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Source-Readers in American History — No. Ill 
 
 HOW OUR GRANDFATHERS 
 LIVED 
 

Source-Readers in American History — No. 3 
 
 HOW OUR 
 GRANDFATHERS LIVED 
 
 SELECTED AND ANNOTATED BY 
 
 ALBERT BUSHNELL HART 
 
 Of Harvard University ^ 
 WITH THE COLLABORATION OF 
 
 ANNIE BLISS CHAPMAN 
 
 Of the Worcester Normal School 
 
 With Many Illustrations 
 
 NEW YORK 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 LONDON: 1VL\CMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
 
 1902 
 
 All risrJits reserved 
 
THP LIBRARY OF 
 CON-ORESS, 
 
 T^) CoPlce RtOSlvEtJ 
 
 NOV. 7f 190? 
 
 CLASS^'XXo No. 
 
 corv B. 
 
 Copyright, 1902, 
 By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 
 
 Set up and electrotyped November, 1902. 
 
 Norivood Press 
 
 J. S. Cashing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 
 
 Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
vi 
 
 Preface 
 
 Volumes I and II of this series of Source Readers deal with 
 periods beyond the memory of living persons ; but the romance 
 and interest of American life and American history are not at 
 all confined to the beginnings, and this volume relates chiefly 
 to the first half of the nineteenth century. Our grandfathers 
 and even our fathers passed lives full of interest and of unusual 
 incidents : the school, the field, the forest, the hunt, the stage- 
 coach, and the steamboat are already remote from our present 
 generation. Distinct historic incidents are also abundant, 
 especially during the War of 1812, and have been freely used 
 in this volume. The selections on American education will be 
 novel to most children, and represent some picturesque con- 
 ditions, now for the most part outgrown. 
 
 Special pains have been taken to illustrate the remarkable 
 life of the western frontier, now fast becoming only a tradition. 
 As in the other volumes of the series, nothing has been added 
 to these extracts, although there are omissions and occasionally 
 changes of words or phrases. 
 
 ALBERT BUSHNELL HART. 
 
 Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
 August, 1902. 
 
Contents 
 
 r.'.GE 
 
 Introduction for Teachers ix 
 
 PART I 
 In Town i 
 
 PART II 
 In the Country 45 
 
 PART III 
 Travellers Si 
 
 PART IV 
 Out West 143 
 
 PART V 
 The INDLA.NS . , . . 173 
 
 PART VI 
 At Sea 217 
 
 PART VII 
 The Armv . . . .271 
 
 PART VIII 
 At School . . . , . . . . . - . -317 
 
 Vll 
 
INTRODUCTION FOR TEACHERS 
 
 The place of sources in secondary schools is already 
 assured, and teachers using them are ready to testify to 
 their incalculable value in teaching history ; but to put 
 sources into the hands of grammar school children is, in 
 the minds of many teachers, quite another matter. If, 
 however, sources give vividness and reality to the study 
 of history when pursued in the higher schools, why may 
 not the same hold true for elementary schools, provided 
 the selections are made carefully and are adapted to the 
 age and understanding of the pupils ? 
 
 In my own experience I have found the use of such 
 sources as Bradford's Journal, for instance, invaluable 
 both for giving reality to the study of the early years of 
 the Plymouth settlement and also for teaching children 
 where to go to settle a disputed point. I have put the 
 Journal in its antiquated form, as far as spelling and 
 construction are concerned, into the hands of eighth grade 
 pupils with excellent result ; it was gratifying to find that, 
 when two text-books disagreed on some point, the pupils 
 turned at once to Bradford for aid. Several of my stu- 
 dents who, in connection with their course at the Normal 
 School, have taught in the grammar grades of the Worces- 
 ter schools, have brought me testimony as to the assistance 
 they have found in the sources — particularly in connec- 
 tion with colonial history — which they have put into the 
 pupil's hands. 
 
 This series of readers contains sources adapted for use 
 
X Introduction 
 
 in elementary schools, and much study of the ordinary 
 history text-book would fail to do what is so easily done 
 by these selections. Moreover, it is worth while to make 
 children acquainted with some of the people who wrote 
 and from whose works we gain a knowledge of the past. 
 Furthermore, sources cultivate the imagination, because 
 they have the freshness of eye-witnesses, and so vitalize 
 history. 
 
 In the preparation of this volume, dealing as it does 
 with later periods than either of former ones of this series, 
 fewer changes have been made. Occasionally the spell- 
 ing and phrasing have been modified, but in general the 
 selections have not been changed in any particular. The 
 use of this series of Source Readers as a regular reading- 
 book has been explained in the first volume. I shall 
 therefore confine myself to suggestions for the use of this 
 third volume in connection with the formal study of 
 history, a purpose" to which it is well adapted. 
 
 When the Revolution, for instance, is studied, selections 
 I, 2, and 3, rich in allusions to persons of that time, will 
 give an added interest to the work. Then such selections 
 as Brissot de Warville's Visit to Mt. Vernon (No. 15), 
 showing the simplicity of Washington's life, and Jeffer- 
 son's Letters to his Daughters (No. 100) give a different 
 idea of the personality of these men from that gained 
 from the ordinary study of history. The anecdotes of 
 Hancock (No. 5) are of value in the same way, and may 
 also be noted as containing a hint of the feeling regarding 
 State Rights in 1790. 
 
 For illustrating the War of 1812 there is a wealth of 
 material. The Pleasures of Impressment (No. 73) will 
 naturally illustrate the causes of the war, while such 
 events as the capture of the Gucr/-iere can be found both 
 in poetry and in prose, the latter being the official an- 
 
Introductio?i xi 
 
 noLincement. Most children old enough to use this book 
 will probably be familiar with the Star-Spangled Banner 
 (No. 80), but if not, it would be worth while to vary the 
 reading by learning to sing what should be familiar to 
 every grammar school pupil in the countr)^ 
 
 Practically the whole of Part VII should be used in 
 connection with the War of 1S12. Dolly INIadison's letter 
 describing the saving of Washington's portrait (No. 90) 
 deserves especial attention. One can fairly see the impa- 
 tience of jMr. Carroll as he waited while the painting was 
 secured, and can almost hear the tramp of the invading 
 army. Such a selection as this does more to render con- 
 ditions of war vivid than pages of the ordinary text-book. 
 Although there are not many descriptions of battle-fields, 
 two selections are given (Nos. 96 and 97) which show the 
 seamy side of war. It is worth while, sometimes, to let 
 children get a glimpse of some other phase than the 
 heroic. It will be noticed also that testimony from other 
 than American writers has been sought. Extracts have 
 been made from accounts by British officers or sympa- 
 thizers (Nos. 89, 92, 96). It is worth while to call the 
 pupil's attention to this fact. 
 
 Another feature of this book which adapts it for use in 
 history- study is the attention paid to the development of 
 the countr}'. The rude life of one hundred years ago is 
 strikingly presented in Breck's account of the Mad-Caps 
 of Boston (No. 4), while Parts III and IV are rich in con- 
 trasts with present conditions. To the majority of children 
 to-day a Canal Trip (No. 36) is an unknown experience, 
 and those familiar Avith the comforts of the modern steam- 
 ship will enjoy the description of an early steamboat (No. 
 35) and such experiences in ocean travelling as Abigail 
 Adams gives in her letters (No. 72). Moreover, the life 
 described is not confined to our section alone ; it ranges 
 
xii Introductio'n 
 
 from the receptions of prominent men (No. 5) to an 
 account of Philadelphia fashions (No. 6) ; from life in 
 Mexico (No. 9) to that in New York (Nos. 7 and 13) and 
 Philadelphia (No. 8); while foreign conditions are touched 
 upon in such a selection as A Japanese Reception 
 (No. 86). 
 
 Old customs, long since given up, are here brought to 
 the notice of the pupil for the purpose of adding vividness 
 to the life of the past. Especially interesting are such 
 old customs as those described in The Bells (No. 22), and 
 the old method of celebrating New Year's Day in New 
 York (No. 13). The accounts of such people as the 
 Shaking Quakers (No. 19) and the ceremonies at the 
 Moravian schools portrayed in The Children's Love Feast 
 (No. loi) are particularly good because of their unique 
 descriptions. 
 
 Primitive life is closest to a child's understanding: 
 hence the enjoyment of folk-lore, of fairy tale, of adven- 
 ture and struggle on the frontier. The life and customs 
 of the Indians, with specimens of their folk-lore, are found 
 in abundance in Part V, while the craving for stories of 
 adventure may be met with in such selections as the Ex- 
 periences of a Hunter during a Storm (No. 27); Boone's 
 Adventures (No. 49) ; In a Cave (No. 43) ; and Hewitt's 
 Escape from the Indians (No. 60). 
 
 Every teacher finds that stories of child life appeal 
 most strongly to children, and where could a more charm- 
 ing story be found than in Sheldon's Incidents in the Life 
 of a Bound Boy (No. 21), with its pictures of the Thanks- 
 giving festival, the work and play, the food and clothing 
 of a boy who lived over a hundred years ago ? A contrast 
 with this home life may be found in the experiences of a 
 boy at sea (Nos. 75, 82), while the Little Indian Captive 
 (No. 57) will serve to make the dangers of frontier life 
 
Introdtiction xiii 
 
 real, as well as to show a side of Indian character that is 
 seldom portrayed. 
 
 The accounts of school life are rich in contrasts : in 
 the Old Fashioned Reading Book (No. 26) with all its ab- 
 surdities ; in Daniel Webster's account of his school life 
 (No. 108), with its list of books and the confession of his 
 difficulty in making a declamation ; in the picture of the 
 Last Day of School (No. 1 1 1) ; and in the quaint list of 
 books, of branches taught, and the careful attention to 
 manners that the Very Young School Mistress gives 
 (No. 114) there is a wealth of material for making vivid 
 the school life of the early part of the last century. More- 
 over, we have nearly all varieties of school life given, — 
 that in the country (No. 114), at a French convent 
 (No. 116), at a boarding school (No. 115), and at college 
 (Nos. 105, 112). 
 
 It would be worth while to have a class represent in 
 drawings the exterior and interior of the District School 
 of 1833 (No. 109), following the descriptions given. Let 
 me suggest also that a miniature log cabin be built in 
 connection with the study of frontier life (No. 47). I 
 have seen admirable reproductions of the settlement of 
 Plymouth made with the moulding-board and miniature 
 houses, the latter copying as closely as possible the rude 
 houses of those early days. Special topics, suggested by 
 many of these selections, could be assigned to individual 
 pupils who could report to the class. Such work is val 
 uable training both to the one who prepares the subject 
 and to those to whom it is given. The note-book, a neces- 
 sary adjunct to all such study, will be found especially 
 helpful in this work. 
 
 Let me emphasize, as my last point, the fact that this 
 book supplies a need. No grammar school history at- 
 tempts to deal at any length with the life of the people. 
 
xiv httrodiiction 
 
 General, and usually brief, accounts are given, but they 
 lack the reality and the vividness here obtained through 
 the words of the actors themselves. The life of a people 
 is a far more important study, certainly for children, than 
 wars and rumors of wars. 
 
 ANNIE BLISS CHAPMAN. 
 
HOW OUR GRANDFATHERS 
 LIVED 
 
PART 1 
 IN TOWN 
 
 I. An American Lady in London 
 
 Bv Abigail Adams (1785) 
 
 To amuse you then, my dear niece, I will give you st.james = 
 an account of the dress of the ladies at the ball of "^'^^ ^y-^' 
 
 1/— If \ M > • ^^ palace in 
 
 the Comte d Adhemar; as your cousin tells me that London. 
 
 she some time ago gave you a history of the birthday 
 
 and ball at Court, this may serve as a counterpart. 
 
 Though, should I attempt to compare the apartments, 
 
 St. James's would fall as much short of the French 
 
 Ambassador's, as the Court of his Britannic Majesty 
 
 does of the splendor and magnificence of that of his 
 
 Most Christian Majesty. I am sure I never saw an Most chris- 
 
 assembly room in America, which did not exceed that '"^^ Majesty 
 
 o T I • • r 1 ~ King of 
 
 at St. James s m point of elegance and decoration; France, 
 and, as to its fair visitors, not all their blaze of dia- 
 monds, set off with Parisian rouge, can match the 
 blooming health, the sparkling eye, and modest de- 
 portment of the dear girls of my native land. 
 
 As to the dancing, the space they had to move in 
 gave them no opportunity to display the grace of a 
 minuet, and the full dress of long court-trains and 
 enormous hoops, you well know were not favorable 
 
 B I 
 
2 /// Town [No. I 
 
 for country dances, so that I saw them at every dis- 
 advantage ; not so the other evening. They were 
 much more properly clad ; — silk waists, gauze or 
 white or painted tiffany coats decorated with ribbon, 
 beads, or flowers, as fancy directed, were chiefly worn 
 by the young ladies. Hats turned up at the sides 
 with diamond loops and buttons of steel, large bows 
 of ribbons and wreaths of flowers, displayed them- 
 selves to much advantage upon the heads of some of 
 the prettiest girls England can boast. The light 
 from the lustres is more favorable to beauty than 
 daylight, and the color acquired by dancing more 
 becoming than rouge, as fancy dresses are more 
 favorable to youth than the formality of a uniform. 
 
 There was as great a variety of pretty dresses, 
 borrowed wholly from France, as I have ever seen ; 
 and amongst the rest, some with sapphire-blue satin 
 waists, spangled with silver, and laced down the back 
 and seams with silver stripes ; white satin petticoats 
 trimmed with black and blue velvet ribbon ; an odd 
 kind of head-dress, which they term the " helmet of 
 The owl. Minerva." I did not observe the bird of wisdom, 
 however, nor do I know whether those who wore the 
 dress had suitable pretensions to it. 
 
 " And pray," say you, " how were my aunt and 
 cousin dressed .■^ " If it will gratify you to know, you 
 shall hear. Your aunt, then, wore a full-dress court 
 cap without the lappets, in which was a wreath of 
 white flowers, and blue sheafs, two black and blue 
 flat feathers (which cost her half a guinea apiece, 
 but that you need not tell of), three pearl pins, bought 
 for Court, and a pair of pearl earrings, the cost of 
 them — no matter what; less than diamonds, how- 
 ever. A sapphire-blue dcwi-saison with a satin stripe, 
 
A LADY OK THE REPUBLIC. 
 
4- In Town [no. i 
 
 sack and petticoat trimmed with a broad black lace ; 
 crape flounce, etc. ; leaves made of blue ribbon, and 
 trimmed with white floss ; wreaths of black velvet 
 ribbon spotted with steel beads, which are much in 
 fashion, and brought to such perfection as to re- 
 semble diamonds; white ribbon also in the Vandyke 
 style, made up of the trimming, which looked very 
 elegant; a full-dress handkerchief, and a bouquet of 
 roses. " Full gay, I think, for my aunt." That is 
 true, Lucy, but nobody is old in Europe. I was 
 seated next the Duchess of Bedford, who had a 
 scarlet satin sack and coat, with a cushion full of 
 diamonds, for hair she has none, and she is but 
 seventy-six, too. 
 
 Well, now for your cousin ; a small, white Leghorn 
 hat, bound with pink satin ribbon ; a steel buckle and 
 band which turned up at the side, and confined a large 
 pink bow ; a large bow of the same kind of ribbon 
 behind ; a wreath of full-blown roses round the crown, 
 and another of buds and roses withinside the hat, 
 which being placed at the back of the hair, brought 
 the roses to the edge ; you see it clearly ; one red 
 and black feather, with two white ones, completed 
 the head-dress. A gown and coat of Chamberi gauze, 
 with a red satin strijDe over a pink waist, and coat 
 flounced with crape, trimmed with broad point and 
 pink ribbon ; wreaths of roses across the coat ; gauze 
 sleeves and ruffles. But the poor girl was so sick 
 with a cold, that she could not enjoy herself, and we 
 retired about one o'clock without waiting for supper, by 
 Lord North which you have lost half a sheet of paper, I dare say. 
 was prime I cannot closc without describing to you Lady 
 
 minister North and her daughter. She is as large as Captain 
 
 during the " & i 
 
 Revolution. Colton's wife, and much such a woman, with a much 
 
No. 2] Presentation 5 
 
 fuller face, of the color and complexion of Mrs. 
 Colton, who formerly lived with your uncle Palmer, 
 and looks as if porter and beef stood no chance 
 before her ; she was dressed in white satin, trimmed 
 with scarlet ribbon. Miss North is not so large, nor 
 quite so red, but has a very small eye, with the most 
 impudent face you can possibly form an idea of, 
 joined to manners so masculine that I was obliged 
 frequently to recollect that line of Dr. Young's, 
 
 " Believe her dress ; she's not a grenadier," 
 
 to persuade myself that I was not mistaken. 
 
 Thus, my dear girl, you have an account which 
 perhaps may amuse you a little. You must excuse 
 my not copying ; I fear, now, I shall not get nearly 
 all my letters ready, — my pen very bad, as you see ; 
 and I am engaged three days this week, — to a rout 
 at the Baroness de Nolken's, the Swedish minister's, 
 to a ball on Thursday evening, and to a dinner on 
 Saturday. Do not fear that your aunt will become 
 dissipated, or in love with European manners ; but, 
 as opportunity offers, I wish to see this European 
 world in all its forms that I can with decency. I 
 still moralize with Yorick, or with one more expe- 
 rienced, and say, " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." 
 
 2. Presentation at St. James 
 
 By Abigail Adams (1785) 
 
 Congratulate me, my dear sister, it is over. I 
 was too much fatigued to write a line last evening. 
 At two o'clock we went to the circle, which is in the 
 drawing-room of the Queen. We passed through 
 
6 In Town lno. 2 
 
 several apartments, lined as usual with spectators 
 upon these occasions. Upon entering the antecham- 
 ber, the Baron de Lynden, the Dutch Minister, who 
 has been often here, came and spoke with me. A 
 Count Sarsfield, a French nobleman, with whom I 
 was acquainted, paid his compliments. As I passed 
 into the drawing-room. Lord Carmarthen and Sir 
 Clement Cotterel Dormer were presented to me. 
 Though they had been several times here, I had 
 never seen them before. The Swedish and the Polish 
 ministers made their compliments, and several other 
 gentlemen ; but not a single lady did I know until the 
 Countess of Effingham came, who was very civil. 
 
 There were three young ladies, daughters of the 
 Marquis of Lothian, who were to be presented at the 
 same time, and two brides. We were placed in a 
 circle round the drawing-room, which was very full, 
 I believe two hundred persons present. Only think 
 of the task ! The royal family have to go round to 
 every person, and find small talk enough to speak to 
 all of them, though they very prudently speak in a 
 whisper, so that only the person who stands next 
 you can hear what is said. The King enters the 
 room, and goes round to the right ; the Queen and 
 Princesses to the left. The lord in waiting presents 
 you to the King ; and the lady in waiting does the 
 same to her Majesty. 
 King George The King is a personable man, but, my dear sister, 
 he has a certain countenance, which you and I have 
 often remarked ; a red face and white eyebrows. 
 The Queen has a similar countenance, and the numer- 
 ous royal family confirm the observation. Persons 
 are not placed according to their rank in the drawing- 
 room, but promiscuously ; and when the King comes 
 
 111 
 
No. 2] 
 
 Presentation 
 
 1 
 
 in, he takes persons as they stand. When he came 
 to me, Lord Onslow said, " Mrs. Adams ; " upon 
 which I drew off my right-hand glove, and his Maj- 
 esty sahited my left cheek ; then asked me if I had 
 taken a walk to-day. I could have told his Majesty 
 that I had been all the morning preparing to wait 
 upon him; but I replied, "No, Sire." "Why, don't 
 you love walking } " says he. I answered, that I was 
 rather indolent in that re- 
 spect. He then bowed, • ' -, 
 and passed on. 
 
 It was more than two 
 hours after this before it 
 came to my turn to be pre- 
 sented to the Queen. The 
 circle was so large that the 
 company were four hours 
 standing. The Queen 
 was evidently embarrassed 
 when I was presented to 
 her. I had disagreeable 
 feelings too. She, how- 
 ever, said, "Mrs. Adams, 
 have you got into your house .'' Pray, how do you 
 like the situation of it ? " Whilst the Princess Royal 
 looked compassionate, and asked me if I was not 
 much fatigued ; and observed that it was a very full 
 drawing-room. Her sister, who came next. Princess 
 Augusta, after having asked your niece if she was 
 ever in England before, and her answering " Yes," 
 inquired of me how long ago, and supposed it was 
 when she was very young. And all this is said with 
 much affability, and the ease and freedom of old 
 acquaintance. 
 
 PRINCESS AUGUSTA SPINNING. 
 
8 In Town [no. 3 
 
 The manner in which they make their tour round 
 the room is, first, the Queen, the lady in waiting 
 behind her, holding up her train ; next to her, the 
 Princess Royal ; after her, Princess Augusta, and 
 their lady in waiting behind them. They are pretty, 
 rather than beautiful, well shaped, with fair complex- 
 ions, and a look of the King's countenance. The 
 two sisters look much alike; they were both dressed 
 in black and silver silk, with a silver netting upon 
 the coat, and their heads full of diamond pins. The 
 Queen was in purple and silver. She is not well 
 shaped nor handsome. As to the ladies of the Court, 
 rank and title may compensate for want of personal 
 charms ; but they are, in general, very plain, ill- 
 shaped, and ugly ; but don't you tell anybody that 
 I say so. If one wants to see beauty, one must go 
 to Ranelagh ; there it is collected, in one bright con- 
 A pleasure stcllation. There were two ladies very elegant, at 
 garden. Court, — Lady Salisbury and Lady Talbot ; but the 
 
 observation did not in general hold good, that fine 
 feathers make fine birds. I saw many who were 
 vastly richer dressed than your friends, but I will 
 venture to say, that I saw none neater or more 
 elegant. 
 
 3. A Little Patriot and her Papa 
 
 Bv Abigail Adams (1785) 
 
 London, June ist, 1785. To-day my father went 
 with Lord Carmarthen to the Palace, where he found 
 many gentlemen, known to him before. Lord C. 
 introduced him to his majesty, George IIL Papa 
 made his speech when he presented his letter ; his 
 
No. 3] A Little Patriot 9 
 
 majesty was affected, and said, " Sir, your words 
 have been so proper, upon this occasion, that I can- 
 not but say I am gratified that you are the man 
 chosen to be the Minister." 
 
 June 4th. This is the anniversary of his majesty's 
 birth ; consequently there was a Levee at St. James. 
 On this day their majesties speak to every person 
 present. The King speaks first to the Foreign Min- 
 isters. He conversed a quarter of an hour with the 
 Spanish Minister, upon music, of which he said he 
 was passionately fond, particularly of Handel's ; he 
 respected the memory of Handel, for he owed to him 
 the greatest happiness of his life, and observed that 
 Handel had said of him when young " That young 
 man will preserve my music." My father observed 
 that he had never heard anything like conversation 
 at court before. One of the Ambassadors who had 
 attended at the French court thirty years, said Mon- 
 sieur, the king's brother, had asked every time he had 
 been to court, which was generally every Tuesday, 
 " have you come from Paris to-day .'' " and no other 
 question. 
 
 September 2d. About twelve o'clock, Mrs. Smith, 
 from Clapham, and Miss B. called upon us. Mamma 
 was just dressing, so I had to appear. Miss B. began 
 to question me, as to which country I liked best, 
 France or England } I would not give a preference. 
 " But you undoubtedly prefer England to America.''" 
 " I must indeed confess. Miss, that I do not at pres- 
 ent." Was it possible ! I acknowledged the excel- 
 lencies of this country. There was more to please 
 and gratify the senses ; but I had formed such 
 friendships and attachments in America, as would 
 ever render it dear to me. " But surely, the culture 
 
I o In Town [no. 3 
 
 is carried to a much greater degree of perfection here 
 than in America." "Granted." "And you must," 
 said Miss B., very pertly, " iind a great difference 
 between America and this country } " " In what, 
 pray, Miss.''" said I. "Why, in the general appear- 
 ance, in the people, their manners, customs, behavior, 
 and in everything." "Indeed," said I, "I do not; 
 there is so great a similarity in the manners of the 
 people, in the two countries, that I should take them 
 for one. If anything, I find a greater degree of 
 politeness and civility in America, than in the people 
 of this country. And the lower class of people in 
 America are infinitely superior to the lower class of 
 people here." Their astonishment was great — was 
 it possible I could think so ! Surely the distressing 
 war had been an impediment to all improvement and 
 education. 
 
 Dr. Bancroft came in and passed an hour. After 
 he had gone, we had some conversation upon the pic- 
 tures below. Papa said they were spoiled ; he was 
 not at all content with his own, yet thought it the best 
 that had ever been taken of him. No one had yet 
 caught his character. The ruling principles in his 
 moral character, were candor, probity, and decision. 
 I think he discovered more knowledge of himself 
 than usually falls to the lot of man ; for, from my 
 own observation, I think these are characteristic of 
 him ; and I add another, which is sensibility. I have 
 never discovered a greater proportion of candor in 
 any character. I hope if I inherit any of his virtues 
 it may be this; it is a necessary attendant through 
 life. In whatever intercourse we have with society, 
 we find it necessary in a greater or less degree ; and in 
 the mind of a woman, I esteem it particularly amiable. 
 
No. 4] Mad- caps 1 1 
 
 4. Mad-caps 
 
 By Samuel Breck (1787) 
 
 On my journey to Boston I chose the water-con- 
 veyance, and reached my native town on the second 
 of July, 1787, after an absence of four years and a 
 half. I found my dear parents and family well. On 
 the Fourth of July, being a national holiday, there 
 was a great parade on the Common opposite to my 
 father's house, and a vast assemblage at the beautiful 
 residence of the governor of the State, the celebrated 
 John Hancock. This distinguished man lived in a 
 spacious stone house, built by his uncle. My father 
 introduced me to His Excellency and to all the prin- 
 cipal people of the town. Five or six hundred militia- 
 men paraded in rifle-frocks and queer dresses in 
 honor of the day ; a public oration was delivered by 
 Harrison Gray Otis, I believe ; and in the evening 
 squibs and fireworks closed the fete. 
 
 A few weeks after my arrival, and before I had 
 become acquainted with the boisterous manners of 
 the young men of those days, Isaac Parker, the pres- 
 ent chief justice of Massachusetts, invited me to dine 
 with him. He was then a law-student, and the com- 
 pany was composed of lads under age who were pre- The great 
 paring for various pursuits in life. There was more temperance 
 
 , . , movement 
 
 noisy mnth after dinner than was m good taste ; but began about 
 it was the fashion of the day to drink hard and then forty years 
 kick up a row. Parker resided at the north end of 
 the town, and being in the neighborhood of Charles- 
 town, it was agreed by the company to adjourn to a 
 drinking-house on Breed's Hill. Thither we went, a 
 good deal tipsy, making a zigzag course over the 
 
12 In Town [No. 4 
 
 bridge, and ascending the hill by a steep and narrow 
 street. 
 
 I was sober ; most of our party were otherwise, and 
 by their noise and insolence in passing a tailor's 
 house raised the anger of the whole shopboard, who 
 swore they would cuff and trim us, and send us home 
 with a stitch in our sides. Down jumped half a dozen 
 slipshod snips, who threw at our heads glass bottles, 
 stones and other missiles, and after a short contest 
 drove us back to Boston somewhat sobered. Near 
 the concert-hall we met an acquaintance named Minot, 
 who prided himself on his spirit in an affray. We 
 told him what had happened, and such was his rage 
 at our defeat that he went off determined to avenge 
 it. Having reached the bridge, he met two men who 
 smelt of cabbage, as the boys said, and very uncere- 
 moniously asked them where they were going. 
 
 " We are going," said they, " to take out writs against 
 a parcel of wild chaps who have insulted us." " You 
 are.-*" cried Minot. "I am happy to meet you;" 
 and while he spoke he laid one fellow over the head with 
 his cane, which brought him to the ground, and drove 
 the other back to Charlestown ; after which, proud of 
 his victory, he returned home. And so did I, without 
 thinking any more about the business. 
 
 The next morning, however, my father came up to 
 my chamber with a very grave countenance, holding 
 in his hand a newspaper in which our party was lam- 
 pooned in verse and strongly censured in prose. Nor 
 was this the worst. 
 
 "Prepare yourself," said my father, "to pay a 
 heavy fine and spend a few months in prison, for 
 there is a criminal prosecution on foot, which will end 
 in the punishment you all deserve." I soon con- 
 
No. 5] yohn Ha?icock [3 
 
 vinced that excellent parent that I was a non-comba- 
 tant, which was confirmed by my name being omitted 
 in the suit that was brought against all the others, 
 including Sam Minot, the volunteer. They were sum- 
 moned to Concord, about twenty miles from Boston, 
 and condemned to pay twenty dollars each. Minot, 
 some three or four years afterward, I met at Amster- 
 dam, where he had been engaged unsuccessfully, I 
 think, in commerce. He was the same harum- 
 scarum fellow then as before, and died young. 
 Most of the other boys of that frolic who grew up, 
 distinguished themselves in their various walks in life, 
 and those who survive are now the magistrates, legis- 
 lators, fathers and venerable square-toes of the com- 
 munity wherever they reside. 
 
 5. Anecdotes of John Hancock 
 
 By Samuel Breck. (1790) 
 
 At the time when Admiral de Ponderez was lying 
 with his fleet in the harbor of Boston, the great Wash- 
 ington, who was President of the United States, ar- 
 rived in the town. He like a kind father was visiting 
 the vast country he had been called upon to govern. 
 His reception was most cordial. A broad arch was 
 purposely erected, with appropriate mottoes, across 
 Marlborough street, opposite to the old State House, 
 under which he passed in great state, and entering 
 the State House showed himself from the balcony to 
 the thousands who stood below. I placed myself on 
 this occasion in the front window of a handsome brick 
 church situated almost opposite. From that church 
 
14 
 
 In Tt 
 
 own 
 
 [No. 5 
 
 I saw everything, heard the fine anthems composed 
 for the occasion, and gazed upon the majestic person 
 and beneficent features of our immortal and unique 
 President — beloved, admired by everybody. The 
 procession moved from the State House to the house 
 
 selected for his 
 residence. It 
 was a handsome 
 brick building at 
 the corner of 
 Tremont and 
 Court streets. A 
 beautiful com- 
 pany of light 
 infantry, com- 
 manded by Har- 
 rison Gray Otis, 
 served as a 
 guard of honor 
 and escort. 
 
 Governor Han- 
 cock had pre- 
 pared a great 
 dinner at his 
 house, to which 
 he invited the French admiral, the officers of his fleet 
 and the principal citizens. A notion had got into 
 Hancock's head that the governor of a State was a 
 kind of sovereign in his own territory, and that it 
 would be derogatory to his station to pay the first 
 visit to any one, even to the President of the United 
 States ; and acting always by this rule, he sent an 
 invitation to General Washington to dine with him, 
 but excused himself from calling on him, saying that 
 
 TllK llANCiiCK IKiUMv 
 
No. 5] John Hancock 1 5 
 
 sickness detained him at home, thus covering by a 
 lame apology the resohition which he dared not 
 openly exercise toward the President. 
 
 Washington, who had received some hint of this 
 intended etiquette, was not very likely to submit to 
 it ; therefore, when he arrived at his residence he dis- 
 missed Captain Otis's company, and instead of going 
 to dine with the governor, sent his aid-de-camp, 
 Major William Jackson, with a message declining the 
 invitation, and intimating that if Hancock's health 
 permitted him to receive company, it would admit of 
 his visiting him. 
 
 My father dined at the governor's that day, and 
 about sunset brought home Admiral de Ponderez and 
 several officers, who spent the evening with us. The 
 dinner party went off heavily, as every one was disap- 
 pointed at not meetihg with the President. Mean- 
 time, the French ships of war in the harbor were 
 illuminated with variegated lamps, and bonfires 
 blazed in every direction. The ladies wore bandeaux, Bandeaux= 
 cestuses and ribbons stamped and worked in with the fi'ietsforthe 
 
 head. 
 
 name of Washington, some in gold and silver, and cestus= 
 others with pearls. The utmost joy and enthusiastic girdle, 
 affection pervaded all classes. Every honor and atten- 
 tion was lavishly bestowed on the distinguished guest. 
 About ten o'clock in the evening I accompanied 
 the admiral to the wharf, where he took boat for his 
 ship. As we passed the residence of the President, 
 De Ponderez expressed his surprise at the absence of 
 all sort of parade or noise. " What ! " said he, " not 
 even a sentinel.-' In Europe," he added, "a briga- 
 dier-general would have a guard ; and here this great 
 man, the chief of a nation, dispenses with all military 
 show, so much insisted on with us ! " 
 
1 6 In Town [no. 5 
 
 The next day was Sunday, and immediately after 
 morning service Mr, Joseph Russell, an intimate 
 acquaintance of the governor's, called at our house 
 and told my father that His Excellency had swallowed 
 the bitter pill, and was then on his way to visit the 
 President ; to which step he had been urged by a 
 report that people generally condemned his false pride. 
 
 Hancock, who was a distant relation of ours, pos- 
 sessed winning manners and fascinating conversation ; 
 yet with a hospitable heart and all the suavity of pol- 
 ished breeding, he was so much swayed by state im- 
 portance that he forfeited occasionally his claim to 
 those amiable qualities. An example has just been 
 given in the case of Washington ; and a few months 
 later the same thing occurred with the French ambas- 
 sador, Comte de Moustier, who when visiting Boston 
 was not noticed by the governor, because the minister 
 would not pay him the first visit. It may be that the 
 governor was right here, but it was an idle piece of 
 etiquette, which disgusted De Moustier with Boston 
 — so much so that he dined nowhere, I think, except 
 at my father's. 
 
 I remember another occasion on which Hancock 
 showed an unkind feeling toward the general govern- 
 ment, from an idea that it withheld from him that 
 deference which his post of governor of a sovereign 
 state entitled him to. He attached mighty impor- 
 tance to the station of chief magistrate of an indepen- 
 dent state, forgetting that a portion of that lofty 
 character was relinquished when Massachusetts be- 
 came a component part of the Federal Union. His 
 solicitude upon this subject brings to my mind four 
 verses to the tune of " Yankee Doodle " often sung 
 by the British officers during the Revolution : 
 
No. 5] yohn Haficoch 17 
 
 " Madame Hancock dreamt a dream ; 
 She dreamt she wanted something; 
 She dreamt she wanted a Yankee king, 
 To crown him with a pumpkin." 
 
 This official heartburning led him to neglect all those 
 who had anything to do with the Federal govern- 
 ment. Thus it was that a party of Indian chiefs and 
 their squaws who were sent to Boston to see the town 
 were totally unnoticed by him. 
 
 I happened to meet with those children of the 
 woods on a journey from New York to Boston, and 
 spent some time in the same tavern on the road. 
 They travelled in two carriages under the care of 
 Captain Prior of the army. A Mr. d'Hauteville, a 
 Creole French planter, was with me, and we agreed 
 to show some attention to these strangers when they 
 arrived at Boston. Accordingly, we went to see 
 them, and made arrangements to give them a dinner 
 at our lodgings. Expecting that the governor would 
 entertain them, we waited several days. He, how- 
 ever, took no notice of them, and on the appointed 
 day they came to us. Mrs. Eaton's house, where we 
 lodged, was spacious, and /the courtyard was large 
 and retired, and well suited to accommodate the 
 crowd of spectators by which our red guests were 
 followed. Calaviinig coro Jio are the Indian words 
 for " I drink your good health," and they were often 
 repeated that day. After the cloth was removed I 
 asked the chief for a toast. He rose with solemnity 
 and addressed me as follows : " Brother, I divide my 
 toast into three parts. First, I drink reverence to 
 the Great Spirit, our Father in heaven ; secondly, to 
 our Great Father on earth, the President of the 
 United States ; and thirdly, to our travelling father 
 
1 8 /;/ Town [No. e 
 
 and friend, Captain Prior." All this was delivered 
 with suitable emphasis and great gravity in the In- 
 dian language, and translated by the interpreter of 
 the government, who dined with us. They stayed 
 about three hours, and conducted themselves very 
 well, retiring loaded with cigars and reasonably sober 
 for Indians. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 6. Fashions in Philadelphia 
 
 Bv Dolly Madison (1791) 
 
 And now, my dear Anna, we will have done with 
 judges and juries, courts, both martial and partial, 
 and we will speak a little about Philadelphia and 
 the fashions, the beaux. Congress, and the weather. 
 Do I not make a fine jumble of them .? What would 
 Harper or beau Dawson say were they to know it, 
 ha, ha, — mind you laugh herewith me. Philadelphia 
 never was known to be so lively at this season as at 
 present ; for an accurate account of the amusements, 
 I refer you to my letter to your sister Mary. 
 
 I went yesterday to see a doll, which has come 
 from England, dressed to show us the fashions, and 
 I saw besides a great quantity of millinery. Very 
 long trains are worn, and they are festooned up 
 Bobbin= a with loops of bobbin and small covered buttons, 
 kind of trim- the Same as the dress ; you are not confined to any 
 number of festoons, but put them according to your 
 fancy, and you cannot imagine what a beautiful effect 
 it has. There is also a robe which is plaited very 
 far back, open and ruffled down the sides, without a 
 train, even with the petticoat. The hats are quite a 
 different shape from what they used to be : they have 
 
 niing. 
 
No. 6] Fashions in Philadelphia 1 9 
 
 no slope in the crown, scarce any rim, and are turned 
 up at each side, and worn very much on the side of 
 the head. Several of them are made of chipped 
 wood, commonly known as cane hats ; they are all 
 lined : one that has come for Mrs. Bingham is lined 
 with white, and trimmed with broad purple ribbon, 
 
 A GENTLEMAN OF THE REPUBLIC. 
 
 put round in large puffs, with a bow on the left side. 
 The bonnets are all open on the top, through which 
 the hair is passed, either up or down as you fancy, 
 but latterly they wear it more up than down; it is 
 quite out of fashion to frizz or curl the hair, as it 
 is worn perfectly straight. Earrings, too, are very 
 
20 
 
 In Town [No. 7 
 
 fashionable. The waists are worn two inches longer 
 than they used to be, and there is no such thing as 
 long sleeves. They are worn half way above the 
 elbow, either drawn or plaited in various ways, ac- 
 cording to fancy ; they do not wear ruffles at all, 
 and as for elbows, Anna, ours would be alabaster, 
 compared to some of the ladies who follow the 
 fashion ; black or a colored ribbon is pinned round 
 the bare arm, between the elbow and the sleeve. 
 Some new-fashioned slippers for ladies have come 
 made of various colored kid or morocco, with small 
 silver clasps sewed on ; they are very handsome, and 
 make the feet look remarkably small and neat. 
 Everybody thinks the millinery last received the 
 most tasty seen for a long time. 
 
 All our beaux are well ; the amiable Chevalier is 
 perfectly recovered, and handsomer than ever. You 
 can have no idea, my dear girl, what pleasant times 
 I have ; there is the charming Chevalier, the divine 
 Santana, the jolly Vicar, the witty and agreeable 
 Fatio, the black-eyed Lord Henry, the soft, love- 
 making Count, the giggling, foolish Duke, and some- 
 times the modest, good Meclare, who are at our 
 house every day. We have fine riding parties and 
 musical frolics. 
 
 7. A Bride in New York a Hun- 
 dred Years ago 
 
 (1800) 
 
 My head is almost turned, and yet I am very 
 happy. I am enraptured with New York. You 
 cannot imagine anything half so beautiful as Broad- 
 
No. 7] 
 
 Jf^edding Tour 
 
 2 I 
 
 way, and I am sure you would say I was more romantic 
 than ever, if I should attempt to describe the Battery, — 
 the fine water pros- 
 pect, — you can have 
 no idea how refresh- 
 ing in a warm evening. 
 The gardens we have 
 not yet visited ; indeed, 
 we have so many de- 
 hghtful things to see 
 'twill take me forever. 
 My husband declares 
 he takes as much 
 pleasure in showing 
 them to me as I do 
 in seeing them ; you 
 would believe it if 
 you saw him. 
 
 I went shopping 
 yesterday, and 'tis a 
 fact that the Httle 
 white satin Quaker 
 bonnets, cap-crowns, 
 lined with pink or blue 
 or white, are the most 
 fashionable that are worn. But I'll not have one, for 
 if any of my old acquaintance should meet me in the 
 street, they would laugh : I would if I were they. 
 
 I have been to two of the Columbia gardens, near 
 the Battery, a most romantic place, it is enclosed in 
 a circular form and has little rooms and boxes all 
 around, with chairs and tables, these full of company ; 
 the trees are all hung with lamps, twinkling thtough 
 the branches ; in the centre is a pretty little building 
 
 A bride's bonnet. 
 
2 2 In Town [No. 7 
 
 with a fountain playing continually, and the rays of 
 the lamps on the drops of water gave it a cool 
 sparkling appearance that was delightful. This lit- 
 tle building, which has a kind of canopy and pillars 
 all around the garden, had festoons of colored lamps, 
 that at a distance looked like large brilliant stars 
 seen through the branches ; and placed all around 
 were marble busts, beautiful little figures of Diana, 
 Cupid and Venus, which by the glimmering of the 
 lamps, partly concealed by the foliage, give you an 
 idea of enchantment. 
 
 As we strolled through the trees, we passed a box 
 that Miss Watts was in. She called to us, and we 
 went in, and had a charming refreshing glass of ice 
 cream, which has chilled me ever since. They have 
 a fine orchestra and have concerts here sometimes. 
 
 We went on toward the Battery. This is a large 
 promenade by the shore of the North River : there 
 are rows and clusters of trees in every part, and a 
 large walk along the shore, almost over the water, 
 gives you such a fresh delightful air, that every even- 
 ing in summer it is crowded with company. Here, 
 too, they have music playing in boats on the water 
 of a moonlight night. 
 
 I am in raptures, as you may imagine, and if I had 
 not grown sober before I came to this wonderful 
 place, it would have turned my head. 
 
No. 8] Philadelphia Streets 2 3 
 
 Piastre = 
 dollar. 
 
 8. Philadelphia Streets in 1802 
 
 By Dr. Francois Andre Michaud (1802) 
 
 I QUITTED New York on the 8th of June, 1802, for 
 Philadelphia. The distance is one hundred miles. 
 The stages perform this journey, some in one day, 
 and some in a day and a half. The price is five 
 piastres for each person. At the taverns where the 
 stages stop, one piastre is paid for dinner, half a 
 one for supper or breakfast, and the same for a bed. 
 The whole of the interval which separates these 
 two cities is cultivated, and the farms adjoin each 
 other. Nine miles from New York is Newark, a 
 very pretty little town, in New Jersey. The fields 
 with which it is surrounded, are planted with apple 
 trees : the cider made here is reckoned the best in 
 the United States, but I think it greatly inferior to 
 what is drank at Saint Loo, Coutances, or Bayeux. 
 Among the other small towns met with on this road 
 is Trenton. Its situation on the Delaware, and the 
 beautiful country around it must render it a delight- 
 ful retreat. 
 
 Philadelphia is situated on the Delaware, one hun- 
 dred and twenty miles from the sea. It is at present 
 the largest, the handsomest, and the most populous 
 city of the United States. There is not perhaps one 
 on the old continent built on so regular a plan. Its 
 streets, which intersect each other at right angles, are 
 from forty-five to fifty feet wide, exxept that in the The present 
 middle of the city which is twice that breadth. In it 
 is built the market which is worthy of notice for its 
 extent and the extreme neatness preserved in it. It 
 is in the centre of the city, and occupies about one- 
 
 French 
 
 towns. 
 
24 I^ Town [No. 9 
 
 third of its length. The streets are paved, and are 
 provided with broad bricked footways. Pumps, placed 
 on each side of them at about one hundred yards from 
 each other, supply an abundance of water. Each of 
 them has a lamp on its top. Several of the streets 
 have Italian poplars of a very handsome appearance 
 planted before the houses. 
 
 The population of Philadelphia is constantly in- 
 creasing : in 1 749, there were 1 1 ,ooo inhabitants ; in 
 1785, 40,000; and, at present, the number is esti- 
 mated at 70,000. The few negroes found here are 
 free, and are mostly employed as domestics. Provi- 
 sions are a little cheaper at Philadelphia than at New 
 York ; the charge for boarding is, consequently, only 
 from six to ten piastres a week. In Philadelphia we 
 do not meet with any beggars, or any person bearing 
 the stamp of misery in his countenance ; this dis- 
 tressing sight, so common in the cities of Europe, is 
 unknown in America ; the love of and the necessity 
 for work, the scarcity of hands, the high price of 
 labour, an active commerce, just ideas — all these are 
 causes which oppose the introduction of mendicity, 
 either in the towns or in the country. 
 
 9. Society in Mexico 
 
 By Major Zebulon Pike (1806) 
 
 For hospitality, generosity, docility, and sobriety, 
 the people of New Spain exceed any nation perhaps 
 on the globe : but in national energy, or patriotism, 
 enterprise of character, and independence of soul, 
 they are perhaps the most deficient. Yet there are 
 
No. 9] Society in Mexico 
 
 25 
 
 men who have displayed bravery to a surprizing 
 degree, and the Europeans who are there, cherish 
 with dehght the idea of their gallant ancestry. Their 
 women have black eyes and hair, fine teeth, and are 
 generally brunettes. I met but one exception to this 
 rule at Chihuahua, a fair lady, and she by way of 
 distinction was called the girl with light hair. Their 
 dresses are generally short jackets and petticoats, and 
 high-heel shoes, without any head dress : over this 
 they have a silk wrapper which they always wear, 
 and when in the presence of men affect to bring it 
 over their faces ; but as we approached the Atlantic 
 and our frontiers, we saw several ladies who wore the 
 gowns of our country women, which they conceive to 
 be more elegant than their ancient costume. 
 
 The lower class of the men are generally dressed 
 in broad-brimmed hats, short coats, large waistcoats 
 and small clothes, always open at the knees, owing, I 
 suppose, to the greater freedom it gives to the limbs 
 on horseback, a kind of leather boot or wrapper 
 bound round the leg, somewhat in the manner of our 
 
 fi^^m^ 
 
 ■^■^c^:^'^'^^'^ 
 
 
 A SPANISH MISSION CHURCH. 
 
2 6 /;/ Tow?i [No. 9 
 
 frontier men's leggins, and gartered on. The boot 
 
 is of a soft pliable leather, but not coloured. In the 
 
 eastern provinces the dragoons wear over this wrap- 
 
 Gaffs=the per a sort of jack-boot made of seal leather, to which 
 
 metal points ^j.^ fastened the spurs by a rivet, the gaffs of which 
 
 on a spur. . ^ ."',., , ,. , 
 
 are sometnnes near an mch m length. But the spurs 
 of the gentlemen and officers, although clumsy to our 
 ideas, are frequently ornamented with raised silver 
 work on the shoulders, and the strap embroidered 
 with silver and gold thread. 
 
 They are always ready to mount their horses, on 
 which the inhabitants of the internal provinces spend 
 nearly half the day. This description will apply gen- 
 erally for the dress of all the men of the provinces 
 for the lower class, but in the towns, amongst the 
 more fashionable ranks, they dress after the Euro- 
 pean or United States mode, with not more distinc- 
 tion than we see in our cities from one six months to 
 another. Both men and women have remarkably 
 fine hair, and pride themselves in the display of it. 
 
 Their amusements are music, singing, dancing, and 
 . gambling ; the latter is strictly prohibited, but the 
 prohibition is not much attended to. The dance is 
 performed by one man and two women, who beat 
 time to the music, which is soft, but sometimes 
 changes to a lively gay air. The fandango is danced 
 in various figures and numbers. The minuet is still 
 danced by the superior class only ; the music made 
 use of is the guitar and violin, and singers accompany 
 the music with their hands and voices. 
 
 Their games are cards, billiards, horse-racing, and 
 cock-fighting, the first and last of which are carried 
 to the most extravagant lengths, the parties losing 
 and winning immense sums. The j^resent Com man- 
 
No. 9] Society in Mexico 27 
 
 dant-General is very severe with his officers in these 
 respects, frequently sending them to some frontier 
 jiost, in confinement for months, for no other fault 
 than having lost large sums at play. 
 
 At every town of consequence is a public walk, 
 where the ladies and gentlemen meet and sing songs, 
 which are always on the subject of love, or the social 
 board. The ladies have fine voices, and sing in 
 French, Italian, and Spanish, the whole company 
 joining in the chorus. In their houses the ladies play 
 on the guitar, and generally accompany it with their 
 voices. They either sit down on the carpet cross- 
 legged, or loll on a sofa. To sit upright in a chair 
 ai)i)eared to put them to great inconvenience, and 
 although the better class would sometimes do it on 
 our first introduction, they soon demanded liberty to 
 follow their old habits. 
 
 In their eating and drinking they are remarkably 
 temperate. Early in the morning you receive a dish 
 of chocolate and a cake ; at twelve you dine on sev- 
 eral dishes of meat, fowls, and fish ; after which you 
 have a variety of confectionary, and indeed an elegant 
 dessert : then drink a few glasses of wine, sing a few 
 songs, and retire to take the siesta, or afternoon nap, 
 which is done by rich and poor; and about two 
 o'clock the windows and doors are all closed, the 
 streets deserted, and the stillness of midnight reigns 
 throughout. About four o'clock they rise, wash, and 
 dress, and prepare for the dissipation of the night. 
 About eleven o'clock some refreshments are offered, 
 but few take any, except a little wine and water and 
 a little candied sugar. 
 
 The beggars of the City of Mexico alone are esti- 
 mated at sixtv thousand souls ; what must be the 
 
2 8 In Town [No. io 
 
 number through the whole kingdom ? And to what 
 reason can it be owing, that, in a country superior to 
 any in the world for riches in gold and silver, produc- 
 ing all the necessaries of life, and most of its luxuries, 
 there should be such a vast proportion of the inhabit- 
 ants in want of bread and clothing ? It can only be 
 accounted for by the tyranny of the government, and 
 the luxuries of the rich : the government striving by 
 all the local restrictions possible to be invented, with- 
 out absolutely driving the people to desperation, to 
 keep Spanish America dependent on Europe. 
 
 IO. Anecdotes of Daniel Webster 
 
 By Josiah Quincy (1826) 
 
 On Friday, February 17, 1820, I find an account of 
 a dinner at Mr. Webster's. The occasion was abso- 
 lutely informal and very pleasant. Webster carved 
 the beef and was in a charming humor. He told 
 some good lawyer's stories, and gave us a graphic 
 account of the burning of his house in Portsmouth, 
 in the winter of 18 13. "Though I was in Washing- 
 ton at the time," he said, " I believe I know more 
 about the fire than many who were actively at work 
 on the spot. Besides, here is Mrs. Webster, who was 
 burned out. She will correct me if I am wrong." 
 He told us that all he possessed in the world was 
 lost, there being no insurance upon house or furniture ; 
 but as more than two hundred buildings were con- 
 sumed in the fire, some of them belonging to those 
 less able to make a living than himself, he felt he had 
 no right to murmur. He was, nevertheless, troubled 
 
No. loj Daniel Webster 2 9 
 
 about the loss of his library. His books were full of 
 notes and associations, and could not be replaced. 
 
 The sweet and playful manner of Webster is fixed 
 indelibly upon my memory. That manner I cannot 
 give, and it was everything. He was on the happiest 
 terms with the world, which had crowned him with its 
 choicest blessing, and stood forth in all respects as an 
 example and a hero among men. 
 
 The conversation was running upon the importance 
 of doing small things thoroughly and with the full 
 measure of one's ability. This Webster illustrated 
 by an account of some petty insurance case that was 
 brought to him when a young lawyer in Portsmouth. 
 Only a small amount was involved, and a twenty- 
 dollar fee was all that was promised. He saw that, 
 to do his clients full justice, a journey to Boston, to 
 consult the Law Library, would be desirable. He 
 would be out of pocket by such an expedition, and 
 for his time he would receive no adequate compensa- 
 tion. After a little hesitation, he determined to do 
 his very best, cost what it might. He accordingly 
 went to Boston, looked up the authorities, and gained 
 the case. Years after this, Webster, then famous, 
 was passing through New York. An important 
 insurance case was to be tried the day after his 
 arrival, and one of the counsel had been suddenly 
 taken ill. Money was no object, and Webster was 
 begged to name his terms and conduct the case. " I 
 told them," said Mr. Webster, "that it was pre- 
 posterous to expect me to prepare a legal argument 
 at a few hours' notice. They insisted, however, that 
 I should look at the papers ; and this, after some 
 demur, I consented to do. Well, it was my old 
 twenty-dollar case over again, and, as I never forget 
 
3 o In Town [nc. io 
 
 anything, I had all the authorities at my fingers' 
 ends. The court knew that I had no time to pre- 
 pare, and were astonished at the range of my acquire- 
 ments. So, you see, I was handsomely paid both in 
 fame and money for that journey to Boston ; and the 
 moral is, that good work is rewarded in the end, 
 though, to be sure, one's own self-approval should be 
 enough." 
 
 I may be pardoned for taking from my journal of 
 later date another after-dinner story which I heard 
 Mr. Webster tell with great dramatic effect. One of 
 the party mentioned that a president of one of the 
 Boston banks had that morning redeemed a counter- 
 feit bill for fifty dollars, never doubting that his signa- 
 ture upon it was genuine. This incident led to a 
 discussion of the value of expert testimony in regard 
 to writing, the majority of our company holding it in 
 little esteem. Mr. Webster then came to the defence 
 of this sort of testimony, saying that he had found it 
 of much value, although experts were like children 
 who saw more than they were able to explain to 
 others. " And this reminds me," he said, " of my 
 story of the tailor. It was a capital case that was 
 being tried, and the tailor's testimony was very im- 
 portant. He had been called to prove that he made 
 a certain coat for the criminal ; and he swore to the 
 fact stoutly. Upon cross-examination he was asked 
 how he knew that the coat was his work. ' Why, 
 I know it by my stitches, of course.' ' Are your 
 stitches longer than those of other tailors.-'' 'Oh, 
 no ! ' ' Well, then, are they shorter .? ' ' Not a bit 
 shorter.' ' Anything peculiar about them .? ' ' Well, 
 I don't believe there is.' ' Then how do you dare to 
 come here and swear that they are yours .■' ' This 
 
No. ii] Turkeys hooting 3 1 
 
 seemed to be a poser, but the witness met it trium- 
 phantly. Casting a look of contempt upon his ex- 
 aminer, the tailor raised both hands to heaven and 
 exclaimed, ' Good Lord ! as if I didn't know my own 
 stitches ! ' The jury believed him, and they were 
 right in doing so. The fact is, we continually build 
 our judgment upon details too fine for distinct cog- 
 nizance. And these nice shades of sensibility are 
 trustworthy, although we can give no good account 
 of them. We can swear to our stitches, notwith- 
 standing they seem to be neither longer nor shorter 
 than those of other people." 
 
 II. A Kentucky Marksman 
 
 By Josiah Quincy (1826) 
 
 I KNEW Larz Anderson, of Cincinnati, well in col- 
 lege, and remember when he arrived in Cambridge, 
 a small, flaxen-haired boy, accompanied by two com- 
 panions from the distant West. They had come all 
 the way from Kentucky on horseback, their effects 
 being borne in saddle-bags behind the riders. There 
 was no public conveyance, the roads were execrable, 
 and this manly mode of travelling was then the only 
 way of getting to Harvard. 
 
 Oxford Street, in Cambridge, is at present a very 
 decorous thoroughfare, not at all adapted to the wild 
 sport of turkey-shooting, for which purpose the 
 ground it occupies was used when I was in college. 
 We stood with our backs to the site of Memorial Hall, 
 and discharged rifles, at long range, at a turkey 
 which was dimly discernible in the distance. A small 
 
32 
 
 In Town 
 
 [No. II 
 
 fee was demanded for the privilege of shooting, and 
 the turkey was to be given to any one who could hit 
 it. But, except for some chance shot, like that made 
 by Mr. TujDman when out rook-shooting, it was safe 
 to predict that nobody would hit it. The usual end 
 of a Harvard turkey-shooting was the departure of 
 the proprieter of the turkeys with all his birds and 
 all our sixpences. Still there was the excitement of 
 a lottery about it, if nothing else. The ball, if dis- 
 charged, must strike somewhere ; and, if so, why 
 might it not happen to strike the turkey .'' The logic 
 was simply irresistible. A fowl of that size would 
 be a most desirable addition to the meagre fare fur- 
 nished by the college commons ; and so the rifles 
 cracked, with small result to the students and splen- 
 did profits to the turkey-man. One day a little tow- 
 headed fellow appeared on the field, and desired to 
 take part in the sport. Though he seemed almost 
 too young to be trusted with a rifle, the master of the 
 
 fowls (foreseeing future 
 gains) was quite willing 
 he should try. He must 
 first receive proper in- 
 structions about the hold- 
 ing and pointing of his 
 piece, and then there 
 would really be no dan- 
 ger. Young Larz re- 
 ceived the directions 
 with great good nature, 
 raised the rifle, and down 
 went the turkey. The 
 man stared in amaze- 
 ment, and then broke 
 
 A WILD TUKKEY. 
 
No. 12] A Runaway 3 3 
 
 into a smile. " Try it again, young one," said he. 
 "'Most any one can throw sixes once, you know." 
 Another bird was procured, the ball flew to the mark 
 with the same result, and a second turkey was added 
 to the banquet upon which his friends would regale. 
 " Well, where in " — the United States, let us call 
 it — " did you come from t " exclaimed the master of 
 fowls, who began to realize that his occupation was 
 gone. 
 
 " I came from the State of Kentucky, sir," answered 
 Larz Anderson, proudly ; " and next time you meet a 
 gentleman from that State, just remember there's not 
 much you can tell him about a rifle. That's all." 
 
 12. The Little Boy that ran away 
 from Providence 
 
 By Lydia Maria Child (1842) 
 
 Doctor Hawkins of Boston, coming home to 
 dine one day found a very bright-looking handsome 
 mulatto on the steps, apparently about seven or eight 
 years old. As he opened the door, the boy glided in, 
 as if it were his home. "What do vou want .'* " said 
 the doctor. The child looked up with smiling con- 
 fidence, and answered, " I am a little boy that ran 
 away from Providence ; and I want some dinner ; 
 and I thought maybe you would give me some." His 
 radiant face, and child-like freedom worked like a 
 charm. He had a good dinner, and remained several 
 days, becoming more and more the pet of the whole 
 household. He said he had been cruelly treated by 
 
34 I^ Town [No. 12 
 
 somebody in Providence, and had run away ; but the 
 people he described could not be found. The doctor 
 thought it would not do to have him growing up in 
 idleness, and he tried to find a place where he could 
 run of errands, clean knives, &c. for his living. An 
 hour after this was mentioned, the boy was missing. 
 In a few weeks, they heard of him in the opposite 
 part of the city, sitting on a door-step at dinner-time. 
 When the door opened, he walked in, smiling, and 
 said, " I am a little boy that ran away from Provi- 
 dence ; and I want some dinner, and I thought maybe 
 you would give me some." He was not mistaken this 
 time either. The heart that trusted so completely 
 received a cordial welcome. After a time, it was 
 again proposed to find some place at service ; and 
 straightway this human butterfly was off, no one 
 knew whither. 
 
 For several months no more was heard of him. 
 But one bright winter day, his first benefactor found 
 him seated on the steps of a house in Beacon-street. 
 " Why, Tom, where did you come from .? " said he. 
 " I came from Philadelphia." " How upon earth did 
 you get here .-' " " I heard folks talk about New- York, 
 and I thought I should Hke to see it. So I went on 
 board a steamboat ; and when it put off, the captain 
 asked me who I was ; and I told him that I was a 
 little boy that ran away from Providence, and I 
 wanted to go to New-York, but I hadn't any money. 
 'You little rascal,' says he, ' I'll throw you overboard.' 
 ' I don't believe you will,' said I ; and he didn't. I 
 told him I was hungry, and he gave me something to 
 eat, and made up a nice little bed for me. When I 
 got to New-York, I went and sat down on a door-step ; 
 and when the gentleman came home to dinner, I 
 
No. 12] A Runaway 3 5 
 
 went in, and told him that I was a little boy that ran 
 away from Providence, and I was hungry. So they 
 gave me something to eat, and made up a nice little 
 bed for me, and let me stay there. But I wanted to 
 see Philadelphia ; so I went into a steam-boat ; and 
 when they asked me who I was, I told them that I 
 was a little boy that ran away from Providence. They 
 said I had no business there, but they gave me an 
 orange. When I got to Philadelphia, I sat down on 
 a door-step, and when the gentleman came home to 
 dinner, I told him I was a little boy that ran away 
 from Providence, and I thought perhaps he would 
 give me something to eat. So they gave me a good 
 dinner, and made me up a nice little bed. Then I 
 wanted to come back to Boston ; and every body gave 
 me something to eat, and made me up a nice little 
 bed. And I sat down on this door-step, and when the 
 lady asked me what I wanted, I told her I was a little 
 boy that ran away from Providence, and I was hungry. 
 So she gave me something to eat, and made me up a 
 nice little bed ; and I stay here, and do her errands 
 sometimes. P^very body is very good to me, and I 
 like every body." 
 
 He looked up with the most sunny gaiety, and 
 striking his hoop as he spoke, went down the street 
 like an arrow. He disappeared soon after, probably 
 in quest of new adventures. I have never heard of 
 him since : and sometimes a painful fear passes 
 through my mind that the kidnappers, prowling 
 about all our large towns, have carried him into 
 slavery. 
 
36 In Town [No. 13 
 
 13. New Years Day in New York 
 
 By Lydia Maria Child (1842) 
 
 New York welcomes the new year, in much the 
 same style that she does every thing else. She is 
 not prone, as the Quakers say, "to get into the still- 
 ness," to express any of her emotions. Such a hub- 
 bub as was kept up on the night of the 31st, I never 
 heard. Such a firing out of the old year, and such a 
 firing in of the new ! Fourth of July in Boston is 
 nothing compared to it. The continual discharge of 
 guns and pistols prevented my reading or writing in 
 peace, and I took refuge in bed ; but every five min- 
 utes a lurid flash darted across the walls, followed 
 by the hateful crash of fire-arms. If any good thing 
 is expressed by that sharp voice, it lies beyond the 
 power of my imagination to discover it ; why men 
 should choose it for the utterance of joy, is more than 
 I can tell. 
 
 The racket of these powder-devilkins kept me 
 awake till two o'clock. At five, I was roused by a 
 stout Hibernian voice, almost under my window, 
 shouting " Pa-ther ! Pa-ther ! " Peter did not an- 
 swer, and off went a pistol. Upon this, Peter was 
 fain to put his head out of the window, and inquire 
 what was wanted. " A bright New Year to ye, 
 Pa-ther. Get up and open the door." 
 
 The show in the shop-windows, during the week 
 between Christmas and New Year's, was splendid, I 
 assure you. All that Parisian taste, or English skill 
 could furnish, was spread out to tem}:)t the eye. How 
 I did want the wealth of Rothschild, that I might 
 make all the world a present, and then, methinks, I 
 
 1 
 
No. 13] 
 
 Old New York 
 
 37 
 
 could still long for another world to endow. The 
 happiness of Heaven must consist in loving and giv- 
 ing. What else is there worth living for.'' I have 
 often involuntarily applied to myself a remark made 
 by Madam Roland. " Reflecting upon what part I 
 was fitted to perform in the world," says she, " I could 
 never think of any that quite satisfied me, but that 
 of Divine Providence." To some this may sound 
 
 NEW YORK IN 182O. 
 
 blasphemous ; it was however merely the spontane- 
 ous and child-like utterance of a loving and liberal 
 soul. 
 
 In New York, they observe this festival after the 
 old Dutch fashion ; and the Dutch, you know, were 
 famous lovers of good eating. No lady, that is a 
 lady, will be out on the streets on the first of Janu- 
 ary. Every woman, that is "anybody," stays at 
 
38 
 
 In Town [No. 13 
 
 home, dressed in her best, and by her side is a table 
 covered with cakes, preserves, wines, oysters, hot 
 coffee, &c. ; and as every gentleman is in honour 
 bound to call on every lady, whose acquaintance 
 he does not intend to cut, the amount of eating and 
 drinking done by some fashionable beaux must of 
 course be very considerable. The number of calls is 
 a matter of pride and boasting among ladies, and 
 there is, of course, considerable rivalry in the magnifi- 
 cence and variety of the eating tables. This custom 
 is eminently Dutch in its character, and will pass 
 away before a higher civilization. 
 
 To furnish forth this treat, the shops vied with 
 each other to the utmost. Confectionery abounded 
 in the shape of every living thing ; beside many 
 things nowhere to be found, not even among gnomes, 
 or fairies, or uncouth merrows of the sea. Cakes 
 were of every conceivable shape — pyramids, obe- 
 lisks, towers, pagodas, castles, &c. Some frosted 
 loaves nestled lovingly in a pretty basket of sugar 
 eggs ; others were garlanded with flowers, or sur- 
 mounted by cooing doves, or dancing cupids. Alto- 
 gether, they made a pretty show in Broadway — too 
 pretty — since the object was to minister to heartless 
 vanity, or tempt a sated appetite. 
 
 There is one lovely feature in this annual festival. 
 It is a season when all past neglect, all family feuds, 
 all heart-burning and estrangement among friends 
 may be forgotten and laid aside for ever. They who 
 have not spoken for years may renew acquaintance, 
 without any unpleasant questions asked, if they sig- 
 nify a wish to do so by calling on the first of January. 
 
