Journal
OF A
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS
liV THE YEAR 1805,
By timothy BIGELOW.
TOitjj an ]Introtiutti0n tg a ©rantigon.
" Vita enim mortuorum in memoria vivorum est posita." — Cic.
BOSTON:
PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON.
1876.
J
INTRODUCTION.
T^HIS Journal of a Tour to Niagara Falls, now
^ for the first time printed, was lost sight of for
many years. Several months ago, an antiquarian
friend brought it to me, saying it had been acciden-
tally found among some papers recently examined
by a member of the Massachusetts Historical Soci-
ety. Through the good offices of my friend, and
by the kindness of a relative to whose family the
papers referred to belonged, it has been given to
me, coupled only with the suggestion that I should
print it ; a suggestion with which I feel it my duty
to comply. And I do this willingly, both as a
tribute of respect to the memory of an honored
ancestor, and because the Journal itself, written
more than seventy years ago, cannot fail to be
instructive and interesting at the present time. It
throws light on the condition of a section of our
country, then almost a wilderness, now teeminsr
with population. It describes the appearance of
iv INTRODUCTION.
the newly settled lands, the quality and products
of the soil, the signs and development of mineral
wealth, the diversified scenery, and the habits and
manners of the people. The account, also, which
it gives of the inconveniences and dangers of trav-
elling in those times, and the whimsical distresses
to which Mr. Bigelow^ and his companions were
subjected, is graphic and entertaining. It may be
not without profit to contrast our experiences of
travelling in this age of steam, surrounded by so
many appliances for comfort and luxury, with those
narrated in this Journal. Perhaps it will result in
looking back with less regret at what are called
the "good old days," and in cultivating a spirit of
greater contentment with our own.
I have compiled from various sources, but
chiefly from Lincoln's '' History of Worcester," the
following biographical sketch of the author : —
Timothy Bigelow was born in Worcester, April
30, 1767. He was the eldest son of Timothy
and Anna Bigelow. His father, a gallant and dis-
tinguished officer in the Revolutionary war, served
as major under Arnold in his expedition to Canada,
and was taken prisoner in the assault on Quebec,
Dec. 31, 1775. He remained in captivity until
the summer of the year 1776, when he was ex-
INTRODUCTION. V
changed. Soon after his return, he was commis-
sioned as Colonel, and appointed to the command
of the Fifteenth ^lassachusetts Regiment in the
Continental Army ; a body noted for its intrepidity
and discipline throughout the war, and on one
occasion, during a review, receiving the marked
commendation of Washington. iVt the close of the
war, he was stationed at West Point, and afterwards
assigned to the command of the arsenal at Spring-
•
field. Colonel Bigelow died March 31, 1790, in
the fifty-first year of his age. He was an ardent
and devoted patriot, who thought no dangers or
sacrifices too great in the service of his country.
A monument erected to his memory at Worcester
in 1861, by his great-grandson, Timothy Bigelow
LawTence, attests his valor and hi? virtues.*
* These characteristic anecdotes are told of him: —
The American army in their quarters at Valley Forge displayed
examples of constancy and resignation such as have been rarely par-
alleled. In this pressing danger of famine and a probable dissolution
of the army, Colonel Bigelow convened a party of ollicers and sol-
diers at his head-quarters one evening, whf n the subject of abandoning
the cause was fuUv discussed. Some ar<jued that, as Confess could
not clothe or feed them, thev did not feel it to be their dutv to leave
their families and homes, to starve and freeze for a cause that was
doubtful, if not desperate ; while others, that they had lost confi-
dence in the cause, &c. When all who wished had spoken. Colonel
Bigelow arose and said: " I have listened to all the remarks of dis-
content oifered here this evening ; but, as for me, I have long since
come to the conclusion to stand by the American cause, come what
will. I have enlisted for life. I have cheerfully left my home and
family. All the friends I have are -the friends of my country. I
b
n ^ INTRODUCTION.
The subject of this Memoir began his education
in the public scliools of his native town. This then
imperfect source of instruction was soon disturbed
by the troubles of the times ; and he entered the
printing office of Isaiah Thomas, where he was
occupied during two years. The passion for books
was manifested amid the employments of the press,
by the devotion of his leisure hours to the acquisi-
tion of the elementary branches of English and the
rudiments of Latin. The spring of the year 1779
found him in the quarters of the Continental
Army, posted to watch the British forces in Ehode
Island, gaining the manly accomplishments a camp
aifords, and enjoying the frank courtesies of mil-
itary life. Returning home, he pursued his studies
for two years, under the kind superintendence of
Benjamin Lincoln, a son of the Revolutionary
General, and afterwards under the direction of the
celebrated Samuel Dexter, then a student-at-law,
who accompanied his scholar and presented him
for admission at Harvard College in 178*i. In
college, Mr. Bigelow took high rank in a distin-
expect to suffer with cold and with hunger and fatigue, and, if need
be, I shall lay down my life for the liberty of these colonies."
During the Revolution, many towns voted that they would have no
slaves ; and it is related of Colonel Bigelow that, when solicited to
make sale of a slave whom he owned, he replied that, " while fight-
ing for liberty, he never would be guilty of selling slaves."
INTRODUCTION. Vll
guished class, and was graduated in 1786, with an
unusual reputation for talents and culture. On
Commencement Day, he took part in a forensic dis-
pute, — " Whether Religious Disputation promotes
the Interest of True Piety." Adopting the pro-
fession of the law, he entered the office of Levi
Lincoln, Sen., at Worcester, and remained there
until the insurrection broke out in 1787, when
he joined the army for a few weeks as a volun-
teer, and aided in sustaining the government
against the wild designs of its internal enemies.
He was admitted to the bar in 1789, and began
in Groton the practice of his profession.* A friend
thus writes of him in 1790: " His memory is re-
markably tenacious. He possesses a delicate taste,
and has a high relish for belles-lettres. His ac-
quirements are great, his studiousness indefatigable,
his fluency astonishing. He is a royal pleader."
In 1806, he removed to Medford, and, while resi-
dent there, had an office in Boston. His business
was widely extended. For a long time, he was one
of the leading counsel in Middlesex and Worcester
Counties, and later became eminent at the Suffolk
* It may be an encouragement to young practitioners to know that
Mr. Bigelow sat in his office six weeks without taking a fee, and then
received a pistareen ! But Lempriere says of him, "'It is computed
that during a practice of thirty-two years he argued not less than
15,000 causes."
via INTRODUCTION.
Bar, besides being retained in many of the impor-
tant causes in Essex and Norfolk. Thoroughly
versed in his profession, his power of analyzing
the truth and presenting the evidence in the case,
combined with his remarkable command of lan-
guage, rendered him a highly popular advocate,
and gave him great success in jury trials.* His
large and constantly growing practice is a proof of
the estimation in which he was held by his con-
temporaries ; and, if to this be added the general
testimony to his reputation that has come down to
us, he is entitled to be ranked among the ablest,
as he was one of the most respected, lawyers of
his day.
Amid the engrossing labors of his profession,
Mr. Bigelow found time for occasional literary
productions. He delivered an oration before the
Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, July 21,
1796 ; a Ifuneral Oration on Samuel Dana, Sen.,
before the Benevolent Lodge of Free and Accepted
Masons, at Amherst, N.H., April 4, 1798 ; a
Eulogy on Washington before the Columbian
Lodge of Masons, at Boston, Feb. 11, 1800 ; and
an Address before the Washington Benevolent
Society, at Boston, April 30, 1814. I take from
* In "Familiar Letters on Public Characters," Sullivan says,
"Perhaps no man has spoken to so many juries."
INTRODUCTION. JX
the latter the following eloquent passage that
deserves to be remembered. I also give extracts
from his other addresses. *
FROM THE ADDRESS BEFORE THE WASHINGTON BENEVO-
LENT SOCIETY.
" Thanks be to God, we still retain the right of ex-
pressing our opinions ! Nor will we ever surrender it.
It is our inheritance ; for let it be remembered that our
ancestors, from the moment of their first landing on
these shores, were always free ; that their resistanc^e to
Great Britain was not so much the effect of actual suf- '
fering as of apprehension of approaching danger. It
was not the resistance of slaves, but of those who were
determined never to become such. It is proverbial, in
our country, that Boston is the cradle of liberty. It is
not so much her cradle as her asylum, not so much her
place of nurture as her citadel. If this were her birth-
place, she must have been produced at once, as Minerva
is said to have sprung forth from the brain of Jupiter,
full-grown and complete m armor. Except a short
exile at the commencement of the Revolution, this
always was, and I trust always will be, her favorite
abode."
FROM THE PHI BETA KAPPA ORATION.
" Though humanity and benevolence be justly a part
of our national character, yet as other nations are be-
hind us, so we have not arrived at perfection. There
still remains a wide field for the exercise of a generous
X INTRODUCTION.
ambition. To revise, and mitigate in many eases, our
codes of criminal law, by endeavoring to make a re-
formation of the offender, instead of his extirpation, the
object of punishment ; to transform our common places
of confinement from seminaries of wickedness and vil-
lany into schools of morality ; to liberate the unhappy
Africans from the horrors of a slavery equally unjust
and inhuman ; to promote an interchange of good offices,
and a mild and pacific dispotiition among mankind, — ob-
jects like these are worthy the pursuit of the noblest
minds. Some of them have already immortalized the
names of Penn, Howard, and Wilberforce. Shall we
be deterred ? Shall we shrink in despair from objects
of such magnitude ? Is it chimerical to indulge a hope
that even we may bear a conspicuous part in this noble
pursuit ? No. Remembering that in such a cause it
is much more honorable to lead than to follow, we will
lend our individual assistance, as circumstances may
permit, and endeavor to give a tone to public opinion.
If one man, by his personal exertion, could alleviate the
distresses of thousands, scattered through all the coun-
tries of Europe, — nay, could gladden even the horrors of
the East, — what may not numbers achieve ? . . . Our
country has already taught the world the true science
of government, and the art to be free. She exhibits the
example of a great people flourishing and happy, among
whom, to the surprise of other nations, gradations in
rank and exclusive rights are entirely unknown. Why,
then, shall we not instruct the species in ttie arts of
humanity, and the science of universal friendship ? Is
thig general diffusion of philanthropy mere chimera and
extravagance ^ If it be, I could almost wish that we
INTRODUCTIOX. XI
might still cherish the delusion. For what but the
reality could be more grateful to benevolent minds, than
a confident anticipation that the whole world would
become a common country to each individual ; that
mankind would be but one family by practice as well
as (extraction, and thereby taste on earth the joys of
heaven itself? "
FROM THE FUNERAL ORATION ON SAMUEL DANA, SEN.
*' When we consider the wonderful structure of the
human mind, its capacity for successive improvement
from the dawn of infancy to the evening of old age, the
passions and emotions by which it is ennobled, and the
sublime tendency of its views; when, in short, we con-
sider the immense disparity between this image of Deity
and his fellow-tenants of this globe, the brute creation, —
we revolt at the idea of annihilation, we shudder at the
thought of sharing one common distinction, one eternal
sleep, with the meanest insect. We cannot conceive
that this exquisite specimen of creative omnipotence
should be limited in its existence to a few years, when
even monuments of human art survive the shock of
ages. When, therefore, we see one who was distin-
guished by his virtues locked in the cold arms of death,
and lying in ruin before us, we are impelled by a kind
of instinctive reason, which seems common to all na-
tions and times, to contemplate some vital spark, some
divine ra^^ which had animated and illumined the man,
as only separated, not extinguished ; but with views more
unconfined, powers more unlimited, and conceptions
more sublime, still progressing in improvement, and
Xll INTRODUCTION.
basking in the sunshine of divine benignity. . . . Scarce
eight months have ehipsed, my brethren, since in this
place, on the occasion of the consecration of your Lodge,
alike joyful to him and to you, you saw him invested
with the ensigns of command, and heard the words of
wisdom and brotherly love fall from his lips. But a
few days are gone since- your Lodge saw him in the
east, affording you light and instruction, and directing
\ .iir work. Not all his zeal for your welfare and happi-
ness, his knowledge in the mysteries of the craft, nor
the interest which he had in the affections of the breth-
ren, could avert the stroke of death. Though he regu-
lated his conduct by the square, and kept within com-
pass ; though he duly regarded the plumb line, and acted
as in view of the all-seeing Eye, — we now behold .' e
master builder prostrate before us, reduced by the greac
leveller of human greatn ss. But the testimonial roll
shall long remain incorruptible, and the sprig of sweet
remembrance shall flourish on his grave. While with
funeral pomp and masonic honors we transfer the re-
mains of our dei^arted brother to the home of silence,
in imitation of the wise Solomon, the second founder
of our order, let us resolve to serve our Supreme Grand
Master on high with a perfect heart and a willing mind ;
that so, being duly prepared, when we shall be trans-
ferred from the Lodge here below, we may gain admit-
tance into the Sublime ^odge above, there to meet our
departed brother, and perfect that affection which had
its origin on earth,"
INTl ^DUCTION. Xlll
FROM THE EULOGY ON WASHINGTON.
** His administration was a satire on those who are
born to rule. ^Making the general good the sole object
of his pursuit, and carefully distinguishing the atten-
tion which was due from him as an individual to the
claims of relation and friendship from the duties he
owed to the pul)lic, he never yielded to th.e iniluence
of private partiality, nor stooped to the low policy of
aggrandizing his family by the gifts of office. He
bestowed employments on those only who added to
integrity the qualities necessary to discharge them.
Patient in investigation and cautious in research, he
formed his resolutions with deliberation, and executed
them with decision. Conscious of the purity of his
motives, and satisfied with the propriety of his deter-
minations, — daily estimating also the sacred duty of
maintaining the constitutional rights of his office, — he
was not to be soothed into dishonorable compliance by
the blandishments of flattery, nor diverted from his
purposes by the terror of numbers or the imposing
weight of public character. When a revolution, unpre-
cedented in its kind, had involved the European world
in confusion, and the flame of war was spreading into
other quarters of the globe, neither the insidious
attempts of the emissaries of France, nor the treach-
erous arts of her American adherents, could induce him
to hazard our quiet. Though himself a soldier, and
equal to the emergencies of war, he perceived not only
the true interests of his country, but justice and human-
ity, enjoined a continuance of peace. He therefore
wisely adjusted the misunderstandings which threat-
ened our tranquillity, and resolved on a strict neutral-
XIV I^'TRODUCTION.
ity. Our own experience, and the events which have
since transpired in other countries, have fully justified
the measure. Yet, strange to tell, disappointed faction,
despairing of success in an impeachment of his discern-
ment or understanding, has dared here to arraign the
purity of his motives. Circumstances seem to have
placed him beyond the reach of suspicion. His wealth
was more than sufficient for all the purposes of splendid
enjo3"ment ; he had no posterity to inherit hereditary
honors ; and he was surely too wise not to know that a
crown would tarnish his glory, — that his own reputa-
tion was inseparably connected with the prosperity of
his country, — that his fame would mount no higher
than her eagle could soar. What more than he pos-
sessed could ambition pant for ? What further had
the world to bestow?"
While Free Masonry was in its palmy state in
New England, Mr. Bigelovv presided for two tri-
ennial terms over the Grand Lodge of Massachu-
setts, and in that capacity, with a splendid escort of
craftsmen, in 1808 made a journey to Portland, to
install the officers of the Grand Lodge of Maine.
He early entered the Legislature of the Common-
wealth, and was elected to a seat either in the
Senate or House of Representatives, for a long
series of years.
In 1802, he was a member of the Executive
Council. In 1805, he was chosen Speaker of the
House ; and for eleven years — eight of them in
INTRODUCTION. XV
succession — presided over this branch of the leg-
islative department with signal ability and popu-
larity.*
Entering warmly into the politics of the times,
and entertaining the views of the opponents of the
policy and measures of the General Government,
he was a prominent member of the Federal party,
and in December, 1814, was a delegate from
Massachusetts to attend the Hartford Convention,
with his colleagues, George Cabot, Harrison Gray
Otis, and William Prescott.f In 1820, he was
again a member of the Council ; but before his
term had expired he died of a typhus fever, at
Medford, May 18, 1821.
Mr. Bigelow was endowed with ready appre-
* When Mr. Bigelow became Speaker of the House, then number-
ing seven hundred members, it is said that he could call them all by
name on the third day after they had assembled.
f Perhaps at no time in our history has party spirit run so high as
during the war of U'd2-15. Unsparing censure and abuse were
heaped upon the members of this famous assembly. Impartial judg-
ment at this day will probably concede to the able and distinguished
men who composed it honest and patriotic purposes, however mistaken
in their political views. A well-known writer says: **That these
men . . . acted from pure motives, the candid of their political oppo-
nents did not dispute. That they were fallible, their friends did not
deny, . . . yet their views were much mitirepresented for party pur-
poses." And of the Convention : " It was charged with plotting
against the Union ; but there was nothing in the . . . resolves pre-
paratory to the Convention, nor in their proceedings nor report, which
was in favor of a separation of the United States from the Union, nor
which could be fairly construed as implying or intimating such a
measure."
XVI INTliODUCTlON.
hension and an active and inquisitive mind. Gath-
ering knowledge with facility, exact method and
systematic industry ^ nabled him to compass a vast
amount of reading. Exploring almost every
branch of liberal science, he was peculiarly con-
versant with Theology, attaining sufficient profi-
ciency in Hebrew to read the Old Testament
in the original tongue. His retentive memory,
varied information, and great conversational nowers,
joined to a vein of sparkling humor, eminently
fitted him fur social intercourse. There are those
still living who may be able to repeat a few of
his brilliant sayings and admirable repartee, but
this is all that can now be related of his wit, which
ever shone at the bar, in the halls of legislation,
and at the festive board. He had many friends,
and his society was grateful and endeared to all
who knew him.
Mr. Bigelow was a member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Yice-President
of the American Antiquarian Society. He had
strong rural tastes, and was active in establishing
and conducting the Association of the Middlesex
Husbandmen. He took great delight in horticul-
ture, and may claim with others the merit of stimu-
lating a taste which is now associated no less with
science than with pleasure. His grounds on the
INTRODUCTION. XVll
banks of the Mystic were famous for their beauty
at that day, and long continued to be a conspicuous
ornament of the town of Medford.*
His genial nature and attractive social qualities
made his house the seat of hospitality. Graced by
the exercise of domestic virtues, and the scrupu-
lous observance of religious duties, his private life
was as excellent as his public career was useful
and honorable. lie married, Sept. 30, 1791, Lucy,
the daughter of the Hon. Oliver Prescott, for
many years Judge of Probate for Middlesex County.
They had a numerous family. His wife survived
him thirty-one years, and died Dec. 15, 1852.
She retained her youthful freshness and beauty, in
a remarkable degree, to an advanced age.
In person, Mr. Bigelow was tall and slender,
but well proportioned. He had a dark complex-
* In early manhood, while reading law in Worcester, the garden
plot around ihe family homestead was embellished by him with such
Howers and ])lants as could be obtained at tliat period. The same
passion he naturally carried with him to Groton ; and there, on taking
possession of his house and farm, a well-ihosen spot of ground was
tastefully laid out, both for family uses and for pleasing and orna-
mental efl'eets. His orchard, in connection with the garden, contained
not only the common, but the rare varieties of fruit trees, making it
altogether the best of the village and neighborhood. After his re-
moval to iMedford, in procuring trees he was fortunate in having the
assistance of his friend and olu-tiine client, the elder Theodore Ly-
man, whose tastes were congenial with his own, and who often sent
from his Waltham nurseries standard stock trees, with a man to plant
them, and furnished him with the first espalier which covered his fruit
wall.
XVlll INTRODUCTION.
ion, black hair, and large, penetrating gray eyes.
He was a man of dignified appearance, of erect
and graceful carriage, and of very courteous man-
ners. In an obituary notice, an intimate friend
and contemporary* says of him, "To all in any
degree acquainted with the history of this Com-
monwealth for the last thirty years, it is unneces-
sary to say any thing of the eminent stations and
pre-eminent services sustained and performed by
him. . . . Amply as this distinguished statesman
and patriot filled his public offices, he was equally
pre-eminent for the discharge of all the duties of
a provident father, a kind husband, a hospitable
neighbor, a liberal and enlightened Christian, a
constant and sincere friend." Of his funeral, the
same writer says : " It was attended at Medford
by a large concourse of afflicted and mourning rela-
tives and friends, public functionaries, professional
gentlemen and citizens, although it was not in-
tended that the funeral should be a public one. . .
The pall was supported by His Excellency the
Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, Judge Ward, the
Secretary of the Commonwealth, and Samuel P.
Gardner, Esq. The procession was long and sol-
emn, and never was there an occasion when more
* Major Benjamin Russell, editor of the " Columbian Centinel."
IXTRODUCTIOX. Xix
genuine tears of sorrow were mingled with the con-
solation which the lives of the good and wise are
calculated to aflford."
The following notice appears on the records of
the Suffolk Bar : —
" At a meeting of the Standing Committee of the
Suffolk Bar, it was
" Voted, Tliat it be recommended to the members of
the Bar to wear crape for the period of thirty days, as
a testimony of respect for the learning, talents, and vir-
tues of their late associate, Hon. Timothy Bigelow.
" W. J. Spooner,
" Secretary. ^^
In the preceding pages, with but scanty mate-
rials at my command, I have been unable to give
more than a brief outline of Mr. Bigelow's career.
It has been observed that it is "among written
memorials that we must look for those traits of
talent and virtue which fix the destiny of character,
and by which the false is detected and the true
established." Mr. Bigelow has left iew memorials
of this class; yet those few, by their fervid elo-
quence and philosophic spirit, cause regret that
more of his addresses, and some of his forensic
arguments and political speeches (for of these lat-
ter none remain) had not been preserved. But
they have been scattered to the winds; and his
XX INTRODUCTION.
reputation mainly depends on personal recollec-
tions, which are fast fading away. I indulge the
hope, therefore, that this imperfect sketch of his
life may serve to rescue his name and fame — at
least for his descendants — from entire ohlivion.
The Journal is printed from the manuscript,
unchanged with the exception of the spelling,
which I have modernized, when necessary. I have
also supplied trivial omissions, and corrected occa-
sional carelessness in composition, incidental to
a journal written while travelling, and which the
author had probably neither leisure nor inclination
to correct after his return. In general, however,
he will be found uncommonly accurate in his state-
ments, — which I have verified by consulting con-
temporaneous accounts of the same region, — as he
is happy in his choice of language and animated in
his style.
I am indebted to my kinsman, Dr. Samuel A.
Green, for constant and efficient interest in the
revision of the Journal.
A. L.
Boston, June 10, 1876.
BIGELOWS JOURNAL
. OF A
TOUll TO THE FALLS OF NIAGARA
J O U R N A L.
IN pursuance of an intention which some of us had
entertained for many years, Timothy Williams, Esq.,
Mr. Samuel P. Gardner, Major John Williams, Mr.
Nathaniel C. Lee, and myself, set off from Boston on
the eighth day of July, in the year 1805, to visit the cele-
brated Falls of Niagara ; purposing, however, to exam-
ine all the natural curiosities to be met with in or near
our route, which should not occasion too great a diver-
sion from our main object, to return home by the way
of Montreal and Lake Cham plain.
Our first stage was to Wheeler's tavern in Framing-
ham, twenty-three miles h-om Boston, to dine. This is a
very good house ; both Wheeler and his wife are indus-
trious and obliging. We proceeded next to Jennison's
in Worcester, to sleep, nineteen miles. There was here
a gentle shower in the evening. Jennison himself is
coarse, clownish, and stupid ; but his wife is active and
obliging, and it is entirely owing to her that this is a
pretty good house. I went three miles further myself,
to sleep at my mother's, in the Worcester village.
4 JOURNAL OF A
July 9th. To TTobart's in Leicester, to breakfast, nine
miles. This is a tolerable house. Governor Strong and
a Miss Allen, who was going with him to visit his famil}''
at Northampton, breakfasted here also. The Governor,
we found, would have stoj)ped at Jennison's to sleep the
night before : but, having seen us stop there, he had pro-
ceeded further, and slept at Johnson's, near the court-
house in Worcester. To Hitchcock's in Brookficld, to
dine, fifteen miles. Governor Strong had set out from
J^eicester before us ; but we had passed him rather rudely
in Spencer, owing to the thoughtlessness of our driver.
