _Cook's River_.
The inhabitants who were seen during the examinations of this river,
appeared to resemble those of Prince William's Sound. They essentially
differed from those of Nootka Sound, both in their persons and language.
The only articles seen among them, which were not their own manufacture,
were a few glass beads, the iron points of their spears, and their
knives of the same metal. A very beneficial fur-trade, might be carried
on with the inhabitants of this vast coast; but, without a practical
northern passage, the situation is too remote to render such a trade of
any advantage to Great Britain.
A long peninsula, called _Alyaska_, extends, from the mouth of Cook's
River, in a westerly direction; and, from its extremity a chain of
islands stretches almost to the coast of Asia. The main land was
observed, by Captain Cook, to be mountainous; and some of the mountains
towered above the clouds. One of them, of conical shape, was discovered
to be a volcano: smoke issued from its summit.
Northward of Alyaska is a promontory to which Captain Cook gave the name
of _Cape Newenham_. At this place he directed one of his lieutenants to
land: this gentleman ascended the highest hill within sight, but from
its summit he could not see a tree or shrub of any description. The
lower grounds, however, were not destitute of grass and herbage.
At the entrance of _Behring's Strait_, is a point of land which Captain
Cook called _Cape Prince of Wales_, and which is remarkable as being the
most westerly extremity of America hitherto explored. It is not forty
miles distant from the coast of Siberia. From near this place, Captain
Cook crossed to the opposite shore of Asia; and he continued to traverse
the Frozen Sea, in various directions, and through innumerable
difficulties, till, at length, the increase of the ice prevented his
further progress northward, and he returned into the Pacific Ocean.
Twenty-fifth Day's Instruction.
DAVIS'S STRAIT AND BAFFIN'S BAY.
Several expeditions have, at different times, been fitted out, for the
purpose of ascertaining whether there exists a north-west passage, or
navigable communication, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The
supposed points of communication are the north-western side of Baffin's
Bay, on the east, and Behring's Strait on the west. Within the last four
years the attention of the public has been more particularly called to
this subject, by the fitting out, and progress, of two successive
expeditions into Baffin's Bay. To the commander of each, instructions
were given that he should, if possible, effect a passage thence,
westward, into the Pacific. The first of these expeditions, under the
command of Captain Ross, sailed from England in the month of April,
1818: the other, under Captain Parry, who, in the previous expedition,
had accompanied Captain Ross as the second in command, sailed on the
10th of May, 1819. Some of the most interesting adventures which they
each experienced, and of the most important discoveries which they
effected, will now require our attention.
_A Narrative of_ CAPTAIN ROSS'S _Voyage of Discovery, for the
purpose of exploring Baffin's Bay, and enquiring into the probability of
a North-west Passage._
The Isabella and Alexander, commanded by Captain Ross and Lieutenant
Parry, passed _Cape Farewell_, the south-eastern extremity of Greenland,
on the 26th of May, 1818. The voyagers had previously seen a great
number of icebergs, or islands of ice, of various shape and size, and of
singular and grotesque figure. The height of one of them was estimated
at three hundred and twenty-five feet; and a torrent of water was
pouring down its side. On another, to which the ships were, for a while,
made fast, a stratum of gravel, and stones of various kinds was
observed.
Whilst the vessels were near this iceberg, which was in latitude 68
degrees, 22 minutes, they were visited by some Esquimaux, inhabitants of
the adjacent country. From these persons they learnt that it had
remained aground since the preceding year; and that there was ice all
the way thence to _Disco Island_.
In the evening of the 12th of June, the weather being clear and serene,
the sky and the water presented one of the most beautiful scenes that
can be imagined. The former, near the horizon, was interspersed with
light and fleecy clouds, which decreased gradually in colour and
density, according to their height; until, in the zenith, they
disappeared entirely, and there the sky assumed a rich cerulean blue.
The water, on the other hand, presented a spectacle superbly grand. Let
any one fancy himself (says Captain Ross) in the midst of an immense
plain, extending further than the eye can penetrate, and filled with
masses of ice, which present a greater variety of form than the most
fertile imagination can conceive; and as various in size as in shape,
from the minutest fragments, to stupendous islands, more than one
hundred feet in perpendicular height above the surface of the ocean.
In the afternoon of the 14th of June, being near the Danish settlement,
on _Kron Prins Island_, in latitude 63 degrees, 54 minutes, the governor
of the settlement came on board the Isabella. This person stated that
the weather of the preceding winter had been unusually severe; and that,
during his residence of eleven years, in Greenland, the intensity of the
cold had gradually continued to increase. The whole population of the
island consisted of himself and family, six Danes, and one hundred
Esquimaux, whose occupation consisted chiefly in the capture of whales
and seals.
The vessels proceeded northward, along the edge of the ice, through a
crooked and narrow channel, in the midst of a firm field of ice, and a
tremendous ridge of icebergs.
At _Wayat's_ or _Hare Island_, the astronomical instruments were landed,
and some important errors, both of latitude and longitude, were
discovered and corrected. Thirty or forty whale-ships were seen fastened
to the icebergs along the shore of this island. The only four-footed
animals observed on it were white hares and a fox: the birds were
ptarmigans, snipes, snow-buntings, and larks.
Beyond Wayat's Island the ships were surrounded by ice of various and
extensive forms; and much skill, ardour, and perseverance, were
manifested by the navigators working through the narrow channels and
floes. On the 23d, and at the distance of ten miles north of Wayat, they
reached _Four Island Point_, where they found several whalers which had
been stopped by the ice.
A sort of Danish factory was established at this spot, and some Indian
huts were seen; but they were in ruins and apparently deserted. Captain
Ross sent to the shore one of his crew, an Esquimaux, named John
Sacheuse. This man, who had been resident nearly two years in England,
and had acquired some knowledge of the English language, had been taken
on board the Isabella as an interpreter.
He found a village, consisting of a few huts, formed of seal-skins, and
sufficient for the residence of about fifty persons. Being desirous of
obtaining from these persons a sledge and dogs, in exchange for a
rifle-musket, he conducted seven of them, in their canoes, to the ship.
As soon as the bargain was made, they went on shore, and returned, with
the sledge and dogs, in a larger canoe, rowed by five women in a
standing posture, and all dressed in deer-skins. These people were
highly pleased with the treatment they received; and, having partaken of
some refreshment in the cabin, they danced on the deck with the sailors,
to the animating strains of a Shetland fiddler. Two of the women were
daughters of a Danish resident, by an Esquimaux woman: one of the men
was the son of a Dane; and they were all of the colour of Mulattoes.
After the dance, coffee was served; and, at eight o'clock, the party
returned to land.
The progress of the vessels had hitherto been much impeded by the state
of the ice. This, however, now began to separate, and they once more
proceeded on their voyage; passing among hundreds of icebergs, of
extraordinary colours, and the most fantastical shapes.
In latitude 74 degrees 30 minutes, the Isabella was jammed in by the
ice, and sustained a severe pressure; being lifted several feet out of
the water, but she did not receive any material injury. On the 31st of
July, whales were seen in great numbers; and, the boats being sent in
pursuit of them, one was killed: it measured forty-six feet in length,
and yielded thirteen tons of blubber.
On the 6th and 7th of August, the two ships were again in great danger
from the ice. Whilst they were in the midst of the icebergs, they were
driven, by a gale of wind, so forcibly against each other, that their
sterns came violently in contact, and crushed to pieces a boat that
could not be removed in time; and, had not the vessels themselves been
excessively strong, they must have been totally destroyed. Attempts were
made to liberate them by sawing through the ice: not long after the
commencement of the operation, two immense masses of ice came violently
in contact, and one of them, fifty feet in height, suddenly broke. Its
elevated part fell back with a terrible crash; and overwhelmed, with its
ruins, the very spot which the officers had marked out as a place of
safety for the ships. Soon afterwards the ice opened, and they were once
more out of danger.
The gale having abated, and the weather, which of late had been snowy,
having cleared up, land was seen in latitude 75 degrees 54 minutes; and
on the 9th of August, the voyagers beheld, at a distance, upon the ice,
some people who seemed to be hallooing to the ships. At first they were
supposed to be shipwrecked sailors, whose vessel had perished in the
late gale; the ships, therefore, were steered nearer to the ice, and the
colours were hoisted. It was, however, now discovered, that they were
natives of the country, drawn by dogs on sledges, and with wonderful
velocity.
When they had approached near enough to the ships, for Sacheuse to be
heard, he hailed them in his own language, and they answered him; but
neither party seemed to be intelligible. For some time the strangers
remained silent; but, on the ships' tacking, they set up a shout, and
wheeled off, with amazing swiftness, towards the land.
On the ensuing day eight sledges were seen to approach the ships.