No. 14] House-cleaning 3 9 
 
 14. House-cleaning 
 
 By Franxis HopKixsoN (1785) 
 
 When a young couple are about to enter on the 
 matrimonial state, a never failing article in the 
 marriage treaty is, that the lady shall have and enjoy 
 the free and unmolested exercise of the rights of 
 white-washing, with all its ceremonials, privileges, 
 and appurtenances. You will wonder what this 
 privilege of white-washing is. I will endeavour to 
 give you an idea of the ceremony, as I have seen it 
 performed. 
 
 There is no season of the year in which the lady 
 may not, if she pleases, claim her privilege ; but the 
 latter end of May is generally fixed upon for the 
 purpose. The attentive husband may judge by cer- 
 tain prognostics, when the storm is nigh at hand. 
 If the lady grows uncommonly fretful, finds fault with 
 the servants, is discontented with the children, and 
 complains much of the nastiness of everything about 
 her : these are symptoms which ought not to be neg- 
 lected, yet they sometimes go off without any further 
 effect. But if, when the husband rises in the morn- 
 ing, he should observe in the yard, a wheelbarrow, 
 with a quantity of lime in it, or should see certain 
 buckets filled with a solution of lime in water, there 
 is no time for hesitation. He immediately locks up 
 the apartment or closet where his papers, and private 
 property are kept, and putting the key in his pocket, 
 betakes himself to flight. A husband, however be- 
 loved, becomes a perfect nuisance during this season 
 of feminine rage. His authority is superseded, his 
 commission suspended, and the very scullion who 
 
40 In Town [no. m 
 
 cleans the brasses in the kitchen becomes of more 
 importance than him. He has nothing for it but 
 to abdicate, for a time, and run from an evil which 
 he can neither prevent nor modify. 
 
 The husband gone, the ceremony begins. The 
 walls are stripped of their furniture — paintings, 
 prints, and looking-glasses lie in huddled heaps 
 about the floors : the curtains are torn from their 
 testers, the beds crammed into windows, chairs and 
 tables, bedsteads and cradles crowd the yard ; and 
 the garden fence bends beneath the weight of car- 
 pets, blankets, cloth cloaks, old coats, under-petti- 
 coats, and ragged breeches. 
 
 This ceremony completed, and the house thor- 
 oughly evacuated, the next operation is to smear the 
 walls and ceilings with brushes, dipped in a solution 
 of lime called white-wash ; to pour buckets of water 
 over every floor, and scratch all the partitions and 
 wainscoats with hard brushes, charged with soft 
 soap and stone-cutter's sand. 
 
 The windows by no means escape the general 
 Pent-house= dcluge. A servant scrambles out upon the pent- 
 a shed or housc, at the risk of her neck, and with a mug in 
 projecting her hand, and a bucket within reach, dashes innu- 
 from the mcrablc gallons of water against the glass panes, 
 
 main wall or , , , , r • ^.u i. «. 
 
 buiidin<r. ^o the great annoyance of passengers in the street. 
 I have been told that an action at law was once 
 brought against one of these water nymphs, by a 
 person who had a new suit of clothes spoiled by this 
 operation : but after long argument it was deter- 
 mined, that no damages could be awarded ; inas- 
 much as the defendant was in the exercise of a legal 
 right, and not answerable for the consequences. 
 And so the poor gentleman was doubly non-suited ; 
 
No. 14] House- cleaning 4 1 
 
 for he lost both his suit of clothes and his suit at 
 law. 
 
 These smearings and scratchings, these washings 
 and dashings, being duly performed, the next cere- 
 monial is to cleanse and replace the distracted fur- 
 niture. You may have seen a house-raising, or a 
 ship-launch — recollect, if you can, the hurry, bustle, 
 confusion, and noise of such a scene, and you will 
 have some idea of this cleansing match. The mis- 
 fortune is, that the sole object is to make things 
 clean. It matters not how many useful, ornamen- 
 tal, or valuable articles suffer mutilation or death 
 under the operation. A mahogany chair and a 
 carved frame undergo the same discipline : they are 
 to be made clean at all events ; but their preserva- 
 tion is not worthy of attention. For instance : a fine 
 large engraving is laid flat upon the floor ; a number 
 of smaller prints are piled upon it, until the super- 
 incumbent weight cracks the lower glass — but this 
 is of no importance. A valuable picture is placed 
 leaning against the sharp corner of a table ; others 
 are made to lean against that, till the pressure of the 
 whole forces the corner of the table through the 
 canvas of the first. The frame and glass of a fine 
 print are to be cleaned ; the spirit and oil used on 
 this occasion are suffered to leak through and deface 
 the engraving — no matter ! If the glass is clean 
 and the frame shines it is sufficient — the rest is not 
 worthy of consideration. An able arithmetician hath 
 made a calculation, founded on long experience, and 
 proved that the losses and destruction incident to 
 two white-washings are equal to one removal and 
 three removals equal to one fire. 
 
 This cleansing frolic over, matters begin to resume 
 
42 In Town [no. 14 
 
 their pristine appearance ; the storm abates, and all 
 would be well again : but it is impossible that so 
 great a convulsion in so small a community should 
 pass over without producing some consequences. 
 For two or three weeks after the operation, the fam- 
 ily are usually afflicted with sore eyes, sore throats, 
 or severe colds, occasioned by exhalations from wet 
 floors and damp walls. 
 
PART/ II 
 
 IN THE COUNTRY 
 
 15. A Visit to Mount Vernon 
 
 By Brissot de Warville (1788) 
 
 I HASTENEp to arrive at Mount Vernon, the scat of 
 General Washington, ten miles below Alexandria on 
 the same river. On this route you traverse a consider- 
 able wood, and after having passed over two hills, 
 you discover a country house of an elegant and 
 majestic simplicity. It is preceded by grass plats; 
 on one side of the avenue aVe the stables, on the 
 other a green-house, and houses for a number of 
 negro mechanics. In a spacibus back yard are 
 turkies, geese, and other poultry. This house 
 overlooks the Potowmack, enjoys an extensive pros- 
 pect, has a vast and elevated portico on the front 
 next the river, and a convenient distribution of the 
 apartments within. 
 
 The General came home in the evening, fatigued 
 with having been to lay out a new road in some part 
 of his plantations. You have often heard him com- The Roman 
 pared to Cincinnatus ; the comparison is doubtless 
 just. This celebrated General is nothing more at power to 
 present than a good farmer, constantly occupied in return tohis 
 the care of his farm and the improvement of culti- 
 
 45 
 
 Dictator who 
 gave up his 
 
+6 
 
 In the Country 
 
 [No. 15 
 
 vation. He has lately built a barn, one hundred 
 feet in length and considerably more in breadth, 
 destined to receive the productions of his farm, and 
 to shelter his cattle, horses, asses, and mules. It is 
 built on a plan sent him by that famous English 
 farmer, Arthur Young. But the General has much 
 improved the plan. 
 
 THE BANQUET HALL AT MOUNT VERNON. 
 
 This building is in brick, it cost but three hundred 
 pounds ; I am sure in France it would have cost 
 three thousand. He planted this year eleven hun- 
 dred bushels of potatoes. All this is new in Vir- 
 ginia, where they know not the use of barns, and 
 where they lay up no provisions for their cattle. 
 His three hundred negroes are distributed in differ- 
 ent log houses, in different parts of his plantation, 
 which in this neighbourhood consists of ten thousand 
 acres. Colonel Humphreys, that poet of whom I have 
 spoken, assured me that the General possesses, in 
 
No. i5] 
 
 T/ie Settler 
 
 M 
 
 different parts of the country, more than two hundred 
 thousand acres. 
 
 Every thing has an air of simpHcity in his house ; 
 his table is good, but not ostentatious ; and no devi- 
 ation is seen from regularity and domestic economy. 
 Mrs. Washington superintends the whole, and joins 
 to the qualities of an excellent house-wife, that simple 
 dignity which ought to characterize a woman, whose 
 husband has acted the greatest part on the theatre 
 of human affairs ; while she possesses that amenity, 
 and manifests that attention to strangers, which ren- 
 der hospitality so charming. The same virtues are 
 conspicuous in her interesting niece ; but unhappily 
 she appears not to enjoy good health. 
 
 M. de Chastellux has mingled too much of the 
 brilliant in his portrait of General Washington. His 
 eye bespeaks great goodness of heart, manly sense 
 marks all his answers, and he sometimes animates in 
 conversation, but he has no characteristic features ; 
 which renders it difficult to seize him. He announces 
 a profound discretion, and a great diffidence in him- 
 self ; but at the same time, an unshakable firmness 
 of character, when once he has made his decision. 
 His modesty is astonishing to a Frenchman ; he 
 speaks of the American war, and of his victories, 
 as of things in which he had no direction. 
 
 Washington 
 was one of 
 the most far- 
 sighted busi- 
 ness men of 
 his time. 
 
 A French 
 officer. For 
 the account 
 of Washing- 
 ton see 
 Volume II 
 of these 
 readers. 
 
 1 6. From Poverty to Prosperity 
 
 By Brissot de Warville (1788) 
 
 He who begins a settlement in the woods, is gen- 
 erally a man who has lost his fortune and his credit 
 in the cultivated part of the state. He emigrates in 
 
48 In the Country [no. 16 
 
 the month of April. His first work is to build a 
 little cabin for himself and family ; the roof is of 
 rough hewn wood, the floor of earth. It is lighted 
 by the door, or sometimes by a little window with 
 oiled paper. A more wretched building adjoining it 
 gives shelter to a cow and two miserable horses. 
 This done, he attacks the trees that surround his 
 cabin. To extirpate them by the root, would re- 
 quire too much labour. He contents himself by cut- 
 ting them at two or three feet from the ground. The 
 space thus cleared is then plowed, and planted with 
 Indian corn. The soil, being new, requires little cul- 
 ture ; in the month of October it yields a harvest of 
 forty or fifty bushels the acre. Even from the month 
 of September, this corn furnishes a plentiful and 
 agreeable nourishment to his family. 
 
 Hunting and fishing, with a little grain, suffice, 
 during the winter, for the subsistence of his family ; 
 while the cow and horses of our planter feed on the 
 poor wild grass, or the buds of trees. During the 
 first year, he suffers much from cold and hunger ; 
 but he endures it without repining. Being near the 
 savages, he adopts their manners; his fatigue is vio- 
 lent, but it is suspended by long intervals of repose: 
 his pleasures consist in fishing and hunting ; he eats, 
 drinks, and sleeps in the filth of his little cabin. 
 
 Thus roll away the first three years of our planter 
 in laziness, independence, the variation of pleasure, 
 and of labour. But population increases in his neigh- 
 bourhood, and then his troubles begin. His cattle 
 could before run at large ; but now his neighbours 
 force him to retain them within his little farm. 
 Formerly the wild beasts gave subsistence to his 
 family ; they now fly a country which begins to be 
 
No. i6] The Settler 
 
 49 
 
 peopled by men, and consequently by enemies. An 
 increasing society brings regulations, taxes, and the 
 parade of laws ; and nothing is so terrible to our 
 independent planter as all these shackles. He will 
 not consent to sacrifice a single natural right for all 
 the benefits of government ; he abandons then his 
 little estabhshment, and goes to seek a second re- 
 treat in the wilderness, where he can recommence 
 his labours, and prepare a farm for cultivation. Such 
 are the charms of independence, that many men have 
 begun the clearing of farms four times in different 
 parts of this State. 
 
 The labour bestowed by the first planter gives some 
 value to the farm, which now comes to be occupied 
 by a man of the second class of planters. He begins 
 by adding to his cabin a house. A saw-mill in the 
 neighbouring settlement, furnishes him with boards. 
 His house is covered with shingles, and is two stories 
 high. He makes a little meadow, plants an orchard 
 of two of three hundred apple-trees. His stable is 
 enlarged ; he builds a spacious barn of wood, and 
 covers it with rye-straw. Instead of planting only 
 Indian corn, he cultivates wheat and rye ; the last is 
 destined to make whisky. But the planter manages 
 ill ; his fields are badly plowed, never manured, and 
 give but small crops. His cattle break through his 
 fences, destroy his crops, and often cut off the hopes 
 of the year. His horses are ill fed, and feeble ; 
 his cattle often die with hunger in the spring ; his 
 house and his farm give equal proofs of the want of 
 industry ; the glass of his windows has given place 
 to old hats and rags. This man is fond of company ; 
 he drinks to excess ; passes much of his time in dis- 
 puting about politics. Thus he contracts debts, and 
 
5 o In the Country [no. i6 
 
 is forced, after some years, to sell his plantation to a 
 planter of the third and last class. 
 
 This is ordinarily a man of property, and of a 
 cultivated mind. His first object is to conv^ert into 
 meadow all his land, on which he can conduct water. 
 He then builds a barn of stone, sometimes a hundred 
 feet in length, and forty in breadth. This defends 
 his cattle from cold, and they eat less when kept 
 warm, than when exposed to the frost. To spare the 
 consumption of fuel, he makes use of economical 
 stoves, and by this he saves immense labour in cut- 
 ting and carting wood. He multi})lies the objects 
 of culture ; besides corn, wheat, and rye, he cultivates 
 bats and buckwheat. Near his house he forms a 
 garden of one or two acres, which gives him quanti- 
 ties of cabbage, potatoes, and turnips. Near the 
 spring which furnishes him with water, he builds 
 a dairy-house. He increases the number, and im- 
 proves the quality of his fruit-trees. His sons are 
 always at work by his side ; his wife and daughter 
 quit their wheels for the labours of the harvest. The 
 last object of industry is to build a house for his own 
 use. This building is generally of stone ; it is vast, 
 well distributed, and well furnished. His horses and 
 cattle, by their good appearance, their strength, and 
 fecundity, prove that they are well fed, and well 
 attended. His table abounds with delicate and 
 various dishes. His kitchen flows with milk and 
 honey. His wife and daughters manufacture their 
 clothing. In proportion as he grows rich, he per- 
 ceives the value of the protection of the laws ; he 
 pays his taxes with punctuality ; he contributes to 
 the support of churches and schools, as the only 
 n.cans of insuring order and tranquillity. 
 
 I 
 
No. 17] Connecticut Girls 5 1 
 
 17. Those Fair Connecticut Girls 
 
 By Brissot de Warville (1778) 
 
 CoNNF.CTicuT appears like one continuous town. On 
 quitting Hartford, you enter VVetherslield, a town not 
 less elegant, very long, consisting of houses well built. 
 They tell me it gave birth to the famous Silas Deanc, 
 one of the first promoters of the American revolution, 
 who from a schoolmaster in this town, was elevated 
 to the rank of an envoy from Congress to Europe. 
 
 Wethersfield is remarkable for its vast fields uni- 
 formly covered with onions, of which great quantities 
 are exported to the West-Indies. It is likewise re- 
 markable for its elegant meeting-house, or church. 
 On Sunday it is said to offer an enchanting spectacle, 
 by the number of young handsome persons who as- 
 semble there, and by the agreeable music with which 
 they intermingle the divine service. 
 
 New Haven yields not to Wethersfield for the beauty 
 of the fair sex. At their balls during the winter, it is 
 not rare to see an hundred charming girls, adorned 
 with those brilliant complexions seldom met with in 
 journeying to the South, and dressed in elegant sim- 
 plicity. The beauty of complexion is as striking in 
 Connecticut, as its numerous population. You will 
 not go into a tavern without meeting with neatness, 
 decency, and dignity. The tables are served ])y a 
 young girl, decent and pretty ; by an amiable mother, 
 whose age has not effaced the agrecableness of her 
 features ; by men who have that air of dignity which 
 the idea of equality inspires ; and who are not ignoble 
 and base, like the greatest part of our tavern-keepers. 
 On the road you often meet those fair Connecticut 
 
52 In the Country [no. is 
 
 girls, either driving a carriage, or alone on horse-back, 
 galloping boldly ; with an elegant hat on the head, a 
 white apron, and a calico gown ; — usages which prove 
 at once the early cultivation of their reason, since 
 they are trusted so young to themselves, the safety 
 of the road, and the general innocence of manners. 
 You will see them hazarding themselves alone, with- 
 out protectors, in the public stages — I am wrong to 
 say hazarding ; who can offend them ? They are 
 here under the protection of public morals, and of 
 their own innocence : it is the consciousness of this 
 innocence, which renders them so complaisant, and 
 so good ; for a stranger takes them by the hand, and 
 laughs with them, and they are not offended at it. 
 
 1 8. Mary will Smile 
 
 By William Clifton (1795) 
 
 The morn was fresh, and pure the gale, 
 
 When Mary, from her cot a rover, 
 Pluck'd many a wild rose of the vale 
 
 To bind the temples of her lover. 
 As near his little farm she stray'd, 
 
 Where birds of love were ever pairing, 
 She saw her William in the shade. 
 
 The arms of ruthless war preparing. 
 "Though now," he cried, " I seek the hostile plain, 
 Mary shall smile, and all be fair again." 
 
 She seized his hand, and " Ah ! " she cried, 
 " Wilt thou to camps and war a stranger 
 
 Desert thy Mary's faithful side, 
 And bare thy life to every danger } 
 
No. 19] The Shaking Quakers 5 3 
 
 Yet go, brave youth ! to arms away ! 
 
 My maiden hands for fight shall dress thee, 
 And when the drum beats far away, 
 
 I'll drop a silent tear and bless thee. 
 Return'd with honor, from the hostile plain, 
 ., Mary will smile, and all be fair again. 
 
 The bugles through the forest wind. 
 
 The woodland soldiers call to battle. 
 Be some protecting angel kind, 
 
 And guard thy life when cannons rattle ! " 
 She sung, and as the rose appears 
 
 In sunshine, when the storm is over, 
 A smile beam'd sweetly through her tears, 
 
 The blush of promise to her lover. 
 Return'd in triumph from the hostile plain. 
 All shall be fair, and Mary smile again. 
 
 19. The Shaking Quakers 
 
 By Moses Guest (1796) 
 
 Sunday, October 10. Having heard various ac- The shaking 
 
 counts of the very singular mode of worship prac- Q^'akersor 
 
 11 1 1 nir-ii- ^-\i X Shakers live 
 
 tised by the people called Shakmg Quakers, I incommuni- 
 
 this day went to visit them. I found the house at ties, the men 
 
 which they were assembled, situated nine miles north- i^n separate" 
 
 west of Albany, and two miles from the Mohawk large houses. 
 
 river; it is built of logs, neatly squared, and is fifty ^g^J'n ^g^/*^ 
 
 feet in length, and twenty-four in width, with a chim- industrious 
 
 ney at each end. When I entered this building, I ^^^ weii-to- 
 
 ,,11 r 1 . , r , <:'0' iJut at 
 
 beheld twenty-four men dancmg at one end of the present few 
 
54 1^^ ^^^ Country [no. 19 
 
 young people room, and twenty women at the other. They ap- 
 join them, peared to be from the ao^e of fourteen to eighty 
 
 and the sect '- o J 
 
 is dying out. years ; and were formed four deep. Two of their 
 elders were singing a song tune, called the rose tree. 
 They kept good time, though they frequently trem- 
 bled as if much convulsed — this they call the work- 
 ing of the spirit. 
 
 After continuing in this way for about an hour and 
 a half, the elders stopped singing ; this stopped the 
 dancing for the present. The men then put on their 
 coats, and they all retired to a house, but a short 
 distance from that in which they had been dancing; 
 where they partook of some refreshment ; but soon 
 commenced singing a kind of gibberish, which they 
 call an unknown tongue. They say they can speak 
 several different languages, and though the living 
 cannot understand them, they are intelligible to the 
 departed spirits, with whom they say they hold fre- 
 quent converse. 
 
 After about an hour's intermission they assembled 
 again, and formed two deep ; they then all sang in 
 their unknown tongue, appearing, at times, to be very 
 much convulsed. They continued dancing and trem- 
 bling half an hour ; then ceased singing, and after 
 many heavy sighs and groans, and much twisting 
 and trembling, one of their elders, in broken accents, 
 muttered out, " Let us, my dear friends, endeavour 
 to praise God in the dance; prepare yourselves." 
 The men then put off their coats and waistcoats ; 
 then after opening their collars, and tying up their 
 sleeves, they formed four deep, the women also form- 
 ing in the same manner. One of their elders then, 
 after groaning and trembling for a few minutes, said, 
 " My dear friends, you that are blest with the gift of 
 
No. 19] The Shaking ^luakers 5 5 
 
 songs, I hope will praise God by singing a few tunes 
 for us." Immediately two young men stepped out 
 from the ranks, and began to sing, at which time they 
 all commenced dancing. 
 
 In this way they continued about an hour, appear- 
 ing, at times, very much agitated. They then all 
 stopped dancing, and one of their elders, after vio- 
 lently shaking his head and arms, thus addressed 
 them — " My dear friends, I hope you will endeavor 
 to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are 
 called ; and praise God for separating you from the 
 wicked world ; for in Hke manner as Lot escaped out 
 of Sodom, so have you, my friends, escaped, and have 
 been separated from the wicked world." He was 
 soon seized with a very violent shaking of the head, 
 after which, with a heavy sigh and groan, he told his 
 trembUng audience that they might put on their gar- 
 ments and retire, which they soon did. 
 
 They say that all the churches in the world, except 
 themselves, are antichristian. They also say they 
 are commissioned to judge the world ; that the books 
 are now open ; and that the souls of all those persons 
 who have died are daily appearing before them and 
 that all who have died in an imperfect state have gone 
 to a place of torment, there to pay the debt due to 
 divine justice, by suffering in proportion to their sins ; 
 and that after passing through several degrees of 
 punishment, and paying the whole debt, they then 
 appear before them, are acquitted, and sent to heaven. 
 If any man comes to them for instruction, whose hair 
 is long, they read to such person the nth chapter of 
 1st Corinthians, 14th verse; they then inform him, if 
 he wishes to be instructed, he must have his hair cut 
 short, as he wears the mark of the beast. 
 
5 6 In the Country [no. 20 
 
 20. Home, Sweet Home ! 
 
 By John Howard Payne (1823) 
 
 'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, 
 Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home ; 
 A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there. 
 Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with 
 elsewhere. 
 
 Home, Home, Sweet, Sweet Home ! 
 
 There's no place like Home ! 
 
 There's no place like Home ! 
 
 An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain, 
 O, give me my lowly thatched cottage again ! 
 The birds singing gayly, that came at my call — 
 Give me them, — and the peace of mind, dearer than 
 all! 
 
 Home, Home, Sweet, Sweet Home ! 
 
 There's no place like Home ! 
 
 There's no place like Home ! 
 
 2 1. Incidents in the Life of a 
 Bound Boy 
 
 By Asa G. Sheldon (1797) 
 
 On April 14th, 1797, while I was still in my ninth 
 year, Mr. Daniel Parker came to my father's house 
 to get a boy to live with him. Mother said he 
 might take his choice, Samuel or Asa. " I will take 
 Asa," he said, "because he is the youngest." Ac- 
 cordingly, my father went over with me to the 
 Parker place. 
 
No. 2l] 
 
 A Bound Boy 
 
 57 
 
 I found the family to consist of Mr. Parker, who 
 was about forty years of age, and wife, of nearly the 
 same age ; David, about eighteen and two daugh- 
 ters, Patty and Sally, who were a few years younger. 
 
 AN ox CART. 
 
 Mrs. Parker told me to call her " mother," and cer- 
 tainly she acted the part of a mother to me. She 
 fed me when hungry ; dried my clothes when wet ; 
 cared for my every want ; and when troubles as- 
 sailed that she could not alleviate, she pitied and 
 sympathised with me. In short, she was as kind as 
 my own mother. 
 
 On first entering the house, I found no one at 
 home except Mrs. Parker and her two daughters. 
 After sitting a few minutes, she said, "You may go 
 to the barn and see the calves." There were six of 
 them, and I employed the forenoon in cleaning the 
 stalls and clearing up. After dinner I went with 
 Mr. Parker to split oak butts into wheel spokes. 
 Thus ended my first day's servitude. 
 
58 
 
 In the Country 
 
 [No. 21 
 
 Our spring ploughing that year was done by four 
 oxen and a horse, and it was my constant business 
 to drive them. In hoeing, the plan was for me to 
 take every alternate hill and follow back on the 
 same row, thus keeping alongside the men. The 
 summer passed pleasantly away. I had the privi- 
 lege of attending winter school, and as is common 
 for youth, formed a lasting attachment to a school- 
 mate — Daniel Putman, a boy nearly my size and age. 
 
 My father needed a cow ; he agreed with Mr. 
 Parker to take one for twenty-two dollars, and I was 
 to work for him another year, or till the next May, to 
 pay for her, and I was to have winter schooling. Mr. 
 Parker was so miserly, that he was unwilling to let me 
 slide on the ice, because it wore my shoes out ; but 
 thanks to Mother Parker's good will, I found frequent 
 opportunities to enjoy an hour on the ponds. 
 
 At the commencement of my third year, Mr. Parker 
 frequently urged that I should be bound to him, tell- 
 ing my father that he would give him twenty dollars 
 in cash, and would give me one hundred dollars on 
 becoming twenty-one. To this my father agreed, and 
 the necessary documents were signed without mother's 
 knowledge. Great was her anguish on learning that 
 her son was a "bond slave," as she was pleased to 
 call it. 
 
 In my fourth year of service, there was no snow 
 for sledding till February or March, when a nice fall 
 of snow coming, created an ambition in me to drive 
 a load of wood to Salem town and sell it. When at 
 Salem a baker agreed with me for a load of faggots, 
 or twigs bound in bundles, for heating ovens. With 
 the hope that Mr. Parker would give me all the 
 money if I could contrive to make them without tak- 
 
No. 2l] 
 
 A Bound Boy 
 
 59 
 
 ing his time, I kept my hatchet in the cow pasture, 
 and when I found the cows handily I could make 
 eight or ten bundles, and then run and catch up with 
 them. If I did not find them readily, I made less, 
 and so on. 
 
 I drove the load to Salem, and brought home five 
 dollars and eighty cents and gave it to Mr. Parker, 
 and he was niggardly enough to offer me twelve and 
 a half cents for all my labor, hurry and toil. Mother 
 Parker seeing me about to take it, gave a stamp with 
 her foot, when the ninepence dropped on the floor, The " New 
 and I hastened out of the house. Soon after. Mother ^"f'^"^,. 
 
 Shilling 
 
 Parker went to Salem herself and brought home a was 16% 
 nice hat for me, that cost three dollars. There was '^^"'S' ^^^ 
 
 , 1 , . , • /-N the " nine- 
 
 but one other hat worn m town that was so nice. Un pence "was 
 presenting it she said, " There Asa, that will do you i2"2 cents. 
 more good than ninepence." 
 
 Once in April, when the snow was faUing fast, Mr. 
 Parker came to me and said, "If you will leave vine 
 stripping and go and get the sheep up, I will pay 
 you for it." I did, and found a wee little lamb in 
 the snow. Taking off my frock I wrapped it up 
 and brought it home. " Now, Asa," said Mr. Parker, 
 " if you will make that lamb live, you may have it to 
 pay for going after the sheep, and all the ewe lambs 
 she has I will keep for you for their wool, and the 
 male lambs you may sell to the butchers." All 
 night I watched the wee bit of a creature and in the 
 morning it was able to draw its own "rations" from 
 its dam. 
 
 Early in the autumn, the frigate Essex was to be 
 launched. All the boys in the neighborhood were 
 going. I wanted to go, but Mr. Parker said no. 
 And it was not till several boys had interceded with 
 
6o In the Country [no. 21 
 
 him that he gave his consent. We started at mid- 
 night, eighteen in all, and walked to Salem, saw the 
 Essex leave " the home of her birth," and slide gently 
 down the greased ways, with her precious cargo of 
 curious mortals, anxious to catch the first ride in her 
 as she bathed herself for the first time in the briny 
 deep. 
 
 Afterwards we walked about town to see the 
 "elephant," ate gingerbread and pies, and toward 
 night set our faces toward home. It was a most 
 formidable journey for boys of our age, and before 
 we reached home our fatigue was such that we lay 
 down on the ground to rest every half mile. 
 
 In the summer season, brown bread and milk was 
 the constant food, for the whole family, morning and 
 night. By brown bread is meant bread made of 
 rye and Indian meal, raised and baked in large 
 loaves in a brick oven. Supper for Saturday was 
 uniformly roast potatoes and salt ; no butter was 
 used. The winter rations were beef -broth, with 
 brown bread crumbled in, and for a change, bean 
 porridge. This porridge was made by boiling a 
 piece of pork, with a handful of beans, till they had 
 become soft and smashed ; these were then dipped 
 into dishes with bread crumbled in. Our Sunday 
 dinner was invariably baked beans with salt pork, 
 and a baked Indian pudding. A little butter was 
 allowed for the pudding. 
 
 The Thanksgiving festival was indeed a luxury. 
 We commonly had fowls and roasted pork, or spare- 
 rib, and plum puddings, with as many as three kinds 
 of pies, — mince, apple and pumpkin. We had as 
 nice a treat at Thanksgiving then, as they have now, 
 and ate it with a greater zest. 
 
No. 22] Bells 6 1 
 
 My clothes in summer were a straw hat, tow 
 shirt and tow trousers. When the mornings were 
 cool, I put on my ve^t such as it was, and my frock 
 if required. I had no shoes until the ground began 
 to freeze. 
 
 For winter I wore striped blue and white wool- 
 len trousers, fulled cloth vest and jacket. They were 
 commonly made of Parker's or Dave's old cast-off 
 ones, which good Mother Parker took care to have 
 well mended, much to my comfort. I was never 
 allowed an overcoat while I lived there, or a pair of 
 boots. I was allowed but one pair of shoes for two 
 years. Parker used to tell me, when I went to get 
 my foot measured, to put on two pair of stockings, 
 and tell the shoemaker to be sure and make them 
 large enough to last two years. 
 
 The first year I put old flannel, or baize as it was 
 then called, around my feet to keep the shoes from 
 slipping and wearing out my stockings. Mr. Parker 
 kept shoemaking tools on hand, and when they 
 needed repairs, would tap them with old upper stuff Tap=puton 
 and fill them full of nails to make them last well; '^^°'^* 
 and Mother Parker would make me leggings from 
 his old stocking legs. 
 
 2 2. The Bells 
 
 By George Sheldon (i8oo) 
 
 It was the custom in my younger days to toll the 
 Passing Bell on the death of any person in the com- 
 munity. Nine strokes of the bell at half minute in- 
 tervals, announced the death of a man, six that of a 
 
62 
 
 In the Country 
 
 [No. 22 
 
 woman, and three that of a child. After a short 
 pause a succession of quick strokes gave the age in 
 years, of the departed. 
 
 As every dangerous sickness was known to the 
 whole community, all activities ceased at the first 
 peal. In the silence, everybody waited with bated 
 breath to the last, to know what family among them 
 
 was now bereaved, 
 help was needed 
 
 How long this 
 isted, I do not 
 discontinued about 
 ago. At funerals 
 called together by 
 
 Minute strokes 
 procession moved 
 continued until the 
 spoken. Then at 
 service was con- 
 strokes giving the 
 
 From early times 
 bell was a regular 
 universally under- 
 signal for bed-time, 
 written law that every body should give heed to it. 
 
 Custom and courtesy alike demanded that all visit- 
 ors who had dropped in to make a call or spend the 
 evening, should make a move to do up the knitting 
 work or look for the hat, at the first stroke of the 
 bell. To any polite request for a longer tarry, the 
 sufficient answer was, " Oh, no, the bell is ringing." 
 It was an old and common saying on such occasions, 
 " It is nine o'clock, time for honest men to go home 
 and rogues about their business." 
 
 AN OLD BELFRY. 
 
 and where kindly 
 and most welcome, 
 custom had ex- 
 know, but it was 
 forty or fifty years 
 the people were 
 the tolling bell, 
 were given as the 
 to the grave and 
 closing words were 
 a given signal, the 
 eluded by rapid 
 age of the departed, 
 the nine o'clock 
 institution. It was 
 stood to be the 
 and it was an un- 
 
means 
 cover tlie 
 
 No. 22] Bells 6 3 
 
 This was doubtless the Curfew Bell of Old Eng- 
 land, established by William the Conqueror, and 
 brought over by our fathers. The name " Curfew," " Curfew 
 however, was never heard this side of the water. It 
 was considered by the Puritan, I suppose, analo- fire, 
 gous to dancing round the Maypole, Christmas fes- 
 tivity, and other things on account of which the 
 emigrant had shaken off the dust from his feet. 
 
 As there were few clocks and fewer watches, the 
 nine o'clock bell was a great convenience. Of course 
 in cases of calls, or evening parties, the participants 
 did not feel obliged to be " tied to the bell-rope." 
 
 To supply the lack of almanacs, as well as of time 
 pieces, it was the custom to wind up the nine o'clock 
 bell with light, quick taps, indicating the day of the 
 month. 
 
 The bell was also rung in summer at twelve 
 o'clock M. This was chiefly for the benefit of those 
 working in the meadows — generally the larger part 
 of the male population. The sound filled the waiting 
 ear of tired man and beast with joyful music. 
 
 It was not a summons to home and a hot dinner, 
 but to a welcome hour of rest after six or seven hours 
 of labor. In planting time there was a team, usually 
 two yoke of oxen, though often three or four yoke 
 with a horse for leader, a man for plough holder and 
 a boy for driver. These had been slowly but steadily 
 turning the foot deep furrows. 
 
 The team was first cared for. After being watered 
 at the most convenient pond or stream, the oxen were 
 chained to the wheels on either side of the cart. They 
 were made happy with a bountiful supply of fragrant 
 hay from the big bundle. The horse tied on one 
 side took his rations over the foreboard of the cart. 
 
64 In the Country [no. 23 
 
 The hungry men and boys seated themselves on 
 the ground under the spreadmg branches of the dinner 
 tree, to discuss the contents of the ample dinner box. 
 
 The beef, pork, turnips, and potatoes, the bread 
 and butter, the gingerbread and nut cakes, disappeared 
 like magic, while the jug of cider passed from hand 
 to hand and mouth to mouth. 
 
 23. The Tax on Old Bachelors 
 
 By Seba Smith (about 1830) 
 
 I DREAMED a dream in the midst of my slumbers. 
 
 And, as fast as I dreamed, it was coined into numbers ; 
 
 My thoughts ran along in such beautiful metre, 
 
 I'm sure I ne'er saw any poetry sweeter. 
 
 It seemed that a law had been recently made, 
 
 That a tax on old bachelors' pates should be laid ; 
 
 And in order to make them all willing to marry, 
 
 The tax was as large as a man could well carry. 
 
 The Bachelors grumbled, and said 'twas no use, 
 
 'Twas cruel injustice and horrid abuse, 
 
 And declared that, to save their own heart's blood 
 
 from spilling, 
 Of such a vile tax they would ne'er pay a shiUing. 
 But the Rulers determined their scheme to pursue. 
 So they set all the bachelors up at vendue. 
 A crier was sent thro' the town to and fro. 
 To rattle his bell, and his trumpet to blow, 
 And to bawl out at all he might meet in the way, 
 " Ho ! forty old bachelors sold here to-day." 
 And presently all the old maids in the town, 
 Each one in her very best bonnet and gown. 
 
No. 24] Trade without Money 65 
 
 From thirty to sixty, fair, plain, red, and pale, 
 
 Of every description, all flocked to the sale. 
 
 The auctioneer then in his labors began. 
 
 And called out aloud, as he held up a man, 
 
 " How much for a bachelor ? who wants to buy ? " 
 
 In a twink every maiden responded — " I — I." 
 
 In short, at a hugely extravagant price. 
 
 The bachelors all were sold off in a trice : 
 
 And forty old maidens, some younger, some older. 
 
 Each lugged an old bachelor home on her shoulder. 
 
 24. Trade without Money 
 
 By William Ashe (1806) 
 
 The storekeepers are obliged to keep every article 
 which it is possible that the farmer and manufacturer 
 may want. Each of their shops exhibit a complete 
 medley, — a magazine where are to be had both a needle 
 and an anchor, a tin pot and a large copper boiler, a 
 child's whistle and a pianoforte, a ring dial and a clock, 
 a skein of thread and trimmings of lace, a check frock 
 and a muslin gown, a frieze coat and a superfine cloth, 
 a glass of whiskey and a barrel of brandy, a gill of 
 vinegar and hogshead of Madeira wine, &c. Hence 
 you will perceive that money is not always necessary as 
 a circulating medium : however, as farmers and manu- 
 facturers advance in business, and find their produce 
 more than equal to the wants of their families, they 
 contract with the storekeeper to receive the annual 
 balance of the latter, either in cash, or in land to an 
 equal amount; for though no person cultivates a 
 tenth part of the land that he possesses, every one 
 
66 In the Country [no. 24 
 
 wants to buy more. Thus the great landholders ulti- 
 mately absorb all the hard money ; and as they prin- 
 cipally reside in the large towns in the Atlantic States, 
 the money finds its way back to those, and leaves many 
 places here without a single dollar. This causes dis- 
 tress to small farmers who supply the markets with 
 provisions ; for whatever they have to sell, whether 
 trivial or important, they receive in return nothing 
 but an order on a store for the value in goods ; and 
 as the wants of such persons are few, they seldom 
 know what articles to take. The storekeepers turn 
 this circumstance to advantage, and frequently force 
 on the customer a thing for which he has no use ; or, 
 what is worse, when the order is trifling, tell him to 
 sit down at the door and drink the amount if he 
 chooses. As this is often complied with, a market 
 day is mostly a scene of drunkenness and contention, 
 fraud, cunning, and duplicity ; the storekeeper deny- 
 ing the possession of a good article, till he fails in 
 imposing a bad one. I have known a person ask for 
 a pair of shoes, and receive for answer that there 
 were no shoes in the store, but some capital gin that 
 could be recommended to him. I have heard another 
 ask for a rifle gun, and be answered that there were 
 no rifles, but that he could be accommodated with the 
 best Dutch looking glasses and German flutes in the 
 western country. Another was directed by his wife 
 to bring her a warming pan, smoothing irons, and 
 scrubbing brushes ; but these were denied ; and a 
 wooden cuckoo-clock, which the children would not 
 take a week to demolish, was sent home in their 
 stead. I could not help smiling at these absurdities, 
 though I believe they deserve the name of imposi- 
 tions, till an incident reduced me to the condition of 
 
No. 25] Robert of Lincoln 67 
 
 those whom I have just described. I rode an excel- 
 lent horse to the head of the waters ; and finding him 
 of no further use from my having to take boat there, 
 I proposed selUng him to the best bidder. I was 
 offered in exchange for him salt, flour, hogs, land, 
 cast iron, salt pans, Indian corn, whiskey — in short, 
 every thing but what I wanted, which was money. 
 The highest offer made, was cast iron salt pans to 
 the amount of one hundred and thirty dollars. I 
 asked the proprietor of this heavy commodity, how 
 much cash he would allow me instead of such an 
 incumbrance ; his answer was, without any shame 
 or hesitation, forty dollars at most. I preferred the 
 pans ; though they are to be exchanged again for 
 glass bottles at Pittsburg, tobacco or hemp in Ken- 
 tucky, and dollars in New Orleans. These various 
 commercial processes may occupy twelve months ; 
 nor am I then certain of the amount, unless I give 
 thirty per cent to secure it. 
 
 The words buy and sell are nearly unknown here ; 
 in business nothing is heard but the word trade. 
 " Will you trade your watch, your gun, pistols, 
 horses .? &c." means, " Will you change your watch, 
 gun, &c. for corn, pigs, cattle, Indian meal } &c." 
 But you must expect all this from the absence of 
 
 money. 
 
 -♦ 
 
 25. Robert of Lincoln 
 
 By William Cullen Bryant (1849) 
 
 Merrily swinging on brier and weed, 
 Near to the nest of his little dame. 
 
 Over the mountain-side or mead, 
 
 Robert of Lincoln is telling his name : 
 
68 
 
 In the Country 
 
 [No. 25 
 
 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 
 Spink, spank, spink; 
 Snug and safe is that nest of ours, 
 Hidden among the summer flowers. 
 Chee, chee, chee. 
 
 BOBOLINKS. 
 
 Robert of Lincohi is gayly drest. 
 
 Wearing a bright black wedding coat ; 
 White are his shoulders and white his crest. 
 Hear him call in his merry note : 
 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 
 Spink, spank, spink ; 
 Look, what a nice new coat is mine, 
 Sure there was never a bird so fine. 
 Chee, chee, chee. 
 
No. 25] Robert of Lincoln 69 
 
 Robert of Lincoln's Quaker wife, 
 
 Pretty and quiet, with plain brown wings. 
 Passing at home a patient life. 
 
 Broods in the grass while her husband sings : 
 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-hnk, 
 Spink, spank, spink; 
 Brood, kind creature ; you need not fear 
 Thieves and robbers while I am here. 
 Chee, chee, chee. 
 
 Modest and shy as a nun is she ; 
 
 One weak chirp is her only note. 
 Braggart and prince of braggarts is he, 
 Pouring boasts from his little throat : 
 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 
 Spink, spank, spink; 
 Never was I afraid of man ; 
 Catch me, cowardly knaves, if you can ! 
 Chee, chee, chee. 
 
 Six white eggs on a bed of hay, 
 
 Flecked with purple, a pretty sight ! 
 There as the mother sits all day, 
 
 Robert is singing with all his might : 
 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 
 Spink, spank, spink ; 
 Nice good wife, that never goes out. 
 Keeping house while I frolic about. 
 Chee, chee, chee. 
 
 Soon as the little ones chip the shell, 
 Six wide mouths are open for food; 
 
 Robert of Lincoln bestirs him well. 
 Gathering seeds for the hungry brood. 
 
JO In the Country [no. 26 
 
 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 
 
 Spink, spank, spink ; 
 This new life is likely to be 
 Hard for a gay young fellow like me. 
 Chee, chee, chee. 
 
 Robert of Lincoln at length is made 
 
 Sober with work and silent with care ; 
 Off is his holiday garment laid, 
 Half forgotten that merry air : 
 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 
 Spink, spank, spink ; 
 Nobody knows but my mate and I 
 Where our nest and our nestlings lie. 
 Chee, chee, chee. 
 
 Summer wanes ; the children are grown ; 
 
 Fun and frolic no more he knows ; 
 Robert of Lincoln's a humdrum crone ; 
 Off he flies, and we sing as he goes : 
 Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 
 Spink, spank, spink ; 
 When you can pipe that merry old strain, 
 Robert of Lincoln, come back again. 
 Chee, chee, chee. 
 
 26. An Old Fashioned Reading 
 Book 
 
 This piece is Mrs. Lisviore. You are quite breathless, Charles, 
 
 chosen to where have you been running so violently ? 
 
 poOT readers Ckai'lcs. From the poultry yard, mamma, where I 
 
 children had have been diverting myself with the bravado of the 
 
No. 26] Reading Book 71 
 
 old gander. I did not observe him till he came tow- three quar- 
 ard me very fiercely, when, to induce him to pursue *ersofacen- 
 
 T r I'TTTii 1-11 • 1 turyago.lt is 
 
 me, 1 ran irom him. He lollowed, till, supposing he taken from a 
 had beaten me, he returned to the geese, who ap- book called 
 peared to receive him with acclamations of joy, cack- tion°"on 'Nat- 
 ling very loud, and seeming actually to laugh, and to urai History 
 enjoy the triumph of their gallant chief. Children'" °^ 
 
 Emma. I wish I had been with you, Charles ; I 
 have often admired the gambols of these beautiful 
 birds, and wondered how they came by the appella- 
 tion of silly, which is generally bestowed on them. 
 I remember Martha, our nursery maid, used often to 
 call me a silly goose. How came they to deserve that 
 term, mamma } they appear to me to have as much 
 intelligence as any of the feathered tribe. 
 
 Mrs. LisjHore. I have often thought with you, 
 Emma, and supposed that term, like many others, 
 misapplied, for want of examining into the justice of 
 so degrading an epithet. 
 
 Charles. What a superb bird this is, Emma; I 
 should think it quite a treasure. 
 
 Mj-s. Lis more. It would be a very troublesome one 
 to you, Charles, and its loquacious disposition would 
 ill accord with the silence requisite for a student. 
 But this is indeed a beautiful httle animal ; it is a 
 paroquet, and is a native of the Brazils. They are 
 more highly prized than any of the species. See how 
 rich and variegated its plumage is, what an elegant 
 crest adorns its head ! I think it may be called the 
 sovereign of birds, at least in point of beauty, and 
 its crest its crown. Do you know its character, 
 Emma .-' 
 
 Emma. My uncle said he purchased it when very 
 young, and has had it in his possession three years ; 
 
7 2 In the Country tNo. 27 
 
 it is extremely docile, very good natured and amus- 
 ing, speaks the English language almost as intelligibly 
 as its master, and has a great variety of songs and 
 phrases and playful tricks in store, with which it 
 endeavours to please. 
 
 27. A Hunter hides from a 
 Storm in a Hollow Tree 
 
 By John A. McClung (1777) 
 
 With the Indians nothing can make up for igno- 
 rance of the woods. Young Smith, for losing himself, 
 was degraded from the rank of a warrior, and reduced 
 to that of a boy. Two years afterwards, he regained 
 his rank, and was presented with a rifle, as a reward 
 for an exhibition of hardihood and presence of mind. 
 Soon after he went out to hunt, in company with an 
 old chief, and several other Indians. A deep snow 
 lay upon the ground, and the weather was tempestu- 
 ous. On their way home, some racoon tracks were 
 seen in the snow, and Smith was directed to follow 
 them and observe where the creatures treed. 
 
 He was thus led off to a much greater distance 
 than was supposed, and the hunters were several 
 miles ahead of him, when he attempted to rejoin 
 them. At first their tracks were very plain in the 
 snow, and although night approached, and the camp 
 was distant. Smith felt no anxiety ; but his situation 
 became critical about dusk. The weather became 
 suddenly much colder, the wind blew a perfect hurri- 
 cane, and whirlwinds of snow blinded his eyes and 
 filled up the tracks of his companions. He had with 
 
No. 27] 
 
 A Hunter Hides 
 
 73 
 
 him neither a gun, flint, nor steel — no shelter but a 
 blanket, and no weapon but a tomahawk. 
 
 For several hours he plodded on, ignorant of his 
 route, stumbling over logs, and chilled with cold, until 
 the snow became so deep as seriously to check his 
 footsteps, and the flakes fell so thick as to render it 
 impossible to see where he was going. He shouted 
 aloud for help, but no answer was returned, and as 
 the storm every instant became more outrageous, he 
 began to think that his last hour had come. Provi- 
 dentially, in stumbling on through the snow, he came 
 to a large sycamore, with a con- 
 siderable opening on the wind- 
 ward side. He hastily crept 
 in and found the hollow large 
 enough to accommodate him for 
 the night, if the weather side 
 could be closed so as to exclude 
 the snow and wind, which was 
 beating against it with great 
 violence. He instantly went to 
 work with his tomahawk and cut 
 out a number of sticks, which 
 he placed upright against the 
 hole, and piled brush against it 
 in great quantities, leaving a 
 space open for himself to creep 
 in. He then broke up a decayed 
 log, and cutting it into small 
 pieces, pushed them one by one 
 into the hollow of the tree, and 
 lastly crept in himself. With these pieces he stopped 
 up the remaining holes of his den, until not a chink 
 was left to admit the light. 
 
 Before 
 
 matches were 
 invented 
 people made 
 a fire by 
 striking a 
 flint on a 
 steel and 
 catching the 
 spark in 
 punk. 
 
 SNOW SHOES. 
 
74 J^^ the Country [no. 27 
 
 The snow, drifting in large quantities, was soon 
 banked up against his defences, and completely shel- 
 tered him from the storm, which still continued to 
 rage with undiminished fury. He then danced vio- 
 lently in the centre of his den for two hours, until he 
 was sufficiently warmed, and wrapping himself in his 
 blanket, he slept soundly until morning. He awoke in 
 utter darkness, and groping about, he found his door 
 and attempted to push it away, but the snow had 
 drifted against it in such quantities, that it resisted 
 his utmost efforts. His hair now began to bristle, for 
 he feared that he had with great ingenuity contrived 
 to bury himself alive. He lay down again for several 
 hours, meditating upon what he should do, and 
 whether he should not attempt to cut through the 
 tree with his tomahawk — but at length he made one 
 more desperate effort to push away the door, and suc- 
 ceeded in moving it several inches, when a great 
 bank of snow fell in upon him from above, convincing 
 him at once of the immense quantity which had fallen. 
 
 At length he burrowed his way into the upper air, 
 and found it broad daylight, and the weather calm 
 and mild. The snow lay nearly four feet deep — but 
 he was now enabled to see his way clearly, and by 
 following the marks in the bark of the trees, he was 
 able to return to camp. He was received with loud 
 shouts of joy and congratulation, but not a single 
 question was asked until he had despatched a hearty 
 meal of venison, hominy, and sugar. 
 
 The old chief, Tecaughnetanego, then presented 
 him with his own pipe, and they all remained silent 
 until Smith had smoked. When they saw him com- 
 pletely refreshed, the venerable chief addressed him 
 in a mild and affectionate manner, (for Smith at that 
 
No. 28] Camp Meeting 7 5 
 
 time, was a mere boy in their eyes) and desired to 
 hear a particular account of the manner in which he 
 had passed the night. Not a word was spoken until 
 Smith had concluded his story, and then he was 
 greeted on all sides with shouts of approbation. 
 
 Tecaughnetanego arose and addressed him in a 
 short speech, in which his courage, hardihood and 
 presence of mind were highly commended. He ex- 
 horted the young brave to go on as he had begun, 
 and assured him that one day he would make a very 
 great man. He told him that all his brothers rejoiced 
 in his safety, as much as they had lamented his sup- 
 posed death, that they were preparing snow shoes 
 to go in search of him when he appeared ; for as he 
 had been brought up effeminately among the whites, 
 they never expected to see him alive. In conclusion, 
 he was promoted again from the rank of a boy to that 
 of a warrior, and assured that when they sold skins 
 in the spring, at Detroit, they would purchase for him 
 a new rifle. And they faithfully observed their 
 promise. 
 
 28. A Georgia Camp Meeting 
 
 By Emily Burke (about 1840) 
 
 To the country people in the Northern part of 
 Georgia, the season of the annual camp-meeting 
 furnishes a date, from which and before which, all 
 the most important events of the whole year are 
 reckoned. This convocation is to them, what the 
 Thanksgiving day is to the New England people, and 
 it occurs at about the same time of the year. By it, 
 the time for the closing of the summer schools and 
 
76 hi the Country [No. 28 
 
 commencement of the winter schools is regulated, and 
 many business transactions refer to this time, and for 
 months previous to an event of so much importance 
 to all, every member in the family from the oldest 
 to the youngest, anticipated an a.ddition to his or her 
 wardrobe. This is so well understood by the city 
 merchants and milliners, that they endeavor to make 
 their arrangements, if possible, to meet all the de- 
 mands upon their stock of fancy and dry goods, during 
 this, as I have heard them say, their best harvest-time 
 in all the year ; while Christians in anticipation of 
 a glorious revival of religion, often recall to mind the 
 most eloquent speakers of the past year, and ask who 
 are expected to be the coming season ; and the prin- 
 cipal topics of conversation among the young and 
 gay will be, costly and elegant articles of dress, who 
 was the " belle " last year and who probably will be 
 this. This rage for dress is not confined to the 
 parlor and keeping rooms, but extends w^ith equal 
 ardor to the kitchen and field, and you might hear the 
 cook at the corn mill and women bending over the 
 plough, each saying, she must have a new pair of shoes, 
 or a new frock, or a new handkerchief for her head. 
 
 All past events are reckoned from the last camp- 
 meeting. For instance, you will hear one woman 
 say, she has had a bad cough ever since the camp- 
 meeting, such a person was taken sick with a fever 
 soon after the camp-meeting, another died or was 
 married so many months after the camp-meeting. 
 
 The removal of planters from their summer to 
 their winter residences occurs at this time, for the 
 hospitable and generous planter of the South, on 
 occasions such as I am now describing, not only 
 makes provision for the entertainment of his own 
 
 ( 
 
No. 28] Camp Meeting 77 
 
 family and numerous relations, but also for a large 
 company of strangers ; therefore he is obliged to 
 take with him all those household conveniences that 
 are indispensable to the comfort and good order of a 
 well regulated family at home. Consequently, they 
 make their arrangements, in order to avoid the trouble 
 of one extra move in the year, to go with all their 
 goods and chattels from their summer homes to the 
 camp-ground, and from thence to their winter quarters. 
 
 The camp-ground I visited was a beautiful square 
 lot of forest land about one acre and a half in extent, 
 laid out amid a native and gigantic growth of oaks 
 several miles from any plantation. On every side of 
 the square, all fronting the centre, the fathers of the 
 principal families constituting these assemblies have 
 each their own family residence. These little habi- 
 tations are built of logs, having a piazza in front, and 
 their number is sufficient to enclose the entire square ; 
 while in the background are arranged all the out- 
 houses belonging to each, such as the kitchens, stables 
 for the horses, as also pens for the swine and folds 
 for the herds and flocks, and coops for the chickens, 
 all of which have been previously stalled for the com- 
 ing slaughter ; and I ought not to forget to mention 
 in this connection, the kennels for the hounds and 
 watch dogs, which are needed even more at such 
 places than on the plantations, and which in many 
 parts of Georgia and South Carolina, constitute the 
 only police of the place. 
 
 For several days previous to the commencement of 
 worship, persons from all quarters within the distance 
 of fifteen or twenty miles, are busy in the transpor- 
 tation of all kinds of food and articles of furniture : 
 chairs, tables, beds and bedsteads, cradles for babies. 
 
78 In the Country [no. 28 
 
 and coops for chickens, all heaped upon cotton Jer- 
 sey carts, together with scores of men-servants and 
 women-servants accompanied by a large supply of 
 the canine race equally as well pleased as their mas- 
 ters with every thing new and exciting, are all on 
 the move to the same spot. 
 
 After every article of household furniture is ar- 
 ranged in its proper place, as the sailor would say, 
 in "sea trim" and every thing reduced to order and 
 quiet, the whole scene within the camp-ground as- 
 sumes an aspect not only imposing but beautiful and 
 romantic in the extreme, and particularly so in the 
 evening and during the intervals of worship, when 
 hundreds of young and joyous people, richly and 
 gaily dressed, could be seen moving in all directions, 
 or standing in small groups beneath the shade of 
 some wide spreading tree. 
 
 Every man has erected in front of his own house 
 a platform about six feet from the ground and four 
 or five feet square, upon which is laid earth to the 
 depth of about one foot, for the purpose of making a 
 foundation for a fire, which is lighted every evening 
 as soon as the stars begin to appear. This light is 
 kept burning till towards midnight by a constant 
 supply of pitch wood furnished by boys whose busi- 
 ness it is to see that the whole camp-ground is suffi- 
 ciently lighted during the convocation. These great 
 fires at this elevation sent forth such a broad and 
 brilliant sheet of light in all directions, that those 
 who seated themselves in front of their dwellings 
 could read with perfect ease without the aid of any 
 other light, and while millions of sparks emitted 
 from the burning fagots were carried up amid 
 wreaths of curlins: smoke and lost among: the thick 
 
No. 28] Camp Meeti?ig 79 
 
 boughs of the trees. The older members of the 
 families would seat themselves beneath the piazzas 
 to witness the pastimes of the children, all collected 
 together to vie with each other in the dexterity of 
 trundling the hoop, throwing the ball, jumping the 
 rope or running races. In all these sports the dogs 
 sustained a part by no means the least conspicuous, 
 with caninish glee running to pick up the fallen hoop, 
 bringing back the ball that had bounded too far, and 
 in the race, often outstripping all the children. 
 
 The first thing in the morning, just as the sun is 
 rising, this sleeping congregation is aroused from its 
 slumbers by several loud and long blasts from a hunt- 
 ing trumpet, to attend early prayers, consequently 
 with a slight attention to the toilet, the members 
 of each family are soon collected together for wor- 
 ship. I shall never forget the impression made upon 
 my mind, the first time I ever had the pleasure of be- 
 ing present at one of these scenes. On that morning 
 as soon as we were assembled the master of the family 
 arose and in a sweet, clear and strong voice, sung, 
 
 "A charge to keep I have, 
 A God to glorify." 
 
 We were assembled in that part of the house called 
 the " dining hall," the front of which was all open 
 to the public view, and as all the other families 
 were similarly situated, the songs of praise which 
 went up from each could be distinctly heard by all 
 the rest, as they resounded that morning through 
 every part of the camp-ground. I never expect to 
 enjoy another scene like this beneath the skies, but 
 in the language of the poet I could sincerely say, 
 
 "My willing soul would stay, 
 In such a scene as this." 
 
PART III 
 
 TRAVELLERS 
 
 29. A Visit to the Natural Bridge 
 
 By the Marquis de Chastellux (1782) 
 
 I AM too near the Natural Bridge to stop at other The Natural 
 objects. We set out at nine o'clock in the morning-, Bridge ism 
 
 1 , , 1 1 11 1 r • 1 tl''^ moun- 
 
 and to say the truth, rather heedlessly; tor m these tains of west- 
 mountains, where there are either too many or too em Virginia. 
 few roads, people always think they have given 
 sufficient directions to travellers, who seldom fail to 
 go astray. This is the common fault of those who 
 instruct others in what they themselves are well ac- 
 quainted with ; nor are the roads to knowledge exempt 
 from this inconvenience. After riding about two 
 miles however, we luckily met a man who had just 
 got his horse shod at a neighbouring forge, and was 
 returning home, followed by two or three couple of 
 hounds. 
 
 We soon entered into conversation with him, and 
 what seldom happens in America, he was curious to 
 know who I was, and whither I was going. My 
 quality of a General Officer in the French service, 
 and the desire I expressed of seeing the wonders of 
 his country, inspired him with a kind of affection for 
 
 G 81 
 
82 
 
 Travellers 
 
 [No. 29 
 
 me, and he offered to be our conductor. He led us 
 sometimes through Httle paths, at others through 
 woods, but continually climbing or descending moun- 
 
 THE NATI;RjVT. liRIDGE. 
 
 tains ; so that without a guide, nothing short of witch- 
 craft could have enabled us to find the road. After 
 we had thus travelled for two hours, we at last de- 
 scended a steep declivity, and then mounted another ; 
 during which time he endeavoured to render the 
 conversation more interesting. At last, pushing his 
 horse on briskly, and stopping suddenly, he said to 
 me, " You desire to see the Natural Bridge, don't 
 you Sir .'* You are now upon it, alight and go twenty 
 
No. 29] Natural Bridge 83 
 
 steps either to the right or left, and you will see this 
 prodigy." I had perceived that there was on each 
 side a considerable deep hollow, but the trees had 
 prevented me from forming any judgment, or paying 
 much attention to it. 
 
 Approaching the precipice, I saw at first two great 
 masses or chains of rocks, which formed the bottom 
 of a ravine, or rather of an immense abyss ; but 
 placing myself, not without precaution, upon the 
 brink of the precipice, I saw that these two buttresses 
 were joined under my feet, forming a vault, of which 
 I could yet form no idea but of its height. After 
 enjoying this magnificent but tremendous spectacle, 
 which many persons could not bear to look at, I went 
 to the western side, the aspect of w^hich was not less 
 imposing, but more picturesque. 
 
 But it is at the foot of these rocks, on the edge of 
 a Httle stream which flows under this immense arch, 
 that we must judge of its astonishing structure. The 
 arch is not complete, the eastern part of it not being 
 so large as the western, because the mountain is more 
 elevated on this than on the opposite side. It is very 
 extraordinary that at the bottom of the stream there 
 appear no considerable ruins, no trace of any violent 
 laceration, which could have destroyed the kernel of 
 the rock, and have left the upper part alone subsist- 
 ing ; for that is the only hypothesis that can account 
 for such a prodigy. We can have no possible recourse 
 either to a volcano or a deluge, no trace of a sudden 
 conflagration, or of a slow and tedious undermining 
 by the water. 
 
84 
 
 Travellers [no. 30 
 
 30. A Tavern near the Hudson 
 
 By Marquis de Chastellux (1788) 
 
 Being very dark, it was not without difficulty I 
 passed two or three rivulets, on very small bridges, 
 and got to Courtheath's Tavern. This Inn is lately 
 established, and kept by young people without for- 
 tune, consequently the best parts of the furniture are 
 the owner and his family. Mr. Courtheath is a young 
 man of four-and-twenty, who was formerly a travelling 
 dealer in stuffs, toys. The depreciation of paper 
 money, or perhaps his own imprudence, so far ruined 
 him as to oblige him to leave his house at Morris- 
 Town, and set up a tavern in this out of the way 
 place, where nothing but the neighbourhood of the 
 army can procure him a few customers. He has two 
 handsome sisters, well dressed girls, who wait on trav- 
 ellers with grace and coquetry. Their brother says, 
 he will marry them to some fat, clumsy Dutchmen, 
 and that as for himself, as soon as he has got a little 
 money, he shall resume his commerce, and travel 
 about as formerly. On entering the parlour, where 
 these young women sit, when there are no strangers, 
 I found on a great table, Milton, Addison, Richardson, 
 and several other works of that kind. The cellar 
 was not so well stored as the library, for there was 
 neither wine, cider, nor rum. The bill they pre- 
 sented me the next morning amounted nevertheless 
 to sixteen dollars. I observed to Mr. Courtheath, 
 that if he made one pay for being waited on by his 
 pretty sisters, it was by much too little ; but if only 
 for lodgings and supper, it was a great deal. He 
 seemed a little ashamed at having charged too high. 
 
No. 31] Stage Coach 85 
 
 and offered to make a pretty considerable abatement, 
 which I refused, content with having shown him, that 
 though a foreigner, I was no stranger to the price of 
 articles, and satisfied with the excuse he made me, 
 that being himself a stranger and without property 
 in the country, he was obliged to purchase every thing. 
 I learned, on this occasion, that he hired the inn he 
 kept, as well as a large barn which served for a stable, 
 and a garden of two or three acres, for eighty-four 
 bushels of corn a year : in fact, the depreciation of 
 paper has compelled people to this manner of making 
 bargains, which is perhaps the best of all, but is 
 unquestionably an effectual remedy to the present 
 disorder. 
 
 31. A Day in a Stage Coach 
 
 By Brissot de Warville (1788) 
 
 I WENT from New York the 25th of August, at 
 six o'clock in the morning, and had the North River 
 to pass before arriving to the stage. We passed the 
 ferry in an open boat, and landed at Paulus Hook : 
 they reckon two miles for this ferry, for which we 
 pay sixpence, money of New York. 
 
 The carriage is a kind of open wagon, hung wath 
 double curtains of leather and woollen, which you 
 raise or let fall at pleasure. But the road was so fine, 
 being sand and gravel, that we felt no inconvenience 
 from that circumstance. The horses are good, and 
 go with rapidity. These carriages have four benches, 
 and may contain twelve persons. The light baggage 
 is put under the benches, and the trunks fixed on 
 
86 
 
 Travellers 
 
 [No. 31 
 
 behind. A traveller who does not choose to take the 
 stage, has a one-horse carriage by himself. 
 
 Let the Frenchmen who have travelled in these 
 carriages, compare them to those used in France ; to 
 
 A blAL-L LUACll Ul I829. 
 
 those heavy diligences, where eight or ten persons 
 are stuffed in together ; to those cabriolets in the 
 environs of Paris, where two persons are closely con- 
 fined, and deprived of air, by a dirty driver, who 
 torments his miserable horses : such carriages have 
 to run over the finest roads, and yet make but one 
 Three miles, league an hour. If the Americans had such roads, 
 with what rapidity would they travel, since, notwith- 
 standing the badness of many highways, they now run 
 ninety-six miles in a day. Thus, with only a century 
 and a half of settlement, and in the face of a thousand 
 obstacles, they are already superior to people who have 
 been undisturbed in their progress of fifteen centuries. 
 You find in the stages, men of all professions. 
 They succeed each other with rapidity. One who 
 goes but twenty miles, yields his place to one who 
 
No. 31] Stage Coach 87 
 
 goes farther. The mother and daughter mount the 
 stage to go ten miles to dine ; another stage brings 
 them back. At every instant, then, you are making 
 new acquaintances. The frequent passing of these 
 carriages, the ease of finding places in them, and the 
 low and fixed price, invite the Americans to travel. 
 
 The stage-coaches have another advantage, they 
 keep up the idea of equality. The member of Con- 
 gress is placed by the side of the shoemaker who 
 elected him. You see no person here taking upon 
 himself those important airs, which you too often 
 meet with in France. In that country, a man of con- 
 dition would blush to travel in a diligence : it is an 
 ignoble carriage ; one who knows not with whom he 
 may find himself. Besides, it is in style to run post ; 
 this style serves to humiliate those who are con- 
 demned to a sad mediocrity. It is then fortunate for 
 America, that the nature of things prevents distinction 
 in the mode of travelling. 
 
 The son of Governor Livingston was in the stage 
 with me ; I should not have found him out, so civil 
 and easy was his air, had not the tavern-keepers from 
 time to time addressed him with respectful famiharity. 
 I am told that the governor himself often uses those 
 stages. You may have an idea of this respectable 
 man, who is at once a writer, a governor, and a plow- 
 man, on learning that he takes a pride in calling him- 
 self a New Jersey farmer. 
 
 The American stages, then, are the true political 
 carriages. I know that the pctits niaitrcs of France Uandies. 
 would prefer a gay well-suspended chariot ; but these 
 carriages roll in countries of Bastilles, in countries 
 aflflicted with great inequality, and consequently with 
 great misery. 
 