Having slackened our pace till he f.gain overtook us, we
made the best apology for our incivility which the case
admitted, by laying the blame where it properly be-
longed. Our apology was accepted. Mr. Dwight, of
Springfield, met us at Hitchcock's, and advised us to
take the route by Springfield to Ballston. We satisfied
ourselves, however, by an inspection of the maps, that
we should make an angle to the southward from a
straight line, even by going through Northampton, and
that the evil would be increased by going through
Springfield. To Mellin's in Belchertown, to sleep, eigh-
teen miles ; a good house. Mellin was from Sturbridge
in the county of Worcester. We met liere with a gen-
tleman horse-jockey, from Conway, who was very in-
quisitive and communicative, and assumed the direction
of the conversation ; he was particularly careful to men-
tion the familiarity of his acquaintance with men of note.
July 10th. To Northampton, Clarke's, to dine, fifteen
miles ; a very good house. We here visited a warehouse
stored with silkworms just beginning to spin tlieir jiods ;
from the worms we saw it was expected that from thirty
""OUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 5
to forty pounds of sewing-silk would be manufactured,
whicli would be wortb ten dollars per pound. We vis-
ited Governor Strong at his house, wliere we were very
r politely received. We met there Mr. Hinckley and
other company.
The famous tract of interval in this town called the
Great IJainbow is not within sight of the great road, as
we supposed, but is situated further down the river, and
is of a much superior (j^uality to that through which the
road passes. Connecticut River seldom or never lower
than ulien we passed it. To Bailey's in Chesterfield,
fourteen miles, to sleep ; a good house. The landlord
heard at Hartford tliat we should be at his house this
night, and had therefore rode fifty miles in the after-
noon and evening, to be at home to attend upon us.
July 11th. To Mills's in Worthington, to breakfast,
seven miles ; a good house, uncommonly neat. Two
miles after leaving liailey's, we passed Westford River
at a place where the stream has forced a passage through
rocks which now rise many feet perpendicularly on
either side. Colonel Woodbridge, of Worthington, made
us a visit while breakfast was preparing. To Merrick's
in Pittsfield, twenty miles, to dine ; this is an ordi-
nary house. Called on John C. Williams, Esq. His
accomplished daughter entertained us with a perform-
ance on the piano-forte. We left the direct road to New
Lcibanon Springs, and made a deviation of four miles to
view the village and ob..erve the manners of the Shakers,
at the confines of Pittsfield and Hancock. The number
here is about one hundred and fifty ; at their village at
New Lebanon, they estimate their number at three hun-
dred. At the Hancock village, we saw Daniel Goodrich,
6 ' JOUKNAL OF A
Jr., son of the principal overseer, or man of cane, as
they call him, who showed us their garden, where we
regaled ourselves with currants and gooseberries in great
abundance. He next conducted us into a small, neat
house, which he told us the society had erected for
the purpose of receiving and entertaining visitors, and
which was neatly and commodiously fitted up for that
purpose, being even furnished with beds. Having* re-
freshed ourselves with a draught of excellent cider, we
took our leave.
The extent of the Shakers' lands is easily ascertained
by the most transient observer ; for they are more highly
cultivated, laid out with more taste and regularity, and
much better fenced than any other in their vicinity. To
the New Lebanon Springs, the direct course from Pitts-
field here is seven miles.
July 12th. At the New Lebanon Springs, made trial
of the water for bathing, and found it highly grateful,
beyond comparison the most so of any which either
of us had ever experienced. The temperature is be-
tween 72 and 73° of Fahrenheit. A copious stream runs
through the bath while one is using it, so that you not
only have the water in great quantity, but it is continu-
ally changing. A .saponaceous quality with wliich it
seems impregnated leaves the skin in a soft vellum-like
state, particularly favorable to insensible perspiration.
We found some company at Hull's, the occupant of
the house of entertainment at these springs ; among
others, were two agreeable young ladies from New
York, daughters of Mr. Jay, the late Governor of that
State. The accommodations here are, upon the whole,
pretty good, though they might be still improved.
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 7
At half-past nine o'clock this morning, left Hull's, and
proceeded for Albany. The first part of the road along
the Kiiiderhook Creek was very fine. We stopped at
Schern^erhorn's in Stephentovvn, an ordinary house, nine
miles ; the mills near this house, by giving a sprightli-
ness to the place, are its chief recommendation. Amongst
other water-works, we here observed a carding-machine.
These ingenious contrivances for saving labor have sur-
prisingly multiplied in the country of late. I have
found them at all favorable spots, from the further shore
of the Winnipiseogee to the North River. The growth
of timber in this neighborhood is much the same as
in the county of Worcester ; we saw no cliestnut-trees
after leaving Connecticut River till we reached Pittsfield ;
even here, they have not recovered their full size, but
grow rather in a resemblance to apple-trees. To
Strong's in Schodack, or Phillipstown, or Union, or New
Store, seven miles, to dine ; a pretty good house. Met
here with a Mr. Jonathan Iloag, a zealous Federalist,
who assured us that within two years Federalism would
again come in fashion ; he related to us the circum-
stances of his first settling in this place in 1775. It was
then in a state of nature ; now he informed us he had
two or three thousand bushels of wheat growing in sight,
as well as prodigious (quantities of hay. He owns most
of the buildings m the village, and is not only a wealthy,
but a liberal and frank man. A few thousand such
would renovate good politics through the Union. Val-
letjeskill is the stream that turns Hoag's mills. Mr.
Charles Taylor, of Boston, and his father, came up in the
stage, and dined with us at this house. To (Iregory's
in Albany, twelve miles ; an excellent house. The latter
8 JOURNAL OF A
part of the road to this place is undulating, and not a
little dangerous for want of railing, as the sides of the
ground have been raised across valleys. Towards even-
uig, a shower to the northward, at no great distance,
seemed to promise us relief from the heat and dust with
which we had been greatly oppressed this day ; but it
passed off without affording us the desired refreshment,
and we afterwards found that it had watered but a
narrow tract of country, although the rain was copious
where it fell.
I was much gratified with the sight of the Pludson,
which I had never seen before. It was more respectable
in magnitude than we had anticipated. It is amusing
in travelling tlius into the interior country, where one
seems to be embosomed in the woods, to come forth at
once into a view of this noble stream, and to see the
swelling canvas of commerce gliding among the forest
trees. The Hudson seems to be equally useful by af-
fording an easy and excellent communication with the
ocean, and by annually overflowing, and thereby fertil
izing its extensive shores. The ferry to Albany might
be very commodious ; but a dispute between the corpo-
ration of that city and the Patroon, so called, occasions
much embarrassment and inconvenience to travellers.
July 13th. Viewed the place, and found many objects
to excite attention, and gratify the curiosity of a man
who had never before been out of New England. The
old Dutch church and many other ancient Dutch build-
ings, in the Gothic style, are striking monuments of the
taste of the age and nation of the first settlers here.
But Dutch fashions and language, and even Dutch inhab-
itants, seem to be fast wearing out. All the new build-
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 9
ings are on an improved construction, and one would
now almost as soon tliink of employing a Dutch draw-
incr-master here, as a Dutcli architect. The new Dutch
cliurcli is a liandsome building ; it is ornamented in front
witli two towers or balconies, which enclose a portico
crow ned with a pediment supported by four large Doric
pillars. There is but little ornament to be seen within,
except about the pulpit ; the stairway leading to that
is supported by delicate pillars in two spiral rows, and
has on either side a light balustrade or railing : some
fancy is also displayed in the open iron-work over the
sounding-board. We took a carriage here, and made an
excursion to the Cohoes Falls, in the Mohawk River,
somewhat less than ten miles from Albany. We judged
the width of the river at the falls to be one thousand
feet ; there was not water enough to cover the whole
I extent. The principal current is near the middle of the
bed, where there is a horseshoe or crescent-like excava-
tion in the rock, with the convex part projecting up
stream. The falls are probably further up the river now
than heretofore, because the banks for a considerable
distance below are nearly perpendicular, and entirely
of rock ; the rock is of a hard slate kind, and it has a
l)eculiiir curl in the grain, which gives it the appearance
of petrified wood ; the strata of the slate, in many
places, appeared to be much inclined to the plane of the
horizon, and even ajiproached a perpendicular position.
In approaching near the precipice which constitutes the
fall, — to the very edge of which, owing to the scarcity of
water, we could walk dry-shod near half the way across, —
there were discernible several transverse fissures in the
rock, indicating that large masses of it, at no great dis-
10 JOURNAL OF A
tance of time hence, will fall. Excavations are also
made near the precipice, by small stones obtaining a
lodgement on the bed-stone, and then wearing it away
by a rotatory motion occasioned by the current : some of
these excavations are already large caverns, and must at
some future time occasion a further divulsion of the rock ;
such appearances are common at most waterfalls. The
height of the Cohoes Falls is computed to be about seventy
feet. The descent is nearly perpendicular. The dark
color of the rock forms a very striking contrast with the
milky whiteness of the falling water.
Nothing here struck us with more surprise than the
contemptible appearance of the river for several rods
below the cascade. At Schenectady, a few miles above,
it is from fifty to one hundred rods wide ; here every
drop of water passes through a channel in the rock, not
more than eighteen feet wide.
We went to Waterford to dine. This place is situ-
ated at the confluence of the Hudson with the upper
mouth of the Mohawk, and from the shape of the land
occasioned by this confluence is called Half- Moon point.
There is another mouth of the Mohawk about a mile
further down, and another about two miles more below
that ; these mouths, together with the Hudson, form
therefore two islands, which are of considerable extent.
There is at Waterford a bridge over the Hudson, the
first to be met with in passing up that river. It is above
the junctioa with the Mohawk, and the rapids stop all
navigation from there, about half a mile below it. One
is a little disappointed in not finding more water in the
Hudson at this place ; it is but ten miles above Albany,
where it is a noble stream. The difference, however,
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 11
must be occasioned in a great measure by the tide's ris-
ing below, but which never reaches the bridge ; it rose
two and a half feet this day at Troy. Demarest's Hotel,
at Waterford, an excellent house. We met here with
Mr. Penniraan, a bookseller at Troy ; he was ac-
quainted with me, and insisted on returning with us
immediately to Troy, although he had just come from
there with another gentleman, Mr. Edes, to visit the
Cohoes. Mr. Penniman's store is well furnished with
books, and he exhibited to us some specimens of his own
printing and binding, which do credit to our country.
Mr. Edes had just been fitting up here a ruling-machine
of his own invention, for which he has a patent. Mr.
Penniman put it in operation for our amusement ; we
thought it a ver}^ ingenious contrivance, and that it
fully answered the U;>e for which it was intended.
The passage of the river by the ferry at Troy was much
more agreeable to us than that near Albany, because
we could here land on dry ground, and not be obliged
to wade through the mud on the shore, as we had been
there. Our whole route this day, out and back, twenty-
three miles. The weather this day was everywhere ex-
tremel}^ hot ; but H the upper chamber at Albany, where
we slept, it was almost insupportable, even in the night.
The thermometer stood at 84° in our chamber window,
at daylight.
Mr. Lee now first communicated his intention not
to proceed with us any further. We therefore adjusted
our accounts with him, dismissed our Boston carriage,
and engaged an extra stage carriage to transport the
remainder of the party to Ballston Springs to-morrow.
J uly 14th. We proceeded to Schenectady to breakfast,
12 JOURNAL OF A
fifteen miles, Beals's tavern ; a good house. A new
turnpike is making from Albany to this place ; it is con-
structed in a very durable manner, with a pavement
covered with hard gravel. That part which is completed
is now an excellent road ; the remainder will soon be
equally good. It was not disagreeable to us to be in-
formed that this road, and indeed all the other turn-
pikes, and most other recent works which we met with,
which required uncommon ingenuity or labor, were con-
structed by Yankees.
Schenectady seems not to be a word fitted to common
organs of speech. We heard it pronounced Snacketady,
Snackedy, Ksnackidy, Ksnactady, Snackendy, and
Snaokady, whicli last is much the most common. To
Ballston, Bromeling's, sixteen miles ; a most exctllent
house. We found here about forty guests, but under-
stood there were upwards of two hundred at Aldrich's,
McMasters's, and the other boarding-houses near.
Bromeling himself has accommodations in the first
style for one hundred and thirty persons.
We met with but few people here from Massachusetts.
Mr. Henry Higginson and his Avife, Mr. Bingham, the
bookseller, and liis family, were all we knew. The
mineral water was not agreeable to us all upon the first
experiment ; but with others, and myself in particular,
it was otherwise. It is remarkably clear and transi)ar-
ent ; the fixed air, which is continually escaping from it,
gives it a sparkling appearance, and a lively and full taste,
not unlike to that of brisk porter or champagne wine,
while one is actually drinking. After the draught is fin-
ished, the chalybeate taste prevails. The temperature is
that of common well water, from 50 to 52° of Fahren-
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 13
heit. By pouring the water from one vessel to another
till the fixed air is all dislodged, it loses its transparency,
and becomes a smoky color and nauseous to the taste.
A small quantity of brandy mixed with it, when first
taken from the fountain, communicates to it an opaque
black color ; a deposit is made in a few hours of a black
sediment, and the water is left clear again, but bereft of
all its good qualities. Some springs, which fur many
years have afforded the water in perfection,' have, with-
out any apparent cause, lost their distinguishing proper-
ties, while others have as unexpectedly acquired them ;
some springs also, which possess these properties, are
now found within a few feet of springs and streams of
common water. The quantity of mineral water that
may be drank Avith impunity, and perhaps with advan-
tage, is surprising ; it is not uncommon for some persons
to drink four or five gallons in a day. There is danger,
however, by a too free use of it at first, incurring a di-
arrha^a. Using a proper caution in this respect, there
can be no doubt that the use of it may 1 advantageous
to languid and feeble stomachs, that it promotes diges-
tion and exhilarates the spirits. Sulphur is to be found
on the surface of the earth near the springs, in a state
almost pure ; and, where a fire has run over some ground
in the vicinity, it affords a smell like that of gunpowder.
July 15th. We took a carriage, together with Mr. Hig-
ginson and his wife, and went up to Saratoga Springs,
out and home twenty miles. We drank of Congress,
Columbia, Washington, and Great Rock springs. The
water at all these springs is much the same as at Ball-
ston; the principal difference amongst them all arises
from the different degrees with which they are impreg-
14 JOURNAL OF A
nated with their peculiar mineral properties. The great
rock itself is a curiosity ; it is of lime, whicli is the pre-
v.ailing stone in all this region. The rock was probably
formed by the concretion of the lime contained in the
water. This supposition is the only satisfactory way to
account for the extraordinary aperture through it ; for
that this aperture is natural, the irregularities of its
shape leave very little doubt. The population of Ball-
ston has wonderfully increased within a few years.
There are already in it four meeting houses, a court-house,
and a considerable population, beside the village w hich
has grown up about the springs, and which can afford
accommodations for near one thousand guests.
The soil in thu neighborhood appears to be good,
great quantities of grain and grass are growing upon it,
and the young orchards everywhere to be seen appear
to thrive. When the stumps and dead trees which now
encumber every field shall be cleared off, the prospect in
this vicinity will be agreeable, if not beautiful. The soil
in and about Saratoga is principall}'- pine plain, light and
saud^^ There is a small village with pretty accommoda-
ticms for guests near the Great Rock spring; but the
principal resort is at Ballston. Were it not for that place,
Saratoga would become of much more importance tlian
it ever can be while the Ballston waters retain their
properties. The resemblance in the qualities of the water
at both places renders it probable that all the intermediate
country is impregnated with them, and thus we can con-
ceive how so large and constant a waste can be supplied
without a perceptible diminution,
July 16th. Returned to Schenectady. We passed the
Kayad cross Creek between Ballston and Schenectady,
TOUR TO NIAGAIIA FALLS. 15
as also between Ballston and Saratoga. Just as we
were leaving J5ronieling's, Messrs. Harrison, (Jibbs, and
others, arrived there from South Carolina, and informed
us that in a day or two they should follow us to Ni-
agara.
An unfortunate man at Bromeling's occasioned no
small uneasiness among the guests there, from an appre-
hension that he had upon him the elephantiasis, or
some such infectious disease. Major Williams, who had
seen the elephantiasis, did not hesitate to pronounce
this man's disorder to be of that kind. Certain it is his
appearance was frightful, both from a dark, livid, and
oloated appearance of his skin, and the peculiar wild
and lion-like glare of his eyes, insomuch that all the
company at the house had inquired out and carefully
avoided the bath which he used, gave directions that
their clothes should not be washed at the same time
with his, and were even solicitous, at table or elsewhere,
not to be to leeward of him or very near him. The'
reputation of the house, was in danger, and it was re-
ported at the other boarding-houses in the neighborhood
that Bromeling had a guest who was afflicted with a
highly infectious and dangerous disease. At the request
of many of the guests. Dr. Stewart, of Baltimore, rep-
resented to Bromeling their uneasiness with this man's
company. Bromeling thereupon desired him to leave
his house immediately, which he accordingly prepared
forthwith to do ; not, however, without expressing great
offence that any one should suppose his disease infectious,
which he affirmed to be false. He said that his disorder
was only a want of free circulation of the blood through
the proper vessels ; but why may not such a disease be
16 JOURNAL OF A
infectious? A ^Ir. Setinuiu of Xew York, whom we
met at the sprino^s, we found a very companionable,
agreeable, and intelligent man.
Tlie Mohawk lUver at Schenectady is about the size
of the Merrimack at Salisbury, in New Hampshire. The
temperature of the w^ater at the ferry where we passed
it, both at the sides and in the middle of the stream,
we found to be 80^ of Fahrenheit.
Schenectady is a consideral)le pi., e, containing about
three or four thousand inhabitants, a college, several
houses of public Avorship, &c. There is here one stee-
ple, which considerably resenddes that in Charlestown,
INIassachusetts, near the bridge. Tliis place is said to
have been a favorite resort of the Mohawk Indians, and
a spot is shown near the town, where many hundred
Mohawk warriors usually resided. The situation is
pleasant in itself, and probably from the fertility of the
soil in its neighborhood must formerly have abounded
with game.
We slept at Reals's. July 17th, we took the western
stage in company with a ]\Ir. Row, a gentleman from
Virginia, who was about to engage in trade at Geneva,
on the Seneca Lake. We crossed over to the north
side of the Mohawk soon after setting out, to Schwartz's
(still in Schenectady), a poor house, seven miles ; thence
to Pride's in Amsterdam, nine miles. Pride's is a hand-
some limestone house, built about fifty years since, as
we were informed, by Sir William Johnson, for his son-
in-laws Guy Johnson. Although this house was de-
signed for a baronet's palace, it is now improved as a
very ordinary tavern. A peculiar kind of bush or
acacia tree grows in this neighborhood.
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 17
To Abel's in Amsterdam, situated on Trapp's Hill,
opposite to the mouth of Schoharie River and the old
Fort Hunter, to dine. The prospect to the south-west
is extensive and Tomantic, exhibits an agrpeable mixt-
ure of hills and plains, diversified with extensive for-
ests almost in a state of nature, and cultivated fields
scarce less extensive, now covered with a rich harvest
of ripening wheat. The prospect was the principal
tiling which we found in this place to recommend it.
The tavern is a poor one, and our dinner of course was
miserable. Four miles to Shepard's, in Canajoharie, tc
sleep. Seventeen miles in this stage, we passed a re-
.markable precipice terminating in a promontory, which
approaches almost to the river, called St. Anthony's
Nose. The country on each side of the river is gen-
erally mountainous, and in some places there is hardly
space between the cliffs and the water sufficient for a
road. At Shepard's is a new wooden bridge over the
Mohawk, two hundred and fifty feet long, consisting of
a single arch. It is already ruinous and considerably
bent, and seems very likely to fall soon. We thought
it not impossible that it might fall while we were on it.
John Nazro, formerly of Worcester, trades about half
a mile from this bridge, on the southerly side of the
river. We saw near his house a field of Palma Christi,
which we were told he was cultivating for the purpose
of manufacturing castor oil. The Mohawk in many
places was shoal, and interrupted with so many islands
and sand-banks that we were often at a loss to conceive
how loaded boats could pass, and yet we saw several
going up-stream with heavy loads.
Shepard would keep a good tavern, if his wife was as
3
18 JOURNAL OF A
attentive, neat, and active as he is. The reverse, how-
ever, is the case. He is even obliged to do her duty as
well as his own. As might be expected, therefore, we
found the beds preoccupied by domestic inhabitants,
who threatened us with a bloody reception if we at-
tempted to repose there. We declined the combat, and
preferred sleeping on the floor. We rose next morning
much more refreshed than our accommodations had
given us reason to expect.
July 18th. To Carr's at Little Falls, to breakfast,
twenty miles ; a very good house. In this stage, we
passed the East Canada Creek. Observed for the very
first time the cypress-tree. The gloomy, melancholy air
of this tree, and the deep shade which it casts, resulting
from the downward direction of its branches, as well as
the form and color of its leaves, have very properly
marked it out as emblematical of mourning.
On approaching the Little Falk, we observed un-
doubted marks of the operation of the water on rocks,
now far out of their reach, particularly the round holes
worn out b}^ pebbles kept in a rotatory motion by the
current, so common at all falls. It is certain that here-
tofore the falls must have been so'ne ways further down
stream, and have been much greater than they now are,
and that the German flats, and other low grounds near
the river above, must have been the bed of a lake. The
falls occupy about half a mile. In some spots, the river
is so crowded between rocks, that one might almost pass
across it ; in most places, however, it is broken into a
number of streams by irregular masses of limestone
rock. There is here a commodious cana^ for the passage
of boats cut round these falls. The whole fall is fifty-four
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 19
feet ; and there are five locks, in each of which the fall
is ten feet, besides the guard-lock, where it is four. The
locks are constructed of hewn stone, and are of excel-
lent workmanship ; they are almost exactly upon the
construction of those at the head of Middlesex canal.
Most of the buildings in the neighborhood, as well as two
beautiful Vjiidges over the canal here, are also of lime-
stone. Carr and his wife are from Albany, and are agree-
able and genteel people.
To Trowbridge's Hotel, in Utica, to dine. The house
is of brick, large, commodious, nd well attended. We
found good fare here ; in partlculai vcellent wine. From
Little Falls to this is twenty-two miles. In this stage, we
passed the German flats, an extensive and well-culti-
vated tract of interval land on both sides the Mohawk.
The town of German Flats is on the south of the town
of Herkimer, opposite thereto, on the north side of the
river. Notwithstanding the celebrity of this spot for the
excellence of its soil, we thought it not equal to that on
Connecticut River. Having passed the West Canada
Creek, the hills on both sides the river seem to subside,
and open to the view an extensive and almost unbounded
tract of level and fertile country, though of a much
newer aspect than any we had s'3en before.
At Utica, we passed over to the southern side of the
Mohawk. The river here is about the size of the Nashua,
and from this place bends off to the north-west. We
happened to pass the bridge as a batteau was coming up
to a store at the end of it, to discharge its cargo. The
water was so shoal that the batteau grounded before it
could be brought to its proper place. A pair of horses
were attached to its bows, and it was not without the
20 JOURNAL OF A
assistance of several men, added to the strength of the
horses, that it was got up to the landing-place at last.
Morality and religion do not seem to have much hold
of the miiids of people in this region. Instances of
rudeness and profanity are to be met with in almost
every place, but the people engaged in unloading the
batteau were much more extravagantly and unneces-
sarily profane than is common. Several persons also,
whom I saw at Little F'alls this morning, told me that
they knew full well that Adam could not have been the
first man, or that he must have lived much longer ago
than the Scriptures declare, because they said it must
be more than five thousand years for the Mohawk to
have broken through the rocks, as it has done at those
falls.
Utica was begun to be settled sixteen years ago, and
is now a little city, and contains several elegant dwell-
ing-houses, some of wliich are of brick, and a few of
stone, together Avith a great numljer of stores and man-
ufactories of different kinds. The Lombardy poplar-
tree is cultivated here in great abundance. The facility
of transportation by means of the Mohawk and Hudson
Rivers on one side, and Wood Creek, Oneida, and Onta-
rio Lakes on the other, together with the extraordinary
fertility of the adjacent country, must at no great dis-
tance of time make Utica a place of great business and
resort, and of course its population must rapidly increase.
Moses Johnson, a broken trader, late of Keene, now of
Manlius, a little above this place, whom we saw at Trow-
bridge's, spoke of this country as not favorable for
traders, and that a very few stores of goods would over-
stock the market. It is natural, however, for people in
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 21
his situation to ascribe their misfortunes to any thing
ratlier than their own imprudence or misconduct, which
others would probably consider as the true cause of
them. Mr. Charles Taylor and his father, whom we
liad overtaken at Shepard's, we left at Utica.