Sacheuse volunteered his services to go on the ice, with presents: this
was done in the hope of bringing the people to a parley. They halted at
some distance from the ships, and by the edge of a canal or chasm in the
ice, which prevented any fear or danger of attack from either party.
Sacheuse soon discovered that these Indians spoke a dialect of his own
language; and he invited them to approach nearer, but they replied, "No,
no, go you away;" and one of them, drawing a knife out of his boot,
exclaimed: "Go away; I can kill you." Sacheuse told them that he wished
to be their friend; and, as a proof of it, he threw them, across the
canal, some strings of beads, and a checked shirt. These were beheld
with great distrust, and Sacheuse threw them a knife. They approached
with caution, took up the knife, and then shouted and pulled their
noses. These actions were imitated by Sacheuse, who, in return, called
out, "Heigh-yaw!" pulling his nose, with the same gesture. They then
pointed to the shirt, and asked him of what skin it was made; but some
time elapsed before they would venture to touch it. After this they
pointed to the ships, and eagerly enquired, "What are those great
creatures? Do they come from the sun or the moon? Do they give us light
by night or by day?" Sacheuse said that they were houses made of wood;
but this, they replied, could not be the case, for the creatures were
alive: they had been seen to flap their wings. Sacheuse again assured
them of the truth of all he had told them, and that he was a man like
themselves; then pointing towards the south, he said he came, in those
houses, from a distant country in that direction. To this they replied,
"No, that cannot be: there is nothing but ice there."
On Sacheuse asking these Indians who they were, they replied that they
were men, and that they lived in a country towards which they pointed
(in the north:) that they had there plenty of water; and that they had
come to the present spot, to catch seals and sea-unicorns.
Sacheuse, wishing to become better acquainted with them, returned to the
ship, for a plank, to enable him to cross over the chasm. He crossed it;
but, on approaching them, they entreated that he would not touch them,
as, in that case, they should certainly die. One of them, however, more
courageous than the rest, ventured to touch his hand; then, pulling his
own nose, he set up a loud shout, in which he was joined by Sacheuse and
the other three.
The whole of the natives, eight in number, now came forward, and were
met by the commanders of the vessels, and the other officers; but they
were, evidently, in a state of great alarm, until the ceremony of
pulling noses had been gone through by both parties, shouting, at the
same time, _heigh-yaw_! With this people the pulling of noses is a mode
of friendly salutation; and their interjection of "heigh-yaw!" is an
expression of surprise and pleasure.
The officers gave to the foremost of the natives a looking-glass and a
knife; and presented similar articles to the others, as they came up in
succession. On seeing their faces in the glasses, their astonishment
appeared extreme. They looked round in silence, for a moment, at each
other, and at their visitors, and immediately afterwards set up a
general shout: this was succeeded by a loud laugh, expressive of delight
and surprise. Having, at length, acquired some degree of confidence,
they advanced, and, in return for knives, glasses, and beads, gave their
own knives, sea-unicorn's horns, and sea-horse teeth.
On approaching the ship, they halted, and were evidently much terrified;
and one of the party, after surveying the Isabella, and examining every
part of her with his eyes, thus addressed her, in a loud tone: "Who are
you? Where do you come from? Is it from the sun or the moon?" pausing
between every question, and pulling his nose with the greatest
solemnity. This ceremony was repeated, in succession, by all the rest.
Sacheuse again assured them that the ships were only wooden houses; and
he showed them the boat, which had been hauled on the ice, for the
purpose of being repaired, explaining to them, that it was a smaller
vessel of the same kind. This immediately arrested their attention:
they advanced to the boat, and examined her, and the carpenter's tools
and the oars, very minutely; each object, in its turn, exciting the most
ludicrous ejaculations of surprise. The boat was then ordered to be
launched into the sea, with a man in it, and hauled up again; at the
sight of this operation there seemed no bounds to their clamour. The
cable and the ice-anchor, the latter a heavy piece of iron, shaped like
the letter S, excited much interest. They tried in vain to remove it;
and they eagerly enquired of what skins the cable was made.
By this time the officers of both the ships had surrounded the Indians;
while the bow of the Isabella, which was close to the ice, was crowded
with sailors; and a more ludicrous, yet more interesting scene, was,
perhaps, never beheld, than that which took place whilst the Indians
were viewing the ship. Nor is it possible to convey to the imagination
any thing like a just representation of the wild amazement, joy, and
fear, by which they were successively agitated. The circumstance,
however, which chiefly excited their admiration, was a sailor going
aloft; for they kept their eyes intently fixed upon him, till he had
reached the summit of the mast. The sails, which hung loose, they
supposed to be skins.
After this, they were conducted to the foot of a rope-ladder suspended
from the deck of the ship; and the mode of ascending it was shown to
them; but a considerable time elapsed before they could be prevailed
with to ascend. At length one of them went up, and he was followed by
the rest. The wonders with which they were now surrounded, excited
additional astonishment.
The knowledge which these Indians had of wood seemed to be confined to
some kinds of heath, which had stems not thicker than the finger: hence
they knew not what to think of the timber with which the ships were
constructed. Not being aware of its weight, two or three of them,
successively, seized hold of the spare topmast, and evidently with an
intention of carrying it off. The only object on board which they
seemed to view with contempt, was a little terrier dog; judging, no
doubt, that it was too small for drawing a sledge: but they shrunk back,
in terror, from a pig, whose pricked ears, and ferocious countenance,
presented a somewhat formidable appearance. This animal happening to
grunt, one of them was so much terrified, that he became, from that
moment, uneasy, and impatient to get out of the ship. In carrying his
purpose into effect, however, he did not lose his propensity to
thieving, for he seized hold of, and endeavoured to carry off, the
smith's anvil: but, finding it infinitely too heavy for his strength, he
laid hold of the large hammer, threw it on the ice; and, following it
himself, deliberately laid it on his sledge, and drove off. As this was
an article that could not be spared, Captain Ross sent a man from the
ship, who pursued the depredator, and, with some difficulty, recovered
it.
The officers and men on board were much amused by putting into the hands
of these Indians a magnifying mirror. On beholding themselves in it,
their grimaces were highly entertaining. They first looked into, and
then behind it, in hopes of finding the monster which was exaggerating
their hideous gestures. A watch was held to the ear of one of them; and
he, supposing it alive, asked if it was good to eat. On being shown the
glass of the skylight and binnacle, they touched it, and desired to know
what kind of ice it was.
Three of the men who remained on board were handed down into the
captain's cabin, and shown the use of the chairs: this, however, they
did not comprehend; for they appeared to have no notion of any other
seat than the ground. They were shown paper, books, drawings, and
various mathematical instruments, but these produced in them only the
usual effect of astonishment. On being conducted to the gun-room, and
afterwards round the ship, they did not appear to notice any thing
particularly, except the wood that had been used in her construction.
They stamped upon the deck, as if in surprise at the great quantity of
this valuable material which they beheld. By the direction of the
officers, Sacheuse enquired of these people, whether their country had
as many inhabitants as there were pieces of ice, floating round the
ship: they replied, "Many more;" and it was supposed that at least a
thousand fragments could be distinguished.
The men were now loaded with presents of various kinds, consisting of
articles of clothing, biscuit, and pieces of wood; in addition to which
the plank that had been used in crossing the chasm, was given to them.
They then departed, promising to return as soon as they had eaten and
slept. The parting was attended, on each side, by the ceremony of
pulling noses.
It has been remarked that these Indians were in possession of knives;
and the iron of which their knives were made, was stated to have been
procured from a mountain near the sea-shore. They informed Sacheuse that
there was a rock, or great quantity of it; and that they cut off from
this rock, with a sharp stone, such pieces as they wanted.
In the course of the three following days, the Isabella changed her
station some miles westward. At length she was again moored near the
ice; and, shortly afterwards, three of the natives appeared at a
distance. Sacheuse, who had been furnished with presents, and sent to
speak with them, induced them to drive, on their sledges, close to the
vessel. The dogs attached to each sledge were six in number. Each dog
had a collar of seal-skin, two inches wide, to which one end of a thong,
made of strong hide, and about three yards in length, was fastened: the
other end was tied to the front of the sledge: thus the dogs were ranged
nearly abreast, each dog drawing by a single trace, and without reins.
No sooner did they hear the crack of the driver's whip, than they set
off at full speed, while he managed them with the greatest apparent
ease, guiding them partly by his voice, and partly by the sound of his
whip. One of these men pointed out to Captain Ross his house, which was
about three miles distant, and could be discerned with a telescope.