88 
 
 Travellers 
 
 [No. 32 
 
 32. A Troubled Journey 
 
 By Francis Hopkinson (1790) 
 
 Our jaunt had been the daily subject of discussion 
 at breakfast, dinner, and supper for a month before 
 the time fixed upon for putting it in execution. As 
 our daughter Jenny could by no means be left at 
 home, many and great were the preparations to equip 
 Miss and her Mamma for this important journey; and 
 yet, as my wife assured me, there was nothing pro- 
 vided but what was absolutely necessary, and which 
 we could not possibly do without. 
 
 At last, the long expected day arrived. No 
 sooner was it fair day-light, but up started my 
 notable wife, and soon roused the whole family. The 
 little trunk was stuffed with baggage, even to bursting, 
 and tied behind the chair, and the chair-box was 
 crammed with trumpery which we could not possibly 
 do without. Miss Jenny was drest, and breakfast 
 devoured in haste : the old negro wench was called 
 in, and the charge of the house committed to her 
 care; and the two apprentices and the hired maid 
 received many wholesome cautions and instructions 
 for their conduct during our absence, all which they 
 most liberally promised to observe. 
 
 At length, however, we set off, and turning the first 
 corner, lost sight of our habitation, with great regret 
 on my part, and no less joy on the part of Miss Jenny 
 and her Mamma. When we got to Poole's Bridge, 
 there happened to be a great concourse of wagons, 
 and carts, so that we could not pass for some time — 
 Miss Jenny frightened — my wife very impatient and 
 uneasy — wondered I did not call out to those im- 
 
No. 32] Troubled yourney 89 
 
 pudent fellows to make way for us. Having got 
 through this difficulty, we proceeded without obstruc- 
 tion — my wife in good humour — Miss Jenny in high 
 spirits. At Kensington fresh troubles arise — " Bless 
 me, Miss Jenny," says my wife, "where is the band- 
 box.'' " " I don't know. Mamma; the last time I saw 
 it, it was on the table in your room." What's to be 
 done .'' the band-box is left behind — it contains Miss 
 Jenny's new wire-cap — there is no possibility of doing 
 without it — As well no New York as no wire-cap 
 — there is no alternative, we must even go back 
 for it. 
 
 Teased and mortified as I was, my good wife 
 administered consolation by observing, " That it was 
 my business to see that every thing was put into the 
 chair that ought to be, but there was no depending 
 upon me for any thing; and that she plainly saw I 
 undertook this journey with an ill-will, merely because 
 she had set her heart upon it." Silent patience was 
 my only remedy. An hour and an half restored to us 
 this essential requisite — the wire-cap, and brought us 
 back to the place where we first missed it. 
 
 After innumerable difficulties and unparalleled dan- 
 gers, occasioned by ruts, stumps, and tremendous 
 bridges, we arrived at Neshamony ferry : but how to 
 cross it was the question. My wife protested that 
 neither she nor Jenny would go over in the boat with 
 the horse. I assured her that there was not the least 
 danger ; that the horse was as quiet as a dog, and 
 that I would hold him by the bridle all the way. 
 These assurances had little weight : the most forcible 
 argument was that she must go that way or not 
 at all, for there was no other boat to be had. Thus 
 persuaded, she ventured in — The flies were trouble- 
 
90 
 
 Travellers [no. 32 
 
 some — the horse kicked — my wife in panics — Miss 
 Jenny in tears. 
 
 As we started pretty early, and as the days were 
 long, we reached Trenton by two o'clock. Here 
 we dined. My wife found fault with every thing ; 
 and whilst she disposed of what I thought a toler- 
 able hearty meal, declared there was nothing fit to 
 eat. Matters, however, would have gone on pretty 
 well, but Miss Jenny began to cry with the toothache. 
 
 After dinner we again entered upon our journey 
 — my wife in good humour — Miss Jenny's tooth- 
 ache much easier — various chat — I acknowledge 
 every thing my wife says for fear of discomposing 
 her. We arrive in good time at Princeton. My wife 
 and daughter admire the College. We refresh our- 
 selves with tea, and go to bed early, in order to be up 
 by times for the next day's expedition. 
 
 In the morning we set off again in tolerable good 
 humour, and proceeded happily as far as Rocky-hill. 
 Here my wife's fears and terrors returned with great 
 force. I drove as carefully as possible ; but coming 
 to a place where one of the wheels must unavoidably 
 go over the point of a small rock, my wife, in a great 
 fright, seized hold of one of the reins, which happen- 
 ing to be the wrong one, she pulled the horse so as to 
 force the wheel higher up the rock than it would 
 otherwise have gone, and overset the chair. We were 
 all tumbled hickledy-pickledy, into the road — Miss 
 Jenny's face all bloody — the woods echo to her cries 
 ■ — my wife in a fainting fit — and I in great misery. 
 Matters begin to mend — my wife recovers — Miss 
 Jenny has only received a slight scratch on one of 
 her cheeks — the horse stands quite still, and none 
 of the harness broke. Matters grew worse again ; 
 
No. 32] Troubled yourney 9 1 
 
 the twine with which the band-box was tied had broke 
 in the fall, and the aforesaid wire-cap lay soaking in 
 a nasty mud-puddle — grievous lamentations over the 
 wire-cap — all my fault because I did not tic it better 
 — no remedy — no wire-caps to be bought at Rocky- 
 hill. 
 
 After passing unhurt over the imminent dangers of 
 Passaiack and Hackensack rivers, and the yet more 
 tremendous horrors of Pawlas Hook ferry, we arrived, 
 at the close of the third day, at cousin Snip's in the 
 city of New York. 
 
 Here we sojourned a tedious week ; my wife spent 
 as much money as would have maintained my family 
 for a month at home, in purchasing a hundred use- 
 less articles which we could not possibly do without. 
 
 On the seventh day my wife declared that my 
 business would not admit of a longer absence from 
 home — and so after much ceremony, in which my 
 wife was by no means exceeded by her polite cousin, 
 we left the famous city of New York ; and I with 
 heart-felt satisfaction looked forward to the happy 
 period of our safe arrival in Water-street, Philadelphia. 
 
 But this blessing was not to be obtained without 
 much vexation and trouble — we were caught in a 
 thunder storm — our horse failed, by which we were 
 benighted three miles from our stage — my wife's 
 panics returned — Miss Jenny howled, and how very 
 miserable I was made. Suffice it to say, that, after 
 many distressing disasters, we arrived at the door of 
 our own habitation in Water-street. 
 
92 Travellers [no. 33 
 
 33. Travelling by Canoes 
 
 By Isaac Weld (1796) 
 
 Had it been practicable, it was our intention to 
 have proceeded from Bath by water; but finding that 
 it was not, we once more set off on foot, and pursued 
 our way along the banks of the river till we came to 
 a small village of eight or ten houses, called New- 
 town, about thirty miles distant from Bath. Here 
 we found the stream tolerably deep, and the people 
 informed us, that excepting at one or two narrow 
 shoals, they were certain that in every part of it, 
 lower down, there was sufficient water for canoes ; 
 accordingly, determined to be our own watermen, as 
 we were five in number including our servants, we 
 purchased a couple of canoes from two farmers, who 
 lived on the banks of the river, lashed them together, 
 in order to render them more steady and safe, put our 
 baggage on board, and boldly embarked. 
 
 It was about three o'clock on a remarkably clear 
 though cold afternoon that we left the village, and 
 as the current was strong, we hoped to be able to 
 reach before night a tavern, about six miles below 
 Newtown. For the first two miles we got on ex- 
 tremely well ; but beyond this the river proving to 
 be much shallower than we had been led to believe, 
 we found it a matter of the utmost difficulty to pro- 
 ceed. Our canoes repeatedly struck upon the shoals, 
 and so much time was consumed in setting them again 
 free, that before we had accomplished more than two- 
 thirds of our voyage the day closed. 
 
 As night advanced a very sensible change was 
 observable in the weather ; a heavy shower of hail 
 
No. 33] Canoes 9 3 
 
 came pouring clown, and involved us in thick dark- 
 ness, while the moon was obscured by a cloud ; our 
 canoes were drifted on a bank in the middle of the 
 river by the current. In endeavouring to extricate 
 ourselves unfortunately, owing to the darkness, we 
 took a wrong direction; and at the end of a few min- 
 utes found our canoes so firmly wedged in the gravel 
 that it was impossible to move them. Nothing now 
 remained to be done but for every one of us to jump 
 into the water, and to put his shoulder to the canoes. 
 This we accordingly did, and having previously un- 
 lashed them in order to render them more manageable, 
 we in a short time contrived to haul one of them into 
 deep water. Here, however, the rapidity of the cur- 
 rent was so great, that notwithstanding all our en- 
 deavours to the contrary, the canoe was forcibly 
 swept away from us, and in the attempt to hold it 
 fast we had the misfortune to see it nearly filled with 
 water. 
 
 Deprived thus of one of our canoes, and of a great 
 part of our baggage in it, which, for aught we knew, 
 was irrecoverably lost, we determined to proceed 
 more cautiously with the remaining one ; we returned, 
 therefore, to the bank, and carried every thing that 
 was in the canoe on our shoulders to the shore, 
 which was about forty yards distant ; no very easy or 
 agreeable task, as the water reached up to our waists, 
 and the current was so strong that it was with the 
 utmost difficulty we could keep our feet. As soon 
 as the canoe was emptied, we brought it, as nearly as 
 we could guess, to the spot where the other one had 
 been swept away from us ; and one of the party then 
 got into it with a paddle, and we committed it to the 
 stream, hoping that it would be carried down after 
 
94 
 
 Travellers [no, 33 
 
 the other, and that thus we should be able to recover 
 both with the thmgs which they contained. 
 
 In a few seconds the stream carried the canoe out 
 of our sight, for the moon shone but faintly through the 
 clouds, and as the men were all totally unacquainted 
 with the river, we could not but feel some concern 
 for the personal safety of our companion. Before 
 many minutes elapsed, we had the satisfaction of 
 hearing his voice at a distance, and as soon as we 
 could make our way along the shore to the spot 
 whence the sound proceeded, we had the satisfaction 
 to find that he had been carried in safety close beside 
 the canoe which had been lost. We were not a little 
 pleased also at finding our portmanteaus at the bot- 
 tom of the canoe, though well soaked in water ; but 
 such of our clothes as we had taken off preparatory 
 to going into the water, together with several light 
 articles, were all lost. 
 
 It froze so hard that in a few minutes our port- 
 manteaus, and such of our garments as had been wet, 
 were covered with a coat of ice, and our limbs were 
 quite benumbed, in consequence of our having waded 
 so often through the river. Desirous, as we were to 
 get to a house, we determined first of all, to put our 
 baggage in a safe place, lest it might be pillaged. 
 A deep hollow under some fallen trees seemed well 
 adapted for the purpose, and we stowed it there, and 
 covered it with leaves, before we advanced forward. 
 There were no traces whatsoever of a path in the 
 woods where we landed, and for upwards of a mile 
 we had to force our way through the bushes along 
 the banks of the river ; but at the end of that distance 
 we hit upon one, which in a short time brought us to 
 a miserable little losr house. At this house no accom- 
 
No. 33] Canoes 95 
 
 modation whatsoever was to be had ; but we were 
 told, that if we followed the path through the woods 
 for about a mile farther, we should come to a wagon 
 road, upon which we should find another house, where 
 probably we might gain admittance. We reached this 
 house according to the directions we had received and 
 readily gained admittance ; the blaze of an immense 
 wood fire, piled half way up the chimney, soon made 
 us amends for what we had suffered. 
 
 The cold of the air, together with the fatigue 
 which we had gone through in the course of the 
 day, had by this time given a keen edge to our appe- 
 tites. No sooner had we warmed ourselves than we 
 began to make enquiries about what we could get to 
 satisfy the calls of hunger; but had we asked for a 
 sheep or an ox for supper at an inn in England, the 
 man of the house could not, I verily believe, have 
 been more amazed than was our American landlord 
 at these enquiries : " The women were in bed " — 
 " He knew not where to find the keys " — " He did 
 not beheve there was any thing in the pantry" — • 
 " Provisions were very scarce in the country" — "If 
 he gave us any there would not be enough for the 
 family in the morning " — Such were his answers to 
 us. However we plied him so closely, and gave him 
 such a pitiable description of our sufferings, that at 
 length he was moved ; the keys were found, the 
 pantry opened, and. to satisfy the hunger of five 
 hungry young men,' two little flour cakes, scarcely as 
 big as a man's hand each, and about a pint and a half 
 of milk, were brought forth. He vowed he could give 
 us nothing more ; his wife would never pardon him 
 if he did not leave enough for their breakfasts in the 
 morning. Obliged therefore to remain satisfied, we 
 
96 
 
 Travellers [No. 33 
 
 ate our little pittance, and then laid ourselves down 
 to rest on our furs, which we had brought with us on 
 our shoulders. 
 
 In the morning we found our canoes and baggage 
 just as we had left them. We embarked once more, 
 and made the best of our way down to the house 
 where we had ordered breakfast, which stood on the 
 banks of the river. The people here were extremely 
 civil ; they assisted us in making fresh paddles, in 
 lieu of those which we had lost the night before. 
 
 After breakfast we continued for about seven miles 
 down the river, but in the course of this distance we 
 were obliged to get into the water more than a dozen 
 different times, I believe, to drag the canoes over the 
 shoals. By the time we arrived at a house in the 
 afternoon, we were completely disgusted with our 
 water conveyance ; and had we not been able to pro- 
 cure two men, to conduct our canoes to the mouth of 
 Tayoga River, where there was reason to imagine 
 that the water would be found deeper, we should 
 certainly have left them behind us. 
 
 We found no difificulty, in hiring from amongst the 
 watermen accustomed to ply on the river, a man that 
 was perfectly well acquainted with it. After ex- 
 changing our two canoes, according to his advice, 
 for one of a very large size, capable of holding us all 
 conveniently, we renewed our voyage. 
 
No. 34] 
 
 The Ohio 
 
 97 
 
 34. A Fiddler on the Ohio 
 
 By James Hall (1820) 
 
 In the early part of our voyage we overtook a flat This gives a 
 
 boat floating down the stream, and in passing, were of^Jfe^l-^e"'^ 
 
 hailed by a person on the roof, who was no sooner the Ohio 
 
 recognized by our boatmen than a murmur of joy ^'^^'"• 
 ran throughout the boat. In a few minutes the 
 stranger came on board, and was received with a 
 
 i III''!' ;i'" r 
 
 A RIVER SCENE. 
 
 hearty welcome by our men, who saluted him by the 
 title of " Pappy." He seemed to be about fifty years 
 of age, but his eye had all the fire, and his step the 
 elasticity, of youth ; a continual smile lurked among 
 his sly features, and the jest was ever on his lips ; 
 while an affected gravity, a drawling accent, and a 
 kind, benevolent manner, which accorded well with 
 the paternal appellation given him by the boatmen, 
 marked him as an eccentric being. 
 
98 
 
 Travellers [No. 34 
 
 " Our Pappy " was a humorist, and his sway among 
 his fellow boatmen was unlimited. To the great 
 joy of the crew, he was hired for the trip, and has- 
 tened back to the flat, to bring, as he expressed it, 
 *' Katy and his plunder on board." Katy, whose 
 merry voice we soon heard, was no other than a vio- 
 lin, and his plunder consisted of a small parcel of 
 clothing tied up in a bandanna handkerchief. It was 
 I suppose his all — had it been less, " Old Pap " would 
 still have been merry ; if it had been infinitely greater 
 he would still have joked and fiddled. While others 
 worked, he would sit for hours scraping upon his 
 violin, singing catches, or relating merry or marvel- 
 lous tales. When he chose to labour he went to the 
 oar, when inclined to trifle he held off, and no one 
 questioned his motions ; but, whether at work or at 
 play, he applied himself with all his heart. If the 
 boat grounded on a sand-bar, he was the first to 
 plunge into the water ; if a point was to be weath- 
 ered, or a rapid to be passed, his was always the 
 best oar ; if a watch was to be kept at night, who so 
 wakeful as he .-* And on such occasions, he would 
 fiddle and sing the live-long night. In short, with the 
 affectation, and somewhat of the appearance of age, he 
 was the gayest, most active, and stoutest man on board ; 
 and I was told that there were but few men along the 
 river, who would have undertaken to handle "Old Pap." 
 
 This nev/ recruit proved a great acquisition, for, 
 like all other merry men, he was the cause of merri- 
 ment in others. He kept our own crew in good 
 humour, and hailed every boat we passed with some 
 stroke of pleasantry. More than once he enacted 
 chief musician at dances, at the hovels along shore, 
 near which we lay by for the night. 
 
No. 35] Early Steamboat 99 
 
 35. An Early Steamboat 
 
 By Francis Hall (i8i6) 
 
 I EMBARKED on the Qth of March, in the Paragon 
 steam packet, from New York to Albany. The win- 
 ter had been less severe than usual, which induced 
 the captain to attempt making his way up the Hudson 
 earlier than is customary. These steam-boats are 
 capable of accommodating from two to three hundred 
 passengers ; they are about one hundred and twenty 
 feet in length, and as elegant in their construction as 
 the awkward-looking machinery in the centre will 
 permit. There are two cabins, one for the ladies, 
 into which no gentleman is admitted without the con- 
 currence of the whole company. The interior ar- 
 rangements on the whole, resemble those of our best 
 packets. I was not without apprehension, that a din- 
 ner in such a situation, for above a hundred and fifty 
 persons, would very much resemble the scramble of 
 a mob ; but I was agreeably surprised by a dinner 
 handsomely served, very good attendance, and a gen- 
 eral attention to quiet and decorum. Indeed when 
 the cabin was lighted up for tea and sandwiches in 
 the evening, it more resembled a ball-room supper, 
 than, as might have been expected, a stage-coach 
 meal. The charge, including board, from New York 
 to Albany, one hundred and sixty miles, is seven dol- 
 lars. 
 
 We started under the auspices of a bright frosty 
 morning. The first few minutes were naturally spent 
 by me in examining the machinery, by means of 
 which our huge leviathan, with such evident ease, 
 won her way against the opposing current. More 
 
 L.orc. 
 
lOO 
 
 Travellers 
 
 [No. 35 
 
 interesting objects are breaking fast on the view ; on 
 our right are the sloping sides of New York Island, 
 studded with villas, over a soil from which the hand 
 of cultivation has long since rooted its woodland glo- 
 ries, and substituted the more varied decorations of 
 park and shrubbery, intersected with brown stubbles 
 and meadows ; on our left, the bold features of 
 nature rise, as in days of yore, unimpaired, unchange- 
 able ; grey cliffs, like aged battlements, tower perpen- 
 
 AN EARLY STEAMBOAT. 
 
 dicularly from the water's edge to the height of 
 several hundred feet. Hickory, dwarf oak, and 
 stunted cedars twist fantastically within their crevices, 
 and deepen the shadows of each glen into which they 
 occasionally recede ; huge masses of disjointed rocks 
 are scattered at intervals below ; here the sand has 
 collected sufficiently to afford space for the wood- 
 man's hut, but the narrow waterfall, which in summer 
 turns his saw-mill, is now a mighty icicle glittering 
 to the morning sun ; here and there a scarcely percep- 
 
No. 35] Early Steamboat loi 
 
 tible track conducts to the rude wharf, from which 
 the weather-worn higger receives her load of timber 
 for the consumption of the city. 
 
 Evening began to close in as we approached the 
 highlands : the banks on either side towered up more 
 boldly, and a wild tract of mountain scenery rose be- 
 yond them. The river, which had been gradually 
 widening, now expanded into a capacious lake, to 
 which the eye could distinguish no outlet ; flights of 
 wild fowl were skimming over its smooth surface to 
 their evening shelter, and the last light of day rested 
 faintly on a few white farm houses, glimmering at 
 intervals from the darkening thickets. Ver-Planks 
 Point shuts the northern extremity of this first basin ; 
 then the river continues its course within a cliff- 
 bound channel, until, after a few miles, it again opens 
 out amid the frowning precipices of West Point. 
 Here are the same features of scenery as at Ver- 
 Planks Point, but loftier mountains skirt the lake ; 
 and cliffs of more gigantic stature almost hang over 
 the gliding sail. 
 
 This was the land of romance to the early settlers : 
 Indian tradition had named the highlands the prison 
 wit-hin which Manetho confined the spirits rebellious 
 to his power, until the mighty Pludson, rolling 
 through the stupendous defiles of West Point, burst 
 asunder their prison house ; but they long lingered 
 near the place of their captivity, and as the blasts 
 howled through the valleys, echo repeated their groans 
 to the startled ear of the solitary hunter, who watched 
 by his pine-tree fire for the approach of morning. 
 The lights, which occasionally twinkled from the 
 sequestered bay, or wooded promontory, sufficiently 
 told that these fancies, like the Indians, who had in- 
 
I o 2 Travellers [No. 36 
 
 vented or transmitted them, must by this time have 
 given way to the unpoetic realities of civihsed Hfe. 
 
 Masses of floating ice, which had, at intervals 
 through the evening, spHt upon the bow of our ark, 
 became so frequent immediately on our passing West 
 Point as to oblige us to come to anchor for the night ; 
 a pretty sure prognostic that there was nearly an end 
 to our feather-bed travelling. The next morning we 
 found ourselves lying close to the flourishing little 
 settlement of Newburgh, on the right bank of the 
 river. Our captain concluded to terminate his voyage 
 here, and moved over to Fishkill, on the opposite 
 shore, to give us means of accommodating ourselves 
 with conveyances, in the best way we could. 
 
 36. A Canal Trip 
 
 By C. D. Arfwedson (1825) 
 
 On returning to Schenectady, I availed myself of 
 a canal-boat on the point of starting for Utica. These 
 boats are generally very long, but low, in conse- 
 quence of the many bridges thrown across the canal, 
 beneath which they must pass. They are fitted up 
 with two rooms, one inside the other, taking up the 
 whole length of the boat, with small windows on 
 the sides. The inner room belonged exclusively to 
 the ladies, and was considered as a sanctuary into 
 which the profane dared not set foot ; the outer one 
 again was used both as a drawing, dining, and bed 
 room for the gentlemen. 
 
 When — as was the case now — the number of trav- 
 ellers exceeded thirty, the prospect of remaining on 
 
No. 36] A Canal T?^ip 103 
 
 board twenty-two hours was not very agreeable. It 
 was impossible either to walk, to sit, or to lie down. 
 Moving about upon deck was out of the question, 
 owing to the number of bridges beneath which we 
 had to pass ; at every passage it became necessary 
 for the whole company to lie down flat, to avoid 
 being swept away by the beams of the bridge. As 
 soon as we approached one, which happened every 
 five minutes, the steersman called out, "Bridge!" 
 and at the same instant the company fell prostrate. 
 It was ludicrous for a while to take part in this 
 manoeuvre ; in the long run, however, it became weari- 
 some, and no other alternative was left but to go down, 
 by way of change, into the close and narrow cabin. 
 
 Night made our situation still more uncomfortable. 
 Although three tiers of beds, one above another, had 
 been fitted up on the sides, their number proved 
 insufficient ; the floor was covered with mattresses. 
 Had I been permitted to select a sleeping place, I 
 should unquestionably have preferred a mattress on 
 the floor, for the beds on the sides were only slung 
 by a cord to the top : had that given way the whole 
 sleeping apparatus would have been precipitated to 
 the floor; and the consequences might have been 
 serious, from the weight of some of the travellers. 
 Unfortunately, nearly all had the same idea as my- 
 self. The captain, a peaceable man, who wished to 
 accommodate every one, saw that it was not in his 
 power to do so, except by drawing lots for the berths. 
 I drew my number with a trembling hand, and behold ! 
 it turned out to be one of the lowest beds on the side. 
 
 The prospect now darkened indeed : to lie down, 
 having two other berths occupied by heavy inmates 
 above, and only supported by small cords, was not a 
 
I04 Travellers [no. 36 
 
 pleasant prospect. But what was to be done ? I had 
 no other chance but quietly to take my place, unless 
 I chose to spend the night on deck ; and this was 
 still more objectionable, owing to a heavy rain which 
 continued till the following morning. I thought it 
 prudent, however, to enter into a conversation with 
 the occupants of the upper regions, stipulating that 
 they should remain quiet in their berths, and that, if 
 a change of position became absolutely necessary, 
 they should inform me beforehand of their intention, 
 to guard against the possibility of accidents. Imme- 
 diately above me lay a young man, who, by his re- 
 served and strange behaviour, had already attracted 
 my attention ; and above him rested an excessively 
 fat man, whose frame took up more room than was 
 allotted to two. 
 
 The beginning of the night was rather auspicious ; 
 I already felt reconciled to my unpleasant situation, 
 and amused myself by listening to the different 
 sounds, from the finest tenor to the strongest bass, 
 proceeding from the snoring gentry. A sudden 
 thump against my side of the boat at length spread 
 consternation among the travellers. The shock, 
 occasioned by another craft coming too close to ours, 
 was so violent, that the beams cracked, and the doors 
 flew open. About a dozen sleeping individuals were 
 precipitated from the second and third tier on the 
 unfortunate beings who were lying on the floor. 
 One cord gave way after another. Snoring ceased : 
 lamentations filled the room. All were running, 
 shoving against each other, and making a noise in 
 the dark : confusion, in short, was at its height, until 
 the captain reported that there was no danger, and 
 the berths were soon aijain in use. 
 
FANNY KEMBLE. 
 
io6 Travellers [no. 37 
 
 37. Hudson River and Young 
 Folks 
 
 By Frances Anne Kemble (1832) 
 
 At six o'clock Dick roused me; and grumpily- 
 enough I arose. Really by way of a party of 
 pleasure, 'tis too abominable to get up in the mid- 
 dle of the night this fashion. At half past six, 
 Colonel Wilson came, and we set off to walk to 
 the quay. Just as we were nearing the bottom of 
 Barclay street, the bell rang from the steamboat, to 
 summon all loiterers on board ; and forthwith we 
 rushed, because in this country steam and paddles, 
 like wind and tide in others, wait for no man. We 
 got on board in plenty time, but Dick was nearly 
 killed with the pace at which we had walked, in 
 order to do so. One of the first persons we saw 
 was Mr. Hoyt, who was going up to his father's 
 place beyond West Point, by name Hyde Park, 
 which sounds magnificent. I did not remain long 
 on the second deck, but ascended to the first with 
 Colonel Wilson, and paced to and fro with infinite 
 zeal till breakfast time. 
 
 The morning was grey and sad looking, and I 
 feared we should not have a fine day : however, 
 towards eight o'clock the grey clouds parted, and 
 the blue serene eyes of heaven looked down upon 
 the waters, the waves began to sparkle, though the 
 sun had not yet appeared ; the sky was lighter, and 
 faint shadows began to appear beside the various 
 objects that surrounded us, all which symptoms 
 raised our hopes of the weather. At eight o'clock 
 
No. 37] Hudson River 107 
 
 we went down to breakfast. Nobody who has not 
 seen it, can conceive the strange aspect of the long 
 room of one of these fine boats at meal-time. The 
 crowd, the hurry, the confusion of tongues, like the 
 sound of many waters, the enormous consumption of 
 eatables, the mingled demands for more, the cloud 
 of black waiters hovering down the sides of the 
 immense tables, the hungry, eager faces seated at 
 them, form altogether a most amusing subject of 
 contemplation, and a caricaturist would find ample 
 matter for his vein in almost every other devouring 
 countenance. 
 
 As far as regards the speed, safety, and conven- 
 ience with which these vessels enable one to perform 
 what would be in any other conveyance most fatigu- 
 ing journeys, they are admirable inventions. The 
 way in which they are conducted, too, deserves the 
 highest commendation. Nothing can exceed the com- 
 fort with which they are fitted up, the skill with 
 which they are managed, and the order and alac- 
 rity with which passengers are taken up from, or 
 landed at the various points along the river. The 
 steamer goes at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, 
 and in less than two minutes when approaching any 
 place of landing, the engine stops, the boat is low- 
 ered — the captain always convoys his passengers 
 himself from the steamer to the shore — away darts 
 the tiny skiff, held by a rope to the main boat; as 
 soon as it grazes the land, its freight, animate and 
 inanimate, is bundled out, the boat hauls itself back 
 in an instant, and immediately the machine is in 
 motion, and the vessel again bounding over the water 
 like a race-horse. 
 
 Doubtless all this has many and great advantages ; 
 
io8 Travelle?^s [no. 37 
 
 but to an English person, the mere circumstance of 
 being the whole day in a crowd is a nuisance. In 
 spite, therefore, of all its advantages, this mode of 
 journeying has its drawbacks. And the greatest of 
 all, to me, is the being companioned by so many 
 strangers, who crowd about you, pursue their con- 
 versation in your very ears, or, if they like it better, 
 listen to yours, stare you out of all countenance, and 
 squeeze you out of all comfort. I think this constant 
 living in public is one reason why the young women 
 here are much less retiring and shy than English 
 girls. Instead of the domestic privacy in which 
 women among us are accustomed to live and move, 
 and have their being, here they are incessantly, as 
 Mr. Mayne says, ''en evidence.'' Accustomed to the 
 society of strangers, mixing familiarly with persons 
 of whom they know nothing earthly, subject to the 
 gaze of a crowd from morning till night, pushing, 
 and pressing, and struggling in self-defence, con- 
 versing, and being conversed with, by the chance 
 companions of a boarding-house, a steamboat, or 
 the hotel of a fashionable watering-place ; they 
 must necessarily lose everything like reserve or 
 bashfulness of deportment, and become free and 
 familiar in their manners, and noisy and unrefined 
 in their tone and style of conversation. An Eng- 
 lish girl of sixteen, put on board one of these Noah's 
 arks, (for verily there be clean and unclean beasts in 
 them,) would feel and look like a scared thing. The 
 term which I should say applied best to the tone 
 and carriage of American girls from ten to eighteen, 
 is hoydenish ; laughing, giggling, romping, flirting, 
 screaming at the top of their voices, running in and 
 out of shops, and spending a very considerable por- 
 
No. 38] C/iild's Voyage 109 
 
 tion of their time in lounging about in the streets. 
 In Philadelphia and Boston, almost all the young 
 ladies attend classes or day schools, and in the latter 
 place, I never went out, morning, noon, or evening, 
 that I did not meet, in some of the streets round the 
 Tremont House, a whole bevy of young school girls, 
 who were my very particular friends, but who, under 
 pretext of going to, or returning from school, appeared 
 to me to be always laughing, and talking, and run- 
 ning about in the public thoroughfares ; a system of 
 education which we should think by no means desir- 
 able. The entire liberty which the majority of young 
 ladies are allowed to assume, at an age when in Eng- 
 land they would be under strict nursery discipline, 
 appears very extraordinary ; they not only walk alone 
 in the streets, but go out into society, where they take 
 a determined and leading part, without either mother, 
 aunt, or chaperon of any sort ; custom, which renders 
 such an appendage necessary with us, entirely dis- 
 penses with it here; the reason of this is obvious 
 enough in the narrow circles of these small towns, 
 where every body knows every body. 
 
 38. A Child's Voyage on the 
 Ohio 
 
 By Henry M. Brackenridge (1S34) 
 
 The good squire brought me back to Pittsburg, 
 riding behind him on horseback. I remember the 
 smell of the coal-smoke in coming down Coal Hill, 
 and was pleased with the appearance of the syca- 
 
1 1 o Travellers [no. 38 
 
 mores growing along the bank of the Monongahela, 
 with the milk-white bark of their trunks and branches. 
 My father seemed pleased with my speaking Ger- 
 man, which would not have been the case if he had 
 understood the language. He always entertained a 
 very high idea of the importance of this kind of 
 acquirement, and would often repeat the saying, 
 "that a man doubles himself by learning another 
 language." For this reason, or perhaps in conse- 
 quence of some original plan of education, he con- 
 ceived the idea of sending me to a French village in 
 Louisiana, in order to pass the time in acquiring that 
 important language, which might otherwise have been 
 spent in rolling hoops or playing marbles in the street. 
 A French gentleman of his acquaintance was about 
 to visit St. Genevieve, a village on the Mississippi, 
 and consented to take me with him. Without re- 
 garding the distance, which was fifteen hundred 
 miles, through a wilderness, and at that time the 
 theater of a bloody Indian war, it was resolved to 
 seize the opportunity which presented itself of exe- 
 cuting his design. It was therefore settled that I 
 should accompany the French gentleman, who en- 
 gaged to place me in a French family, where I might 
 learn the language. Although nothing could have 
 been better intended than this measure, it is one 
 which few persons will approve. It is true I learned 
 the French language, from which I afterward derived 
 both pleasure and advantage, and it was my fortune 
 to fall into good hands ; but it might have been other- 
 wise. 
 
 It must have been in the spring of the year when 
 I left Pittsburg, for the water was high, and I recol- 
 lect seeing some garden-flowers growing wild. When 
 
No. 38] Child's Voyage iii 
 
 I went into the flat-boat, poor Joe could with diffi- 
 culty be prevented from accompanying me ; he wept 
 bitterly and embraced me affectionately. With the 
 exception of the French gentleman in whose charge 
 I was placed, my companions, at least for a consider- 
 able part of the way, were, of all others, the most 
 likely to be pernicious to a child of my age ; they 
 consisted of common soldiers, to the number of thirty, 
 under the command of an ensign, on their way to the 
 army. It was fortunate for me that, owing to the 
 high waters, this part of our voyage was short in its 
 duration, although the distance was five hundred 
 miles. 
 
 A little incident also happened shortly after our 
 departure, which placed me at some distance from 
 my companions of the voyage. My trunk was 
 broken open, and six shillings in silver, which had 
 purchased my consent to depart from my native 
 spot, were taken out by one unknown. The soldiers 
 were suspected ; the ensign, who was indignant, made 
 strict search to no purpose, and on receiving some 
 insolent language from a corporal or sergeant, drew 
 his sword, struck him over the head — ^the purple 
 stream followed the blow. Such circumstances stamp 
 themselves strongly on the infant mind, and I ascribe 
 to it a dislike which I have to military discipline. 
 
 I can recollect but few particulars of the voyage. 
 In my childish simplicity, I thought we had reached 
 the end of the river when we came to a part where 
 the stream turns suddenly to the left, apparently pre- 
 senting a barrier of hills athwart its course. Being 
 by this time tired of the voyage, I asked them to 
 take me back. In the evening I was put to a new 
 trial; a piece of fat pork, chocolate in a tin cup, and 
 
112 Travellers [no. 38 
 
 some ship-biscuit were given to me for supper. The 
 fat meat disgusted me ; the chocolate was unpala- 
 table ; but being afraid to make known these an- 
 tipathies, the offensive mess was privately thrown 
 overboard. I soon found, however, that there is 
 no cure like starving for an overdelicate appetite ; 
 and after awhile my disgust was gradually placed 
 under control. I consider this a valuable practical 
 lesson. How many a spoilt child have I seen, who 
 might be cured by the discipline of the flat-boat ! 
 
 In ten days we reached the encampment of General 
 Wayne, at a place called Hobson's Choice, now a part 
 of the City of Cincinnati. I have no distinct recol- 
 lection of the appearance of the Ohio River in the 
 course of our descent, except that, instead of being 
 enlivened by towns and farms along its banks, it was 
 a woody wilderness, shut in to the water's edge. 
 Excepting the openings and clearings made for the 
 camp, the ground was covered by lofty trees and 
 entangled vines. 
 
 We remained here but a few days, when we floated 
 off again into the stream ; our party now consisted 
 of my guardian (as I will call him) and another man, 
 and a little boy about my own age. We now pro- 
 ceeded as silently as we could, keeping, as near as 
 possible, on the Kentucky side of the river, from 
 apprehension of the Indians. 
 
 I do not remember Louisville, or " the Falls " as 
 the place was then called ; the waters being high, the 
 rapids were probably not visible, and the boat passed 
 over them as over any other part of the river From 
 this place to the mouth of the river, about five hun- 
 dred miles, the banks presented an uninterrupted 
 wilderness; the solitude was not disturbed by a single 
 
No. 38] 
 
 Child' s Voyage 
 
 113 
 
 human voice out of our boat. We encountered a 
 river storm, not many miles from the Mississippi; 
 the waves tossed us about, and dashed over the sides 
 of the boat, threatening either to overwhelm us, or 
 to cast us on a desert shore. What a contrast to the 
 gentle Ohio was presented . when we entered the 
 current of the mighty " father of rivers," with his 
 prodigious volume rolling in turbid eddies and whirls, 
 with whole forests of driftwood on his surface ! We 
 were swiftly hurried along, and soon reached New 
 Madrid, the termination of our voyage. This place 
 was then a small Spanish military post ; as we 
 approached the landing, a soldier or officer made 
 his appearance on the bank, and flourished his sword 
 with a fierce, consequential air ; all this for the 
 purpose of indicating the place for us to land. 
 
 
 
 
 
 A TOLL GATE. 
 
I T 4 T?^avelle?^s [no. 39 
 
 39. A Bear Fight 
 
 By Henry M. Brackenridge (1834) 
 
 In ascending the Ohio, as the banks were unin- 
 habited, and there were no boats going down, we 
 often suffered severely from the want of provisions. 
 Louisville. Excepting two log-cabins, at Red Bank, there was no 
 habitation until we reached the Falls. I shall never 
 forget the painful sensations of hunger which I en- 
 dured, when we were a day, or sometimes two days, 
 without anything to eat. A sufficient supply of pro- 
 visions had not been laid in before starting, and our 
 hunters frequently disappointed us. Not far from 
 the Wabash, on the Indian side of the river, a small 
 herd of buffaloes was one day observed, perhaps 
 among the last ever seen on the banks of the Ohio. 
 Our boat landed, in order to afford an opportunity to 
 those who had guns to approach the game through 
 the woods. Four of the men slipped up through 
 the bushes, and, selecting a buffalo bull, fired their 
 rifles at once at his head ; but they either missed, or 
 their bullets could not penetrate his skull. Another 
 was more fortunate, or more judicious, in choosing 
 out a large calf, which he shot and secured, and 
 brought us a most acceptable supply of fresh meat. 
 
 Once, having encamped somewhat later than usual, 
 in the neighborhood of a beautiful grove of sugar- 
 trees, we found, after kindling our fires, that a large 
 flock of turkeys had taken up their night's lodgings 
 over our heads : some ten or twelve of them were 
 soon taken down for our supper and breakfast. But 
 it was not often we were so fortunate ; and one after- 
 noon in particular, after having suffered much from 
 
No. 39] A Bear Fight 115 
 
 hunger, the men bethought themselves of trying the 
 river mussels : they were fried, and covered with pep- 
 per and salt, but they could not be eaten. 
 
 I must not omit an incident of our voyage of some- 
 what unusual interest, which was nothing more nor 
 less than what may be called a naval combat with a 
 bear. One afternoon bruin was espied crossing the 
 river from the Indiana to the Kentucky side ; every 
 exertion was made, and with success, to cut him off 
 from the shore. We now had him fairly in the mid- 
 dle of the river. All the guns we had on board were 
 leveled at him ; but such is the extraordinary tenacity 
 of life in this animal, that, although severely wounded, 
 he not only continued to swim, but now enraged, and 
 finding his retreat impracticable, made directly for 
 the boat, champing his teeth, and his eyes red with 
 rage. Before the fire-arms could be reloaded, he laid 
 his paw on the side of the boat, as if to try the last 
 desperate experiment of boarding ; and if he had suc- 
 ceeded, the probability is he would have cleared the 
 decks. Some one had the presence of mind to seize 
 an axe and knock him in the head ; after which, he 
 was dragged into the boat, and proved to be of enor- 
 mous size. We encamped early, and fires were joy- 
 fully kindled along the rocky shore, in anticipation of 
 the feast : one of the paws fell to my share, and, being 
 roasted in the ashes, furnished a delicious repast. 
 
 Our boat was very badly contrived to encounter 
 inclement weather. At the stern there was a small 
 cabin, if such it might be called, formed by a canvas 
 drawn over hoops something like those of a covered 
 wagon. But the space it covered was too narrow to 
 shelter more than four or five persons. The hull of 
 the boat was entirely filled with peltries. One night, 
 
1 1 6 Travellers [no. 39 
 
 when it rained incessantly, so many crowded in that 
 I was fairly crowded out, and lay, until daylight, on 
 the running-board (a plank at the edge of the boat, 
 on which the men walk in pushing with the pole), 
 exposed to the falling torrents of rain, accompanied 
 with incessant thunder and lightning. We little 
 know what we can bear until we try, although one 
 might think this would deserve to rank among the 
 experiments of Peter the Great, who attempted to 
 accustom his midshipmen to drink salt water ! I did 
 not sleep, but drew myself as nearly into the shape of 
 a ball as. I could, with no other covering than a thin 
 Capote = capote. Shortly after my arrival at Louisville, I was 
 a long cloak, seized with a fever and ague, occasioned either by my 
 exposures and sufferings, or by imprudently eating 
 some unripe watermelon, or both together. It was 
 nearly a year before I was entirely cured of the ague, 
 and I felt the effects long after. 
 
 My guardian, having disposed of the principal part 
 of his cargo at Louisville, purchased a canoe or 
 peroque, which he loaded with some valuable furs 
 remaining unsold, and employed a stripling from the 
 Monongahela to assist him in pushing with the pole. 
 Thus far, I have said little of my guardian. The 
 reader must have discovered that he was engaged in 
 trade between Pittsburg and Upper Louisiana ; but 
 he will hardly suspect that he was a French gentle- 
 man of education, and bred to the bar in hi.s own 
 country, and of a distinguished family there. He 
 might now be seen, pole in hand, pushing at the 
 stern, and his man Duncan at the bow, while Pill-gar- 
 lick was deposited among the skins, half way between 
 them. When the unfortunate ague came on I dis- 
 turbed the equilibrium of the canoe, or rather of those 
 
No. 40] A Wise Old Mule 117 
 
 standing up in it, to the no small displeasure of mon- 
 sieur, whose temper was none of the sweetest. 
 
 As the season was advanced, and also rainy, I suf- 
 fered much from constant exposure. Duncan took 
 care of me ; we slept together, and the few blankets 
 we had were disposed in the most judicious manner. 
 One of these was drawn over bent twigs, each end in 
 the ground ; another was laid on leaves, or fresh 
 boughs, and a third was used for covering. In this 
 way, the night was passed more comfortably than the 
 day ; although, on one occasion, we had to shake off 
 the snow which had fallen upon us somewhat early 
 in the season. Having a regular return of the ague 
 every day, and growing weaker, my guardian con- 
 sidered it most prudent to leave me at the first 
 settlement, where I could be safely deposited and 
 taken care of. Accordingly, on our arrival at Galli- 
 polis, I was taken to a house in the village and left 
 there. 
 
 40. A Wise Old Mule 
 
 By Edwin Bryant (1846) 
 
 About midway upwards, in a canon of this moun- 
 tain, I noticed the smoke of a fire, which apparently 
 had just been kindled by the Indians, who were then 
 there, and had discovered our party on the white 
 plain below ; it was the custom of these Indians to 
 make signals by fire and smoke, whenever they 
 notice strange objects. Proceeding onward, I over- 
 took an old and favorite pack-mule, which we famil- 
 iarly called " Old Jenny." She carried our meat and 
 flour — all that we possessed in fact — as a suste- 
 
1 1 8 ^ Travellers [no. 40 
 
 nance of life. Her pack had turned, and her burden, 
 instead of being on her back was suspended under- 
 neath. With that sagacity and discretion so char- 
 acteristic of the Mexican pack-mule, as she was 
 behind and followed the party in advance, she had 
 stopped short in the road until some one should come 
 to rearrange her cargo and place it on deck instead 
 of under the keel. I dismounted and went through, 
 by myself, the rather tedious and laborious process 
 of unpacking and repacking. This done, " Old 
 Jenny " set forward upon a fast gallop to overtake 
 her companions ahead, and my own mule, as if not 
 to be outdone in the race, followed in the same gait. 
 " Old Jenny," however, maintained the honors of the 
 race, keeping considerably ahead. Both of them, by 
 that instinct or faculty which mules undoubtedly 
 possess, had scented the water on the other side of 
 the valley, and their pangs of extreme thirst urged 
 them forward at this extraordinary speed, after the 
 long and laborious march they had made. 
 
 As I advanced over the plain the spreading of the 
 fires in the canon of the mountain appeared with 
 great distinctness. The line of lights was regular 
 like camp-fires, and I was m.ore than half inclined 
 to hope that we should meet and be welcomed by an 
 encampment of civilized men — either hunters, or a 
 party from the Pacific bound homeward. The moon 
 shone out about nine o'clock, displaying and illumi- 
 nating the unnatural, unearthly dreariness of the 
 scenery. 
 
 " Old Jenny " for some time had so far beat me in 
 the race as to be out of my sight, and I out of the 
 sound of her footsteps. I was entirely alone, and 
 enjoying, as well as a man could with a crust of salt 
 
No. 40] A IVise Old Mule 119 
 
 in his nostrils and over his lips, and a husky mouth 
 and throat, the singularity of my situation, when I 
 observed, about a quarter of a mile in advance of me, 
 a dark, stationary object standing in the midst of the 
 hoary scenery. I supposed it to be " Old Jenny " in 
 trouble once more about her pack. But coming up 
 to a speaking distance, I was challenged in a loud 
 voice with the usual guard-salutation, " Who comes 
 there .'' " Having no countersign, I gave the common 
 response in such cases, "A friend." This appeared 
 to be satisfactory, for I heard no report of pistol or 
 rifle, and no arrow took its soundless flight through 
 my body. I rode up to the object and discovered it 
 to be Buchanan sitting upon his mule, which had 
 become so much exhausted that it occasionally re- 
 fused to go along. He said that he had supposed 
 himself to be the "last man," before "Old Jenny" 
 passed, who had given him a surprise, and he was 
 quite thunderstruck when an animal, mounted by a 
 man, came charging upon him in his half-crippled 
 condition. After a good laugh and some little delay 
 and difficulty, we got his mule under way again, and 
 rode slowly along together. 
 
 We left, what seemed to us, in our tired condition, 
 the interminable plain of salt, and entered upon the 
 sagey slope of the mountain about ten o'clock. Hal- 
 looing as loudly as we could raise our voices, we ob- 
 tained, by a response, the direction of our party who 
 had preceded us, and after some difficulty in making 
 our way through the sage, grass, and willows, (the last 
 a certain indication of water in the desert,) we came 
 to where they had discovered a faint stream of water, 
 and made their camp. Men and mules, on their first 
 arrival, as we learned, had madly rushed into the 
 
I 2 o Travellers [No. 40 
 
 stream and drank together of its muddy waters, — 
 made muddy by their own disturbance of its shallow 
 channel and sluggish current. 
 
 Delay of gratification frequently gives a temporary 
 relief to the cravings of hunger. The same remark 
 is applicable to thirst. Some hours previously I had 
 felt the pangs of thirst with an acuteness almost 
 amounting to an agony. Now, when I had reached 
 the spot where I could gratify my desires in this 
 respect, they were greatly diminished. My first care 
 was to unsaddle my mule and to lead it to the stream, 
 and my next to take a survey of the position of our 
 encampment. I then procured a cup of muddy 
 water, and drank it off with a good relish. The fires 
 before noticed were still blazing brightly above us on 
 the side of the mountain, but those who had lighted 
 them, had given no other signal of their proximity. 
 The moon shone brilliantly, and Jacob, Buchanan, 
 McClary, and myself, concluded we would trace the 
 small stream of water until we could find the foun- 
 tain spring. After considerable search among the 
 reeds, willow, and luxuriant grass, we discovered a 
 spring. Buchanan was so eager to obtain a draught 
 of cold, pure water, that in dipping his cup for this 
 purpose, the yielding weeds under him gave way, and 
 he sank into the basin, from which he was drawn 
 out after a good ducking, by one of those present. 
 The next morning this basin was sounded to the 
 depth of thirty-five feet, and no bottom found. We 
 named this spring " Buchanan's well." 
 
 We lighted no fires to-night, and prepared no 
 evening meal. Worn down by the hard day's travel, 
 after relieving our thirst we spread our blankets upon 
 the ground, and laying our bodies upon them, slept 
 
No. 41] A Bull Fior/lt 12 1 
 
 o 
 
 soundly in the bright moonshine. Several of our 
 party had been on the road upwards of seventeen 
 hours, without water or refreshment of any kind, 
 except a small draught of cold coffee from our 
 powder-keg, made of the salt sulphur-water at our 
 last encampment, and had travelled the distance of 
 seventy-five miles. The Salt Plain has never at this 
 place, so far as I could understand, been crossed but 
 twice previously by civilized men, and in these in- 
 stances two days were occupied in performing the 
 journey of seventy-five miles. 
 
 41. A Mimic Bull Fight 
 
 By William Bullock (1825) 
 
 The next thing was dancing to a guitar, strummed 
 by a pretty little girl about twelve years old, and 
 some of the ladies accompanied with their voices the 
 movements of their feet. Whilst this amusement 
 was going on, a fine young bull was brought and tied 
 by a long cord to the stump of a tree : the beautiful 
 little animal seemed for a while to enjoy the noisy 
 sport as much as any of the company, till he had 
 received several very marked insults, when he lost his 
 temper, and with considerable violence ran at an Ind- 
 ian, against whom he had already shown marks of 
 hostility. Several persons now joined in the attempt 
 to work him up to the highest point of irritation ; the 
 young men advanced in front of him, with only a 
 pocket handkerchief, and when they had provoked 
 him to attack them, would merely step aside, and 
 leave the handkerchief covering his face. The con- 
 
12 2 Travellers ' [No. 42 
 
 test had continued without any one being endangered, 
 till in a furious charge at his Indian friend, the bull 
 broke the rope ; but the sable adversary very dexter- 
 ously turned short and seized him by the tail, and 
 contrived so to hold him, till another rope was passed 
 round his body, and he was again secured. A soldier 
 next leaped on his back, but after a few efforts, the 
 animal threw him to a considerable distance, and he 
 fell with violence. It now became quite furious, 
 when an Indian sprang upon its back, clasping its 
 sides with his legs, and resisting every effort of the 
 bellowing brute to dislodge him ; and then finally 
 galloped off into a wood. 
 
 It was the first time I had ever witnessed any thing 
 like a bull-fight, even of this mimic kind ; and as the 
 parties did not seem to apprehend any peril, the 
 laughter, in which the ladies had no inconsiderable 
 share, was occasionally very boisterous and long 
 continued. 
 
 42. A Storm on take Erie 
 
 By Isaac Weld (1795X 
 
 At daybreak we found ourselves entirely clear of 
 the land ; but instead of the azure sky and gentle 
 breezes which had favored us the preceding day, 
 we had thick hazy weather, and every appearance in 
 the heavens indicated that before many hours were 
 over we shoukl have to contend with some of the 
 dangerous storms so frequent on Lake Erie. It was 
 not long before the winds began to blow, and the 
 waves to rise in a tremendous manner. A number of 
 old French ladies, who were going to see their grand- 
 
No. 42] 
 
 St 
 
 orm 
 
 on Lake E?^te 123 
 
 children in Lower Canada, and who now for the first 
 time in their lives found themselves on the water, 
 occupied the cabin. The hold of the vessel, boarded 
 from end to end, and divided simply by a sail sus- 
 pended from one of the beams, was filled on one side 
 with steerage passengers, amongst which were several 
 women and children ; and on the opposite side with 
 passengers who had paid cabin price, but were unable 
 
 AN OLD FORT. 
 
 to get any better accommodation, amongst which num- 
 ber was our party. Not including either the old ladies 
 in the cabin, or the steerage passengers, we sat down 
 to dinner each day twenty-six in number. The 
 greater part of the passengers, drooping under sea- 
 sickness, begged for heaven's sake that the captain 
 would put back ; but bent upon performing his voy- 
 age with expedition, he was deaf to their entreaties. 
 What the earnest entreaties, however, of the pas- 
 sengers could not effect, the storm soon compelled. 
 
12 4 Travellers [no. 42 
 
 It was found absolutely necessary to seek for a place 
 of shelter to avoid its fury ; and accordingly the helm 
 was ordered up, and we made the best of our way 
 back again to the islands in a bay, between two of 
 which we cast anchor. Here we lay securely 
 sheltered by the land until the next morning, when 
 the watch upon deck gave the alarm that the vessel 
 was driving from her anchor and going fast towards 
 the shore. 
 
 The dawn of day only enabled us to see all the danger 
 of our situation. We were within one hundred yards 
 of a rocky lee shore, and depended upon one anchor, 
 which, if the gale increased, the captain feared very 
 much would not hold. The day was wet and squally 
 and the appearance of the sky gave us every reason 
 to imagine that the weather, instead of growing 
 moderate, would become still more tempestuous than it 
 either was or had been ; nevertheless, buoyed up by 
 hope, and by a good share of animal spirits, we ate 
 our breakfasts regardless of the impending danger, 
 and afterwards sat down to a game of cards. Scarcely 
 had we played for one hour when the dismal cry was 
 heard of, " All hands aloft," as the vessel was again 
 drifting towards the shore. 
 
 As the day was very cold, I threw a blanket over 
 my shoulders, and fastened it round my waist with a 
 girdle, in the Indian fashion, but I was incapable of 
 managing it like an Indian, and stopped to disen- 
 cumber myself of it before I went on deck, so that, as 
 it happened, I was the last man below. The readiest 
 way of going up was through the hatchway, and I 
 had just got my foot upon the ladder, in order to 
 ascend, when the vessel struck with great force upon 
 the rocks. Before two minates had passed over, the 
 
No. 42] Storm o?t Lake Erie 125 
 
 vessel struck a secoiid time, but with a still greater 
 shock ; and at the end of k quarter of an hour, during 
 which period she had graduaM approached nearer 
 towards the shore, she began/ to ^^trike with the fall 
 of every wave. As ;the storm iricreased, the waves 
 began to roll with greater turbulence than before ; 
 and with such impetuosity did they break over the 
 bows of the vessel, tjhat it was with the very utmost 
 difficulty that I, and/ half a dozen more who had 
 taken our station on/the forecastle, could hold by our 
 hands fast enough tof save ourselves from being carried 
 overboard. / 
 
 For upwards of four hours did we remain in this 
 situation, expectinj^ every' instant that the vessel 
 would go to pieced and exposed every three or four 
 minutes to the snock of one of the tremendous 
 breakers which carltte rolling towards us. At last, we 
 were so benumbedlwith cold that it would have been 
 impossible for us to\ make any exertions in the water 
 to save ourselves if the vessel was wrecked ; so we 
 determined to go below, there to remain until we 
 should be again forced up by the waves. 
 
 Some of the passengers now began to write their 
 wills on scraps of paper, and to inclose them in what 
 they imagined would be most likely to preserve them 
 from the water ; others had begun to take from their 
 trunks what they deemed most valuable ; and one 
 unfortunate thoughtless man, who was moving with 
 his family from the upper country, we discovered in 
 the very act of loading himself with dollars from 
 head to foot, so that had he fallen into the water in 
 the state we found him he must inevitably have 
 been carried to the bottom. 
 
 Words can convey no idea of the wildness that 
 
12 6 Travellers [no. 43 
 
 reigned in the countenance of almost every person as 
 the night approached. 
 
 Till nine o'clock at night the vessel kept striking 
 every minute, during which time we were kept in a 
 state of the most dreadful suspense about our fate ; 
 but then happily the wind shifted one or two points 
 in our favour, which occasioned the vessel to roll in- 
 stead of striking. At midnight the gale grew some- 
 what more moderate ; and at three in the morning 
 it was so far abated, that the men were able to haul 
 in the anchor, and in a short time to bring the 
 vessel once more into deep water, and out of all dan- 
 ger. Great was the joy, as well may be imagined, 
 which this circumstance diffused amongst the pas- 
 sengers ; and well pleased was each one, after the 
 fatigue and anxiety of the preceding day, to think 
 he might securely lay himself down to rest. 
 
 The next morning the sun arose in all his majesty 
 from behind one of the most distant islands. The 
 azure sky was unobscured by a single cloud, the air 
 felt serenely mild, and the birds, as if equally delighted 
 with man that the storm was over, sweetly warbled 
 forth their songs in the adjacent woods ; in short, 
 had it not been for the disordered condition in which 
 we saw our vessel, and every thing belonging to us, 
 the perils we had gone through would have appeared 
 like a dream. 
 
 43. In a Cave 
 
 By John Ashe (1806) 
 
 I HAD descended but twenty-two miles from the 
 Wabash when I came to on the Indiana shore to 
 
No. 43] I?i a Cave 127 
 
 examine a very grand and interesting natural curi- 
 osity. It is a cave in a rock which presents itself to 
 view a little above the water when high, close to the 
 bank of the river, and darkened by the shade of some 
 Catalpa trees standing before the entrance. On each 
 side the gently ascending copses of wood, and the 
 extensive view of the water, profound, wide and trans- 
 parent, tend to render the cave an object truly delight- 
 ful and worthy of the most minute attention. I 
 resolved to explore it, though it bore the reputation 
 of being the residence of a band of robbers who for 
 many years have infested the river. But I find the 
 cavern at first became an object of terror and aston- 
 ishment from having been the retreat of the remains 
 of an Indian nation who were exasperated against 
 the Americans, and resolved to put as many of them 
 as possible to death, to revenge the injuries and in- 
 sults they and their friends had experienced. 
 
 It was a party of the Illinois who adopted this fatal 
 resolution, and who carried it on for several years 
 with the most bloody effect, till a large party of Ken- 
 tuckians resolved to attack and exterminate them. 
 With this intent fifty well armed men descended to 
 the cave and attacked the Illinois who were double 
 that number. Several fell on both sides, and the vic- 
 tory was doubtful till the Illinois rushed upon the 
 enemy with lifted tomahawks and horrid cries, and 
 drove them to the cave which they entered, and made 
 a long and terrible resistance. In an instant the Illi- 
 nois changed their mode : they cast up a heap of dry 
 wood, reeds and cane, immediately before the en- 
 trance which they undoubtedly guarded, and set fire 
 to the piles ; this suffocated all those who had not 
 resolution to rush through the flame and brave death 
 
12 8 Travellers [no. 43 
 
 in another effort with their successful enemy. Some 
 had vigour to make this desperate attempt. It was 
 fruitless. The life of one man alone was spared. 
 The rest perished by the fire, or fell under the 
 hatchet. The man, whose life was given him, was 
 sent back to the Government of Kentucky with this 
 message : " Tell your wise men, that the Illinois have 
 glutted their vengeance, and that their spirit is satis- 
 fied and appeased. On the borders of the lake we 
 will bury the hatchet. Woe to those who make us 
 take it from the ground." Soon after this act they 
 departed, and reside to this time on the spot they 
 mentioned for their intended retreat. 
 
 About three years after this distinguished act of 
 national and Indian vengeance, the cave was seized 
 by a party of Kentuckians, called "Wilson's Gang." 
 Wilson, in the first instance, brought his family to the 
 cave, fitted it up as a spacious dwelling, and erected 
 a sign post on the water side, on which were these 
 words: "Wilson's house for entertainment." The 
 novelty of such a tavern induced almost all boats 
 descending the river to call and stop for refreshment 
 and amusement. Attracted by these circumstances, 
 several idle characters took up their abode at the 
 cave. Out of such customers as these Wilson found 
 no difficulty in forming a band of robbers, with whom 
 he formed the plan of murdering the crews of every 
 boat that stopped at his tavern, and send the boats, 
 manned by some of his party, to New Orleans, and 
 there sell their lading for cash, which was to be con- 
 veyed to the cave by land through the states of Ten- 
 nessee and Kentucky ; the party who returned with 
 it were instructed to murder and rob, on all good 
 occasions, presented by the road. After a lapse of 
 
No. 43] 
 
 In a Cave 
 
 129 
 
 some time, the merchants of the upper country began 
 to be alarmed, when they found that their property 
 made no return, and their people never came back. 
 Several families and respectable men who had gone 
 down the river were never more heard of, and the losses 
 became so frequent that it raised at length a cry of 
 individual and general distress. This naturally led 
 to inquiry, and large rewards were offered for the 
 discovery of the perpetrators of such unparalleled 
 crimes. 
 
 
 - .-.,„„ y">„^_^> ' \ y^' 
 
 
 THE CONESTOGA WAGON. 
 
 It soon came out that Wilson, with an organized 
 party of forty-five men, was the cause of such waste 
 of blood and treasure. The publicity of Wilson's 
 transactions soon broke up his party ; some dispersed, 
 others were taken prisoners, and he himself was 
 killed by one of his associates, who was tempted by 
 the original reward offered for the head of the cap- 
 tain of the gang. 
 
 I ordered light and arms, and entered the cave, and 
 found it to measure two hundred feet long, and forty 
 
130 Tf^avellers [no. 43 
 
 feet high : the entrance formed a semicircular arch 
 of ninety feet at its base, and forty-five in its perpen- 
 dicular. The interior walls are smooth rock stained 
 by fire and marked with names of persons and dates 
 and other remarks, etched by former inhabitants and 
 by nearly every visitor. The floor is very remark- 
 able; it is level through the whole length of its 
 centre, and rises to the sides in stone grades, in the 
 manner of seats in the pit of a theatre. On a dili- 
 gent scrutiny of the walls, I could plainly discern 
 that the Indians, at a very remote period, made use 
 of the cave as a house of deliberation and council. 
 The walls bear many hieroglyphics, well executed in 
 the Indian manner : and some of them represented 
 animals which bear no resemblance to any I have 
 ever heard of or seen. 
 
 While occupied in this research, I discovered an 
 opening in the roof of the cave, which appeared to 
 work up a funnel to the surface of the earth. It was 
 as large as an ordinary chimney, and placed directly 
 in the centre of the roof. The access was very diffi- 
 cult, and yet an increase of curiosity determined me 
 to find out whither the passage led. In consequence 
 I ordered a long hickory tree to be cut down, to be 
 notched for the feet, and reared up against the mouth 
 of the opening. My men seemed to think the pas- 
 sage might lead to the lurking i^lace of a bandit. 
 They were much alarmed and used every persuasion 
 to turn me from my design. It was to no purpose. 
 With a dirk at my breast, and a ])air of pistols in my 
 girdle, I mounted by means of the tree, and received 
 a light from my servant, who insisted on following 
 me, while Cuff remained as a sentinel below, ready 
 to fire a signal on any person's approach. 
 
No. 43] In a Cave 131 
 
 With much difficulty I strained through the aper- 
 ture, which appeared to form a perpendicular pas- 
 sage of fourteen feet ; and to my great astonishment 
 arrived in an apartment of greater magnitude than 
 that from which I had ascended, arid of more splen- 
 dor, magnificence and variety. As I advanced, by 
 the assistance of the lights, I began to discover the 
 outlines of a large vault of great height and extent. 
 The roof, which was arched, the sides and natural 
 pillars that supported it, seemed at first sight to 
 be cut out and wrought into figures and ornaments, 
 not unlike those of a gothic cathedral. These were 
 formed by a thousand droppings of the coldest and 
 most petrifying water. At the farther end of this 
 large vault was an opening, which served as a descent 
 to another vault of very great depth, as I judged 
 from a stone cast in, whose reverberation was not 
 returned for the space of several seconds. 
 
 About half an hour later I fired a pistol off, which 
 I knew would bring my faithful Mandanean, but I 
 did not know that its effect would be terrific and its 
 report tremendous. No thunder could exceed the 
 explosion, no echo return so strong a voice. My man 
 fell as if insensible at my feet, and I staggered sev- 
 eral paces before I could recover my equilibrium. 
 The light extinguished ; the echo of the shot again 
 rebounded, and all the demons of the place awoke at 
 once to appal and confound me. Owls screamed in 
 their retreats, bats fluttered through the air, and a 
 direful contention of sounds and cries vied with each 
 other to scare the heart and fill the soul with horror 
 and dismay. Before the tumult ceased, I discovered 
 beams of light issuing from the lower cave, and in 
 a moment after appeared my trusty Indian rising 
 
132 Travellers [no. 44 
 
 through the opening with a torch in one hand and a 
 sabre in the other, and exclaiming, " My chief, my 
 chief, have a strong heart." We found here abun- 
 dance of shells of the mussel kind. They were all 
 open and lay scattered on the floor and shelving sides 
 of the cave, in a manner that fully convinced me they 
 were there originally inhabited by fish, at a period 
 when the place in which I found them was a sub- 
 marine vault. 
 
 44. What became of the Buffaloes 
 
 Bv John Ashe (1806) 
 
 An old man, one of the first settlers in this country, 
 built his log-house on the immediate borders of a salt 
 spring. He informed me that for the first several 
 seasons, the buffaloes paid him their visits with the 
 utmost regularity. They travelled in single files, 
 always following each other at equal distances, and 
 formed droves on their arrival, of about three hun- 
 dred each. The first and second years, so un- 
 acquainted were these poor brutes with the use of 
 this man's house or with his nature, that in a few 
 hours they rubbed the house completely down ; taking 
 delight in turning the logs off with their horns, while 
 he had some difficulty to escape from being trampled 
 under their feet, or crushed to death in his own ruins. 
 At that period he supposed there could not have been 
 less than ten thousand in the neighbourhood of the 
 spring. They sought for no manner of food ; but 
 only bathed and drank three or four times a day, and 
 rolled in the earth, or lay in the adjacent shades ; 
 and on the fifth and sixth days separated into dis- 
 
No. 44] The Buffaloes 133 
 
 tinct droves, bathed, drank and departed in single 
 files, according- to the exact order of their arrival. 
 They ail rolled successively in the same hole ; and 
 each thus carried away a coat of mud, to preserve 
 the moisture on their skin ; when hardened and 
 baked by the sun, this layer would resist the stings 
 of millions of insects that otherwise would persecute 
 these peaceful travellers to madness or death. 
 