July 19<^. To Laird's in Westmoreland, to break-
fast, eleven miles ; a very good house. Ou. reakfast here
was garnished with a dish of excellent honey. Every
thing in and about the house was neat, and we were
particularly struck with the genteel and comely appear-
ance of two young ladies, daughters of our landlord, one
of whom, we were told, had attended a ball in the neigh-
borhood, I think at Paris, the evening before. This
stage was over a tract of very fertile country, nearly
level, but a little ascending ; the growth was mostly of
rock-maple and lime-tree. We passed a creek in New
Hartford, called Sawguet, or Sagwet, or Sacada [Sau-
quoit], and another in a corner of Paris called Kerry, or
Riscana, say Oriskany. The whole country from Utica
to this place is thickly settled. The houses are mostly
well built, and many of them handsome ; very few log
houses to be seen. Young orchards are numerous and
thrifty, and Lombardy jioplars line the road a great
part of the way; and yet we saw not a single field
which had not the stumps of the original forest trees
yet remaining in it. Honey is sent from hence to Lake
Ontario, in barrels.
To Shethar's in Sullivan, eighteen miles, to dine ; a
good tavern. The face of the country is not so level
here as about U^.^a, though it cannot be called hilly,
even here. In addition to the forest trees which we had
before seen, we here found the shag-bark nut tree in
22 JOURNAL OF A
abundance. In this stage, we passed through the Oneida
Indian village. We called upon, and paid our respects
to, the old chief, Skenandoa.* He told us, by counting
all his fingers till he came to his last little finger, of
which he marked off a part, by saying hundred, that he
was upwards of ninety years old. He called himself
chief. He was blind of one eye. Asked by signs where
we came from, and on being answered Boston, appeared
to know that name. He inquired where we were going.
We said a great way, pointing to the westward ; and he
thereupon said inquisitively, Niagara ? We said yes ;
and he tlien made a motion with his hands and arms
indicating the falling of the water.
The royal palace consisted of a log house, the ap-
proach to which was over a high rail fence. The build-
ing was about twelve or fourteen feet square, and was
furnished with a chest or two, two or three stools, and a
kind of scaffolding or elevation on one side of the room,
about two feet high, covered with blankets, intended to
sleep on by night and loll on by day. There was a
good-natured sc^uaw in the house, whom we took to be
the wife of the chief; and in the middle of the room
* Skenandoa died in 1816, aged 110 years. He was well known in
tlie wars wliicli took place wliile we were British Colonies and in our
Itevolutionary contest, as the undeviatin^ friend of the Americans. In
his youth he was a brave and intrepid warrior, and in his riper years one
of the noblest counsellors among the North American tribes. Among
the Indians he was distinguished by the appellation of the "white man's
friend." From Httacliment to the llev. Samuel Kirkland, missionary to
his trilM?, he had always expressed a strong desire to be buried near his
minister and father, that he might (to use his own expression) '* (jo up
with liim at t/it fp-('(it rcsuiTfrtion." This wish was gratified, and he was
interred in the village of Clinton, near the remains of Mr. Kirkland. —
N. Y. Hist. CoIL—Va>.
_„ TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 23
was suspended from the roof a kind of cot, in wliicli was
an infant Indian asleep, about six months old, a most
perfectly formed child. We conjectured it to be the
grandchild of the chief. Probably the immediate parents
of the child lived in the next house, which was distant
not more than six feet. We remarked upon the clothes
of this infant a gieat number of silver brooches. Uj^jon
the whole, our reception by the old king and his royal
consort was very gracious ; probably the more so, on
account of several small pieces of money which we laid
down on the breast of the sleeping infant.
We saw a young man among the Oneida Indiaiis,
who was a little better dressed than the rest. I in-
quired of one who could speak English who he was,
and was informed that he was lately from Canada ; that
he was an Oneida, but descended from those of that
tribe who, in the course of our war, had espoused the
British cause. Some of these Indians approached so
near to white people in their complexions and appear-
ance as to induce me to remark it to the one who spoke
English, and he told me they were part French.
We were afterwards told that there had in various
ways been such a mixture of blood in this tribe that
a genuine Oneida Indian was perhaps not to be found.
Most of those whom we saw in the village were rather
surly, and all of them filthy. The old chief was by far
the best-looking and best-behaved man amongst them.
He is more than six feet high. In this stage, we also
passed the Skanandoa Creek, the first water we met
with which discharges itself into the ocean by the St.
Lawrence, as the Oriskany was the hist which pays
tribute to the Hudson.
24 JOURNAL OF A
We next passed the Oneida Creek, which unites with
the Skanandoa. The earth in some places here is of
the same color with that on Connecticut River, where
the red freestone is found. In the Oneida village, the
fields are free from stumps, the first to be met with that
are so from Utica to this place. It is said that these
Indians cut some hav and raise a little corn, but the
quantity of each is so small that both they and their
cattle suffer considerably during the winter. Their
lands seem to be of an excellent quality and well watered ;
but their husbandry is very slovenly, and their houses,
which are constructed wholly with logs, are dirty and
comfortless. We found a considerable number of them at
a neighboring retailer's shop, drinking rum. We treated
them with some, and amused ourselves with their dex-
terity at hitting a mark with their arrows, by setting up
cents at some roods' [rods' ?] distance for them to shoot
at. The marksman who hits a cent in this manner
takes it for his pains. They seldom miss their aim, and
it is remarkable that they take it with both eyes open.
The Oneida reservation is ten miles square, and the
number of Indians in the tribe is computed at seven
hundred. We saw great numbers of black cattle and
horses belonging to them, grazing in their fields. To
Tyler's in Onondaga Hollow, to sleep, twenty-one miles.
The last sixteen miles are over a very hilly country ; the
Canaseraga Mountain, in particular, is four or five miles
over, and very steep. From this mountain we had an
indistinct view of the Oneida Lake to the north-west-
ward ; but the weather was hazy, and the opening among
the trees, through which alone we could see the lake,
was so small that the prospect was not very satisfac-
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 25
toiy. Before coming to the Canaseraga Mountain, we
passed the Canaseraga and Chittenango Creeks, and
after passing the mountain we passed the mill and De
Witt's Creek. Near the top of the mountain, a few
rods to the north o^ the road, is situated a curious
spring, which we visited. It is in a hollow or basin,
which is about thirty feet over and twelve deep. A
small stream springs out of the earth on one side of the
basin, runs across it, and then entirely disappears.
The country, as we approached the Onondaga Hollow,
we found had been louGfer settled than nearer the
Oneida village, because the last cession of the Oneidas
on the west, and immediately contiguous to their pres-
ent reservation, was made but six or eight years ago,
wliereas the country to the westward of that had begun
to be settled some time before. The town of Manlius,
in particular, has the appearance of a flourishing settle-
ment. This town is the first in the Military Tracts
which is the lands given by the State of New York as
a gratuity to the officers and soldiers of their line in
the lievolutionary Army. As we were descending into
the Onondaga Hollow, we saw to the north-westward
the Salina or Onondaga Lake. The descent into the Hol-
low is from very lofty into very low ground. The Hol-
low is a flat extending from north to south eight or ten
miles, being from one to three or four miles wide. The
settlement is near the northern end ; and the Onondaga
reservation, which is three miles long and two broad, is
situated at the southern extremity of the Hollow. The
laud throughout, but particularly the Indian reservation,
is said to be of an excellent quality.
The Onondaga Creek, which is of a convenient size
4
26 JOURNAL OF A
for a mill-stream, runs along the Hollow from south to
north, as do all the other streams in this country. This
creek passes near the celebrated Onondaga salt springs,
which are situated about five or six miles northward
from Tyler's. We had intended to visit these springs,
but it was near night, and it rained withal when we
arrived at the Hollow, and we were to proceed on our
journey before daylight next morning. We therefore
reluctantly gave up the thoughts of visiting the salt
springs : we were told, however, that there was nothing
particularly interesting in a view of the spot where they
are situated ; that it is a marshy, dirty, and unhealthy
place, and that the people who manufactured the salt
are poor, filthy, and sickly. That salt, nevertheless, is
manufactured there in such abundance, that a barrel
containing five bushels, weighing fifty-six pounds per
bushel, can sometimes be purchased for ten shillings.
New York currency, exclusive of the barrel, the price
of which is four and sixpence more ; so that the price of
a bushel of salt, exclusive of the barrel, is sometimes no
more than twenty-five cents. The quantity produced is
equal to the demand, we were told about eighty bushels
sometimes in a day^ but it may be indefinitely increased.
The springs are the property of the State. They are
farmed out for a certain annual rent, which is paid into
the salt treasury. The laborers who manufacture the
salt are paid for their services in the article itself.
Some of the Onondaga Indians whom we saw were
very gayly dressed. One young man, whose appearance
indicated his being an Indian of taste and fashion,
had the rim of each ear slit off from the ear itself, so
as to hang over, and, being stretched by the weight of
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 27
silver plates wound round them, reached down to his
shoulders.
The Onondaga Indians are said to be remarkably tem-
perate, though not so attentive to husbandry as the
Oneidas. They are beginning, however, to keep cattle,
plough, &ic. They are peaceable and submissive in
their behavior. Our landlord told us that he thoug^ht
them the most civil people in that part of the country.
They are about three hundred in number, but are con-
tinually diminishing.
Anderugaga is the name of their war chief. He is
said to possess, both in appearance and disposition, all
the ferocity ever ascribed to the savage character.
Tyler's is a poor tavern, and our accommodations for
sleeping were most miserable.
July 20th. Rose at half past two o'clock, and pro-
ceeded to Andrew's, at Skaneateles, to breakfast, sixteen
miles ; a good tavern. The country is still hilly, but
very fertile. The soil is deep, — a mixture of loam and
clay. The roads here must be very bad in wet weather.
It rained last night for the first time since we com-
menced our journey ; and the horses' feet, in consequence
thereof, slipped as if they were travelling on snow or
ice.
Rising out of the Onondaga Hollow is a long and
very steep hill. The road is constructed on the south-
ern side of a precipice, in such a manner that, as jou
approach the top of the hill, you have a tremendous
gulf on your left hand, at the bottom of which you hear
the murmur of a brook fretting among the rocks, as it
is passing on toward the Onondaga Creek, which it joins
in the Hollow. There is a kind of railing or fence, com-
28 JOURNAL OF A
posed of logs secured with stakes or trees, which is all
that prevents the passenger, and even the road itself,
from falling to the bottom of the gulf. On the hill
we found the embryo of a village. A court-house is
already built, and the frame of a liotel is raised. The
hotel, we were told, is to be kept by one Brunson. It
is an accommodation much needed by travellers on this
road.
From this hill, we were told, could have been seen
the Oneida Lake, if we had had daylight and clear
weather. We passed the outlet of the Otisco Lake, —
a copious mill-stream of pure water. Indc^^d, the waters
of all the streams and lakes in this country, which dis-
charge themselves into Lake Ontario, are remarkable for
their whiteness and purity. We did not see the Otisco
Lake, though we were told it w^as not more than a mile
distant from the road. Skaneateles is a pleasant village,
situated on the northern extremity, and at the outlet of,
the lake of the same name. The lake is from one to two
miles wide, and sixteen miles long from north to south.
There is a view of the village of about six miles up the
lake. The country which encompasses this lake is de-
lightful. There are no marshes or swamps to be seen ;
but the land slopes gently towards the water, so that
wltat is seen growing to its very edge. The soil is
remarkably fertile, free from rocks, and agreeably diver-
sified with gentle swells. The lake, moreover, abounds
with fish of all kinds usually found in fresh water, and
the outlet affords a most excellent seat for mills and
other w^ater-works. Here are already a grist and saw
mill, a carding-machine, and two distil-houses, which
are suppUed with water from the lake, though many
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 29
«
roods [rods?] distant, by means of pumps wrought by-
water. The pumps discharge tlieir water into perpen-
dicuhir logs or pipes, from which it descends, and then
runs along in an aqueduct till it reaches the distil-housc,
and then rises again. The dam which is thrown across
the outlet raises the water over the whole surface of
tlie lake. This is the reason there is no beach now to
be seen on its borders, but the verdure meets the water.
It is remarkable that this flowing should not overflow
any lands adjacent to the lake, except a small tract at
the southern or upper extremity of the lake ; and the
proprietor of the dam has j^urchased the right to flow
that.
To Harris's in Cayuga, fifteen miles, to dine. We here
had an excellent dinner of beefsteaks. ]Mr. Harris told
us that they could keep beef fresh four or five days, in
hot weather, by hanging it upon the trees — wrapping
it in flannel — as high as was convenient. Flannel is
better to wrap it in than linen.
The village of Cayuga is small, but pleasant and
lively. It is in the township of Marcellus, on the east-
ern bank of the Cayuga Lake, within one or two miles
of its northern extremity. This lake is about two miles
wide in general, and almost forty miles long. Nearly
north and south from the village, there are about fifteen
miles of the lake in sight. The shores are mostly of
hard land, except at the northern extremity, where there
is a great deal of marsh, which is an unfavorable circum-
stance for the village, as it is not only disagreeable to
the sight, but, I think, also to the smell. There is a
wooden bridge across the lake, leading from Ca^^uga vil-
lage towards Geneva, one mile long, wanting three roods.
80 JOFRXAL OF A
It suffered so much bv shocks of the ice last winter, that
in some places it is hardly safe to pass it. This forenoon
we had passed the outlet of the Owasco Lake, but did
not see tlie lake itself, which we were told was about a
mile south of the road. The country hitherto is some-
wliat uneven, though by no means so much so as near
the Onondaga Hollow. The soil, however, is excellent
in many places, and is of a reddish color.
To Powell's Hotel in Geneva, to sleep, sixteen miles ;
excellent accommodations. At Harris's we had met with
a Mr. Rees, a gentleman in trade at Geneva, who took
passage in the stage with us for that place. From this
gentleman, whom we found very intelligent and com-
municative, we learned many particulars concerning the
salt springs, discovered about five years since upon the
Cayuga outlet. Tliese springs are about twelve miles
below the Cayuga bridge, and are on both sides the out-
let : that on the western side is in the township of Ga-
len, and belongs to Mr. Rees and his partner in trade.
These springs had long been known to the Indians, but
they had always been reserved in communicating their
knowledge of thp state of the country to the white set-
tlers. It was not till most or all of those who lived near
this outlet had died or moved away, except one, that he
mentioned the existence of these springs ; and for a re-
ward he conducted some persons to the place where they
are situated. The persons to whom he communicated
this information endeavored to purchase the favored
spot before the owner should be apprised of its inesti-
mable value ; but he accidentally obtained a knowledge
of his good fortune, and of course refused to sell.
The Galen si)ring is a basin situated in a marshy spot.
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALI^. 81
one hundred rods from the outlet. In the centre of the
basin, the water is commonly ten feet deep. A passage
for boats has been cut from the basin to the outlet, and
a perceptible current commonly sets out through this
passage. It sometimes happens that the surrounding
marsh, and of course the salt water itself, is overflowed
by the fresh water from the outlet ; but the fresh water
and the salt do not seem readily to mix, for the water,
which is raised from the bottom of the basin by pumps,
is found, even in times of freshets, to be highly saturated
with salt, while that upon the surface is altogether fresh.
In case of a wind, however, the salt water is so diluted
by a mixture with the fresh as not to be woi ili working.
It w^ould not be difficult to construct a dyke or wall
which would prevent these inundations ; but the pres-
ent proprietors justly consider this spring, under all its
disadvantages, as an invaluable treasure ; that, if in
attempting to make it a little more useful or commo-
dious they should lose it altogether, they would have
abundant cause of self-reproach ; and that, as they know
not in which direction the salt water comes, if thev were
to dig between the basin and the outlet for the founda-
tion of a wall, they might possibly break in upon its
subterraneous channel, and direct the current so as to
lose it. They therefore think it most prudent to rest
satisfied with the spring in its present state.
There is some reason to suspect that the course of
the salt water is under the bed of the outlet, because
there is upon the other side of the outlet another salt
spring, called Smith's ; and it is observed that during
the prevalence of drought the water of either of the
springs is not so strongly impregnated with salt as at
32 JOUPwNAL OF A
other times, and that it even becomes so weak as not to
be worth working. Upon the return of rain, the water
regains its highly saline quality, but not under five or
six days at the Galen spring, and at Smith's in not less
than five or six weeks. At the Galen spring, eighty to
one hundred gallons of water commonly yield a bushel
of salt, weighing fifty-six pounds ; whereas sixty or
eighty of that at Onondaga will yield the same quantity
of salt. The water is pumped off into iron pans and
boiled down, — a process which it requires twelve hours
to accom[)lish. The consumption of wood in this manu-
factoi-y is so great that, although the price of it is five
and sixpence, New York currency, per cord, yet the whole
expense for that article alone at the Galen spring is five
thousand dollars per year. At present, the quantity of
salt manufactured here is about forty bushels a day ;
but the proprietors are about to increase the quantity,
which it seems they might do to an unlimited extent.
The water at the Galen spi-ing is of a thick, brown,
muddy color in appearance, and smells not unlike bilge-
water. The marsh in the neighborhood produces hay
in all respects resembling that which grows on salt
marshes, except in the salt taste.
Mr. Hees informed us that he held salt at his works
at fifty cents per busheL This is higher than it is
sometimes to be had at Onondaga. At Onondaga, the
I)rice is limited, and the weight of the bushel and size
of the cask are established by law. Besides being free
from any of these restrictions, Mr. Kees ti links his
works are more favorably situated for transportation,
either to the northward into Lake Ontario, or the
south-westward by means of Seneca Lake, or going up
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 33
Lake Ontario, thence l)y Lake Erie, ^lichigan, «S:c.,
even to the Alleghany River, and by that to Pittsburg.
Smith's spring generally affords water as highly satu-
rated with salt as that in Galen. There is yet another
spring, situated about half a mile below Cayuga Bridge,
on the western shore of Cayuga Lake, which 3'ields salt
water. Several attempts have been made to dig a well,
into which to receive the salt water here, so that it
might be collected in sufficient quantity to be manu-
factured. These attempts have hitherto failed on ac-
count of the quicksands, which have filled the well as
fast as the workmen could dig it. The owner, however,
does not yet despair. We saw him going toward the
spot with several i)eople, to see what measures could l)e
taken to bring this spring into operation.
The existence of these springs in this region is a
wonderful instance of the benignity of Providence.
Here is a fertile and extensive country, capable of con-
taining an immense population, which is nearly three
hundred miles from the ocean in the nearest part. If
the inhabitants were obliged to furnish themselves with
salt from seawards, an annual sup2)ly of that necessary
article would often cost them more than their bread,
whi(.*h could not fail to be a i)owerful discouragement
to tlie settlement of the country.
The road from Cayuga to Geneva is for a few miles
along the southern or south-eastern side, and the rest
along the northern or north-eastern side of the Seneca
outlet. The face of the country near the road is more
level ; but the soil is more sandy and uninviting than
v^e had lately seen, till we approached near to Geneva.
The land there is excellent, as we were told it was,
34 JOURNAL OF A
tbroiicrh all the tract which extends between the Cay-
urra and the Seneca Lakes. This tract rises in a kind
of regular glacis from each lake, so that from the mid-
dle of it one can see both. It wants nothing but in-
habitants and cultivation to make it an clysium. The
Seneca outlet flows into the lower end of the Cayuga
Lake. Towards its mouth there is a considerable fall,
or rather rapid, which it is contemplated to lock,
whereby a water communication will be opened be-
tween the two lakes. The stream is {d)out half the
size of the \Vinnii)iseogee, and has a bluish-white
appearance.
We were within half a mile of Geneva before we
came in sight of the Seneca Lake. This charming sheet
of water extends southerly from this place to Catharine
Town, forty miles, being from two to four miles wide.
There is not a foot of swamp or marsh on its borders,
from one. extremity to the other ; hut it is everywhere
lined by a clear, gravelly beach, and the land rises from
it with a very gentle and graceful ascent in every
direction.
We were somewhat disappointed in the town of
Geneva, not so much as to the size of the place, ele-
gance of the houses, or even beauty of the situation
considered simply in itself, but as to its relative situa-
tion with respect to the lake. Jt stands at the nortli-
eastcru corner, about half a mile from tlie northern
extremity of the lake, from which situation tlicre is
a prospect across, but not lengthwise of, tlit; water.
Whereas, lia<l the town been ])uilt half a mile to the
north-eastward from its present situation, it would have
stood on ground less elevaled to be sure, but yet sulli-
TOUll TO NIAGARA FALLS. 35
ciently so, and very well calculated for a city ; and, in
tlijit case, it would have commanded a cliarmiiii^ pros-
pect twenty miles up the lake. We saw above the
water the masts of a schooner, which lies sunk about
one hundred rods from shore. ^Mr. Kees, our fellow-
traveller, we found to be a nephew of Mr. Nicholas,
lately one of the Yir<^inia representatives in Congress,
but who has lately purchased and settled upon an ex-
tensive tract of excellent land, on the north-eastern
extremity of the Seneca Lake, near the outlet, ^fr.
Rees waited upon us some time after our arrival, with
Mr. Nicholas's com])liments and an invitation to call on
him to tea the next day. Our haste to proceed obligcjd
us to decline the invitation. We felt a sensil)le regret
at parting with Mr. Rees, whom we had found to be a
very intelligent, agreeable, and gentlemanly man.
Cayuga Lake abounds with fish, of whicli the black
bass are the mo.st esteemed. TIk; Seneca Lake does
not afford fish in as great i)lenty, and they are therefore
often brought to Geneva from Cayuga. J'laster of l*aris
has lately been discovered at Bath, about fifty miles
south-westwar<l from Cieneva. Iron ore is met with in
many jdaces in tiiis neighl)orhood.
Not far from (ieneva are some of the Lidian orchards,
which were cut down bv Geneial Sullivan in his famous
expedition, scarce less barbaious tlian those of the sav-
ages themselves. The trees now growing in these
orchards sfjrouted from the roots of those which were
cut down, and therefore grow in clusters, six or seven
rising from one I'oot. We saw Lidian fields here free
from stumps, the only ones which are to the westward
of Ltica, exce[)t those belonging to the Oneidas. We
36 JOURNAL OF A
were told that, at tliis season of the year, tlie wind at
Geneva hlows constantly from the sonth in the fore-
noon, and from the north in the afternoon. We here
qnitted tlie stage, Avhich runs no further than Canan-
daigua, and hired an open Dutch wagon and driver,
and a single horse, to carry us to Niagara.
July 21st. Our direct course from Geneva would
have heen westward to Canaudaigua, sixteen miles ; but
we deviated from that course, and travelled north-west-
ward from Geneva, fourteen miles, to the Sul[)hur
Springs. For some miles from Geneva, the country is
fertile and flourishing in a high degree. We had now
reached the flat country, which extends with very little
interruption quite to Lake Erie, n[)wards of one hundred
miles. In the town of I'helps, we passed the Flint
Creek, the bed of which is mostly of limestone, as are
the beds of almost all the streams in this region. The
stones here are a kind of composition or pudding stone.
They look as if they were formed by the fusion of a
part of their substance, which in hardening has incor-
poriited into the mass a great number of small stones
which had been already formed. Finding rocks of this
kind in this level country, at a great distance from any
hill, icfutes the notion that they are formed in volcanoes.
Ycumg orchards, both of peach and api)le trees, aboun«l
and flourish here ; they are in general from three to six
years old. Peach-trees are the most numerous, but they
were chiefly without fruit. Notwithstanding that there
are some considerable streams in the Genesee countr}^
yet there are but few compared with the whole extent ;
and, as they generally proceed from lakes, small brooks
and rills are scarcely to be met with. Springs of water,
TOUIl TO NIAGARA FALLS. 37
wliich are so common in New England Jind other liilly
countries, are seldom found liere, which is probably to
be ascribed to the flatness of the surface. Where a s[)ring
does ap[)ear, it comnionl\' issues fi'om the ground at once
in great force, sufficiently so in some instances to turn a
mill, at its first emerging ; or, if the quantity of water
be small, it will disap})ear after runuing a little ways.