A party of ten natives approached the ship, on the ensuing day. These
having with them a seal-skin bag filled with air, they began to kick it
at each other and at the strangers: in this play the Englishmen joined,
to the great amusement of both parties. The inflated skin was what the
men had been using as the buoy to a harpoon, in the killing of a
sea-unicorn. They gave to Captain Ross a piece of dried sea-unicorn's
flesh, which appeared to have been half roasted. This gentleman had
already seen them eat dried flesh; and he now had an opportunity of
ascertaining that they did not scruple to eat flesh in any state; for,
one of them who had a bag full of marine-birds, took out one and
devoured it raw.
The officers, desirous of ascertaining whether these Indians had any
amusements of music or dancing, prevailed with two of them to give a
specimen of their dancing. One of them began to distort his features and
turn up his eyes. He then proceeded to execute, in succession, a variety
of strange gestures and attitudes, accompanied by hideous distortions of
countenance. His body was generally in a stooping posture; and his hands
rested on his knees. After a few minutes, he began to sing; and, in a
little while, the second performer, who, hitherto, had been looking on,
in silence, began to imitate his comrade. They then sang, in chorus, the
word, "_hejaw! hejaw!_" After this had continued, with increasing
energy, for several minutes, the tune was suddenly changed to one of
shrill notes, in which the words "_weehee! weehee!_" were uttered with
great rapidity. They then approached each other, by slipping their feet
forward: they grinned, and, in great agitation, advanced until their
noses touched, when a loud and savage laugh terminated the extraordinary
performance.
While this performance was going on, one of the Indians, seeing that the
attention of every person was engaged, seized the opportunity of
descending into the state-room, and of purloining Captain Ross's best
telescope, a case of razors, and a pair of scissors, which he artfully
concealed in his tunic, rejoining the party and the amusements, as if
nothing had happened. He did not, however, escape detection, for the
ship's steward had witnessed the theft, and, now charging him with it,
made him return all the articles he had stolen.
Captain Ross gave the name of _Arctic Highlands_ to the country
inhabited by these Indians, and that of _Prince Regent's Bay_, to the
place where the vessels had anchored. It is situated in the north-east
corner of Baffin's Bay, between the latitudes of 76 and 79 degrees
north; and is bounded, towards the south, by an immense barrier of
mountains covered with ice. The interior of the country presents an
irregular group of mountainous land, declining gradually towards the
sea, which it reaches in an irregular manner, the cliffs ranging from
five hundred to one thousand feet in height. This tract was almost
covered with ice, and appeared to be impassable.
On the surface of the land, above the cliffs, a scanty appearance of
vegetation, of a yellowish green colour, and, in some places, of a
heathy brown, was to be seen; and, at the foot of the cliffs, similar
traces of a wretched verdure were also apparent. Among the cliffs were
seen deep ravines filled with snow, through which the marks of torrents
were perceptible. These cliffs run out, in many places, into capes, and
are skirted by islands, which, at this time, were clear of ice, and
consequently were washed by the waves. Many species of wild-fowl were
seen.
The vegetable productions of this country may be said to consist of
heath, moss, and coarse grass. There is nothing like cultivation, nor
did it appear that the natives used any kind of vegetable food. The moss
is in great abundance: it is six or eight inches in length, and, when
dried and immersed in oil or blubber, it serves for a wick, and
produces a comfortable fire for cooking and warmth, as well as for
light.
The whale-fishery might, undoubtedly, be pursued with great success, in
this bay and its vicinity. The whales are here not only large and
numerous, but, probably from their having been undisturbed, they are
tame, and easy to be approached.
The dress of the Arctic Highlanders, as Captain Ross has denominated the
people of this country, consists of three pieces, which are all
comprised in the name of _tunic_. The upper piece is made of seal-skin,
with the hair outside; and is open near the top, so as to admit the
wearer's face. The hood part is neatly trimmed with fox's-skin, and is
made to fall back on the shoulders, or to cover the head, as may be
required. The next piece of dress, which scarcely reaches to the knee,
is made of bear's or dog's skin. The boots are of seal-skin, with the
hair inward. In the winter this people have a garment of bear-skin,
which they put on as a cloak.
The Arctic Highlanders are of a dirty copper colour. Their stature is
about five feet: their bodies are corpulent, and their features much
resemble those of the Esquimaux. Their cheeks are full and round. Their
lips are thick, their eyes are small, and their hair is black, coarse,
long, and lank. These people appear to be filthy in the extreme. The
faces, hands, and bodies of such as were seen by the voyagers, were
covered with oil and dirt; and they seemed never to have washed
themselves since they were born: even their hair was matted with filth.
Some attempts were made to ascertain the religious notions of the Arctic
Highlanders, but these seem to have proved unsatisfactory; and, perhaps,
from the inability of Sacheuse to question them on such a subject. They
had a king, whom they represented to be a strong man, very good, and
greatly beloved. His house was described to be of stone, and nearly as
large as the ship; and they said that every man paid to him a portion of
all which they caught or found. They could not be made to understand
what was meant by war, nor did the voyagers see, among them, any warlike
weapons. It is peculiarly deserving of remark, that these Indians, who
derive much of their subsistence from the water, have no canoes or
vessels of any description, in which they can go afloat; nor do they
appear to have any names by which boats or canoes are designated. It is
true that they have no wood for the construction of floating vessels;
but such might, without difficulty, be constructed of bone covered with
skins.
On the 16th of August, the ice had become sufficiently open, to permit
the passage of the vessels to the northward; and they consequently
proceeded on their voyage.
In these high latitudes, a kind of marine birds, called Little Awks
(_alca alle_) were observed in countless multitudes, and afforded to the
sailors, a grateful supply of fresh food. With three muskets, no fewer
than one thousand two hundred and sixty-three of them were killed in one
day; and, of this number, ninety-three were brought down by one
discharge of the muskets.
When the ships were in latitude 75 degrees 54 minutes, the snow on the
face of the cliffs was observed to be stained of a deep crimson colour.
Some of this snow being collected in buckets, it was found to resemble,
in appearance, raspberry ice-cream: when dissolved, the liquor seemed
not unlike muddy port-wine; and the sediment appeared, through a
microscope, to be composed of dark-red globules. Some of this sediment
was brought to England, and it is generally supposed to have been a
vegetable substance, the seed, probably, of some species of fungus; or,
perhaps, to have been itself a minute kind of fungus.
On the 18th of August, the ships passed _Cape Dudley Digges_, six miles
northward of which a majestic glacier, or mass of ice, was remarked to
occupy a space of four miles square, extending one mile into the sea,
and rising to the height of at least a hundred feet. On the same day
the vessels passed _Wolstenholme_ and _Whale Sounds_.
About midnight of the 19th, _Sir Thomas Smith's Sound_ was distinctly
seen. Captain Ross considered the bottom of this sound to have been
eighteen leagues distant; but its entrance, he says, was completely
blocked up by ice. On the 21st, the ships stood over to explore an
opening, supposed to have been that called _Alderman Jones's Sound_; but
Captain Ross says that the ice and fog prevented a near approach.
The night of the 24th of August was remarkable for having been the first
on which the sun had been observed to set, since the 7th of June. The
land was now seen to take a southerly direction; and the ships proceeded
along it, as near as they could conveniently approach for the floating
masses of ice.
On the 30th they entered a wide opening in the land, the _Sir James
Lancaster's Sound_ of Baffin. On each side of this opening was a chain
of high mountains. The sea was perfectly free from ice, and the vessels
proceeded on a westward course for several leagues. The weather had, for
some time, been hazy; but, on its clearing up, Captain Ross states that
a range of mountains about twenty-four miles distant, were seen to
occupy the centre of the inlet. To these he gave the name of _Croker
Mountains_, and, imagining that no passage existed through them, he
returned into the open sea, and, not long afterwards, sailed for
England.
Twenty-sixth Day's Instruction.
DAVIS'S STRAIT AND BAFFIN'S BAY CONCLUDED.
The accounts that had been given by Captain Ross, particularly
respecting the apparent mountains, named by him _Croker Mountains_,
across Sir James Lancaster's Sound, not proving either conclusive or
satisfactory, the Lords of the Admiralty ordered two ships, the Hecla
and Griper, to be prepared for a further voyage of discovery in Baffin's
Bay. The command of these vessels, as already stated, was given to
Captain Parry, who, in the previous expedition, had been second in
command under Captain Ross. It was one important part of his
instructions, that he should advance to the northward, as far as the
opening into Lancaster's Sound; that he should explore the bottom of
that Sound, and, if possible, pass through it to Behring's Strait. The
number of men in both the vessels was ninety-four; and many of them were
those who had accompanied Captain Ross.
_Narrative of_ CAPTAIN PARRY'S _Voyage for the Discovery of a
North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean._
Captain Parry arrived at the entrance into _Lancaster's Sound_, on the
30th of July, 1819; and, this day, saw no fewer than eighty-two whales.