 In the first and second years this old man with 
 some companions killed from six to seven hundred 
 of these noble creatures, merely for the sake of the 
 skins, which were worth only two shillings each ; 
 and after this work of death, they were obliged to 
 leave the place till the following season. In the 
 two following years, the same persons killed great 
 numbers out of the first droves that arrived ; but 
 they soon had reason to repent of this, for the re- 
 maining droves, as they came up in succession, 
 stopped, moaned or lowed aloud, and returned in- 
 stantly to the wilderness in an unusual run, without 
 tasting their favourite spring, or Hcking the salt earth, 
 which was also once their most agreeable occupation; 
 nor did they, or any of their race, ever revisit the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 The simple history of this spring is that of every The same 
 other in the settled part of this western world ; the ^1'™°" 
 carnage of beasts was everywhere the same. I met since 1870 
 with a man who had killed two thousand buffaloes inthewest- 
 
 , ern plain. 
 
 with his own hand ; and others, no doubt, have done 
 the same. In consequence of such proceedings, not 
 one buffalo is at this time to be found east of the 
 Mississippi, except a few domesticated by the curi- 
 ous, or carried through the country as a public show. 
 The first settlers, not content with this sanguinary 
 
134 Travellers [no. 45 
 
 extermination of the animal, also destroyed the food 
 to which it was most partial; which was cane, grow- 
 ing in forests and brakes of immeasurable extent. 
 To this the unsparing wretches set fire in dry seasons, 
 in order to drive out every living creature, and then 
 hunt and persecute them to death. 
 
 Deer, which also abounded in this country, have 
 nearly shared the same fate as the buffalo ; and they, 
 too, would be entirely annihilated, if they were not 
 capable of subsisting in places almost inaccessible to 
 man. The small number that remain, frequent the 
 mountains ; their desire for the water of the saline 
 springs, however, occasionally brings them into the 
 plains, where they do not want for enemies, for there 
 is no settler who would not abandon the most impor- 
 tant business, in order to pursue this species of game. 
 
 The salt lake and springs are also frequented by 
 other kinds of beasts, and by birds : and from the 
 most minute inquiries, I am justified in asserting that 
 their visitations were periodical; except doves, which 
 appear to delight in the neighbourhood of salt springs, 
 and to make them their constant abode. In such 
 situations they are seen in immense numbers, as 
 tame as domestic pigeons, but rendered more interest- 
 ing by their solitary notes and plaintive melody. 
 
 45. A Deer Hunt in Florida 
 
 By (Ikorgk McCall (1822) 
 
 Pknsacola, DecemlKM- i. 1822. 
 M \ D E A R II A K R V : 
 
 I am mounted at last — ^and splendidly. I found 
 here a short time ago a blooded mare from Virginia ; 
 
No. 45] A Deer Himt 135 
 
 she was brought hither through Tennessee and Ala- 
 bama by a Mr. Anderson, a gentleman who came to 
 look at Florida lands and live-oak timber. Kate, as 
 I have christened her, is a dark bay, almost a brown, 
 with the most beautiful head, saucily set upon a fine 
 neck, which springs proudly from a deep and well 
 thrown-back shoulder ; a short back, fiddle hips, and 
 a clean set of limbs finish the portrait. She has a 
 fair share of woman's wilfulness ; but that is amply 
 illuminated or adorned by a light pair of heels and 
 great powers of endurance. I have ridden her after 
 the hounds several times. A party was made up this 
 week. The day appointed for the hunt was an un- 
 common one for the time of year, though not the 
 less welcome than unexpected. 
 
 We mustered eight dogs and moved on through 
 the woods, where the long-leaved pine, sparsely 
 distributed, towers up among the red and the white 
 palmetto. At length we came upon the hunting- 
 ground, and Jupiter was ordered with the pack to 
 drive a branch or arm of the bayou that shot out 
 from the main body of the hummock. He had not 
 advanced far before a single note, low, deep-toned, 
 and prolonged, brought glad tidings and true to the 
 ears of his master. 
 
 "Hark to him!" cried the Captain. "Listen to 
 old Enoch ; that was his voice, and it is a voice that 
 never deceives. He has struck a cold trail and 
 carefully and truly will the old fellow follow it. 
 Hark again ! another note ; he will soon track the 
 deer to his lair, and rouse him from his noon-day 
 repose. We must separate, and be ready for him 
 when the dogs force him from cover." 
 
 Old Enoch continued his course slowly and accu- 
 
136 
 
 Travellers 
 
 [No. 45 
 
 rately, from time to time giving notice of his prog- 
 ress ; when all at once the whole pack, bursting into 
 full cry, proclaimed that the deer was up. Each 
 horseman concealed himself and horse as much as 
 possible behind a tree or bush, and waited in silence 
 and anxious expectancy for the moment when the 
 deer, on being closely pressed, should leave the 
 hummock. In a few minutes, however. Bell, having 
 listened attentively to the cry, put spurs to his mare, 
 
 dashed down the 
 "' ' " - - ^ * branch to its junc- 
 
 tion with the bayou, 
 threw the reins on 
 his mare's neck, and 
 sat loosely in the 
 saddle, prepared to 
 deliver his fire at 
 the first bound of the 
 deer from cover. His 
 judgment proved to 
 be correct : the bois- 
 terous cry of the 
 pack passed, succes- 
 sively, each of the disappointed hunters stationed 
 above; but as the deer approached the junction, he 
 caught the wind of his enemy, and decHned to leave 
 the cover ; and the cry of the pack soon proved that 
 he had directed his flight up the main bayou. As 
 Bell rode back, he called out, 
 
 "This fellow is disposed to breathe our horses. 
 We are entered for a good mile race by this manoeuvre. 
 The stand isthe first cove above this branch ; if we let 
 him pass that, he is safe for the day. Come on." An 
 animated whoop started us at full speed, and in another 
 
 AN EARLY LOCOMOTIVE. 
 
No. 45] A Deer Hunt 137 
 
 moment we were sweeping through the rattling pal- 
 mettos with the sound of a hurricane. Stands were 
 taken as the judgment of the individual dictated, and 
 scarcely were we disposed of, ere the chase came 
 thundering on. Again we were disappointed ; the 
 deer, having approached to the very edge of the hum- 
 mock, again caught the wind of his pursuers, and 
 doubling back, returned in the same trail he had 
 advanced upon. 
 
 The pack came dashing out above almost as the 
 buck went in again to the hummock below : they 
 circled round where the deer had doubled, and with- 
 out for a moment faltering followed him back again. 
 The cry of the pack soon told that the buck as he 
 regained the cover had dashed through to the banks 
 of the bayou, where plunging in he swam the stream 
 and hied him off to the northward. 
 
 A few hundred yards farther brought us through 
 the thicket, and we at once came upon a large 
 savannah. When we entered upon the opening. 
 Bell cast his eye down the bayou and discovered the 
 buck coming up on the opposite side of the savannah, 
 steadily pursued by the dogs, (though at some dis- 
 tance,) whence they sent forward the intelligence of 
 their coming in deep-toned and eager cries. The 
 poor buck, nearly exhausted with the long and unin- 
 terrupted run, was laboring under the weight of his 
 branching antlers ; his parched tongue lolled from his 
 husky throat. 
 
 The Captain, at a glance, perceived his condition, 
 and called out to me, " We can take him as he passes 
 the head of the pond." 
 
 Again putting spurs to our horses, we gained the 
 head of the savannah in advance of him. On reach- 
 
138 
 
 Travellers [no. 46 
 
 ing the savannah, the buck had been compelled to 
 leave the wind, the only medium through which he 
 receives warning of danger in front ; for when hotly- 
 pursued, his eyesight soon fails him, and his ears are 
 filled with the fearful cry of the hounds in his rear. 
 It followed, then, that when we drew up at the dis- 
 tance of some two hundred yards in his front, he con- 
 tinued his course, unconscious of our presence. The 
 Captain whispered, "The first shot is yours ; fire." 
 
 I drew up my piece, and fired ; but the excitement 
 of the chase, and the fatigue of my bridle-arm, caused 
 my aim to be unsteady, and my bullet cut the leaves 
 from the bushes above his head. 
 
 The buck sprang forward at the report, and re- 
 doubled his efforts. The white mare now stood 
 statue-like, with ears erect and eyes fixed upon the 
 noble deer still advancing; and before the fated 
 patriarch of the wilds had made two leaps, the Cap- 
 tain's piece rang forth his death-knell. The buck 
 made one tremendous leap ; staggered forward a few 
 yards in quick, irregular plunges ; recovered himself ; 
 and then, expending the remaining energies of vital- 
 ity in one majestic bound, fell lifeless on the plain. 
 
 46. Alligators 
 
 By George McCall (1830) 
 
 The weather is now delightful, though quite warm 
 at mid-day. The alligators, who have lain torpid all 
 winter, packed away in their dens in the river-banks, 
 have come abroad to enjoy the genial sunshine, and 
 to commit havoc on all animals who venture into the 
 water which they inhabit. The Colonel lost a very 
 
No. 46] Alligators 139 
 
 fine Northern cow a few days ago by one of these 
 monsters. She had waded into the river by the side 
 of the wharf just about dayh<;ht or soon after, and, 
 althou.i;"h ahnost under the eye of the sentinel, was 
 seized, terribly lacerated and dragged under water. 
 Another officer lost a good pony much in the same 
 way ; he had waded into the water at noon to drink 
 and cool his flanks, when he was caught by the hock 
 and completely hamstrung. After suffering under 
 such depredations, orders were given, as you may 
 well suppose, that the sentinel posted at the wharf 
 should fire upon every aUigator that showed his nose 
 above water. In this way quite a number have been 
 killed. 
 
 I will give you my experience in one or two cases 
 occurring under my own eyes. In the first place, I 
 must tell you that a short time since, being on duty 
 as officer of the day, I made the round of visiting the 
 different guards and sentinels, the last inspected 
 being at the subsistence stores, in front of which is 
 the wharf. I observed several officers seated under 
 a large live-oak, just below the store-houses. Here, 
 at ten o'clock in the morning, they were enjoying the 
 refreshing sea-breeze then coming over the placid 
 bay. I joined them with a glad appreciation of the 
 shade and the delicious air so welcome after an 
 hour's walk under a hot sun. 
 
 I had not been many minutes in conversation with 
 these gentlemen, when the top of an alligator's skull, 
 his cold, hard, unmeaning eye, and the tip of his 
 nose, all that he usually shows above water as he re- 
 connoitres "the land ahead," appeared suddenly in 
 the stream, not thirty yards from the sentinel's post. 
 The latter happened to be a man of my own com- 
 
140 Travellers [no. 46 
 
 pany, who was, I knew, a crack shot. I gave him a 
 signal to fire. Without an instant's pause, he brought 
 his musket to his shoulder and made a "snap-shot." 
 The huge creature sprung half out of water, and 
 falling upon his back, lashed the water with his tail. 
 This was apparently a large fellow, and I directed 
 two of the guard, who were standing by as spectators, 
 to take a canoe that lay at the wharf, and bring the 
 reptile ashore. He was dragged up near to the tree 
 under which we sat, and measured thirteen feet. 
 
 As I wanted a good tooth from which to fashion a 
 powder-charger for my rifle, I sent for an axe. With 
 this the man struck two heavy blows, driving the 
 edge of the axe up to the eye into the animal's skull, 
 destroying, as one would think, all the brain, 
 if any there was left after the shock produced by the 
 musket-ball, which had passed entirely through it. 
 
 While we still sat under the oak, perhaps half an 
 hour after the alligator had undergone the operation 
 so thoroughly performed by the axe-man, we were 
 not a little surprised to see the fellow, who lay with 
 his head turned from the water, rise upon his feet, 
 wheel completely round, and walk directly into the 
 water, a distance of about ten feet. He made his 
 way through the bulrushes, at least ten feet more, 
 until he reached a depth that brought the water to 
 the top of his back, and there he lay, I presume, 
 until the high tide floated him off, for he had not 
 moved when the call of " Roast-beef" upon the drum 
 and fife summoned us to dinner, at one o'clock. 
 
 Another instance is a rather comical one that hap- 
 pened to myself. I had been out to ride, one morn- 
 ing, with Lieutenant Alexander, when, in returning, 
 we saw in the road in front of us, at the distance of 
 
No. 46] Alligato?^s 1 4. 1 
 
 a couple of hundred yards from the guard-house, an 
 alligator about seven feet in length. He had come 
 from the river, and was crossing the road to a pond 
 near by. As we drew up for a moment to look at 
 him, I happened to see lying by the road-side a pine 
 pole of some ten feet long, and as thick as my arm, 
 that had fallen from a passing wagon. This sug- 
 gested to my mind the idea of having a little en- 
 counter with the fellow, with a view to capture him 
 if I could. Accordingly I dismounted, and giving 
 the reins to Alexander, I seized the pole, which was 
 quite as much as I could manage with both hands. 
 
 As I approached Mr. Alligator, swinging the pole 
 in quite a threatening attitude around my head, he 
 showed no disposition to back out ; but, on the con- 
 trary, he at once faced me and advanced boldly with 
 head erect, and hissing like forty geese. I stopped 
 to receive him, and as he came within reach, I brought 
 the pine pole down upon his head with all the force 
 I was master of. This neither appalled him nor 
 checked his advance, and he continued his charge, 
 slowly to be sure, but with great determination, still 
 uttering his hissing defiance, and totally regardless 
 of the heavy blows I continued to pile upon his head. 
 I was compelled to move backwards to keep out of 
 reach of his open jaws, but I continued to hammer 
 him well over the head all the time. 
 
 At length my perseverance and the weight of the 
 pine pole brought his head to the ground. I then 
 took hold of the end of his tail with my left hand, 
 and mounting my horse dragged my victim into the 
 garrison. Having arrived at my quarters, I hitched 
 my horse to the ring in a large live-oak in front, and 
 leaving the alligator where he lay by the side of the 
 
142 Travellers [no. 46 
 
 horse, I entered my sitting-room where the company 
 clerk was engaged in making out some returns. 
 
 While standing at the table looking at his work, a 
 loud shout and a merry laugh from the parade-ground 
 called me to the door. Here I beheld my friend, 
 Master Alligator, with head up, marching with great 
 dignity across the parade-ground toward the soldiers' 
 barracks, while the men were collecting round him 
 in high glee. Being much interested in my returns 
 to be sent to Washington by the vessel now looked 
 for, I resumed my work and heard no more of the 
 alligator. He of course was only stunned by the 
 hammering he had received, but many of the blows I 
 gave him would singly have killed a horse. 
 
PART IV 
 
 OUT WEST 
 
 47. Building a Log Cabin 
 
 By a Pioneer (1822) 
 
 In building our cabin it was set north and south ; 
 my brother used my father's pocket compass on the 
 occasion, for we had no idea of Uving in a house that 
 did not stand square with the earth itself. This 
 showed our ignorance of the comforts and conven- 
 iences of a pioneer life. The position of the house, 
 end to the hill, necessarily elevated the lower end, 
 and the determination to have both a north and south 
 door, added much to the airiness of the house, par- 
 ticularly after the green ash puncheons had shrunk 
 so as to leave cracks in the floor and doors from one 
 to two inches wide. At both the doors we had high, 
 unsteady, and sometimes icy steps, made by piling up 
 the logs cut out of the wall. We had a window, if it 
 could be called a window, when, perhaps, it was the 
 largest spot in the top, bottom, or sides of the cabin 
 at which the wind could not enter. It was made by 
 sawing out a log, and placing sticks across ; and then, 
 by pasting an old newspaper over the hole, and apply- 
 ing some hog's lard, we had a kind of glazing which 
 shed a most beautiful and mellow light across the 
 cabin when the sun shone on it. All other light en- 
 tered at the doors, cracks, and chimney. 
 
 143 
 
144 
 
 Out JFest 
 
 [No. 47 
 
 Our cabin was twenty-four feet by eighteen. The 
 west end was occupied by two beds, the centre of each 
 side by a door, and here our symmetry had to stop, 
 for on the side opposite the window were our shelves, 
 made of clapboards, supported on pins driven into the 
 logs. Upon these shelves my sister displayed, in 
 ample order, a host of pewter plates, basins, dishes, 
 and spoons, scoured and bright. It was none of your 
 new-fangled pewter made of lead, but the best of 
 
 
 ''V 
 
 
 A LOG CABIN. 
 
 ' «v- * . 
 
 London pewter, which our father himself bought of 
 the manufacturer. These were the plates upon which 
 you could hold your meat so as to cut it without slip- 
 ping and without dulling your knife. But, alas ! the 
 days of pewter plates and sharp dinner knives have 
 passed away. 
 
 To return to our internal arrangements. A ladder 
 of five rounds occupied the corner near the window. 
 By this, when we got a floor above, we could ascend. 
 
No. 47] A Log Cabin ^45 
 
 Our chimney occupied most of the east end ; there 
 were pots and kettles opposite the window under the 
 shelves, a gun on hooks over the north door, four 
 split-bottom chairs, three three-legged stools, and a 
 small eight by ten looking-glass sloped from the wall 
 over a large towel and combcase. Our list of furni- 
 ture was increased by a clumsy shovel and a pair of 
 tongs, made with one shank straight, which was a cer- 
 tain source of pinches and blood blisters. We had 
 also a spinning-wheel and such things as were neces- 
 sary to work it. It was absolutely necessary to have 
 three-legged stools, as four legs of anything could not 
 all touch the floor at the same time. 
 
 The completion of our cabin went on slowly. The 
 season was inclement, we were weak-handed and 
 weak-pocketed, — in fact laborers were not to be had. 
 We got our chimney up breast high as soon as we 
 could, and got our cabin daubed as high as the joists 
 outside. It never was daubed on the inside, for my 
 sister, who was very nice, could not consent to " live 
 right next to mud." My impression now is, that the 
 window was not constructed till spring, for until the 
 sticks and clay were put on the chimney we could 
 have no need of a window ; for the flood of light which 
 always poured into the cabin from the fireplace would 
 have extinguished our paper window, and rendered it 
 as useless as the moon at noonday. We got a floor 
 laid overhead as soon as possible, perhaps in a month ; 
 but when finished, the reader will readily conceive of 
 its imperviousness to wind or weather, when we men- 
 tion that it was laid of loose clapboards split from 
 red oak, the stump of which may be seen beyond the 
 cabin. That tree must have grown in the night, for 
 it was so twisting that each board lay on two diago- 
 
146 
 
 Out IVest tNo.48 
 
 nally opposite corners ; and a cat might have shaken 
 every board on our ceiling. 
 
 It may be well to inform the unlearned reader 
 that " clapboards " are such lumber as pioneers split 
 throughout ; they resemble barrel staves before they 
 are shaved, but are split longer, wider, and thinner ; 
 of such our roof and ceiling were composed. " Pun- 
 cheons " are planks made by splitting logs to about two 
 and a half or three inches in thickness, and hewing 
 them on one or both sides with the broad-axe ; of 
 such our floor, doors, tables, and stools were manu- 
 factured. The " eave-bearers " are those end logs 
 which project over to receive the butting poles, against 
 which the lower tier of clapboards rest to form the 
 roof. The •" trapping " is the roof timbers, composing 
 the gable end and the ribs. The " trap logs " are those 
 of unequal length above the eave-bearers, which form 
 the gable ends, and upon which the ribs rest. The 
 "weight poles " are small logs laid on the roof, which 
 weigh down the course of clapboards on which they 
 lie, and against which the next course above is placed. 
 The " knees " are pieces of heart timber placed above 
 the butting poles, successively, to prevent the weight 
 poles from rolling off. 
 
 48. The Bear Tree 
 
 Bv A Pioneer (1820) 
 
 Among the first settlers of a new country, there 
 are always found men of great courage. Indeed 
 courage and daring are characteristic of the pioneers 
 of any new region. All know (or ought to know) 
 
No. 48] T/ie Bear Tree 147 
 
 before starting for a wilderness, that they will be 
 called to encounter great dangers and difficulties. 
 There is, however, a kind of venturous daring peculiar 
 to the first settlers of a new country, such as General 
 Putnam showed when he ventured into the wolf's 
 den, at the time of the first settlement of Pomfret, 
 Connecticut. 
 
 A case of as great risk, intrepidity, and danger, 
 took place at Greensburgh, Trumbull County, Ohio, 
 soon after the commencement of the settlement at 
 that place. In December, 1820, a man named Icha- 
 bod Merritt, with two other companions (one of whom 
 had been a sailor) went upon a hunting trip, and 
 came upon the track of a full grown bear. There 
 was a light snow, and after following for a time, they 
 found he had ascended a huge white-wood. The tree 
 had been broken off some seventy feet from the ground 
 and they supposed that the bear must have secreted 
 himself within its hollow at the top. 
 
 Unwilling to lose their game, and ready for any 
 daring enterprise, they looked about for ways and 
 means to accomplish their object. They first proposed 
 cutting the tree down ; but they had only one axe, 
 and that a dull one, and the tree was sound at the 
 root and not less than eighteen feet in circumference. 
 They could not cut it down before sunset, and if left 
 over night the bear would escape. The sailor pro- 
 posed that if a smaller tree could be felled and lodged 
 against the large one, he would climb it to the top 
 and shoot the bear. A beech tree was therefore cut 
 and lodged accordingly. The sailor, who had often 
 ascended the waving mast, had now a chance to show 
 his intrepidity upon a forest tree. 
 
 Now he began to think how dangerous would be 
 
148 
 
 Out IFest [No. 48 
 
 his perch, should he succeed in gaining the top and 
 miss his first shot. The enraged bear would un- 
 doubtedly claim the premises, especially should it be 
 a she bear with her cubs ; she would doubtless claim 
 her right and title to that elevated position, and might 
 have the best of the battle. In this case all would 
 agree that the bear would have a choice of location 
 and the advantage of position. In the struggle, too, 
 the beech might be dislodged from the white-wood, 
 and the sailor would either fall with it to the ground, 
 or be left at the top of the tree. The first would be 
 certain death, and the other would not be amusing. 
 
 These were solemn thoughts for the sailor, and they 
 weakened his nerve, so that when he attempted to 
 climb, he could not ascend, after repeatedly trying, 
 an inch farther than his companions could push him. 
 
 Merritt was so vexed that he told the sailor to come 
 down and let him try what he could do. He then 
 slung his rifle to his hunting belt with the muzzle 
 downwards and began to ascend the beech tree. He 
 succeeded in getting from the topmost branches of 
 the beech upon the limbs of the white-wood just high 
 enough to look over into the hollow. It was dark, 
 and all he could see was a pair of eyes several feet 
 below him. He told his companions, charged them 
 to shoot the bear the moment it came out of the tree, 
 and called on them for protection, if he missed. 
 
 Thereupon he fired into the tree, retreated back 
 to the top of the beech and instantly re-loaded. 
 Immediately the bear with two cubs came out of the 
 hollow of the tree : one of the men below fired, but 
 he missed. The cubs took to a limb while the old 
 bear made towards Merritt. She was in a menacing 
 attitude and but a few feet above him when he fired 
 
No. 49] The Pioneer 
 
 149 
 
 a second shot. The bear fell, just brushing against 
 him as she went. Another hunter now came up and 
 shot one of the cubs, and Merritt at his leisure re-loaded 
 and shot the other. The hero of this brave hunt made 
 his way down in safety and carried home plenty of 
 meat for his family. 
 
 49. The Pioneer's Watchful Dog 
 
 By Felix Renick (1S42) 
 
 At a time when the Indians still occasionally com- 
 mitted depredations on the settlements in the neigh- 
 borhood of the Virginia town of Clarksburg, Hughs 
 and one of his neighbors had business on the Ohio : 
 they therefore agreed to go together ; and, as the 
 saying is, to kill two birds with one stone, for they 
 concluded to make a hunting expedition of it. They 
 set out by a new route, traveled slowly and killed 
 what game they could, leaving the skins to take 
 home with them on their return. On the second or 
 third evening of the trip, they made their camp in 
 time to prepare and eat their supper before nightfall. 
 
 Here is a good place to describe the dress and 
 habits of such bold foresters. They always chose a 
 camping-place as near water as convenient, and kin- 
 dled their fire by the side of the largest suitable log 
 that could be found. Ground was chosen somewhat 
 inclined, so that they might lie with the feet to the 
 fire and the head uphill. The common mode of pre- 
 paring food, was to sharpen a stick at both ends and 
 stick one end into the ground in front of the fire, 
 with their meat on the other end. The stick and its 
 burden could be turned round, as occasion required, 
 
LLWl^ l^ I I'l \^ I'KF.SS. 
 
No. 49] T/ie Pioneer 151 
 
 so as to roast through. Bread, when there was flour 
 to make it of, was either baked under the ashes, 
 or the dough was rolled in long rolls and wound 
 round a stick like that prepared for roasting meat, 
 and managed in the same way. 
 
 The pioneer's dress consisted principally of a tow 
 linen shirt and pantaloons, manufactured by wives 
 and daughters. The rest of their dress was nearly 
 all of buckskin, killed with their guns and dressed 
 by their own hands. Their moccasins fitted the foot 
 neatly, and dry oak leaves usually supplied the place 
 of socks or stockings. Above these they wore a pair 
 of buckskin leggins, or gaiters, made to fit the leg 
 and tie in with the moccasins at the ankle ; thence 
 extending some distance above the knees, and held 
 by a strap from the hip of the pantaloons. These 
 leggins were a defence against rattlesnakes, briars, 
 and nettles. In cutting the leggins, the surplus left 
 on the outer seam was hung out from one to two 
 inches in width, and was cut into an ornamental 
 fringe. The hunting shirt comes next. It too was 
 made of dressed buckskin, and in the same way orna- 
 mented with the fringe down the outside of the arms, 
 around the collar, cape, belt, and skirts, and some- 
 times down the seams under the arms. 
 
 Such was the equipment of the hero of our narra- 
 tive and his friend. As was customary, they took 
 off their moccasins to dry them. The gaiters and 
 hunting shirt were usually taken off and placed under 
 their owner's head in place of a pillow. A huntsman 
 without a dog would have been considered a fool ; 
 accordingly, a dog, faithful and well trained, Hughs 
 and his friend had with them. At dusk they began 
 to make some preparations for lying down, by 
 
152 Out West [No. 49 
 
 unbuttoning their leggins and loosing their belts. 
 Hughs soon discovered that his dog was very rest- 
 less. He would run out a few steps, snuff and scent 
 the air, and frequently give a low stifled growl. 
 
 Hughs' suspicion made him decline undressing 
 any further, and he buckled up his belt again ; but, 
 unfortunately, as may be seen from the sequel, he 
 forgot to button the straps of his leggins to the hips 
 of his pantaloons. After watching his dog for some 
 time, he spoke to his friend, and told him that he 
 was afraid there were Indians about. His friend 
 thought it hardly possible, for they had discovered 
 no Indian signs, nor heard the crack of any rifle but 
 their own : he could not believe that they were followed. 
 
 This reasoning did not satisfy either Hughs or his 
 dog. Hughs told his friend that they had better 
 leave the camp and watch it from a little distance ; 
 if there were Indians about, as he was convinced, 
 they would break on the camp as soon as they sup- 
 posed the white men had gone to sleep, or in the 
 morning ; if he was right in his suspicion, they could 
 kill at least two Indians, and then, perhaps might 
 get off. 
 
 Nothing could induce his friend to believe that 
 there was any danger, and he refused to leave the 
 camp. Hughs then told him that he would not leave 
 him alone, but they must sleep on their arms and be 
 ready for anything that might happen. To this his 
 friend agreed. Hughs and his dog had a poor night's 
 rest ; and as soon as day began fairly to break, the 
 dog broke out into a furious bark. They both sprang 
 to their feet at the same instant that a volley of rifle 
 shot was poured in upon them. Hughs' friend was 
 killed on the spot, but he himself received no injury 
 
No. 50] Frontier Neighbours 153 
 
 except a bullet or two through his hunting-shirt. 
 He took to his heels with a whole band of Indians 
 close after him ; but luckily for him, their guns were 
 empty. At first he out-ran them with ease, but his 
 loosened leggins slipped down about his ankles, and 
 got over his feet and hampered him so much, that 
 the Indians began to gain on him. He must get 
 clear of his leggins or lose his scalp. Straining 
 every nerve, he ran up a ridge and a little beyond 
 the top he stopped, and tore off his leggins. By this 
 time the Indians came up nearly within tomahawk 
 distance of him ; relieved of his embarrassment, he 
 again set off at the top of his speed and soon gained 
 a safe distance. As he passed over the top of the 
 next high ridge he gave a loud shout of triumph, well 
 understood by the Indians ; for they gave up the 
 chase, and let him make for home at his leisure. 
 
 50. A Frontier Neighbour and a 
 Kentucky Conjurer 
 
 Bv James Hall (1835) 
 
 The individual alluded to, settled here at a time 
 when there was not a single white man but himself 
 in the vicinity, and here he had resided, with his wife, 
 for a year, without having seen the face of any other 
 human being. Perhaps, as it was his choice to re- 
 side in a wilderness, he thought it prudent to con- 
 ceal his place of abode from the Indians, for he 
 erected his cabin in an inhospitable waste, difficult 
 of access, where there were no pastures to invite the 
 
1^4 ^^^^ West [No. 50 
 
 deer or buffalo, and no game to allure the savage 
 hunter, and where his family remained secure, while 
 he roved with his gun over some hunting ground at 
 a convenient distance. 
 
 After passing a year in this mode of life, he wan- 
 dered one day through the woods in search of game, 
 when he heard the barking of a dog, and supposing 
 that an Indian was near, concealed himself. Pres- 
 ently a small dog came running along his track, with 
 his nose to the ground, as if pursuing his footsteps. 
 It had nearly reached his hiding-place, when it 
 stopped, snuffed the air, and uttered a low whine, as 
 if to warn its master, that the object of pursuit was 
 near at hand. In a few minutes the owner of the 
 dog came stepping cautiously along, glancing his 
 eyes around, and uttering low signals to the dog. 
 But the dog stood at fault, and the owner halted, 
 within a few yards of our hunter, and fully exposed 
 to view. 
 
 The new comer was a tall athletic man, completely 
 armed, with rifle, tomahawk, and knife ; but whether 
 he was a white man or an Indian, could not be deter- 
 mined, either by his complexion or dress. He wore 
 a hunting shirt and leggins, of dressed deer skin, and 
 a hat from which the rim was entirely torn away, and 
 the crown elongated into the shape of a sugar loaf. 
 His face, feet, and hands, which were exposed, were 
 of the tawny hue of the savage, but whether the col- 
 our was natural, or the effect of exposure, could not 
 be ascertained even by the keen eye of the hunter. 
 His features were so disguised by dirt and gunpow- 
 der, that their expression afforded no clue, by which' 
 could be decided, whether the individual was a friend 
 or a foe. 
 
No. 50J F?'ontiei^ Neighbour's 155 
 
 There was but a moment for deliberation, and after 
 a hasty scrutiny, the pioneer, inclining to the opin- 
 ion that the stranger-was an Indian, cautiously drew 
 up his rifle, and took a deliberate aim ; but the bare 
 possibility that he might be pointing his weapon at 
 the bosom of a countryman, induced him to pause. 
 Again he raised his gun, and again hesitated, while 
 his opponent with his rifle half raised towards his 
 face, and his finger on the trigger, looked eagerly 
 around. Both stood motionless and silent, one 
 searching for the object of his pursuit, the other in 
 readiness to fire. At length the hunter, having re- 
 solved to delay no longer, cocked his rifle ; the tick 
 reached the acute ear of his opponent, who instantly 
 sprung behind a tree. The hunter imitated his ex- 
 ample, and they were now fairly opposed, each 
 covered by a tree, from behind which he endeav- 
 oured to get a shot at his adversary without exposing 
 his own person. Now a series of stratagems began, 
 each seeking to draw the fire of the other until the 
 stranger, becoming weary of suspense, called out, 
 " Why don't you shoot, you coward } " " Shoot, your- 
 self, you red-skin," retorted the other. " No more a 
 red-skin than yourself." "Are you a white man.'" 
 " To be sure I am, are you .-' " "Yes — no mistake 
 in me." Whereupon each being undeceived, they 
 threw down their guns, rushed together with open 
 arms, and took a hearty hug. 
 
 The hunter now learned, that the stranger had 
 been settled, with his family, about ten miles from 
 him, for several months past, and that they had often 
 roamed over the same hunting grounds each suppos- 
 ing himself the sole inhabitant of that region. On 
 the following day the hunter saddled his horse, and 
 
156 
 
 Out IFest [No. 50 
 
 taking up his good wife behind him, carried her 
 down, to make a call upon her new neighbour, who 
 received the visit with joy. 
 
 An anecdote is told of Boone, which is highly 
 characteristic of the humour and the coolness of the 
 pioneer He was once resting in the woods, with a 
 small number of followers, when a large party of 
 Indians came suddenly upon them and halted ; 
 neither party had discovered the other until they 
 came in contact. The whites were eating ; and the 
 Indians, with the ready tact for which they are 
 famous, sat down with perfect composure and com- 
 menced eating also. It was obvious that they wished 
 to lull the suspicions of the white men, and to seize 
 a favourable opportunity for rushing upon them. 
 
 Boone affected a careless inattention ; but in an 
 under tone, quietly admonished his men to keep 
 their hands upon their rifles. He then strolled 
 towards the Indians, unarmed, and leisurely picking 
 the meat from a bone ; the Indian leader, who was 
 similarly employed, rose to meet him. Boone saluted 
 him, and then requested to look at the knife with 
 which the Indian was cutting his meat. The chief 
 handed it to him without hesitation ; and our pio- 
 neer, who, with his other accomplishments, possessed 
 considerable expertness at sleight of hand, deliber- 
 ately opened his mouth and affected to swallow the 
 long knife, which, at the same instant, he threw 
 adroitly into his sleeve. 
 
 The Indians were astonished ; Boone gulped, 
 rubbed his throat, stroked his body, and then, with 
 apparent satisfaction, pronounced the horrid mouth- 
 ful to be very good. He enjoyed the surprise of the 
 spectators for a few moments, then made another con- 
 
No. 50] Conjurers 157 
 
 tortion, drew forth the knife, as they supposed, from 
 his body, and civilly returned it to the chief. The 
 latter took the point cautiously between his thumb and 
 finger, as if fearful of being contaminated by touch- 
 ing the weapon, and threw it from him into the 
 bushes. The pioneer sauntered back to his party ; 
 and the Indians, instantly despatching their meal, 
 marched off, desiring no farther intercourse with a 
 man who could swallow a scalping-knife. 
 
 A singular manoeuvre was practised by a party of 
 Indians, who had stolen some horses on Elkhorn, in 
 1788. They were pursued by a superior number of 
 Americans, for about twenty miles, and overtaken 
 at a spot in a brushy copse of wood where they had 
 halted to rest. The whites came upon them sud- 
 denly, and the parties discovered each other simul- 
 taneously. The pursuers made preparations to fire ; 
 the Indians sprang up from the ground, on which 
 they were sitting, and gave a yell ; but, instead of 
 making any show of resistance, ran about as if dis- 
 tracted. One, who was probably the chief, threw 
 himself between the two parties, and continued to 
 scream and jump, dodging from side to side, springing 
 aloft, and throwing his body into violent contortions. 
 
 This strange exhibition attracted the attention of 
 the Kentuckians, and prevented them from firing ; 
 while the other Indians, gathering up their guns and 
 blankets, disappeared. When the dexterous savage, 
 perceiving that his comrades were so scattered as to 
 be safe from immediate danger, he suddenly threw 
 off his feigned character, dashed into the bushes, and 
 made his escape, leaving a foe superior in numbers, 
 bewildered with amazement at this extemporaneous 
 display of ingenuity. 
 
158 Out West [No. 51 
 
 51. A Bear Hunt in Lake 
 Michigan 
 
 By Charles Cleaver (about 1830) 
 
 As for Wilson's bear story, it is actually true that 
 he took a large bear in Lake Michigan, or rather out 
 of the lake, northwest of Waukegan. I was going 
 up to Milwaukee at the time, in one of the big steam- 
 ers, and was sitting reading in the cabin, when the 
 Captain rushed in, evidently very much excited, and 
 snatched his glass from the table. I inquired what 
 was the matter ; he said there was something in the 
 lake about two miles ahead, and they could not make 
 out what it was. Of course my book was dropped 
 in a moment, and I hastened after the Captain to the 
 bow of the boat. There I found most of the few 
 passengers on board anxiously trying to make out 
 this strange object. Those used to sailing can form 
 some idea of the commotion caused on board a craft 
 when anything unusual is sighted. 
 
 The Captain, after examination by glass, first said 
 it was a horse, then a deer, and, on getting nearer, 
 declared it to be a bear. He decided at once that he 
 would catch him at all hazard, and, on calling for 
 volunteers, found no want of men willing to under- 
 take the task. So the small boat was lowered, with 
 four stalwart sailors at the oars, the mate at the helm, 
 and a man at the bow, with a rope, in which he made 
 a slip-noose. They started for poor Bruin, and when 
 he found that they were after him, he made most excel- 
 lent time toward the middle of the lake, and for a mile 
 or two led them a splendid race, before they came up 
 
No. 51] A Bear Hunt 159 
 
 with him. After two or three attempts, the man at 
 the bow threw the fatal noose over his head. Di- 
 rectly the bear found he was caught, he turned and 
 made for the boat, evidently intending to carry the 
 war into the enemy's camp ; but they were too quick 
 for him, since they did not like the idea of having a 
 bear for a passenger. They turned and rowed for 
 the steamer with all their might. This brought poor 
 Bruin's nose under the water, and, by the time they 
 reached the steamboat, which had been following 
 pretty close in the wake of the pursuers, he was 
 almost drowned. 
 
 The rope was thrown to the deck ; we soon hauled 
 him in ; and then held a council-of-war as to what 
 should be done with him. It was at first suggested 
 that he should be chained up, and a large chain was 
 brought and put round his neck. Then some ladies 
 came to look at him, and exclaimed, " Oh the horrid 
 great creature ! do kill him ! " Some person stand- 
 ing by put his hand on the animal's heart and said 
 he was fast recovering, and, if he was not killed, would 
 soon be master of the boat. On which a bevy of 
 female and some male voices, cried out to the Captain 
 to have him killed at once. On a butcher offering 
 to do the job, the Captain consented, and the bear 
 was doomed to have his throat cut and die as igno- 
 minious a death as any common porker. 
 
 He was a noble fellow, black and tan, seven or 
 eight feet in length, and, when he was skinned, 
 showed such claws and muscles that the volunteers 
 rejoiced that he did not make good his entry into the 
 boat, for he would certainly have driven them into 
 the water if they had escaped his claws and teeth. 
 
 It was reported that a farmer drove him into the 
 
1 6 o Out West [No. 52 
 
 lake. On my return to land, two days after, I made 
 several inquiries, and was told he was driven into the 
 lake the evening before ; but I always doubted the 
 truth of his swimming in the water all night and half 
 the next day. I am inclined to the opinion that he 
 was driven in that same morning, and, when he found 
 he was watched from the shore, put well out into 
 the lake for safety. It is certain that when first 
 seen by us he was swimming from the shore, and 
 was fully five miles out. 
 
 52. Killing a Panther 
 
 By Randolph Barnes Marcy (1852) 
 
 In the evening, shortly after we had turned out our 
 animals to graze, and had made everything snug and 
 comfortable about us, one of the hunters came into 
 camp and informed us that a panther had crossed the 
 creek but a short distance above, and was coming 
 towards us. This piece of intelligence, as may be 
 supposed, created no little excitement in our quiet 
 circle. Everybody was up in an instant, seized mus- 
 kets, rifles, or any other weapon that came to hand, 
 and, followed by all the dogs in camp, a very general 
 rush was made towards the spot indicated by the 
 Delaware. On reaching the place, we found where 
 the animal, in stepping from the creek, had left water 
 upon his track ; this was not yet dry, and showed 
 that he had passed within a short time. We pointed 
 out the track to several of the dogs, and endeavored, 
 by every means which our ingenuity could suggest, 
 to inspire them with some small degree of that enthu- 
 siasm which had animated us. We coaxed, cheered, 
 
No. 52] Killi?ig a Panther i6i 
 
 and scolded, put their noses into the track, clapped 
 our hands, pointed in the direction of the trail, hissed, 
 and made use of every argument to convince them 
 that there was something of importance on hand ; but 
 it was all to no purpose. They did not seem to enter 
 into the spirit of the chase, or to regard the occasion 
 as one in which there was much glory to be derived 
 from following in the footsteps of their illustrious 
 predecessor. On the contrary, the zeal which they 
 showed in starting out from camp, suddenly abated 
 as soon as they came in contact with the track, and 
 it was with very great difficulty that we could prevent 
 them from running away. 
 
 At this moment, however, our old bear-dog came 
 up, and no sooner had he caught a snuff of the at- 
 mosphere than, suddenly coming to a stop and rais- 
 ing his head into the air, he sent forth one prolonged 
 note and started off in full cry upon the trail. He 
 led off boldly into the timber, followed by the other 
 dogs, who had now recovered confidence, while the 
 men followed at their heels, cheering them on and 
 shouting most vociferously, each one anxious to get 
 the first ghmpse of the panther. They soon roused 
 him from his lair, and after making a few circuits 
 around the grove, he took to a tree. I was so fortu- 
 nate as to reach tbe spot a little in advance of the 
 party, and gave him a shot which brought him to the 
 ground. The dogs then closed in with him, and 
 others of the party coming up directly afterwards, 
 fired several shots, which took effect and soon placed 
 him " hors du combat." He was a fine specimen 
 of the North American cougar, measuring eight 
 and a half feet from his nose to the extremity of 
 the tail. 
 
1 6 2 Out West [No. 53 
 
 53. A Beaver Dam 
 
 By Randolph Barnes Marcy (1852) 
 
 A COMMUNITY of beavei's have selected a spot upon 
 the creek near our camp, for their interesting labors 
 and habitations. I know of no animal concerning 
 which the accounts of travellers have been more 
 extraordinary, more marvellous or contradictory, than 
 those given of the beaver. By some he is elevated 
 in point of intellect almost to a level with man. He 
 has been said, for instance, to construct houses, with 
 several floors and rooms ; to plaster the rooms with 
 mud in such a manner as to make smooth walls, and 
 to drive stakes of six or eight inches in diameter into 
 the ground, and to perform many other astounding 
 feats, which I am inclined to believe are not sup- 
 ported by credible testimony. Laying aside these 
 questionable statements, there is quite enough in the 
 natural history of the beaver to excite our wonder 
 and admiration. For instance, at this place, upon an 
 examination of the dam they have constructed, I was 
 both astonished and delighted at the wonderful sa- 
 gacity, skill, and perseverance which they have shown. 
 
 Having chosen a spot where the banks on each side 
 of the creek were narrow and sufficiently high to 
 raise a head of about five feet, they selected two 
 cotton-wood trees fifteen inches in diameter, situated 
 above this point, and inclined towards the stream : 
 these they cut down with their teeth, (as the marks 
 upon the stumps plainly showed,) floated them down 
 to the position chosen for the dam, and placed them 
 across the stream with an inclination downward, 
 unitinti' in the centre. This formed the foundation 
 
No. 54] A Wild Horse 163 
 
 upon which the superstructure of brush and earth 
 was placed, in precisely the same manner as a brush 
 dam is made by our millwrights, with the bushes and 
 earth alternating and packed closely, the butts in all 
 cases turned down the stream. After this is raised 
 to a sufficient height, the top is covered with earth, 
 except in the centre, where there is a sluice or waste- 
 wier, which lets off the superfluous water when it 
 rises so high as to endanger the structure. In exam- 
 ining the results of the labors of these ingenious ani- 
 mals, it occurred to me that the plan of erecting our 
 brush dams must have been originally suggested from 
 seeing those of the beavers, as they are very similar. 
 I watched for some time upon the banks of the 
 pond, but could see none of the animals. I presume 
 they think we make too much noise in our camp to 
 suit them, and deem it most prudent to remain con- 
 cealed in their sub-marine houses. I observed one 
 place above the pond where they had commenced 
 another dam, and had progressed so far as to cut 
 down two trees on opposite sides of the creek ; but 
 as they did not fall in the right direction to suit their 
 purposes, the work was abandoned. 
 
 54. A Horse in a California Bar- 
 room 
 
 Bv Mrs. D. B. Bates (1858) 
 
 While stopping at the Tremont House, I witnessed 
 what to me was a novel sight ; and I will endeavor 
 to relate, in a manner which I hope will interest, the 
 method of taming a wild horse. The first thing I 
 
164 
 
 Out West [No. 54 
 
 saw was an unusual collection of people, and in their 
 midst a horse blindfolded, with a Mexican vaquero in 
 the act of mounting. When once seated on the back 
 of these wild, fleet animals of the plains, it is next to 
 an impossibility to unhorse these men. From the 
 nature of their pursuits and amusements, they have 
 brought horsemanship to a degree of perfection 
 challenging admiration, and exciting astonishment. 
 All things being in readiness, the blinder was re- 
 moved. The horse, for the first time in his life 
 feeling the weight of man upon his back, with dis- 
 tended nostrils, eyes glaring like orbs of fire, and 
 protruding from their sockets, gave a succession of 
 fierce snorts, performed sundry evolutions which 
 would have puzzled the master of a gymnasium to 
 have imitated, and then dashed off at a furious rate, 
 determined to free himself from his captor, or die in 
 the attempt. 
 
 It was an exciting and cruel sport to witness. The 
 reeking sides of the poor beast were covered with 
 foam and blood, which had been drawn by driving 
 those merciless spurs into the flesh. Both horse and 
 rider would disappear for a few moments in some 
 distant part of the town, then reappear again, dash- 
 ing madly on. Finally, the horse, in passing the 
 Tremont Hotel, which was all thrown open in front 
 to admit air, sprang, quick as a flash, upon the piazza, 
 and dashed into the bar-room. In making his ingress 
 so suddenly, the Mexican's head had been forcibly 
 struck against the top of the door, and he fell 
 stunned to the floor. The inmates of the bar-room, 
 about twenty in number, fled in every direction. The 
 bar-keeper, a very corpulent person, went out through 
 a small back window — so small, that, upon ordinary 
 
No. 54] A Wild Horse 165 
 
 occasions, he would never have had the presumption 
 to attempt it, for it actually endangered his life sud- 
 denly to thrust his portly figure through so small an 
 aperture ; but now, out of two evils, he was forced to 
 choose the least. The horse, finding himself in un- 
 disputed possession of the room, stood for a moment 
 looking at himself in a large mirror hung behind 
 the long marble slab. Then he dashed furiously at 
 the bar, upset it, smashed the splendid mirror into a 
 thousand pieces, broke the cut-glass decanters, while 
 the contents ran upon the floor. He also broke to 
 pieces several large arm-chairs, valued at twelve dol- 
 lars apiece. Then he passed through a side-door into 
 a large saloon, and crossed that without doing any 
 material damage. As the horse was leaving the house, 
 the Mexican, who recovered his senses, sprang with 
 surprising agility upon his back, and the race for 
 freedom again commenced ; but this time it was not 
 for long. The horse, reduced almost to prostration, 
 yielded to the superior power of man, and was taken, 
 more dead than alive, to a stable, rubbed down, 
 placed in a stall, fed, and petted ; and, from the 
 hour in which he unwillingly gave up a life of free- 
 dom, never more to roam with a wild herd over broad 
 plains and flowery vales, he was a gentle, submissive 
 slave. 
 
 The wild horse is gracefully formed, with flowing 
 tail and mane ; but I never saw one that was fat : 
 they race their flesh off. The man who owned the 
 horse readily paid the expenses of refitting the bar- 
 room. The amount of pro]:)erty he destroyed was at 
 that time estimated at a thousand dollars. 
 
i66 
 
 Out West 
 
 [No. 55 
 
 K^c^, On the Road 
 
 By Franxis Parkman (1847) 
 
 We were moving slowly along, not far from a patch 
 of woods which lay on the right. Jack rode a little in 
 advance, when suddenly he faced about, pointed to 
 the woods, and roared out to his brother, — 
 
 "O Bill! here's a cow." 
 
 The Captain instantly galloped forward, and he 
 and Jack made a vain attempt to capture the prize ; 
 
 THE OREGON TRAIL. 
 
 but the cow, with a well-grounded distrust of their 
 intentions, took refuge among the trees. Rob joined 
 them, and they soon drove her out. We watched 
 their evolutions as they galloped around her, trying 
 in vain to noose her with their trail-ropes, which they 
 had converted into lariettes for the occasion. At 
 length they resorted to milder measures, and the cow 
 
No. 55] On the Road 167 
 
 was driven along with the party. Soon after, the 
 usual thunder-storm came up, and the wind blew with 
 such fury that the streams of rain flew almost hori- 
 zontally along the prairie, and roared like a cataract. 
 The horses turned tail to the storm, and stood hang- 
 ing their heads, bearing the infliction with an air of 
 meekness and resignation ; while we drew our heads 
 between our shoulders, and crouched forward, so as 
 to make our back serve as a shed for the rest of our 
 persons. 
 
 Meanwhile the cow, taking advantage of the 
 tumult, ran off, to the great discomfiture of the Cap- 
 tain. In defiance of the storm, he pulled his cap 
 tight over his brows, jerked a huge buffalo-pistol 
 from his holster, and set out at full speed after her. 
 This was the last we saw of them for some time, for 
 the mist and rain made an impenetrable veil ; but at 
 length we heard the' Captain's shout, and saw him 
 looming through the tempest, the picture of a Hiber- 
 nian cavalier, with his cocked pistol held aloft for 
 safety's sake, and a countenance of anxiety and ex- 
 citement. The cow trotted before him, but exhibited 
 evident signs of an intention to run off again, and the 
 Captain was roaring to us to head her. But the rain 
 had got in behind our coat collars, and was travelling 
 over our necks in numerous little streamlets, and being 
 afraid to move our heads, for fear of admitting more, 
 we sat stiff and immovable, looking at the Captain 
 askance, and laughing at his frantic movements. 
 At last the cow made a sudden plunge and ran off ; 
 the Captain grasped his pistol firmly, spurred his 
 horse, and galloped after, with evident designs of 
 mischief. In a moment we heard the faint report, 
 deadened by the rain, and then the conqueror and 
 
1 68 Out West [No. 56 
 
 his victim reappeared. Not long after, the storm 
 moderated, and we advanced again. The cow walked 
 painfully along under the charge of Jack, to whom 
 the Captain had committed her, while he himself 
 rode forward in his old capacity of vidette. We were 
 approaching a long line of trees, that followed a 
 stream stretching across our path, far in front, when 
 we beheld the vidette galloping towards us apparently 
 much excited, but with a broad grin on his face. 
 
 "Let that cow drop behind!" he shouted to us; 
 "here's her owners." 
 
 And, in fact, as we approached the line of trees, a 
 large white object, like a tent, was visible behind 
 them. On approaching, however, we found, instead 
 of the expected Mormon camp, nothing but the lonely 
 prairie, and a large white rock standing by the path. 
 The cow, therefore, resumed her place in our proces- 
 sion. 
 
 56. The Bee-hunter 
 
 By Thomas Thorpe (1846) 
 
 It was on a beautiful Southern October morning, 
 at the hospitable mansion of a friend, that I first had 
 the pleasure of seeing Tom Owen. He was on this 
 occasion straggling up the rising ground that led to 
 the house of my host. His head was adorned with 
 an outlandish pattern of a hat ; his legs were clad in 
 a pair of trousers, beautifully fringed by the brier- 
 bushes through which they were often drawn ; coats 
 and vests he considered as superfluities ; hanging 
 upon his back were a couple of pails ; and an axe in 
 
No. 56] The Bee- hunter 169 
 
 his right hand formed the varieties that represented 
 Tom Owen. As is usual with great men, he had 
 his followers, and with a courtier-like humility they 
 depended upon the expression of his face for all their 
 hopes of success. I 
 
 The usual salutations of meeting were sufficient to 
 draw me within the circle of his influence, and I at 
 once became one of his most ready .followers. " See 
 yonder ! " said Tom, stretching his long arm into 
 infinite space, " see yonder — there's a bee." We all 
 looked in the direction he pointed, but that was the 
 extent of our observation. " It was a,' fine bee," con- 
 tinued Tom, " black body, yellow legs, and into that 
 tree," pointing to a towering oak, blue in the dis- 
 tance. " On a clear day I can see a bee over a mile, 
 easy ! " 
 
 After a variety of wandering through the thick 
 woods, and clambering over fences, we came to our 
 place of destination as pointed '■■ out by Tom ; he 
 selected a mighty tree whose trunk contained the 
 sweets, the possession of which tlr^ poets have lik- 
 ened to other sweets that leave a sting behind. The 
 felling of a great tree is a sight that calls up a variety 
 of emotions ; and Tom's game was lodged in one of 
 the finest in the forest. But "the axe was laid at the 
 root of the tree," which, in Tom's mind, was made 
 expressly for bees to build their nests in, that he 
 might cut them down and obtain possession thereof. 
 The sharp sounds of the axe as it played in the hands 
 of Tom, and was replied to by a stout negro from the 
 opposite side, rapidly gained upon the heart of the 
 lordly sacrifice. There was little poetry in the thought 
 that long before this mighty empire of states was 
 formed, Tom Owen's " bee-hive " had stretched its 
 
I 7 o Out West [No. 56 
 
 brawny arms to the winter's blast and grown green 
 in the summer's sun. Yet such was the case, and 
 how long I might have moralized I know not, had 
 not the enraged buzzing about my ears satisfied me 
 that the occupants of the tree were not going to give 
 up their home and treasure without showing consid- 
 erable practical fight. No sooner had the little in- 
 sects satisfied themselves that they were about to be 
 invaded than they began one after another to descend 
 from their airy abode and fiercely pitch into our faces ; 
 anon a small company, headed by an old veteran, 
 would charge with its entire force upon all parts of 
 our body at once. It need not be said that the better 
 part of valor was displayed by a precipitate retreat 
 from such attacks. 
 
 In the midst of this warfare the tree began to trem- 
 ble with the fast-repeated strokes of the axe, and then 
 might have been seen a bee-hive of stingers precipi- 
 tating themselves from above on the unfortunate 
 hunter beneath. Now it was that Tom shone forth 
 in his glory. 
 
 His partisans, like many hangers-on about great 
 men, began to desert him on the first symptoms of 
 danger ; and when the trouble thickened, they one 
 and all, took to their heels, and left only our hero 
 and Sambo to fight their adversaries. Sambo, how- 
 ever, soon dropped his axe and fell into all kinds of 
 contortions ; first he would seize the back of his neck 
 with his hands, then his shins, and yell with pain. 
 " Don't holler, nigger, till you get out of the woods," 
 said the sublime Tom, consolingly; but writhe he did, 
 until he broke and left Tom " alone in his glory." 
 
 Cut — -thwack! sounded through the confused hum 
 at the foot of the tree, marvellously reminding me of 
 
No. 56] T/ie Bee-hunter 171 
 
 the interruptions that occasionally broke in upon the 
 otherwise monotonous hours of my school-boy days. 
 A sharp cracking finally told me the chopping was 
 done, and looking aloft, I saw the mighty tree bal- 
 ancing in the air. Slowly and majestically it bowed 
 for the first time towards its mother earth, gaining 
 velocity as it descended, shivering the trees that in- 
 terrupted its downward course, and falling with thun- 
 dering sound, splintering its mighty limbs and burying 
 them deeply in the ground. 
 
 The sun, for the first time in at least two centuries, 
 broke uninterruptedly through the chasm made in the 
 forest, and shone with splendor upon the magnificent 
 Tom standing a conqueror among his spoils. 
 
 As might be expected, the bees were very much 
 astonished and confused, and by their united voices 
 they proclaimed death to all their foes. But the wary 
 hunter was up to the tricks of this trade, and, like a 
 politician, he knew how easily an enraged mob could 
 be quelled with smoke ; and smoke he tried until his 
 enemies were completely destroyed. We, Tom's 
 hangers-on, now approached his treasure. It was 
 a rich one, and, as he observed, " contained a rich 
 chance of plunder." Nine feet, by measurement, of 
 the hollow of the tree was full, and this afforded many 
 pails of pure honey. Tom was liberal, and supplied 
 us all with more than we wanted, and with Sambo's 
 help, "toted" his share to his own home, where it 
 was soon devoured and replaced by the destruction 
 of another tree and another nation of bees. 
 
PART V 
 INDIANS 
 
 57. A Little Indian Captive 
 
 By Mrs. Juliette A. Kinzie (1779) 
 I 
 
 On a bright afternoon in the autumn of 1779, two 
 children of Mr. Lytle, a girl of nine, and her brother, 
 two years younger, were playing in a little dingle or 
 hollow in the rear of their father's house. Some 
 large trees, which had been recently felled, were 
 lying here and there, still untrimmed of their 
 branches, and many logs, prepared for fuel, were 
 scattered around. Upon one of these the children, 
 wearied with their sports, seated themselves, and to 
 beguile the time they fell into conversation upon a 
 subject that greatly perplexed them. 
 
 While playing in the same place a few hours pre- 
 vious, they had imagined they saw an Indian lurking 
 behind one of the fallen trees. The Indians of the 
 neighborhood were in the habit of making occasional 
 visits to the family, and they had become familiar 
 and even affectionate with many of them, but this 
 seemed a stranger, and after the first hasty glance 
 they fled in alarm to the house. 
 
 173 
 
174 Indians [no. 57 
 
 Their mother chid them for the report they brought, 
 which she endeavored to convince them was without 
 foundation. "You know," said she, "you are always 
 alarming us unnecessarily — the neighbors' children 
 have frightened you to death. Go back to your play 
 and learn to be more courageous." 
 
 So the children returned to their sports, hardly 
 persuaded by their mother's arguments. While they 
 were thus seated upon the trunk of the tree, their 
 discourse was interrupted by the note, apparently, of 
 a quail not far off. 
 
 " Listen," said the boy, as a second note answered 
 the first, " do you hear that .'' " 
 
 " Yes," was the reply, and after a few moments' 
 silence, " do you not hear a rustling among the 
 branches of the tree yonder .'' " 
 
 " Perhaps it is a squirrel — but look ! what is that } 
 Surely I saw something red among the branches. It 
 looked like a fawn popping up its head." 
 
 At this moment, the children who had been 
 gazing so intently in the direction of the fallen tree 
 that all other objects were forgotten, felt themselves 
 seized from behind and pinioned in an iron grasp. 
 What were their horror and dismay to find them- 
 selves in the arms of savages, whose terrific coun- 
 tenances and gestures plainly showed them to be 
 enemies ! 
 
 After a toilsome and painful march of many days, 
 the party reached the Seneca village, upon the head- 
 waters of the Allegany, near what is now called 
 Olean Point. On their arrival the chief, their con- 
 ductor, who was distinguished by the name of Big- 
 White-Man, led his prisoners to the principal lodge. 
 This was occupied by his mother, the widow of the 
 
No. 57] yl Little Captive 175 
 
 head-chief of that band, who was called by them the 
 Old Queen. 
 
 On entering her presence, her son presented her 
 the little girl, saying : 
 
 " My mother — I bring you a child to supply the 
 place of my brother, who was killed by the Lenape 
 six moons ago. She shall dwell in my lodge, and be 
 to me a sister. Treat her kindly — our father will 
 give us many horses and guns to buy her back 
 again." 
 
 The Old Queen fulfilled the injunctions of her son. 
 She received the prisoners, and every comfort was 
 provided them that her simple and primitive mode of 
 life rendered possible. 
 
 A treaty was immediately entered into for the ran- 
 som of the captives, which was easily accomplished 
 in regard to the younger child. But no offers, no 
 entreaties, no promises, could procure the release of 
 the little Eleanor, the adopted child of the tribe. 
 " No," the chief said, " she was his sister ; he had 
 taken her to supply the place of his brother who was 
 killed by the enemy — she was dear to him, and he 
 would not part with her." 
 
 Finding every effort unavailing to shake this reso- 
 lution, the father was at length compelled to take his 
 sorrowful departure with such of his beloved ones as 
 he had had the good fortune to recover. 
 
 Time rolled on, and every year the hope of recover- 
 ing the little captive became more faint. She, in the 
 meantime, continued to wind herself more and more 
 closely around the heart of her Indian brother. Noth- 
 ing could exceed the consideration and affection with 
 which she was treated, not only by himself, but by his 
 mother, the Old Queen. All their stock of brooches 
 
176 
 
 Indians [no. 57 
 
 and wampum was employed in the decoration of her 
 person. The principal seat and the most delicate 
 viands were invariably reserved for her, and no 
 efforts were spared to promote her happiness, and 
 to render her forgetful of her former home and 
 kindred. 
 
 The only drawback to the happiness of the little 
 prisoner, aside from her longings after her own dear 
 home, was the enmity she encountered from the wife 
 of the Big-White-Man. This woman, from the day of 
 her arrival at the village, and adoption into the family 
 as a sister, had conceived for her the greatest ani- 
 mosity, which, at first, she had the prudence to con- 
 ceal from the observation of her husband. 
 
 One afternoon, during the temporary absence of 
 the Old Queen, her daughter-in-law entered the lodge 
 with a bowl of something she had prepared, and 
 stooping down to the mat on which the child lay, 
 said, in an affectionate accent, 
 
 " Drink, my sister. I have brought you that which 
 will drive this fever far from you." 
 
 On raising her head to reply, the little girl per- 
 ceived a pair of eyes peeping through a crevice in 
 the lodge, and fixed upon her with a very peculiar 
 and significant expression. With the quick percep- 
 tion acquired partly from nature, and partly from her 
 intercourse with this people, she replied faintly, 
 
 " Set it down, my sister. When this fit of the fever 
 has passed, I will drink your medicine." 
 
 The squaw, too cautious to use importunity, busied 
 herself about in the lodge for a short time, then with- 
 drew to another, near at hand. Meantime, the bright 
 eyes continued peering through the opening, until 
 they had watched their object fairly out of sight, then 
 
No. 57] A Little Captive 177 
 
 a low voice, the voice of a young friend and play- 
 fellow, spoke, 
 
 " Do not drink that, which your brother's wife has 
 brought you. She hates you, and is only waiting an 
 opportunity to rid herself of you. I have watched 
 her all the morning, and have seen her gathering the 
 most deadly herbs. I knew for whom they were 
 intended, and came hither to warn you." 
 
 "Take the bowl," said the little invalid, "and carry 
 it to my mother's lodge." 
 
 This was accordingly done. The contents of the 
 bowl were found to consist principally of a decoction 
 of the root of the May-apple, the most deadly poison 
 known among the Indians. 
 
 It is not in the power of language to describe the 
 indignation that pervaded the little community when 
 this discovery was made known. The squaws ran to 
 and fro, as is their custom when excited, each vying 
 with the other in heaping invectives upon the culprit. 
 No further punishment was, however, for the present 
 inflicted upon her, but the first burst of rage over, she 
 was treated v/ith silent abhorrence. 
 
 The little patient was removed to the lodge of the 
 Old Queen, and strictly guarded, while her enemy 
 was left to wander in silence and solitude about the 
 fields and woods, until the return of her husband 
 should determine her punishment. 
 
 In a few days, the excursion being over, the Big- 
 White-Man and his party returned to the village. 
 Contrary to the usual custom of savages, he did not, 
 in his first transport at learning the attempt on the 
 life of his little sister, take summary vengeance on 
 the offender. He contented himself with banishing 
 her from his lodge, never to return, and condemning 
 
178 
 
 IndiaTis [No. 57 
 
 her to hoe corn in a distant part of the large field or 
 enclosure which served the whole community for a 
 garden. 
 
 Although she would still show her vindictive dis- 
 position whenever, hy chance, the little girl with her 
 companions wandered into that vicinity by striking 
 at her with her hoe, or by some other spiteful mani- 
 festation, yet she was either too well watched, or 
 stood too much in awe of her former husband to 
 repeat the attempt upon his sister's life. 
 
 II 
 
 Four years had now elapsed since the capture of 
 little Nelly. Her heart was by nature warm and 
 affectionate, so that the unbounded tenderness of 
 those she dwelt among had called forth a correspond- 
 ing feeling of affection in her heart. She regarded 
 the Chief and his mother with love and reverence, 
 and had so completely learned their language and 
 customs as almost to have forgotten her own. 
 
 So identified had she become with the tribe, that 
 the remembrance of her home and family had nearly 
 faded from her memory; all but her mother — her 
 mother whom she had loved with a strength of affec- 
 tion natural to her warm and ardent character, and 
 to whom her heart still clung with a fondness that 
 no time or change could destroy. 
 
 The peace of 1783 between Great Britain and the 
 United States now took place. A general pacifica- 
 tion of the Indian tribes was the consequence, and 
 fresh hopes were renewed in the bosoms of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lytle. 
 
 They removed with their family to Fort Niagara, 
 
No. 57] A Little Captive 179 
 
 near which, on the American side, was the great 
 Council Fire of the Senecas. Col. Johnson readily 
 undertook a fresh negotiation with the Chief, but in 
 order to ensure every chance of success, he again pro- 
 ceeded in person to the village of the Big-White-Man. 
 
 His visit was most opportune. It was the "Feast 
 of the Green Corn," when he arrived among them. 
 Every one appeared in his gala dress. That of the 
 little adopted child consisted of a petticoat of blue 
 broadcloth, bordered with gay-colored ribbons ; a sack 
 or upper garment of black silk, ornamented with 
 three rows of silver brooches, the centre ones from 
 the throat to the hem being of large size, and those 
 from the shoulders down being no larger than a 
 shilling-piece, and set as closely as possible. Around 
 her neck were innumerable strings of white and pur- 
 ple wampum, an Indian ornament manufactured from 
 the inner surface of the mussel-shell. Her hair was 
 clubbed behind, and loaded with beads of various 
 colors. Leggings of scarlet cloth, and moccasins of 
 deer-skin embroidered with porcupine quills, com- 
 pleted her costume. 
 