Upon the whole, therefore, this tract may be said to be
but 2)oorly watered ; and some of tlie settlers complain
that they are obliged to dig wells, and supply tlieir cat-
tl(5 from tliem. The Suljiluu' S[)iings are just within
tlie limits of Farmiugton. A swale or valley, of near a
mile in extent, aff'ords in several places copious springs
of water, strongly imjiregnated with sulpluu". Two of
the most remarkable we visited : that wliich affords the?
least water of the two deposits tlie greatest quantity of
sulphur; the other affords water sufficient at the fountain-
head, constantly, to turn a corn-mill. The water from
this spiing Hows six or eight rods down a steep declivity
or bed of limestone, into a quagmire of an acre or two
in extent, which is so soft and dee[) that it is impossible
to go npon it.
The bed of the stream through its whole extent, and
every substance with which the water comes in contact,
are covered with sulphur, so that, altliough the water itself
appears to be i)erfectly pure and lim[)id, all other objects
near it are tinged with a sulphureous yellow. In the
quag at the bottom of the declivity, this color becomes
gradually more faint ; and we were told that, when
the stream has flowed about half a mile further, it loses
all its sulphureous qualities, and becomes perfectly fresh
and sweet. Several small streams of pure water flow
38 JOURNAL OF A
t)
within a few rods of the Sulphur Springs, with which
they unite some ways below, and then pass off into the
Canandaigua outlet. The water of these springs is drank
by invalids as a restorative and tonic. It is said to oper-
ate as a sudorific and diuretic, and at first, or if taken in
too great quantity, as a cathartic. The taste is not dis-
agreeable ; it contains no fixed air, and is about the tem-
perature of common well-water. It is used also for
bathing. IVIr. Powell, of Geneva, the present proprietor,
has provided an excellent contrivance for administering
a shower-bath. It sujjplies the water in great abun-
dance, and as long as the patient pleases. As far as we
could judge, from the activity and screaming of several
Avho made trial of this bath while we were present, its
effect must be very powerful.
The atmosjjhere for a considerable distance around
these springs is so highl}^ charged with sul[)hur that it
smells like damaged gunpowder, or like a foul musket.
With some people it occasions a nausea, and to most it
is disagreeable. The sulphur, especially at the second
spring we visited, lies upon the surface of the ground
in great quantities, and in a state perfectly pure, except
that it adheres to the fibres of moss, wliich, upon a
near view, gives the sulphur itself the appearance of
a vecretable. A kind of small insect, covered with a
cylindrical shell, somewhat resembling a snail, but much
less in size, is found attached in great numbers to the
stones and all other substances, in the streams that flow
from these springs. Vegetation in this vicinity has the
same appearance as elsewhere, both as to kind and
quality.
Mr. Powell proposes to build a house here for the ac-
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 39
comrnodation of people going from the Sulphur Springs.
We crossed the Canandaigua outlet, and travelled soutli-
westerl}^ ten miles to the town of that name, standing
near the northern extremity of the lake of the same name.
Most of the land here is of the best quality; but the
drought was very severe, the more so, probably, on ac-
count of the flatness of the country. The Canandaigua
Lake is not to be compared to the Seneca, either in l)eauty
or magnitude ; but the town is more interesting than Ge-
neva. Here is a huge, well-built, brick jail, a court-house,
used also as a place of public worship, an academy,
and a hotel. A hotel was formerly kept under the same
roof with tlie jail ; but it Avas found th;it tliis circum-
stance was disagreeable to most guests, so that the
scheme was abandoned. Tlie hotel where we stopped
is kept by Taylor. It is a handsome and commodious
building, and is well attended. Tliere is i)lenty of
oak and some cliestnut wood to l)e met with, after reach-
ing the small lakes, though we liad not seen either for
some time before. Tlie turnpike road ends at this place.
The whole length from Albany is two hundred and six
or seven miles : it may properly be called two turnpikes,
which join each other at Utica. A project is on foot for
still extending the turn[)ike even to Niagara, a direct
course to which would not probably exceed one hundred
miles.
]\Ir. Rees told us yesterday that he was engaged to
proceed to-morrow with certain commissioners to mark
: out the course of the road, and that the proprietors will
begin to woik ui)on it next year. 'J'he road may not
be very good pro[)erty at first, but will probably soon
become so, judging from the astonishing rapidity with
40 JOUnXAL OF A
"which tins country is settled. It is ascertained tliat one
tliuiisand families migrated hither during the last year,
two thirds of whom were from New England.
To Hall's in Bloomfield, to sleep, twelve miles ; very
good house. We had an excellent supper and clean
heds. The town of Bloomfield has been settled about
fifteen years, and is now in a flourishing state. Here is
a handsome new meeting-house with a tasty steeple.
The vane on the steeple is rather whimsical. It is
a flying angel, blowing a trumpet against the wind.
Within this town we passed a small creek, wdiich is the
most westerly water which discharges itself into Lake
Ontario by the Oswego outlet, b}^ which all the water
we had yet seen is discharged, which flows into that
lake. The country which supplies that w'ater is up-
wards of one hundred miles Avide, as the road goes.
The growth here is chiefly oak. The soil is good,
though more hilly and not so luxuriant as W(3 had seen.
Some of their fields were without trees when the first
settlers came here, which gives the town the ap[)ear-
ance of an older settlement than it is. Orchards are
numerous, both of peach and api)le trees ; the former,
which are most numerous, are cultivated for brandy.
Wild plum-trees are common here.
The ine(|ualities in the surface of this town afford
much more distant prospects, than can be had in flat
OTOund. From the hill on which the meetiuGf-house
stands, there is an extensive view in every direction
except north-westward. This afternoon the wind was
easterly, but it was wholly free from that raw, humid
quality which an easterly wind possesses on the sea
coast. The tli* rmonieter in the eveninii' was 72°,
TOUn TO XIACJARA FALLS. 41
altljoup^li in the morning it had been as low as 54°
Fiilirenlieit.
General Hall, our landlord, told us that a new salt
spring had been discovered but a few days since, about
twelve miles to the westward of Genesee River, and as
much off of our route. It is on the laud of Sir William
Pultney, and is llioroughly impregnated with salt. He
told us also that there was yet another, not far from
Batavia. This day, at Canandaigua, I saw Mr. Moore,
whom I had formerly known as an apprentice in Mr.
Waldo's store in Worcester. He had just returned
from New Connecticut beyond Lake Erie, where he
had been with Messrs. Phelps, Mills, and others, making
a purchase of lands of the Indians. Grindstones of a
good quality are found and manufactured near Lake
Erie, within one hundred miles of Canandaigua.
July 22d. To Hosmer's in Hartford, to breakfast,
twelve and a half miles. Between Bloomfield and
this, we passed through Charleston, which has but
recently been reclaimed from tJie wilderness. It is
perfectly flat, the soil is pretty good, though better, and
more settled at some distance from the road than near
it. The reason of cutting the road where it goes was
because the country in that direction was open, when it
was first explored, between this place and Lake Ontario,
which is but twenty-eight miles distant, or to Gerunde-
gut [now Toronto] Bay, but twenty-two miles. Cider
was made last year in great quantities ; and a single
orchard in Charleston produced apples sufficient for one
hundred barrels, but the owner sold off the apples.
There is not so plentiful a growth of fruit this year.
Different kinds of plum-trees, some of which are niucli
6
42 JOURNAL OF A
esteemed, are found here also in a wild state. We
crossed in this stage the [here is a break in the MS.]
lakes, and falls into the Genesee River.
Deer are jdenty here yet. One man not long since
killed seven without changing his place : one of them
Avas a doe, and the others bucks. The hunter killed
the doe first, and the others one by one afterwards :
when he fired, those he did no^ ^dll would start off a
little ways, but soon return.
In the town of Pittsford, which adjoins Charleston on
the north, are the remains of an ancient fort constructed
with stone and earth, the length of which is upwards of
one hundred feet. On the walls, trees are no\v growing
upwards of eighteen inches over ; one hundred and fifty
grains were counted in one which was cut down last
year. The Indians have no knowledge by whom the
fort Avas built. Hitherto we have found better roads
since we left the turnpike than l)efore, except that the
bridges and causeways are mostly constructed with
poles. Hosmer, our landlord, is an intelligent man and
keeps a good tavern. We had for breakfast good coffee,
excellent tea, loaf sugar, mutton chop, waffles, berry
pie, preserved berries, excellent bread, butter, and a
salad of young onions. I mention the particulars, be-
cause some of the articles, or such a collection, were
hardly to be expected in such a depth of wilderness.
To Gansen's in Southampton, twelve and a half
miles, to dine. Within about a mile of Hosmer's, we
passed the Genesee River. The outlet of the Conesus
Lake joins this river about a mile above, or to the south.
Where we crossed, there is a new bridge, apparently
Htrong and well built; and yet the water last spring
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 43
inidernilned one end of it, so that it has sunk consideici-
blv. The river liere is about the size of the Nasluia,
but more rapid. The water is very muddy, of a chiy or
ash color. The interval, which is on the west side, is
more than a mile wide. It belongs to some Indians of
the Seneca tribe, who live near it in log liuts.
In a time of flood, the water covers tlie whole inter-
val. After rising from the interval, the country for six
or eight miles is one unvaried and almost unbroken
plain. No cultivation or settlements are to be seen, save
a few miserable log huts scattered at great distances,
around which are smallpatches of cleared ground ; nor
does the country appear inviting. The growth, it is
true, is mostly of oak ; but the trees are not large, and
are few in number. Tiiere is an undergrowth of young
trees ; but tliey do not prevent one from seeing, so as to
distinguish a man in almost any direction, at the distance
of forty or fifty rods. The soil is thin, intermixed with
crumbled limestone. In fact, for the last four or five
miles, the stone rises above ground in large masses, and
scarce any water is to be seen from the (ienesee River to
this place, exce2)t the Big Spring, so called. This is four
or five rods north of tlie road, at a place lately called
Caledonia (although the township of Southampton), in
consequence of a few Scotch families having erected
there log huts, where they still live around the spring,
and a mill is constantly turned by it, without any supply
from any other quarter. Upon the whole, the country
between the interval and Gansen's is the most tiresome
and the poorest we had seen after leaving Utica. While
we were at dinner, there was a copious shower, attended
with ver}' heavy thunder. An old man told us that the
shower came off Lake Erie.
44 JOURNAL OF A
Gansen's is a miserable \o<x house. AVe made out to
obtain an ordinary dinner. Our hmdlord was drunk,
tbe liouse was crowded with a dozen workmen, reeking
witli rain and sweat, and we were, withal, constantly
annoyed with the jdaintive and frightful cries and
screams of a crazy woman, in the next room. We has-
tened our departure, therefore, even before the rain had
ceased.
To Russell's in Batavia, twelve miles, to sleep. One
mile from Gansen's, we crossed Allen's Creek, at Butter-
milk Falls, where there are mills, and five miles further
the Chookawoonga Creek, near the eastern transit line
of the Holland purchase. This line extends from the
bounds of Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario, a distance of
near ninety-four miles. So far, the road was the worst of
any we had seen ; and none can be much worse and be
passable for wheels. Within six miles of Batavia, tlie
road is much better, and the land of a good quality,
heavily timbered all the w^ay, but especially near the
settlement. It is but three yeai-s since this spot was first
cleared, and it is now a considerable village. Here is
a large building, nearl}' finished, intended for a court-
house, jail, and hotel, under the same roof. The street
is perfectly level, and is already a good and smooth road.
Here is also an c-'-'^ellent mill, on a large and commo-
dious scale, situated on the Tonawanda Creek, which is
the first water we saw which passes over Niagara Falls.
Russell's is a poor tavern. We were told that our sheets
were clean, for they had been slept in but a few times
since thev w^ere washed.
July 2-Jd. To Luke's in Batavia, to breakfast, five
miles. We intended to have stopped at McCraken's, one
TOl'll TO NIAOAIIA FALLS. 45
mile short (u tliis, but we were told that we could not he
acconiniodiited. I'he exterior appearance of l)()th houses
was very much alike ; they are log huts, about twelve
feet square. Luke's consisted of a single room, with a
small lean-to behind, which served for a kitchen. It
contained scarce any furniture, not even utensils enough
to serve us comfortably for breakfast. His wife, withal,
was sick in bed while we were there, and the}' had next
to nothing: in the world to eat. With the addition of
some tea, ham, and bread, which we ourselves liad
brought, we at length made out a breakfast.
It was but eighteen months since Luke bef^an a settle-
ment here, and he was the first who made the attempt be-
tween Batavia and Vandevener*s, a distance of eighteen
miles, though in that distance now there are several
huts. Taverns like Luke's are not uncommon in this
vicinity ; almost every hut we saw had a sign hung out
on a pole or stump, announcing that it was an inn.
Perhaps such complete poverty did not exist in them all
as we found at Luke's, yet, judging from external ap- ■
pearances, the difference could not be great.
We passed the Tonawanda near Batavia court-house, -
and then kept along its southern bank to this place. !
The woods are full of new settlers. Axes were re-
soundii>g, and the trees literally falling about us as we
passed. In one instance, we were obliged to pass in a
field throuG^h the smoke and flame of the trees which
had lately been felled Mid were just fired.
To Vandevener's in Willink, thirteen miles. We had
intended only to dine here ; but by reason of a thunder
shower, and the temptation of comfortable accommoda-
tions, we concluded not to proceed till next day. Our
46 JOUllNAL OF A
last stage was through the Batavia woods, famed for their
liorrors, wliich were not abated b our having been in-
formed at Russell's, that not far from here a white man
had lately been killed by the Indians. We found the
road much better than we had anticipated ; the last four
miles were the worst. A little labor would make the road
all very good, at least in dry weather. There is anotlier
way to come from I^atavia here ; but it is six miles fur-
ther, and probably little or no better than this.
It was but tliree years since Vandevener began here.
He at first built a log house, but he has now a two-story
framed house, adjoining that. His whole territory is five
hundred acres, one hundred of which he has alread}" got
under improvement. About five miles before coming to
A^andevener's, we passed Murder Creek, which soon
after falls into the Tonawanda. In the beds of both these
creeks, we found a dark-i-olored, slate-like stone, which,
upon being fresh broken, afforded a strong sea-coal or
amber smell, but more fetid. When much heated, it
affords a pitchy flame. It is called stink stone. Tiie
timber in these woods is very heav^y, and consists chiefly
of oak, ash, elm, hendock, birch, rock-maple, and bass,
or lime-tree.
About thirty rods westward irom Vandevener's, the
road passes in a longitudinal direction directly through
the remains of an ancient fort, the site of which is about
four hundred and fifty feet long, and perhaps two thirds
as wide. The wall or mound of earth and stone with
which it was constructed is now nearly entitle, except
where passages have been cut for the road, and where
a part of it has been levelled to make a garden spot,
near a log house which stands within it. A ditch runs
TOUR TC s'AGARA FALLS. 47
all round the wall on the outside, except at the gates
of which there were four, facing the four cardinal points.
Where the road is cut through the wall, we ol)served
pieces of charcoal, and, turning up the fresh earth with
tlie foot, we discovered some that had not before been
uncovered. The growth of timber within and even on
the wall is the same as elsewhere. We counted the
grains of an oak which grew exactly upon the summit,
to the number o. one liundred and thirty; and of a but-
ton-wood, wliicli had stood near the summit, to a much
greater number, although a considerable part of the
wood, near tiie h( art of the tree, was decayed and gone.
The whole enclosure is about three acres.
Similar remains are said to be found in several other
places in this region, some of whicli are of much greater
dimenf'ions. There is one in particular at the Chestnut
Ridge, so called, about fifteen miles north-eastward from
this place, wliich encloses sixteen acres. These forts
are all situated on a ridge or precipice, whicli extends
from the south-west to tlie north-east, the limits of
which have perhaps never been ascertained. It passes
along in front, i.e. to the north, from Vandevener's house,
at the distance of about tliirty rods ; and he informed us
tliat it extended eastward to the Chestnut iiidge, and
tliat it there divided, one branch going from thence to
(^)ueensto\vn, on Niagara River westwardly, where tlie
great falls are supposed once to liave been, and tlie
other passing on still eastward, and intersecting the
Genesee River, at the remarkable fulls in that stream.
He added that the same ridge was traced westwaid to
within three, two, and even half a mile of Lake Erie,
of which it seemed to constitute a second sliore. We
48 JOUJINAL OF A
examined tlie vid^e near V^indevener's house, and found
it to ]je but a few fe(;t above the level of the country
iniiiiediately soutliward from it; but to the north it is
a precipice of nearly one hundred feet hijili, about half
of which is generally perpendicular for twenty feet or
more from the summit downwards. This ridge is a
mass of solid limestone, somewhat projecting over, and
exhil)iting the usual appearance of rock which had for
a great length of time been worn ])y the dashing of the
water. On digging a foot, or two, or three, into the
ground at the bottom of the ju'ecipice, you everywhere
find clean beach sand, such as is found on the beach of
the lakes. Most of the rock seems to be composed of
the petrified sliells, and even of the very substance, of
shell-fish. I'hese petrifactions are not only to be seen
on the surface, but we found them in the verv substance
of large stones, which we broke for tliat purpose. From
the foot of the precipice the surface of the earth still
descends considerably for near half a mile, and from
thence the face of the country is generallv level to
Niagara Itiver. If water once flowed up to this preci-
pice, as from appearances which it exhibits cannot be
doubted, the forts before si)oken of were all commo-
diously situated on peninsulas or points of land project-
ing into t)ie water, and having each a communication
with the main by a neck of land.
The necessary inference from these facts seems to be
that the Falls of Niagara were once at Queenstown, and
that they have not only receded seven or eight miles to
their present site;, but that they are now much less than
they originally were ; that by forcing away a pait of
the rock ]>y which they were once confnied, they have
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 49
flowed off so as to drain the country from this ridge to
the present shore of Lake Erie ; and, if the lake has sub-
sided, Lakes Huron and Michigan, being now upon the
same level, must have undergone the same change.
This event must have happened a great length of time
ago.
The gi Avth of timber where the water must once
have flowed is now the same, both as to kind and size,
as elsewhere ; and the soil where the beach originally
was is now from one to three feet deep above the sand.
No tradition exists among the Indians upon this sub-
ject. They are wholly ignorant as to the origin and
particular use of the forts, and express equal surprise
upon the subject with the v/hites. Their existence
before the draining off of the water may possibly be
thought to prove the peopling of this country at a
period much earlier than has commonly been assigned
to that event.
July 23d. To Ransom's in Erie, to breakfiist, four-
teen miles. Ransom came from Great Barringtoii in
Massachusetts, and settled here last September. Mak-
ing proper allowances, we fared very well at his house.
About two and a half miles after leaving Yandeve-
ner's, we descended the ridge spoken of in yesterday's
journal, and, having travelled about half a mile on lower
ground, ascended it again. The appearance of it at both
these places confirmed the opinion already formed re-
si)ecting it. We next came to a plain, extending with
very little interruption to Ellicott's, on Twelve Mile
Creek.
This plain, when first explored, was, and still con-
tinues to be, remarkably free from trees. Hundreds of
7
50 JOUKNAL OF A
acres may be seen togetlier, on wliich there is scaice
a single tree, there being at most but an oak or a pophir
or two, scattered at great distances. The earth liere
is covered with small willow bushes, brakes, butterfly
plant, Oswego bitter or French balm. Convolvulus
majot\ wild grass, and stiawberry vines, with very
young trees not more than knecThigh. In many of
these open grounds, a man may be seen at the distance
of two miles. There are patches of trees interspeised
among these open grounds. They are of the same kind
as are to be met with in the neighboring country, and
are of various extent ; but in geneial there does not seem
to be v» ood enough growing on this i)lain for the accom-
modation of its future inhabitants. At i)resent, there
are but a few log huts upon it, and they are scattered
at the distance of from half a mile to four or five miles
a})art. Glancing the eye over these open grounds, they
look like a settled and cultivated country ; but the want
of houses and fences and more especially the solemn
stillness that prevails over them, admonish you that you
are in a wilderness.
Various conjectures are indulged as to the scarcity of
trees ; but the most probable is that it has been occa-
sioned by the Indians repeatedly firing whatever would
burn here, so that the tender grass, afterwards springing
up, might entice the deer and other game out into a situ-
ation where they would be exposed to the hunter. What
serves to confirm this opinion is that frequent appearance
of charcoal and burnt sticks, and the abundance of young
trees which are now shooting up. Wherever groves of
trees are yet standing, it may be seen that they were
probably protected by the interposition of a stream of
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 51
water, or by the dampness of the soil where they grow.
We saw no animals on this plain, exco.pt the cattle of
the settlers, which are pastnred upon it. The last three
miles from Ellicott's Creek to Kansom's is a new road
cut through a thick wood, and is as bad as any part of
the road through the Ihitavia woods.
To Crow's at Buffalo Creek, eight miles. In this
stage, we passed the Four Mile Creek. Half the dis-
tance from Ransom's was over open country, of the kind
already described, in which many young chestnut-trees
are just sprouting from the ground. The rest of our
way was through a thick wood, where the growth is
the same kind as in the interior of ^Massachusetts. At
Crow's, we could procure nothing for refreslnnent. The
settlement is a village containing about thirty shabby
houses, very much rcseml)ling baiiacks. It is situated
at the south-eastern extremitv of Lake Erie, on a risincf
ground, which forms the eastern bank of Buffalo Creek.
An old Indian told us that the inhabitants of this place
derive their jaincipal support from the Indians, wlio
here receive from the agents of government their annual
allowance, no small part of wluch they /erysoon appro-
priate. The Buffalo Creek, at its mouth, is about the
size of the Ilousatonic at Sheffield ; it is a lazy and
muddy stream. Crow informed us that a strong west-
erly wind forces the water of Lake Erie witii such vio-
lence on its eastern sliore, which is a kind of bav not more
than three or four miles wide, as to raise a tide, some-
times ten or twelve feet high. Nature, hovrever, has
opposed an insurmountable barrier to its encroachments
in this direction. The countrv for three or four miles
immediately to the eastward is considerilbly elevated
52 JOURNAL OF A
and rather liilly. On account of the Avoods, the lake is
not to be seen by a traveller from the east, till he comes
within about a mile of the beach. Fatigued as such a
one must long have been with the narrow and dreary
scenes presented by a cheerless wilderness, it must be
difficult to refrain from expressions of rapture at the
noble prospect which here expands to his view. On
the southern shore, we could discern distant promonto-
ries and high lands, which advance pretty far into tl»e
lake, but are at length lost in the south-west ; from
thence to the north-west, the horizon is formed by the
union of the sky and water. Towards the outlet, the
northern or Canada shore, with the British Fort Erie,
is in full view. Five or six vessels were Ivino- in the
harbor, near the fort, when we wore there. On account
of a shower that had fallen the day before, their sails
were extended to dry. One of them was a twenty gun
ship, whose tall masts and swelling canvas seemed to
announce a conscious pride in navigating inland seas of
such extent.
It has been a generally received opinion, especially
among foreign naturalists, that flint was not a produc-
tion of the American continent : we met with it, how-
ever, in large masses on the beach of Lake Erie-, and of
an excellent quality. An old Indian told us that there
people used it for their guns, and that it was surer to
strike fire than the imported flint, which he said was
greasy. We here also found great quantities of clean,
shining, red and black sand, proper for stationers' use.
Thirty or forty miles up the Buffalo Creek, there are oil
stones, so called. They lie loose, like other stones, on
the surface of the earth, some of them weighing forty
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 53
pounds. The under side appears greasy. On breaking
them, an oil appears to be contained in little cells within
the stone, not in a liquid state, but of the consistence of
hog's lard ; it has a strong fetid smell. The oil is not to
be collected from these stones in any considerable quan-
tities ; but if it be the petroleum, which is found in the
farther peninsula of India, and in some parts of Europe,
it might probably be obtained in greater abundance by
sinking wells for it to collect in, as is practised in those
countries.
From Buffalo we passed along the beach of Lake
Erie, to the ferry across its outlet on the Niagara River,
at Black Rock, so called, three miles. We were here
detained more than an hour, waiting the pleasure of the
ferryman ; he was at his house, about a mile down the
river. As he well knew we could not pass without his
assistance, he probably concluded that he should lose
nothing by delay. AV^hen at length he arrived, we were
almost deterred from attempting the passage on account
of the wretched machine in which we were to be trans-
ported. It was a crazy flat-bottomed boat, with low
sides, constructed at first of thin plank, and which had
apparently begun to decay. In this slender vehicle,
navigated by 'a drunken Irishman, who commanded an
Indian and a negro wench, who seemed to be much the
ablest hand of the three, were to be consigned ourselves,
with our driver, horses, wagon, and loading, across the
most formidable feny, perhaps, in the world ; a stream
three quarters of a mile wide, twenty or thirty feet deep,
and running at the rate of five miles an hour. Having
no alternative, however, we embarked. Fortunately, a
fresh breeze was blowing up-streara,;which, by the means
54 JOURNAI. OF A
of a ragged sail fastened to a pole, enabled us not only
to resist the current, but to make such progress that in
nine minutes we reached the opposite shore in safety.