Some of the officers and men landed at _Possession Bay_, and recognized
many objects which they had seen there, when with Captain Ross. The
tracks of human feet were observed upon the banks of a stream. These at
first excited much surprise; but, on examination, they were discovered
to have been made by the shoes of some of the same party, eleven months
before.
In sailing, westward, up the Sound, Captain Parry says that it is more
easy to imagine than to describe the almost breathless anxiety which was
visible in every countenance, as the breeze, which had hitherto impelled
the vessels, increased to a fresh gale. The mast-heads were crowded by
the officers and men looking out; and an unconcerned observer, if, on
such an occasion, any could be unconcerned, would have been amused by
the eagerness with which the various reports from those stations were
received.
After the vessels had proceeded a considerable distance, they passed
some bold headlands, and high mountains. They also passed an inlet, to
which Captain Parry gave the name of _Croker's Bay_, and which he is of
opinion may, hereafter, be found a passage from Lancaster's Sound into
the Northern Sea. They were thence carried along briskly for three days.
On the 4th of August, there was, from the mast-head, an exclamation of
"land!" and that sound, which, on ordinary occasions, is of all others
the most joyful to a seaman's ears, was, on this, the signal for
disappointment and mortification. The land, however, proved to be an
island.
The vessels continued their progress, and several bays, capes, and
headlands, were successively discovered. On the 22d there was a clear
and extensive view to the northward; the water was free from ice, and
the voyagers now felt that they had entered the Polar Sea. The
magnificent opening through which their passage had been effected, from
Baffin's Bay, to a channel dignified with the name of _Wellington_, was
called, by Captain Parry, _Barron's Straits_.
In latitude 75 degrees 3 minutes, and longitude 103 degrees 44 minutes,
an island was discovered; and Captain Sabine, with two other officers,
landed on it. They found, in four different places, the remains of
Esquimaux habitations. These were from seven to ten feet in diameter;
and to each was attached a circle four or five feet in diameter, which
had probably been the fire-place. The whole encampment appeared to have
been deserted for several years; but recent footsteps of rein-deer and
musk-oxen were seen in many places.
The circumstances under which the voyagers were now sailing were,
perhaps, such as had never occurred since the early days of navigation.
There was land towards the north; ice, it was supposed, was towards the
south; the compasses by which the vessels had been steered, now varied
so much, that they had become useless; and all the surrounding objects
were obscured by a dense fog: consequently, there was now no other mode
of regulating the course of the ships, than by trusting to the
steadiness of the wind.
On the 2d of September a star was seen; the first that had been visible
for more than two months. Two days afterwards, at a quarter past nine in
the evening, the ships, in latitude 74 degrees 44 minutes, crossed the
meridian of 110 degrees from Greenwich, by which they became entitled to
£.5000; a reward offered by the British government to the first vessels
which should cross that longitude, to the north of America. In order to
commemorate the event, a lofty headland that they had just passed, was
called _Bounty Cape_. On the following day the ships, for the first time
since they had quitted the English coast, dropped anchor in a roadstead,
which was called the _Bay of the Hecla and Griper_; and the crews landed
on the largest of a group of islands, which Captain Parry named
_Melville Island_. The ensigns and pendants were hoisted, as soon as the
vessels had anchored; and it excited, in the voyagers, no ordinary
sensations of pleasure, to see the British flag waving, for the first
time, in regions, which, hitherto, had been considered beyond the limits
of the habitable world.
The wind now became unfavourable to their progress; and a rapid
accumulation of the ice, exposed the vessels to the greatest danger, and
the crews to incessant fatigue. For several days they were unable to
proceed further than along the coast of the island. This was the more
mortifying, as Captain Parry had looked forward to the month of
September, as the period, of all others, favourable to the rapid
prosecution of his voyage. To add to his anxiety, a party of seamen, who
had been sent on shore, to hunt deer, lost their way, and, for three
nights, were exposed to the inclemency of the weather. The most
distressing apprehensions were entertained respecting the fate of these
men; nor, were they finally recovered, without considerable danger to
those who were sent in search of them, and who, had their recovery been
delayed one day longer, must themselves have perished. In gratitude for
this preservation, the nearest headland was named _Cape Providence_.
The increasing dangers and difficulties attendant on continuing the
navigation westward, prevented the vessels from proceeding further than
to some distance along the coast of Melville Island. And, at length,
Captain Parry, finding that no hope could be entertained, during the
present season, of penetrating beyond this island, he was induced to
return to Hecla and Griper Bay, for the purpose of passing there the
winter.
It was now, however, requisite to cut a canal through the ice, which,
since their departure, had extended a considerable distance into the
sea; and to draw the ships up it into the harbour. In this operation,
two parallel lines were cut, distant from each other, little more than
the breadth of the ships; and the ice was divided into square pieces,
which were subdivided diagonally, and were either floated out of the
canal, or sunk beneath the adjacent ice. The labour of cutting this
canal may be imagined, when it is stated that the length was more than
four thousand yards, and that the average thickness of the ice was seven
inches. At three o'clock of September the 26th, the third day spent in
this operation, the vessels reached their winter quarters; an event
which was hailed with three hearty cheers, by the united ships' crews.
The group of islands which had been discovered, were called the _North
Georgian Islands_.
As the ships had now attained that station where, in all probability,
they were destined to remain for eight or nine months, every precaution
was taken for their security, and for the preservation of the various
stores which they contained. A regular system also was adopted, for the
maintenance of good order, cleanliness, and the health of the crews,
during the approaching long, dark, and dreary winter. All the masts,
except the lower ones, were dismantled; and the boats, spars, ropes, and
sails, were removed on shore, in order to give as much room as possible
on the deck. The ropes and sails were all hard frozen, and it was
requisite to keep them in that state, till the return of spring. A
housing of planks, covered with wadding-tilt, such as is used for
stage-waggons, was formed upon the deck of each of the vessels; and thus
constituted a comfortable shelter from the snow and the wind.
The crews were in excellent health, and every care was taken to preserve
it. Regulations were made, in the allowances both of bread and meat: as
a preservative against scurvy, the men were allowed a quantity of
vinegar with their meat, and they, every day, took a portion of
lime-juice and sugar. The next care was for the minds of the men, the
health of which Captain Parry wisely considered to have no small
influence on that of the body. This excellent officer, anxious for their
amusement during the long and tedious interval of winter, proposed, that
a play should occasionally be got up on board the Hecla. He considered
this to be the readiest means of preserving, among the crews, that
cheerfulness and good-humour which had hitherto subsisted. The proposal
was readily seconded by the officers of both ships: Lieutenant Beechey
was consequently elected stage-manager, and the first performance was
fixed for the 5th of November. In order still further to promote
good-humour, and to furnish amusing occupation, a weekly newspaper was
set on foot, called the "North Georgia Gazette, and Winter Chronicle,"
of which Captain Sabine undertook to be the editor, under a promise
that it should be supported by original contributions from the officers
of the two ships.
On the 4th of November the sun sank beneath the horizon, not to appear
again above it for the space of ninety-six days. On the 5th the theatre
was opened, with the farce of "Miss in her Teens;" and Captain Parry
found so much benefit accrue to his men, from the amusement which this
kind of spectacle afforded them, and with the occupation of fitting up
the theatre and taking it down again, that the dramatic representations
were continued through the whole winter, and were performed and
witnessed with equal pleasure, even when the cold upon the stage was
intense.
The sinking of the sun below the horizon, for so long a period, seemed
to occasion a painful sensation to the animals, inhabitants of the
island, as well as to the human beings who had sought a temporary asylum
on it: for, from that time, the wolves began to approach the ships, as
if drawn thither by a melancholy sympathy; and they often howled, most
piteously, for many successive hours. They, however, seldom appeared in
greater numbers than two or three together; and it was somewhat
extraordinary, that although the crews of both vessels were, for many
weeks, intent on killing or catching some of them, they never could
succeed. Only one bear was seen during the whole winter: it was of the
white kind, and had tracked Captain Sabine's servant quite to the ships;
but, being there saluted by a volley of balls, it ran off and escaped.
The circumstances under which the crews of these vessels were situated,
being such as had never before occurred, it cannot be uninteresting to
know in what manner they passed their time during three months of nearly
total darkness, and in the midst of a severe winter.
The officers and quarter-masters were divided into four watches, which
were regularly kept, as at sea; while the remainder of the ship's
company were allowed to enjoy their night's rest undisturbed. The hands
were turned up at a quarter before six in the morning; and both the
decks were well rubbed with stones and warm sand, before eight o'clock,
at which time both officers and men went to breakfast. Three quarters of
an hour being allowed, after breakfast, for the men to prepare
themselves for muster, they were all assembled on the deck at a quarter
past nine; and a strict inspection took place, as to their personal
cleanliness, and the good condition, as well as sufficient warmth, of
their clothing. The reports of the officers having been made to Captain
Parry, the men were then allowed to walk about, or, more usually, to run
round the upper deck; whilst he went down to examine the state of the
deck below, accompanied by Lieutenant Beechey and Mr. Edwards the
surgeon.