 Col. Johnson was received with all the considera- 
 tion due to his position, and to the long friendship 
 that had subsisted between him and the tribe. The 
 Chief was induced to promise that at the Grand 
 Council soon to be held at Fort Niagara he would 
 attend, bringing his little sister with him. 
 
 The time at length arrived when, her heart bound- 
 ing with joy, little Nelly was placed on horseback to 
 accompany her Indian brother to the great Council of 
 the Senecas. She had promised him that she would 
 never leave him without his permission, and he relied 
 confidently on her word thus given. 
 
I 8 o Indians [no. 58 
 
 The father and mother, attended by all the officers 
 and ladies, stood upon the grassy bank awaiting their 
 approach. They had seen at a glance that the little 
 captive was with them. 
 
 The Chief held his darling by the hand until the 
 river was passed — until the boat touched the bank — 
 until the child sprang forward into the arms of the 
 mother from whom she had been so long separated. 
 
 When the Chief witnessed that outburst of affection 
 he could withstand no longer. 
 
 " She shall go," said he. " The mother must have 
 her child again. I will go back alone." 
 
 With one silent gesture of farewell he turned and 
 stepped on board the boat. No arguments or en- 
 treaties could induce him to remain at the council, 
 but having gained the other side of the Niagara, he 
 mounted his horse, and with his young men was soon 
 lost in the depths of the forest. 
 
 Little Nelly saw her friend the Chief no more, but 
 she never forgot him. To the day of her death she 
 remembered with tenderness and gratitude her brother 
 the Big- White-Man, and her friends and playfellows 
 among the Senecas. 
 
 58. A Scotchman and an Indian 
 Joke 
 
 By Hector St. John Crevecceur (1782) 
 
 A FEW days after it happened the whole family of 
 Mr. Phillip Rand went to meeting, and left Andrew 
 to take care of the house. While he was at the door, 
 attentively reading the Bible, nine Indians just come 
 
No. 58] 
 
 Indian yoke 
 
 181 
 
 A child's moccasins. 
 
 from the mountains, suddenly made their appearance, 
 and unloaded their packs of furs on the floor of the 
 piazza. Conceive, if you 
 can, what was Andrew's 
 consternation at this ex- 
 traordinary sight ! From 
 the singular appearance of 
 these people, the honest 
 Hebridean took them for 
 a lawless band come to 
 rob his master's house. 
 He therefore, like a faith- 
 ful guardian, precipitately 
 withdrew, and shut the doors ; but as most of our 
 houses are without locks, he was reduced to the 
 necessity of fixing his knife over the latch, and then 
 flew up stairs in quest of a broad sword he had brought 
 from Scotland. The Indians, who were particular 
 friends of the family, guessed at his suspicions and 
 fears ; they forcibly lifted the door, and suddenly took 
 possession of the house, got all the bread and meat 
 they wanted, and sat themselves down by the fire. 
 
 At this instant Andrew, with his broad sword in 
 his hand, entered the room ; the Indians earnestly 
 looking at him, and attentively watching his motions. 
 After a very few reflections, Andrew found that his 
 weapon was useless, when opposed to nine toma- 
 hawks ; but this did not diminish his anger ; on the 
 contrary, it grew greater on observing the calm im- 
 pudence with which they were devouring the family 
 provisions. Unable to resist, he called them names 
 in broad Scotch, and ordered them to desist and be 
 gone ; to which the Indians (as they told me after- 
 wards) rephed in their equally broad idiom. It must 
 
I 8 2 Indians [no. 58 
 
 have been a most unintelligible altercation between 
 this honest Barra man, and nine Indians who did not 
 much care for anything he could say. At last he 
 ventured to lay his hands on one of them, in order to 
 turn him out of the house. Here Andrew's iidelity 
 got the better of his prudence ; for the Indian, by his 
 motions, threatened to scalp him, while the rest gave 
 the warwhoop. This horrid noise so effectually fright- 
 ened poor Andrew, that, unmindful of his courage, 
 of his broad sword, and his intentions, he rushed out, 
 left them masters of the house, and disappeared. I 
 have heard one of the Indians say since, that he never 
 laughed so heartily in his life. 
 
 Andrew at a distance, soon recovered from the 
 fears which had been inspired by this infernal yell, 
 and thought of no other remedy than to go to the 
 meeting-house, which was about two miles distant. 
 In the eagerness of his honest intentions, with looks 
 of affright still marked on his countenance, he called 
 Mr. Rand out, and told him with great vehemence of 
 style, that nine monsters were come to his house — 
 some blue, some red, and some black ; that they had 
 little axes in their hands out of which they smoked ; 
 and that like highlanders, they had no breeches ; that 
 they were devouring all his victuals, and that God 
 only knew what they would do more. " Pacify your- 
 self," said Mr. Rand, "my house is as safe with these 
 people, as if I was there myself ; as for the victuals, 
 they are heartily welcome, honest Andrew ; they are 
 not people of much ceremony ; they help themselves 
 thus whenever they are among their friends ; I do 
 so too in their wigwams, whenever I go to their 
 village : you had better therefore stej) in and hear 
 the remainder of the sermon, and when the meet- 
 
No. 59] Puc-Puggy 183 
 
 ing is over we will all go back in the wagon 
 together." 
 
 At their return, Mr. Rand, who speaks the Indian 
 language very well, explained the whole matter; the 
 Indians renewed their laugh, and shook hands with 
 honest Andrew, whom they made to smoke out of their 
 pipes ; and thus peace was made, and ratified accord- 
 ing to the Indian custom, by the calumet. 
 
 59. Puc-Puggy and the Rattle- 
 snake 
 
 By William Bartram (1791) 
 
 I WAS in the forenoon busy in my apartment in the 
 council-house, drawing some curious flowers ; when, 
 on a sudden, my attention was taken off by a tumult 
 without, at the Indian camp. I stepped to the door 
 opening to the piazza, where I met my friend the old 
 interpreter, who informed me that there was a very 
 large rattlesnake in the Indian camp, which had taken 
 possession of it, having driven the men, women and 
 children out, and he heard them saying that they 
 would send for Puc-Puggy (for that was the name 
 which they had given me, signifying " the Flower 
 Hunter ") to kill him or take him out of their camp. 
 I answered that I desired to have nothing to do with 
 him, fearing some disagreeable consequences. My 
 old friend turned about to carry my answer to the 
 Indians. I presently heard them approaching and 
 calling for Puc-Puggy. Starting up to escape from their 
 sight by a back door, a party consisting of three young 
 
i84 
 
 Indians [no. 59 
 
 fellows, richly dressed and ornamented, stepped in, 
 and requested me to accompany them to their en- 
 campment. I desired them to excuse me at this 
 time ; they pleaded and entreated me to go with 
 them, in order to free them from a great rattlesnake 
 which had entered their camp. They said that none 
 of them had freedom or courage to expel him ; and 
 they understood that it was my pleasure to collect all 
 their animals and other natural productions of their 
 land. Therefore they desired that I would come with 
 them and take him away ; I was welcome to him, 
 they added. I at length consented and attended 
 them to their encampment, where I beheld the 
 Indians greatly disturbed. 
 
 The men with sticks and tomahawks, and the 
 women and children were collected together at a 
 distance in fright and trepidation, while the dreaded 
 and revered serpent leisurely traversed their camp, 
 visiting the fireplaces from one to another, picking 
 up fragments of their provisions and licking their 
 platters. The men gathered around me, exciting me 
 to remove him ; being armed with a lightwood knot, 
 I approached the reptile, who instantly collected him- 
 self in a vast coil (their attitude of defence). I cast 
 my missile weapon at him, which, luckily taking his 
 head, despatched him instantly, and laid him trem- 
 bling at my feet. I took out my knife, severed his 
 head from his body. Then I turned about, and the 
 Indians complimented me with every demonstration 
 of satisfaction and approbation for my heroism and 
 friendship for them. I carried off the head of the 
 serpent bleeding in my hand as a trophy of victory, 
 took out the mortal fangs, and deposited them care- 
 fully amongst my collections. 
 
No. 59] Puc-Piiggy 185 
 
 I had not been long retired to my apartment, be- 
 fore I was again roused from it by a tumult in the 
 yard. Puc-Puggy was called on, so I started up, when 
 instantly the old interpreter met me again, and told 
 me the Indians were approaching in order to scratch 
 me. I asked him for what .-* He answered, for kill- 
 ing the rattlesnake within their camp. Before I could 
 make any reply or effect my escape, three young fel- 
 lows singing, arm in arm, came up to me. I observed 
 one of the three was a young prince who had, on my 
 first interview with him, declared himself my friend 
 and protector, and told me that if ever occasion should 
 offer in his presence, he would risk his life to defend 
 mine or my property. This young champion stood 
 by his two associates, one on each side of him. They 
 affected a countenance and air of displeasure and im- 
 portance, instantly presented their scratching instru- 
 ments, and flourishing them, spoke boldly, and said that 
 I was too heroic and violent, that it would be good for 
 me to lose some of my blood to make me more mild 
 and tame ; for that purpose they were come to scratch 
 me. They gave me no time to expostulate or reply, 
 but attempted to lay hold on me. I resisted ; and 
 my friend, the young prince, interposed and pushed 
 them off, saying that I was a brave warrior and his 
 friend and they should not insult me, whereupon 
 instantly they altered their countenance and behavior. 
 They all whooped in chorus, took me by the hand, 
 clapped me on the shoulder, and laid their hands on 
 their breasts in token of sincere friendship, and laugh- 
 ing aloud, said I was a sincere friend to the Seminoles, 
 a worthy and brave warrior, and that no one should 
 hereafter attempt to injure me. Then all three joined 
 arm in arm again and went off shouting and pro- 
 
I 8 6 Indians [no. 59 
 
 claiming Puc-Puggy was their friend. Tlius it seemed 
 that the whole was a ludicrous farce to satisfy their 
 people and appease the manes of the dead rattlesnake. 
 These people never kill the rattlesnake or any other 
 serpent, because if they do so, as they believe, the 
 spirit of the killed snake will excite or influence his 
 living kindred or relatives to revenge the injury or 
 violence done to him when alive. 
 
 In my youth, attending my father on a journey to 
 the Catskill Mountains, in New York, I had gained 
 the summit of a steep rocky precipice, ahead of our 
 guide, and was just entering a shady vale, when I saw 
 at the root of a small shrub, a singular and beautiful 
 appearance, which I remember to be a large kind of 
 fungus called Jews' ears. I was just drawing back 
 my foot to kick it over, when at the instant, my father 
 being near, cried out, " A rattlesnake, my son ! " and 
 jerked me back, which probably saved my life. I 
 had never before seen one. This was of the kind 
 which our guide called a yellow one ; it was very 
 beautiful, speckled and clouded. My father pleaded 
 for his hfe, but our guide was inexorable, saying he 
 never spared the life of a rattlesnake, and killed him ; 
 my father took his skin and fangs. 
 
 Some years after this, when again in company with 
 my father on a journey into East Florida, I attended 
 him on a botanical excursion. Some time after we 
 had been rambling in a swamp about a quarter of a 
 mile from the camp, I was ahead a few paces, and 
 my father bade me observe the rattlesnake before my 
 feet. I stopped and saw the monster formed in a 
 high spiral coil, not half his length from my feet : 
 another step forward would have \)\\t my life in his 
 power, as I must have touched if not stumbled over 
 
No. 60] Escape from Indians 187 
 
 him. I instantly cut off a little sapling and soon 
 despatched him : this serpent was about six feet in 
 length, and as think as an ordinary man's leg. I cut 
 off a long tough withe or vine, fastened it round the 
 neck of the slain serpent, and dragged him after me, 
 his scaly body sounding over the ground, entered the 
 camp with him in triumph, and was soon surrounded 
 by the amazed multitude, both Indians and my coun- 
 trymen. The adventure soon reached the ears of 
 the commander, who sent an officer to request that, 
 if the snake had not bit himself, he might have him 
 served up for his dinner. I readily delivered up the 
 body of the snake to the cooks, and being that day 
 invited to dine at the governor's table, saw the snake 
 served up in several dishes ; Governor Grant was 
 fond of the flesh of the rattlesnake. I tasted of it 
 but could not swallow it. This dreaded animal is 
 easily killed ; a stick no thicker than a man's thumb 
 is sufficient to kill the largest at one stroke, if well 
 directed, either on the head or across the back. They 
 cannot make their escape by running off, nor indeed 
 do they attempt it when attacked. 
 
 60. Hewit's Escape from the 
 Indians 
 
 By Henry Howe (1792) 
 
 Sometime in the month of May, 1792, while living 
 at Neil's station, on the little Kenawha, Mr. Hewit 
 rose early in the morning, and went out about a mile 
 from the garrison m search of a stray horse, little 
 
i88 
 
 Indians 
 
 [No. 60 
 
 expecting any Indians to be near, for he had heard 
 of none in that vicinity for some time. He was 
 sauntering along at his ease, in an obscure cattle 
 path, thinking more of his stray animal than of 
 danger, when all at once three Indians sprang from 
 behind two large trees, that stood one on each side 
 of the track, where they had been watching his 
 
 INDIAN PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 approach. So sudden was the onset, and so com- 
 pletely was he in their grasp, that resistance was 
 vain, and would probably have been the cause of 
 his death. He therefore quietly surrendered, think- 
 ing that in a few days he should find some way of 
 escape. For himself, he felt but little uneasiness ; 
 his great concern was for his wife and child, from 
 whom, with the yearnings of a father's heart, he 
 
No. 60] Escape from hidians 189 
 
 was thus forcibly separated, and whom he might 
 never see again. 
 
 In their progress to the towns on the Sandusky 
 plains, the Indians treated their prisoner, Hewit, 
 with as little harshness as could be expected. He 
 was always confined at night by fastening his wrists 
 and ankles to saplings, as he lay extended upon his 
 back upon the ground, with an Indian on each side. 
 By day his limbs were free, but he always marched 
 with one Indian before, and two behind him. As 
 they approached the prairies, frequent halts were 
 made to search for honey, for the wild bee could 
 be found in astonishing numbers in every hollow 
 tree, and often in the ground beneath decayed roots. 
 This afforded them many luscious repasts, of which 
 the prisoner was allowed to partake. The coming 
 of the European honey bee to the forests of North 
 America, since its colonization by the whites, is, in 
 fact, the only real addition to its comforts that the 
 red man has ever received from the destroyer of 
 his race ; and this industrious insect, so fond of 
 the society of man, seems also destined to destruc- 
 tion by the bee moth, and like the buffalo and the 
 deer, will soon vanish from the woods and the 
 prairies of the West. 
 
 While the Indians were occupied in these searches, 
 Hewit closely watched an opportunity for escape, but 
 his captors were equally vigilant. As they receded 
 from the danger of pursuit, they were less hurried in 
 their march, and often stopped to hunt and amuse 
 themselves. The level prairie afforded fine ground 
 for one of their favorite sports, the foot race. In this, 
 Hewit was invited to join, and soon found that he 
 could easily outrun two of them, but the other was 
 
190 
 
 Indians [no. 60 
 
 more than his match, which discouraged him from 
 trying to escape, until a more favorable opportunity. 
 They treated him familiarly, and were much pleased 
 with his lively, cheerful manners. After they had 
 come within one or two day's march of their village, 
 they made a halt to hunt, and although they had 
 usually taken him with them, they left their prisoner 
 at their camp, as he complained of being sick. To 
 make all safe, they placed him on his back, and fast- 
 ened his wrists with stout thongs of raw-hide to 
 saphngs, and tied his legs to a small tree. After 
 they had been gone a short time, he began to put 
 in operation the plan he had been meditating for 
 escape, trusting that the thickness of his wrists, in 
 comparison with the smallness of his hands, would 
 enable him to withdraw them from the ligatures. 
 After long and violent exertions, he succeeded in 
 liberating his hands, but not without severely lacer- 
 ating the skin and covering them with blood. His 
 legs were next freed by untying them, but not with- 
 out a great effort. 
 
 Once fairly at liberty, the first object was to secure 
 some food for the long journey which was before 
 him. As the Indian's larder is seldom well stocked, 
 with all his search he could only find two small pieces 
 of jerked venison, not more than sufficient for a single 
 meal. With this light stock of provision, his body 
 nearly unclothed, and without even a knife or a toma- 
 hawk, to assist in procuring more food, he started for 
 the settlements on the Muskingum, as the nearest 
 point where he could meet with friends. It seems 
 that the Indians returned to the camp soon after his 
 escape, for that night, while cautiously traversing a 
 wood, he heard the crackling of a breaking twig not 
 
No. 60] Escape from Indians 191 
 
 far from him. Dropping silently on to the ground 
 where he stood, he beheld his three enemies in pur- 
 suit. To say that he was not agitated, would not be 
 true ; his senses were wide awake, and his heart beat 
 quick, but it was a heart that never knew fear. It so 
 ha})pened that they passed a few yards to one side of 
 him, and he remained unseen. As soon as they were 
 at a sufficient distance, he altered his course, and saw 
 no more of them. 
 
 Suffering everything but death from the exhaust- 
 ing effects of hunger and fatigue, after nine days he 
 struck the waters of the Big Muskingum, and came 
 into the garrison at Wolf Creek Mills. During this 
 time he had no food but roots and the bark of the 
 slippery-elm after the two bits of venison were ex- 
 pended. When he came in sight of the station, he 
 was so completely exhausted that he could not stand 
 or halloo. Torn, bloody and disfigured, by the briers 
 and brush, he thought it imprudent to show himself, 
 lest he should be taken for an Indian, and shot by 
 the sentries. In this forlorn state Hewit remained 
 until evening, when he crawled silently to the gate- 
 way, which was open, and crept in before any one 
 was aware of his being near. As they all had heard 
 of his capture, and some personally knew him, he 
 was instantly recognized by a young man, as the 
 light of the fire fell on his face, who exclaimed, 
 " Here is Hewit." They soon clothed and fed him, 
 and his fine constitution directly restored his health. 
 
192 Indians [No. 61 
 
 61. The Indian and the Tide 
 
 By Isaac Weld (1796) 
 
 The young Wyandot, whom I before mentioned, 
 as having made such a wonderful day's journey on 
 foot, happened to be at Philadelphia when I was 
 there. He appeared highly delighted with the 
 river, and the great number of ships of all sizes upon 
 it ; but the tide attracted his attention more than any 
 thing else whatsoever. On coming to the river the 
 first day he looked up at the sun, and made certain 
 observations upon the course of the stream, and gen- 
 eral situation of the place, as the Indians never fail 
 to do on coming to any new or remarkable spot. 
 The second time, however, he went down to the 
 water, he found to his surprise that the river was 
 running with equal rapidity in a contrary direction to 
 what he had seen it run the day before. For a mo- 
 ment he imagined that by some mistake he must have 
 got to the opposite side of it ; but he soon recol- 
 lected himself, and being persuaded that he stood on 
 the very same spot from whence he had viewed it the 
 day before, his astonishment became great indeed. 
 
 To obtain information upon such an interesting 
 point, he immediately sought out an aid-de-camp of 
 General Wayne, who had brought him to town. This 
 gentleman, however, only rendered the appearance 
 still more mysterious to him, by telling him, that 
 the great spirit, for the convenience of the white men, 
 who were his particular favourites, had made the 
 rivers in their country to run two ways. The poor 
 Wyandot was satisfied with the answer, and replied, 
 " Ah, my friend, if the great spirit would make the 
 
No. 62] Tecumse/is Speech 193 
 
 Ohio to run two ways for us, we should very often 
 pay you a visit at Pittsburgh." During his stay at 
 Philadelphia he never failed to visit the river every 
 day. 
 
 62. Speech of Tecumseh 
 
 By Tecumseh (1813) 
 
 Father, 
 Listen to 
 your chil- 
 dren ! — You 
 have them 
 now all be- 
 fore you. In 
 the war be- 
 fore this, our 
 British father 
 gave the 
 hatchet to his 
 red children, 
 when our old 
 chiefs were 
 alive. They 
 are now dead. 
 In that war, 
 our father 
 was thrown 
 on his back 
 by the Ameri- 
 cans, and our 
 
 father took them by the hand without our knowledge ; 
 
 and we are afraid that our father will do so again at 
 
 an indian chief, 
 (red jacket.) 
 
194 
 
 Indians [n'q- 62 
 
 this time. Summer before last, when I came forward 
 with my red brethren, and was ready to take up the 
 hatchet in favour of our British father, we were told 
 not to be in a hurry — that he had not yet determined 
 to fight the Americans. 
 
 Listen ! — When war was declared, our father 
 stood up and gave us the tomahawk, and told us that 
 he was now ready to strike the Americans : that he 
 wanted our assistance; and that he would certainly 
 get us our lands back which the Americans had taken 
 from us. 
 
 Listen ! — You told us that time, to bring forward 
 our families to this place ; and we did so, and you 
 promised to take care of them, and that they should 
 want for nothing, while the men would go and fight 
 the enemy ; that we need not trouble ourselves about 
 the enemy's garrisons ; that we knew nothing about 
 them ; and that our father would attend to that part 
 of the business. You also told your red children that 
 you would take good care of their garrison here, which 
 made their hearts glad. 
 
 Listen ! — When we went last to the Rapids, it is 
 true we gave you assistance. It is hard to fight 
 people who live like ground hogs. 
 
 Listen Father! — Our fleet has gone out — we 
 know they have fought — we have heard the great 
 guns, but know nothing of what has happened to our 
 father with one arm. Our troops have gone one way, 
 and we are very much astonished to see our father 
 tying up every thing and preparing to run away the 
 other, without letting his red children know what his 
 intentions are. You always told us to remain here, 
 and take care of our lands ; it made our hearts glad 
 to hear that was your wish. Our great father, the 
 
No. 62] Tecumse/i s Speech 195 
 
 king, is the head, and you represent him. You 
 always told us, that you would never draw your foot 
 off British ground ; but now, father, we see you are 
 drawing back, and we are sorry to see our father do- 
 ing so, without seeing the enemy. We must compare 
 our father's conduct to a fat animal, that carries its 
 tail upon its back, but when affrighted, it drops it 
 between its legs, and runs off. 
 
 Listen Father ! — The Americans have not yet 
 defeated us by land ; neither are we sure that they 
 have done so by water : we therefore wish to remain 
 here, and fight our enemy, should they make their 
 appearance. If they defeat us, we will then retreat 
 with our father. 
 
 At the battle of the Rapids, in the last war, the 
 Americans certainly defeated us ; and when we re- 
 treated to our father's fort, at that place, the gates 
 were shut against us. We were afraid that it would 
 now be the case, but instead of that, we see our Brit- 
 ish father preparing to march out of his garrison. 
 
 Father ! — You have got the arms and ammunition 
 which the great father sent for his red children. If 
 you have any idea of going away, give them to us 
 and you may go and welcome for us. Our lives are 
 in the hands of the Great Spirit — we are determined 
 to defend our lands, and if it is his will, we wish to 
 leave our bones upon them. 
 
196 htdians [no. 63 
 
 63. How Indians Write 
 
 Bv John Heckewelder (i8i8) 
 
 The Indians do not possess our art of writing ; they 
 have no alphabets, nor any mode of representing to 
 the eye the sounds of words spoken, yet they have 
 certain hieroglyphics, by which they describe facts 
 in so plain a manner, that those who are familiar 
 with those marks can understand them with the great- 
 est ease, as easily, indeed, as we can understand a 
 piece of writing. For instance, on a piece of bark, 
 or on a large tree with the bark taken off for the 
 purpose, by the side of a path, they can and do give 
 every necessary information to those who come by 
 the same way ; they will in that manner let them 
 know, that they were a war party of so many men, 
 from such a place, of such a nation and such a tribe ; 
 how many of each tribe were in the party ; to which 
 tribe the chief or captain belonged ; in what direction 
 they proceeded to meet the enemy ; how many days 
 they were out and how many returning ; what num- 
 ber of the enemy they had killed, how many prisoners 
 they had brought ; how many scalps they had taken ; 
 whether they had lost any of their party, and how 
 many; what enemies they had met with, and how 
 many they consisted of ; of what nation or tribe their 
 captain was ; all which, at a single glance, is perfectly 
 well understood by them. In the same manner they 
 describe a chase : all Indian nations can do this, 
 although they have not all the same marks ; yet I 
 have seen the Delawares read with ease the drawings 
 of the Chippeways, Mingoes, Shawanos, and Wyan- 
 dots, on similar subjects. 
 
No. 63] Writings 197 
 
 While Indians are travelling to the place of their 
 destination, whether it be on a journey to their distant 
 hunting grounds or on a war excursion, some of the 
 young men are sent out to hunt by the way, who, 
 when they have killed a deer, bear, or other animal, 
 bring it to the path, ready to be taken away by those 
 who are coming along (often with horses) to the 
 place of encampment, when they all meet at night. 
 Having hung up the meat by the side of the path, 
 these young men make a kind of sun-dial, in order 
 to inform those who are coming of the time of day 
 it was at the time of their arrival and departure. A 
 clear place in the path is sought for, and if not 
 readily found, one is made by the side of it, and a 
 circle or ring being drawn on the sand or earth, a 
 stick of about two or three feet in length is fixed in 
 the centre, with its upper end bent towards that spot 
 in the horizon where the sun stood at the time of 
 their arrival or departure. If both are to be noted 
 down, two separate sticks are set ; but generally one 
 is sufficient, namely, for the time of departure. 
 
 Hunters have particular marks, which they make 
 on the trees, where they strike off from the path to 
 their hunting grounds or place of encampment, which 
 is often at the distance of many miles ; yet the women, 
 who come from their towns to fetch meat from these 
 camps, will as readily find them as if they were con- 
 ducted to the spot. 
 
 I shall conclude this chapter with an anecdote, 
 which will at once show how expressive and energetic 
 is this hieroglyphic writing of the Indians. A white 
 man in the Indian country, saw a Shawanos riding 
 a horse which he recognised for his own, and claimed 
 it from him as his property. The Indian calmly 
 
198 
 
 Indians [No. 64 
 
 answered, " Friend ! after a little while, I will call 
 on you at your house, when we shall talk of this 
 matter." A few days afterwards, the Indian came 
 to the white man's house, who insisting on having 
 his horse restored, the other then told him : " Friend ! 
 the horse which you claim belonged to my uncle who 
 lately died ; according to the Indian custom, I have 
 become heir to all his property." The white man 
 not being satisfied, and renewing his demand, the 
 Indian immediately took a coal from the fire-place, 
 and made two striking figures on the door of the 
 house, the one representing the white man taking 
 the horse, and the other, himself, in the act of scalp- 
 ing him ; then he coolly asked the trembling claimant 
 " whether he could read this Indian writing } " The 
 matter thus was settled at once, and the Indian rode 
 off. 
 
 64. How the Indians talk to the 
 Animals 
 
 By John Heckewelder (i8i8) 
 
 I FOUND that the Indians paid great respect to the 
 rattle-snake, whom they called their grandfather, and 
 would on no account destroy him. One day, as I 
 was walking with an elderly Indian on the banks of 
 the Muskingum, I saw a large rattle-snake lying 
 across the path, which I was going to kill. The 
 Indian immediately forbade my doing so ; " for," 
 said he, "the rattle-snake is grandfather to the 
 Indians, and is placed here on purpose to guard us, 
 and to give us notice of impending danger by his 
 
No. 64] Talk to Animals 199 
 
 rattle, which is the same as if he were to tell us, 
 'look about!' Now," added he, "if he were to kill 
 one of those, the others would soon know it, and the 
 whole race would rise upon us and bite us." I ob- 
 served to him that the white people were not afraid 
 of this ; for they killed all the rattle-snakes that they 
 met with. On this he enquired whether any white 
 man had been bitten by these animals, and of course, 
 I answered in the affirmative. " No wonder, then ! " 
 replied he, " you have to blame yourselves for that ! 
 you did as much as declaring war against them, and 
 you will find them in your country, where they will 
 not fail to make frequent incursions. They are a 
 very dangerous enemy ; take care you do not irritate 
 them in our country ; they and their grandchildren 
 are on good terms, and neither will hurt the other." 
 
 These ancient notions have, however, in a great 
 measure died away with the last generation, and the 
 Indians at present kill their grandfather the rattle- 
 snake without ceremony, whenever they meet with 
 him. 
 
 That the Indians, from the earUest times, consid- 
 ered themselves in a manner connected with certain 
 animals, is evident from various customs still pre- 
 served among them, and from the names of those 
 animals which they have collectively, as well as in- 
 dividually, assumed. It might, indeed, be supposed 
 that those animals' names which they have given 
 to their several tribes were mere badges of distinction, 
 but if we pay attention to the reasons which they 
 give for those denominations, the idea of a supposed 
 family connexion is easily discernible. The Tortoise, 
 or as it is commonly called, the Turtle tribe, among 
 the Lenapes, claims a superiority and ascendency over 
 
2 00 Indians [no. 64 
 
 the others, because their relation, the great Tortoise, 
 a fabled monster, the Atlas of their mythology, bears 
 according to their traditions this great island on his 
 back, and also because he is amphibious, and can live 
 both on land and in the water, which neither of the 
 heads of the other tribes can do. The merits of the 
 Turkey, which gives its name to the second tribe, 
 are that he is stationary, and always remains with 
 or about them. As to the Wolf, after whom the 
 third tribe is named, he is a rambler, by nature, run- 
 ning from one place to another in quest of his prey ; 
 yet they consider him as their benefactor, as it was 
 by his means that the Indians got out of the interior 
 of the earth. It was he, they believe, who by the 
 appointment of the Great Spirit, killed the deer whom 
 the Monsey found, who first discovered the way to 
 the surface of the earth, and which allured them 
 to come out of their damp and dark residence. For 
 that reason, the wolf is to be honoured, and his name 
 preserved forever among them. Such are their 
 traditions, as they were related to me by an old man 
 of this tribe more than fifty years ago. 
 
 These animals' names, it is true, they all use as 
 national badges, in order to distinguish their tribes 
 from each other at home and abroad. The Turtle 
 warrior draws either with a coal or paint here and 
 there on the trees along the war path, the whole 
 animal carrying a gun with the muzzle projecting 
 forward, and if he leaves a mark at the place where 
 he has made a stroke on his enemy, it will be the 
 picture of a tortoise. Those of the Turkey tribe 
 paint only one foot of a turkey, and the Wolf tribe, 
 sometimes a wolf at large with one leg and foot 
 raised up to serve as a hand, in which the animal 
 
No- 64] Talk to Ani^nals 201 
 
 also carries a gun with the muzzle forward. They, 
 however, do not generally use the word " wolf," when 
 speaking of their tribe, but call themselves Pauk-sit 
 which means round-foot, that animal having a round 
 foot like a dog. 
 
 The Indians, in their hours of leisure, paint their 
 different marks or badges on the doors of their 
 respective houses, that those who pass by may know 
 to which tribe the inhabitants belong. Those marks 
 also serve them for signatures to treaties and other 
 documents. They are as proud of their origin from 
 the tortoise, the turkey, and the wolf, as the nobles 
 of Europe are of their descent from the feudal barons 
 of ancient times, and when children spring from 
 intermarriages between different tribes, their geneal- 
 ogy is carefully preserved by tradition in the family, 
 that they may know to which tribe they belong. 
 
 I have often reflected on the curious connection 
 which appears to exist in the mind of an Indian 
 between man and the brute creation, and found 
 much matter in it for curious observation. Although 
 they consider themselves superior to all other animals 
 and are very proud of that superiority ; although 
 they believe that the beasts of the forest, the birds 
 of the air, and the fishes of the waters, were created 
 by the Almighty Being for the use of man ; yet it 
 seems as if they ascribe the difference between them- 
 selves and the brute kind, and the dominion which 
 they have over them, more to their superior bodily 
 strength and dexterity than to their immortal souls. 
 
 I have already observed that the Indian includes 
 all savage beasts within the number of his enemies. 
 This is by no means a metaphorical or figurative 
 expression, but is used in a literal sense, as will 
 
20 2 Indians [no. 64 
 
 appear from what I am going to relate. A Delaware 
 hunter once shot a huge bear and broke its back- 
 bone. The animal fell and set up a most plaintive 
 cry, somethino- like that of the panther when he is 
 hungry. The hunter, instead of giving him another 
 shot, stood up close to him, and addressed him in 
 these words : " Hark ye ! bear ; you are a coward, 
 and no warrior as you pretend to be. Were you a 
 warrior, you would show it by your firmness and not 
 cry and whimper like an old woman. You know, 
 bear, that our tribes are at war with each other, and 
 that yours was the aggressor. You have found the 
 Indians too powerful for you, and you have gone 
 sneaking about in the woods, stealing their hogs ; 
 perhaps at this time you have hog's flesh in your 
 inside. Had you conquered me, I would have borne 
 it with courage and died like a brave warrior ; but 
 you, bear, sit here and cry, and disgrace your tribe 
 by your cowardly conduct." I was present at the 
 delivery of this curious invective ; when the hunter 
 had despatched the bear, I asked him how he thought 
 that poor animal could understand what he said to it .-* 
 " Oh ! " said he, in answer, " the bear understood me 
 very well ; did you not observe how ashamed he 
 looked while I was upbraiding him } " 
 
 Another time I witnessed a similar scene between 
 the falls of the Ohio and the river Wabash. A 
 young white man, named William Wells, who had 
 been when a boy taken prisoner by a tribe of the 
 Wabash Indians, by whom he was brought up, and 
 had imbibed all their notions, had so wounded a large 
 bear that he could not move from the spot, and the 
 animal cried piteously like the one I have just men- 
 tioned. The young man went up to him, and with 
 
No. 65] The White Man 203 
 
 seemingly great earnestness, addressed him in thie 
 Wabash language, now and then giving him a slight 
 stroke on the nose with his ram-rod. I asked him, 
 when he had done, what he had been saying to this 
 bear .'' " I have," said he, "upbraided him for acting 
 the part of a coward ; I told him that he knew the 
 fortune of war, that one or the other of us must 
 have fallen ; that it was his fate to be conquered, and 
 he ought to die like a man, like a hero, and not like 
 an old woman ; that if the case had been reversed, 
 and I had fallen into the power of my enemy, I 
 would not have disgraced my nation as he did, but 
 would have died with firmness and courage, as be- 
 comes a true warrior." 
 
 65. An Indian Opinion of the 
 White Man 
 
 By John Heckewelder (i8i8) 
 
 They sometimes amuse themselves by passing in 
 review those customs of the white people which ap- 
 pear to them most striking. They observe, amongst 
 other things, that when the whites meet together, 
 many of them, and sometimes all, speak at the same 
 time, and they wonder how they can thus hear and 
 understand each other. "Among us," they say, 
 " only one person speaks at a time, and the others 
 listen to him until he has done, after which, and not 
 before, another begins to speak." They say also that 
 the whites speak too much, and that much talk dis- 
 graces a man and is fit only for women. On this 
 
204 
 
 India?2S [No. 65 
 
 subject they shrewdly observe, that it is well for the 
 whites that they have the art of writing, and can 
 write down their words and speeches ; for had they, 
 like themselves, to transmit them to posterity by 
 means of strings and belts of wampum, they would 
 want for their own use all the wampum that could be 
 made, and none would be left for the Indians. 
 
 They wonder that the white people are striving so 
 much to get rich, and to heap up treasures in this 
 world which they cannot carry with them to the next. 
 They ascribe this to pride and to the desire of being 
 called rich and great. They say that there is enough 
 in this world to live upon, without laying anything 
 by, and as to the next world, it contains plenty of 
 everything, and they will find all their wants satisfied 
 when they arrive there. They, therefore, do not lay 
 up any stores, but merely take with them when they 
 die as much as is necessary for their journey to the 
 world of spirits. 
 
 The Indians also observe, that the white people 
 must have a great many thieves among them, since 
 they put locks to their doors, which shows great ap- 
 prehension that their property otherwise would not 
 be safe : " As to us," say they, " we entertain no such 
 fears ; thieves are very rare among us, and we have 
 no instance of any person breaking into a house. 
 Our Indian lock is, when we go out, to set the corn 
 pounder or billet of wood against the door, so that it 
 may be seen that nobody is within, and there is no 
 danger that any Indian would presume to enter a 
 house thus secured." Let me be permitted to illus- 
 trate this by an anecdote. 
 
 In the year 1771, while I was residing on the Big 
 Beaver, I passed by the door of an Indian, who was 
 
No. 65] T/ie White Ma?t 205 
 
 a trader, and had consequently a quantity of goods in 
 his house. He was going with his wife to Pittsburg, 
 and they were shutting up the house, as no person 
 remained in it during their absence. This shutting 
 up was nothing else than putting a large hominy 
 pounding-block, with a few sticks of wood outside 
 against the door, so as to keep it closed. As I was 
 looking at this man with attention while he was so 
 employed, he addressed me in these words : " See, my 
 friend, this is an Indian lock that I am putting to my 
 door." I answered, " Well enough ; but I see you 
 leave much property in the house, are you not afraid 
 that those articles will be stolen while you are gone .' " 
 — " Stolen ! by whom } " — "Why, by Indians, to be 
 sure." — "No, no," replied he, "no Indian would do 
 such a thing, and unless a white man or white people 
 should happen to come this way, I shall find all safe 
 on my return." 
 
 The Indians say, that when the white people en- 
 camp in the woods they are sure to lose something ; 
 that when they are gone, something or another is 
 always found which they have lost, such as a knife, 
 flints, bullets, and sometimes even money. They 
 also observe that the whites are not so attentive as 
 they are to choosing an open dry spot for their 
 encampment ; that they will at once set themselves 
 down in any dirty and wet place, provided they are 
 under large trees ; that they never look about to see 
 which way the wind blows, so as to be able to lay the 
 wood for their fires in such a position that the smoke 
 may not blow on them ; neither do they look up the 
 trees to see whether there are not dead limbs that may 
 fall on them while they are asleep ; that any wood will 
 do for them to lay on their fires, whether it be dry or 
 
2o6 Indians [no. 65 
 
 wet, and half rotten, so that they are involved during 
 the whole night in a cloud of smoke ; or they take 
 such wood as young green oak, walnut, cherry, chest- 
 nut, etc., which throws sparks out to a great distance, 
 so that their blankets and clothes get holes burned in 
 them, and sometimes their whole camp takes fire. 
 They also remark that the whites hang their kettles 
 and pots over a fire just kindled, and before the great 
 body of smoke has passed away. 
 
 They, however, acknowledge that the whites are 
 ingenious, that they make axes, guns, knives, hoes, 
 shovels, pots and kettles, blankets, shirts, and other 
 very convenient articles, to which they have now be- 
 come accustomed, and which they can no longer do 
 without. " Yet," say they, " our forefathers did with- 
 out all these things, and we have never heard, nor 
 has any tradition informed us that they were at a loss 
 for the want of them ; therefore we must conclude 
 that they also were ingenious ; and, indeed, we know 
 that they were ; for they made axes of stone to cut 
 with, and bows and arrows to kill the game : they 
 made knives and arrows' points with sharp flint stones 
 and bones, hoes and shovels from the shoulder blade 
 of the elk and buffaloe ; they made pots of clay, gar- 
 ments of skins, and ornaments with the feathers of 
 the turkey, goose and other birds. They were not 
 in want of anything, the game was plenty and tame, 
 the dart shot from our arrows did not frighten them 
 as the report of the gun now does ; we had therefore 
 everything that we could reasonably require ; we lived 
 happy ! " 
 
No. 65] A Chief's Precept 207 
 
 66. The Memorable Precept of 
 an Indian Chief 
 
 Bv John Trumbull (1841) 
 
 At the age of nine or ten a circumstance occurred 
 which deserves to be written on adamant. In the 
 wars of New England with the aborigines, the Mo- 
 hegan tribe of Indians early became friends of the 
 English. Their favorite ground was on the banks of 
 the river (now the Thames) between New London 
 and Norwich. A small remnant of the Mohegans 
 still exists, and they are sacredly protected in the 
 possession and enjoyment of their favorite domain on 
 the banks of the Thames. The government of this 
 tribe had become hereditary in the family of the cele- 
 brated chief Uncas. During the time of my father's 
 mercantile prosperity, he had employed several In- 
 dians of this tribe in hunting animals, whose skins 
 were valuable for their fur. 
 
 Among these hunters was one named Zachary, of 
 the royal race, an excellent hunter, but as drunken 
 and worthless an Indian as ever Uved. When he had 
 somewhat passed the age of fifty, several members of 
 the royal family who stood between Zachary and the 
 throne of his tribe died, and he found himself with 
 only one life between him and empire. In this 
 moment his better genius resumed its sway, and he 
 reflected seriously, " How can such a drunken wretch 
 as I am, aspire to be the chief of this honorable race 
 — what will my people say — and how will the shades 
 of my noble ancestors look down indignant upon such 
 a base successor ? Can /succeed to the great Uncas .-' 
 
2 o 8 Indians [no. m 
 
 I will drink no more ! " He solemnly resolved never 
 again to taste any drink but water, and he kept his 
 resolution. 
 
 I had heard this story, and did not entirely believe 
 it ; for young as I was, I already partook in the pre- 
 vailing contempt for Indians. In the beginning of 
 May, the annual election of the principal officers of 
 the then colony was held at Hartford, the capital : 
 my father attended officially, and it was customary 
 for the chief of the Mohegans also to attend. Zach- 
 ary had succeeded to the rule of his tribe. My 
 father's house was situated about midway on the road 
 between Mohegan and Hartford, and the old chief 
 was in the habit of coming a few days before the 
 election, and dining with his brother governor. 
 
 One day the mischievous thought struck me to try 
 the sincerity of the old man's temperance. The 
 family was seated at dinner, and there was excellent 
 home-brewed beer on the table. I addressed the old 
 chief — " Zachary, this beer is excellent; will you 
 taste it .''" The old man dropped his knife and fork 
 — leaned forward with a stern intensity of expression ; 
 his black eye sparkling with indignation was fixed on 
 me. " John," said he, " you do not know what you 
 are doing. You are serving the devil, boy ! Do you 
 know that I am an Indian ! I tell you that I am, and 
 that if I should taste your beer, I could never stop 
 until I got to rum, and become again the drunken, 
 contemptible wretch your father remembers me to 
 have been. John, while you live, never again tempt 
 any man to break a good resolution." 
 
 Socrates never uttered a more valuable precept — 
 Demosthenes could not have given it in more solemn 
 tones of eloquence. I was thunder-struck. My 
 
No. 67] A Ball Game 209 
 
 parents were deeply affected ; they looked at each 
 other, at me, and at the venerable old Indian, with 
 deep feelings of awe and respect. They afterwards 
 frequently reminded me of the scene, and charged me 
 never to forget it. Zachary lived to pass the age of 
 eighty, and sacredly kept his resolution. He lies 
 buried in the royal burial-place of his tribe, near the 
 beautiful falls of the Yantic, the western branch of 
 the Thames, in Norwich, on land now owned by my 
 friend, Calvin Goddard, Esq. I visited the grave of 
 the old chief lately, and there repeated to myself his 
 inestimable lesson. 
 
 67. An Indian Ball Game 
 
 By W. B. Parker (1845) 
 
 Upon entering upon the prairie, we observed in the 
 distance a crowd of natives in gay clothing, the brill- 
 iant colours blend- 
 ing with the ver- 
 dure, and making 
 at sunset a truly 
 picturesque scene. 
 Riding up, we wit- 
 nessed a scene 
 never to be for- 
 gotten. It was 
 a ball-play. De- 
 scribed, as this 
 
 ' AN INDIAN GAME. 
 
 sport has been, by 
 
 the able pencil of Catlin, description falls far short of 
 reahty. About six hundred men, women and children, 
 were assembled, all dressed in holiday costume, and 
 
2 I o Indians [no. 67 
 
 all as intent upon the game as it is possible to be 
 where both pleasure and interest combine. The in- 
 terest is one tribe against another, or one county of 
 the same tribe, against a neighboring county ; the 
 pleasure, that which savages always take in every 
 manly and athletic sport. 
 
 In this instance the contestants were all Choctaws, 
 practising for their annual game with the Creeks, and 
 I was struck with the interest taken by all the lookers 
 on, in the proficiency of each of the players. About 
 sixty on each side were engaged in this exciting play, 
 than which no exercise can be more violent nor 
 better calculated to develop muscle and harden the 
 frame. Each player provides himself with what are 
 called ball-sticks. They are in shape like a large 
 spoon, made of a piece of hickory about three feet 
 long, shaved thin for about nine inches at the end 
 forming the spoon, then bent round until brought into 
 shape, the end securely fastened to the handle by 
 buckskin thongs, the under side or bottom of the 
 spoon covered with a coarse net work of the same 
 material. He has one in each hand, and the ball, 
 about the size of a large marble, is held between the 
 spoons and thrown with an overhand rotary motion, 
 separating the spoons, \vhen the top of the circle is 
 reached. 
 
 The game is this : two poles are set up, each 
 about seventeen feet high and a foot apart at the 
 bottom, widening to three feet at top. At the dis- 
 tance of two hundred yards, two similar poles are 
 set up facing these. To strike the poles, or throw 
 the ball between them counts one, and twelve is 
 game. An umpire and starter takes the ball, advances 
 to a mark equi-distant from each end of the course. 
 
No. 67] A Ball Game 211 
 
 and throws it vertically into the air ; it is caught, or 
 falling upon the ground is eagerly struggled for and 
 thrown toward the desired point. We saw some 
 throw the ball the whole distance. 
 
 At each brace of poles, judges are stationed, who, 
 armed with pistols, keep close watch, and whenever 
 a count is made fire their pistols. The ball is then 
 taken and started anew. 
 
 Among the players, are the runners, the throwers, 
 and those who throw themselves in the way and 
 baffle the player who succeeds in getting the ball. 
 
 The runners are the light active men, the throwers 
 heavier, and then the fat men, who can neither throw 
 nor run, stand ready to seize a thrower or upset a 
 runner. 
 
 When a runner gets the ball, he starts at full speed 
 towards the poles ; if intercepted, he throws the ball 
 to a friend, a thrower, perhaps, he is knocked down, 
 then begins the struggle for the ball; a scene of push- 
 ing, jostling, and striking with the ball sticks, or per- 
 haps a wrestle or two, all attended with hard knocks 
 and harder falls. Whilst looking on, one man was 
 pitched upon his head and had his collar bone broken ; 
 another had part of his scalp knocked off, but it was 
 all taken in good humour, and what, among white 
 men, would inevitably lead to black eyes and bloody 
 noses, here ended with the passage or possession of 
 the ball, a good lesson in forbearance and amiability, 
 worthy of imitation. 
 
 The combatants are stripped entirely naked except 
 a breech cloth and moccasins, and gaudily painted ; 
 they fasten at the centre and small of the back, a 
 horse's tail, gaily painted and arrayed like a tail that 
 has been nicked by a jockey; some wore bouquets of 
 
2 12 Indians [no. es 
 
 flowers instead of the tail, but these were evidently 
 the exquisites of the party, which the rings worn in 
 the ears, nose and under lips, and manner of arrang- 
 ing the hair — one having it cut to a point and drawn 
 down over his right eye, whilst his left eye was painted 
 green — clearly proved. The grotesque appearance 
 of the players, the excitement, yells and shouts of the 
 crowd, old and young, and the gaudy finery displayed, 
 all combined to make an indelible impression upon 
 our memories. The aged men of the tribe were the 
 most noisy and excited. One old fellow, blind of an 
 eye and seventy years old, was quite wild with ex- 
 citement; shaking his red handkerchief, he continued 
 to shout, hoo, ka, li — hoo, ka, h — catch, catch, 
 when the ball was thrown, and chi, ca, ma, — good, 
 when a count was made, until quite hoarse. Doubt- 
 less, like the old war horse at the sound of the bugle, 
 he felt all the fire of his youth, as he entered into the 
 full spirit of this truly and only Indian sport. 
 
 68. An Indian Fable 
 
 One pleasant evening, as Nan-nee-bo-zho walked 
 along the banks of a lake, he saw a flock of ducks, 
 saihng and enjoying themselves on the blue waters. 
 He called to them : 
 
 " Ho! come with me into my lodge, and I will teach 
 you to dance ! " Some of the ducks said among them- 
 selves, " It is Nan-nee-bo-zho, let us not go." Others 
 were of a contrary opinion, and his words being fair, 
 and his voice insinuating, a few turned their faces 
 towards the land. All the rest soon followed, and 
 
No. 68] A Fable 
 
 13 
 
 with many pleasant quackings, trooped after him, and 
 entered his lodge. 
 
 When there, he first took an Indian sack, with a 
 wide mouth, which he tied by the strings around his 
 neck, so that it would hang over his shoulders, having 
 the mouth unclosed. Then placing himself in the 
 centre of the lodge, he ranged the ducks in a circle 
 around him. 
 
 " Now," said he, " you must all shut your eyes tight, 
 whoever opens his eyes at all, something dreadful will 
 happen to him. I will take my Indian flute and play 
 upon it, and you will, at the word I shall give, open 
 your eyes, and commence dancing, as you see me do." 
 
 The ducks obeyed, shutting their eyes tight, and 
 keeping time to the music by stepping from one foot 
 to the other, all impatient for the dancing to begin. 
 
 Presently a sound was heard like a smothered 
 " quack," but the ducks did not dare to open their 
 eyes. 
 
 Again, and again, the sound of the flute would be 
 interrupted, and a gurgling cry of " qu-a-a-ck " be 
 heard. There was one little duck, much smaller than 
 the rest, who at this juncture, could not resist the 
 temptation to open one eye, cautiously. She saw 
 Nan-nee-bo-zho, as he played his flute, holding it with 
 one hand, stoop a little at intervals and seize the duck 
 nearest him, which he throttled and stuffed into the 
 bag on his shoulders. So, edging a little out of the 
 circle, and getting nearer the door which had been 
 left partly open to admit the light, she cried out : 
 
 "Open your eyes — Nan-nee-bo-zho is choking you 
 all and putting you into his bag! " 
 
 With that she flew, but the Nan-nee-bo-zho pounced 
 upon her. His hand grasped her back, yet, with des- 
 
2 14 Indians [no. 69 
 
 perate force, she released herself and gained the open 
 air. Her companions flew, quacking and screaming 
 after her. Some escaped, and some fell victims to 
 the sprite. 
 
 The little duck had saved her Hfe, but she had lost 
 her beauty. She ever after retained the attitude she 
 had been forced into, in her moment of danger — her 
 back pressed down in the centre, and her head and 
 neck unnaturally stretched forward into the air. 
 
 69. A Great Many Crullers 
 needed 
 
 By Mrs. Juliette A. Kinzie (1830) 
 
 At an early hour the next morning I had quite a 
 levee of the Ho-tshung-rah matrons. They seated 
 themselves in a circle on the floor, and I was sorry to 
 observe that the appHcation of a little soap and water 
 to their blankets had formed no part of their holiday 
 preparations. There being no one to interpret, I 
 thought I would begin the conversation in a way in- 
 telHgible to themselves, so I brought out of the side- 
 board a china dish, filled with the nice brown crullers, 
 over which I had grated, according to custom, a goodly 
 quantity of white sugar. I handed it to the first of 
 the circle. She took the dish from my hand, and de- 
 liberately pouring all the cakes into the corner of her 
 blanket, returned it to me empty. " She must be a 
 most voracious person," thought I, "but I will manage 
 better the next time." I refilled the dish, and ap- 
 proached the next one, taking care to keep a fast hold 
 
No. 69] Plenty of Crullers 215 
 
 of it as I offered the contents, of which I supposed 
 she would modestly take one. Not so, however. 
 She scooped out the whole with her two hands, and, 
 like the former, bestowed them in her blanket. My 
 sense of politeness revolted at handing them out one 
 by one, as we do to children, so I sat down to delib- 
 erate what was to be done, for evidently the supply 
 would not long answer such an ample demand, and 
 there would be more visitors anon. 
 
 While I was thus perplexed those who had received 
 the cakes commenced a distribution, and the whole 
 number was equitably divided among the company. 
 But I observed they did not eat them. They passed 
 their fingers over the grated sugar, looked in each 
 other's faces, and muttered in low tones — there was 
 evidently something they did not understand. Pres- 
 ently one more adventurous than the rest wet her 
 fingers, and taking up a few grains of the sugar put 
 it cautiously to her mouth. 
 
 " Tah-nee-zhoo-rah ! (Sugar!) was her delighted 
 exclamation, and they all broke out into a hearty 
 laugh ; it is needless to say that the cakes disappeared 
 with all the celerity they deemed compatible with 
 good-breeding. Never having seen any sugar but the 
 brown or yellow maple, they had supposed the white 
 substance to be salt, and for that reason had hesitated 
 to taste it. 
 
 Their visit was prolonged until Shaw-nee-aw-kee 
 made his appearance, and then, having been made 
 happy by their various gifts, they all took their de- 
 parture. 
 
PART VI 
 
 AT SEA 
 
 70. " A Gallant Ship that flew 
 the Stars and Stripes " 
 
 'Tis of a gallant Yankee ship that flew the stripes and This old 
 
 ' describes the 
 
 And the whistling wind from the west-nor'-west blew course of the 
 
 through the pitch-pine spars, ^'"p ^''"'.f"^^. 
 
 With her starboard tacks aboard, my boys, she hung johnVaui 
 
 upon the gale ; . Jones, m 
 
 an autumn night 
 Head of Kinsale. 
 
 On an autumn night we raised the light on the old 
 
 It was a clear and cloudless night, and the wind blew 
 
 steady and strong, 
 As gayly over the sparkling deep our good ship 
 
 bowled along; 
 With the foaming seas beneath her bow the fiery 
 
 waves she spread. 
 And bending low her bosom of snow, she buried her 
 
 lee cat-head. 
 
 There was no talk of short'ning sail by him who 
 
 walked the poop. 
 And under the press of her pond'ring jib, the boom 
 
 bent like a hoop ! 
 
 217 
 
2l8 
 
 At Sea 
 
 [No. 70 
 
 And the groaning water-ways told the strain that 
 
 held her stout main-tack, 
 But he only laughed as he glanced aloft at a white 
 
 and silvery track. 
 
 JOHN PAUL JONES. 
 
 The mid-tide meets in the channel waves that flow 
 
 from shore to shore, 
 And the mist hung heavy upon the land from 
 
 Featherstone to Dunmore 
 And that sterling light in Tusker Rock where the 
 
 old bell tolls each hour. 
 And the beacon light that shone so bright was 
 
 quench'd on Waterford Tower. 
 
N0.70] ^^A Galla?it Ship'' 219 
 
 The nightly robes our good ship wore were her three 
 
 topsails set 
 Her spanker and her standing jib — the courses being 
 
 fast ; 
 " Now, lay aloft ! my heroes bold, lose not a moment 
 
 yet ! " 
 And royals and top-gallant sails were quickly on each 
 
 mast. 
 
 What looms upon our starboard bow ? What hangs 
 upon the breeze ? 
 
 'Tis time our good ship hauled her wind abreast the 
 old Saltee's, 
 
 For by her ponderous press of sail and by her con- 
 sorts four 
 
 We saw our morning visitor was a British man-of-war. 
 
 Up spake our noble Captain then, as a shot ahead of 
 
 us past — 
 " Haul snug your flowing courses ! lay your topsail 
 
 to the mast ! " 
 Those Englishmen gave three loud hurrahs from the 
 
 deck of their covered ark, 
 And we answered back by a solid broadside from the 
 
 decks of our patriot bark. 
 
 "Out booms! out booms!" our skipper cried, "out 
 
 booms and give her sheet," 
 And the swiftest keel that was ever launched shot 
 
 ahead of the British fleet, 
 And amidst a thundering shower of shot, with stun'- 
 
 sails hoisting away, 
 Down the North Channel Paul Jones did steer just 
 
 at the break of day. 
 
220 
 
 At Sea [No. 71 
 
 71. How to Catch Whales 
 
 By Hector St. John Ckeveccelir (1752) 
 
 The vessels most proper for whale fishing, are brigs 
 of about one hundred and fifty tons burden ; they al- 
 ways man them with thirteen hands, in order that they 
 may row two whale boats ; the crews of which must 
 necessarily consist of six, four at the oars, one stand- 
 ing on the bows with the harpoon, and the other at 
 the helm. It is also necessary that there should be 
 two of these boats, that if one should be destroyed in 
 attacking the whale, the other, which is never engaged 
 at the same time, may be ready to save the hands. 
 Five of the thirteen are always Indians ; the last of 
 the complement remains on board to steer the vessel 
 during the action. They have no wages ; each draws 
 a certain established share in partnership with the 
 proprietor of the vessel ; by which economy they are 
 all proportionably concerned in the success of the 
 enterprise, and all equally alert and vigilant. None 
 of these whale-men ever exceed the age of forty : 
 they look on those who are passed that period not to 
 be possessed of all that vigour and agility which so 
 adventurous a business requires. Indeed if you at- 
 tentively consider the immense disproportion between 
 the object assailed and the assailants ; if you think 
 on the diminutive size, and weakness of their frail 
 vehicle ; if you recollect the treachery of the element 
 on which this scene is transacted ; the sudden and 
 unforeseen accidents of winds, you will readily ac- 
 knowledge, that it must require the most consummate 
 exertion of all the strength, agility, and judgment. 
 
No. 71] Whaling 2 2 j 
 
 of which the bodies and the minds of men are capa- 
 ble, to undertake these adventurous encounters. 
 
 As soon as they arrive in those latitudes where 
 they expect to meet with whales, a man is sent up 
 to the mast head; if he sees one, he immediately 
 cries out awaite patvana, here is a whale ; they all 
 remain still and silent until he repeats paivaiia, a 
 whale, when in less than six minutes the two boats 
 are launched, filled with every implement necessary 
 for the attack. They row toward the whale with 
 astonishing velocity ; and as the Indians early became 
 their fellow labourers in this new warfare, you can 
 easily conceive, how their expressions became familiar 
 on board the whale-boats. Formerly it often hap- 
 pened that whale vessels were manned with none but 
 Indians and the master. 
 
 There are various ways of approaching the whale, 
 according to their pecuUar species ; and this previous 
 knowledge is of the utmost consequence. When 
 these boats are arrived at a reasonable distance, one 
 of them rests on its oars and stands off, as a witness 
 of the approaching engagement ; near the bows of 
 the other the harpooner stands up, and on him princi- 
 pally depends the success of the enterprise. He 
 wears a jacket closely buttoned, and round his head 
 a handkerchief tightly bound : in his hands he holds 
 the dreadful weapon, made of the best steel, marked 
 sometimes with the name of their town, and some- 
 times with that of their vessel. To the shaft of this 
 the end of a cord of due strength, coiled up with the 
 utmost care in the middle of the boat, is firmly tied ; 
 the other end is fastened to the bottom of the boat. 
 Thus prepared they row in profound silence, leaving 
 the whole conduct of the enterprise to the harpooner 
 
222 
 
 At Sea [No. 71 
 
 and to the steersman, attentively following their direc- 
 tions. When the former judges himself to be near 
 enough to the whale, that is, at the distance of about 
 fifteen feet, he bids them stop ; launches it forth — ■ 
 she is struck: from her first movement they judge of 
 her temper, as well as of their future success. 
 
 Sometimes in the immediate impulse of rage, she 
 will attack the boat and demolish it with one stroke 
 of her tail ; in an instant the frail vehicle disappears 
 and the assailants are immersed in the dreadful ele- 
 ment. At other times she will dive and disappear 
 from human sight ; and every thing must then give 
 way to her velocity ; or else all is lost. Sometimes 
 she will swim away as if untouched, and draw the 
 cord with such swiftness that it will set the edge of 
 the boat on fire by the friction. If she rises before 
 she has run out the whole length, she is looked upon 
 as a sure prey. The blood she has lost in her flight, 
 weakens her so much, that if she sinks again, it is 
 but for a short time ; the boat follows her course 
 with an almost equal speed. She soon re-appears ; 
 tired out at last she dies, and floats on the surface. 
 
 At other times it may happen, that she is not danger- 
 ously wounded, though she carries the harpoon fast 
 in her body ; when she will alternately dive and rise, 
 and swim on with unabated vigour. She then soon 
 reaches beyond the length of the cord, and carries 
 the boat along with amazing velocity : this sudden 
 impediment sometimes will retard her speed, at other 
 times it only serves to rouse her anger, and to accel- 
 erate her progress. The harpooner, with the axe in 
 his hands, stands ready. When he observes that the 
 bows of the boat are greatly pulled down by the 
 diving whale, and that it begins to sink deep and to 
 
No. 71] 
 
 Whaling 
 
 223 
 
 take much water, he brings the axe ahnost in contact 
 with the cord ; he pauses, still flattering himself that 
 she will relax ; but the moment grows critical, una- 
 voidable danger approaches : sometimes men more 
 intent on gain, than on the preservation of their lives, 
 will run great risks ; and it is wonderful how far these 
 people have carried their daring courage at this awful 
 moment ! But it is vain to hope, their lives must be 
 saved, the cord is cut, the boat rises again. If after 
 thus getting loose, she re-appears, they will attack 
 and wound her a second time. She soon dies, and 
 when dead she is towed alongside of their vessel, 
 where she is fastened. 
 
 A whaler's outfit. 
 
2 24 ^i Sea [no. 72 
 
 72. A Sea Voyage 
 
 By Abigail Adams (1784) 
 
 On board ship Active, Latitude 44, Longitude 34. 
 Tuesday, 6 July, 1784. From the Ocean. 
 
 MY DEAR SISTER, 
 
 I HAVE been sixteen days at sea, and have not at- 
 tempted to write a single letter. 'Tis true, I have 
 kept a journal whenever I was able ; but that must 
 be close locked up, unless I was sure to hand it you 
 with safety. 
 
 'Tis said of Cato, the Roman Censor, that one of 
 the three things, which he regretted during his life, 
 was going once by sea when he might have made 
 his journey by land. I fancy the philosopher was 
 not proof against that most disheartening, dispiriting 
 malady, sea-sickness. Of this I am very sure, that 
 no lady would ever wish a second time to try the sea, 
 were the objects of her pursuit within the reach of a 
 land journey. 
 
 The vessel is very deep loaded with oil and potash. 
 The oil leaks, the potash smokes and ferments. All 
 adds to the flavor. When you add to all this the 
 horrid dirtiness of the ship, the slovenhness of the 
 steward, and the unavoidable slopping and spiUing 
 occasioned by the tossing of the ship, I am sure you 
 will be thankful that the pen is not in the hand of 
 Swift or Smollet, and still more so that you are far 
 removed from the scene. No sooner was I able to 
 move, than I found it necessary to make a bustle 
 amongst the waiters, and demand a cleaner abode. 
 By this time, Briesler was upon his feet, and, as I 
 found I might reign mistress on board without any 
 
No. 72] A Sea Voyage 225 
 
 offence, I soon exerted my authority with scrapers, 
 mops, brushes, infusions of vinegar, &c., and in a few 
 hours you would have thought yourself in a different 
 ship. Since which, our abode is much more tolerable, 
 and the gentlemen all thank me for my care. Our 
 captain is an admirable seaman, always attentive to 
 his sails and his rigging ; keeps the deck all night ; 
 careful of everybody on board ; watchful that they 
 run no risk ; kind and humane to his men, who are all 
 as still and quiet as any private family ; nothing cross 
 or dictatorial in his manners ; a much more agreeable 
 man than I expected to find him. He cannot be 
 called a polished gentleman ; but he is, so far as I 
 have seen, a very clever man. 
 
 I have accustomed myself to writing a little every 
 day, when I was able, so that a small motion of the 
 ship does not render it more unintelligible than usual ; 
 but there is no time, since I have been at sea, when 
 the ship is what we call still, that its motion is not 
 equal to the moderate rocking of a cradle. As to 
 wind and weather, since we came out, they have been 
 very fortunate for us in general. We have had three 
 calm days, and two days contrary wind, with a storm, 
 I called it ; but the sailors say it was only a breeze. 
 This was upon the Banks of Newfoundland, the 
 wind at east ; through the day we could not sit in 
 our chairs, only as some gentleman sat by us with 
 his arm fastened into ours, and his feet braced against 
 a table or chair, that was lashed down with ropes ; 
 bottle, mugs, plates, crashing to pieces, first on one 
 side and then on the other ; the sea running moun- 
 tain-high, and knocking against the sides of the ves- 
 sel as though it would burst them. When I became 
 so fatiofued with the incessant motion as not. to be 
 
2 2 6 At Sea [No. 72 
 
 able to sit any longer, I was assisted into my cabin, 
 where I was obliged to hold myself in with all my 
 might the remainder of the night. 
 
 Our accommodations on board are not what I could 
 wish, or hoped for. Our state-rooms are about half 
 as large as cousin Betsey's little chamber, with two 
 cabins in each. This place has a small grated win- 
 dow, which opens into the companion-way, and by 
 this is the only air admitted. 
 
 If the wind and weather continue as favorable as 
 they have hitherto been, we expect to make our pas- 
 sage in thirty days, which is going a hundred miles a 
 
 day, 
 
 8 July. 
 
 A wet, drizzly day, but we must not complain, for 
 we have a fair wind, our sails all square, and go at 
 seven knots an hour. I have made a great acquisi- 
 tion. I have learnt the names and places of all the 
 masts and sails ; and the Captain compliments me by 
 telling me that he is sure I know well enough how to 
 steer, to take a turn at the helm. I may do pretty 
 well in fair weather, but 'tis your masculine spirits 
 that are made for storms. I love the tranquil scenes 
 of life. 
 