We were now, for the first time with all of us but one,
in the British dominions. After landing, we passed
down the river about a mile. To Wintermote's, to dine ;
from Black Rock, two miles. The mistress of the house
expressed her regret that she could not accommodate us
better, but by way of excuse said that the soldiers had
breakfasted there, and had eaten them out. We after-
wards learned that the soldiers she spoke of were a body
of fresh troops, passing up to relieve some of tlie garri-
sons beyond Lake Erie. We were served with the water
of the river to drink with our dinner, and now learned
for the first lime that the inhabitants of these regions
use no other. The water is remarkably pure and pala-
tahle. AVhea we first tasted it, the temperature, which
was upwards of 70°, made it rather unpleasant; but,
four or five hours afterwards, we drank it cooled with
ice, and found it very grateful.
From Wintermote's, we travelled down the river to
Stevens's at Chippeway, a very good liouse, fifteen miles.
The road lies fill, the way on the river bank. Two or
three miles below Black liock, the water di^L es, and
having encompassed an island, called " Grand Isle,"
which is two or three miles wide and six or eight long,
it again unites some ways above Chippeway. From this
reunion, the stream for several miles is near two miles
in width, and flows with an uncommonly graceful and
majestic current. Riding along its shore, the mind ele-
vated and expanded by its magnitude and rapidity, con-
templates with wonder the mighty operations of nature.
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. .JO
The atmosphere by evjipomtion, a process which has
never 3'et been satisfactorily explained, silently drinks
lier fill from the ocean, and tlieii through countless
pores discharges the liquid treasure on the earth. Grav-
ity is ever busy in collecting the scattered drops, and
restoring them to tlie abyss from whence they first as-
cended. Certain as we are of the causes, it requires an
effort of the imagination to conceive how they can pro-
duce effects so great and uniform, that the immense
lakes of Canada were once floating vapors, and the vast
tribute which they constantly pay to the ocean has in
the form of clouds been the sport of inconstant winds.
Nothing impresses the mind with a more lively idea
of the extent of the great Likes than the uniformit}^
of their elevation, which is not perceptibly affected by
rains or droughts. So severe was the drought this sum-
mer, that we saw young forest trees, fifteen or twenty
feet high, in the neighborhood of Buffalo Creek, where
the soil was thin upon a bed of rock, which had actually
perished for want of moisture, and yet the lake and
river were at their usual height. Indeed, we were ex-
pressly told that this height was never known to vary,
unless affected by the wind.
The general course of the Niagara River is one or two
points to the westward of north. The land on its shores
is fertile, but a little elevated above the water, and
generally level. The American shore is yet a wilder-
ness; but the British side is settled and cleared all the
way, to the depth of about one hundred rods from the
river bank. The Chippeway is in size about half as large
as the ^lerrimack ; the land on its banks, we were told, is
uncommonly good, and settled for thirt}^ miles or more
56 JOURNAL OF A
in length. The waters of tlie Chippeway are foul and
dark-colored, and mix so reluctantly with the pure water
of the Niagara tliat the difference may he discovered
some Avays below their junction.
The village at the mouth of the Chippeway would
have been more advantageously situated a few rods
further south ; for, as the inhabitants use none but
river water, and as most of them live below the Chippe-
way, they must cross over that stream, or go off some
ways into the Niagara in a boat, to get their water pure.
The familiar name of this village among the inhabitants
is Cliippeway, but the legal name of the place is Stamford.
As \V8 travelled this afternoon, we frequently stopped
and listened, in expectation of hearing the noise of the
(ireat Falls, but we could not hear them more than four
or five miles off. It is said in certain states of the at-
mosphere they can je heard at the distance of thirty or
forty miles. We discerned the small cloud of spray
wliich rises over them at the distance of ten miles. It was
after sunset when we reached Chippeway. Therefore, as
the cataract is two and a half miles below, we were
obliged to defer our visit till the morning. It required
an effort of patience to do this, for our curiosity increased
with our proximity.
July 25th. Having taken breakfast, and provided
ourselves with a guide and also a little brandy and cold
ham, and other means of refreshment, we proceeded
down the river. One of our company mentioned the
remark of a celebrated traveller, that, on approaching
the city of Rome, he felt an involuntary inclination to
run, lest otherwise the object should disappear before
his curiosity could be gratified. We reaUzed a similar
TOUB TO NIAGARA FALLS. 57
eagerness in approaching the Cataract of Niagara, and
dill not therefore at the first visit pay so minute an atten-
tion to intermediate objects as we did afterwards. The
river is near two miles wide, till it comes within a mile
and a half of the perpendicular fall. It then begins to
contract and to increase in its rapidity. A branch on
the eastern side, called the Fort Schlosser branch, is de-
tached from the main stream b}' an island of consider-
able extent, situated in the very rapids, and does not
reunite till it has readied the bottom of the precipice.
Besides this island, which contains several acres of land
covered with wood, there are six or eight others in the
rai)ids, Avhich are much smaller, and having but little
vegetation on them, being sand-banks, occasioned prob-
ably b}^ the particular form or situation of the ledges of
rocks. A small branch of the river bends into the main-
land on the western shore, round one of ^hese islands,
in such a manner as to abate something of the velocity
of the current, and afford seats for a number of mills
Avhich are erected there, and which might be said to be
advantageously situated, were it not that they are one
or two hundred feet lower than the surface of the sur-
rounding country, and that the passage to and from
them is rendered very difficult by the abruptness of the
declivity at the foot of which they stand. This branch
of the river forms almost a semi-circle, and joins the
main stream again about fifty rods above the catiiract.
The rajjids between the great island and the eastern
shore are about a mile in extent. Considered either
across or lengthways of the current, that whole extent
is a scene of tumult and uproar. The water is broken
into milk-white foam, which is tossed in spray by the
8
58 JOURNAL OF A
conflicting billows many feet into the air. So great is
the concussion against the i(Kks on the opposite side,
that we could discern a constant cloud of va2)or ascend-
ing from the shore.
The grandeur of this scene is only to be exceeded by
the ocean, in some of its wildest moods ; and, were there
n(>thing else in the vicinity worthy of attention, this
alone would be resorted to from ij^reat distances by the
curious, as a just subject of wonder and astonishment.
The descent in these rapids is computed at fifty feet.
Having surmounted this difficulty, the river becomes
more calm and collected, as if conscious of the achieve-
ment it was about to perform. At length contracting
to less than half its former width, it rushes with fearless
impetuosity over a perpendicular precipice, one hundred
and forty feet. This descent has been variously esti-
mated. It was fashionable a century ago greatly to
exaggerate it ; and the affected j)recision of some modern
travellers, who state it at one hundred and thirty-seven
feet, some of whom even give a fraction of a foot, is
perfectly absurd. The calculation does not admit of
accuracy, owing not so much to the agitation of the
waters as to the thick cloud of spray and vapor, which
conceal from the sight not only the place of concussion,
but a considerable part of the falling column. We wx^re
well satisfied, from our own observation, that one hun-
dred and forty feet could not be fiir from the truth ;
and perhaps there are as many who would exceed as
there are who would fall short of that estimate.
The depth of the water in the abyss below can never
be ascertained, but the deep thunder which proceeds
from it proves it to be very great. The form of the
TOril TO NIAGARA FALLS. 69
piincipivl fall, wliich is called the Ilorsi'shoe, is well
expressed by that name, except that tlie aiig^le wliich
projects up-stream is more acute than that formed at
the toe of the Horseshoe, and, as we ^^ ere informed, is
even more acute than it was one year ago. On the
western bank, just at the water's edge above the cata-
ract, is a large ihit rock called the Table Rock, wdiich at
some period made a part of the river's bed, and from
whence one has a very commanding view of the raj)ids
above, and of all the falls below, except the nearest
fall. The depth to which the water falls is so great
that part of it is concealed from the view, before it
reaches the bottom, by the rock itself. We all of us
made several attempts to throw a stone from this rock
so far into the water below that we might see it strike,
but none of us could effect it.
The Table Rock affords almost a faint view of the
" Fort Scldosser Fall," so called, which is beyond the
island on the eastern side of the river. The water in
that fall is of a snowy whiteness, more so than at
the Horseshoe, because, thougli the ([uantity is probably
not a quarter part so great, yet it is full half as wide.
The fall there, too, is twent}' feet greater, and is more
e. :actly per[)endicular, because the water descends less in
the rapids above, and therefore approaches the precipice
with less velocity. Following the edge of the precipice
from shore to shore, the whole extent is about a mile ;
two parts of which are occupied by the Horseshoe, one
by the island, and one by the Fort Schlosser Fall. The
distance directly across is not probably more than two
thirds as far.
The lower side of the isUnd, wliich coincides with the
GO JOURNAL OF A
line of the falls, is of the same perpendicular elevation,
and of solid rock. Having, according to custom, exam-
ined this wonderful phenomenon from the Table Rock,
we proceeded down tlie river to the pLace wliere, by the
help of a ladder, it is practicable to descend to the edge
of the water below the fall. To comprehend this diffi-
cultv, one must know that from the foot of the fall to
the village of Queenstown, seven or eight miles down-
stream, the river flows in a kind of canal or trench, the
banks or sides of which are of solid rock, of the same
elevation at first as the precipice at the fall, and tliis
elevation gradually increases as the water sinks in ita
course. These banks some ways from the bottom are
perpendicular, but near tiie top they project towards
the river so much that the Ta])le Rock itself is thought
to extend near four rods beyond the sides of the rock
which supports it underneath.
The ladder above mentioned is called the Simcoe
Ladder, because it was provided by order of the lady of
the late governor of that name. It is situated about
three quarters of a mile below the Table Rock, at a place
where the bank does not project so much as at most
other places, and where there is a mass of the fallen
rock for its foot to rest on, from whence one may make
his way to the river. The passage of this ladder is by
some thought to be so perilous that they forego their
curiosity rather than attempt it. This actually hap-
pened with a gentleman who was there about an hour
before us. The ladder is placed edgeways against the
bank, a little declining from a perpendicular direction.
It is but poorly secured to some small trees at the top
by pieces of old iron hoops, and the bottom rests on a
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 61
rock. After you liave descended a few feet, 3011 per-
ceive that tlie bank from whence yon stepped on the
ladder projects, and that you seem to be suspended in
tlie air. From tlie foot of the bidder, the approach to
the foot of tlie falls is rendered extremely difficult by
tlie immense and irregular masses of rock which have
fallen from the side, and a e^uide is necessarv to conduct
you. For notwithstanding that the fall for the most
part is full in view, yet the path is sometimes through
fissures of rock or between detached frauinents, from
whence a stranger would find it difficult to extricate
liimself ; and, should he deviate too much towards the
river, he would be in danger, from the slippery state of
the rocks occasioned by the s])ray, of falling into the
water.
The beach, if it may be called such, is from one to
ten rods wide, and consists entirely of loose rocks. The
passage along tliis beach would be comparatively i)leas-
aiit, were it not for the distressing apprehension, which
it is impossible to sui)press, that otiier fragments of the
rock may fall from the precipice over your head, while
you are passing. The I'ock which constitutes the bank
is disposed in strata, the U[)per and principal of wiiich
are of limestone, others are of slate, no freestone or
granite. Many other mineral substances are to be ob-
served in it ; and streams of pure sulphur ooze from
crevices of the vc^-m in several i)laces, and leave a yel-
low concretion on the wall from thence to the bottom.
Having, whi'3 yet at a good distance, prepared our-
selves to be wet, by leaving all our surplus clothing on
a rock, we proceeded towards tlie foot of the rock. Our
first attempt was to ascertain liow far it was practicable,
62 JOUPwNAL OF A
as some travellers have affected to get between the fall-
ing water and the rock behind it. We accordingly
passed along close to the perpendicular side, as far as
we thought it prudent, much further than it was con-
venient, and we believed as far, at least within a very
few feet, as it is practicable to go. We might, perhaps,
with propriety say that tlie very edge, the feather edge of
the water, poured over our heads, and fell in front of us.
But the spray was as profuse as rain in the most copious
sliowers ; and a storm of wind, which {)erpetually rushes
from beliind tin? falling column, once de[)rive(I us of
breath by its violence, and of hight, by dashing tlie water
into our eyes. We could perceivx*, however, behind the
column it was dark, and we were moreover treading
ui)on a shelving mass of crumbled slate, wliicli would
scarcely su[)port us, which was so mixed with the water
that live eels* were actually moving about between our
feet, and a false stej), or sudden precipice which we might
not be able to discern, would have plunged us where
notliing could have saved us from instant destruction.
From these considerations, it will readilv be l>elieved
that !*ot many adventurers have proceeded further,
and none much fujther, than we did ; and, as it could
not witli any pro[)riety of speecli l)e said that we v>'ere
^v^'tween tlie river and tlie rock over wliich it pours, by
several rods, it may safely be affirmed that such a notion
is altogether chimerical. Indeed, were there a firm foun-
dation to travel on behind the water, and could one witli
safety be placed there, it would require a miracle to pre-
* Major Willijiins picke<l up one of these eels, and Itrou^^lit it away in
I'.is pocket. They were sniali and lig' t-colored, and seemingly of a sary
delicate texture.
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 63
vent his Ijeiiig immediately suffocated. T'einj:^ satisfied,
therefore, u[)oii this point, we retired out of the reach
of the tempest, to a place where we could leisurely con-
temphite the scene around us. When the wind is favor-
able for driving off the cloud which rises from the centre
of th(i Horseshoe, much more of the cataract mav he
seen than at other times. The wind was not in the
most favfjrable state wliile we were there. The view,
nevertheless, was exceeding grand and imi)ressive, much
more so than from the Table Rock. Above, it is true, you
can see the whole descent of tlie water, by observing a
part of the column at some distance from you ; but that
distance dirninislies its apparent heiglit and velocity, and
below, you see with most distinctness that part of the
column which is nearest to you, and which falls almost
at your feet.
Above, therefore, you can hardly persuade yourself
that the fall is so great as it is, but below, the river
seems literally to proceed out from the clouds. The
n(jise also, which upon the Table Hock is a heavy roar, is
so intense below that it is difficult to carry on conversa-
tion. There is in it a peculiar hurry and vehemence,
and it is said by some to communicate a tremi ious mo-
tion to the surrounding country. Besides the dense
cloud wliich ascends from the bottom of the Horseshoe,
there is a vapor and mist continually falling, to the dis-
tance of one hundred rods, so that at all times when the
8un shines you may here see a rainbow. Considerable
fjuantit»es of lumber, which had come over the fall from
the saw-mills above, were cast up among the rocks on
tlie shore. They were rounded and smoothed on all si'ies,
much like the under surface of a wooden sled-runner,
64 JOURNAL OF A
when uearlv worn out. AVe had been told tliat the car-
casses of dead fisli wliieli liad perished in the fall were to
l>e fouiid strewed along the shore. We saw none such.
We met with dead and putrid fish upon the rocks in many
places, but they had been caught by fishermen, and had
j)rol)ably been left by accident. We saw several persons
angling there for the white and black bass, who a[)peared
to be pretty successful.
Men and other animals who have been known to be
carried over the falls have never been discovered after-
Avards. We were told that, the week before we were
there, an old squaw, in a fit of derangement, folded her-
self up in her blanket, and committed herself to the cur-
rent some ways above ; that she was soon after seen in
the rapids, and never since. She must have perished
before sIil reached the preci[)ice.
Although the opposite or Fort Schlosser Fall is the
loftiest, yet in majesty and grandeur it yields so entirely
to the other that it is for some time difficult to bestow
any attention on it ; alone, it would be accounted a won-
der. The general course of the water at the falls is
riortli-west : as soon as it strikes the bottom, it inclines
to the north-east, and continues that direction about a
mile and a half, where it again bends more to the west-
ward, and passes out of sight. The stream is so con-
tracted behnv the fall that 30U can hardly persuade
yourself that it is all there. The water, which at first
is of a milky whiteness, does not resume its natural
color in less than half a mile. Even then, its agitation
and the air which has escaped from it give it the ap-
pearai;-'"e of boiling. At length, however, as if fatigued
with his exertions, the river assumes a more calm and
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 65
settled appearance, and indulges a seemingly needful
repose, as if conscious he has performed his capital
exploit, and that he never can hope to exhibit himself
to so much advantage again, he withdraws from public
observation, and conceals himself in a narrow channel,
which he had excavated through the solid rock for that
purpose, till he arrives at Queenstown. There, unwill-
ing to remain longer useless, he comes forth once more
into an open country, and permits himself to be familiarly
approached. He generously expands to rejeive such
burdens as mankind choose to place on his bosom, and
conveys them with an easy dignity, till he resigns up all
to Lake Ontario.
It is often inquired how near to Niagara Falls it is
safe to cross the river. The river above, I answer, it
may be said from the mouth of the Chippeway, wdiich
is less than three miles, the irdiabitants make no scruple
to pass ; and, in fact, Chippeway is the landing-place
where bateaux to and from Lake Erie receive and dis-
charge theii loading.
Some cpution, however, is required in securing boats
at this landing, so as to prevent their being drawn off
into the stream. We were told of two Frenchmen who
had fallen asleep in their boat at Chippeway, but the
boat, by some accident, gel ting adrift, when they awaked
they found themselves in the canal leading to the saw-
mills by the side of the rapids. It is not prudent, if
j)racticable, to attempt to navigate the river much lower
than Chippeway. Formerly, it was not uncommon to
cross from the eastern shore to the head of the island
which divides the falls, and many people in the vicinity
re lember when sheep were pastured on that island as
9
GQ JOURNAL OF A
a place of security. At this time, however, an attempt
to pass to it would l)e attended with imminent hazard,
and it is much to be doubted whether it would be i)os-
sible to return.
Friday, July 26th. The land in the vicinity of Chip-
peway is very fertile and easily cultivated. Stevens,
our landlord, who is an emigrant from Connecticut,
comjDlained of the cheapness of provisions there, as a
discouragement to the settlement. He said tliat last
year wheat was but three York shillings a bushel (z.g,
thirty-seven and a lialf cents), and that he was afraid
it would not be more than two shillings this year. He
further said the inhabitants of Canada enteitained such
a prejudice against the people of the United States
as effectually precluded all intercourse Avith them, and
that it would be difficult to persuade a Canadian French-
man that, if he were to attempt to carry his produce or
drive his cattle into the States for a market, he would
not be robbed and murdered.
Stevens's objection can apply only to a man who, like
himself, wishes to amass an estate by agriculture ; but, in
the language of a barber whom we met with at Geneva,
that must surely be a good country for the poor man
where bread is cheap. In short, as all this region affc !;
the necessaries of life, excellent in ouality and abundaij ^
in quantity, with little labor, it does not recpiire the gift of
prophecy to foretell that in process of time it will swarm
with inhabitants. There is here a block-house and a
small garrison of British troops ; there is also a garrison
at Fort Erie, about eighteen miles above, and anotiier at
Niagara, the same distance below.
After taking an early dinner, we resumed our journey.
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 67
Passing by tlie rapids, we left tlie wagon, and took a
nearer view of them than we had done the preceding
da}', by descending to the water's edge. We here real-
ized what travellers have often mentioned, that, upon
every review of any part of the Falls of Niagara, one's
admiration is increased. Fiom Chippeway to Queens-
town is eleven miles. After passing the Falls, the river
is not to be seen from the road for seven or eight miles,
altliough it cannot be at any considerable distance. 1 he
face of the country, as the road goes, the whole length
from Lake Erie to Queenstown, is remarkably level, and
certainly has no perceptible descent. At the latter place,
however, it falls at once, as much and more than the
road ])v the side of the (ireat Falls, to the surface of the
water below them. This consideration, with others be-
fore mentioned, and the ai)pearance of the river banks
just where it emerges from its confinement, leave no
doubt on the mind that here was once the Cataract.
The banks exliiljit several strata of rock, worn through
perpendicularly by the violence of the current ; and a
regular glacis or gradation of descent, from ledge to
ledge, to the surface of the bank in the village. The
Cataract must therefore ori^inallv have been a series of
cascades. The river at tliis place is not more than a
quarter of a mile wide ; an eddy sets back on each side ;
the current, nevertheless, is not more rapid than in many
other places wliere it is six times as wide. Therefore, the
water must here be very deep, which indeed is a neces-
sary consequence of the force with which the torrent
formerly descended from the precipice above. We un-
deistood tliat some attempts had been made last winter
through the ice to measure this depth, and that it was
68 JOURNAL OF A
found to exceed sixty fathoms ; but it was doubtful, at
last, wliether the bottom had been ascertained.
The ridge Avhich forms the precipice goes off both
eastward and westward, at right angles from the river,
to an unknown distance. From the eminence, just be-
fore we descended into the village of Queenstown, we
first had a prospect of Lake Ontario stretching in front
of us, and forming the horizon from north-west to north-
east. We could also distinctly trace the river, passing
into the lake between the town of Niagara on the west
and the American fort of the same name on the east
bank, and perceived that the schooner, in which by
sending a messenger forward we had engaged our pas-
sage over the lake, and which we had expected to find
at Queenstown, was under sail dowr. the river. We
knew that she was to stop at Niagara, and that she
Avould wait for us there till the next morning, 3'et we
were apprehensive that, if a fair wind should spring up
in the night, she might put off before that time without
us ; and, as the accommodations at Queenstown did not
appear inviting, we sto2:)ped there but a few minutes, and
then pursued our journey to Niagara, seven miles, to
Gilbert's Hotel.
The town of Niagara will probably in a few years
become a place of importance. It is bounded on the
east by the river, and on the north by the lake. The
surface of the surrounding country is level, and the soil
appears to be tolerably good. The town is laid out into
streets and squares, and the population is already con-
siderable. A few years since, it was the seat of govern-
ment ; but, it being found not to be so central a situation
with respect to the Province as the other side of the
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 69
lake, the public offices and assemblies have been lately
transferred to York. The southern shore of the lake is
very regular, and almost exactly east and west. From
the cape formed by the eastern bank of the river, a
bar runs off in a north-westerly direction two or three
miles, which has been the occasion of frequent acci-
dents. We were told that not man}- years since a ves-
sel sailed from the river, that the caj)tain and most of
the crew had been drinking freeh^ and in a sudden gale
she soon, with a company of soldiers on board, struck
on this bar, and wen*: to pieces in sight of the town, and
that every i)erson on board perished. To prevent dis-
asters on this bar in the night, a stone light-house has
been erected on the banks of the lake, and which
answers the purpose at a very trilling expense.
Saturday, July 27th. We were better fed than lodged
at the hotel, on account of the i.umber of guests whom
we found there. Among others, we here overtook Dr.
Woodhouse of Philadelphia, and Mr. Gilmore of Balti-
more, who were prosecuting the same tour with our-
selves, and whom we had constantly heard of just ahead
of us, ever since our leaving Ballston Springs. These
gentlemen are both mineralogists, and had both trav-
elled extensively, particularly Mr. Gilmore, in Europe
as well as America. He showed us all the specimens
of fossil and mineral substances which he had collected
during this journey. They amounted to some scores,
and afforded us much cntertainme;it. He added some
to his stock by pebbles found on the beach of Lake
Ontario. This beach also affords the same kind of
shining sand wliich we had seen at Lake Erie.
We had contemplated passing the afternoon at the
70 JOURNAL OF A
American fort, the surgeon of wliicli had sent lis a polite
card to take tea there ; Init, the wind coming fair, we
were summoned to embark, and at six o'clock took
our departure from the wharf, on board the schooner
" (rovernor Simcoe," Captain Samson master. Samson
was from Harvard in Massachusetts ; and, althougli lie
has the reputation of being the best captain on tlie lake,
we found him a surly, disobliging fellow, and not a little
inclined to intemperance. His vessel was clean, well
found, and commodious, and well supplied with what-
ever we could wish, except beds. The cargo consisted
of furs, and was estimated at thirty thousand pounds
sterling. Tlie passage money, which was two guineas
each person, we understood to be a perquisite of the
captain, for which he also provided stores. This was
not very expensive with respect to many of us, for we
w^ere soon so sea-sick as to be incapable of eating any
thing. There were twelve passengers in all. The
crew, besides the captain and cook, consisted of eight
hands, most of wdiom w^ere English sailors. The wind
during the night was light, and towards morning ahead,
so that we were obliged to beat.