The state of this deck may be said, indeed, to have constituted the
chief source of anxiety; and, at this period, to have occupied by far
the greatest share of attention. Whenever any dampness appeared, or,
what more frequently happened, any accumulation of ice had taken place
during the preceding night, the necessary means were immediately adopted
for removing it: in the former case, usually by rubbing the wood with
cloths, and then directing hot air to the place; and, in the latter, by
scraping off the ice, so as to prevent its wetting the deck, by any
accidental increase of temperature. In this respect the bed-places were
peculiarly troublesome; the inner partition, or that next the ship's
side, being, almost invariably, covered with more or less dampness or
ice, according to the temperature of the deck during the preceding
night.
All the requisite examinations being finished, the men, when the weather
would permit, were sent out to walk on shore till noon; but, when the
day was too inclement to admit of this exercise, they were ordered to
run round and round the deck, keeping step to the tune of an organ, or
to a song of their own singing. A few of the men did not, at first,
quite like this systematic mode of taking exercise; but, when they
found that no plea, except that of illness, was admitted as an excuse,
they not only willingly and cheerfully complied, but they made it the
occasion of much humour and frolic among themselves.
The officers, who dined at two o'clock, were also in the habit of
occupying one or two hours, of the middle of the day, in rambling on
shore, even in the darkest period; except when a fresh wind or a heavy
snow-drift confined them within the housing of the ships. It may well be
imagined, that, at this period, there was but little to be met with in
their walks on shore, which could either amuse or interest them. The
necessity of not exceeding the limited distance of one or two miles,
lest a snow-drift, which often arose very suddenly, should prevent their
return, added considerably to the dull and tedious monotony which, day
after day, presented itself. Towards the south was the sea, covered with
one unbroken surface of ice, uniform in its dazzling whiteness, except
that, in some parts, a few hummocks were seen thrown up somewhat above
the general level. Nor did the land offer much greater variety: it was
covered with snow, except here and there a brown patch of bare ground in
some exposed situations, where the wind had not allowed the snow to
remain. When viewed from the summit of the neighbouring hills, on one of
those calm, clear days, which not unfrequently occurred during the
winter, the scene was such as to induce contemplations, that had,
perhaps, more of melancholy than of any other feeling. Not an object was
to be seen on which the eye could long rest with pleasure, unless when
directed to the spot where the ships lay. The smoke which there issued
from the several fires, affording a certain indication of the presence
of man, gave a partial cheerfulness to this part of the prospect; and
the sound of voices, which, during the cold weather, could be heard at a
much greater distance than usual, served, now and then, to break the
silence which reigned around,--a silence far different from that
peaceable composure which characterizes the landscape of a cultivated
country: it was the death-like stillness of the most dreary desolation,
the total absence of animated existence.
The weather became intensely severe; and, during the latter part of
November, and the first half of December, Captain Parry's journal
presents little more than observations on it; and oh the meteoric
appearances and fantastic illusions of light and colour, with which the
voyagers were often amused. At one time, the moon appeared to be
curiously deformed by refraction; the lower edges of it seeming to be
indented with deep notches, and afterwards to be cut off square at the
bottom; whilst a single ray or column of light, of the same diameter as
the moon, was observed to descend from it to the top of a hill. At
another time, several transparent clouds were seen to emit, upward,
columns of light, resembling the aurora borealis. The aurora borealis
itself appears to have been seldom witnessed, in the splendour with
which it occasionally illuminates even the northern parts of Scotland;
still it was both frequent and vivid enough to give variety and beauty
to the long nights which the voyagers had to endure.
The new year was ushered in by weather comparatively mild; but it soon
regained its former severity. Captain Parry and his crews did not,
however, experience those effects from the cold, even when 49 degrees
below 0, which preceding voyagers have stated; such as a dreadful
sensation on the lungs, when the air is inhaled at a very low
temperature; or the vapour with which an inhabited room is charged,
condensing into a shower of snow, immediately on the opening of a door
or window. What they did observe was this: on the opening of the doors,
at the top and bottom of the hatch-way ladders, the vapour was
condensed, by the sudden admission of the cold air, into a visible form,
exactly resembling a very thick smoke. This apparent smoke settled on
the pannels of the doors and on the bulk-heads, and immediately froze,
by which the latter were covered with a thick coating of ice, which it
was necessary frequently to scrape off.
The extreme severity of the cold, which was sometimes prevalent, may be
imagined from the following fact:--A house, erected on the shore, for
scientific purposes, caught fire; and a servant of Captain Sabine, in
his endeavours to extinguish it, exposed his hands, in the first
instance, to the operation of considerable heat; and he afterwards, for
some time, remained without gloves, in the open air. When taken on board
the ship, his hands presented a strange appearance. They were perfectly
hard, inflexible, and colourless; possessing a degree of translucency,
and exhibiting more the external character of pieces of sculptured
marble, than of animated matter. They were immediately plunged into the
cold bath, where they were continued more than two hours, before their
flexibility could be restored. The abstraction of heat had been so
great, that the water, in contact with the fingers, congealed upon them,
even half an hour after they had been immersed. During the cold
application, the man suffered acute pain, by which he became so faint
and exhausted, that it was requisite to put him to bed. In less than
three hours, an inflammation came on, which extended high up the arm;
and, soon afterwards, each hand, from the wrist downward, was enclosed
in a kind of bladder, containing nearly a pint of viscid serous fluid.
There were, however, three fingers of one hand, and two of the other, in
which this vesication did not form. These fingers continued cold and
insensible, nor could the circulation in them be restored; and,
eventually, the amputation of them became necessary.
The distance at which sounds were heard in the open air, during the
continuance of intense cold, seems almost incredible. Captain Parry says
that his people were distinctly heard, conversing in a common tone of
voice, at the distance of a mile; and that he heard a man singing to
himself, at even a still greater distance. Another circumstance
occurred, scarcely less curious than this: the smell of smoke was so
strong, two miles leeward of the ships, that it impeded the breathing.
This shows to what a distance the smoke was carried horizontally, owing
to the difficulty with which it rises, at a very low temperature of the
atmosphere.
In the severest weather, the officers sometimes amused themselves by
freezing quicksilver, and beating it out on an anvil, so great was the
severity of the cold; yet, not the slightest inconvenience was suffered,
from exposure to the open air, by persons well clothed, so long as the
weather was perfectly calm; but, in walking against even a very light
wind, a smarting sensation was experienced all over the face,
accompanied by a pain in the middle of the forehead, which soon became
severe.
As a specimen of the average proportion of ice formed in the harbour, it
is stated that, where the depth of the water was twenty-five feet, the
ice was found to be six feet and a half thick; and the snow on the
surface was eight inches deep.
Towards the end of January, some of the port-holes of one of the vessels
were opened, in order to admit the carpenters and armorers to repair the
main-top-sail-yard. On the 3d of February the sun was seen from the
main-top of the Hecla, for the first time since the 11th of November. By
the 7th, there was sufficient day-light, from eight o'clock till four,
to enable the men to perform, with facility, any work on the outside of
the ships.
On the 15th, Captain Parry was induced, by the cheering presence of the
sun, for several hours above the horizon, to open the dead-lights, or
shutters, of his stern-windows, in order to admit the day-light, after a
privation of it, for four months, in that part of the ship. The baize
curtains, which had been nailed close to the windows, in the beginning
of the winter, were, however, so firmly frozen to them, that it was
necessary to cut them away; and twelve large buckets full of ice or
frozen vapour, were taken from between the double sashes, before they
could be got clear. This premature uncovering of the windows, however,
caused such a change in the temperature of the Hecla, that, for several
weeks afterwards, those on board were sensible of a more intense degree
of cold, than they had felt during all the preceding part of the winter.
The months of March and April seem to have passed tediously on, in
watching the state of the weather. The crew of the Griper became
somewhat sickly, in consequence of the extreme moisture, which it was
found impossible to exclude from their bed-places. In May, Captain Parry
laid out a small garden, planting it with radishes, onions, mustard, and
cress; but the experiment failed, though some common ship-peas, planted
by the men, throve extremely well.
On the 12th of May, some ptarmigans were seen. These were hailed as a
sure omen of returning summer. Several of the men went out on shooting
excursions; and, being exposed, for several hours, to the glare of the
sun and snow, became affected with that painful inflammation in the
eyes, called "snow-blindness." As a preventive of this complaint, a
piece of black crape was given to each man, to be worn as a kind of
short veil, attached to the hat. This was found to be sufficiently
efficacious. But a more convenient mode was adopted by some of the
officers: they took out the glasses from spectacles, and substituted
black or green crape in their place.