 I went last evening upon deck, at the invitation of 
 Mr. Foster, to view that phenomenon of Nature, a 
 blazing ocean. A light flame spreads over the ocean, 
 in appearance, with thousands of thousands of spar- 
 kling gems, resembling our fire-flies in a dark night. 
 It has a most beautiful appearance. 
 
 10 July. 
 
 Yesterday was a very pleasant day. Very little 
 wind, but a fine sun and a smooth sea. I spent most 
 of the day upon deck, reading ; it was not, however. 
 
No. 72] A Sea Voyage 227 
 
 so warm but a baize gown was very comfortable. 
 The ship has gradually become less irksome to me. 
 If our cook was but tolerably clean, I could relish 
 my food. But he is a great, dirty, lazy negro, with 
 no more knowledge of cookery than a savage, nor 
 any kind of order in the distribution of his dishes ; 
 but on they come, higgledy-piggledy, with a leg of 
 pork all bristly ; a quarter of an hour after, a pud- 
 ding ; or, perhaps, a pair of roast fowls, first of all, 
 and then will follow one by one a piece of beef, and, 
 when dinner is nearly completed, a plate of potatoes. 
 Such a fellow is a real imposition upon the passen- 
 gers. But gentlemen know but little about the mat- 
 ter, and, if they can get enough to eat five times a 
 day, all goes well. We ladies have not eaten, upon 
 our whole passage, more than just enough to satisfy 
 nature, or to keep body and soul together. 
 
 17 July, 
 
 Give me joy, my dear sister; we have sounded 
 to-day and found bottom, fifty-five fathom. We have 
 seen, through the course of the day, twenty different 
 sail, and spoke with a small boat upon a smuggUng 
 expedition, which assured us we were within the 
 
 Channel. 
 
 18 July. 
 
 This day four weeks we came on board. Are you 
 not all calculating to-day that we are near the land .■" 
 Happily, you are not wrong in your conjectures. I 
 do not despair of seeing it yet before night, though 
 our wind is very small and light. The captain has 
 just been down to advise us, as the vessel is so quiet, 
 to get what things we wish to carry on shore into 
 our small trunks. He hopes to land us at Ports- 
 mouth, seventy miles distant from London, to-mor- 
 
2 2 8 At Sea [No. 73 
 
 row or next day ; from thence we are to proceed, in 
 post-chaises, to London. The ship may be a week 
 in the channel before she will be able to get up. 
 
 73. The Pleasures of Impressment 
 
 By Ebenezer Smith Thomas (1800) 
 
 I SAILED from Charleston, (bound to Liverpool, in 
 the month of June,) in an old worn out ship, called 
 the Mercury, Captain Waldron. We soon discovered 
 that our ship leaked very badly ; so much so, that it 
 took fifteen minutes in every hour to keep her free. 
 This made very hard duty for the crew, which- was 
 not a very strong one ; for seamen were as scarce as 
 ships. Fortunately the winds were light and fair — 
 nothing remarkable occurred until we arrived on the 
 Banks of Newfoundland, when, on the fourth of July, 
 the weather was so cold that the only way we could 
 make ourselves comfortable was by lying in bed. As 
 is not unusual on the banks, the weather was very 
 thick — we could not see an hundred yards ahead. 
 
 The next morning, just at dayhght, the mate, 
 whose watch it was, rushed into the cabin, exclaim- 
 ing, at the top of his voice, "Captain Waldron, there 
 is land close on board ! " The Captain was on deck 
 in a moment, and I, who was the only passenger, 
 was not long after him. To be close on shore, when 
 by our reckoning we should be near the middle of the 
 Atlantic, was enough to alarm the stoutest heart, and 
 every soul appeared on deck in a minute. It was now 
 the twilight of dawn, and the only object at all visible, 
 was a mountain hanging apparently over us — not of 
 
No. 73] Impressment 229 
 
 earth, or of rocks, but very much resembling the latter 
 — a mountain of ice ; besides which, as the fog cleared 
 away, we found ourselves surrounded by floating 
 islands of the same material ; so that it was luff, or 
 bear away, all day, to keep from running foul of them. 
 Fortunately for us, before sunset we had them all 
 astern, with a clear course and fair breeze. Had day- 
 light been one hour later, we should all inevitably 
 have perished, as the immense mass was directly in 
 our course, and would have been felt as soon as seen 
 in the darkness of the night. Its altitude was up- 
 wards of two hundred feet. 
 
 With our regular " pump music" one-fourth of the 
 time, night and day, we at length made Cape Clear 
 in Ireland ; it was in the afternoon, in the latter part 
 of July. About thirty whales passed us within less 
 than one hundred feet of our stern. Fifteen or 
 twenty minutes later, from the situation they were in, 
 they might have done us much mischief. We entered 
 the Cape that evening. At the first go off, we lost 
 our kedge and hawser, after which we had to let go 
 the best bower, and in this way we were eight days 
 "tiding it up to Liverpool," from the Cape. On the 
 sixth day we took a pilot on board. 
 
 On the forenoon of the seventh, a ship, whose drum The British 
 we had heard for three or four nights preceding, made accustomed 
 her appearance on our weather beam, at about a mile to enlist by 
 distance, and sent her compliments to us in the shape '^'^y^^,^^^^^ 
 of an eighteen pound shot that passed through our seamen 
 main-top sail. Capt. Waldron immediately ordered ^^i^of" *^^y 
 
 Till 1 • 1 • • -i r ii found, and 
 
 It to be backed, and m that position to await further ^^^^^ ^^^-^ 
 
 intelligence from the stranger. We had not to wait American 
 
 long, for, in less than four minutes, there came another ^'^^gnce' of 
 
 shot that passed about four feet over the head of the aii right. 
 
230 
 
 At Sea 
 
 [No. 73 
 
 From 1798 
 to 1800 there 
 was a naval 
 war with 
 France. 
 
 man at the helm, and through the spanker. Our ship 
 was then hove to, and was soon boarded from our 
 new acquaintance, by a boat having two officers and 
 six men, who reported their ship " the sloop of war 
 Reynard, Captain Spicer, on the impress service." 
 Our crew consisted of the captain, two mates, eight 
 hands, a steward and cook. Two of the hands were 
 broken-down discharged English seamen, one of 
 whom had not been able to do duty for a month. 
 
 The lieutenant took command of our ship, ordered 
 the crew aft, and proceeded to overhaul them. He 
 ordered into the boat the steward and cook, both 
 slaves belonging to Charleston, a Portuguese sailor, 
 and Jonathan Williams, a native of Maine ; and as I 
 walked on one side the quarter-deck while they had 
 possession of the other, I overheard a part of a consul- 
 tation between the two officers, the subject of which 
 was, whether they should not press me with the others ; 
 and I beheve I was indebted for my escape to my un- 
 seamanlike appearance — a long coat and breeches. 
 They then left us, without hands to work our ship, 
 which the pilot immediately brought to anchor, and 
 sent his boat, then in attendance, up to Liverpool, to 
 procure hands for that purpose. This was a busy 
 day with the Rcyjiard. Head winds having prevailed 
 for a fortnight, a large outward bound fleet had col- 
 lected, consisting of upwards of one hundred and fifty 
 sail, more than one hundred of which were Ameri- 
 cans, and all armed, this being just at the close of 
 "John Adams' hot water war with France." 
 
 Reynard was too cunning to meddle with these 
 Yankees, who had all arranged themselves under the 
 command of Ca]:)tain King, of the ship Kingston, of 
 Philadelphia, whom they had appointed Commodore. 
 
No. 74] Loyal Even to Death 231 
 
 They would have been ugly customers for a dozen 
 sloops of war. The Kingston had two and twenty 
 guns, and the others from six to sixteen each. The 
 next morning a boat belonging to the Reynard, that 
 has lost sight of her in the night, came along side of 
 us, with a midshipman and four hands, and requested 
 to be taken to Liverpool. This was agreed to, provided 
 they, all hands, went to work and got our ship under 
 way. No sooner said than done. The poor fellows 
 were glad of the chance, as they had been rowing all 
 night to overtake their ship, which had sent them to 
 board some " North Countrymen," and left them to 
 get on board again as they could. In the afternoon 
 we got up to town, and went into Queen's dock, which, 
 notwithstanding the fleet that had so recently left, 
 was still crowded with American shipping, two hun- 
 dred and fifty-six sail of which hoisted the stars and 
 stripes on our nation's birth-day, about three weeks 
 before. 
 
 74. Loyal Even to Death 
 
 By Thomas Truxtun (1800) 
 
 At half past seven a.m. the road of Basseterre, This is the 
 Guadaloupe, bearing east, five leagues distance, I saw °^^'^J,( ^^ 
 a sail in the southeast standing to the westward, an act of 
 which, from her situation, I at first took for a large gi'ff' 
 
 , , • 1 T- 1- 1 1 gallantry. 
 
 ship from Martinico, and hoisted English colors, on j^mes larv 
 gfiving chase, by way of inducement for her to come ^^^^s only 
 
 , 1 , 1-1 111 11 thirteen 
 
 down and speak me, which would have saved a long ^^^^^ q,j_ 
 chase to leeward of my intended cruising ground. 
 When she did not attempt to alter her course, I ex- 
 amined her more attentively as we approached her. 
 
232 
 
 At Sea [No. 74 
 
 and discovered her to be a heavy French frigate, 
 mounting at least fifty-four guns. I immediately 
 gave orders for the ship to be cleared, ready for 
 action, and hauled down the Enghsh colors. At 
 noon the wind became light, and I observed the 
 chase, that we had before been gaining fast on, held 
 way with us, but I was determined to continue the 
 pursuit, though the running to leeward, I was con- 
 vinced, would be attended with many serious disad- 
 vantages, especially if the object of my wishes was 
 not gratified. 
 
 At one o'clock, p.m., on the next day, the wind 
 was somewhat fresher than the noon preceding, and 
 appeared likely to continue ; our prospect of bringing 
 the enemy to action began to brighten, as I perceived 
 we were coming up with the chase fast, and every 
 inch of canvas was set that could be of service, ex- 
 cept the bag reefs, which I kept in the top-sails, in 
 case of the enemy, finding an escape from our thun- 
 der impracticable, should haul on a wind, and give 
 us fair battle ; but this did not prove to be her com- 
 mander's intention ; I, however, got within hail of 
 him at eight p.m. ; hoisted our ensign, and had the 
 candles in the bottle lanterns all lighted, and was in 
 the lee gangway, ready to speak him, and to demand 
 a surrender of his ship to the United States of 
 America, when, at that instant, he commenced a fire 
 from his stern and quarter guns, directed at our rig- 
 ging and spars. No parley being then necessary, 
 I sent my principal aid-de-camp, Mr. Vandyke, to the 
 different officers commanding divisions on the main 
 battery, to repeat strictly my orders before given, not 
 to throw away a single charge of powder and shot, 
 but to take good aim, and to fire directly into the 
 
No. 74] Loyal Even to Death 233 
 
 hull of the enemy, and load principally with two 
 round shot, and, now and then, with a round shot 
 and a stand of grape ; to encourage the men at their 
 quarters, and to cause or suffer no noise or confusion 
 whatever, but to load and fire as fast as possible, 
 when it could be done with certain effect. 
 
 These orders were given, and in a few moments 
 I gained a position on his weather quarter, that en- 
 abled us to return, effectually, his salute. Thus as 
 close, and as sharp an action as ever was fought 
 between two frigates, commenced, and continued 
 until within a few minutes of one, a.m., when the 
 enemy's fire was completely silenced, and he was 
 again sheering off. It was at this moment that I 
 considered him as my prize, and was trimming, in the 
 best manner I could, my much shattered sails, when 
 I found the mainmast was totally unsupported with 
 rigging, every shroud was shot away, and some of 
 them, in many places, so as to render stoppers use- 
 less, which in fact could not be applied with effect. 
 I then gave orders for all the men to be sent up from 
 the gun deck, to endeavor to secure the mast, in 
 order that we might get alongside of the enemy again 
 as soon as possible ; but every effort was in vain, for 
 it went over the side in a few minutes after, and car- 
 ried with it the topmen, among whom was an amiable 
 young gentleman, who commanded the main top, 
 Mr. James Jarvis, son of James Jarvis, Esq. of New 
 York. This young gentleman, it seems, was apprised 
 of his danger by an old seaman, but he had already 
 so much the principle of an officer engrafted on his 
 mind, not to leave his quarters, that he replied, if the 
 mast went, they must go with it ; which was the case, 
 and only one of them was saved. I regret much his 
 
2 34 ^^ ^^^ ^^°- 75 
 
 loss, as a promising young officer and amiable young 
 man, as well as on account of a long intimacy that 
 has subsisted between his father and myself, but have 
 great satisfaction in finding that I have lost no other 
 men, and only two or three were slightly wounded ; 
 out of thirty-nine of the crew killed and wounded, 
 fourteen were killed, and twenty-five were wounded. 
 As soon as the mainmast went, every effort was 
 made to clear the wreck from the ship as soon as 
 possible, which was effected in about an hour ; and, 
 as her security was then the great object, since it 
 was impossible to pursue the enemy, I immediately 
 bore away for Jamaica, for repairs. 
 
 I should be wanting in common justice were I to 
 omit here to journalize the steady attention to order, 
 and the great exertion and bravery shown by all my 
 officers, seamen, and marines, in this action, many of 
 whom I had sufficiently tried before on a similar 
 occasion (the capture of the Insurgent), and all their 
 names are recorded in the muster-roll I sent to the 
 Secretary of the Navy, dated the 19th of December 
 last, signed by myself. 
 
 Thomas Truxtun. 
 
 75. Letters from a Boy at Sea 
 
 By Basil Hall (1802) 
 
 DEAR FATHER, 
 
 After you left us, I went down into the mess- 
 room ; it is a place about twenty feet long, with a 
 table in the middle of it, and wooden seats upon 
 which we sit. When I came down, there were a 
 
No. 75] A Boy s l^etters 235 
 
 great many cups and saucers upon the table. A man 
 came in, and poured hot water into the tea-pot. 
 There are about fourteen of us mess at the same time. 
 We were very merry in this dark hole, where we had 
 only two candles. 
 
 We come down here, and sit when we like ; and 
 at other times go upon deck. At about ten o'clock 
 we had supper upon bread and cheese, and a kind of 
 pudding which we liked very much. Some time 
 after this I went to a hammock, which was not my 
 own, as mine was not ready, there not being enough 
 of clues at it, but I will have it to-night. I got in at 
 last. It was very queer to find myself swinging 
 about in this uncouth manner, for there was only about 
 a foot of space between my face and the roof ; so, of 
 course, I broke my head a great many times on the 
 different posts in the cock-pit, where all the midship- 
 men sleep. After having got in, you may be sure I 
 did not sleep very well, when all the people were 
 making such a noise going to bed in the dark,, and 
 the ship in such confusion. I fell asleep at last, but 
 was always disturbed by the quarter-master coming 
 down to awake the midshipmen who were to be on 
 guard during the night. He comes up to their bed- 
 sides and calls them ; so I, not being accustomed to 
 it, was always awaked too. I had some sleep, how- 
 ever, but, early in the morning, was again roused up 
 by the men beginning to work. 
 
 There is a large hole which comes down from 
 the decks, all the way through to the hold, where 
 they let down the casks. The foot of the ham- 
 mock that I slept in was just at the hole, so I saw 
 the casks all coming down close by me. I got up 
 at half-past seven, and went into the berth (our mess- 
 
236 
 
 At Sea [No. 75 
 
 room), and we were all waiting for breakfast till 
 eight, when the man who serves and brings in the 
 dishes for the mess came down in a terrible passion, 
 saying, that as he was boiling the kettle at the stove, 
 the master-at-arms had thrown water upon the fire 
 and put it out. All this was because the powder 
 was coming on board. So we had to want our break- 
 fast for once. But we had a piece of bread and 
 butter ; and as we were eating it, the master-at-arms 
 came down, and said that our candles were to be 
 taken away : so we had to eat our dry meal in the 
 dark. 
 
 I am much better pleased with my situation than 
 I suspected I would at my first coming on board. 
 We have in our mess four Scotchmen, six English- 
 men, and two Irish, so that we make a very pleasant 
 company down in the cock-pit. We dine at twelve, 
 and breakfast at eight in the morning. At breakfast 
 we get tea and sea cake : at dinner we have either 
 beef, pork, or pudding. But when we come into 
 a harbour or near one, there are always numbers of 
 boats come out with all sorts of vegetables and fresh 
 meat, which are not left long in the boat, for the 
 people all run, and buy up the soft bread and fresh 
 provisions. 
 
 We midshipmen are upon watch every night for 
 four hours together; we do nothing but walk the 
 quarter-deck, if the ship is not sailing. There is 
 always half the crew upon deck when the ship is 
 sailing, and we and the lieutenants order them to do 
 so and so about the ropes and sails. All the men's 
 hammocks are brought upon deck, and laid in places 
 at the side for the purpose, both to give room for the 
 men to work under the decks, and to give them air. 
 
No. 75] Jl Boy^s Letters 237 
 
 All the decks are washed and well scrubbed every 
 morning, which is right, as they are often dirtied. 
 
 We were very near all being destroyed, and 
 blown up last night, by an alarming fire on board. 
 As I was standing making my hammock, about ten 
 o'clock, near two others making theirs, we were 
 alarmed by seeing a large burst of sparks come from 
 one corner of the cock-pit. Without going to see 
 what was the matter, I ran into our berth, or place 
 where we mess, and got hold of all the pots of beer 
 which the midshipmen were going to drink. I re- 
 turned with these, and threw them on the fire, while 
 others ran for water. 
 
 When I came back, I saw the purser's steward 
 covered with fire, and rubbing it off him as fast as 
 he could, with a pile of burning sheets and blankets 
 lying at his feet. One of us ran up to the quarter- 
 deck, and seizing the fire-buckets that were nearest, 
 filled them, and brought them down. We also got 
 some of the men out of their hammocks, but took 
 good care not to awaken any of the rest, for fear of 
 bustle and confusion. 
 
 The sentry, as soon as he discovered the smell, 
 went down to the captain and lieutenants, who im- 
 mediately came to the cock-pit, and whispered out 
 " Silence ! " They then got more buckets of water, 
 and quenched the flames, which, as they thought, 
 were only in the purser's steward's cabin. But one 
 of the men opened the door of the steward's store- 
 room, and saw a great deal of fire lying on the floor. 
 Water, of course, was applied, and it also was 
 quenched ; the store-room was then well flooded. 
 
 The captain ordered the purser's steward to be 
 put in irons directly, as well as his boy, who had 
 
238 
 
 At Sea [No. 76 
 
 stuck the light up in the cabin. The captain next 
 went with the master-at-arms into the powder maga- 
 zine, which was close to the purser's steward's cabin, 
 and found the bulkhead or partition half-burnt through 
 by the fire in the cabin ! 
 
 All this mischief was occasioned by sticking a 
 naked light upon the beam above the cabin, from 
 whence it had fallen down and set fire to the sheets. 
 The steward, in trying to smother it with more, had 
 set fire to the whole bundle, which he then flung in 
 a mass into the store-room. There was a watch kept 
 all night near the spot. Nobody has been hurt. 
 
 I am very sorry for the purser's steward, for he 
 was a very good-natured and obliging man, and much 
 liked by all of us. He gave us plums, when we 
 asked them from him. He is broke, I fear. I will 
 give you the issue in my next letter. 
 
 76. Naval Ballads 
 
 CONSTITUTION AND GUERRIERE 
 
 (August 19, 1812) 
 
 It oft times has been told, 
 
 That the British seamen bold, 
 Could flog the tars of France so neat and handy, oh ! 
 
 But they never found their match, 
 
 Till the Yankees did them catch. 
 Oh, the Yankee boys for fighting are the dandy, oh ! 
 
 The Guerriere, a frigate bold. 
 
 On the foaming ocean rolled, 
 
 Commanded by proud Dacres, the grandee, oh ! 
 
No. 76] Naval Ballads 239 
 
 With as choice a British crew, 
 As a rammer ever drew, 
 Could flog the Frenchmen two to one so handy, oh ! 
 
 When this frigate hove in view, 
 Says proud Dacres to his crew, 
 
 " Come clear ship for action and be handy, oh ! 
 To the weather gage, boys, get her," 
 And to make his men fight better. 
 
 Gave them to drink gun-powder mixed with brandy, oh ! 
 
 Then Dacres loudly cries, 
 
 " Make this Yankee ship your prize, 
 You can in thirty minutes, neat and handy, oh ! 
 
 Twenty-five's enough I'm sure, 
 
 And if you'll do it in a score, 
 I'll treat you to a double share of brandy, oh ! " 
 
 The British shot flew hot, 
 
 Which the Yankees answered not, 
 
 Till they got within the distance they called handy, oh ! 
 " Now," says Hull unto his crew, 
 " Boys, let's see what we can do. 
 
 If we take this boasting Briton we're the dandy, oh ! " 
 
 The first broadside we pour'd 
 Carried her mainmast by the board, 
 Which made this loftly frigate look abandon'd, oh ! 
 Then Dacres shook his head, 
 " And to his officers said, 
 " Lord, I didn't think those Yankees were so handy, 
 oh!" 
 
No. 76] Naval Ballads 241 
 
 Our second told so well 
 
 That their fore and mizzen fell, 
 Which dous:d the Royal ensign neat and handy, oh ! 
 
 " By George ! " says he, " we're done," 
 
 And they fired a lee gun, 
 While the Yankees struck up Yankee Doodle Dandy, 
 oh! 
 
 Then Dacres came on board. 
 
 To deliver up his sword, 
 Tho' loth was he to part with it, it was so handy, oh ! 
 
 "Oh, keep your sword," says Hull, 
 
 " For it only makes you dull, 
 Cheer up and take a little drink of brandy, oh ! " 
 
 Now, fill your glasses full. 
 
 And we'll drink to Captain Hull, 
 
 And so merrily we'll push about the brandy, oh ! 
 John Bull may toast his fill. 
 But let the world say what they will. 
 
 The Yankee boys for fighting are the dandy, oh ! 
 
 PERRVS VICTORY 
 
 (September lo, 1813) 
 
 We sailed to and fro in Erie's broad lake. 
 To find British bullies or get into their wake, 
 When we hoisted our canvas with true Yankee speed, 
 And the brave Captain Perry our squadron did lead. 
 
 We sailed thro' the lake, boys, in search of the foe. 
 In the cause of Columbia our brav'ry to show. 
 To be equal in combat was all our delight. 
 As we wished the proud Britons to know we could 
 fisht. 
 
242 
 
 At Sea [No. 76 
 
 And whether Uke Yeo, boys, they'd taken affright, 
 We could see not, nor find them by day or by night ; 
 So cruising we went in a glorious cause. 
 In defence of our rights, our freedom, and laws. 
 
 At length to our liking six sails hove in view, 
 Huzzah ! says brave Perry, huzzah ! says his crew, 
 And then for the chase, boys, with our brave little 
 
 crew, 
 We fell in with the bullies and gave them " burgoo." 
 
 Though the force was unequal, determined to fight, 
 We brought them to action before it was night ; 
 We let loose our thunder, our bullets did fly, 
 " Now give them your shot, boys," our commander 
 did cry. 
 
 We gave them a broadside, our cannon to try, 
 
 " Well done," says brave Perry, "for quarter they'll 
 
 cry, 
 Shot well home, my brave boys, they shortly shall see, 
 That quite brave as they are, still braver are we." 
 
 Then we drew up our squadron, each man full of fight, 
 And put the proud Britons in a terrible plight. 
 The brave Perry's movements will prove fully as bold. 
 As the fam'd Admiral Nelson's prowess of old. 
 
 The conflict was sharp, boys, each man to his guns, 
 For our country, her glory, the vict'ry was won, 
 So six sail (the whole fleet) was our fortune to take, 
 Here's a health to brave Perry, who governs the Lake. 
 
account of 
 the capture 
 
 No. 77] The Guerriere 243 
 
 77. On Board the Guerriere 
 
 By Captain William Orme (1812J 
 
 I COMMANDED the American brig Betsey, in the This is an 
 year 18 12, and was returning home from Naples, Italy, 
 
 to Boston. When near the western edge of the Grand of the 
 
 Bank of Newfoundland, on the loth of August, 1812, G"^*-^^^^ 
 
 ,^,,. ., , T,--ir- X-- •< y- • written by an 
 
 I fell m With the British frigate Guerriere, Captain American 
 Dacrcs, and was captured by him. Myself and a boy "^^^ 
 were taken on board of the frigate ; the remainder of be present ^ 
 my officers and men were left in the Betsey, and sent when the 
 into Halifax, N.S., as a prize to the Guerriere. ^^"'^ ^^2^"' 
 
 On the 19th of the same month, the wind being 
 fresh from the northward, the Giierrihe was under 
 double-reefed topsails during all the forenoon of this 
 day. At 2 p.m., we discovered a large sail to wind- 
 ward, bearing about North from us. We soon made 
 her out to be a frigate. She was steering off from 
 the wind, with her head to the Southwest, evidently 
 with the intention of cutting us off as soon as possible. 
 
 Signals were soon made by the Guerriere, but as 
 they were not answered, the conclusion of course 
 was, that she was either a French or an American 
 frigate. Captain Dacres appeared anxious to ascer- 
 tain her character, and after looking at her for that 
 purpose, handed me his spy-glass, requesting me to 
 give him my opinion of the stranger. I soon saw from 
 the peculiarity of her sails, and from her general ap- 
 pearance, that she was, without doubt, an American, 
 frigate, and communicated the same to Captain Dacres. 
 lie immediately replied, that he thought she came 
 down too boldly for an American, but. soon after 
 
244 
 
 At Sea 
 
 [No. 77 
 
 added, " The better he behaves, the more honor we 
 shall gain by taking him." 
 
 The two ships were rapidly approaching each other, 
 when the Guerrih-e backed her main-topsail, and 
 waited for her opponent to come down, and com- 
 mence the action. He then set an EngHsh flag at 
 each mast-head, beat to quarters, and made ready for 
 
 
 THE "CONSTITUTION." 
 
 the fight. When the strange frigate came down to 
 within two or three miles distance, he hauled upon 
 the wind, took in all his light sails, reefed his top- 
 sails, and deliberately prepared for action. It was 
 now about five o'clock in the afternoon, when he filled 
 away and ran down for the Gucrrierc. At this mo- 
 ment, Captain Dacres politely said to me : " Captain 
 Orme, as I suppose you do not wish to fight against 
 your own countrymen, you are at Hberty to go below 
 
No. 77] The Guerriere 245 
 
 the water-line." It was not long after this before I 
 retired from the quarter-deck to the cock-pit. 
 
 Of course I saw no more of the action until the 
 firing ceased, but I heard and felt much of its effects ; 
 for soon after I left the deck, the firing commenced 
 on board the Gncrrihr, and was kept up almost con- 
 stantly until about six o'clock, when I heard a tre- 
 mendous explosion from the opposing frigate. The 
 effect of her shot seemed to make the Giicrricrc reel, 
 and tremble as though she had received the shock of 
 an earthquake. Immediately after this, I heard a tre- 
 mendous crash on deck, and was told the mizzenmast 
 was shot away. In a few moments afterward, the 
 cock-pit was filled with wounded men. 
 
 At about half-past six o'clock in the evening, after 
 the firing had ceased, I went on deck, and there be- 
 held a scene which it would be difficult to describe : 
 all the Guerriere s masts were shot away, and as she 
 had no sails to steady her, she lay rolling like a log in 
 the trough of the sea. The decks were covered with 
 blood, the gun tackles were not made fast, and several 
 of the guns got loose, and were surging to and fro 
 from one side to the other. 
 
 Some of the petty officers and seamen, after the 
 action, got liquor, and were intoxicated ; and what 
 with the groans of the wounded, the noise and confu- 
 sion of the enraged survivors on board of the ill-fated 
 ship, rendered the whole scene fearful beyond de- 
 scription. 
 
246 
 
 At Sea 
 
 [No. 78 
 
 78. Capture of the Guerriere 
 
 Here we 
 have an 
 account of 
 the same 
 naval fight 
 by the 
 commander 
 of the 
 American 
 vessel. 
 
 By Captain Isaac Hull (1812) 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I have the honour to inform you, that on the 
 19th instant, at 2 p.m., with the Constitution under 
 my command, a sail was discovered from the mast- 
 head, but at such a distance, we could not tell what 
 she was. All sail was instantly made in chase, and 
 we soon came up with her. At 3 p.m. we could 
 plainly see that she was a ship on the starboard 
 tack, under easy sail, close on a wind ; at half past 3 
 p. M. we made her out to be a frigate ; we continued 
 the chase until we were within about three miles, 
 when I ordered the light sails taken in, the courses 
 hauled up, and the ship cleared for action. At this 
 time the chase had backed his main top-sail, waiting 
 for us to come down.. 
 
 As soon as the Constitution was ready for action, I 
 bore down with an intention to bring him to close 
 action immediately ; but on our coming within gun- 
 shot she gave us a broadside and filled away, and 
 wore, giving us a broadside on the other tack, but 
 without effect ; her shot falling short. She contin- 
 ued wearing and manoeuvring for about three quar- 
 ters of an hour, to get a raking position, but finding 
 she could not, she bore up, and run under top-sails 
 and jib, with the wind on the quarter. 
 
 Immediately we made sail to bring the ship up 
 with her, and five minutes before 6 p.m. we were 
 along side within half pistol shot ; then we com- 
 menced a heavy fire from all our guns, double shotted 
 with round and grape, and so well directed were they. 
 
No. 78] T/ie Guerriere 247 
 
 and so warmly kept up, that in fifteen minutes his 
 mizzen-mast went by the board, and his main-yard 
 in the slings, and the hull, rigging and sails were 
 very much torn to pieces. The fire was kept up 
 with equal warmth for fifteen minutes longer, when 
 his main-mast and fore-mast went, taking with them 
 every spar, excepting the bowsprit ; on seeing this 
 we ceased firing, so that in thirty minutes after we got 
 fairly along side the enemy she surrendered, and had 
 not a spar standing, and her hull below and above 
 water was so shattered, that a few more broadsides 
 must have carried her down. 
 
 After informing you that so fine a ship as the 
 Gucrvicvc, commanded by an able and experienced 
 officer, had been totally dismasted, and otherwise cut 
 to pieces, so as to make her not worth towing into 
 port, in the short space of thirty minutes, you can 
 have no doubt of the gallantry and good conduct of 
 the officers and ship's company I have the honour to 
 command. It only remains, therefore, for me to 
 assure you, that they all fought with great bravery ; 
 and it gives me great pleasure to say, that from the 
 smallest boy in the ship to the oldest seaman, not a 
 look of fear was seen. They all went into action, 
 giving three cheers, and requesting to be laid close 
 along side the enemy. 
 
 Enclosed I have the honour to send you a list of 
 killed and wounded on board the Constitution, and a 
 report of the damages she has sustained ; also, a list 
 of the killed and wounded on board the enemy, with 
 his quarter bill, &c. 
 
 I have the honour to be, with very great respect. Sir, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Isaac Hull. 
 
248 
 
 At Sea [No. 79 
 
 79. The Battle of Lake Erie 
 
 By Captain Taylor (1813) 
 
 On the morning of the loth instant at sunrise, they 
 were discovered from Put-in-Bay, where I lay at 
 anchor with the squadron under my command. We 
 got under way, with the wind light at southwest and 
 stood for them. At ten o'clock the wind hauled to 
 southeast and brought us to windward ; we formed 
 the line and brought up. At fifteen minutes before 
 twelve the enemy commenced tiring ; at five minutes 
 before twelve the action commenced on our part. 
 Their fire was very destructive, owing to their long 
 guns, and was mostly directed to the La%vrcnce, so I 
 made sail, and directed the other vessels to follow, 
 for the purpose of closing with the enemy. Every 
 brace and bow line was shot away, and she became 
 unmanageable, notwithstanding the great exertions 
 of the sailing master. In this situation she sustained 
 the action upwards of two hours, within canister shot 
 distance, and every gun was rendered useless, and a 
 greater part of the crew either killed or wounded. 
 
 Finding she could no longer annoy the enemy, 
 I left her in charge of Lieutenant Yarnall, who, I 
 was convinced, from the bravery already displayed by 
 him, would do what would comport with the honour 
 of the flag. At half past two the wind sprang up, 
 and Captain Elliot was enabled to bring his vessel, 
 the Niagara, gallantly into close action ; I immedi- 
 ately went on board her, when he anticipated my wish 
 by volunteering to bring the schooners, which had 
 been kept astern by the lightness of the wind, into 
 close action. It was with unspeakable pain, that I 
 
No. 80] Star-spa?igled Bamier 249 
 
 saw, soon after I got on board the Niagara^ the flag 
 of the Latvrcnce come down, although I was per- 
 fectly sensible that she had been defended to the 
 last, and that to have continued to make a show of 
 resistance would have been a wanton sacrifice of the 
 remains of her brave crew. 
 
 But the enemy was not able to take possession of 
 her, and circumstances soon permitted her flag again 
 to be hoisted. At forty-five minutes past two, the 
 signal was made for "close action." The Niagara 
 was very little injured, so I determined to pass 
 through the enemy's line, bore up and passed ahead 
 of their two ships and a brig, and gave a raking fire 
 to them from the starboard guns, and to a large 
 schooner and sloop, from the larboard side, at half 
 pistol shot distance.' The smaller vessels at this 
 time were within grape and canister distance, under 
 the direction of Captain Elliot. They kept up a well 
 directed fire until the two ships, a brig, and a 
 schooner, surrendered. One schooner and a sloop 
 made a vain attempt to escape. 
 
 Those officers and men who were immediately 
 under my observation showed the greatest gallantry, 
 and I have no doubt that all others conducted them- 
 selves as became American officers and seamen. 
 
 80. The Star-spangled Banner 
 
 Bv Francis Scott Key (1814) 
 
 O SAY, can you see by the dawn's early light, 
 
 What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last 
 gleaming .-' 
 
250 
 
 At Sea [No. 80 
 
 Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the 
 perilous fight, 
 On the ramparts we watched were so gallantly- 
 streaming ; 
 And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air. 
 Gave proof through the night that our flag was still 
 there. 
 O say, does the star-spangled banner yet wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the 
 brave .-' 
 
 On the shore dimly seen, through the mists of the 
 deep. 
 Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence re- 
 poses. 
 What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering 
 steep. 
 As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses .'' 
 Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam. 
 In full glory reflected now shines on the stream. 
 . 'Tis the star-spangled banner ! O long may it wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the 
 brave ! 
 
 And where is that band who so vauntingly swore 
 That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion 
 
 A home and a country shall leave us no more .'* 
 
 Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' 
 pollution. 
 
 No refuge could save the hireling and slave. 
 
 From the terror of death and the gloom of the grave. 
 And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the 
 brave ! 
 
No. 8i] Licking a Frigate 251 
 
 O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand 
 
 Between their loved homes and the war's desola- 
 tion ; 
 Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heaven-res- 
 cued land, 
 Praise the power that has made and preserved us 
 a nation. 
 Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just. 
 And this be our motto : " In God is our trust." 
 
 And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall 
 
 wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the 
 brave. 
 
 81. How the Privateer licked the 
 Frigate 
 
 By Nathaniel Shaler (1813) 
 
 Two days after dispatching the Nereid, I took a This is the 
 whaleman from London, bound for the South Seas, story of a 
 
 r 1 T 1 1 privateer, a 
 
 but as she was 01 no value, 1 took out such stores as private 
 
 I could stow, and as I was much lumbered with pris- vessel 
 
 oners and baggage, I put them on board, and ordered si°on^'by the 
 
 her for Falmouth. The chasing of this ship had American 
 
 taken me some distance from my ground, and owing ^°^'^^°l^^ 
 
 to calms, I could not regain it until the 25th of last British 
 
 month, when at sunrise three ships were discovered vessels and 
 
 ahead. We made all sail in chase. The wind was jf^necessary. 
 light,, and we came up with them slowly. On a 
 nearer approach, they proved to be two ships and a 
 
252 
 
 At Sea [N0.81 
 
 brig. One of the ships had all the appearance of 
 a large transport, and from her manoeuvres, seemed 
 to have concerted measures for mutual defence. The 
 large ship appeared to take the bulk of an action. 
 Boats were seen passing to and from her. She had 
 boarding nettings almost up to her tops, with her top- 
 mast studding-sail booms out : and sails at their ends, 
 ready for running, as if prepared for a runaway fight. 
 
 Her ports appeared to be painted, and she had 
 something on deck, resembling a merchant's boat. 
 After all this what do you think she was .-' Have a 
 little patience, and I will tell you. At 3 p.m. a sud- 
 den squall struck us from the northward, and since 
 the ship had not yet received it, before I could get 
 our light sails in, and almost before I could turn 
 round, I was under the guns, (not of a transport) but 
 of a large frigate, and not more than a quarter of a 
 mile from her. 
 
 I immediately hauled down English colors, which 
 I previously had up, set three American ensigns, 
 trimmed our sails by the wind, and commenced a 
 brisk fire from our little battery, but this was returned 
 with woeful interest. Her first broadside killed two 
 men and wounded six others (two of them severely, 
 one had since died); it also blew up one of my salt 
 boxes, with two nine-pound cartridges ; this communi- 
 cated fire to a number of pistols and three tube boxes 
 which were lying on the companion way, all of which 
 exploded, and some of the tubes penetrated through 
 a crevice under the companion leaf, and found their 
 way to the cabin floor ; but that was wet, and the fire- 
 screen up, so no further accident took place. This, 
 together with the fire from the frigate, I assure you, 
 made warm work on the Tompkins' quarter-deck. 
 
No. 8i] Licking a Frigate 253 
 
 but thanks to her heels, and the exertions of my 
 brave officers and crew, I still have the command 
 of her. 
 
 When the frigate opened her fire on me it was 
 about half-past three. I was then a little abaft her 
 beam. To have attempted to tack in a hard squall, 
 would at least have exposed me to a raking fire, and 
 to have attempted it, and failed to do so, would have 
 been attended with the inevitable loss of the schooner. 
 I therefore thought it most prudent to take her fire 
 on the tack on which I was, and this I was exposed 
 to from the position I have mentioned, until I had 
 passed her bow; all the while she was standing on 
 with me, and almost as fast as ourselves, and such a 
 tune as was played round my ears, I assure you, I 
 never wish to hear again on the same key. 
 
 At four his shot began to fall short of us. At half- 
 past four the wind was dying away, the enemy still 
 held it, and his ship began to reach us. We got out 
 sweeps, and turned all hands to. I also threw all the 
 lumber from the deck, and about two thousand pound 
 weight of shot from the after hold. From about five 
 P.M., all his shot fell short of us. At twenty-five min- 
 utes past five the enemy hove about, and I was glad 
 to get so clear of one of the most quarrelsome com- 
 panions that I ever met with. After the first broad- 
 side from the frigate, not a shot struck the hull of 
 the Tovipkins, but the water was literally in foam 
 all around her. 
 
 The moment before the squall struck us, I told Mr. 
 Farnum that she was too heavy for us, and he went 
 forward with his glass to take another look, when 
 the squall struck the schooner as if by magic, and we 
 were up with her, before we could get in our light 
 
2 54 -^^ ^^^ ^^°-^' 
 
 sails. My officers conducted themselves in a way 
 that would have done honor to a more permanent 
 service. Mr. . Farnum, first Lieutenant, conducted 
 himself with his usual vigor. Mr. Atchison, sailing- 
 master, performed his part in the style of a brave 
 and accompHshed seaman. Messrs. Miller and Dodd, 
 second and third Lieutenants, were not immediately 
 under my eye, but the precision and promptitude with 
 which all my orders were executed, is sufficient proof 
 that they were to be relied upon. Mr. Thomas, boat- 
 swain, and Mr. Casewell, master's-mate, were partic- 
 ularly active, and deserve encouragement. 
 
 The name of one of my poor fellows who was killed 
 ought to be registered on the book of fame, and re- 
 membered with reverence as long as bravery is con- 
 sidered a virtue. He was a black man, by the name 
 of John Johnson ; a twenty-four pound shot struck 
 him in the hip, and took away all the lower part of 
 his body. In this state the poor, brave fellow lay on 
 the deck, and several times exclaimed to his ship- 
 mates, " Fire away, boys, neber haul de color down." 
 The other was also a black man, by the name of John 
 Davis, and was struck in much the same way : he 
 fell near me, and several times requested to be thrown 
 overboard, saying he was only in the way of the 
 others. While America has such sailors, she has 
 little to fear from the tyrants of the ocean. 
 
 From the circumstance of the enemy's shot being 
 twenty-four which I assure you was the case, as we 
 have felt and weighed them, I am of opinion that it was 
 the La?irel, a new frigate, which I had information 
 of. A gentleman whom I took, told me she was in 
 the fleet ; that she was built and manned for the pur- 
 pose to cope with our frigates ; that if she got sight 
 
No. 82] 
 
 Going Aloft 
 
 255 
 
 of me, she would certainly take me, as she was the 
 fastest sailer he ever saw. 
 
 I send you a list of the killed and wounded ; in 
 every thing else we are in good order and high spirits. 
 
 THE HOUSE OF TIMOTHY DEXTER. 
 
 82. Going Aloft 
 
 By Frederic Stanhope Hill (1842) 
 
 " Now look here, you Bob," said the mate, one fine 
 afternoon, " look up aloft there, my lad ; do you see 
 that royal yard .'' " 
 
 I looked up, as he bade me, at the royal masthead, 
 where the yard seemed to me to be about five hun- 
 dred feet above the deck where we stood. 
 
 " Yes, sir, I see it." 
 
 " Very well ; now suppose you go up there and take 
 a closer look at it. It's going to be a very familiar 
 road for you this voyage, and you had better make 
 yourself acquainted with the way at once;" and he 
 smiled at his wit, which I failed to appreciate just then. 
 
 The ship was on the wind, with all sails set, and 
 drawing well, and she was reasonably steady ; but as 
 I gazed aloft, the mast was sweeping about in a very 
 
256 
 
 At Sea [No. 82 
 
 dazing manner, and the rigging up there seemed to 
 me about the size of a fishing line. Remember, I 
 had never been aloft in my life. I hesitated. 
 
 "Well, Bob, I am waiting for you, but I shan't 
 wait very long, my son ; " and he picked up a piece 
 of rattling stuff, a cord about the thickness of one's 
 finger, and ostentatiously swayed to and fro. 
 
 I saw that he meant business, and I started on the 
 trip at once. I have been aloft since that beautiful 
 afternoon, many times in howling gales of wind to 
 close-reef topsails ; but I have never since experi- 
 enced the abject fear I endured that day before I 
 reached the Bombay's royal yard ! 
 
 But I stuck to it, and I accomplished the task at 
 last, and my first lesson in seamanship, the severest 
 one of all, was past. Perhaps some of my readers 
 may think that I magnify the undertaking ; but, as I 
 have said, I was a country lad, and in those days 
 boys did not have gymnasiums, as they have now, to 
 prepare them for such tests. 
 
 " Very well done. Bob, for a first attempt," said 
 the mate, laughingly, as I reached the deck and 
 busied myself in getting my trousers pulled down my 
 legs after my frantic struggle aloft ; " but I thought 
 you would have squeezed all the tar out of the royal 
 backstay, you gripped it so savagely. Oh, you'll make 
 a sailor yet, lad, or I'll know the reason why. Now go 
 forward and turn the grindstone for the carpenter." 
 
 From that day on I was kept constantly in practice 
 in going aloft, and was soon given the main royal to 
 loose and furl ; so that in my watch on deck no other 
 person was ever sent aloft for that purpose, and what 
 had been but a few weeks before such a terrible 
 task, became mere play to me. 
 
No. 83] A Ship 071 Fire 257 
 
 83. A Ship on Fire 
 
 By Robert B. Dixon (1873) 
 
 While Tom was telling me his story, he had been 
 " planking " the deck from rail to rail, continually 
 on the lookout, occasionally stopping and peering 
 ahead, first from one bow, then from the other, while 
 I, leaning on the capstan-head, intently Hstened to 
 what he said. Just as he had finished speaking, he 
 stood still, and, steadily gazing off to leeward, said to 
 me, — 
 
 " Come here. Bob. Your eyes are younger than 
 mine: look off there," pointing with his hand, "and 
 see if you can make out any thing that looks hke a 
 light in the distance." 
 
 I strained my eyes, trying hard to see it, but could 
 not. 
 
 " That's a queer-looking light for a ship's side- 
 light, and it doesn't look Hke a steamer's mast-head 
 light either," said the mate. 
 
 The mate rubbed up the lenses of the spyglass 
 with the corner of his coat ; and, bracing himself, 
 brought the instrument to his eye on a level with the 
 horizon, and, adjusting the focus, looked long and 
 steadily at the Hght. Suddenly he exclaimed, "By 
 all the mud on Nantucket flats ! That's a ship on 
 fire, man. It's a good thing you saw that light. Call 
 all hands at once, and square in the yards so that we 
 may stand down towards them." 
 
 The mate, going aft, reported to the captain, who 
 hastily came on deck. Taking a quick look through 
 the glass at the light, which was now plainly visible 
 off our port beam, the captain at once ordered the 
 
^5^ 
 
 At Sea [No. 83 
 
 yards squared, and eased off the main-sheet with his 
 own hands. 
 
 " Crowd on every stitch of canvas, set the royal 
 and top-mast stay-sail, and be quick about it," cried 
 out the captain. 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir ! " came back the cry from the mate, 
 who was on the main deck urging on the men. We 
 all realized the peril our fellow-creatures on the 
 burning ship must be in. All sail was set, and we 
 began tearing through the water as fast as it was 
 possible for the old brig to go. Every sail was 
 trimmed, and drawing to its fullest extent. Two men 
 were stationed at the wheel to keep the brig steady, 
 that she might not fall off too much from her course. 
 
 We were all eagerly intent, watching the burning 
 craft, as we approached nearer. She was now about 
 five or six miles distant ; and, at the rate we were 
 going, we would be up with her in half an hour. 
 
 The mate, who was on the after-house with the 
 captain, walking forward a few steps, sang out, — 
 
 " Lay aft, men, and get the boat ready to lower ! " 
 
 The lashings of the boat, which was hung at the 
 " davies," were hastily cast off, and the boat was 
 ready to lower into the water at a moment's notice. 
 Having now come within a mile of the burning 
 vessel, we could easily make out that she was a 
 large ship, apparently deeply loaded. The whole 
 forward part of the vessel was in flames ; and the 
 fire could be seen leaping up through the fore-hatch, 
 in which part of the vessel it had probably begun. 
 
 We were now about a quarter of a mile to the 
 windward of the burning ship. Our Hght sails were 
 quickly taken in, the wheel put down, the brig 
 rounded-to, and the topsails filling aback brought 
 
No. 83] A Ship on Fire 259 
 
 the vessel to a stand-still. The boat, containing the 
 second mate and two men, was lowered away at 
 once, the falls unhooked, and the men, shipping their 
 oars, pulled away with a strong and steady stroke. 
 There was nothing for us to do but to wait anxiously 
 for the return of our boat, and to find out how we 
 might still further render assistance. Fortunately 
 for the safety of the boat, the water was very smooth, 
 the weather for the past few days having been 
 remarkably fine. 
 
 It was a night I shall never forget. The sky was 
 brightly illuminated by the glare of the burning ship, 
 which also brilliantly lighted up the sea for miles 
 around. Our boat was not yet half way to the burn- 
 ing ship. Our men could be seen bending at the oars 
 with their utmost strength, and using every endeavor 
 so reach the ship as soon as possible. At this moment 
 a tremendous explosion occurred, which resounded 
 again and again, like the rattle of thunder in the 
 distance. The main and mizzen masts fell over the 
 side with a loud crash, leaving the ship a dismasted 
 hulk. The dense smoke from the explosion now 
 lifting, we could see debris of all kinds floating in the 
 water. 
 
 The hull, which was burning fiercely, was fast 
 nearing the water's edge ; and in a few moments 
 more, the bow rising high out of the water, the ship 
 went down stern first. 
 
 We were in a state of the most intense excitement, 
 wondering as to the fate of the poor fellows that we 
 had seen left on the deck of the ship just before the 
 explosion took place. The smoke which clung to 
 the water having lifted sufficiently, we could see our 
 boat picking her way through the floating pieces of 
 
2 6o At Sea [No. 84 
 
 wreck and cargo, some of which, still burning, lighted 
 the way. The second mate could be seen standing 
 in the stern-sheets of the boat, with the tiller-ropes 
 in his hands, eagerly looking about, occasionally 
 changing his course as something attracted his atten- 
 tion ; now stopping the boat to pull in some apparently 
 lifeless object, then steering away to continue the 
 search, which he hoped would result in saving all 
 the drowning men. 
 
 The ship's boat, which was overloaded, and sat 
 deeply in the water, had been slowly pulling towards 
 us during this time, and soon came under our lee 
 quarter. We threw the men a rope, fastened a side- 
 ladder over the stern and, with our assistance, they 
 were soon on board. Their boat, for the time being, 
 was made fast to the quarter, and allowed to drift 
 astern. 
 
 One of the men, who proved to be the first ofificer, 
 told the captain that their ship was the English ship 
 Oriole of Shields, Capt. Talbot, and that they were 
 bound from Philadelphia to Bremen with a cargo of 
 petroleum. 
 
 84. Sewing under Difficulties 
 
 By Robert B. Dixon (1873) 
 
 The next morning I was as hungry as a bear, and 
 ate my tin-plate-full of "salt boss," potatoes, and 
 bread, washing it all down with a pot of muddy 
 coffee. Never had any thing tasted so good to me : 
 and, having eaten even to the last scrap, I had the 
 audacity to ask the cook for another piece of beef ; 
 
No. 84] Sewing under Dijiculties 261 
 
 but he would not give it to me, saying I had had my 
 "stint." 
 
 The day was clear and warm ; a stiff breeze was 
 blowing from the north-west, and we were going 
 through the water at a good pace ; every thing hold- 
 ing favorable, we expected to sight the coast of 
 Mexico in 
 three days. 
 
 In the after- 
 noon the cook 
 let me have a 
 little fresh 
 water to wash 
 out some of 
 my clothes 
 which had 
 been wet 
 through dur- 
 ing the gale ; 
 he also gave 
 me a small 
 piece of soap ; 
 and, taking 
 the bucket and 
 my clothes, I 
 
 went forward, and became a washerman for the 
 first time. I rubbed and scrubbed away in the most 
 energetic manner, using up my small allowance of 
 soap on the first piece ; and, besides, pulled off 
 several buttons, tore the heel completely off one 
 of my new stockings, and ripped a big slit in my 
 shirt. Disgusted with my efforts, I hung uj) my 
 dripping garments, not thinking to wring them out, 
 and fastened them to the fore-stay, tying them on 
 
 AN OLD DESK. 
 
262 At Sea [No. 84 
 
 securely, as I thought, with short bits of spun-yarn. 
 When I went to take them in, I found two of my 
 largest pieces missing : I had not tied them on fast 
 enough, and they had blown away. Taking what 
 remained, I went into my room, and attempted to 
 repair the damage. 
 
 Sewing was something I had never tried before. 
 I had several needles all threaded : and after pricking 
 my finger several times, I got on very well with the 
 sHt in my shirt ; but sewing on a button I found a 
 more complicated matter. Going to the cook, I 
 asked his assistance : he showed me how it was done, 
 and kindly sewed on several for me. I now thought 
 I could do it all right, so decided to make the at- 
 tempt. The trousers which I wore possessed on one 
 side a solitary button, to which for several days I 
 had attached the two straps of my suspenders ; and 
 now that I was at it, and so confident of my ability, 
 I determined to try. my skill at sewing on the button 
 myself. Taking the coarsest thread in the box that 
 my mother had so well filled for me, and the largest 
 needle I could find, I held the eye of it towards the 
 light, and tried to thrust the thread through, but 
 found it would not go so easily as I had imagined. 
 I tried it again, first wetting the thread, and then 
 twisting the end to a fine point between my fingers. 
 This time, determined it should go through, I took 
 deliberate aim ; and, giving it a push, I grasped the 
 head of the needle and the thread with my fingers, 
 sure that I had succeeded : what was my dismay, on 
 carefully opening them, to find the thread had passed 
 to one side ! After a few more attempts, and a deal 
 of muttered and rather obscure conversation with 
 myself, the needle was threaded. "Gloria Mundi ! " 
 
No. 84] Sewing under Dijiculties 263 
 
 I shouted ; and, pulling the thread through, I doubled 
 it, cut it off about a yard long, and tied a large knot 
 in the end of it. 
 
 Holding my trousers with my left hand, and keep- 
 ing the button firmly in place by a finger and thumb, 
 I proceeded with the difficult part of the undertaking. 
 I stuck the needle through the hole in the button, 
 gave it a quick thrust through the waistband, ran it 
 into my side, and doubled over with a howl of pain ; 
 then, undismayed, I again grasped the needle, and 
 gave it a long hard pull that brought the thread to 
 the end. What was my grief, after all this effort, to 
 see the button slip over the knot, and roll off onto 
 the floor! I had pushed the needle through the 
 wrong way. Trying again, and finally getting well 
 started, I was just regaining my spirits, when the 
 thread snarled up, caught, and broke. After prick- 
 ing my fingers several times more, and sticking the 
 head of the needle about half an inch under my 
 thumb-nail, I got the button sewed on. Having some 
 thread left in the needle, I wound it round and round 
 between the button and the cloth, until the space was 
 about half filled up, and then, running the needle 
 several times through the cloth, cut off the thread. 
 Having at last succeeded, I was happy. 
 
 The next day was Sunday, and a grand loafing- 
 day : nothing was done except to wash down decks 
 in the morning, pump the ship, occasionally take a 
 slight pull at the braces, steer, and keep lookout. 
 The sailors are naturally glad when Sunday comes 
 around. Sunday dinner at sea is always a little 
 better than common: "plum-duff" with sugar sauce 
 is usually supplied forward ; and, if a cook wants to 
 keep on the right side of the crew, he must be able to 
 
264 
 
 At Si 
 
 ea 
 
 [No. 85 
 
 make a good "duff." In appearance it is very much 
 like a loaf of brown-bread, with a raisin thrown in 
 here and there. A large amount must be made, as 
 the sailors expect it ; and if, for any reason, the 
 supply should be diminished or cut off, trouble would 
 be likely to ensue. 
 
 The ship 
 Constitution 
 which took 
 the Gucrriere 
 had grown 
 weak and 
 old-fash- 
 ioned, and it 
 was proposed 
 in 1830 to 
 break her up. 
 Holmes's 
 poetry had 
 an effect, 
 and the 
 Constitution 
 is still in 
 existence. 
 
 85. Old Ironsides 
 
 By Oliver Wendell Holmes (1830) 
 
 Ay, tear her tattered ensign down ! 
 
 Long has it waved on high, 
 And many an eye has danced to see 
 
 That banner in the sky ; 
 Beneath it rung the battle shout, 
 
 And burst the cannon's roar ; — • 
 The meteor of the ocean air 
 
 Shall sweep the clouds no more ! 
 
 Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, 
 
 Where knelt the vanquished foe. 
 When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, 
 
 And waves were white below. 
 No more shall feel the victor's tread. 
 
 Or know the conquered knee ; — 
 The harpies of the shore shall pluck 
 
 The eagle of the sea ! 
 
 O better that her shattered hulk 
 Should sink beneath the wave ; 
 
 Her thunders shook the mighty deep, 
 And there should be her grave ; 
 
No. 86] A yapa?tese Reception 265 
 
 Nail to the mast her holy flag, 
 
 Set every threadbare sail, 
 And give her to the god of storms, 
 
 The lightning and the gale ! 
 
 86. A Japanese Reception 
 
 Bv Commodore Matthew Galbraith Perry (1852) 
 
 Thursday (July 14), opened with a sun that was 
 somewhat obscured at early dawn, but which soon 
 came out brightly, and dispelled the fogs and clouds 
 which overhung the land. 
 
 All on board the ships were alert from the earliest 
 hour, making the necessary preparations. Steam 
 was got up and the anchors were weighed, that the 
 ships might be moved to a position where their guns 
 would command the place of reception. All, of 
 course, were eager to bear a part in the ceremonies 
 of the day, but all could not possibly go, as a suffi- 
 cient number must be left to do ship's duty. The 
 officers, as had been ordered, were in full official 
 dress, while the sailors and marines were in their 
 naval and military uniforms of blue and white. 
 
 Before eight bells in the morning watch had struck, 
 the SusqucJumna and Mississippi moved slowly down 
 the bay. Simultaneously with this movement of our 
 ships, six Japanese boats were observed to sail in the 
 same direction, but more within the land. On doub- 
 ling the head-land which separated the former an- 
 chorage from the bay below, the preparations of the 
 Japanese on the shore came suddenly into view. The 
 
2 66 At Sea [no.86 
 
 land bordering the head of the bay was gay with a 
 long stretch of painted screens of cloth, upon which 
 was emblazoned the arms of the Emperor. Nine tall 
 standards stood in the centre of an immense number 
 of banners of divers lively colors, which were arranged 
 on either side, until the whole formed a crescent of 
 variously tinted flags, which fluttered brightly in the 
 rays of the morning sun. From the tall standards 
 were suspended broad pennons of rich scarlet, which 
 swept the ground with their flowing length. On the 
 beach in front of this display were ranged regiments 
 of soldiers, who stood in fixed order, evidently ar- 
 rayed to give an appearance of martial force, that 
 the Americans might be duly impressed with the 
 military power of the Japanese. 
 
 Two boats approached as the steamers neared the 
 opening of the bay, and when the anchors were 
 dropped they came alongside the SnsqucJianna. 
 Kayama Yezaiman, with his two interpreters, came 
 on board, followed immediately by Nagazima Sabo- 
 roske and an officer in attendance, who had come in 
 the second boat. They were duly received at the 
 gangway, and conducted to seats on the quarter deck. 
 All were dressed in full official costume, somewhat 
 different from their ordinary garments. Their gowns, 
 though of the usual shape, were much more elabo- 
 rately adorned. The material was of very rich silk 
 brocade of gay colors, turned up with yellow velvet, 
 and the whole dress was highly embroidered with 
 gold lace in various figures, among which was con- 
 spicuously displayed on the back, sleeves, and breast 
 the arms of the wearer. Saboroske, in spite of his 
 elaborate toilette and his finery, all bedizened with 
 gold thread, glossy silk, and gay colors, did not pro- 
 
No. 86] A yapanese Reception 267 
 
 duce a very impressive effect ; but by his comical 
 appearance provoked mirth rather than admiration. 
 He had, in fact, very much the appearance of an 
 unusually brilliant knave of trumps. A signal was 
 now hoisted from the SiisqucluDina as a summons for 
 the boats from the other ships, and in the course of 
 half an hour they had all pulled alongside with their 
 various officers, sailors, and marines, detailed for the 
 day's ceremonies. The ships' boats followed after in 
 order, with the cutters containing the two bands of 
 the steamers, who enlivened the occasion with their 
 cheerful music. 
 
 The guides in the Japanese boats pointed to the 
 landing place toward the centre of the curved shore, 
 where a temporary wharf had been built out from the 
 beach by means of bags of sand and straw. The 
 advance boat soon touched the spot, and Captain 
 Buchanan, who commanded the party, sprang ashore, 
 being the first of the Americans who landed in the 
 Kingdom of Japan. The rest of the boats now pulled 
 in and disembarked their respective loads. The 
 marines (one hundred) marched up the wharf, and 
 formed into line on either side, facing the sea ; then 
 came the hundred sailors, who were also ranged in 
 rank and file as they advanced, while the two bands 
 brought up the rear. The American force was 
 composed of very vigorous, able-bodied men, who 
 contrasted strongly with the smaller and more ef- 
 feminate-looking Japanese. Their line extended 
 around the whole circuit of the beach, from the 
 further extremity of the village to the abrupt accliv- 
 ity of the hill which bounded the bay on the north- 
 ern side ; while an immense number of the soldiers 
 thronged in, behind and under cover of the cloth 
 
2 68 At Sea [No.se 
 
 screens which stretched along the rear. The loose 
 order of this Japanese army did not betoken any 
 very great degree of discipline. The soldiers were 
 tolerably well armed and equipped. Their uniform 
 was very much like the ordinary Japanese dress. 
 Their arms were swords, spears, and match-locks. 
 Those in front were all infantry, archers and lancers; 
 but large bodies of cavalry were seen behind, some- 
 what in the distance, as if held in reserve. The 
 horses of these seemed of a fine breed, hardy, of 
 good bottom, and brisk in action ; and these troopers, 
 with their rich caparisons, presented at least a showy 
 cavalcade. Along the base of the rising ground 
 which ascended behind the village, and entirely in 
 the rear of the soldiers, was a large number of the 
 inhabitants, among whom there was quite an assem- 
 blage of women, who gazed with intense curiosity, 
 through the openings in the line of the military, upon 
 the stranger visitors from another hemisphere. 
 
 On the arrival of the Commodore, his suite of 
 officers formed a double Hne along the landing place, 
 and as he passed up between, they fell into order 
 behind him. The procession was then formed and 
 took up its march toward the house of reception, the 
 route to which was pointed out by Kayama Yezaiman 
 and his interpreter, who preceded the party. The 
 marines led the way, and the sailors following, 
 the Commodore was duly escorted up the beach. 
 The United States flag and the broad pennant were 
 borne by two athletic seamen, who had been selected 
 from the crews of the squadron on account of their 
 stalwart proportions. Two boys, dressed for the 
 ceremony, preceded the Commodore, bearing in an 
 envelope of scarlet cloth the boxes which contained 
 
No. 86] A yapanese Reception 269 
 
 his credentials and the President's letter. These 
 documents, of folio size, were beautifully written on 
 vellum, and not folded, but bound in blue silk velvet. 
 Each seal, attached by cords of interwoven gold and 
 silk with pendant gold tassels, was encased in a cir- 
 cular box six inches in diameter and three in depth, 
 wrought of pure gold. Each of the documents, 
 together with its seal, was placed in a box of rose- 
 wood about a foot long, with lock, hinges, and 
 mountings, all of gold. On either side of the Com- 
 modore marched a tall, well-formed negro, who, 
 armed to the teeth, acted as his personal guard. 
 These blacks, selected for the occasion, were two of 
 the best-looking fellows of their color that the squad- 
 ron could furnish. All this parade was but for 
 effect. 
 
 The procession was obliged to make a somewhat 
 circular movement to reach the entrance of the house 
 of reception. This gave a good opportunity for the 
 display of the escort. 
 
 As the Commodore and his suite ascended to the 
 reception room, the two dignitaries who were seated 
 on the left arose and bowed, and the Commodore and 
 suite were conducted to the arm chairs which had 
 been provided for them on the right. They were 
 both men of advanced years, the former apparently 
 about fifty, and the latter some ten or fifteen years 
 older. Prince Toda was the better looking man of 
 the two, and the intellectual expression of his large 
 forehead and amiable look of his regular features 
 contrasted very favorably with the more wrinkled 
 and contracted, and less intelligent face of his asso- 
 ciate, the prince of Iwami. They were both very 
 richly dressed, their garments being of heavy silk 
 
270 
 
 At Sea [No. 86 
 
 brocade interwoven with elaborately wrought figures 
 in gold and silver. 
 
 From the beginning, the two princes had assumed 
 an air of statuesque formality which they preserved 
 during the whole interview, as they never spoke a 
 word, and rose from their seats only at the entrance 
 and exit of the Commodore, when they made a grave 
 and formal bow. 
 
PART VII 
 
 THE ARMY 
 
 87. A Soldier in the Whiskey 
 Rebellion 
 
 By John Shippen (1794) 
 
 Mount Pleasant Township, 
 Oct. 31, 1794. 
 
 My Dear Father : I am now seated in our tent, 
 surrounded by two or three of my companions, while 
 the remainder of the ten are finishing their supper. 
 It is composed of chocolate, bread and butter, and 
 the remnants of a chicken or two, which gratified our 
 palates at noon. 
 
 They are supping on a little platform erected by 
 way of sunshine table, at the door. 
 
 The talking and laughing of those around, and two 
 different songs, one from each of the neighboring 
 tents, combined at once in my ear, would perhaps 
 entirely prevent me from writing or thinking at all, 
 but that I have been so used to it for about two weeks 
 past. I scarcely know that I am in the midst of it. 
 
 I might add before I proceed, that by way of table, 
 271 
 
272 The yirmy [no. 87 
 
 I have placed on my lap a little board. Yesterday 
 morning it was the cover of a provision box for our 
 mess, which had the ill fortune to be staved to pieces. 
 This was part of the damage done to the property 
 of our company, by the oversetting of our wagon 
 yesterday. 
 
 I cannot help thanking you, sir, just in this place 
 for your thoughtfulness and kindness in sending me 
 your little green waxen taper. It serves me as light 
 on this occasion. Were it not for its aid, I should be 
 obliged to postpone writing till morning. 
 
 What with cooking, eating, feeding, currying and 
 watering our horses, attending roll, standing guard, 
 making our beds, and riding out in the country by 
 turns to procure such necessaries as we want and to 
 get our clothes washed, it consumes the whole day. 
 
 When we march it requires the greatest exertions 
 to have every thing go smooth. If this were not the 
 case, we should be unhappy. Work keeps our bodies, 
 and consequently our minds, fully employed. 
 
 Things are most amazingly dear. We have how- 
 ever reduced prices somewhat by declaring we would 
 not be imposed upon. We have plenty of beef and 
 flour, sometimes we are lucky enough to draw bread. 
 Hay and oats have been the scarcest. Hay has been 
 less plenty. However, we are now getting in a more 
 plentiful country. 
 