Sunday, July 28th. In the morning, we could discern
the mountains of Toronto behind the town of York on
the northern shore. These mountains can be seen
across the lake from Niagara, in still and clear weather.
We could also see the shore which we had left. The
last object that disappeared was the light-house at
Niagara. By eleven o'clock a.m., the wind having
again become fair, we were completely out of sight of
land, and, as far as we could judge by the color of the
water, we were off of soundings. The shores of this
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 71
lake are gcnerully bold, and it is said that at a mod-
erate distance from the land it is without soundini's.
The depth of water in Lake Erie is generally about
thirty fathoms, and in no place exceeds fifty fathoms.
Michigan is also shoal, but Huron and Superior are
deej). Lake Ontario is never frozen entirely over, but
is always open through the winter, within sight of the
shore. AVe had been told that it was the same with
Lake Erie ; but Stevens, our host at C'hippewa\', told us
that he had himself driven two horses in a sleigh across
it, some ways above the fort, where it is ten miles wide,
and from thence alonq; the southern shore one hundred
miles to Presque Isle, and that the ice was generally
two or three feet thick. Whether the upper lakes are
entirely frozen over in winter does not seem to be
known, but it is certain that the}' are, so far as can be
seen from the land. In summer, vessels of burden can
l)ass from Erie into Huron, and thence into Michigan.
Bateaux can pass from Lake Superior into Huron, but
cannot return, on account of the rapidity of the current
at the fall of St. Mary. There are about twenty vessels
on Lake Ontario, most of which are employed in carry-
ing salt from Oswego to various ports, and in transport-
ing goods between Niagara and Kingston. Notwith-
standing the depth of water, the navigation is dangerous
in bad weather for the want of sea room and safe ports.
Niagara, York, and Kingston are the only secure har-
bors into which the passage is easy. Sodus Bay, on the
southern shore, is an excellent harbor, but th*^ entrance
is over a dancrerous bar. As the face of the countrv in
the vicinitv of the lake is in ijenoral level, the winds
which blow over it are more steady than they would
72 JOURNAL OF A ^
be if they were obstructed by neighboring mountains,
but for the same reason are more violent, and sometimes
produce a surge that no exertions can combat. It is
thought that a greater ])roportion of vessels are lost here
than on the ocean itself.
In the afternoon, the wind freshened so much that, T)y
throwing the log, we ascertained our progress to be at
the rate of eight miles an hour. The swell was heavy,
but our course, which was E.N.E., was directly across
it, and it was therefore attended with no inconvenience.
Towards evening, the sky near the horizon became
smoky and hazy, and in the niglit the stars were only to
be seen near the zenith. From the rate at which we
were going, it was pretty certain that by ten o'clock, not
far from the tinie expected, we sliould be near the Long
Point, so called, which projects from the northern shore
far out into the lake, about fiftv miles from Kino^ston.
The steersman alarmed the captain by declaring that
he heard the surge breaking on the beach, when, upon
heaving the lead, we were found to be in less than five
fathoms of water. The vessel was immediately put
about, and we went off within a few points of the track
in which we had come, with such expedition that in an
hour's time we had deepened our water to fifty fathoms.
Between one and two o'clock, we resumed our course.
July 21>th. hi the morning, we were out of sight of
land, but made it again about eight o'clock. It proved
to be two islands, '"died Providence Islands, which ap-
prised us that we v* re in a proper course ; and, with tlie
help of a brisk and favorable Avind, at eleven o'clock
we arrived at Kingston, God be praised. From Niagai'a
to Kingston, one hundred and eighty miles. We met
TOUR TO NT AG ABA FALLS. 73
with no small difficulty in procuring lodgings at King-
ston. AYe casually met Judge Cartv^^iglit on the street,
and, though we did not then know him, asked his direc-
tions. He said he lamented that their village could not
afford better accommodations, but named several houses
where he thought it advisable for us to make an experi-
ment. Having examined three or four, and found them
small, filthy, and ill-supplied, we at length forced our-
selves upon Walker, who keeps the hotel here, notwith-
standing he said his beds were all occupied. While we
were dining, two young Britisli officers, who were at
table, and who were lodgers in the house, politely offered
us their beds, with the aid of which, by dividing them
and spreading them upon the hall floor, we made out to
sleep very comfortably. We found at the same house
a 3'oung gentleman and his wife just from London, and
now on their way to the British upper posts. He comes
out in quality of Surveyor-General of Upper Canada.
She is handsome, and appears to be an accomplished
woman, such as one would not expect to meet in this
depth of obscurity.
Our fare at Walker's was good. His means are not
equal to his wishes, but he and his people are very
obliging. At dinner, we had among other dishes the
head and shoulders of a maskinonge, boiled. This is a
fish of the pike kind, but much larger than the fish of
that sort usually are found. Some of them are said to
weigh fifty cr sixty pounds. We saw none, however,
that would weigh much more than twenty pounds.
They make a very good dish. After dining, we deliv-
ered our letters to Judge Cartwright, and Mr. Robinson,
his kinsman. Judge Cartwright is a member of the
10
74 JOURNAL OF A
Council, or upper house of the Legislature of this Prov-
ince, an office which is now hereditary. He received
us politely, and showed us all the civility and attention
that the time and circumstances would permit.
Kingston stands on a peninsula on the mainland,
having Lake Ontario to the south, and the outlet called
here the Lake of One Thousand Islands, the beginning
of the river St. Lawrence, to the east. It is regularly
laid out into streets and squares in the manner of a city.
As yet it is but partially built. When completed, the
whole area will be about a mile and a quarter. The
court-house, jail, and church, and most of the dwelling-
houses and fences here, are of limestone. The whole
town stands on a rock of limestone, but slightly cov-
ered with earth. Judge Cartwright's garden does him
great credit. It is near the centre of the town, is sur-
rounded with a high wall, and appears to be well culti-
vated and attended. Peach-trees, which do well on the
south side of Lake Ontario, do not thrive here ; even
those which are secured and protected by the northern
w^all of the garden perisli by reason of the severity of
the winter, b-efore they are of an age to bear. At the
soutnern extremity of Kingston, the house of Parson
Stuart is situated in a romantic spot. Behind it is a
handsome garden and an orchard, and in front a beau-
tiful piece of natural forest of beech-trees, free from
under-brush, and which extends from the door of the
house about ten rods, to the shore of Lake Ontario.
A more delightful situation for repose or meditation can
hardly be conceived. Behind, you have a view of both
to\\n and country; before is a diversified prospect of
land and water, while the ear is gratified at the same
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 75
time with the melody of the birds and the murmur of
the beach.
In a cove which makes up into the mainland on the
northern side of Kingston is a king's dock-yard. There
is an island in the entrance of the river, on which a
garrison is stationed, as there is also in the town itself.
To one accustomed to see rivers occasionally overflow
their banks, it is singular to observe how securely the
people here build by the water's edge. Inundations
are not known in the St. Lawrence. Judo'e Cartwrif]jht
informed us that from long observation he is able to
state that there is a regular annual rise in the waters of
Lake Ontario, beginning about the first of April, and
continuing to increase till about the first of July ; that
it is never more than three feet, and seldom more than
two.
Chestnut, black walnut, and many other kinds of
wood which are common on the south side of the lake,
are not found on its north side, but instead thereof the
evergreens are the prevailing woods.
At Kingston, we saw considerable numbers of the
Messessaga Indians. They are filthy, indolent, and
miserable wretches, free as Paine himself would wish,
and a fine specimen of the infinite perfectibility of man.
We found no bateaux at Kingston, about to descend
the river. Mr. Smith and j\Ir. Reynolds, gentlemen
concerned in the fur-trade, and Mr. Hern, a Scotch
trader, settled at Niagara, who liad crossed the lake
with us, purchased a Schenectady boat, and hired four
Frenchmen to row her to ]Montreal, which having done,
they politely offered us, together with Dr. Woodhouse
and Mr. Gilmore, a share of the purchase. We found
76 JOURNAL OF A
that the boat would conveniently carry us all. "We were
ill-provided with lodgings, and uncertain when an oppor-
tunity would offer to go in the usual mode in bateaux ;
and, as they go always loaded, we should be obliged,
if we should go in them, to divide our company. We
therefore gladly accepted the offer ; and having provided
ourselves with provisions for the voyage, including a
supply of Port and Madeira wines, we embarked early
in the morning of July 30, to the number of fourteen in
all, upon the Lake of One Thousand Islands, and shaped
our course for Montreal.
We had been taught to hope that we might go from
Kingston to Montreal in two days ; but we soon found
this a vain expectation. To effect such a progress re-
quires a strong and favorable breeze, and sails to make
the most of it. We had not the good fortune to enjoy
either of these advantages, and we soon found our boat's
crew were not as expert or skilful in the navigation of
the river as the generality of the watermen who ply
upon it. They were noAv returning from a long expe-
dition to the Indian countrv, and had for some time
been unused to this particular kind of labor. Our whole
progress, therefore, this day, was short of forty miles,
although we lost but very little time at rest or refresh-
ment. We dined on a bare rock on an uninhabited
island, the last in the Lake of One Thousand Islands,
and which we called Smith's Island, in compliment to
the gentleman who acted as our conductor.
The name of the lake we found not to be hyperbolical,
as Ave had at first supposed. We verily believed that
we saw very near one thousand islands. Mr. Gilmore
affirmed that he counted fifty in view at one time.
TOUR TO XIAGARA FALLS. 77
Tliey are of various sizes, some containiiig fifty acres
or more, and others not a quarter of an acre. They
form a labyrintli, through which it requires the expe-
rience of a pilot to find a passage. The scene is t;on-
tinually changing ; sometimes you seem to be completely
land-locked, with a shore at no great distance in every
direction. In a few minutes, extensive sheets of water
expand to the view, and you then perceive that what
before seemed to be perhaps but one is in reality several
islands. Sometimes you are in still water as of a lake,
and forthwitli find yourself in the strong current of a
river. As you emerge from the islands and come into
the view of both shores of the river, the j)rospect down-
stream is remarkably fine. The breadth from shore to
shore is from one to two miles, but in the direction of
the river north-eastward the sky and water unite.
At night we went ashore on the west side, and pro-
cured a cup of tea in a log house owned by a Whitney,
a settler from Stamford, in Connecticut. He has l)een
here about five years ; he owns five hundred acres of
land on the river, which cost him forty dollars at first,
and all his taxes since have been but sixty cents, which
was for the repair of roads. He has one hundred acres
under cultivation, and has a fine young orchard growing
near his house. His people have often ploughed up the
heads of Indian arro^vs of flint. It being the time of
wheat harvest, we saw his people threshing some in the
open air on a flat rock. The family did all in their
power to oblige us, but the house would accommodate no
more than two of us. i\ir. Smith and Mr. Hern con-
cluded to sleep in the boat for the security of the prop-
erty during the voyage, and the rest of us for this time
78 JOURNAL OP A
slept in the barn. Although our accommodations in
a small log barn were neither spacious nor splendid,
they were nevertlieless pleasant. We had sweet fresh
hay for our bed, we were agreeably fanned by a soft
breeze, the mild light of the moon and the gentle mur-
mur of the beach were particularly favorable to repose,
and never was sleep more grateful or refreshing.
July 31st. On awakening, we learned the disagree-
able news that the wind was stiff ahead. Certain
bateaux which we had met the day before, just as we
were coming out of Kingston harbor, had passed us in
the night on their return, and, as we judged by the
smoke, were now stopping for breakfast at an island
about half a mile below us. After considerable consul-
tation, it was thought best for us to make some progress
before breakfast. Our crew, of their own head, made
for the island where the bateaux were. It was fortunate
they did so : they had discovered somewhat of a refrac-
tory and mutinous spirit 3'esterday, and, not having been
lately used to labor so hard, they were ill-disposed to
row against the wind to-day. We conjectured also that
the steersm.ln was conscious of his want of ability to
conduct the boat with safety down the many dangerous
rapids below, and was glad, therefore, of an opportunity
to quarrel, as an excuse for refusing to proceed with us.
Having reached the island, they made our boat fast, and
joined the Frenchmen belonging to the bateaux, who
were eating at a fire among the bushes. Finding that
we were to remain here till they should have got their
breakfast and felt disposed to proceed, we remonstrated,
and desired to be set back to Whitney's, that we too
might get a breakfast. They immediately flew into a
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 79
rage, said they never had so many masters at once, took
their baggage out of the boat, and swore they would
row us no further. Our situation for a little time was
very unpleasant, and we seemed to have no alternative
but to row ourselves. But labor was not the only
requisite in our ease : none of us possessed the skill and
experience necessary to enable us to pass the rapids
with safety. The neighboring country is almost entirely
a wilderness, and there are no roads on either shore, so
that we might travel by land. Fortunately, one of the
bateaux at the island was double manned. There not
being loading enough at Kingston for all the bateaux
which went up yesterday, — exclusive of the furs belong-
ing to the North-west Company, and which they choose
to have transported by their own people, — the crew of
one of them had left her there till another opportunity.
They here offered us their services at a moderate rate.
As we were in no condition to decline, we gladly ac-
cepted them, and soon found that we had reason to
rejoice in the change ; that we had got a much better
set of hands, with a more discreet and civil conductor.
All the boats started from the island together, but ours
soon left the others, and in the course of the day we
lost sight of them. Having now cleared the islands, so
that our course was direct, — the wind having subsided,
and our crew in fine spirits, which we took care occa-
sionally to recruit by artificial means, — we advanced
with great speed.
The shores, which had been rocky and abrupt, sub-
sided into agreeable slope. The settlements upon them
begin to thicken, and the couniry bids fair in time to
be thrifty and populous. Our hands entertained us
80 JOURNAL OF A
much with a great many French songs, which they sing
in alternate sentences, keeping time to the music with
their oars. We stoi)ped to deliver a letter at the village
of Oswegatchie, at the mouth of the river of the same
name, on the New York side. Here is an ancient
French stone fort in ruins, and a modern town just in
em])ryo. The legal name of the place is Ogdensburg.
It seems favorably situated to prosper, having the ad-
vantage of a stand for mills on the Oswegatchie within
half a mile of its mouth, and of w^ater carriage by means
of the St. Lawrence, which is here more than two miles
wide. We met several bateaux this day passing up the
river. They were almost all navigated by Frenchmen,
who make it an invariable practice to blackguard and
vilify each other as they pass, with the most sarcastic
and abusive language they can invent. Our hands
seemed no Avays inferior to their brethren in this sort of
compliment. A few miles below Oswegatchie, we passed
the first rapid, called the Galotte [Galops] ; further on,
the rapid. Plat ; and below, the Catfish rapid. None of
these are considered formidable. We passed an Indian
town on the' New York side ; and Johnstown, a growing
village and county town, on the other.
The British Government take great pains to promote
the settlement and prosperity of their territory, and not
without considerable success. Settlements, however,
are beginning on the American side, and the enterprise
of our countrymen is observable in the construction of
mills, which are made to go with the natural current
of the river, not only at the rapids, but even wdiere the
water does not flow more than tw^o or three miles an
hour. In this last case, the large water-wheel moves
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 81
very slow, but by multiplying the gCcar the mill-stones
move sufficiently fust. About ten o'clock at night, we
halted at a public house, kept by Lousk, a Dutchman.
We found it a good house, but had not time to enjoy
many of its comforts. Our whole progress this day was
sixty miles.
August 1st, 1805. At three o'clock in the morning,
we proceed down the river to Bernard's, to breakfast,
eighteen miles ; a very good house. In this course, we
passed the rapid called the Long Sault, a friglitful place.
The water runs with great velocity here for half a mile.
It is necessary that the boat should be directed exactly
across the billows, to prevent it from oversetting and
rolling over like a log, as it would certainly do, if its side
was turned to the current. Many fatal accidents have
happened at this place. Lord Amherst lost five hun-
dred of his army here for want of skilful pilots. Even
our hands lost their wonted vivacity on approaching the
Long Sault, and the conductor gave them a charge that,
while shooting it, they should fix their eyes on him.
They did so. All was silence except the roaring of the
waters. Sometimes the hands rowed, and sometimes
they held back. We went with astonishing rapidity,
and in about five minutes were past the danger, to the
very sensible relief of us all. The watermen on this
side consider the first passage of this rapid as ^50 much
of an exploit that they make a practice to sprinkle, or
baptize^ as they call it, every person on his first approach
to it. Our hands prepared to serve us in this manner,
observing, however, that they would do it delicately;
but we declined undergoing the operation at all, and
easily bought our peace by the promise of a small douceur
11
82 JOUKNAL OF A
on our arrival at Montreal. A little below the Long
Sault, on the westerly side, stands the town of Cornwall.
About seven o'clock, we resumed our course, and reached
the head of the Lake St. Francis. This lake is, properly
speaking, no more than a swell or enlargement of the
river, and is in no place more than ten miles wide, and
generally not more than half that distance. We here
discovered the mountains in the neighborhood of Lake
Champlain, the first we had seen for some hundred
miles. The wmd blowing fresh and directly ahead, the
boat was obliged to stop, and we proceeded on foot a
mile or two, to Cameron's, to dine ; from Bernard's, ten
miles. Cameron was from Perth, in Scotland. Mr.
Gilmore told the landlady that he had been in Perth.
She immediately said she wondered what could have
induced him to leave so fine a place as Perth, and come
into such a wilderness. They keep a pretty good
house. We dined on white bass, boiled and smoked eels.
The limestone about Cameron's is composed entirely of
small shells. At half-past one, the wind having abated,
we again embarked, and traversed Lake St. Francis in
a direct line nearly through the centre, to McGee's, or
McKie's, eighteen miles, where we took tea. This house
stands on Point Bourdett [Pointe au Bodet], so called,
a romantic spot projecting into the lake. The view
from this point up the river is like one through a bay
or river into the sea. In some points, the horizon is
formed by the sky and water ; in others, islands interrupt
the prospect, and on some of them the trees seem half-
sunk in the water, while on others they are so nearly
lost as to resemble the masts of ships riding at anchor.
McGee keeps a very good house, and his wife is a Cana-
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 88
dian Frenchwoman. She speaks no English, but is very
neat and industrious. At half-past seven o'clock in the
evening, we resumed our course. Before we stopped
again, we could hear the rapids roar at the Coteau du
Lac. At ten, we arrived at Mclntire's, a Scotchman's,
to sleep, nine miles; making the whole of this day's
progress, fifty-five miles. Lake St. Francis may be said
to begin at Cameron's and end at Mclntire's. If so, its
length is twenty-seven miles ; but, if all the islands are
considered as being in the lake, it is much longer. Upon
the whole, this was a very disagreeable day to me. To
be confined in a leaky, defective, heavy-loaded, open
boat, having fourteen persons on board ; rushing with
frightful velocity down foaming rapids ; traversing Lake
St. Francis against the wind, many miles from land, with
a considerable sea running ; coursing in the night along
an unknown shore, sometimes entangled among bul-
rushes, at others hurried away by currents, the sky low-
ering and threatening a storm, and the rapids of Coteau
du Lac roaring within our hearing, — altogether rendered
this part of our journey extremely unpleasant. But,
God be praised, we arrived here in safety, and slept
soundly till three o'clock in the morning of August 2d.
We shot the rapids called the Coteau du Lac, and pro-
ceeded to the village .called the Cedars, standing at the
head of the rapids of the same name. To McMillan's,
to breakfast, nine miles ; a poor tavern. Here six of us
left the boat, and went in calashes to the foot of the
rapids. Major Williams, Mr. Gilmore, and Mr. Smith
remained, and went over the rapids in the boat. We
witnessed this passage from the land. Sometimes their
course was winding along the shore, at others it was on
84 JOUPwNAL OF A
the ridge of the current, occasionecl by the compression
of the water in passing among obstructing rocks ; some-
times their descent from rock to rock was so sudden
that they twice struck ; but at last they shot directly
through the billows, occasioned by the current meeting
with the still water in Lake St. Louis. This passage is
accounted nine miles in length. We thought it hardly
so much. It is considered, and very justly, as attended
with danger, although the gentlemen who performed
it said tliey thought its terrors had been exaggerated.
We all resumed our seats in the boat, including two
fresh passengers whom we took in at the Cedars, and
proceeded over Lake St. Louis to La Chine on the island
of Montreal, eighteen miles, where we landed at noon.
Lake St. Louis may properly be said to commence at
the foot of the rapids, and to extend to the island of
Montreal. It is six or eight miles wide, and compre-
hends the island of Perault, on which, as we passed it,
w-e observed several houses, a church, windmill, and
other buildings. Wherever we could discern the shores
of the lake, they were covered with settlements. Look-
ing from one end to the other, or up the passage which
communicates with the lake of the two mountains, the
shore cannot be seen. At the foot of the rapids, we
first descried the mountain behind Montreal, and at the
same time observed on the left the two mountains near
the lake of that name, and on the right the mountains
towards the northern end of Lake Champlain. But
notwithstanding the picturesque and interesting views
which presented themselves on every side, the passage
of Lake St. Louis was far from being pleasant. At the
entrance, we were rocked in the trough of the surge,
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 85
occasioned by the rapids meeting the still waters ; and,
when we took our course directly across it, we had
the wind ahead, with a considerable swell. The boat
leaked faster than before, owing as well to the increase
of her load as to her having struck the rocks. We
were two or three miles from the nearest shore, and in
case of accident we could expect no assistance. The
wind, however, subsided, when we should have been
most exposed to it, but freshened again soon after we
reached La Chine. Here ended our navigation of the
lakes and river of Canada.
To have accomplished so arduous an undertaking
afforded us no small satisfaction, but it would not be
easy to persuade any of us to repeat this part of our
excursion. For near a week, we had been rocking on
the water, and most of that time had been confined
eighteen hours in twenty-four to our boat. Of course,
we had been equally unable to take our regular meals,
or to indulge in exercise or repose. We had been
exposed to the heat of the day and the damps of the
night ; to the perils of navigating extensive waters in an
open boat, with the wind generally adverse ; and to the
more imminent hazard of passing rapids that seemed to
defy our approach. Certain I am that I have formed
a resolution never again to attempt a water passage,
unless the reason in favor of that mode of convevance
should greatly preponderate. Yet our journey down
the river was comparatively prosperous. The head-
wind was almost the only unfavorable circumstance
that attended it. Most of the time the weather was so
cloudy as to protect us from the sunshine, and yet it
did not rain until the night after we landed, when it
86 JOURNAL OF A
poured down profusely. We had withal an obliging,
active, and indefatigable boat's crew. I have never
known men perform so much hard labor, and take so
little repose in the same time. The Canadians seem to
be peculiarly fitted for this kind of toil, although in
general they are not remarkable either for industry or
enterprise. We were particularly careful not only to
pay our boatmen their stipulated wages, but to make
them considerable additional gratuities, which they
very thankfully received. We were induced to this,
not more by a sense of gratitude for the services they
had rendered us, than by a desire to punish the crew
who forsook us at the island, who we were persuaded
would not fail to hear of our liberality, and to regret
that they had perversely lost the oppori litv of shar-
ing it. Not able to procure a decent dinner at La
Chine, we hii d calashes, and proceeded over a new
turnpike road, which already needs repair, to Montreal,
seven miles. We found that the customary hour of
dining here is four o'clock, so that we were in good
season. We made head-quarters at Hamilton's Hotel,
which is a most excellent house, not only as it respects
the accommodations, but also the attendance and
supplies.
August 3d. Mr. Gilmore, who had travelled in
France, pronounced Montreal to be an exact represen-
tation of a P'rench village. Its appearance was novel to
most of us on account of its antiquity. The houses are
generally small, built of a dull-colored stone, and fur-
nished with iron window-shutters and doors. The win-
dows are small, and few in number. The entrance is
sometimes through a court, which is walled against the
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 87
Street, so that you cannot see the house-door as you
pass. The general appearance of the town therefore,
at first, is gloomy. Many of the roofs here are cov-
ered with tinned plates. They look very well, and are
said to be proof against the weather. A stranger is
much at a loss in Montreal to know where stores or
shops of any kind are kept. There are but few signs
to be seen, and there is no display of wares in the win-
dows ; nor is it easy to discover any difference in the
form or exterior appearance between stores and dwell-
ing-houses.
We this morning attended in the large Roman
Catholic Church the funeral service of a M. Corville, a
gentleman of some note, who had died two days before.