In the beginning of May, the men cut the ice round the Hecla. This was
done by means of axes and saws, and with astonishing labour; for the ice
was still more than six feet thick. On the 17th, the operation was
completed, and the ships were once more afloat.
Captain Parry and Captain Sabine, accompanied by ten other persons,
officers and men, set off, on the 1st of June, to make a tour through
the island. They took with them tents, fuel, and provisions; and
carried their luggage in a small, light cart, to which the sailors
occasionally fastened their blankets, by way of sails. They travelled by
night, as well to have the benefit which any warmth of the sun might
give during their hours of rest, as to avoid the glare of its light upon
the snow. The vegetable productions which they observed, were chiefly
the dwarf willow, sorrel, poppy, saxifrage, and ranunculus. The animals
were mice, deer, a musk ox, a pair of swallows, ducks, geese, plovers,
and ptarmigans; with some of which they occasionally varied their fare.
The tracks, both of deer and musk oxen, were numerous; and one deer
followed the party for some time, and gambolled round them, at a
distance of only thirty yards. The soil of the island was, in general,
barren; but, in some places, it was rich, and abounded with the finest
moss. On one part of the beach, the travellers found a point of land
eighty feet above the sea: this they named _Point Nias_, after one of
the officers of the party; and they had the patience to raise on it, as
a memorial of their exertions, a monument of ice, of conical form,
twelve feet broad at the base, and as many in height. They enclosed
within the mass, in a tin cylinder, an account of the party who had
erected it, with a few silver and copper English coins; and Mr. Fisher,
the assistant surgeon, constructed it with a solidity which may make it
last, for many years, as a land-mark; for it is visible at the distance
of several miles, both by sea and land. In one place, within a hundred
yards of the sea, the remains of six Esquimaux huts were discovered.
After a fortnight's absence, the party returned to the ships.
The approach of summer now began to be apparent, from the state of
vegetation on the island; and, during the warm weather, a great quantity
of sorrel was daily gathered. The hunting parties also brought in an
abundance of animal food. The total quantity obtained, during the
continuance of the vessels at Melville island, was 3 musk oxen, 68
hares, 53 geese, 59 ducks, and 144 ptarmigans; affording, in the whole,
3766 pounds of meat.
On the 22d of June, the men were delighted to observe that the ice had
begun to be in motion; and, on the 16th of July, the snow had entirely
disappeared, except along the sides of caverns, and in other hollows,
where it had formed considerable drifts. The appearance of the land was,
consequently, much the same as it had been when the ships first reached
the island. The walks which the men were now enabled to take, and the
luxurious living afforded by the hunting-parties, together with the
abundant supply of sorrel, which was always at command, were the means
of completely eradicating the scurvy; and the whole of the ships'
companies were now in as good health, and certainly in as good spirits,
as when the expedition left England.
After having made an accurate survey of Winter Harbour, where the
vessels had been frozen up nearly eleven months, Captain Parry resolved
to quit it. Accordingly, on the 1st of August, the vessels weighed
anchor, and stood out to sea. Towards the west, the direction in which
they were proceeding, the sea, at first, presented a very flattering
appearance, being more clear of ice than it had been a month later in
the preceding year, and presenting a fine navigable channel, two miles
and a half in width, which, from the mast-head, appeared to continue as
far as the eye could reach.
They had not, however, proceeded many leagues westward of their winter
quarters, when the wind blew directly against them, and their course was
further opposed by a strong current, which set towards the east. To
these difficulties, great danger was soon added, from the drifting and
pressure of the ice, which threatened the Griper, in particular, with
total destruction. They penetrated to the longitude of 113 degrees 48
minutes, being the westernmost meridian hitherto reached, in the Polar
Sea, to the north of America. But they had made so little progress, and
were in such incessant danger; and the officers had so little hope of
being able to effect any further discoveries of importance, during the
present season, that Captain Parry at length determined to return.
On a consultation with his officers, respecting the best course to be
pursued, it was resolved that, in their voyage homeward, they should run
along the edge of the ice, with the intention of availing themselves of
any opening that might lead towards the coast of America. It was not
till the 26th, that the ships got clear of _Cape Providence_; but, after
that, they had an open channel, and sailed before the wind, with such
rapidity, and so little interruption, that, in six days, they cleared
_Sir James Lancaster's Sound_, and were once more in _Baffin's Bay_.
They now stood along the western shore of this bay, which they found
indented with several deep bays or inlets.
On the 3d of September, they passed some icebergs, which were a hundred
and fifty or two hundred feet above the surface of the water; and, soon
afterwards, in an inlet, which Captain Ross had named the _River Clyde_,
the voyagers saw four canoes, each of which contained an _Esquimaux_.
These approached the ships; and the men, at their own desire, were taken
on board. Three of them were young, and the fourth about sixty years of
age. They appeared to be much pleased; and expressed their delight by
jumping, and by loud and repeated ejaculations. Although there was no
interpreter, they bartered several articles, in a manner that showed
they were no strangers to traffic.
Some of the officers landed, and went to visit two Esquimaux tents,
which were situated within a low point of land, that formed the eastern
side of the entrance to a considerable branch of the inlet. The
inhabitants, men, women, and children, on beholding them, came running
out, with loud and continued shouting. Two of the women had infants
slung, in a kind of bag, at their back, much in the same manner as
gypsies are accustomed to carry their children. There were seven other
children, from twelve to three years of age, besides two infants in
arms.
The officers purchased whatever things these people had to dispose of,
and, in exchange for them, gave knives, axes, brass kettles, needles,
and other articles; and then added such presents as they considered
might be further serviceable to them. Though they appeared anxious to
possess whatever the visitors had to give they did not exhibit any
disposition to pilfer. And, in some of the bargains, particularly for a
sledge and a dog, the articles, though previously paid for, were all
punctually delivered.
In stature these Indians, like the Esquimaux in general, are much below
the usual standard. The height of the men is from four feet and a half
to five feet and a half, and of the women about four feet ten inches.
Their faces, in the younger individuals, are round and plump: their skin
is smooth, and their complexion not very dark: their teeth are very
white, and their eyes small; their nose is small, and their hair black,
straight, and glossy. All the women, except one, had their faces
tatooed; and two of them had their hands tatooed also. The children
were, in general, good-looking; and one of them, a boy about twelve
years of age, was a remarkably fine, and even handsome lad.
The dress of the men consists of a seal-skin jacket, with a hood, which
is occasionally drawn over the head. The breeches are also, generally,
of seal-skin; and the boots, which are formed so as to meet the
breeches, are of the same material. In the dress of the women, the
drawers cover the middle part of the body, from the hips to one-third
down the thighs; the rest of which, as far as the knees, is naked. The
children are all remarkably well clad; their dress, both in the males
and females, being, in every respect, similar to that of the men.
The tents which constitute the summer habitations of these Esquimaux,
are principally supported by a pole of whalebone, about fourteen feet
high. This pole stands perpendicularly, and has four or five feet of it
projecting above the skins which form the roof and sides. The length of
the tent is about seventeen feet, and the breadth from seven to nine;
and the bed occupies nearly one-third of the whole apartment. The
covering of the tent is fastened to the ground by curved pieces of bone.
Captain Parry, after taking leave of these his new acquaintance,
directed his course towards England; and arrived in the river Thames
about the middle of November.
* * * * *
With regard to the probable existence and accomplishment of a north-west
passage into the Pacific Ocean, this indefatigable and accomplished
officer remarks, that, as to the existence of such a passage, he does
not entertain a doubt; but that he is not sanguine as to its ever being
accomplished. The difficulties that are presented by the increasing
breadth and thickness of the ice to the westward, after passing Barrow's
Strait, added to the excessive severity of the climate, and the
shortness of the season in which the Polar Sea can be navigated; these
are circumstances which render almost hopeless any attempt to pass from
the Atlantic westward. Captain Parry seems inclined to think that there
is more probability of being able to effect the passage, by sailing from
Behring's Strait, eastward, than from Baffin's Bay towards the west.
But, in this case, it would be an impracticable passage for British
ships. The great length of the voyage, the impossibility of taking out a
sufficiency of provisions and fuel, and the severe trial to which the
health of the crews would be subjected, by suddenly passing from the
heat of the torrid zone, into the intense cold of a long winter, seem to
render hopeless all our efforts to effect the voyage in this direction.
Twenty-seventh Day's Instruction.
LABRADOR AND GREENLAND.
On the south-western side of Davis's Strait is the wild, extensive, and
uncivilized country of _Labrador_. Its coast was first discovered by the
Portuguese navigators; but the frigidity of its climate is such, that no
settlements of any importance have ever been fixed upon its shores. Even
the extent of the country has been but imperfectly ascertained; for all
the knowledge we have hitherto obtained respecting it, relates only to
the coast. The inland territory remains yet unexplored.