 Our marches are excessively slow and tiresome. 
 We have sat on our horses, six, seven, and eight 
 hours at a time, in the rain. One night, and that the 
 worst since I left home, we slept on straw at the fire, 
 covered by blanketing, without tents. The wagons 
 had not been able to reach us. I believe not a single 
 person experienced the slightest injury from it. 
 
No. 88] Escape from the Enemy 273 
 88. An Escape from the Enemy 
 
 By John Shippen (1794) 
 
 PllTSBURGH, Nov. 1 5, 1 794. 
 
 Dear and Honored Sir : I am sorry I have not 
 been able to write you oftener than I have. The 
 seldomness of an opportunity, the real want of time, 
 sometimes the hurry and flurry of the camp, and at 
 other times our tent, are some circumstances that 
 have prevented my enjoying the agreeable exercise. 
 
 Nine prisoners were brought the other night by 
 some of our scouring parties, from their beds in this 
 town to the Pennsylvania Camp before they reached 
 this encampment. They are now under guard. 
 
 I am told that a man by the name of Hamilton, 
 who was very active in the late disturbances, was 
 lately informed on. A person who knew him well 
 undertook to describe his dress and identify him. A 
 body of troo'^DS were set to guard the house ; their 
 orders were to shoot him if he came out and attempted 
 flight. 
 
 In the meantime the cunning rogue was busy 
 changing his dress for that of a hired man, very dif- 
 ferent from his own. He walked out of the house 
 with apparent carelessness and unconcern. He spoke 
 with the soldiers and officers. Indeed, he answered 
 some questions that were put to him regarding Ham- 
 ilton, with such adroitness that he escaped through 
 them and fled. This story seems improbable but I 
 am told that it is true. 
 
 Pittsburgh is a handsome situation. I think I never 
 saw two more beautiful rivers than the Monongahela 
 and Alleghany. Pittsburgh is amazingly crowded with 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 The Army 
 
 [No. 89 
 
 quarters of generals, colonels, aid-de-camps, and other 
 officers. The people are afraid of being eaten up if 
 the army should rest here, but I believe there is not 
 the most distant danger. 
 
 Five 
 
 thousand 
 British troops 
 landed about 
 fifty miles 
 from 
 
 Washington 
 and marched 
 up, took the 
 city, and 
 burned the 
 public 
 buildings. 
 
 89. The British March to 
 Washington 
 
 By George Robert Gleig (1812) 
 
 We started, on the 24th, at an early hour, and our 
 march was, for some time, both cool and agreeable. 
 No sooner had we begun to emerge from the woods, 
 and to enter the open country, than an overpowering 
 change was perceived. The sun, from which we had 
 been hitherto defended, now beat upon us in full 
 force ; and the dust rising in thick masses from 
 under our feet, without a breath of air to disperse it, 
 flew directly into our faces, occasioning the greatest 
 inconvenience both to the eyes and respiration. Be- 
 fore many hours had elapsed, numbers of men began 
 to fall behind, from absolute inability to keep up. 
 
 It was now that we experienced the great useful- 
 ness of our badly mounted troopers, or as they were 
 called by the private soldiers, our cossacks. The 
 country, from being extremely wooded, had become 
 open on every side to a considerable extent, although 
 thick groves, instead of hedges, frequently separated 
 one field from another. This was exactly the ground 
 on which an enemy's cavalry could act with advan- 
 tage ; because they might he in ambush behind these 
 groves, totally unperceived, and when an opportunity 
 offered, might charge our column, before it had time 
 
No. 89] 
 
 On the March 
 
 275 
 
 to prepare for their reception. There were one or 
 two places, indeed, where such events were confidently- 
 anticipated ; whole rows of paling having been pulled 
 up from the side of the road, and open spaces left, 
 through which several squadrons of horse might 
 gallop; and the consequence was that every man 
 held his breath in expectation, and prepared himself 
 to form square in a moment. It was here, I say, that 
 the mounted drivers became peculiarly useful. They 
 
 
 
 i.. 
 
 ."V i. 
 
 
 c 
 
 v.- 
 
 
 i 
 
 ^^s. 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
 t^r 
 
 -^^ 
 
 THE CITY OF WASHINGTON IN iSoO. 
 
 were divided into small parties of six or eight, and 
 sent out in different directions to reconnoitre, two of 
 them generally taking post at every suspicious corner, 
 that one might give notice to the column, while the 
 other watched the motions of the enemy. 
 
 We had now proceeded about nine miles, during 
 the last four of which the sun's rays had beat con- 
 tinually upon us, and we had inhaled almost as great 
 a quantity of dust as of air. Numbers of men had 
 
276 
 
 The Army 
 
 [No. 89 
 
 already fallen to the rear, and many more could with 
 difficulty keep up ; consequently, if we pushed on 
 much further without resting, the chances were that 
 at least one-half of the army would be left behind. 
 To prevent this from happening, and to give time for 
 the stragglers to overtake the column, an halt was 
 determined upon, and the troops were led forward to 
 a spot of ground well wooded, and watered by a 
 stream which crossed the road, and they were ordered 
 to refresh themselves. 
 
 The hour of noon was approaching when a heavy 
 cloud of dust, apparently not more than two or three 
 miles distant, attracted our attention. On turning a 
 sudden angle in the road, and passing a small planta- 
 tion, which obstructed the vision towards the left, the 
 British and American armies became visible to one 
 This was at another. The position occupied by the latter was one 
 Biadensburg, of great Strength, and commanding attitude. They 
 Washin'^ton. wcrc drawn up in three lines upon the brow of a hill, 
 having their front and left flank covered by a branch 
 of the Potomac, and their right resting upon a thick 
 wood and a deep ravine. This river flowed between 
 the heights occupied by the American forces and the 
 little town of Bladensburgh. Across it was thrown 
 a narrow bridge, extending from the chief street in 
 that town to the continuation of the road, which 
 passed through the very centre of their position. 
 
 In the mean time, our column continued to advance 
 in the same order which it had hitherto preserved. 
 The road conducted us for about two miles in a direc- 
 tion parallel with the river, and also with the enemy's 
 line. In a short time we arrived in the streets of 
 Bladensburgh, and within range of the American 
 artillery. Immediately on our reaching this point. 
 
No. 89] Ofi the March 277 
 
 several of their guns opened upon us, and kept up a 
 quick and well-directed cannonade, from which, as we 
 were again commanded to halt, the men were directed 
 to shelter themselves as much as possible behind the 
 houses. 
 
 Without allowing time to the column to close its 
 ranks or to be formed by some of the many stragglers, 
 who were now hurrying, as fast as weariness would 
 permit, to regain their places, the order to halt was 
 countermanded, and the word given to attack ; and 
 we immediately pushed on at double quick time 
 towards the head of the bridge. While we were 
 moving along the street, a continued fire was kept 
 up, with some execution, from those guns which 
 stood to the left of the road ; but it was not till the 
 bridge was covered with our people that the two-gun 
 battery upon the road itself began to play. Then, 
 indeed, it also opened, and with tremendous effect ; 
 for at the first discharge almost an entire company 
 was swept down. The riflemen, likewise, now galled 
 us from the wooded bank with a running fire of 
 musketry ; and it was not without trampling on many 
 of their dead and dying comrades that the light brigade 
 established itself on the opposite side of the stream. 
 
 When once there, however, every thing else ap- 
 peared easy. Wheeling off to the right and left of 
 the road, they dashed into the thicket, and quickly 
 cleared it of American skirmishers ; who, falling back 
 with precipitation upon the first line, threw it into 
 disorder before it had fired a shot. The consequence 
 was, that our troops had scarcely shown themselves 
 when the whole of that line gave way, and fled in 
 the greatest confusion, leaving the two guns upon 
 the road in possession of the victors. 
 
278 The Army [no. 89 
 
 The light brigade lightened themselves by throwing 
 away their knapsacks and haversacks ; and extending 
 their rank so as to show an equal front with the 
 enemy, pushed on to the attack of the second line. 
 The Americans, however, saw our weakness, and 
 stood firm ; they had the whole of their artillery, with 
 the exception of those captured on the road, and the 
 greater part of their infantry in this line, and first 
 checked the ardour of the assailants by a heavy fire, 
 then, in their turn, advanced to recover the ground 
 which was lost. The extended order of the British 
 troops would not permit them to offer an effectual 
 resistance against this charge, and they were accord- 
 ingly borne back to the very thicket upon the river's 
 brink. Here they maintained themselves with deter- 
 mined obstinacy, repelling all attempts to drive them 
 through it ; frequently they followed to within a short 
 distance of the cannon's mouth, such parts of the 
 enemy's fine as gave way. 
 
 In this state the action continued till the second 
 brigade had likewise crossed and formed upon the 
 right bank of the river; when the 44th Regiment, 
 moving to the right and driving in the skirmishers, 
 debouched upon the left flank of the Americans and 
 completely turned it. In that quarter, therefore, the 
 battle was won. The rout was now general through- 
 out the whole line. The reserve, which ought to 
 have supported the main body, fled as soon as those 
 in its front began to give way ; and the cavalry, 
 instead of charging the British troops, turned their 
 horses' heads and galloped off, leaving them in un- 
 disputed possession of the field, and of ten out of the 
 twenty pieces of artillery. 
 
 This battle, by which the fate of the American capitol 
 
No. 89] On the March 279 
 
 was decided, began about one o'clock in the afternoon 
 and lasted until four. The loss on the part of the Eng- 
 lish was severe, since, out of two-thirds of the army, 
 which were engaged, upwards of five hundred men 
 were killed and wounded. On the side of the Amer- 
 icans the slaughter was not so great. Being in pos- 
 session of a strong position they were of course less 
 exposed in defending, than the others in storming it ; 
 and had they conducted themselves with coolness and 
 resolution it is not conceivable how the day could 
 have been won. 
 
 Our troops were worn down from fatigue, and igno- 
 rant of the country, so that the pursuit could not be 
 continued to any distance. Neither was it attended 
 with much slaughter. Diving into the recesses of 
 the forests, and covering themselves with riflemen, 
 the enemy were quickly beyond our reach ; and as 
 they had no cavalry to scour even the high road, ten 
 of the lightest of their guns were carried off in flight. 
 The defeat, however, was absolute, and the army, 
 which had been collected for the defence of Washing- 
 ton, was scattered beyond the possibility of, at least, 
 an immediate reunion ; and as the distance from 
 Bladensburgh to that city does not exceed four miles, 
 there appeared to be no further obstacle in the way 
 to prevent its immediate capture. 
 
AN OFFICER OF TUF WAR OF l8i: 
 
No. 90] From the White House 281 
 
 90. From the Mistress of the 
 White House 
 
 By Dolly Madison (1814) 
 
 Tuesday, August 23, 1814. 
 
 Dear Sister : My husband left me yesterday 
 morning to join General Winter. He inquired anx- 
 iously whether I had courage or firmness to remain 
 in the President's house until his return on the mor- 
 row, or succeeding day, and on my assurance that 
 I had no fear but for him, and the success of our 
 army, he left, beseeching me to take care of myself, 
 and of the Cabinet papers, public and private. I 
 have since received two despatches from him written 
 with a pencil. The last is alarming, because he 
 desires that I should be ready at a moment's notice 
 to enter my carriage and leave the city ; that the 
 enemy seemed stronger than had at first been re- 
 ported, and it might happen that they would reach 
 the city with the intention of destroying it. 
 
 I am accordingly ready ; I have pressed as many 
 Cabinet papers into trunks as to fill one carriage ; our 
 private property m.ust be sacrificed, as it is impossible 
 to procure wagons for its transportation. I am deter- 
 mined not to go myself until I see Mr. Madison safe, 
 so that he can accompany me, as I hear of much 
 hostility toward him. Disaffection stalks around us. 
 My friends and acquaintances are all gone, even the 
 Colonel with his hundred who were stationed as a 
 guard in this enclosure. French John (a faithful ser- 
 vant), with his usual activity and resolution, offers to 
 spike the cannon at the gate, and lay a train of pow- 
 der, which would blow up the British, should they 
 enter the house. To the last proposition I positively 
 
282 The Ar7?iy [No. 90 
 
 object, without being able to make him understand 
 why all advantages in war may not be taken. 
 
 Wednesday morning, twelve o'clock — Since sun- 
 rise, I have been turning my spy-glass in every direc- 
 tion, and watching with unwearied anxiety, hoping to 
 discover the approach of my dear husband and his 
 friends; but alas! I can descry only groups of mili- 
 tary, as if there was a lack of arms, or of spirit to 
 fight for their own fireside. 
 
 Three d clock — Will you believe it, my sister .'' we 
 have had a battle or skirmish near Bladensburgh, and 
 here I am still within sound of the cannon! Mr. Madi- 
 son comes not. May God protect us ! Two mes- 
 sengers, covered with dust, come to bid me fly ; but 
 here I mean to wait for him. 
 
 At this late hour a wagon has been procured, and 
 I have had it filled, with plate, and the most valuable 
 portable articles, belonging to the house. Whether 
 it will reach its destination, the "Bank of Maryland," 
 or fall into the hands of British soldiery, events must 
 determine. Our kind friend Mr. Carroll, has come to 
 hasten my departure, and in a very bad humour with 
 me, because I insist on waiting till the large picture 
 of General Washington is secured, and it requires to 
 be unscrewed from the wall. This process was found 
 too tedious for these perilous moments ; I have ordered 
 the frame to be broken, and the canvas taken out. It 
 is done and the precious portrait placed in the hands 
 of two gentlemen of New York for safe keeping. 
 And now, dear sister, I must leave this house, or the 
 retreating army will make me a prisoner in it by filling 
 up the road I am directed to take. When I shall 
 again write to you, or where I shall be to-morrow, I 
 cannot tell! Dolly. 
 
No. 91] The Pillar of Glory 283 
 
 91. The Pillar of Glory 
 
 By Edwin C. Holland (1813) 
 
 Hail to the heroes whose triumphs have brighten'd 
 
 The darkness which shrouded America's name ; 
 Long shall their valor in battle that lighten'd, 
 Live in the brilliant escutcheons of fame : 
 
 Dark where the torrents flow, 
 
 And the rude tempests blow, 
 The storm clad spirit of Albion raves ; 
 
 Long shall she mourn the day, 
 
 When, in the vengeful fray, 
 Liberty walk'd like a god on the waves. 
 
 The ocean, ye chiefs, (the region of glory. 
 
 Where fortune has destined Columbia to reign,) 
 Gleams with the halo and lustre of story, 
 
 That curl round the wave as the scene of her fame : 
 
 There, on its raging tide, 
 
 Shall her proud navy ride. 
 The bulwark of freedom, protected by heaven ; 
 
 There shall her haughty foe, 
 
 Bow to her prowess low, 
 There shall renown to her heroes be given. 
 
 The Pillar of Glory, the sea that enlightens. 
 
 Shall last till eternity rocks on its base, 
 The splendor of fame its waters that brightens, 
 Shall light the footsteps of time in his race : 
 
 Wide o'er the stormy deep, 
 
 Where the rude surges sweep, 
 Its lustre shall circle the brows of the brave ; 
 
 Honor shall give it light, 
 
 Triumph shall keep it bright, 
 Lonsr as in battle we meet on the wave. 
 
284 
 
 The Army 
 
 [No. 92 
 
 Already the storm of contention has hurl'd 
 
 From the grasp of Old England the trident of war, 
 The beams of our stars have illumined the world, 
 Unfurl'd our standard beats proud in the air: 
 
 Wild glares the eagle's eye, 
 
 Swift as he cuts the sky. 
 Marking the wake where our heroes advance ; 
 
 Compass'd with rays of light. 
 
 Hovers he o'er the fight ; 
 Albion is heartless — and stoops to his glance. 
 
 92. The First Attempt on New 
 Orleans 
 
 By a British Officer (1814) 
 
 Before daylight, on the morning of the 13th, the 
 boats, armed with carronades, entered the lake, and, 
 after a pull of thirty-six hours, against the wind and 
 
 A BIG GUN OF l8l2. 
 
 Strong currents, the boats came, on the morning of 
 the 14th, within sight of five American gun-vessels, 
 which were moored off Saint Joseph's Island. 
 
No. 92] New Orleans 285 
 
 The boats were got into more dense order, and 
 threw out their grapplings to get some refreshment, 
 within a short pull of the enemy's line. 
 
 All being ready, the signal was given to advance, 
 and when the boats were in good range the Americans 
 pounded away. The boats' crews cried " Give way ! " 
 and cheered loudly ; hence it became a boat-race. 
 The Americans were moored in line, at least four hun- 
 dred yards apart one from the other, while the attack- 
 ing boats were a good deal divided, and each boat 
 pulling away wildly came to close quarters. The 
 clouds of smoke rolled upwards, and the splashing of 
 round and grape shot in the water, and the loud ex- 
 hortations of " Give way ! " presented an animated 
 scene at mid-day. The British at last mastered the 
 Americans, and captured all the five vessels in suc- 
 cession, making their different crews prisoners, but 
 not before some of the guns of the captured vessels 
 had been turned upon those that still resisted, to en- 
 able the boarders to complete their victory. 
 
 By the 21st all the land forces were concentrated 
 upon the Isle au Poix, situated about equidistant from 
 the anchorage of the fleet and the destined place of 
 landing. 
 
 Captain Travers's company of riflemen were pulled 
 ahead. Seeing a fire on the right-hand side of the 
 creek, a short way within its mouth, these riflemen 
 quietly stepped ashore, and with a simultaneous rush 
 they contrived to capture the whole of this lookout 
 American picket without a single gun of alarm having 
 been discharged by either party. The straggling 
 boats then dashed up the creek, which is enclosed on 
 either side by a vast sea of reeds. Soon after day- 
 light, a few of the troops made good their landing on 
 
2 86 The A 7^ my [no. 92 
 
 the left-hand side of the creek, within seven miles of 
 New Orleans during the previous night, and the other 
 boats came up one by one. Early the next day one 
 thousand six hundred British troops were landed 
 within seven miles of New Orleans. After marching 
 through a small wood they came upon more solid 
 ground near the head of the Bayau, and reached a 
 house and plantation near the bank of the Mississippi. 
 Here the same company of riflemen, which had taken 
 the American picket the night before, now again took 
 a major and twenty armed American militia-men, in 
 coloured clothes, prisoners, within six miles of New 
 Orleans, without a shot being discharged on either 
 side, or an individual left at liberty to carry any intel- 
 ligence of so wonderful an arrival of armed visitors 
 so near the city. Unfortunately the captive major 
 effected his escape, and conveyed the news of the 
 landing of the British to Orleans. 
 
 Not a single obstacle worthy of naming stopped the 
 march of the soldiers. 
 
 There was still five hours' light ; but the whole 
 day was lost, and the troops halted at the very time 
 they ought to have gone on. Two American vessels 
 were seen anchored up the river, but no notice was 
 taken of them, or rather no preparations were made 
 to receive them should they slip their cables, although 
 the spot which the British were now holding was a 
 contracted space of ground within a few hundred 
 yards of the Mississippi. 
 
 Night was now coming on apace ; the British 
 troops were already landed, and the soldiers were 
 lounging about. 
 
 Fires now blazed in the bivouac and all around 
 Monsieur Villerey's house, and many lights showed 
 
No. 92] New Orlearis 287 
 
 the dark outlines of men passing to and fro, and 
 busily employed cooking in the kettles belonging to 
 the slaves of the plantation. Some of the soldiers 
 were asleep, whilst others were partaking of a warm 
 meal after a long fast. 
 
 In this happy state of security his Britannic Majes- 
 ty's troops were indulging, their arms piled, and each 
 soldier looking after his httle immediate necessities. 
 Their van-guards were in front at the usual military 
 distance when, at eight o'clock, a heavy splash in 
 the river was distinctly heard by some of the troops. 
 This soon proved to be the American sloop of four- 
 teen guns which had been seen up the river ; and 
 now, after dark came down, let go her anchor, and 
 swung round her head to the current, with her broad- 
 side facing the bivouac, within a few hundred yards. 
 The fires, like so many land-marks or beacons, enabled 
 the Americans to point their guns. All was prepared 
 on board the sloop, and vice versa all was unprepared 
 on shore, when a sonorous voice was heard to exclaim, 
 in broad English, (as if rising out of the waters of the 
 Mississippi), " Now, give it 'em ! " As the flashes 
 from the cannon reflected for a moment the out- 
 lines of the ominous sloop on the water, the round 
 and grape-shot plunged like so many thunder-bolts 
 amongst the astounded troops, and the balls bore 
 down whole piles of arms, knocking kettles off the 
 fires, scattering blazing beams of wood about, maim- 
 ing some soldiers, and sending others whence no 
 traveller returns. 
 
 The morning of the 24th broke sluggishly, and the 
 smoking ports of the sloop (it was a sore thorn in the 
 side of the British head-quarters) still projected its 
 iron thunder amonsrst the besieged. 
 
2 88 The Army [no. 92 
 
 By the morning of the 25th all the scattered re- 
 mains of the British force were landed piece-meal, 
 hour after hour, by the prodigious exertions of the 
 sailors. All eyes were still cast on the American 
 schooner, whose sides still smoked by day, and at 
 night vomited iron harbingers from its ports into the 
 bivouac of the British, so that, in point of fact, the 
 city of New Orleans and General Jackson now became 
 only a secondary consideration, and the discussion was 
 how to get rid of this watery dragon ; for the destruc- 
 tion of which heavy guns were sent for to the fleet, if 
 possible, to blow her out of the water. 
 
 General Jackson profited by this floating deception, 
 placed there to allure the British general, and took 
 advantage of his own manoeuvre, which fortunately 
 for him had the desired effect; and he prolonged the 
 broad ditch by making a cut across the high road to 
 the bank of the Mississippi, about one hundred yards 
 behind the crescent battery on the high road. 
 
 This work was executed as a sort of forlorn hope 
 to save New Orleans even for a day. Behind this 
 cut and the ditch, the American general promptly 
 constructed a barricade nearly three quarters of a 
 mile in length, extending from the Mississippi on his 
 right to the impassable wood on his left, all across a 
 flat and naked plain, and within a few hundred yards 
 of the British out-guards. 
 
 The manner of putting this barricade together was 
 most curious : in the first instance detached barrels 
 and sugar casks were brought up and left here and 
 there standing isolated, the apertures between them 
 being filled up with mud and all sorts of odds and 
 ends placed along the edge of the ditch so as to 
 form a temporary screen to protect the defenders 
 
No. 92] New Or leasts 289 
 
 against musketry ; the barricade being hardly breast 
 high, looked like some contemptible expedient, but 
 the ditch ten feet wide and two or three feet deep 
 protected this barricade in front, and made a pretty 
 tolerable field position. 
 
 Four heavy pieces of cannon were now in the 
 crescent battery, which made it somewhat more 
 respectable. The rude barricade as a war stratagem 
 was botched together in a sorry straggling way, but 
 was added to and improved in strength from hour to 
 hour, and the interstices betwixt the casks and other 
 crevices of these rough and ready materials were 
 caulked up with mud and other materials. All this 
 labour was executed, without any annoyance from the 
 British advanced posts, within one mile and a quarter 
 of their head-quarters, by a defeated mass of peas- 
 antry, who only stood their ground because no one 
 molested them. 
 
 On the 27th, the besieged blew up the American 
 sloop from the battery with hot balls, and her timbers 
 floated down the turbid waters of the Mississippi, but 
 not before her crew had taken to their boats and got 
 safely ashore. 
 
 On the morning of the 28th, at day-break. General 
 Gibbs, with his brigade, advanced towards the left of 
 the American barricades, and General Keane in like 
 manner along the high road parallel to the river, un- 
 housed an American picket from a building a few 
 hundred yards in front of their crescent battery, 
 which the enemy set on fire to make more smoke. 
 
 General Keane's brigade was steadily advancing, 
 the rifle-corps leading ; but when within good cannon 
 range, the crescent battery, with full charge of pow- 
 der and ball, resounded a loud defiance, and some 
 
290 The Army [no. 92 
 
 cannon balls, striking the centre of the middle regi- 
 ment of the British, knocked down the soldiers, and 
 tossed them into the air like old bags. This column, 
 to the utter astonishment of officers and soldiers, was 
 ordered to halt just as their blood was up ready for 
 the usual rush. And the light field-pieces began an 
 interchange with the once significant crescent bat- 
 tery. The American ship of sixteen guns now threw 
 its broadside obliquely in conjunction with the guns 
 of the battery in front, that nearly destroyed all the 
 artillery-men working the two British guns, and soon 
 stopped their remonstrances ; a few sailors finally 
 dragged the guns off the field of contention, the 
 gunners being nearly all killed or wounded. At first 
 the centre of the column on the high road was thrown 
 into some confusion, but was soon restored to order. 
 
 A battery was erected by the British seven hundred 
 yards from the crescent battery of the Americans, and 
 on the 1st of January, 1815, his Britannic Majesty's 
 troops were again ordered to advance. A dense white 
 fog, however, for a time obscured all objects, and was 
 one of the luckiest circumstances that could have 
 happened for the advantage of the attacking body. 
 When it cleared off the heavy guns of the British 
 opened with such effect that most of the Americans 
 deserted the crescent battery, and a great deal of 
 confusion happened within their main lines ; for this 
 being the first time they had felt the effects of round 
 shot of any magnitude, and many of them went off 
 towards New Orleans, while the bravest crouched be- 
 hind their epaulments ready to stand up to repel the 
 expected assault. For more than ten minutes they 
 did not fire a gun, and the British cannoniers had the 
 fight all to themselves. A whole brigade of infantry 
 
No. 93] Battle of the Thames 291 
 
 close at hand burned to be ordered on to the assault, 
 and with loud words demanded why they were not 
 led on, when ladders and other materials had been 
 brought up for the passage of that ditch. But to 
 their utter astonishment no such order was given, 
 and there is no doubt that the British troops, rushing 
 on under cover of their guns with a few planks, 
 would have obtained possession of the enemy's works 
 with facility. 
 
 The Americans, seeing that no one came to molest 
 them, first opened one gun, then a second, until all 
 their artillery was subsequently manned. The weak 
 defences of the British mud battery were pierced 
 through and through, some of its guns dismounted, 
 and a fresh batch of artillerymen nearly all killed 
 and wounded ; its fire was silenced, and at night the 
 residue of its guns were either dragged away or 
 buried. Thus ended the second siege of the crescent 
 battery. 
 
 It was now considered by the British general that 
 the American barricade was too strong to attack in 
 front with his present force. 
 
 93. Battle of the Thames 
 
 By Henry M. Brackenridge (1813) 
 
 On the 5th of October, the pursuit was renewed ; 
 they captured provisions and ammunition to a con- 
 siderable amount, and reached the place where the 
 enemy had encamped the night before. Colonel 
 Wood was now sent forward by the Commander-in- 
 Chief, to reconnoitre the British and Indian forces ; 
 
292 
 
 The Army 
 
 [No. 93 
 
 and he very soon returned with information, that they 
 had made a stand a few miles distant, and were ready 
 for action. General Proctor had drawn up his regu- 
 lar forces across a narrow strip of land covered with 
 beech-trees, flanked on one side by a swamp and on 
 the other by the river ; their left rested on the river 
 supported by the larger portion of their artillery, and 
 their right on the swamp. Beyond the swamp, and 
 between it and another morass still further to the 
 
 UNDER FIRE. 
 
 right, were the Indians under Tecumseh. This posi- 
 tion was skilfully chosen by Proctor, with regard to 
 locality, and the character of his troops ; but he com- 
 mitted an irreparable oversight in neglecting to fortify 
 his front by a ditch, and in drawing up his troops 
 " in open order, that is, with intervals of three or four 
 feet between the files " — a mode of array which 
 could not resist a charge of cavalry. His whole force 
 consisted of about eight hundred regular soldiers and 
 two thousand Indians. 
 
No. 93] Battle of the Thames 293 
 
 The American troops, amounting to something 
 more than three thousand men, were now disposed 
 in order of battle. General Harrison had at first 
 ordered the mounted men to form in two lines, op- 
 posite to the Indians ; but he soon observed that the 
 underwood here was too close for cavalry to act with 
 any effect. He was aware of the egregious error 
 committed by Proctor as above mentioned, and well 
 knew the dexterity of backwoodsmen in riding, and 
 in the use of the rifle, in forest ground, so he immedi- 
 ately determined that one battalion of the mounted 
 regiment should charge on the British regulars. The 
 other was left to confront the Indians. The requisite 
 arrangements were made, and the army had moved 
 forward but a short distance, when the enemy fired. 
 This was the signal for our cavalry to charge ; and, 
 although the men and horses in the front of the col- 
 umn at first recoiled, they soon recovered themselves, 
 and the whole body dashed through the enemy with 
 irresistible force. Instantly forming in the rear of 
 the British, they poured on them a destructive fire, 
 and were about to make a second charge, when the 
 British officers, finding it impossible, from the nature 
 of the ground and the panic which prevailed, to form 
 their broken ranks, immediately surrendered. 
 
 On the left, the battle was begun by Tecumseh 
 with great fury. The galling fire of the Indians did 
 not check the advance of the American columns; 
 but the charge was not successful, from the miry 
 character of the soil and the number and closeness 
 of the thickets which covered it. In these circum- 
 stances, Colonel Johnson ordered his men to dis- 
 mount, and leading them up a second time, succeeded 
 after a desperate contest in breaking through the 
 
2 94 '^^^ Army [no. 93 
 
 line of the Indians and gaining their rear. Notwith- 
 standing this, and that the colonel now directed his 
 men to fight them in their own mode, the Indians 
 were unwilling to yield the day ; they quickly col- 
 lected their principal strength on the right and at- 
 tempted to penetrate the line of infantry. At first 
 they made an impression on it ; but they were soon 
 repulsed by the aid of a regiment of Kentucky volun- 
 teers led on by the aged Shelby, who had been posted at 
 the angle formed by the front line and Desha's division. 
 The combat now raged with increasing fury ; the 
 Indians, to the number of twelve or fifteen hundred, 
 seeming determined to maintain their ground to the 
 last. The terrible voice of Tecumseh could be dis- 
 tinctly heard, encouraging his warriors; and although 
 beset on every side except that of the morass, they 
 fought with more determined courage than they had 
 ever before exhibited. An incident, however, now 
 occurred which eventually decided the contest. The 
 gallant Colonel Johnson having rushed towards the 
 spot where the Indians, clustering around their un- 
 daunted chief, appeared resolved to perish by his side, 
 his uniform, and the white horse which he rode, 
 rendered him a conspicuous object. In a moment 
 his holsters, dress and accoutrements were pierced 
 with a hundred bullets, and he fell to the ground 
 severely wounded. Tecumseh, meanwhile, was killed 
 in the melee. After the rescue and removal of the 
 wounded colonel, the command devolved on Major 
 Thompson. The Indians maintained the fight for 
 more than an hour ; but when they no longer heard 
 the voice of their great captain, they at last gave way 
 on all sides. Near the spot where this struggle took 
 place, thirty Indians and six whites were found dead. 
 
No. 93] Battle of the Thames 295 
 
 Thus fell Tecumseh, one of the most celebrated 
 warriors that ever raised the tomahawk against us ; 
 and with him faded the last hope of our Indian ene- 
 mies. This untutored man was the determined foe 
 of civilization, and had for years been laboring to 
 unite all the Indian tribes in resisting the progress 
 of our settlements to the westward. Had such a man 
 opposed the European colonists on their first arrival, 
 this continent might still have been a wilderness. 
 Tecumseh fell respected by his enemies as a great 
 and magnanimous chief. Although he seldom took 
 prisoners in battle, he was merciful to those who had 
 been taken by others ; and, at the defeat of Dudley, 
 actually put to death a chief whom he found engaged 
 in the work of massacre. He had been in almost 
 every engagement with the whites since Harmer's 
 defeat in 1791, although at his death he scarcely ex- 
 ceeded forty years of age. Tecumseh had received 
 the stamp of greatness from the hand of nature ; 
 and had his lot been cast in a different state of soci- 
 ety, he would have shone as one of the most dis- 
 tinguished of men. He was endowed with a powerful 
 mind, and with the soul of a hero. There was an 
 uncommon dignity in his countenance and manners : 
 by the former he could easily be discovered, even 
 after death, among the rest of the slain, for he wore 
 no insignia of distinction. When girded with a silk 
 sash, and told by General Proctor that he was made 
 a brigadier-general in the British service for his 
 conduct at Brownstown and Magagua, he refused 
 the title. Born without title to command, such was 
 his native greatness, that every tribe yielded submis- 
 sion to him at once, and no one ever disputed his 
 precedence. Subtle and fierce in war, he was pos- 
 
296 The Army [no. 94 
 
 sessed of uncommon eloquence. Invective was his 
 chief merit, as we had frequent occasion to experi- 
 ence. He gave a remarkable instance of its power 
 in the reproaches which he applied to General Proctor, 
 in a speech delivered a few days before his death ; a 
 copy of which was found among the papers of the 
 British officers. His form was uncommonly elegant. 
 His stature was about six feet, and his limbs were 
 perfectly proportioned. 
 
 In this engagement, the British loss was nineteen 
 regulars killed, fifty wounded, and about six hundred 
 taken prisoners. The Indians left one hundred and 
 twenty on the field. The American loss, in killed 
 and wounded, amounted to upwards of fifty. Several 
 pieces of brass cannon, the trophies of our Revolu- 
 tion, and which had been surrendered by Hull at 
 Detroit, were once more restored to our country. 
 General Proctor had basely deserted his troops as 
 soon as the charge was made ; and though hotly 
 pursued, was enabled, by means of swift horses and 
 his knowledge of the country, to escape down the 
 Thames. His carriage with his private papers, how- 
 ever, was taken. 
 
 94. Campaigning on the Niagara 
 
 By Captain Samuel White (1814) 
 
 Ini8i4the Before day-break on the morning of the fifth, it 
 
 governor of ^^^g ascertained that the Colonel to whom orders 
 
 IVnnsyl- i i i 
 
 vaniaor- had becu sent by General Porter to supply the troops 
 dered out a with three days' provisions, had neglected that neces- 
 
 portion of . , , , 
 
 sary precaution ; the consequence was, that a boat 
 
No. 94] Niagara Campaign 297 
 
 had to be despatched to Buffalo with an order for 
 provisions, which, however, did not reach us until 
 about two o'clock in the day, when we were supplied 
 with a couple of biscuits each, being the first which 
 a majority of us had eaten that day. At four o'clock 
 we came in view of the encampment of our regular 
 troops, and halted. We had not been many minutes 
 at rest before a requisition was made for volunteers 
 to turn out and drive off the hostile Indians who had 
 been firing on our pickets. Fatigued as we were, 
 having traveled that day about eighteen miles with- 
 out rations, it is not surprising that not much alac- 
 rity was shown by the men to become of the party. 
 Lieutenant Gilleland, Ensign Graff, the surgeon of 
 the volunteers, and myself, laid aside our swords, and 
 borrowing rifles, volunteered as privates; about three 
 hundred of the volunteers of our own regiment also 
 came forward, and these were strengthened by sev- 
 eral hundred Indians, the whole under the command 
 of General Porter, Colonel Bull, and Major Galloway. 
 I had eaten nothing except one biscuit from the time 
 I had my dinner the day before at Buffalo, and had 
 even given away the balance of my store, expecting 
 to get a good supper that evening ; but I was doomed 
 to be mistaken. 
 
 Orders were issued that every white man who went 
 out under General Porter should leave his hat, and go 
 uncovered. The Indians tied up their heads with 
 pieces of white muslin, and it was really diverting to 
 see them making their preparations for battle. After 
 having tied up their heads, which process must have 
 consumed at least fifty yards of fine muslin, they 
 painted their faces, making red streaks above their 
 eyes and foreheads ; they then went to old logs and 
 
 the state 
 militia to re- 
 pel the inva- 
 sion of the 
 Brilislion the 
 northern 
 frontier. 
 White was a 
 captain of 
 militia in 
 Adams 
 County, and 
 arrived at 
 Buffalo in 
 time for the 
 Niagara 
 campaign, 
 but was 
 taken captive 
 during 
 the battle of 
 Chippewa 
 here de- 
 scribed. 
 
298 The Army [no. 94 
 
 burnt stumps, and spitting upon their hands, rubbed 
 them upon the burnt part, until they were perfectly 
 black, when they drew their fingers down their 
 cheeks, leaving large black streaks ; after this prep- 
 aration they were ready for action or march. We 
 proceeded in single file through a lane to our left, 
 and in the course of half an hour came in contact 
 with the enemy, who were posted in the woods on 
 our right, and completely concealed from our obser- 
 vation. Immediately upon our entering a long nar- 
 row path, they opened upon us with a pretty brisk 
 fire ; we faced to the right, and pressing forward, 
 put them to rout. They continued their flight and 
 we pursued them, keeping up a smart fire, which, 
 from the manner of the position, did considerable 
 damage, until they drew us into rather a perilous 
 situation. 
 
 The whole British army had crossed the bridge at 
 Chippewa, and drawn up their forces under cover of 
 a piece of woods, near the Niagara River, and run- 
 ning parallel with the Chippewa Creek, directly across 
 the creek, where the British batteries commanded the 
 same position. Driving the Indians rapidly through 
 the woods, we at length came in full contact with the 
 British regular line, which, in conjunction with the 
 batteries, opened a most tremendous fire. From 
 the clouds of dust and heavy firing, General Brown 
 concluded that the entire force of the British was 
 in motion, and gave orders to General Scott to 
 advance with his brigade and Towson's artillery, 
 and. meet the enemy on the plain in front of the 
 American camp. In a few minutes Scott was in 
 close action with a far superior force of regulars. 
 Major Jessup, commanding the battalion on the 
 
No. 94] Niagara Campaig7t 299 
 
 left flank, finding himself pressed both in front and 
 rear, and his men falling fast, ordered his battal- 
 ion to support arms and advance, which bold 
 order, in the midst of the enemy's hottest fire, was 
 obeyed with a promptness which did them honour. 
 Having advanced within twenty paces of the enemy's 
 line, they were ordered to level and fire, causing such 
 havoc in the enemy's line as forced them to retreat. 
 About this time also one of our hot shot fell into the 
 enemy's magazine and blew it up. This occurrence 
 silenced their artillery ; the whole British force fell 
 back, and being closely pressed by the American 
 troops, retreated in confusion to their entrenchment, 
 about a quarter of a mile distant. General Brown 
 immediately ordered the ordnance to be brought up 
 with the intention of forcing the works, but upon 
 more mature reflection, and by the advice of his 
 officers, he was induced to order the forces back 
 to camp. 
 
 In this engagement, which resulted so disastrously 
 to the British, a considerable portion of the army, 
 though burning for the conflict, had not an oppor- 
 tunity of coming into action. The conquerors of the 
 veterans of France, were, in fact, defeated by a de- 
 tachment from the American army. The only troops 
 engaged on the part of General Brown, were Scott's 
 brigade, and the Pennsylvania volunteers, commanded 
 by Porter. The conduct of these men was heroic 
 in the extreme : wherever they directed their fire or 
 pointed their bayonets, the boasted " conquerors of 
 the peninsula " fell or fled ; the volunteers, in par- 
 ticular, manifested all the coolness and bravery of 
 regular troops. Such was the punishment they re- 
 ceived in this engagement, that, although battle was 
 
300 The Army [no. 95 
 
 offered them again on their own terms, they shrunk 
 from its acceptance. 
 
 The loss of the enemy was nearly six hundred 
 killed, as was ascertained some time afterwards, 
 although they were never willing to acknowledge it 
 so great ; they removed, however, off the field, nearly 
 five hundred wounded men before their retreat, and 
 the loss in the woods of the Canadian militia, by our 
 scouting party, was upwards of eighty killed. It was 
 not known how many Indians fell, but their loss must 
 have been very great. When our scouting party re- 
 turned, there were but twenty men missing, five of 
 of that number were prisoners, four whites and one 
 Indian. 
 
 95. The American Flag 
 
 By Joseph Rodman Drake (i8i8) 
 
 When Freedom from her mountain height, 
 Unfurl'd her standard to the air. 
 She tore the azure robe of night. 
 And set the stars of glory there ! 
 She mingled with its gorgeous dyes 
 The milky baldric of the skies. 
 And striped its pure, celestial white 
 With streakings of the morning light ; 
 Then from his mansion in the sun. 
 She call'd her eagle bearer down. 
 And gave into his mighty hand 
 The symbol of her chosen land. 
 
 Majestic monarch of the cloud ! 
 Who rear'st aloft thy regal form, 
 
No. 95] T/ie American Flag 301 
 
 To hear the tempest trumping loud, 
 And see the lightning-lances driven; 
 When stride the warriors of the storm, 
 And rolls the thunder-drum of heaven ! 
 Child of the sun ! to thee 'tis given 
 
 WHERE THE FIRST AMERICAN FLAG WAS iMADE. 
 
 To guard the banner of the free, 
 To hover in the sulphur smoke, 
 To ward away the battle stroke, 
 And bid its blendings shine afar, 
 Like rainbows on the cloud of war, 
 The harbingers of victory. 
 
302 T/ie Army [no. 95 
 
 Flag of the brave ! Thy folds shall fly, 
 The sign of hope and triumph high ! 
 When speaks the signal trumpet tone, 
 And the long line comes gleaming on, 
 (Ere yet the life-blood, warm and wet, 
 Has dimm'd the glistening bayonet,) 
 Each soldier's eye shall brightly turn. 
 To where thy meteor glories burn, 
 And, as his springing steps advance, 
 Catch war and vengeance from the glance ! 
 And when the cannon-mouthings loud, 
 Heave in wild wreaths the battle-shroud. 
 And gory sabres rise and fall, 
 Like shoots of flame on midnight pall, — 
 There shall thy victor glances glow. 
 And cowering foes shall sink beneath 
 Each gallant arm that strikes below 
 That lovely messenger of death ! 
 
 Flag of the seas ! on ocean's wave. 
 Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave, 
 When death, careering on the gale, . 
 Sleeps darkly round the bellied sail, 
 And frighted waves rush wildly back 
 Before the broadside's reeling rack, — 
 The dying wanderer of the sea 
 Shall look, at once, to heaven and thee. 
 And smile to see thy splendors fly. 
 In triumph o'er his closing eye. 
 
 Flag of the free heart's only home ! 
 By angel hands to valor given, — 
 Thy stars have lit the welkin dome. 
 And all thy hues were born in heaven ! 
 
No. 96] Under Fire 303 
 
 For ever float that standard sheet ! 
 Where breathes the foe that stands before us 
 With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, 
 And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us ! 
 
 96. A Hot Fight in front of the 
 American Lines 
 
 By John Henry Cooke (1814) 
 
 We had run the gauntlet, from the left to the centre 
 in front of the American lines, under a cross fire, in 
 hopes of joining in the assault, and had a fine view of 
 the sparkling of the musketry, and the liquid flashes 
 from the cannon. Melancholy to relate, all at once 
 many soldiers were met wildly rushing out of the 
 dense clouds of smoke lighted up by a sparkling sheet 
 of fire, which hovered over the ensanguined field. 
 Regiments were shattered, broke, and dispersed, all 
 order was at an end. The dismal spectacle was seen 
 of the dark shadows of men, like skirmishers, break- 
 ing out of the clouds of smoke, which slowly and 
 majestically rolled along the even surface of the field. 
 So astonished was I at such a panic, that I said to 
 a retiring soldier, " Have we or the Americans at- 
 tacked } " for I had never seen troops in such a hurry 
 without being followed. " No," replied the man, with 
 the countenance of despair and out of breath, as he 
 run along, "we attacked, Sir." For still the rever- 
 beration was so intense towards the great wood, that 
 any one would have thought the great fighting was 
 going on there instead of immediately in front. 
 
304 The Army [no. 96 
 
 Lieutenant Duncan Campbell, of our regiment, was 
 seen to our left running about in circles, first stag- 
 gering one way, then another, and at length fell help- 
 lessly upon his face on the sod. While being borne 
 insensible to the rear, he still clutched the hilt of his 
 sword with a convulsive grasp, the blade of which 
 was broken off close at the hilt with grape-shot. He 
 lived only a few days. 
 
 The first officer we met was Lieutenant-colonel 
 Stovin, of the staff, who was unhorsed, without his 
 hat, and bleeding down the left side of his face. He 
 at first thought that the two hundred men were the 
 whole regiment, and he said, " Forty-third, you men 
 must save the day ! " Lieutenant-colonel Smith, of 
 the rifles and one of Packenham's staff, then rode up 
 at full gallop from the right, and said to me, " Did 
 you ever see such a scene .'' There is nothing left 
 but the Seventh and Forty-third ! Just draw up here 
 for a few minutes to show front that the repulsed 
 troops may re-form." The chances now were, as the 
 greater portion of the actually attacking corps were 
 stricken down, and the remainder dispersed, that the 
 Americans would become the assailants. The ill-fated 
 rocket was discharged before the British troops moved 
 on ; the consequence was, that every American gun 
 was warned by such a silly signal to be laid on the 
 parapets ready to be discharged with the fullest effects. 
 
 The misty field of battle was now inundated with 
 wounded officers and soldiers who were going to the 
 rear from the right, left, and centre ; in fact, little 
 more than one thousand soldiers were left unscathed 
 out of the three thousand that attacked the American 
 lines, and they fell like the very blades of grass be- 
 neath the scythe of the mower. Packenham was killed. 
 
No. 96] Under Fire 305 
 
 Gibbs was mortally wounded, and his brigade dis- 
 persed like the dust before the whirlwind, and Keane 
 was wounded. The command of His Majesty's forces 
 at this critical juncture now fell to Major-general Lam- 
 bert, the only general left, who was in reserve with 
 his fine brigade. 
 
 For five hours the enemy plied us with grape and 
 round shot ; some of the wounded lying in the mud 
 or on the wet grass, managed to crawl away ; but 
 every now and then some unfortunate man was lifted 
 off the ground by round shot, and lay killed or man- 
 gled. During the tedious hours we remained in front, 
 it was necessary to lie on the ground, to cover our- 
 
 A FLINT LOCK OF l8l2. 
 
 selves from the projectiles. An officer of our regi- 
 ment was in reclining posture, when grape-shot passed 
 through both his knees ; at first he sank back faintly, 
 but at length opening his eyes and looking at his 
 wounds, he said, " Carry me away, I am chilled to 
 death." As he was hoisted on the men's shoulders, 
 more round and grape-shot passed his head ; taking 
 off his cap, he waved it ; and after many narrow es- 
 capes got out of range, suffered amputation of both 
 legs, but died of his wounds on board ship, after en- 
 during all the pain of the surgical operation, and pass- 
 ing down the lake in an open boat. 
 
 A tree, about two feet in diameter and fifteen in 
 height, with a few scattered branches at the top, was 
 the only object to break the monotonous scene. This 
 
 X 
 
2o6 The Army [no. 97 
 
 tree was near the right of our regiment : the Ameri- 
 cans, seeing some persons clustering around it, fired 
 a thirty-two pound shot, which struck the tree exactly 
 in the centre, and buried itself in the trunk with a 
 loud concussion. Curiosity prompted some of us to 
 take a hasty inspection of it, and I could clearly see 
 the rusty ball within the tree. I thrust my arm in a 
 little above the elbow-joint, and laid hold of it ; it was 
 truly amusing between the intervals of firing the can- 
 non, to witness the risks continually run by the offi- 
 cers to take a peep at this shot. Owing to this 
 circumstance, the vicinity of the tree became rather a 
 hot birth ; but the American gunners failed to hit it a 
 second time, although some balls passed very near on 
 each side, and for about an hour it was a source of 
 excessive jocularity to us. In the middle of the day 
 a flag of truce was sent by General Lambert to Gen- 
 eral Jackson, to be allowed to bury the dead, which 
 was acceded to by the latter on certain conditions. 
 
 97. Canadian Camps and Battles 
 
 By Elias Darnall (1812) 
 
 The weather is excessively cold; the ice has 
 
 stopped the navigation of the river, so that the plan 
 
 of going to the Rapids by water is entirely frustrated; 
 
 we had prepared about sixty pirogues for the voyage, 
 
 which will be left here for our successors. 
 
 I'irogues The General has ordered the commandants of 
 
 wofc"ralfoes ^"^gi^ients to cause each company to be provided 
 
 hollowed with a sufficient number of sleds to convey their 
 
 from the baggage to the Rapids. It is said these sleds are 
 
No. 97] In Canada 307 
 
 to be pulled by the men, as we have not a horse trunk ofa 
 in camp able to pull an empty sled. A little flour ^^^*^- ^'^^y 
 
 . . were later 
 
 came to camp once more, to-day, quarter-rations of developed 
 that article were issued, which was welcomed by re- 'nioasort 
 joicing throughout the camp. Two days later Cap- tomed ferry- 
 tain Hickman returned with joyful news — that we boat, as 
 should in a short time be supplied with flour. The "^''this""'''^ 
 deficiency in this article had produced serious conse- selection. 
 quences in the army. We have here been exposed 
 to numberless difficulties, as well as deprived of the 
 common necessities of life ; and what made these 
 things operate more severely was, all hopes of obtain- 
 ing any conquest was entirely abandoned. Obstacles 
 had emerged in the path to victory, which must have 
 appeared unsurmountable to every person endowed 
 with common sense. The distance to Canada, the 
 unpreparedness of the army, the scarcity of pro- 
 visions, and the badness of the weather, show that 
 Maiden cannot be taken in the remaining part of 
 our time. And would it not have been better if this 
 army had been disbanded t Our sufferings at this 
 place have been greater than if we had been in a 
 severe battle. More than one hundred lives have 
 been lost owing to our bad accommodations ! The 
 sufferings of about three hundred sick at a time, who 
 are exposed to the cold ground and deprived of 
 every nourishment, are sufficient proofs of our 
 wretched condition. The camp had become a loath- 
 some place. The hope of being one day relieved 
 from these unnecessary sufferings affords some relief. 
 We received this evening a supply of flour, and 
 have been delivered from a state of starvation. It 
 being Christmas eve, just after dark a number of 
 guns were fired in quick succession ; the whole army 
 
3o8 The Arffiy [no. 97 
 
 was ordered to parade in order of battle; strict orders 
 were given to suppress the firing. About an hour 
 before day the firing commenced again ; the army 
 was again paraded and strict orders given, threaten- 
 ing to punish the offenders. 
 
 We are now about commencing one of the most 
 serious marches ever performed by the Americans, 
 destitute in a measure of clothes, shoes, and pro- 
 visions, — the most essential articles necessary for 
 the existence and preservation of the human species 
 in this world, and more particularly in this climate. 
 Three sleds are prepared for each company, each to 
 be pulled by a pack-horse, which has been without 
 food for two weeks, except brush, and will not be 
 better fed while in our service. Probably the most 
 of these horses never had harness on, but the pre- 
 sumption is they will be too tame ; we have, however, 
 prepared harness out of green hides. 
 
 After nearly three months' preparation for this ex- 
 pedition, we commenced our march in great splendor; 
 our elegant equipage cast a brilliant lustre on the 
 surrounding objects as it passed! Our clothes and 
 blankets looked as if they had never been acquainted 
 with water, but intimately with dirt, soot and smoke ; 
 in fact, we have become acquainted with one much 
 despised in Kentucky, under whose government we 
 are obliged to live, whose name is " Poverty." We 
 marched six miles and encamped near Colonel's 
 regiment, which marched yesterday ; the sick were 
 left at No. Three, with a company from each regi- 
 ment as a guard. 
 
 We started early, in order to get there before 
 Colonel Elliott ; after travelHng fifteen miles, mostly 
 on ice, we received information of the enemy being 
 
No. 97] In Canada 309 
 
 there waiting for us ; we were then within three miles 
 of Frenchtown ; we proceeded with no other view 
 than to conquer or die. When we advanced in sight 
 of the town and were about a quarter of a mile from 
 it, the British saluted us by firing a piece of cannon; 
 they fired it three times, but no injury was sustained. 
 During this time we formed the line of battle, and 
 raising a shout, advanced on them briskly ; they soon 
 commenced the firing of their small arms ; but this 
 did not deter us from a charge. We advanced close 
 and let loose on them. They gave way, and we soon 
 had possession of a village without the loss of a man. 
 Three were slightly wounded. Twelve of their pris- 
 oners were scalped and one prisoner taken before 
 they got to the woods. In retreating they kept up 
 some firing. 
 
 We pursued them half a mile to the woods, which 
 were brushy and suited to their mode of fighting. As 
 we advanced, they were fixing themselves behind 
 logs and trees to the best advantage. Our troops 
 rushed on them resolutely and gave them Indian 
 play, took advantage of trees, and kept them retreat- 
 ing a mile and a half in the woods. During this 
 time a heavy fire was kept up on both sides. At 
 length, after a battle of three hours and five minutes, 
 we were obliged to stop the pursuit on account of the 
 approach of night, and retire to the village. We 
 collected our wounded and carried them to the vil- 
 lage, leaving" our dead on the ground. In this action 
 the Kentuckians displayed great bravery, after being 
 much fatigued with marching on the ice. 
 
 The next morning a party was. sent to the battle- 
 ground to bring in the dead, which were found 
 scalped and stripped. In going over the battle- 
 
3 I o The Army [no. 98 
 
 ground great signs were seen (by the blood and 
 where they had been dragged through the snow) of 
 a considerable loss on the part of the enemy. Two 
 of the wounded died. The British left a considera- 
 ble quantity of provisions and some store goods, 
 which answered us a valuable purpose. 
 
 98. Tall Americans 
 
 By Winfield Scott (1812) 
 
 Two bearers of flags of truce had been despatched 
 to the British commander, but there was no return 
 and no cessation of hostilities. It was concluded 
 that they had been killed or captured by the Indians. 
 Captains Totten and Gibson each volunteered to 
 make a third attempt, but as bearing a flag had 
 become a forlorn service, Lieutenant-Colonel Scott 
 assumed the duty to himself, and took with him his 
 gallant comrades, Totten and Gibson. Being uncom- 
 monly tall and in a splendid uniform, it was thought 
 he had the best chance of being respected by the 
 savages, who were under but little control. The 
 party had to pass down, along the margin of the 
 river some hundreds of yards, to find an easy ascent. 
 Several shots had been fired at them, before they 
 turned up to the left, when two Indians, after firing, 
 sprang from a covert and seized the party. A deadly 
 combat impended ; but a detachment of regulars, 
 headed by an officer, rushed to the rescue, and con- 
 ducted the flag to the British commander, General 
 Sheaffe. His first and second attempts to stop the 
 
No. 98] Tall Ame^Hcans 311 
 
 Indian fire on the American under the precipice 
 proved unsuccessful, and Lieutenant-Colonel Scott 
 demanded to be escorted back to his countrymen, 
 that he might share their fate. He was prevailed 
 upon to wait another trial, which succeeding, a formal 
 surrender was made on terms honorable to all par- 
 ties, and the prisoners were put in march for the 
 village of Newark (since Niagara), at the mouth of 
 the river. 
 
 On reaching the village of Newark, the American 
 officers were lodged in a small inn after being di- 
 vested of their swords, which were temporarily- 
 stacked under the staircase in the entry. A strong 
 guard was at hand, and sentries were posted. In a 
 few minutes a servant said that there were persons at 
 the front door who desired to see the tall Americans. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, passing through several 
 doors, found, on reaching the entry, that his visitors 
 were the same two Indians met by him some hours 
 before when bearing the flag of truce. Captain 
 Jacobs, one of them, a man of uncommon stature and 
 power, speaking but little English, was interpreted 
 by his companion. 
 
 The professed object of the Indians was to see if 
 they had not in the several combats of the day hit 
 the prisoner before them — each alleging that he had 
 deliberately fired at him three or four times from no 
 great distance. Their design, however, was no doubt 
 sinister. All the surviving Indians were exceedingly 
 exasperated at the severe loss their tribes had just 
 sustained. Jacobs, accordingly to begin the fray, 
 seized the prisoner rudely by the arm and attempted 
 to turn him round to examine his back. The savage 
 was indignantly thrown against the wall, when both 
 
312 The Army [no. 98 
 
 assailants, placing their hands on their knives and 
 hatchets, exclaimed: "We kill you now!" It was 
 an awful moment for the assailed. There was no 
 witness or help at hand. The sentinel near the door 
 who had improperly admitted the Indians, was not in 
 view, and perhaps indifferent as to consequences. 
 God and his own stout heart must save the American 
 from instant butchery. 
 
 With one mighty spring he seized the hilt of a 
 sword with an iron scabbard (easily drawn), then 
 springing back he faced the enemy and occupied the 
 narrow space between the staircase and the opposite 
 wall, but far enough advanced to allow a free use of 
 his sword over the depressed balustrade. In this 
 strong position he could not be attacked by two 
 assailants at once, and he was sure to fell the fore- 
 most, though he might be assassinated by the second 
 before he could recover his sword. 
 
 At this critical moment — the parties standing at 
 bay, but in act to strike — Captain Cofhn, nephew 
 and aide-de-camp of General Sheaffe, entered to con- 
 duct some of the prisoners to the general's quarters, 
 where they were invited to dine. The scene spoke 
 for itself. The captain instantly seized Jacobs by 
 the collar with one hand, holding a cocked pistol in 
 the other. The gallant aide-de-camp had just time 
 to call out " The guard ! " when a sergeant and squad 
 rushed in and marched off the savages as prisoners. 
 It required a strong escort to conduct the dinner 
 guests in safety to and from the general's quarters, 
 for the village swarmed with exasperated Indians. 
 
No. 99] Adams and liberty 313 
 99. Adams and Liberty 
 
 By Robert Treat Paine (1829) 
 
 Ye sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought 
 
 For those rights, which unstained from your sires 
 had descended. 
 May you long taste the blessings your valor has 
 bought, 
 And your sons reap the soil which their fathers 
 defended. 
 
 'Mid the reign of mild peace, 
 May your nation increase. 
 With the glory of Rome, and the wisdom of Greece ; 
 And ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves. 
 While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its 
 waves. 
 
 In a clime, whose rich vales feed the marts of the 
 world, 
 Whose shores are unshaken by Europe's commo- 
 tion, 
 The trident of commerce should never be hurl'd, 
 To incense the legitimate powers of the ocean. 
 But should pirates invade. 
 Though in thunder array'd, 
 Let your cannon declare the free charter of trade. 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 The fame of our arms, of our laws the mild sway, 
 Had justly ennobled our nation in story, 
 
 Till the dark clouds of faction obscured our young 
 day, 
 And enveloped the sun of American glory. 
 
314 The Army [no. 99 
 
 But let traitors be told, 
 Who their country have sold, 
 And barter'd their God for his image in gold. 
 That ne'er will the sons, &c. 
 
 'Tis the fire of the flint, each American warms, 
 
 Let Rome's haughty victors beware of collision. 
 Let them bring all the vassals of Europe in arms, 
 We're a world by ourselves, and disdain a division. 
 While with patriot pride. 
 To our laws we're allied. 
 No foe can subdue us, no faction divide, 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 Our mountains are crown'd with imperial oak; 
 
 Whose roots, like our liberties, ages have nourish'd ; 
 But long e'er our nation submits to the yoke. 
 
 Not a tree shall be left on the field where it 
 flourished. 
 
 Should invasion impend. 
 Every grove would descend, 
 From the hill-tops, they shaded, our shores to de- 
 fend. 
 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 Let our patriots destroy Anarch's pestilent worm ; 
 Lest our liberty's growth should be check'd by 
 corrosion ; 
 Then let clouds thicken round us ; we heed not the 
 storm ; 
 Our realms fear no shock, but the earth's own 
 explosion. 
 
No. 99] Adams and Liberty 315 
 
 Foes assail us in vain, 
 Though their fleets bridge the main, 
 For our altars and laws with our lives we'll main- 
 tain. 
 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 Should the tempest of war overshadow our land, 
 Its bolts could ne'er rend freedom's temple asun- 
 der ; 
 For, unmoved, at its portal, would Washington 
 stand. 
 And repulse, with his breast, the assaults of the 
 thunder ! 
 
 His sword from the sleep 
 Of its scabbard would leap, 
 And conduct, with its point, every flash to the deep ! 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 Let fame to the world sound America's voice ; 
 
 No intrigues can her sons from their governments 
 sever ; 
 Her pride is her Adams; her laws are his choice. 
 And shall flourish, till liberty slumbers for ever. 
 Then unite heart and hand. 
 Like Leonidas' band. 
 And swear to the God of the ocean and land. 
 That ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves. 
 While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its 
 waves. 
 
PART VIII 
 
 AT SCHOOL 
 
 loo. An Ambassador's Letters to 
 his Daughters 
 
 By Thomas Jefferson and Martha Jefferson (1785-87) 
 
 My dear Polly — I have not received a letter 
 from you since I came to France. If you knew 
 how much I love you and what pleasure the receipt 
 of your letters gave me at Philadelphia, you would 
 have written to me, or at least have told your aunt 
 what to write, and her goodness would have induced 
 her to take the trouble of writing it. I wish so much 
 to see you, that I have desired your uncle and aunt 
 to send you to me. I know, my dear Polly, how 
 sorry you will be, and ought to be, to leave them and 
 your cousins ; but your sister and myself can not live 
 without you, and after a while we will carry you back 
 again to see your friends in Virginia. In the mean 
 time you shall be taught here to play on the harpsi- 
 chord, to draw, to dance, to read and talk French, 
 and such other things as will make you more worthy 
 of the love of your friends ; but above all things, by 
 our care and love of you, we will teach you to love us 
 more than you will do if you stay so far from us. 
 
 317 
 
 From 
 Thomas 
 Jefferson, 
 envoy of the 
 United States 
 to France, 
 to his 
 daughter 
 Mary who 
 was in 
 America. 
 
3i8 
 
 At School 
 
 [No. loo 
 
 I have had no opportunity since Colonel Le 
 Maire went, to send you any thing ; but when you 
 come here you shall have as many dolls and play- 
 things as you want for yourself, or to send to your 
 cousins whenever you shall have opportunities. I 
 hope you are a very good girl, that you love your 
 uncle and aunt very much, and are very thankful to 
 them for all their goodness to you ; that you never 
 suffer yourself to be angry with anybody, that you 
 
 - "''" •"" -f., i?/ 
 
 
 MONTICELLO. 
 
 give your playthings to those who want them, that 
 you do whatever anybody desires of you that is right, 
 that you never tell stories, never beg for any thing, 
 mind your books and your work when your aunt tells 
 you, never play but when she permits you, nor go 
 where she forbids you ; remember, too, as a constant 
 charge, not to go out without your bonnet, because it 
 will make you very ugly, and then we shall not love 
 you so much. If you always practice these lessons 
 we shall continue to love you as we do now, and it is 
 
No. loo] Polly ycffe?^son 
 
 319 
 
 impossible to love you any more. We shall hope to 
 have you with us next summer, to find you a very 
 good girl, and to assure you of the truth of our 
 affection for you. Adieu, my dear child. Yours 
 affectionately, 
 
 Th. Jefferson. 
 
 Dear Papa — I long to see you, and hope that From Mary 
 vou and sister Patsy are well ; give my love to her J^^^^rson 
 
 -' ■' ' b J to her father. 
 
 and tell her that I long to see her, and hope that you 
 and she will come very soon to see us. I hope that 
 you will send me a doll. I am very sorry that you 
 have sent for me. I don't want to go to France, I 
 had rather stay with Aunt Eppes. Aunt Carr, Aunt 
 Nancy and Cousin Polly Carr are here. Your most 
 happy and dutiful daughter, 
 
 Polly Jefferson. 
 
 Being disappointed in my expectation of receiving From 
 a letter from my dear papa, I have resolved to break Martha 
 
 . .,.,,.. , , Jefferson, 
 
 so pamrul a silence by givmg you an example that 1 ",hen in a 
 hope you will follow, particularly as you know how Convent 
 much pleasure your letters give me. I hope your 
 wrist is better, and I am inclined to think that your 
 voyage is rather for your pleasure than your health ; 
 however, I hope it will answer both purposes. I will 
 now tell you how I go on with my masters. I have 
 begun a beautiful tune, done a very pretty landscape 
 — a little man playing on the violin — and begun an- 
 other beautiful landscape. I go on slowly with my 
 Livy, it being in such ancient Italian that I can not 
 read without my master, and very little with him 
 even. As for the dancing-master, I intend to leave 
 him off as soon as my month is finished. Tell me if 
 vou are still determined that I shall dine at the 
 
3 2 o At School [No. loo 
 
 abbess's table. If you are, I shall at the end of my 
 quarter. Adieu, my dear papa. I am afraid you 
 will not be able to read my scrawl, but I have not 
 the time of copying it over again ; and therefore I 
 must beg your indulgence, and assure you of the ten- 
 der affection of yours, 
 
 M. Jefferson. 
 Pray write often, and long letters. 
 
 My dear Papa — Though the knowledge of your 
 health gave me the greatest pleasure, yet I own I 
 was not a little disappointed in not receiving a let- 
 ter from you. However, I console myself with the 
 thought of having one very soon, as you promised to 
 write to me every week. Until now you have not 
 kept your word the least in the world, but I hope you 
 will make up for your silence by writing me a fine, 
 long letter by the first opportunity. Titus Livius 
 puts me out of my wits. I can not read a word by 
 myself, and I read of it very seldom with my master ; 
 however, I hope I shall soon be able to take it up 
 again. All my other masters go on much the same — 
 perhaps better. Every body here is very well, par- 
 ticularly Madame L'Abbesse, who has visited almost 
 a quarter of the new building — a thing that she has 
 not done for two or three years before now. I have 
 not heard anything of my harpsichord, and I am 
 afraid it will not come before your arrival. I go on 
 pretty well with Thucydides, and I hope I shall very 
 soon finish it. I expect Mr. Short every instant for 
 my letter, therefore I must leave you. Adieu, my 
 dear papa ; be assured you are never a moment absent 
 from my thoughts, and believe me to be, your most 
 affectionate child, 
 
 M. Jefferson. 
 
No. loi] 
 
 L 
 
 ove 
 
 Feast 
 
 32 
 
 10 1. The Children's Love Feast 
 
 By Colonel John May (1788) 
 
 Sunday, 17th. Rose this morning at 3 o'clock, and 
 went fourteen miles to breakfast at Bethlehem. We 
 were received by the brotherhood in the most hospi- 
 table manner, especially by Mr. Heckewelder, who 
 was for several years a missionary amongst the Mora- 
 vian Indians. He paid particular attention to us and 
 invited us to go to meeting with him. I accordingly 
 went with him. To give a just description of this 
 beautiful and agreeable day is far beyond my ability. 
 When I entered the hall where they were worship- 
 ing, it struck me with a pleasing amazement to be- 
 hold at one view upward of sixty little beautiful girls, 
 seated in regular order, — all clad in white muslin or 
 cambric, each with red ribbon in a large bow round 
 her neck, with snug close caps ; and also as many of 
 an older order, and other two classes older still, — all 
 in white, and all chanting their Maker's praise to the 
 music of an elegant organ. I was all ear, all atten- 
 tion. I could compare such worship to nothing else 
 but the worship of the kingdom of heaven ; — they 
 appeared to me like the saints, just disburdened 
 from earth, arrayed in their white robes praising the 
 Author of Goodness. 
 