The church was hung in black, and the external light
was sparingly admitted, but its place was supplied by
the light of a prodigious number of wax tapers which
were burning wdthin. I counted one hundred and fifty
on the kind of pyramid on which the corpse was placed.
The mummery, frivolity, and silly ceremonies of the
service, exceeded w^hat I had expected even from
Papists, and my wonder was excited that even io-no-
ranee itself should be amused, much less overawed and
enslaved, by such a religion. The service was per-
formed by a large number of priests, and a greater
number of boys, most of whom were dressed in wdiite,
but dirty garments. Several nuns and a large congre-
gation attended. The weather was very warm, and
the corpse was offensive. The incense and candles
served rather to increase than diminish the disagreea-
ble effluvia, and we were glad therefore to get out into
pure air again.
88 JOURNAL OF A
r
Purposing now to deliver our letters, we had inquired
out the house of Stephen Sewall, Esq., to whom one of
them was addressed, and were going towards it, but,
being struck with the appearance of the town-house as
we were passing it, we turned aside to examine it. As
we entered the court in front of the building, a gentle-
man who happened to be there, concluding that we were
strangers, politely offered to conduct us. This gentle-
man proved to be Mr. Sewall, whom we were in quest
of. We visited the library ; it has been nine or ten
years collecting ; it is well chosen, and, for its age,
numerous. The apartments in this building are well
adapted to the uses for which they were intended.
There are separate chambers for the respective Courts
of Judicature, and commodious rooms, besides, for the
Judges, Council, Juries, &c. The body of the house is
of stone, and the floors are of oak. The principal door
is in the second story, to which the approach is by wind-
ing stairs. The court in front is spacious and hand-
somely walled. Having satisfied our curiosity here, we
visited Mr. Sewall at his house. The rain prevented
our making a more extensive excursion. We cannot be
sufficiently grateful for the favorable weather which
we had during our passage down the river. This day it
rained much, and blew almost a gale of wind.
Mr. McGillevray, Judge Ogden, Mr. Clark, and Mr.
Auldjo, called upon us at our lodgings. We dined at
Judge Ogden's. He was formerly of New Jersey, and
left it at the time of the American Revolution, on account
of his attachment to the Royal cause. He is a pleasant,
intelligent, and gentlemanly man. Major Karney, the
commanding officer here. Lieutenant Bennet, Mr. Rich-
ardson, and Mr. McGillevray, were of the party. We
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 89
had a handsome dinner, good wine, and pleasant com-
pany. Mr. McGillevray is a large stockholder in the
North-west Company. He has resided ten years in the
north-west country, in latitude 56'' or 57°, and longitude
107°, superintending the fur-trade there. The annual
amount of the beaver skins obtained by the company is
from fifteen hundred to two thousand packs, each pack
weighing from one hundred to one hundred and twenty
pounds. To prevent overstocking the Enghsh market,
the Company send some of these to Canton in China,
by the way of New York, and sell others to the Russians,
who by means of their cai-avans introduce them into
China, on the opposite side. The most remote post be-
longing to the North-west Company is west of the Stony
Ridge, so called, in latitude Qo"^, and longitude 118*^ or
120°. The land to the southward of the post, it is said,
is high, so that in winter they do not see the sun for
nearly two months. The Company have fifteen hundred
Canadians in constant employment at their respective
posts, all of whom are kept in perfect order and submis-
sion, without any other authority than what their over-
seers assume. They live extremely low, and perform
duties to which nobody else would submit. The Com-
pany seem to entertain no great apprehension of danger
from the Indians. The chain of posts is strong, the par-
ties which pass from one to another are commonly large,
and it would be easy, upon short notice, to collect a force
too formidable for the Indians to molest. But notwith-
standing all this, and that the Indians, it is said, are well
affected to this intercourse, the Company have lately
received information that twelve of their people have
been killed by the Indians this year.
12
90 JOURNAL OF A
From Lake Erie to this place, the inhabitants make
use of the water of the lakes and river for all purposes.
It is remarkably pure and sweet. At Montreal, they
drink well water, but uso the river water for washing.
At this season, the washerwomen are seen standing in
the river where the water is a foot or two deep, and
beating the clothes with bdtons upon wooden stands
erected for the purpose. The water of the St. Lawrence
is much more pure where it first flows out of Lake On-
tario than after it has received the tribute of the lazy
streams which join it between that and Montreal.
Sunday, August 4th. We attended divine service in the
Episcopalian mode in the Presbyterian Church. The
Episcopalians had a house for public worship of their
own ; but it was destroyed by fire above two years ago,
and since that time they have used this building, where
they assemble immediately after its proprietors, the
Presbyterians, leave it. The congregation was small,
but genteel and apparently opulent. The military at-
tended in the gallery. The clergyman who officiated,
Mr. Rudd, a young man, gave us a good sermon ; but his
appearance jand manner were rather foppish and affected.
We dined with Mr. McGillevray, with what he called a
family party, who it seems make a practice of assembling
at his table once a week. This gentleman's house is
situated on an eminence beyond the suburbs, to the
south-eastward from the town, whence there is a charm-
ing prospect of an extensive tract of the river, with
several of its islands ; of the town of Montreal, with its
harbor and suburbs ; of the village of La Prairie, on the
opposite or eastern shore of the river, eight or ten miles
distant; and of the distant mountains of Chambly and
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 91
Lake Champlain. The house stands on a flat, near a
long and steep slope on its south-east side, which it
fronts ; you approach it on the opposite side, where there
is an elegant yard or court between the street and the
house. A bell at the street gate announces your ar-
rival, a servant opens to you, and you pass with your
carriage by a winding and gravelled way round to the
front. Adjoining the court on the south is an extensive
and well-managed garden, in which were not only to be
seen all the plants usually found in gardens here, but
many exotics. Those of milder climates are preserved
in a green-house. Peach and other fruit trees are pro-
tected from the rigor of winter by a wall.
Mr. McGillevray has also an aviary well stocked, as
also deer, rabbits, and other animals tamed, with many
other curiosities in and about his house, all of which ren-
der it an interesting place to an inquisitive mind. Other
inducements to view it, however, are not wanting. Mrs.
McGillevray is amiable and accomplished, has an agree-
able person, and frank and prepossessing manners. She
is from Scotland, and has just enough of the brogue in
her speech to make it pleasant. Our dinner was excel-
lent, served up in sumptuous style. We had soup, sal-
mon, roast beef and mutton, geese, ducks, and pigeons,
plum pudding, pies and tarts, biscuit, and butter brought
from the Grand Portage at the head of Lake Superior,
several kinds of English cheese, and a dessert of various
kinds of foreign and domestic fruit. Our liquors were
London porter, bottled cider, strong ale, madeira, port,
claret, and champagne wines. Every thing was excellent
in its kind. Ever since we had left New England, we had
found the fresh beef, but more especially the mutton, re-
92 JOURNAL OF A
inai'kably well-flavored and palatable, which we ascribed
to the wild kind of fooa upon Avhich those animals sub-
sist in the new countries. We returned to our lodgings
on foot, in a charniinor moon-shine eveninof.
August r)th. Visited the prmcipal Roman Catholic
Church, erected in 1725. It is decorated with consider-
able taste end n.uch expense. Several ancient people
were at their devotions in various parts of the church,
which we were told was common at all times of day. It
has a chime of well-toned bells ; the} are not rung, how-
ever, in regular cadence or order, but all together.
By the polite invitation of Mr. McGillevray, we visited
the North-west Company's warehouse. They have here
a very laige and accurate manuscript map of Lake
Superior, and a part of the country beyond it. It con-
tains much useful information, not to be met w^ith in
any printed map. We saw and examined large quan-
tities of furs, which the people were sorting and pack-
ing in proper order to be shipped. The finest beaver
is sent to St. Petersburg for the China market. The
next quality is shipped from the United States for the
same countrv. Most of the residue is manufactured in
England. Besides beaver, we here saw the skins of
deer, bears, foxes, wolves, buffaloes, muskrats, martens,
minks, otters, wolverines, and black foxes. Here is
also an assortment of the wares prepared to be sent to
the posts for the Indian market. In consequence of
the late hour which custom has established for dininof,
the gentry of Montreal make a practice of taking a
little soup, steak, or cold collation about noon, or, in
other words, of eating a meal between their breakfast
and dinner. We were this day invited by Mr. Salmon,
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 93
an English sea-captain, whom we had met with at Mr.
McGillevray's, to partake of a repast of this kind on
board his ship, — a London trader, called the '' Eddy-
stone." Mr. and Mrs. McGillevray, Mrs. Shaw, and
Miss Duane were of the party. We had soup, mut-
ton chop, ham, shrimps, porter, and cheese, all served
up in a very inviting manner, in a remarkably neat and
capacious cabin.
Tlie harbor of Montreal is of great depth, though not
capacious. It is a branch only of the river, and the
approach to it is through a narrow channel, where the
stream is so rapid that vessels are known sometimes to
lay at anchor a month or more, within two miles of the
harbor, waiting for a strong wind, which alone can
enable them to stem the current. Vessels from Europe,
therefore, commonly make but one trip to this place in
a year. The vessels employed in this trade are well
calculated for passengers, and for the accommodation
of the officers and crew belonging to them, w^ho enjoy
a summer of the most perfect leisure. They commonly
remain in harbor here as much as three months. As
fast as furs arrive, the3^ are shipped, because when on
board they are at the risk of the insurers. Captain
Salmon told us that the amount of his ship's freight
would be about thirty-five hundred pounds sterling.
We dined at Mr. Se wall's. His mother, who was at
table, a pleasant and facetious old lady, was the daugh-
ter of Edmund Quincy, Esq., and the wife of Jonathan
Sewall, Esq., late king's attorney-general in the prov-
ince of Massachusetts Bkiy. She yet smarts from the
confiscation of her late husband's estate during the
Revolution. Young Mrs. Sewall was from Albany.
94 JOURNAL OF A
She is very agreeable, and much of a lady. There
were present Judge Ogden, Dr. Jones, Mr. Clark, Mr.
Ogilvey, a very pleasant and intelligent man, and a
Miss Caldwell, a young lady who was on a visit here
from Albany. We had a handsome dinner and an
elegant dessert. A gooseberry at the table measured
three inches in circumference. Mr. Sewall is by pro-
fession a lawyer, and is said to realize there from six
hundred to eight hundred pounds sterling a year. Mr.
Reed, another lawyer here, has a still larger professional
income.
Tuesday, August 6th. We employed the morning
in perambulating the town, and in purchasing such
articles at the shops as convenience or fancy suggested.
Considering that Canada has been a province of the
British Empire for half a century, it is surprising that
the English language should not have made a greater
progress among its inhabitants. Not one in five of the
people in Montreal can speak it, and the proportion of
those who are acquainted with it out of the city is still
less. It is said that the French inhabitants refuse to
be taught to speak English, even when instruction is
offered to them gratis, and that they still cherish the
prejudices against the English nation for which their
ancestors were distinguished, insomuch that the gov-
ernment are of opinion that, if the French should
attempt an invasion of Canada, they would be gladly
received and assisted by the great body of its French
inhabitants.
At one o'clock, by appointment we visited the Hotel
de Dieu, so called, which is a convent of nuns of the
order of Ursulines. This was a favor which we pro-
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 95
cured by the good offices of Judge Ogden, who had for
this purpose obtained the consent of some superior eccle-
siastic, which it seems was indispensable. There are
here thirty-six nuns. Those we saw were considerably
advanced in years, and except two or three were very
homely. One of them only could speak English. Judge
Ogden, however, assisted occasionally by Mr. Gilmore
and Major Williams, kept up a lively conversation with
them in French. They generally appeared to be in
good spirits, and the Superior was particularly lively
and sportive in her conversation. We successively vis-
ited their room for transacting business with strangers,
which is done through an iron lattice or grating, their
sitting-room, their dining-room, — where is a kind of
desk or rostrum from which one constantly reads while
the rest are eating in silence, — their private chapels,
cells, kitchen, w^orking-rooms, common chapel, church,
apothecary's store, hospitals for each sex, and garden.
They apologized for the disorder which they said their
affairs were in, by reason of the spire of their church
having been struck with lightning but one fortnight
before, when the church itself was set on fire, but by-
timely assistance it was preserved from destruction.
We, however, did not think their apologies necessary ;
for every thing about them appeared to be well ordered
and neat. There were about a dozen sick in the hos-
pitals, amongst whom we remarked one man under the
operation of the small-pox. None of either sex, labor-
ing under any disorder, are refused admittance, unless
the accommodations are all taken up. The dress of the
nuns was the most unbecoming that could be devised.
It consisted of a black gown, a piece of linen cloth
96 JOUKNAL OF A
which passed with a single thickness tight round tlie
forehead, close to the eyes, and covered the whole head
so that no hair was to be seen, and then fell down over
the shoulders and breast a foot or more below the chin.
Over this was a long black veil. Before was a white
linen apron with a pocket in it, which had a very un-
graceful and uncouth appearance. Throughout their
ai)artnients there prevailed a confined, disagreeable
smell, and prison-like gloom. After purchasing a few
trifling articles, and depositing a little money by way
of acknowledgment in their charity-box, we retired by
a passage at a considerable distance from that by which
we had entered. The visit fully gratified our curiosity,
and confirmed our aversion to this kind of interment
of the living, or rather increased it to abhorrence. I
could not help fancying that I could occasionally dis-
cern in every one of this unfortunate sisterhood a secret
regret that the vow was upon her.
We dined with Mr. Clark, formerly of Boston, who
is here commissary and quartermaster-general, pay-
master, &c. He is a gentleman of useful talents and
agreeable manners, and his wife is a lady of handsome
figure and accomplishments. Judge Ogden and son,
Mr. Sewall, Mr. Richardson, and others, were of the
party. We had at dinner, among other dishes, salt fish
cf the first quality in the New England style ; and here
too, as at every other place which we had visited in
Montreal, we found the liquors all excellent in their
kind. Towards evening, we took calashes and rode out
to the mountain. We passed by the new house of the
late Mr. McTavish, which he has left unfinished, and
visited his tomb, which is situated behind the house, in
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 97
a thick wood on the mountain side. This situation is
the most romantic that can well be imacfined. Behind
the tomb rises a lofty precipice of perpendicular rocks,
one of which forms a detached column, and seems as if
intended by nature for a monument. These rocks are
composed of regular strata, the uppermost of which are
of limestone. They are a part of a ledge or precipice
which extends quite round the mountain, and has the
appearance of having been worn by water. This is to
be accounted for by supposing that most of the island
of Montreal, and of course the surrounding country, were
once covered to this height by the river, which has since
forced a passage through the rocks at Quebec, and be-
tween that place and this, so as to leave bare the exten-
sive plains which now border upon it, all of which bear
the marks of having been formed by the water. The
view from the mountain side is exceedingly picturesque
and grand. From the place where you stand, luxuriant
and w^ell-cultivated fields extend to the city, all of which,
with its suburbs, is directly under your eye. Down the
river, for thirty miles or more, you see the water skirted
with rich fields, in which are thickly scattered churches,
and windmills almost constantly in motion, dwelling-
houses, and various other buildings. The fields are
bounded by deep woods which terminate the view,
except towards the south-east, where the rude moun-
tains of Vermont lift their tops to the clouds.
Mr. McTavish is much regretted by the gentlemen of
Montreal, who speak of him as liaving been a thorough
merchant, an accomplished, hospitable, munificent man ;
in short, as an ornament to society. He died July 6,
1804, leaving an estate of one hundred and twenty
13
98 JOURNAL OF A
thousand pounds sterling, to be inherited by four chil-
dren. On our return from the mountain, we called and
took tea at Mr. McGillevray's. Mrs. McGillevray de-
lighted us highly by singing several Scottish songs in
the true Scottish dialect and brogue. Mrs. Duane
accompanied her with the harp. Mr. Gilmore this
morning set off for Quebec in a packet ; but his com-
panion. Dr. Woodhouse, had become homesick, and
resolved to make the best of his way back to Phila-
delphia.
Wednesday, August 7th. We had originally contem-
plated making an excursion from Montreal to Quebec,
but many considerations induced us now to change our
purpose. A passage by Avater would have been irksome,
and one by land too fatiguing. We were told that, al-
though the distance is one hundred and eighty miles, we
could travel it in calashes and return in five days, allow-
ing a day to spare at Quebec ; but we had appropriated
from the first only six weeks for our whole journey.
More than a month of the time had now elapsed, and
a passage across Lake Champlain was uncertain on
account of the wind. We therefore concluded to re-
turn directly home. The many civilities and constant
attention which we received at Montreal, not only from
the gentlemen to whom our letters were addressed, but
from their friends, rendered it impossible to leave tho
place without a sensible regret. On adjusting our con-
cerns with Mr. Hamilton, the master of the hotel, we
were surprised to find that our bill for five days' enter-
tainment, including calash hire, washing, &c., amounted
to but about eight dollars each.
At nine o'clock in the morning, we left Montreal with
TOUH TO NIAGARA FALLS. 99
Dr. Woodhouse, and crossed over to Longueiiil, three
miles. In this passage, we were delighted with the ap-
pearance of an island in the river, called Grant's Island.
It contains several acres of land, mostlv covered with
wood, entirely free from underbrush. There are upon
it a dwelling-house and appendages suitable for a gen-
tleman of fortune, accommodated with a fine garden,
a green-house, and a garden wall well set with fruit
trees. At the lower end of the island is a large stone
mill, which goes by the natural current of the river.
From Longueuil, we deviated a little to the northward
of the direct course to St. John's, for the purpose of vis-
iting the old French castle of Chambly, fifteen miles.
This whole distance was over a plain, scarcely varied by
a single inequality of surface, and covered with wheat,
grass, and weeds, the latter of which, and particularly
the Canada thistle, had obtained a decided superiority.
The fields are covered with this pernicious plant, some-
times as far as the eye can reach ; the atmosphere is
tainted with its odor, and filled with its seeds, flying
before the wind.
The French country houses are built at regular dis-
tances, of logs or stones, with thatched roofs. They are
almost exactly alike, except in size. Near them 3'ou
see their barns, constructed with equal uniformity.
They are composed of split wood, fastened into grooves
cut in posts, which are set perpendicularly in the ground.
The oven belonging to a French house is commonly sit-
uated at some distance from it, upon a platform raised
three or four feet from the ground. Sometimes it is
placed on a stump.
At Chambly, we came to the outlet of Lake Cham^
100 JOURNAL OF A
plain, called the Chambly, Sorel, or Richelieu River, the
latter of which names is the most common. Here are
two considerable villages, one at some distance below the
castle, towards the church, and the other just above it.
On the opposite side of the river is another church and
parish, called Point Olivet ; and a little further down on
the west side is still another parish, called Beloeil. The
castle is a stone fabric, built by the French in 1711. It
is about six or eight rods square, encompassing something
more than a quarter of an acre of ground. It has four
square towel's, one at each corner, which are upwards of
thirty feet high. The walls in general are about five feet
less in height, and do not project so much. Many of the
embrasures or apertures, originally left for firing through,
have been closed up. It is situated at the water's edge,
at the foot of the Long Rapids, so called, and has a ma-
jestic though rude appearance. The river here, for sev-
eral miles above, is from one hundred rods to half a mile
or more wide ; and where the water is broken, as it is for
a mile or more in the rapids, it exhibits a very fine ap-
pearance. Having surmounted these obstructions, the
river spreads out into a basin or small lake, just below
the castle, a mile or more in each direction, from which
it flows out by two channels, encompassing an island of
considerable extent. Bateaux can come from Quebec
as far up the river as the castle, but no further. Nor is
it easy to make head against the stream, till you have
passed up five or six miles further. When the water is
high, you may by skilful management descend the rapids
with rafts, and even with bateaux, in safety. When we
were there, the water was so low that a canoe could
scarcely pass without striking ; but we were told that it
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 101
sometimes rises as much as six feet higher. There is a
garrison kept at the castle, consisting of a lieutenant
and thirteen men. The French language and Canadian
manners prevail even to this place, and French hus-
bandry still spoils their beautiful fields.
To Cheesman's at St. John's, twelve miles. Our ride
the whol^ of this distance was along the river bank, and
of course very pleasant. We were of opinion that the
volume of water passing here was equal to that in the
Connecticut River at Bellows Falls. An island, two or
three miles in length, divides the stream about half way
between Chambly and St. John's. Above that, it is about
half a mile wide, and runs at the rate of two miles an
hour. St. John's is the most northerly place to which
the vessels which ply on Lake Champlain approach,
owing to the shallowness and rapidity of the water be-
low. A ship-of-war is dismantled and laid up here ; it
has a shed built over its deck, to protect it from the
weather, so that, if occasion should require, it might again
be made serviceable. We found several vessels in the har-
bor, sloops and schooners, — viz., the '* Constellation,"
"Hope," "Nancy," &c., — waiting for a favorable wind.
There a.e upon the lake fifteen or twenty vessels in all.
They are employed in transporting passengers, in bring-
ing potash, beef, pork, and various kinds of produce, and
even articles of foreign merchandise, from the counties
bordering on the lake, to this place, and in carrying back
heavy foreign goods. One thousand pounds sterling has
been collected in a year at the custom-house at St.
John's, as a duty, on the single article of tea imported
from the United States.
The village of St. John's stands on the west side of
102 JOURNAL OF A
the river, and contains about forty houses and three or
four hundred people, besides the barracks, and a small
garrison, consisting of a few artillery men and part of
a company of infantry. There is but a single company
of infantry allotted to the garrison here at Chambly,
and at the Isle aux Noix, which is twenty miles further
up the river. There is here neither meeting-house nor
church, nor any provision made for the public exercise
of religion. The inhabitants are mostly of English ex-
traction, but the English and French languages are in-
discriminately spoken. From Montreal to St. John's, as
we came, was thirty miles. Had we come by the way of
La Prairie, it would have been but twenty-seven ; but
nine miles of the distance would have been by water,
that being the length of the ferry between the island of
Montreal and La Prairie. The passage of this ferry
would also have been in some degree against the direc-
tion of the current^ so that we were told we could not
effect it in less than four or five hours. What we lost
therefore in distance we probably gained in time, and
had moreover the pleasure of visiting the castle of Cham-
bly, and of riding on the river banks all the way from
thence to St. John's.
Having again mentioned Montreal, and probably for
the last time, it may be proper to observe that the
number of inhabitants in the city and suburbs is about
ten or twelve thousand, nine tenths of whom are
French ; that it contains three nunneries, three Roman
Catholic, and two or three other churches, a college,
and several other public buildings. The city was for-
merly surrounded with a wall and ditch, but both have
been long neglected, and would afford no protection in
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 103
case of an attack. It suffered considerably by a fire
about two years since ; but it is fast recovering from
that misfortune, and appears to be in a prosperous and
flourishing state.
There is but little familiar intercourse between the
English and French inhabitants. Very few of the
French have much property or respectability. In
general, they are ignorant, superstitious, prejudiced,
mean-spirited, and slovenly. They are hardly to be
distinguished in their complexion from the Indians,
and in many things they even affect the Indian man-
ners. They have an antipathy to the English, but a
still greater one to the people of the United States, all
of whom they call by the general name of Bostonians.
August 8th. We had intended embarking this morn-
ing on board some of the vessels here, bound for Bur-
lington in Vermont ; but we had the mortification to
find that the wind was south, and to learn that, while
it continued there, it was impossible for us to get on in
the common mode. It required considerable patience
to be contented, and more ingenuity to find amusemen
in these circumstances. We had the consolation, how-
ever, of companions in trouble, there being several other
travellers here as impatient to proceed up the lake as
we were, and like us depending for their release from
confinement upon that most uncertain of all things, the
wind.
August 9th. This was a tedious day. The wind
was still adverse, and likely so to continue. The peo-
ple of the place told us that the wind here is almost
invariably in the north or south, unless it blows a gale,
and that it often continues in one direction a week or
104 JOUKNAL OF A
ten days. This last piece of information exhausted the
little patience we had left, and we therefore hired an
open bateau and four hands to row it to Burlington
Bay. A conveyance in this mode was neither so con-
venient nor cheap, but more certain than one by a packet.
August 10th. Having with the assistance of Mr.
Cheesman, our innkeeper, furnished ourselves amply
with comfortable stores for our voyage, and having
also given in our names at the guard-house, and cleared
out at the custom-house at the expense of twenty-five
cents, we left St. John's without regret ; not, however,
without returning our thanks to Mr. Richardson, the
trader, and Mr. McBeth, the collector of the customs,
for their civilities and politeness. In a place so seques-
tered and dull, it is of double price ; and it can nowhere
be of more A-alue than at St. John's, where there is but
little society or amusement, where the surrounding
fields, though cleared, are neither cultivated nor fenced,
and where indolence seems to be the order of the day.