Captain George Cartwright resided on the coast of Labrador, at different
intervals, for sixteen years. He states that the face of the country, as
far as he could discover it, was mountainous and desolate; and that some
of the mountains were of considerable elevation. The soil, in some parts
of the southern coast, appears, at first sight, to be fertile and
covered with verdure; but, on examination, it is found to be poor, and
the verdure is that of coarse plants, which would not serve as food for
horses, cattle, or sheep. Some attempts have been made to cultivate this
coast, but the depredations of bears and wolves have proved a formidable
impediment; and such is the severity of the climate, that cattle must be
housed for nine months in the year.
The whole eastern coast of Labrador exhibits a very barren appearance:
the mountains rise abruptly from the sea, and are composed of rocks,
that are thinly covered with peat earth. This produces only stunted
spruce trees, and a few plants; but the adjacent sea, and the various
rivers and lakes, abound with fish, fowl, and amphibious animals.
Springs are rare, and fresh water is chiefly supplied by melted snow. In
the various bays of this coast, there are numerous islands, on which
eider-ducks, and multitudes of other sea-fowl breed. On some of the
larger islands there are deer, foxes, and hares. The fruits of Labrador
consist chiefly of currants, raspberries, cranberries, whortle-berries,
apples, and pears. Among the mineral productions is a kind of felspar,
which, when polished, exhibits a display of brilliant and beautiful
colours.
The climate of this country, though severe, is healthy. There is little
appearance of summer till about the middle of July; and, in September,
winter indicates its approach. During summer the heat is sometimes
unpleasant; and the cold of winter is of long duration, and generally
intense. In Labrador, as in all other countries of northern climates,
the quadrupeds are clothed with a longer and thicker fur during winter,
than in summer; and many of the birds have a softer down, and feathers
of a closer texture, than those of milder countries. Some of the animals
also assume a white clothing at the commencement of winter.
The native inhabitants of Labrador are _mountaineers_ and Esquimaux,
between whom there subsists an invincible aversion. The former, who
inhabit the interior districts towards the north, are of dark colour,
and robust constitution, though their limbs are small. They subsist
chiefly on rein-deer, which they are very dexterous in killing: they
also kill foxes, martens, and beavers. As these people live a wandering
life, they never build houses; but they construct a kind of tents, and
cover them with branches of trees, and with deer-skins. Their summer
dress consists of skins freed from the hair; and their winter-dress is
formed of beaver and deer-skins, with the hair on. During the summer
they traverse the country, in canoes, along the rivers and lakes. These
canoes are covered with the bark of the birch-tree; and, although they
are so light as to be easily carried, some of them are large enough to
contain a whole family, together with the materials of their traffic. In
winter the mountaineers of Labrador pass over the snow, by means of what
are called snow-shoes.
These mountaineers are esteemed an industrious people. They bear fatigue
with almost incredible resolution and patience; and will often travel
two successive days without food. They, every year, come to the Canada
merchants, who have seal-fisheries on the southern coast, and bargain
their furs, in exchange for blanketing, fire-arms, and ammunition; and
they are immoderately fond of spirits. Some of them profess to be Roman
Catholics; but their whole religion seems to consist in reciting a few
prayers, and in counting their beads.
It is customary with these Indians, to destroy such persons among them
as become aged and decrepit. This practice they endeavour to vindicate
from their mode of life: for they assert that those who are unable to
procure the necessaries requisite for their existence, ought not live
merely to consume them.
The _Esquimaux_, who inhabit the northern parts of the country, are a
race similar to the Greenlanders. They have a deep tawny or rather
copper-coloured complexion; and are inferior in size to the generality
of Europeans. Their faces are flat, and their noses short. Their hair is
black and coarse; and their hands and feet are remarkably small. Their
dress, like that of the mountaineers, is entirely of skins; and consists
of a sort of hooded shirt, of breeches, stockings, and boots. The dress
of the different sexes is similar, except that the women wear large
boots, and have their upper garment ornamented with a kind of tail. In
their boots they occasionally place their children; but the youngest
child is always carried at the back of its mother, in the hood of her
jacket. The women ornament their heads with large strings of beads,
which they fasten to the hair above their ears.
The weapons of these Esquimaux are darts, bows, and arrows; and their
food consists chiefly of the flesh of seals, deer, and birds; and of
fish. Some of their canoes are near twenty feet in length, and not more
than two feet wide. They each contain only one person; are formed of a
frame-work, covered with skins; and are so extremely light, that they
are easily overset. Notwithstanding this, and the circumstance that few
of the Esquimaux are able to swim, these people are able to navigate
them, in safety, without a compass, and even in the thickest fogs. When
the ground is covered with snow, they traverse the country in sledges,
drawn by dogs.
During winter, they live in houses, or rather in a kind of cavern, which
they sink in the earth; and, during summer, they occupy tents, made
circular with poles, and covered with skins. Their only beverage is
water. The men are extremely indolent; and all the laborious
occupations, except that of procuring food, are performed by the women.
They sew with the sinews of deer; and much of their needlework is very
neat. The Esquimaux cannot reckon, numerically, beyond six; and their
compound numbers reach no further than 21: all beyond this are called a
multitude.
The principal articles of export, obtained from the coast of Labrador,
are cod-fish, salmon, oil, whalebone, and furs of various kinds.
NEWFOUNDLAND.
Near the south-eastern extremity of Labrador is the island of
_Newfoundland_; which, at present, constitutes an important station, for
the British cod-fisheries. It is of triangular form, and about three
hundred miles in circuit; and, though it lies between the same parallels
of latitude as the south of France, its climate is very severe. In
winter the rivers are frozen to the thickness of several feet; and,
during this season, the earth is covered with snow, and the cold is so
intense that the power of vegetation is destroyed. The coasts abound in
creeks, roads, and harbours; and the interior of the island is full of
steep rocks, woody hills, and sandy valleys; and of plains, interspersed
with rocks, lakes, and marshes. A very small portion of it is at present
cultivated; for neither the soil nor the climate is favourable to
productions necessary to the support of human life. _St. John's_, the
chief town of the island, is a mean and ill-built place, with narrow and
dirty streets. It is situated on the south-eastern part of the coast,
and has a considerable harbour.
This island formerly belonged to the French; but, in 1713, it was ceded
to the English, to whom it still belongs. Its chief importance is
derived from its vicinity to an immense bank, beneath the surface of the
ocean, which is frequented by myriads of cod-fish. On this bank there
are annually employed more than two thousand fishing-vessels; and four
hundred merchant-ships, in conveying the fish to different parts of the
world. All the fish are caught by lines; and they are conveyed to the
shores of Newfoundland, to be salted and dried, or otherwise prepared
for exportation. The Newfoundland fishery usually commences about the
middle of May, and continues till the end of September.
GREENLAND,
Is an extensive peninsula, or, as some geographers believe, an immense
island, lying north of the 60th degree of latitude, and between the 48th
and 70th degrees of west longitude. It is said to have been originally
discovered, as early as the tenth century, by a party of exiled
Icelanders, who gave to it the name of "Greenland," from its exhibiting
a much greater appearance of verdure than Iceland. _Cape Farewell_, its
southernmost point, is a small island divided from the shore by a narrow
inlet.
The interior of the country is dreary and mountainous; and some of the
mountains are so lofty, that they are visible to the distance of more
than forty leagues. They are covered with perpetual snow; and ice and
snow, like the glaciers of Switzerland, fill the elevated plains, and
even many of the valleys. The lowlands, adjacent to the sea-coast, are
clothed with verdure during the summer season. The coast is indented
with many bays and creeks, which extend far into the land; but many
parts of it are altogether inaccessible by shipping, on account of the
enormous masses of floating ice, which abound in the extreme northern
seas.
Christian Missionaries were settled in this country, by the Danes, many
centuries ago; and they formed churches and monasteries in different
parts, through an extent of country nearly two hundred miles in length.
From authentic records it appears that Greenland was anciently divided
into two districts, the westernmost of which contained four parishes and
one hundred villages; and the other, twelve parishes, one hundred and
twenty villages, the see of a bishop, and two monasteries. The present
inhabitants of the western districts are, however, separated from those
of the east by impassable deserts and mountains.
This country is subject to Denmark; and the parts of it that are chiefly
visited by Danes and Norwegians, lie between the 64th and 68th degrees
of north latitude; and, to this distance, the climate is said not to be
very severe. At one time there was a Danish factory as far north as the
73d degree; but, beyond the 68th degree of latitude, the cold in winter
is, in general, so intense, that even the rocks burst by the expansive
power of the frost. Thunder and lightning seldom occur in Greenland; but
the aurora borealis is frequently visible, particularly in the spring of
the year; and is often so bright and vivid, as to afford sufficient
light for a person to read by it.