As we had to contend both with the wind and current,
our progress this day was slow. The shores of the
river for several miles are so little elevated above the
surface of the water that they are usually inundated
in the spring season to a considerable extent on both
sides, for which reason they are entirely unsettled. We
landed on an uninhabited spot on the west side, nearly
opposite to the Isle aux Noix. We were told that there
was but a sergeant's guard upon the island, although it
would require an army properly to garrison the works
there.
The works themselves, although constructed at a
great expense since the American war, appeared as we
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 105
passed, as did those at St. John's, to be in a very ruin-
ous state. When the French possessed this country,
to prevent annoyance or surprise from tlie English set-
tlements, they used to keep an iron chain stretched
from the Isle aux Noix to the mainland on each side.
Part of the piles to which the chain was fastened on
the west side are still to be seen.
It does not seem to be agreed at what place Lake
Champlain terminates in the river Richelieu. Some say
it is at Windmill Point, so called, which is in the town
of Alburgh in Vermont, and others contend that the
lake extends to St. John's. It is certain, however, that
near the United States line, which is about twenty
miles above St John's, there is a perceptible current.
At night, we reached Rouse's at Rouse's Point, so called,
which is on the western side of the lake, in the town-
ship of Champlain and State of New York, twenty-
four miles. Here we slept. Rouse is an Acadian
Frenchman. He told us that he lived in Quebec when
it was taken by Wolfe, and that he served as a guide
to conduct the provincial troops under General Mont-
gomery, in their attempt upon that city in the year
1775. He now resides on a tract of land granted him
by the State of New York as a reward for that service.
His wife is a Canadian Frenchwoman, by whom he has
had twenty-four children, eight of whom are now alive.
He did not make a very favorable impression upon us.
He refused to permit his wife to go to mass in the
morning, whipped one of his children severely for some
offence, and charged us full price for our meals,
although we furnished the materials ourselves except
butter and milk, alleging as the reason that we ate in
14
106 JOURNAL OF A
his house. The house itself was but a log house. We
slept in the only chamber, to which we ascended by a
ladder.
Sunday, August 11th. In the morning, the wind
blew with such violence ahead, attended with rain, that
it prevented our departure till near eight o'clock. The
situation of Rouse's Point is romantic. It commands
an extensive view of the water, especially to the south-
ward. As we proceeded up the lake, a more interest-
ing and magnificent prospect unfolded on either hand.
Instead of the unvaried level horizon to which we had
for some time been accustomed, we now beheld the
mountains of New York and Vermont lifting their heads
in rude majesty to the clouds. We passed the Isle la
Motte, North Hero, and South Hero, to the left ; and
the Great Chazy River, Little Chazy River, Chazy Point
and village, a pleasant settlement. Point du Roche, where
we dined on a rock, Cumberland Head and Bay, on the
right. Plattsburgh, which is situated at the bottom of
Cumberland Bay, is also a pleasant village. The bay
which makes between Chazy Point and Cumberland
Head extends some miles to the westward and north-
westward. As we passed it, the wind blew out of it
very fresh with a high and broken swell. Our course
was almost exactly in the trough, and the bateau there-
fore rocked much. We were several miles from shore.
The motion in itself was disagreeable ; but the considera-
tion, which under such circumstances it is impossible to
suppress, that the shipping of a sea or the starting of
a plank might be fatal to us, rendered the passage ex-
tremely unpleasant to me. Yet we saw several canoes,
some of which seemed to be hardly more than hollow
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 107
logs, with spread sails proceeding in various directions
from Cumberland Head. We were told that they had
probabl}^ been to meeting at Plattsburgh, where public
worship, for want of a more suitable building, is per-
formed in the court-house.
South Hero, called also Grand Isle, exhibits a desir-
able country. It has a clean, gravelly, limestone beach,
which rises gently from the water, and is agreeably
variegated with luxuriant woods and cultivated farms.
The houses are neat, and were generally surrounded
with thrifty orchards and extensive fields of Indian
corn and wheat. The large size of the barns we thought
a proof of a productive soil. The circumstance of being
obliged to pass three miles over water to get to the main
seems to be the principal objection to living upon this
favored island. Neither the North Hero nor the Isle la
Motte is equally inviting ; though each of those islands
as well as South Hero constitutes a town. Towards
night, the wind subsided ; and, having cleared a consider-
able distance from Cumberland Head, we concluded to
pass the n row channel between the southern extremity
of South Hero and Providence Island, which is the
shortest course to Burlington Bay ; whereas, had the
wind continued, we should, by taking this course, have
been in danger of drifting on to the eastern shore of the
lake, before we could have gained the bay. At Cum-
berland Head is a custom-house. After we had passed
it a few miles, we saw a sloop arrive and bring to there.
We concluded this to have been the vessel belonging to
Captain Smith, on board which we had engaged a pas-
sage, if the wind had permitted. Having with difficulty
got out where the lake becomes broad, he was probably
108 JOURNAL OF A
able to beat ahead. We passed a low island, the island
called Two Sisters, and Colchester Point. It was now
night, but we had no alternative but to proceed. We
next reached the first point which forms a part of Bur-
lington Bay in its largest extent. This point is com-
posed of solid rock, on which, however, a few small
pines grow. It projects into the lake in a western and
then in a southern direction, forming a kind of nook ;
for a considerable distance, it does not measure more
than two or three rods across. Just before we reached
this point, we were admiring the beauty of the evening
and the surrounding scenery. The lake was perfectly
serene. To the southward, we could discern no limits
to the water. The nearer shores were mellow and pic-
turesque, and the prospect on either hand was termi-
nated by the mountains. The whole was made visible
by the light of the moon, which was then at the full,
and just risen. But scarcely had we made our remarks,
when suddenly the glassy smoothness of the water was
discomposed. A black cloud in the west assumed an
indefinite and threatening appearance, the moon was
obscured, all our lovely scenes vanished, and a copious
shower poured down upon us, Avith as little mercy as
if we had been ever so securely sheltered. On this
occasion, our fellow-traveller. Dr. Woodhouse, although
literally a professor of philosophy, lost it all. In about
fifteen minutes, however, the rain ceased, the moon
again shone forth in full splendor, the water and land
reappeared, and all the charms of the evening were
restored. Having doubled another point, we could dis-
cern the lights in the houses at the bottom of the bay,
and at length, about eleven o'clock, reached the accus-
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 109
tomed landing-place. With devout gratitude for our
preservation, we again found ourselves in New England.
From Rouse's Point to Burlington is forty miles. We
were fortunate enough to be directed by some persons
whom we met in the streets to Holmes's Hotel, which
proved to be an excellent house.
Monday, August 12th. Burlington contained upwards
of two thousand inhabitants at the last census, since
which time the number has considerably increased. The
soil of this town is excellent, and the situation eligible.
The beach of the lake is a clean, smooth sand ; the bank
is bold, and the land rises with a gentle swell in a kind
of amphitheatre, for near a mile from the water. The
village is laid out in regular streets and squares, and
contains a jail, a large, commodious court-house, a col-
lege, not yet finished, and about one hundred dwelling-
houses, besides shops, stores, and other buildings. The
college is yet in its infancy. We learned the number of
scholars belonging to it was but fifteen, and that four
only had as yet received degrees there. The new build-
ing, when completed, will accommodate sixty. It is
most delightfully situated on the summit of the emi-
nence, about a mile from the water, where it not only
overlooks the village, but commands an extensive pros-
pect both up and down the lake, and of the opposite
shore and mountains.
The lake itself is here about fifteen miles wide. Its
shores are in general abrupt and mountainous, whereas at
its northern extremity the surrounding country is so low
and flat that a rise in the lake of not more than three feet
inundates a large extent of it. Many appearances in the
vicinity of the lake concur to prove that in past ages the
110 JOURNAL OF A
water of it must have flowed about fifty feet higher than
it now does. Before the St. Lawrence forced its present
channel through the rocks near Quebec, Lake Chaniphiin
must have stood at the same elevation with that river;
and, when the St. Lawrence subsided, Lake Champlain
must of necessity have been drained also. We, this day,
visited the Lower Falls, so called, in the Onion River,
about four or fi ^ miles above. its mouth. There is a
bridge at this place, just below which the river projects
into a deep transverse excavation in solid limestone, and
runs off almost at right angles with its former course, in
a channel not more than ten or fifteen feet wide. About
a mile further up, where there is also a bridge, the river
has forced a narrow passage through a remarkably fine
limestone. On the southern side, the rock rises ex-
actly perpendicular from the water, one hundred feet.
The opposite shore is hardly so high or steep. From this
place, a ledge of the finest limestone extends both ways,
and forms the rim or shore of an extensive tract of mea-
dow or interval land above the bridge, now under high
cultivation, and which must have been covered with
water as high as the ledge, before the river forced its
way through the rock at the bridge.
Judge Staunton is the proprietor of this tract of land.
His house, which is elegant, stands on an adjoining emi-
nence. He began a settlement at this place before the
late war, but abandoned it at the approach of Burgoyne's
army, and did not return till the conclusion of peace.
He can now boast one of the finest farms in New Eng-
land. We next visited a mineral spring, which has been
lately discovered about a mile from the village. It has
been purchased by two physicians, who have cut a road
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. Ill
to it, and propose to erect a house for the accommoda-
tion of visitors in its neighborhood. Upon tasting the
water, we perceived it to be slightly chalj'beate, but did
not think it possessed of any very valuable property.
There must be more efficacy in a tumblerful of the
Ballston water than in a gallon of this.
Tuesday, August 13th. The wind last night blew a
tempest, and we were frequently awakened by the roar-
ing of the lake, to rejoice that we were out of the reach
of its fury, and no longer the sport of its caprice.
The stages run from Burlington towards Boston only
on Fridays, and we therefore concluded to hire a Dutch
wagon to transport us to Rutland. By the obliging offices
of Dr. Crane, son-in-law of Mr. Holmes, who showed us
great attention, we procured a wagon and driver, and
this morning began our march. We reached Painter's,
in the city of Vergennes, an excellent tavern to dine,
twenty-one miles. The country between Burlington
and Vergennes is very fine, agreeably diversified with
gentle swells, and watered not only by the lake, but La
Piatt, Lewis's, Little Otter, and Otter Creeks. The
forests are everywhere yielding to the axe, and are suc-
ceeded by cultivated fields. We were particularly struck
by the contrast between the miserable husbandry and
wretched habitations of Canada, and the judicious cul-
tivation, excellent fences, extensive cornfields, large and
flourishing orchards, and the commodious, and in many
instances elegant, houses of Vermont. Vergennes ex-
hibits a collection of handsome buildings, compact and
well-arranged, in the midst of a country still retaining
the marks of its original wilderness. The village, how-
ever, though intended for a city, and incorporated as
112 JOURNAL OF A
such, is neither so large nor flourishing as Burlington.
The only public building at Vergennes is one erected
for the accommodation of the legislature ; and yet that
honorable body have never thought fit to assemble there
but once. The building itself is well constructed and
i^andsome, but its beauty is much impaired by a slender
and ill-constructed cupola, which rises from the centre
of the roof. Otter Creek passes through the city. It is
a respectable stream worthy to be called a river, and
affords navigation from this place to the lake, which is
distant four or five miles. In the afternoon, we resumed
our journey. About eight miles from Vergennes, we
passed the Otter Creek in Weybridge, at which place
we saw the first meeting-house we had seen after leav-
ing Bloomfield in New York. We had been advised to
go as far as Chipman's tavern, four miles beyond Mid-
dlebury, to sleep ; but, being belated, we v/ere obliged to
stop at the hotel, near the court-house, kept by Case, —
a tolerable house. Thirteen miles from Vergennes, we
repassed the creek. It is but nineteen years since this
settlement at Middlebury was begun, and but eleven
since the first framed house was raised in it.
Now the village contains one thousand inhabitants,
one hundred dwelling-houses, most of which are hand-
some, and some of which are even splendid. Two at-
tracted our notice in particular, one of them belongs to
Daniel Chipman, Esq., a lawyer, and is said to be the
best house in Vermont. The other, which cannot be
much inferior, belongs to Mr. Warren, a clothier ; it is
of brick, handsomely adorned with marble, constructed
with much taste, and situated in a romantic spot over-
looking the creek. The village contains also an elegant
TOUB TO NIAGARA FALLS. 113
court-house, a prison, and a spacious college, in which
are eighty students, exclusive of those in the academy
connected with the college. It is but about two years
since this seminary began to confer degrees. At present,
it is supported by private donations, and the fees paid
for tuition ; but the corporation intend, if possible, to
obtain for the use of their institution a part of the lands
now allotted by law for Burlington College.
The village of Middlebury is situated on both sides
the Otter Creek, at a place where there is a remarkable
fall of a^)Out twenty feet in the stream. It is to this
circumsta '^^^ that the place is probably indebted for its
rapid grow.U; for the w^ater is made to work several
grist-mills, saw-mills, clothing-mills, carding-machines,
a forge, and a trip-hammer. But what attracted our
more particular attention was a stone-mill, or machine
for cutting marble into slabs. The quarry from which
the blocks are taken is literally at the door, so that it
requires much more of it to be cut away to afford a con-
venient passage into the mill. The marble is white, a
little clouded, and has a very fine grain. The machine
will cut a block into six or seven slabs at a single opera-
tion, in a quarter the time it would require two men to
cut it once. The quarry was discovered and the machine
erected within a year, by a Mr. Judd, the proprietor of
them, who is confined within the prison yard for debt.
He intends to transport the marble for sale to New
York.
August 14th. Leaving Middlebury, we rode a few
rods on a turnpike which they were constructing,
leading to Woodstock, after which we travelled several
miles through a charming country, along the bank of
15
114 JOURNAL OF A
Otter Creek. We then passed Middle, --y River, after
that the Leicester River in Salisbury. Rocks of the
marble kind abound in all this region in vast masses.
Quarries and even whole mountains of it are found
also in Rutland, of a quality said to be even superior to
that of Middlebury. Hitherto it has been wrought ( /
by hand. There seems to be a range of country west
of the Green Mountains, extending from Pittsfurd to
Burlington and Jericho, in which marble abounds more
or less. Has any ever been discovered eastward from
the Green Mountains ? It is akin to limestone, and sel-
dom or never found without it. Lime itself is not very
common in Massachusetts, and has never been met
with till lately ; and now but in one place in New
Hampshire. It is the prevailing, stone in the western
part of Vermont.
We reached Woodward's in Leicester, an excellent
house, to breakfast, twelve miles. It is but twelve
years since this place was cleared. Now here are
smooth fields, fine orchards, large houses and barns,
and excellent fences, — objects not to be met with in
those parts of Canada which have been cultivated half
a century. The forests on the western side of Vermont
are chiefly of hard wood.
To Widow Keith's in Pittsford, twelve miles. This
woman keeps a good tavern. Although she is called
a widow, she has a husband ; but he is a miserable sot,
and therefore the sign still retains, and the house is
still called by, her former name.
To Harry Gould's in Rutland, eight miles, to dine.
I walked this stage, and by mistaking the road made it
ten miles. Our fare at Gould's was rather ordinary.
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 115
Rutland is a pleasant village, containing a meeting-
house, State-house, and about one hundred dwelling-
houses, forming one street, extending north and south
near a mile in length. The burying-ground here is
remarkable for its neatness, and for the elegance of its
grave and tomb stones, which are of marble, and
arranged in the most exact order. Leaving Rutland,
we travelled a luvv miles still on level ground; then,
bending a little to the left, we took leave of Otter
Creek, and began, though almost insensibly, to rise
into higher ground. Without perceiving any consider-
able ascent, we at length found ourselves among the
mountains, several of which, of very respectable magni-
tude, arose near us on either hand. Our road, which
was now turnpike, was alongside of a small stream,
tributary to the Otter Creek, which has excavated for
itself a channel of prodigious depth. At the place
where it breaks out into the open country, it seems to
have forced a passage literally through the mountain.
This channel, as nearly as we could ascertain from the
road, at the distance of half a mile, is not more than
two or three rods wide at bottom, yet the banks are
almost perpendicular, and more than two hundred feet
high.
To Finney's in Shrewsbury, a tolerable house, to
sleep, nine miles. Here we overtook the mail-stage
which runs from Rutland to Walpole. Fortunately, it
was empty. We engaged our passage in it, and dis-
missed our Burlington wagon, the driver of which
appeared to be tired of his journey, and we were as
heartily tired of him.
August 15th. Rose at four o'clock, and pursued our
116 JOURNAL OF A
journey. In Mount Holly, distant about fifteen miles
south-eastward from Rutland, we passed the height of
land, and very soon after perceived a stream, the head
of Black River, running an easterly course towards
Connecticut River. This was the first water we had
seen, after leaving the Mohawk, which does not dis-
charge itself into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. As before
reaching the height of land we had not been conscious
of any remarkable ascent, so neither did we afterwards
perceive any very considerable descent. The road is
made as near to the side of the streams as possible, and
is in general pretty good. In some places where it is
made along the mountain side, there are frightful preci-
pices to the stream below. Many thriving settlements
are to be sSen among the mountains. The soil in gen-
eral is strong and productive, and much more free from
rocks than the interior of New Hampshire.
To Button's, a very good house, in Cavendish, to
breakfast, eighteen miles. Passing the Black River
near Button's house, we travelled over a long hill, and
soon after came to the bank of Williams River, the
course of which we pursued till we came to Connecticut
River. From t)utton's to Bellows Falls is twenty-two
miles ; from thence to Southard's in Walpole is four
miles. Our whole journey this day was forty-four
miles. That pernicious weed, the Canada thistle,
seems to be approaching the sea-coast ; for we saw it
even after crossing the Connecticut River.
At Walpole, we began to realize our proximity to
home, by meeting with people of our acquaintance, and
by finding late Boston newspapers, especially the " Cen-
tinel " of the preceding day. Southard keeps a good
house.
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 117
August 16th. The stage does not go from this place
towards Boston till Saturday morninsr. We were there-
fore to find amusement in Walpole for this day. We
spent the morning in devouring the contents of the late
newspapers which we found here, a species of entertain-
ment to which we had long been strangers. Having
taken an early dinner, in the afternoon w^e went to pay
a visit to Mr. Geyer at the Falls. He received and
entertained us very politely. His house is spacious,
neat, and genteelly furnished, and his garden is hand-
some and well improved. His accommodations seem
the more agreeable from being contrasted with the
rudeness of the surrounding scenery. Nature seems to
exhibit herself here in an undress. Immediately behind
the house, the mountain rises in a nearly perpendicular
precipice five or six hundred feet. In front, the Con-
necticut River is compressed to less than a rod in
extent by the rocks, through which it forces its way in
a very irregular channel, with great impetuosity.
When Mr. Geyer was aboit building his house, he
had contracted with a man in his neighborhood for the
stones for his cellar ; but a very unexpected supply
superseded the contract. A shower loosened a mass of
the rock from the brow of the mountain behind the
house, so that it fell to the bottom of the precipice, and
rolled to the very edge of the cellar, which proved to
be fully sufficient for the walls of it. From Mr. Geyer's
contiguity to the mountain, I should think that he
would sometimes entertain apprehensions that similar
phenomena might again happen, when the fragments
might roll a little further, and would therefore be much
less acceptable. Rattlesnakes abound in this mountain.
118 JOURNAL OF A
We descended the river bank, and passed dry shod to
the brink of the stream at the Falls, over beds of rock,
which during the freshets are covered. This cataract,
considerable as it is, when compared with that at
Niagara seems perfectly contemptible. Notwithstand-
ing the uncommon firmness of the rock here, there are
many cylindrical excavations in it of great size and
depth. Some of them are ten feet in diameter, and
twelve or fifteen feet deep. Major Williams and my-
self successively^ descended into one which was dry. It
was six feet deep, and eighteen inches in diameter at
top, but broader near the bottom. It would be a very
secure hiding-place.
Connecticut River, as well as the St. Lawrence,
heretofore flowed much higher than it now does. The
spot where Mr. Geyer's house stands was probably
alluvial, and the foot of the mountain behind it was
washed by the current. Many of the rocks here and in
the vicinity, which are now far above the reach of the
water, retain marks of its operations. This considera-
tion accounts for the different strata of interval lands
on its banks.
The foot of Bellows Falls was formerly a celebrated
place for the salmon and shad fishing. It was the
highest part of the river to which the shad ascended ;
but a dam which has within a few years been built
across the river, about forty miles below, at Montague,
has so entirely obstructed the passage of the fish that
not a salmon or a shad has since been taken above it.
The canal bv Bellows Falls, with the mills and water-
works upon it, is the property of Colonel Atkinson, of
New York. They have cost him ninety thousand dol-
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALX.S. 110
lars, but do not yield an equivalent income. These
works have a rough and clumsy appearance, and seem
not to have been well designed or executed. At even-
ing, we returned to Southard's.
Saturday, August 17th. At five o'clock this morn-
ing, we took our departure from Walpole in the Groton
stage. From the high ground over which the road
passes, between that place and the point where you
have a very extensive prospect of the south-eastern
quarter of Vermont, the surface is extremely mountain-
ous and irregular. These inequalities, though on a
larger scale, bear a resemblance to what one may sup-
pose would be the appearance of the ocean, if during
a tempest it were suddenly to become solid.
To Holbrook's in Keene, a very good house, to
breakfast, thirteen miles. The third New Hampshire
turnpike which leads from Walpole to Boston, and on
which we were now travelling, is a very great improve-
ment upon the old road. Some of the worst hills, how-
ever, over which it passes might have been avoided,
and the corporation have it now in contemplation to
alter the course for that purpose.
To Danforth's in Jaffrey, to dine, sixteen miles; a
poor house. Here, almost for the first time during our
journey, we had occasion to complain of the bad quality
of the bread. In the very depths of the forests through
which we had passed, we had uniformly found good
bread. It is also worthy of remark that in all the new
settlements the flavor of the meat is remarkably fine.
The mutton in particular, both in grain and taste, has
a striking resemblance to venison. In our last stage,
we passed several miles along the foot of the Monad-
120 JOURNAL OF A
nock. The appearance of this mountain in a near view
is very impressive and majestic, owing perhaps not
more to its size than to its detached situation, which
exposes it to view on every quarter in its whole mag-
nitude. Most of the woods which formerly grew on its
sides have lately been destroyed by fire. It is difficult
to conceive how they could have grown where they
did, for the whole mountain seems now to be one vast
mass of rocks. In this stage, we were also gratified
with t] sight of a part of Massachusetts. Our attach-
ment to our native State had not abated with our
absence. With respect to its soil, climate, water, and
general face of the country, the manners and customs
of its inhabitants, and the many comforts of life which
it affords, taken all together, it gains by a comparison
with any other country which we had seen.
To Batchelder's in New Ipswich, a very good house,
to sleep, ten miles. We arrived here between four and
five o'clock ; and, as we were now within twenty miles
of Groton, we had sufficient time to have gone there this
afternoon. But this was the place established for the
stage to stop at over night ; and, as the horses were tired,
we could not persuade the driver to proceed. Not
being able to procure any other conveyance, we sub-
mitted to the necessity of passing the night here.
Sunday, August 18th. Regularly, the stage does not
go from this place till Monday morning ; but, impatient
of being longer detained here, we prevailed on the driver
for some additional fare to proceed with us this morn-
ing, and we arrived at my house in Groton in conven-
ient season to dine. Here we adjusted our money
concerns, which we effected with great facility, in con-
TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 121
sequence of the simple method which we had adopted
at first. This was no other than to take an account of
the sum which each one had, deducting from that the
sum each one now had left, and adding all the balances
together gave the whole expense, and enabled us to
complete a settlement in a few minutes. The expense
to each one was short of one hundred and seventy
dollars.^
Monday, August 19th. The rest of the company
resumed their seats in the stage this morning to Boston,
on the day which completed six weeks from the time of
our departure from that place. Thus terminated an
excursion which had afforded us much diversified enter-
tainment, and had also been attended with some incon-
veniences. These consisted principally in the various
deprivations and exposures incident to travelling by
water. For the encouragement of future travellers,
however, we may with propriety affirm that the tour
was interesting throughout, that it produced much
more pleasure than pain in the performance, and that it
still yields considerable amusement in retrospect.
Our direct distances amount to . . . 1190 miles.
Our deviations 165 „
1355 „
16