Some of the southern parts of Greenland are fertile; but, in general,
the soil resembles that of other mountainous countries; the hills being
barren, and the valleys and low grounds being rich and fruitful. The
principal quadrupeds of this country are rein-deer, dogs resembling
wolves, Arctic foxes, and white or polar bears. The walrus and several
kinds of seals frequent the shores. Eagles and other birds of prey are
numerous. Whales and porpesses abound along the coasts; and the
adjacent sea and bays yield an abundance of holibut, turbot, cod,
haddocks, and other fish.
The inhabitants of Greenland are supposed to have had their origin from
the Esquimaux of Labrador, for they nearly resemble that people. They
are short, and somewhat corpulent; and have broad faces, flat noses,
thick lips, black hair, and a yellowish tawny complexion. The keenness
of the wind and the glare of the snow, render them subject to painful
disorders in the eyes: they are also afflicted with many diseases, which
tend to render them short lived. They are a quiet, orderly, and
good-humoured people; but of a cold, phlegmatic, and indolent
disposition. They never wash themselves with water, but lick their
hands, and then rub their faces with them; in the same manner as a cat
washes herself with her paws. In most of their habits they are extremely
filthy.
When animal food can be procured, they prefer it to any other; but, in
times of scarcity, they are sometimes compelled to subsist on sea-weeds,
and on roots dressed in train-oil and fat. The intestines of animals,
and offals of various kinds, are accounted by them as dainties.
Their clothes are chiefly made of the skins of rein-deer and seals. The
men wear their hair short; and commonly hanging down from the crown of
the head on every side. The women, on the contrary, seldom cut their
hair.
The Greenlanders all speak the same language, though different dialects
prevail in different parts of the country; and so numerous are the words
of their language, that, like the Chinese, they are said to have a
proper word for every object or art that requires distinction.
These people have no traditions respecting the memorable actions of
their ancestors; further than that, many winters ago, some Norwegian
settlers were slain by the population of the adjacent country, who
unanimously rose in arms against them. Among other strange notions
entertained by the Greenlanders, they imagine that rain is occasioned by
the overflowing of reservoirs in the heavens; and they assert that, if
the banks of these reservoirs should burst, the sky would fall down. The
medical practice in this country is confined to a set of men who have
the appellation of "Angekoks," or conjurers.
When a Greenlander is at the point of death, his friends and relatives
array him in his best clothes and boots. They silently bewail him for an
hour, after which they prepare for his interment. The body, having been
sewed up in his best seal or deer-skin, is laid in the burying-place,
covered with a skin, and with green sods; and, over these, with heaps of
stones, to defend it from the attack of predaceous animals. Near the
place of interment, the survivors deposit the weapons of the deceased,
and the tools he daily used. With the women are deposited their knives
and sewing implements. The intention in so doing is, that the person
departed may not be without employment in the next world.
The Greenlanders are said to worship the sun, and to offer sacrifices to
an imaginary evil spirit, that he may not prevent their success in
hunting and fishing. They have a confused notion respecting the
immortality of the soul, and the existence of a future state; and they
believe that the spirits of deceased persons sometimes appear on the
earth, and hold communication with the "Angekoks," or conjurers, to whom
peculiar privileges and honours belong.
The traffic that is carried on among the Greenlanders is simple and
concise, and is wholly conducted by exchange or barter. These people
very rarely cheat or take undue advantage of one another; and it is
considered infamous to be guilty of theft. But they are said to glory in
over-reaching or robbing an European; as they consider this a proof of
superior talent and ingenuity.
Wherever a great assembly or rendezvous of Greenlanders takes place, as
at a dancing-match or any grand festival, there are always some persons
who expose their wares to view, and who publicly announce what goods
they want in exchange for them. The chief articles of traffic, with
Europeans, are fox and seal-skins, whale and seal-oil, whalebone, and
the horns of narwhals. For these, they receive, in exchange, iron points
for their spears, knives, saws, gimlets, chisels, needles, chests,
boxes, clothing, and utensils of various kinds.
The chief festival of the Greenlanders is that which they call the
sun-feast; but this is merely held for the purpose of dancing and other
amusements, and not for any religious acts or ceremonies. It is held
about the commencement of the new-year, and for the purpose of rejoicing
at the return of the sun, and the renewal of weather for hunting and
fishing. At this feast they assemble, in various parts of the country,
and in large parties. After gorging themselves with food, they rise up
to play and to dance. Their only musical instrument is a drum; and the
sound of this they accompany with songs, in honour of seal-catching, and
exploits in hunting. The Greenlanders do not, on these occasions,
intoxicate themselves with ardent spirits, like some of the American
Indians; for their only beverage is water. There are other
dancing-meetings held in the course of the year; but these are all
conducted in a similar manner. The Greenlanders occupy much of their
time in hunting and fishing. On shore they hunt rein-deer and other
animals; and at sea they pursue whales, seals, and walruses: they also
catch great quantities of fish and sea-fowl. Their canoes are formed of
thin boards, fastened together by the sinews of animals, and covered
with a dressed seal-skin, both above and below; so that only a circular
hole is left in the middle, large enough to admit the body of one man.
Into this hole he thrusts himself, up to the waist; after which he
fastens the skin so tight round his body, that no water can enter. Thus
secured, and armed with a paddle, which is broad at both ends, he
ventures out to sea, even in the most stormy weather; and, if he be
unfortunate enough to have his canoe overset, he can easily raise
himself by means of his paddle. Besides this description of canoes, the
Greenlanders have boats so large that they will contain fifty persons,
with all their tackle, baggage, and provisions. These carry a mast and a
triangular sail; the latter of which is made of the membranes and
entrails of seals. The management of the larger boats is always given to
women; who also perform the whole drudgery of the household, even to the
building and repairing of the dwellings.
During winter, the Greenlanders live in houses, and, during the summer,
in tents. The houses are constructed of stones, with layers of earth and
sods between them; and the rafters are covered with bushes and turf. The
entrance is through a hole in the roof, which serves also as a chimney.
The walls are hung with skins, fastened on by pegs, made of the bones of
seals. These huts are divided, by skins, into several apartments,
according to the number of families which inhabit them; and the
inhabitants sleep on skins, upon the ground. The huts are well warmed
with fires; and are lighted by lamps, filled with train oil, and
furnished with moss instead of a wick. These lamps burn so bright as to
give considerable heat as well as warmth.
At the outside of the dwelling-house are separate buildings, for
store-houses, in which the inhabitants lay up their stock of provisions,
train oil, and other useful articles. Near the store-houses they arrange
their boats, with the bottoms upward; and they hang beneath these their
hunting and fishing-tackle, and their skins. The summer-tents of the
Greenlanders are of a conical form, and are constructed of poles,
covered, both inside and out, with skins.
The seas in the vicinity of Greenland are, every year, frequented by
both European and American vessels, employed in the whale-fishery. Such
of these as enter Davis's Strait, generally resort to Disco Bay; and a
few have penetrated even still further north than this. It is stated
that, in the year 1754, a whaler, under the command of a Captain Wilson,
was conducted, on the eastern side of Greenland, as far north as to the
83d degree of latitude: the sea was clear of ice, as far as the
commander of this ship could descry; but as he did not meet with any
whales, and began to apprehend some danger from proceeding onward, he
returned; and, in the same year, another whale-fisher sailed as far
north as to 84-½ degrees. These are the highest northern latitudes which
any vessels have hitherto reached.
FINIS.
Harvey, Darton, and Co. Printers, Gracechurch-Street.
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| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in |
| the original document have been preserved. |
| |
| The author used a period after the £ sign. |
| |
| Typographical errors corrected in the text: |
| |
| Title Pub^d. and Jan^y., abbreviations for |
| page Published and January, have been retained |
| ToC Alachnas changed to Alachuas |
| ToC Oconne changed to Ocone |
| ToC Missisippi changed to Mississippi |
| ToC Sata changed to Santa, under |
| ToC Minetarree changed to Minnetaree |
| ToC Skaneaetas changed to Skaneactas |
| ToC Riviers changed to Rivieres |
| Page 4 Alleghanies changed to Alleghanys |
| Page 6 Massachusets changed to Massachusetts |
| Page 6 Tenassee changed to Tenessee |
| Page 10 stile changed to style |
| Page 18 cotten changed to cotton |
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| Page 29 Uttawa changed to Utawa |
| Page 29 superintendance changed to superintendence |
| Page 35 war changed to was |
| Page 39 whirpool changed to whirlpool |
| Page 56 Potowmac changed to Potomac |
| Page 59 towns changed to town |
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| Page 67 scite changed to site |
| Page 71 "a" added between "and great" |
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