 I went to my lodgings at noon, in raptures. It 
 was not long before we had a formal invitation to 
 attend the love-feast in the afternoon, which was 
 gladly accepted. I was punctual to the time, which 
 was two o'clock. The observance of a feast of this 
 sort is a privilege the young misses have every 1 7th 
 of August. It happened this year on Sunday., The 
 
 The Mora- 
 
 opmions. 
 About 1722 
 a band of 
 Moravians 
 came to 
 America, 
 many of 
 them settling 
 in the Colony 
 of Pennsyl- 
 vania. They 
 devoted 
 much atten- 
 tion to Chris- 
 tianizing the 
 Indians. 
 
322 
 
 At School 
 
 [No. 102 
 
 little ones were more numerous this afternoon than 
 in the forenoon, and excelled in beauty all that even 
 a glowing imagination could suggest. After they 
 had chanted their hymns for about an hour, the great 
 doors were swung open, and three pairs of maiden 
 ladies appeared, each pair bringing between them a 
 basket filled with large cakes, which they handed 
 round to each miss and elderly lady. Soon after, two 
 of the brothers came in, and in like manner handed 
 the. cakes to the gentlemen, and then withdrawing. 
 In a short time, all returned with salvers of exxellent 
 coffee, and handed it round. This ceremony over, 
 they sung again ; and then there was an anthem, 
 which rolled off finely, and the assembly broke up. 
 I was then introduced to the governess, a very polite 
 and agreeable lady, who waited on us to all the dif- 
 ferent apartments. I was extremely pleased with 
 the order and regularity of the place, and having 
 seen about all that was to be seen, returned to my 
 lodffino-s. 
 
 1 02. Address to the Children of 
 the North Schools, Boston 
 
 By Jeremy Belknap (1780) 
 
 Dear Child^", — Your present age is the most 
 proper season to begin those improvements w" are to 
 last through your whole lives. The spring of y** year 
 is the time for sowing seed ; and youth is the time 
 for sowing y*^ seeds of knowledge & virtue in the 
 human mind. But you must remember that the 
 growth of seed depends on the quality & disposition 
 of the ground as much as on the skill & dilio-ence of 
 
No. I02] Address to the Children 323 
 
 the person who sows it ; so the cultivation of your 
 minds depends as much on y^'selvs as on y'' instructors. 
 They may teach, but you must learn. They may 
 take great pains to instruct you, but unless you dili- 
 gently take heed to their instructions, & fix what they 
 tell you in y'' own minds, all their teaching will profit 
 you nothing. You see then that much of your im- 
 provement depends on y*" own diligence, & it is best 
 that you should early form a habit of attention & not 
 suffer yourselves to be unconcerned & thoughtless. 
 Though it is proper that you should be allowed time 
 for diversion, yet you must not make a business of 
 y"" diversion, but only use it as a refreshment to 
 relieve you from the fatigue of study, that you may 
 go to it again with new relish & spirit. And believe 
 me, whoever does not enter upon his studies with 
 spirit will never make any figure as a scholar. 
 
 Another thing which I would recommend to you 
 is, to govern yourselves ; that is, to take such care of 
 your own conduct as that your schoolmaster may be 
 relieved of the trouble of governing you. It is the 
 duty of every person to govern himself ; and we 
 cannot begin too early in life to practise this neces- 
 sary duty. You should therefore learn to restrain 
 your passions, to curb your tongue, to avoid all occa- 
 sions of quarrelHng, & to preserve a decent, sober, & 
 attentive behaviour at school. This will gain the 
 love of your master & enable him the more easily to 
 carry on the work w''' is committed to him. If every 
 scholar would learn to govern himself, there would 
 be no need of correction or expulsion, the ferule & 
 cowskin would be thrown by, & the whole business 
 of the school would be confined to instruction & 
 learnins:. 
 
324 ^^ School [No. 103 
 
 And let me add, this is now become a matter of 
 necessity ; for by the new regulations w''^' have been 
 introduced into the schools, you see that the number 
 of scholars is increased, & the duty of the masters 
 is increased with it. Let it therefore be your care as 
 much as possible to lighten their burden with respect 
 to government, & you will reap the benefit of it in 
 having their time wholly devoted to the care of your 
 learning. But there is a farther advantage to be 
 gained by it ; for if you learn to govern yourselves 
 while young, you will get such a good habit as will 
 probably remain with you thro' life, & make you 
 exemplary in all your conduct, so that you will live 
 usefully in this world & be prepared for the enjoy- 
 ment of God hereafter. 
 
 103. The Indian at College 
 
 By Philip Freneau (1795) 
 
 From Susquehanna's farthest springs, 
 Where savage tribes pursue their game, 
 (His blanket tied with yellow strings,) 
 A shepherd of the forest came. 
 
 Not long before, a wandering priest 
 Express'd his wish with visage sad — 
 " Ah, why (he cried) in Satan's waste. 
 Ah, why detain so fine a lad .'' 
 
 " In white man's land there stands a town, 
 Where learning may be purchased low — 
 Exchange his blanket for a gown, 
 And let the lad to collese go." 
 
College. 
 
 No. 103] The Indian at College 325 
 
 From long debate the council rose, 
 
 And viewing Shalum's tricks with joy, 
 
 To Cambridge Hall, o'er wastes of snows. Harvard 
 
 They sent the copper-color'd boy. 
 
 One generous chief a bow supplied. 
 This gave a shaft, and that a skin ; 
 The feathers, in vermilion dyed. 
 Himself did from a turkey win : 
 
 Thus dress'd so gay, he took his way 
 O'er barren hills, alone, alone ! 
 His guide a star, he wander' d far, 
 His pillow every night a stone. 
 
 At last he came, with foot so lame. 
 Where learned men talk heathen Greek, 
 And Hebrew lore is gabbled o'er, 
 To please the muses, — twice a week. 
 
 Awhile he writ, awhile he read, 
 Awhile he conn'd their grammar rules — 
 (An Indian savage so well bred 
 Great credit promised to the schools.) 
 
 Some thought he would in law excel. 
 Some said in physic he would shine ; 
 And one that knew him passing well, 
 Beheld in him a sound divine. 
 
 But those of more discerning eye, 
 Even then could other prospects show, 
 And saw him lay his Virgil by. 
 To wander with his dearer bow. 
 
326 At School [No. 103 
 
 The tedious hours of study spent, 
 The heavy moulded lecture done, 
 He to the woods a hunting went, 
 Through lonely wastes he walk'd, he run. 
 
 No mystic wonders fired his mind ; 
 He sought to gain no learn'd degree, 
 But only sense enough to find 
 The squirrel in the hollow tree. 
 
 The shady bank, the purling stream. 
 The woody wild his heart possess'd. 
 The dewy lawn, his morning dream 
 In fancy's gayest colors drest. 
 
 "And why," he cried, "did I forsake 
 My native wood for gloomy walls; 
 The silver stream, the limpid lake 
 For musty books, and college halls .-' 
 
 "A little could my wants supply — 
 Can wealth and honor give me more ; 
 Or, will the sylvan god deny 
 The humble treat he gave before .'' 
 
 " Where nature's ancient forests grow. 
 And mingled laurel never fades. 
 My heart is fix'd and I must go 
 To die among my native shades." 
 
 He spoke, and to the western springs, 
 (His gown discharg'd, his money spent, 
 His blanket tied with yellow strings,) 
 The shepherd of the forest went. 
 
No. 104] Indian Manners 327 
 
 104. The Table Manners of an 
 Indian Boy 
 
 By Isaac Weld (1796) 
 
 But though the Indians, in general, appear so re- 
 served in the presence of strangers, yet the firmness 
 of their dispositions forbids them from ever appear- 
 ing embarrassed ; they would sit down to table in a 
 palace, before the first crowned head on the face of 
 the earth, with as much unconcern as they would sit 
 down to a frugal meal in one of their own cabins. 
 They deem it highly becoming in a warrior to ac- 
 commodate his manners to those of the people with 
 whom he may happen to be, and as they are won- 
 derfully observant, you will seldom perceive any thing 
 of awkwardness or vulgarity in their behaviour in the 
 company of strangers. I have seen an Indian, who 
 had lived in the woods from his infancy, enter a 
 drawing-room in Philadelphia, full of ladies, with as 
 much ease and as much gentility as if he had always 
 lived in the city, and merely from having been told, 
 preparatory to his entering, the form usually observed 
 on such occasions. But the following anecdote will 
 put this matter in a stronger point of view. 
 
 Our friend Nekig, the Little Otter, had been in- 
 vited to dine with us at the house of a gentleman at 
 Detroit, and he came accordingly, accompanied by 
 his son, a little boy of about nine or ten years of age. 
 After dinner a variety of fruits were served up, and 
 amongst the rest some peaches, a dish of which was 
 handed to the young Indian. He helped himself to 
 one with becoming propriety; but immediately after- 
 
328 
 
 At School [No. 104 
 
 wards he put the fruit to his mouth, and bit a piece 
 out of it. The father eyed him with indignation, 
 and spoke some words to him in a low voice, which I 
 could not understand, but which, on being interpreted 
 by one of the company, proved to be a warm repri- 
 mand for his having been so deficient in observation 
 as not to peal his peach, as he saw the gentleman 
 opposite to him had done. The little fellow was ex- 
 tremely ashamed of himself ; but he quickly retrieved 
 his error, by drawing a plate towards him, and pealing 
 the fruit with the greatest neatness. 
 
 Some port wine, which he was afterwards helped 
 to, not being by any means agreeable to his palate, 
 the little fellow made a wry face, as a child might 
 naturally do, after drinking it. This called forth an- 
 other reprimand from the father, who told him, that 
 he despaired of ever seeing him a great man or a good 
 warrior if he appeared then to dislike what his host 
 had kindly helped him to. The boy drank the rest 
 of his wine with seeming pleasure. 
 
 No people are possessed of a greater share of nat- 
 ural politeness than the Indians : they will never in- 
 terrupt you whilst you are speaking ; nor, if you 
 have told them any thing which they think to be 
 false, will they bluntly contradict you ; " We dare 
 say, brother," they will answer, "that you yourself 
 believe what you tell us to be true ; but it appears 
 to us so improbable that we cannot give our assent 
 to it." 
 
No. 105] College Life in 18 20 329 
 105. College Life in 1820 
 
 By Andrew Preston Peahody (1820) 
 
 The last sixty years can hardly have wrought 
 greater changes, anywhere else than in Harvard Col- 
 lege. In my time a student's room was remarkable 
 chiefly for what it did not have. The feather-bed — 
 mattresses not having come into general use — was 
 regarded as a valuable chattel ; but ten dollars would 
 have been a fair auction-price for all the other con- 
 tents of an average room, which were a pine bedstead, 
 washstand, table, and desk, a cheap rocking-chair, 
 and from two to four other chairs of the plainest 
 fashion, the bed furnishing seats when more were 
 needed. I doubt whether any fellow-student of mine 
 owned a carpet. A second-hand-furniture dealer had 
 a few defaced and threadbare carpets, which he leased 
 at an extravagant price to certain southern members 
 of the senior class ; but even Southerners, though 
 reputed to be fabulously rich, did not aspire to this 
 luxury till the senior year. Coal was just coming 
 into use, and had hardly found its way into college. 
 The students' rooms — several of the recitation-rooms 
 as well — were heated by open wood-fires. Almost 
 every room had, too, among its transmittenda, a 
 cannon-ball supposed to have been derived from the 
 arsenal, which on very cold days was heated to a red 
 heat, while at other seasons it was often utilized by 
 being rolled down-stairs at such time as might most 
 nearly bisect a proctor's night-sleep. Friction-matches 
 — according to Faraday the most useful invention 
 of our age — were not yet. Coals were carefully 
 buried in ashes over night to start the morning fire ; 
 
3 3 o At School [No. 105 
 
 while in summer, as I have elsewhere said, the even- 
 ing lamp could be lighted only by the awkward, and 
 often baffling, process of " striking fire " with flint, 
 steel, and tinder-box. 
 
 The student's life was hard. Morning prayers 
 were in summer at six ; in winter, about half an hour 
 before sunrise, in a bitterly cold chapel. Thence 
 half of each class passed into the several recitation- 
 rooms in the same building (University Hall), and 
 three-quarters of an hour later the bell rang for a 
 second set of recitations, including the remaining 
 half of the students. Then came breakfast, which in 
 the college commons consisted solely of coffee, hot 
 rolls, and butter, except when the members of a mess 
 had succeeded in pinning to the nether surface of the 
 table, by a two-pronged fork, some slices of meat 
 from the previous day's dinner. Between ten and 
 twelve every student attended another recitation or a 
 lecture. Dinner was at half-past twelve, — a meal 
 not deficient in quantity, but by no means appetizing 
 to those who had come from neat homes and well- 
 ordered tables. There was another recitation in the 
 afternoon, except on Saturday ; then evening prayers 
 at six, or in winter at early twilight ; then the even- 
 ing meal, plain as the breakfast, with tea instead of 
 coffee, and cold bread, of the consistency of wool, for 
 the hot rolls. After tea the dormitories rang with 
 song and merriment till the study-bell, at eight in 
 winter, at nine in summer, sounded the curfew for 
 fun and frolic, proclaiming dead silence throughout 
 the college premises, under penalty of a visit from 
 the officer of the entry, and, in case of a serious 
 offence, of private or public admonition. 
 
 This was the life for five days of the week. On 
 
No. 105] College Life i?t 1820 331 
 
 Sundays all the students were required to be in resi- 
 dence here, not excepting even those whose homes 
 were in Boston ; and all were required to attend 
 worship twice each day at the college chapel. On 
 Saturday alone was there permission to leave Cam- 
 bridge, absence from town at any other time being a 
 punishable offence. This weekly liberty was taken 
 by almost every member of college, Boston being the 
 universal resort ; thou£fh seldom otherwise than on 
 
 HARVARD COLLEGE IN 182O. 
 
 foot, the only public conveyance then being a two- 
 horse stage-coach, which ran twice a day. But the 
 holiday could not be indefinitely prolonged. The 
 students who were not present at evening prayers 
 were obliged by law to register their names with the 
 regent before nine o'clock, under a heavy penalty, 
 which was seldom or never incurred ; for the regent's 
 book was kept by his freshman, who could generally 
 be coaxed or bribed to " take no note of time." 
 
332 
 
 At School [No. 105 
 
 The price of board in commons was a dollar and 
 three-quarters, or, as was then the uniform expression, 
 "ten and sixpence." The dining-rooms were on the 
 first floor of University Hall. College officers and 
 graduates had a table on an elevated platform at the 
 head of each room, and the students occupied the 
 main floor in messes of from eight to ten. The round 
 windows opening into the halls, and the shelves set 
 in them, still remaining in some of these rooms, were 
 designed for the convenience of waiters in bringing 
 dishes from the kitchen in the basement. That 
 kitchen, cooking for about two hundred persons, was 
 the largest culinary establishment of which the New- 
 England mind then had knowledge or conception. 
 
 The professors, as well as the college officers, per- 
 formed police duty as occasion seemed to demand ; 
 and in case of a general disturbance, which was not 
 infrequent, the entire faculty were on the chase for 
 offenders, — a chase seldom successful ; while their 
 unskilled manoeuvres in this uncongenial service were 
 wont to elicit, not so much silent admiration, as shouts 
 of laughter and applause, which they strove in vain 
 to trace to their source. 
 
 The recitations were mere hearings of lessons, 
 without comment or collateral instruction. They were 
 generally heard in quarter-sections of a class, the 
 entire class containing from fifty to sixty members. 
 The custom was to call on every student in the 
 .section at every recitation. Each teacher was sup- 
 posed to have some system, according to which he 
 arranged the order of his daily calls. Some, like Dr. 
 Popkin, openly adopted the direct, some the inverse, 
 alphabetical order, some the two alternately. As for 
 the key to the order adopted by the others respec- 
 
No. 105] College Life i?i 18 20 333 
 
 tively, there were, generally, conflicting theories, the 
 maintenance of which brought into play a keenness of 
 calculation and a skilful manipulation of data fully 
 adequate to the solving of deeply involved algebraic 
 equations. Of course, the endeavor — not always 
 unsuccessful — was to determine what part of a les- 
 son it was necessary for each individual student to 
 prepare. 
 
 The range of study was much less extensive than 
 now. Natural history did not then even profess to 
 be a science, and received very little attention. Chem- 
 istry, under auspices which one does not like to recall, 
 occupied, and utterly wasted, a small portion of the 
 senior year. French and Spanish were voluntary 
 studies, or rather recreations ; for the recitation-room 
 of the kind-hearted septuagenarian, who had these 
 languages in charge, was frequented more for amuse- 
 ment than for anything that was taught or learned. 
 Italian and German were studied in good earnest by 
 a very few volunteers. There was a great deal of 
 efficient work in the department of philosophy ; and 
 the writing of English could not have been cared for 
 more faithfully, judiciously, and fruitfully, than by 
 Professor Channing. But the chief labor and the 
 crowning honor of successful scholarship were in 
 mathematics and the classics. The mathematical 
 course extended through the entire four years. In 
 Greek and Latin, the aim, as has been already stated, 
 was to reach the actual meaning of the author in 
 hand, and to render his thought into clear and ele- 
 gant English. This aim was attained, I think, to a 
 high degree in Latin ; and with the faithful and 
 searching study of the Latin text, there grew up 
 inevitably the sort of instinctive knowledge of Latin 
 
334 
 
 At School [No. io6 
 
 grammar, which one conversant with the best Eng- 
 lish writers acquires of EngHsh grammar, without 
 formal study. Such grammatical tact and skill were 
 acquired by a respectable number of Latin scholars 
 in every class ; and the number was by no means 
 small of those who then formed a life-long taste for 
 Latin literature, and the capacity of reading it with 
 all desirable ease and fluency. Greek was studied 
 with much greater difficulty, and, when with similar, 
 with much less satisfactory and valuable, results. The 
 best scholars were often discouraged in the pursuit 
 of knowledge under hindrances so grave, and had 
 resort to contraband methods of preparation, which 
 required little labor, and were of no permanent 
 benefit. 
 
 1 06. Fashionable Education 
 
 By Reverend Timothy Dwight (1821) 
 
 The end, proposed by the parents, is to make 
 their children objects of admiration. The children 
 of the family are regularly introduced to company 
 and the praise of the guests is administered to them 
 as regularly, as the dinner or the tea, is served up. 
 Commendation is rung through all its changes : and 
 you may hear, both in concert and succession, " beau- 
 tiful children ; " " fine children ; " " sweet children ; " 
 "lovely children;" "what a charming family!" 
 "what a delightful family!" "you are a fine little 
 fellow;" "you are a sweet little girl;" "My son, 
 can't you speak one of your pieces before this 
 good company .? " " Caroline, where is your work .-' " 
 " Susan, bring Miss Caroline's work, and show it to 
 
No. io6] Fashionable Education 335 
 
 that lady ; " " Susan, bring with you the picture, 
 which she finished last week;" with many other 
 things of a similar nature. Were you to pass a 
 twelve month in this country, and 
 to believe all that you heard said 
 by people, not destitute of respecta- 
 bility ; whatever opinion you might 
 form of the j^arents, you would 
 suppose, that the children were a 
 superiour race of beings, both in 
 person and mind. 
 
 The means of effectuating this 
 darling object are the communica- 
 tion of what are called accomplish- 
 ments. The children are solicitously 
 taught music, dancing, embroidery, 
 ease, confidence, graceful manners. 
 To these may be added what is 
 called reading, and travelling. 
 
 The thoughts of a boy, thus educated, are spent 
 upon the colour, quality, and fashion, of his clothes, 
 and upon the several fashions to which his dress is 
 to be successively conformed ; upon his bow, his 
 walk, his mode of dancing, his behaviour in com- 
 pany, and his nice observance of the established 
 rules of good breeding. To mingle without awkward- 
 ness or confusion in that empty, unmeaning chat, 
 those mere vibrations of the tongue, termed fashion- 
 able conversation, is the ultimate aim of his eloquence; 
 and to comprehend, and to discuss, without impro- 
 priety the passing topics of the day, the chief object 
 of his mental exertions. When he reads, he reads 
 only to appear with advantage in such conversation. 
 When he acts, he acts only to be admired by those 
 
 CLOCK FROM THE OLD 
 BANK OF NEW YORK. 
 
336 
 
 At School [No. io6 
 
 who look on. Novels, plays, and other trifles of a 
 similar nature, are the customary subjects of his in- 
 vestigation. Voyages, travels, biography, and some- 
 times history, limit his severe researches. By such 
 a mind thinking will be loathed, and study regarded 
 with terror. In the pursuits, to which it is devoted, 
 there is nothing to call forth, to try, or to increase, 
 its strength. Its powers, instead of being raised to 
 new degrees of energy, are never exercised to the 
 extent, in which they already exist. His present 
 capacity cannot be known for want of trial. What 
 that capacity might become cannot be even conjec- 
 tured. Destitute of that habit of labouring, which 
 alone can render labour pleasing, or even support- 
 able, he dreads exertion as a calamity. The sight 
 of a classic author gives him a chill : a lesson in 
 Locke, or Euclid, a mental ague. 
 
 On girls, this unfortunate system induces additional 
 evils. Miss, the darling of her father and the pride 
 of her mother, is taught from the beginning to re- 
 gard her dress as a momentous concern. She is 
 instructed in embroidery merely that she may finish 
 a piece of work, which from time to time is to be 
 brought out, to be seen, admired, and praised by 
 visitors ; or framed, and hung up in the room, to be 
 still more frequently seen, admired and praised. 
 She is taught music, only that she may perform a 
 few times, to excite the same admiration, and ap- 
 plause, for her skill on the forte piano. She is taught 
 to draw, merely to finish a picture, which, when richly 
 framed, and ornamented, is hung up, to become an 
 altar for the same incense. 
 
 The reading of girls is regularly lighter than that 
 of boys. When the standard of reading for boys is 
 
No. io6] Fashionable Education 337 
 
 set too low, that for girls will be proportionally low- 
 ered. Where boys investigate books of sound phi- 
 losophy, and labour in mathematical and logical 
 pursuits ; girls read history, the higher poetry, and 
 judicious discourses in morality, and religion. When 
 the utmost labour of boys is bounded by history, 
 biography, and the pamphlets of the day : girls sink 
 down to songs, novels, and plays. 
 
 Of this reading what, let me ask, are the conse- 
 quences .'' By the first novel which she reads, she 
 is introdued into a world, literally new. Instead of 
 houses, inhabited by mere men, women and children, 
 she is presented with a succession of splendid palaces, 
 and gloomy castles inhabited by tenants, half human 
 and half angelic, or haunted by downright fiends. 
 Every thing in the character and circumstances, of 
 these beings comes at the wish, or the call of the 
 enchanter. Whatever can supply their wants, suit 
 their wishes, or forward, or frustrate, their designs, 
 is regularly at hand. The heroes are as handsome, 
 as dignified, as brave, as generous, as affectionate, as 
 faithful, and as accomplished, as he supposes will 
 satisfy the demands of his readers. At the same 
 time, they have always a quantnin sufficit of money : 
 or, if not, some relation, dies at the proper time, and 
 leaves them an ample supply. Every heroine is, 
 also a compound of all that is graceful and lovely. 
 Her person is fashioned "by the hand of harmony." 
 Her complexion outvies the snow, and shames the rose. 
 
 I know, that this education is expressly attempted 
 with a view to superiour refinement : but it is not 
 a refinement of the taste, the understanding, or the 
 heart. It is merelv a refinement of the imagination ; 
 of an imagination, already soft, and sickly ; of a 
 
338 
 
 At School [No. 107 
 
 sensibility, already excessive ; of a relish, already 
 fastidious. To a genuine perfection of taste it bears 
 no more resemblance, than the dehcate white of 
 decay to the native fairness of complexion ; or than 
 the blush of a hectic to the bloom of health. 
 
 107. A Learned Blacksmith 
 
 By ELmu Burritt (1825) 
 
 I WAS the youngest of many brethren, and my 
 parents were poor. My means of education were 
 limited to the advantages of a district school ; and 
 those, again, were circumscribed by my father's death, 
 which deprived me, at the age of fifteen, of those 
 scanty opportunities which I had previously enjoyed. 
 A few months after his death, I apprenticed myself 
 to a blacksmith in my native village. Thither I 
 carried an indomitable taste for reading, which I had 
 previously acquired through the medium of the social 
 library, all the historical works in which I had at 
 that time read. At the end of a little more than half 
 of my apprenticeship, I suddenly conceived the idea 
 of studying Latin. Through the assistance of an 
 elder brother, who had himself obtained a college 
 education by his own exertions, I completed my 
 Virgil during the evenings of one winter. After 
 some time devoted to Cicero, and a few other Latin 
 authors, I commenced Greek. At this time it was 
 necessary that I should devote every hour of day- 
 light, and a part of the evening, to the duties of my 
 apprenticeship. Still I carried my Greek grammar 
 in my hat, and often found a moment, when I was 
 
No. 107 J A L.earned Blacksmith 339 
 
 heating some large iron, when I could place my book 
 open before me, against the chimney of my forge, 
 and go through with tnpto, tuptcis, tiiptci, unperceived 
 by my fellow-apprentices, and, sometimes with a detri- 
 mental effect to the charge in my fire. At evening I 
 sat down, unassisted and alone, to the Iliad of Homer, 
 twenty books of which measured my progress in that 
 language during the evenings of another winter. 
 
 I next turned to the modern languages, and was 
 much gratified to learn that my knowledge of Latin 
 furnished me with a key to the literature of most of 
 the languages of Europe. This circumstance gave a 
 new impulse to the desire of acquainting myself with 
 the philosophy, derivation and affinity of the different 
 European tongues. I could not be reconciled to 
 limit myself, in thes^ investigations, to a few hours, 
 after the arduous labors of the day. I therefore laid 
 down my hammer and went to New Haven, where I 
 recited to native teachers, in French, Spanish, Ger- 
 man, and Italian. At the expiration of two years I 
 returned to the forge, bringing with me such books 
 in those languages as I could procure. When I had 
 read these books through, I commenced the Hebrew, 
 with an awakened desire for examining another field ; 
 and, by assiduous application, I was enabled, in a 
 few weeks, to read this language with such facility 
 that I allotted it to myself, as a task, to read two 
 chapters in the Hebrew Bible, before breakfast, each 
 morning ; this and an hour at noon being all the time 
 that I could devote to myself during the day. 
 
 After becoming somewhat familiar with the Hebrew, 
 I looked around me for the means of initiating my- 
 self into the fields of Oriental literature, and to my 
 deep regret and concern, I found my progress in this 
 
340 
 
 At School [No. 107 
 
 direction hedged up by the want of requisite books. 
 I immediately began to devise means of obviating 
 this obstacle ; and, after many plans, I concluded to 
 seek a place as a sailor, on board some ship bound to 
 P^urope, thinking in this way to have opportunities 
 for collecting, at different ports, such works in the 
 modern and Oriental languages as I found necessary 
 for my object. I left the forge and my native place, 
 to carry out this plan. I travelled on foot to Boston, 
 a distance of more than a hundred miles, to find some 
 vessel bound to Europe. In this I was disappointed ; 
 and while revolving in my mind what step next to 
 take, I accidentally heard of the American Antiqua- 
 rian Society, in Worcester. I immediately bent my 
 steps towards this place. I visited the hall of the 
 Antiquarian Society, and found there, to my infinite 
 gratification, such a collection of ancient, modern, 
 and Oriental languages as I never before conceived 
 to be collected in one place ; and, sir, you may 
 imagine with what sentiments of gratitude I was 
 affected, when, upon evincing a desire to examine 
 some of these rich and rare works, I was kindly 
 invited to an unlimited participation in all the ben- 
 efits of this noble institution. Availing myself of the 
 kindness of the directors, I spent about three hours, 
 daily, at the hall, which with an hour at noon, and 
 three in the evening, make up the portion of the 
 day which I appropriate to my studies, the rest being 
 occupied in arduous manual labor. Through the 
 facilities afforded by this institution, I have been able 
 to add so much to my previous acquaintance with the 
 ancient, modern, and Oriental languages as to be able 
 to read upwards of fifty of them with more or less 
 facility. 
 
No. io8J 
 
 Daniel Webster 
 
 341 
 
 108. The New Hampshire School- 
 boy 
 
 By Daniel Webster (1829) 
 
 I DO not remem- 
 ber when or by 
 whom I was taught 
 to read ; because I 
 cannot and never 
 could recollect a 
 time when I could 
 not read the Bible. 
 I suppose I was 
 taught by my 
 mother, 'or by my 
 elder sisters. My 
 father seemed to 
 have no higher ob- 
 ject in the world, 
 than to educate his 
 children, to the full 
 extent of his very 
 limited ability. No 
 means were within 
 his reach, generally speaking, but the small town 
 schools. These were kept by teachers, sufficiently 
 indifferent, in the several neighborhoods of the town- 
 ship, each a small part of the year. To these I was 
 sent, with the other children. 
 
 When the school was in our neighborhood, it was 
 easy to attend ; when it removed to a more distant 
 district I followed it, still Uving at home. While yet 
 
 ONCE A SCHOOLBOY. 
 (DANIEL WEBSTER.) 
 
342 At School [No. ic8 
 
 quite young, and in winter, I was sent daily two and 
 a half or three miles to the school. When it removed 
 still further, my father sometimes boarded me out, in 
 a neighboring family, so that I could still be in the 
 school. 
 
 In these schools, nothing was taught but reading 
 and writing ; and, as to these, the first I generally 
 could perform better than the teacher, and the last a 
 good master could hardly instruct me in; writing was 
 so laborious, irksome, and repulsive an occupation to 
 me always. My masters used to tell me, that they 
 feared, after all, my fingers were destined for the 
 plough-tail. 
 
 I must do myself the justice to say that, in those 
 boyish days, there were two things I did dearly love : 
 reading and playing. 
 
 At a very early day, owing I believe mainly to the 
 exertions of Mr. Thompson, the lawyer, the clergy- 
 man, and my father, a very small circulating library 
 had been bought. I obtained some of these books, 
 and read them. I remember the "Spectator" among 
 them. 
 
 I was fond of poetry. By far the greater part of 
 Dr. Watts's Psalms and Hymns I could repeat from 
 memory at ten or twelve years of age. I am sure 
 that no other sacred poetry will ever appear to me so 
 affecting and devout. 
 
 I remember that my father brought home from 
 some of the lower towns Pope's " Essay on Man," 
 published in a sort of pamphlet. I took it, and very 
 soon could repeat it, from beginning to end. We had 
 so few books that to read them once or twice was 
 nothing. We thought they were all to be got by 
 heart. 
 
No. io8] Daniel Webster 343 
 
 It so happened, that within the few months during 
 which I was at the Exeter Academy, Mr. Thacher, 
 now judge of the Municipal Court of Boston, and Mr. 
 Emery, the distinguished counsellor at Portland, were 
 my instructors. I am proud to call them both mas- 
 ters. I believe I made tolerable progress in most 
 branches which I attended to, while in this school ; 
 but there was one thing I could not do. I could not 
 make a declamation. I could not speak before the 
 school. The kind excellent Buckminster sought, 
 especially, to persuade me to perform the exercise of 
 declamation, like other boys ; but I could not do it. 
 Many a piece did I commit to memory, and recite 
 and rehearse, in my own room, over and over again ; 
 yet when the day came, when the school collected to 
 hear declamations, when my name was called, and I 
 saw all eyes turned to my seat, I could not raise 
 myself from it. Sometimes the instructors frowned, 
 sometimes they smiled. Mr. Buckminster always 
 pressed, and entreated, most winningly, that I would 
 venture ; but I could never command sufficient reso- 
 lution. When the occasion was over, I went home 
 and wept bitter tears of mortification. 
 
 In February, 1797, my father carried me to the 
 Rev. Samuel Wood's, in Boscawen, and placed me 
 under the tuition of that most benevolent and excel- 
 lent man. It was but half a dozen miles from our 
 own house. On the way to Mr. Wood's, my father 
 first intimated to me his intention of sending me to 
 college. The very idea thrilled my whole frame. He 
 said he then lived but for his children, and if I would 
 do all I could for myself, he would do what he could 
 for me. I remember that I was quite overcome, and 
 my head grew dizzy. The thing appeared to. me so 
 
344 
 
 At School [No. 109 
 
 high, and the expense and sacrifice it was to cost my 
 father, so great, I could only press his hands and 
 shed tears. 
 
 Mr. Wood accomplished his promise, and I entered 
 Dartmouth College, as a Freshman, August, 1797. 
 At Boscawen, I had found another circulating library, 
 and had read many of its volumes. I remember 
 especially that I found " Don Quixote," in the com- 
 mon translation, and in an edition, as I think, of three 
 or four duodecimo volumes. I began to read it, and 
 it is literally true that I never closed my eyes till I 
 had finished it ; nor did I lay it down for five minutes ; 
 so great was the power of that extraordinary book on 
 my imagination. 
 
 ♦■ 
 
 109. The District School-house 
 
 By Reverend Warren Burton (1833) 
 
 The Old School-house in District No. 5 stood on 
 the top of a very high hill, on the north side of what 
 was called the County road. The house of Capt. 
 Clark, about ten rods off, was the only human dwell- 
 ing within a quarter of a mile. The reason why this 
 seminary of letters was perched so high in the air, 
 and so far from the homes of those who resorted to 
 it, was this : here was the centre of the district, as 
 near as surveyor's chain could designate. The people 
 east would not permit the building to be carried one 
 rod further west, and those of the opposite quarter 
 were as obstinate on their side. So here it was 
 pbced ; and this continued to be literally the " hill of 
 science" to generation after generation of learners 
 for fifty years. 
 
No. 109] The District School-house 345 
 
 The edifice was set half in Capt. Clark's field, 
 and half in the road. The wood-pile lay in the corner 
 made by the east end and the stone wall. The best 
 roof it ever had over it was the changeful sky, which 
 was a little too leaky to keep the fuel at all times fit 
 for combustion, without a great deal of puffing and 
 smoke. The door-step was a broad unhewn rock, 
 brought from the neighboring pasture. It had not a 
 flat and even surface, but was considerably sloping 
 from the door to the road ; so that, in icy times, the 
 scholars, in passing out, used to snatch from the 
 scant declivity the transitory pleasure of a slide. But 
 look out for a slip-up, ye careless ; for many a time 
 have I seen urchin's head where his feet were but a 
 second before, and once the most lofty and perpen- 
 dicular pedagogue I ever knew, became suddenly 
 horizontalized in his egress. 
 
 But we have lingered round this door-step long 
 enough. Before we cross it, however, let us just 
 glance at the outer side of the structure. It was 
 never painted by man ; but the clouds of many years 
 had stained it with their own dark hue. The nails 
 were starting from their fastness, and fellow-clap- 
 boards were becoming less closely and warmly inti- 
 mate. There were six windows, which here and 
 there stopped and distorted the passage of light by 
 fractures, patches, and seams of putty. There were 
 shutters of board, like those of a store, which were 
 of no kind of use, excepting to keep the windows 
 from harm in vacations, when they were the least 
 liable to harm. They might have been convenient 
 screens against the summer sun, were it not that 
 their shade was inconvenient darkness. Some of 
 these, from loss of buttons, were fastened back by 
 
34^ 
 
 At School [No. 109 
 
 poles, which were occasionally thrown down in the 
 heedlessness of play, and not replaced till repeated 
 slams had broken a pane of glass, or the patience of 
 the teacher. To crown this description of externals, 
 I must say a word about the roof. The shingles had 
 been battered apart by a thousand rains ; and, except- 
 ing where the most defective had been exchanged 
 for new ones, they were dingy with the mold and 
 moss of time. The bricks of the chimney-top were 
 losing their cement, and looked as if some high wind 
 might hurl them from their smoky vocation. 
 
 We will now go inside. First, there is an entry 
 which the district were sometimes provident enough 
 to store with dry pine wood, as an antagonist to the 
 greenness and wetness of the other fuel. A door 
 on the left admits us to the school room. Here 
 is a space about twenty feet long and ten wide, the 
 reading and spelling parade. At the south end of it, 
 at the left as you enter, was one seat and writing 
 bench, making a right angle with the rest of the 
 seats. This was occupied in the winter by two of the 
 oldest boys in the school. At the opposite end was 
 the magisterial desk, raised upon a platform a foot 
 from the floor. The fire-place was on the right, half- 
 way between the door of entrance and another door 
 leading into a dark closet, where the girls put their 
 outside garments and their dinner baskets. This also 
 served as a fearful dungeon for the immuring of 
 offenders. Directly opposite the fire-place was an 
 aisle, two feet and a half wide, running up an in- 
 clined floor to the opposite side of the room. On 
 each side of this were five or six long seats and 
 writing benches, for the accommodation of the school 
 at their studies. In front of these, next to the spell- 
 
No. no] A If^onderfu I Speller 347 
 
 ing floor, were low, narrow seats for abecedarians and 
 others near that rank. In general, the older the 
 scholar, the further from the front was his location. 
 The windows behind the back seat were so low that 
 the traveler could generally catch the stealthy glance 
 of curiosity as he passed. Such was the Old School- 
 house at the time I first entered it. 
 
 1 10. A Wonderful Speller 
 
 By Reverend Warren Burton (1833) 
 
 The most extraordinary spelling, and indeed read- 
 ing machine, in our school, was a boy whom I shall 
 call Memorus Wordwell. He was mighty and won- 
 derful in the acquisition and remembrance of words, 
 — of signs without the ideas signified. The alpha- 
 bet he acquired at home before he was two years old. 
 What exultation of parents, what exclamation from 
 admiring visitors ! " There was never any thing like 
 it." He had almost accomplished his A-b's before he 
 was thought old enough for school. At an earlier 
 age than usual, however, he was sent ; and then he 
 went from Ac/ic to Abomination in half the summers 
 and winters it took the rest of us to go over the same 
 space. 
 
 Master Wordwell was a remarkable reader too. 
 He could rattle off a word as extensive as the name 
 of a Russian noble, when he was but five years old, 
 as easily as the schoolmaster himself. " He can 
 read in the hardest chapters of the Testament as fast 
 agin as I can," said his mother. " I never did see 
 nothin beat it," exclaimed his father; "he speaks up 
 
348 
 
 At School [No. no 
 
 as loud as a minister." But I have said enough 
 about this prodigy. I have said thus much, because, 
 although he was thought so surpassingly bright, he 
 was the most decided ninny in the school. The fact 
 is, he did not know what the sounds he uttered 
 meant. It never entered his head, nor the heads of 
 his parents and most of his teachers, that words and 
 sentences were written, and should be read, only to 
 be understood. 
 
 It happened one day that the " cut and split" for 
 the fire fell short, and Jonas Patch was out wielding 
 the axe in school time. He had been at work about 
 half an hour, when Memorus, who was perceived to 
 have less to do than the rest, was sent out to take 
 his place. He was about ten years old, and four 
 years younger than Jonas. " Memorus, you may 
 go out and spell Jonas." Our hero did not think 
 of the Yankee sense in which the master used the 
 word spell : indeed, he had never attached but one 
 meaning to it, whenever it was used with reference 
 to himself. He supposed the master was granting 
 him a ride extraordinary on his favorite hobby. So 
 he put his spelling-book under his arm, and was out 
 at the woodpile with the speed of a boy rushing to 
 play. 
 
 " Have you got your spelling-lesson, Jonas .'' " was 
 his first salutation. " Haven't looked at it yet," was 
 the reply. " I mean to cut up this great log, spelHng 
 or no spelling, before I go in. I had as lieve keep 
 warm here choppin wood, as freeze up there in that 
 cold back seat." "Well, the master sent me out to 
 hear you spell." " Did he .'' well, put out the words, 
 and I'll spell." Memorus being so distinguished a 
 speller, Jonas did not doubt but that he was really 
 
No. no] A Wonderful Speller 349 
 
 sent out on this errand. So our deputy spelling- 
 master mounted the top of the woodpile, just in front 
 of Jonas, to put out words to his temporary pupil, 
 who still kept on putting out chips. 
 
 " Do you know where the lesson begins, Jonas .-* " 
 "No, I don't; but I 'sposc I shall find out now." 
 "Well, here 'tis." (They both belonged to the 
 same class.) " Spell A-bom-i-na-tion." Jonas spells. 
 A-b-o-m bom a-bom (in the mean time up goes the 
 axe high in air), i a-bom-i (down it goes again chuck 
 into the wood) n-a na a-bom-i-na (up it goes again) 
 t-i-o-n tion, a-bom-i-na-tion ; chuck the axe goes again, 
 and at the same time out flies a furious chip, and hits 
 Memorus on the nose. At this moment the master 
 appeared just at the corner of the school-house, with 
 one foot still on the threshold. " Jonas, why don't 
 you come in } didn't I send Memorus out to spell 
 you ? " " Yes, sir, and he has been spelling me ; 
 how could I come in if he spelt me here t " At this 
 the master's eye caught Memorus perched upon the 
 top stick, with his book open upon his lap, rubbing 
 his nose, and just in the act of putting out the next 
 word of the column. Ac-com-mo-da-tion, pronounced 
 Memorus in a broken but louder voice than before ; 
 for he had caught a glimpse of the master, and he 
 wished to let him know that he was doing his duty. 
 This was too much for the master's gravity. He 
 perceived the mistake, and, without saying more, 
 wheeled back into the school-room, almost bursting 
 with the most tumultuous laugh he ever tried to sup- 
 press. The scholars wondered at his looks, and 
 grinned in sympathy. But in a few minutes Jonas 
 came in, followed by Memorus with his spelling-book, 
 who exclaimed, " I have heard him spell through the 
 
350 At School [No. Ill 
 
 whole lesson, and he didn't spell hardly any of them 
 right." The master could hold in no longer, and the 
 scholars perceived the blunder, and there was one 
 simultaneous roar from pedagogue and pupils ; the 
 scholars laughing twice as loud and uproariously in 
 consequence of being permitted to laugh in school- 
 time, and to do it with the accompaniment of the 
 master. 
 
 III. Little Books presented the 
 Last Day of School 
 
 By Reverend Warren Burton (1833) 
 
 There was one circumstance connected with the 
 history of summer schools of so great importance to 
 little folks that it must not be omitted. It was this. 
 The mistress felt obliged to give little books to all 
 her pupils on the closing day of her school. Other- 
 wise she would be thought stingy, and half the good 
 she had done during the summer would be canceled 
 by the omission of the expected donations. If she 
 had the least generosity, or hoped to be remembered 
 with any respect and affection, she must devote a 
 week's wages, and perhaps more, to the purchase of 
 these little toy-books. My first present was from 
 Mary Smith. It was not a little book the first sum- 
 mer, but it was something that pleased me more. 
 
 The last day of the school had arrived. All, as I 
 have somewhere said before, were sad that it was 
 now to finish. My only solace was that I should 
 now have a little book, for I was not unmoved in the 
 general expectation that prevailed. After the read- 
 
No. Ill] I^ast Day of School 351 
 
 ing and spelling, and all the usual exercises of the 
 school, were over, Mary took from her desk a pile 
 of the glittering little things we were looking for. 
 What beautiful covers, — red, yellow, blue, green ! 
 Oh ! not the first buds of spring, not the first rose of 
 summer, not the rising moon, nor gorgeous rainbow, 
 
 FROM AN OLD SCHOOL BOOK. 
 
 seemed so charming as that first pile of books now 
 spread out on her lap, as she sat in her chair in front 
 of the school. All eyes were now centered on the 
 outspread treasures. Pleasure glowed in every heart ; 
 for the worst, as well as the best, calculated with cer- 
 tainty on a present. The scholars were called out 
 one by one to receive the dazzling gifts, beginning at 
 the oldest. I, being an abecedarian, must wait till 
 
3 52 At School [No. Ill 
 
 the last ; but as I knew that my turn would surely 
 come in due order, I was tolerably patient. But what 
 was my disappointment, my exceeding bitterness of 
 grief, when the last book on Mary's lap was given 
 away, and my name not yet called ! Every one 
 present had received, except myself and two others 
 of the ABC rank. I felt the tears starting to my 
 eyes ; my lips were drawn to their closest pucker to 
 hold in my emotions from audible outcry. I heard 
 my fellow-sufferer at my side draw long and heavy 
 breaths, the usual preliminaries to the bursting-out 
 of grief. This feeling, however, was but momentary ; 
 for Mary immediately said, " Charles and Henry and 
 Susan, you may now all come to me together:" at 
 the same time her hand was put into her work-bag. 
 We were at her side in an instant, and in that time 
 she held in her hand — what.? Not three little pic-- 
 ture-books, but what was to us a surprising novelty, 
 viz., three little birds wrought from sugar by the 
 confectioner's art. I had never seen or heard or 
 dreamed of such a thing. What a revulsion of de- 
 lighted feeling now swelled my little bosom ! " If I 
 should give you books," said Mary, "you could not 
 read them at present ; so I have got for you what 
 you will like better perhaps, and there will be time 
 enough for you to have books when you shall be able 
 to read them. So, take these little birds, and see 
 how long you can keep them." We were perfectly 
 satisfied, and even felt ourselves distinguished above 
 the rest. My bird was more to me than all the song- 
 sters in the air, although it could not fly or sing, or 
 open its mouth. I kept it for years, until by accident 
 it was crushed to pieces, and was no longer a bird. 
 But Susan Clark — I was provoked at her. Her 
 
No. Ill] Last Day of School 353 
 
 bird was nothing to her but a piece of pepperminted 
 sugar, and not a keepsake from Mary Smith. She 
 had not left the schoolhouse before she had nibbled 
 off its bill. But her mother was always tickling her 
 palate with sugar-plums, raisins, cookies, and such 
 like, which the rest of us were not accustomed to ; 
 and she had no idea that the sweet little sugar 
 bird was made, at least was given, for the sake of 
 her heart rather than her palate. 
 
 The next summer, my present was the " Death and 
 Burial of Cock Robin." This was from the dearly 
 loved Mary too. I could then do something more 
 than look at the pictures. I could read the tragic 
 history which was told in verse below the pictured 
 representations of the mournful drama. How I used 
 to gaze and wonder at what I saw in that little book ! 
 Could it be that all this really took place ; that the 
 sparrow really did do the murderous deed with his 
 bow and his arrow .'' I never knew that birds had 
 such things. Then there was the fish with his dish, 
 the rook with his book, the owl with his shovel. 
 Yet, if it were not all true, why should it be so 
 pictured and related in the book } I had the impres- 
 sion that every thing that was printed in a book was 
 surely true ; and as no one thought to explain to me 
 the nature of a fable, I went on puzzled and won- 
 dering till progressive reason at length divined its 
 meaning. But Cock Robin, with its red cover and 
 gilded edges — I have it now. It is the first little 
 book I ever received, and it was from Mary Smith ; 
 and, as it is the only tangible memento of her good- 
 ness that I possess, I shall keep it as long as I can. 
 
 2 A 
 
354 
 
 At School [No. 112 
 
 112. Entrance Examinations for 
 Harvard 
 
 By John Adams (1757) and Dr. Samuel Kirkland 
 LoTHROP (1821) 
 
 I 
 
 Mr. Marsh was a son of our former minister of 
 that name, who kept a private boarding school but 
 two doors from my father's. To this school I went, 
 where I was kindly treated, and I began to study in 
 earnest. My father soon observed the relaxation of 
 my zeal for fowling piece, and my daily increasing 
 attention to my books. In a little more than a year 
 Mr. Marsh pronounced me fitted for college. On the 
 day appointed at Cambridge for the examination of 
 candidates for admission I mounted my horse and 
 called upon Mr. Marsh, who was to go with me. The 
 weather was dull and threatened rain. Mr. Marsh 
 said he was unwell and afraid to go out. I must 
 therefore go alone. Thunderstruck at this unfore- 
 seen disappointment, and terrified at the thought of 
 introducing myself to such great men as the President 
 and Fellows of a college, I at first resolved to return 
 home ; but foreseeing the grief of my father and 
 apprehending he would not only be offended with me 
 but my master too whom I sincerely loved, I aroused 
 myself, and collected resolution enough to proceed. 
 Although Mr. Marsh had assured me that he had seen 
 one of the tutors the last week and had said to him all 
 that was proper for him to say if he should go to Cam- 
 bridge, that he was not afraid to trust me to an 
 examination and was confident I should acquit my- 
 
No. 112] Knt7^ance RxaminatioJis 355 
 
 self well and be honourably admitted ; yet I had not 
 the same confidence in myself and suffered a very 
 melancholy journey. Arrived at Cambridge I pre- 
 sented myself according to my directions and under- 
 went the usual examination by the President Mr. 
 Holyoke and the tutors Flint, Hancock, Mayhew and 
 Marsh. Mr. Mayhew into whose class we were to be 
 admitted, presented me a passage of English to trans- 
 late into Latin. It was long and casting my eye 
 over it I found several words the Latin for which did 
 not occur to my memory. Thinking that I must 
 translate it without a dictionary, I was in a great 
 fright and expected to be turned by, an event that I 
 dreaded above all things. Mr. Mayhew went into 
 his study and bid me follow him. "There child," said 
 he, " is a dictionary, there a grammar, and there 
 paper, pen, and ink, and you may take your own 
 time." This was joyful news to me and I then 
 thought my admission safe. The Latin was soon 
 made. I was declared admitted and a theme given me 
 to write on in the vacation. I was as light when I 
 came home as I had been heavy when I went : my 
 master was well pleased and my parents very happy. 
 
 II 
 
 On Monday morning Dr. Kirkland, as he was 
 leaving the breakfast-table, said that he would like 
 to see me in his study at a quarter before nine. 
 When I presented myself he gave two little taps of 
 his feet upon the floor, and immediately I heard a 
 movement in the room below, footsteps on the stairs, 
 and a knock at the door. The "Come in" was an- 
 swered by a young person, to whom Dr. Kirkland 
 
356 
 
 At School [No. 112 
 
 said, " Emerson, this is my nephew, Master Lothrop, 
 of whom I spoke to you." Emerson and myself shook 
 hands, while my uncle continued, " I wish to put him 
 under your instruction, for the present at least. Will 
 you take him to your room, see where he is in his 
 studies, and begin accordingly .-' Be careful not to 
 make his lessons too long and difficult, because he is 
 more accustomed to out-of-door life than to study. 
 In his recitations and oral instruction I wish you to 
 give him about an hour a day, from Monday to Friday 
 inclusive." Emerson bowed, and said, " I will do the 
 best I can, sir"; then turning to me, asked, "Will 
 you come down to my room .-* " As soon as we got 
 into his room he said, with a slight diminution of the 
 dignity and authority manifested in presence of the 
 President, " Lothrop — your Christian name ; what is 
 it .'' " I told him my name, and then made the same 
 inquiry in regard to his ; to which he replied, " My 
 name is Ralph, — Ralph Waldo." Physically at least, 
 the child was the father of the man ; for he was very 
 much the same person then in looks and manners 
 that I have known him to be for the last forty years. 
 He was about two years older than myself, and nearly 
 as tall as when he had reached maturity, — a Saxon 
 blonde, pale face, light hair, blue eyes. He was calm 
 and quiet in his manners ; and no matter how much 
 he felt, externally he was never moved or excited. 
 I think there was the same mingling of shyness, 
 awkwardness, and dignity about him as a freshman in 
 college that is often observed in him to-day. 
 
 The examination began at 6 a. m. Friday, was 
 over by five in the afternoon, and between that and 
 seven o'clock all the candidates got their answers. I 
 passed a very good examination, but was conditioned 
 
No. 113] County School Houses 357 
 
 in Latin Grammar, — a book which at that time I 
 could recite from beginning to end without a mistake. 
 Dr. Kirkland, who examined me pretty strictly in the 
 Georgics of Virgil, and made me parse several clauses, 
 said, " I am a little surprised at your being conditioned 
 in Latin Grammar. How came it.-*" I said, "I don't 
 know, sir ; I had only one question put to me, which 
 I did not exactly understand, and almost instantly, 
 while I was trying to make out what the question 
 meant, Mr. Hunt said, 'That will do; sit down.'" 
 My uncle made no remark ; and Mr. Hunt, when I 
 went to him to be re-examined in Latin Grammar, 
 merely said, " Have you been studying it during the 
 vacation } " I replied, " No, sir, I can't say that I 
 have. I thought I could repeat the whole of it the 
 day you conditioned me. Mr. Miles considered me 
 perfectly prepared in Latin Grammar." "Well, well!" 
 he said, " I don't care about hearing you repeat the 
 whole of it now. FU take Mr. Miles's opinion : you 
 may go." And so I left, feeling that I should like to 
 ask him if he thought it right to treat a young man 
 in that way. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 113. County School Houses 
 
 By Horace Mann (1838) 
 
 The school-houses in the state have a few common 
 characteristics. They are almost universally con- 
 tracted in size ; they are situated immediately on the 
 road-side, and are without any proper means of ven- 
 tilation. In most other respects the greatest diver- 
 sity prevails. The floors of some are horizontal ; 
 those of others rise in the form of an amphitheatre. 
 
358 
 
 At School 
 
 [No. 113 
 
 on two, or sometimes three sides, from an open area 
 in the centre. On the horizontal floors, the seats and 
 desks are sometimes designed only for a single scholar 
 
 TWl) FAMOUS MEN. 
 (LONGFELLOW AND SUMNER.) 
 
 and allow the teacher room to approach on either side, 
 and give an opportunity to go out or into the seat, 
 without disturbance- of any one. In others, ten 
 
No. 114] A Young Schoolmistress 359 
 
 scholars are seated on one seat, and at one desk, so 
 that the middle ones can neither go out nor in with- 
 out disturbing, at least, four of their neighbors. In 
 others, again, long tables are prepared, at which the 
 scholars sit face to face, like large companies at 
 dinner. In others the seats are arranged on the sides 
 of the room, the walls of the house forming the 
 backs of the seats, and the scholars, as they sit at the 
 desks, facing inwards ; while in others, the desks are 
 attached to the walls, and the scholars face outwards. 
 The form of school-houses is, with very few ex- 
 ceptions, that of a square or oblong. Some, how- 
 ever, are round, with an open circular area in the 
 centre of the room, for the teacher's desk and a stove, 
 with seats and desks around the wall, facing outwards, 
 separated from each other by high partitions, which 
 project some distance into the room, so that the 
 scholars may be turned into these separate compart- 
 ments, as into so many separate stalls. In no particu- 
 lar does chance seem to have had so much sway as in 
 regard to light. In many, so much of the wall is 
 occupied by windows, that there is little difference 
 between the intensity and the changes of hght within 
 and without the school-room ; while in some others, 
 there is but one small window on each of the three 
 sides of the house and none on the fourth. 
 
 114. A Very Young Schoolmistress 
 
 By Mrs. Wyatt 
 
 Before I was thirteen, I had an invitation to 
 teach a school in Meaderborough, in the upper part 
 of Rochester, N.H. I commenced the school under 
 
MARTHA LAURENS. 
 
No. 114] A Young Schoolmistress 361 
 
 favorable auspices, with eighteen or twenty scholars, 
 young men and women, and three babies. It was 
 my first effort, and never did I do better. I was 
 young and strove to excel. The school was popular 
 and I gained much credit, as a teacher. 
 
 Schools then, were not as now, filled up with all 
 branches necessary to make a finished education, in 
 these modern times. The only branches taught were 
 reading, spelling, and writing. But little was thought 
 in those days of the education of daughters. To 
 read and write, with a smattering of geography and 
 arithmetic were considered the height of female edu- 
 cation. The minds of girls were then considered to 
 be inadequate to struggle with the higher branches 
 of education, which they now master so readily. 
 
 The only books then used in school were Webster's 
 spelling book, the Testament, and the Third Part, 
 for the upper class. 
 
 My school was in good order. Special attention 
 was given to the manners of the pupils. They were 
 taught how to enter and leave the school-room. They 
 were not allowed to run in, and out, like a flock of 
 sheep, passing over a gap of wall. The bow of 
 the little boy was something more than a nod over 
 the shoulder, by just turning the neck askew, and 
 bending it to one side. The courtesy of the little 
 girl was practised, till it could be gracefully per- 
 formed. The manner even of walking to and from 
 their seats, was not neglected. 
 
 By strict attention to these little matters, the young 
 school-marm soon gained a reputation. Her school 
 was famous through the whole region. The parents 
 scarcely knew their own children, so much were they 
 imjDroved. Parents, teachers and pupils, all came to 
 
362 
 
 At School [No. 115 
 
 see the school, and went away to praise the teacher. 
 A schoohnistress in those days was a wonder, and 
 especially one so young as thirteen. I closed this, 
 my first school, with more than the approbation of 
 all concerned. 
 
 115. A First-Honor Boy 
 
 By J. Marion Sims (1819) 
 
 When I was six years old, my father sent me to a 
 boarding-school, some six or eight miles from home. 
 The teacher here was an Irishman, Mr. Quigley, 
 a man about fifty-five years old, and a rigid discipli- 
 narian ; altogether very tyrannical, and sometimes 
 cruel. He was badly pock-marked, otherwise a 
 handsome man. I was very unhappy at his house. 
 He had two grown daughters ; one of the daughters 
 was very unkind to me, the other was sympathetic. 
 
 A very curious custom prevailed in this school, 
 which was that the boy who arrived earliest in the 
 morning was at the head of his class during the day, 
 and was considered the first-honor boy. The one 
 who arrived second took the second place, and so on. 
 There was a great rivalry among some half-dozen of 
 the most ambitious of the boys. James Graham was 
 about ten years old. He was almost always first in 
 the morning. Although I was so very young, only 
 six, I occasionally made efforts to get there earlier 
 than he did. I suppose the school-house was not 
 more than three-quarters of a mile from the teacher's 
 residence where I boarded ; but it seemed to me, at 
 the time, that it was very much farther than that. 
 However, the boy that got ahead of James Graham 
 
No. 115] A First- Ho?io?' Boy 363 
 
 had to rise very early in the morning. I remember 
 getting up one morning long before daybreak. 
 
 The dread of my young life was mad dogs and 
 runaway slaves. I started off for the school-house 
 on a trot, an hour before day, looking anxiously from 
 side to side, and before and behind, fearing all the 
 time those two great bugbears of my young life. 
 When I arrived at the school-house the wind was 
 blowing very severely. It was in the autumn ; the 
 acorns were falling on the clap-boards covering the 
 log-cabin, and I didn't feel very comfortable, and 
 was most anxious for James Graham to come. At 
 last he arrived, greatly to my relief. This was my 
 first and last first-honor day. I was content after 
 this to resign this post to James Graham. 
 
 My father came to see me but once during the six 
 months I was in this school. My mother came to 
 see me about once a month. I was dying to tell her 
 of the bad treatment I received from the teacher and 
 from one of his daughters. The old gentleman was 
 very obstinate, and not only punished me unneces- 
 sarily at school, but he would not let me have what 
 I wanted to eat, and would compel me to eat things 
 absolutely distasteful to me. I wished to tell my 
 mother of all this; of how Miss Nelly used to box 
 my ears and pull my hair, and how old Ouigley 
 used to punish me, but I was too closely watched. 
 I could never get her to one side, never see her 
 alone. At last I became desperate : right in the 
 presence of the whole family I told the whole truth 
 of the severe treatment that I had endured ever since 
 I had been there, and that she must take me home ; 
 if she didn't, I would run away and leave the place 
 even if I were captured by runaway slaves and de- 
 
3^4 
 
 At School [No. ii6 
 
 voured by mad dogs. I would have run away long 
 before, but for this dread. 
 
 As soon as my mother went home, and told my 
 father what had occurred, he sent and removed me 
 to my own home again, where I was as happy as the 
 day was long. I must say, however, that, in spite 
 of all the disagreeable things of this school, they man- 
 aged to make the boys learn. I used to lie awake 
 nights, and think about what I could do to get home. 
 Then it was that the idea of an elevated road came 
 into my mind strongly. My idea was that all little 
 boys placed at boarding-schools should have a trough 
 reaching from the school to their homes, elevated 
 on posts and girders, ten feet above ground, so that 
 they could climb up and get into this trough and run 
 home without the fear of either mad dogs or runaway 
 slaves. 
 
 1 1 6. A Little American Girl in a 
 French Convent 
 
 By M.\rtiia Jefferson (1785) 
 
 I AM very happy in the convent, and with reason, 
 for there wants nothing but the presence of my 
 friends of America to render my situation worthy to 
 be envied by the happiest ; I do not say kings, for, 
 far from it, they are often more unfortunate than the 
 lowest of their subjects. I have seen the king and 
 the queen, but at too great a distance to judge if they 
 are like their pictures in Philadelphia. We had a 
 lovely passage in a beautiful new ship, that had made 
 one passage before. There were only six passengers, 
 
No. ii6] A Little American Girl 365 
 
 all of whom Papa knew, and we had fine sunshine all 
 the way, with a sea which was as calm as a river. 
 
 We landed in England, where we made a very 
 short stay. The day we left it we got off at six 
 o'clock in the evening, and arrived in France at 
 eleven the next morning. I cannot say that this 
 voyage was as agreeable as the first, though it was 
 much shorter. It rained violently, and the sea was 
 exceedingly rough all the time, and I was almost as 
 sick as the first time, when I was sick two days. The 
 cabin was not more than three feet wide and about 
 four long. There was no other furniture than an old 
 bench, which was fast to the wall. The door by 
 which we came in was so little that one was obliged 
 to enter on all-fours. There were two little doors on 
 the side of the cabin, the way to our beds, which 
 were composed of two boxes and a couple of blankets, 
 without either spring or mattress, so that I was 
 obliged to sleep in my clothes. There being no win- 
 dow in the cabin, we were obliged to stay in the dark, 
 for fear of the rain coming in if we opened the 
 door. 
 
 I fear we should have fared badly at our arrival, 
 for Papa spoke very little French, and I not a word, 
 if an Irish gentleman, an entire stranger to us, had 
 not seen our embarrassment, and been so good as to 
 conduct us to a house ; he was of great service to us. 
 It is amazing to see how they cheat strangers ; it cost 
 Papa as much to have the baggage brought from the 
 shore to the house, which was about half a square, as 
 the bringing it from Philadelphia to Boston. 
 
 From there we should have had a very delightful 
 voyage to Paris, for Havre de Grace is built at the 
 mouth of the Seine, and we follow the river all the 
 
366 
 
 At School [No. ii6 
 
 way through the most beautiful country I ever saw in 
 my Hfe, — it is a perfect garden ; — but the singularity 
 of our carriage (a phaeton) attracted the attention of 
 all we met; and whenever we stopped we were sur- 
 rounded by the beggars. One day I counted no less 
 than nine where we stopped to change horses. 
 
 I wish you could have been with us when we 
 arrived, I am sure you would have laughed, for we 
 were obliged to send immediately for the stay-maker, 
 the mantua-maker, the milliner, and even a shoe- 
 maker, before I could go out. I have never had the 
 friseur but once ; but I soon got rid of him, and 
 turned down my hair in spite of all they could say. 
 I have seen two nuns take the veil. I'll tell you 
 about that when I come to see you. 
 
 I was placed in a convent at my arrival, and I leave 
 you to judge of my situation. I did not speak a word 
 of French, and not one here knew English but a little 
 girl of two years old, that could hardly speak French. 
 There are about fifty or &\\\.y pensioners in the house, 
 so that speaking as much as I could with them, I 
 learnt the language very soon. At present I am 
 charmed with my situation. There come in some 
 new pensioners every day. The classe is four rooms, 
 exceedingly large, for the pensioners to sleep in ; and 
 there is a fifth and sixth, one for them to stay in the 
 day, and the other in which they take their lessons. 
 We wear the uniform, which is crimson, made Hke a 
 frock, laced behind, with the tail, like a robe dc conr, 
 hooked on, muslin cuffs and tuckers. The masters 
 are all very good, except that for the drawing. 
 
No. 117] The Art of Writi?ig 367 
 117. Squib on the Art of Writing 
 
 By Francis Hopkinson (1780) 
 
 Genius is the gift of heaven, and manifests itself 
 by emanations altogether unexpected and surprising. 
 Its powers are not to be obtained by application and 
 study, but they may be assisted by art. When genius 
 hath brought forth, art takes up and nurses the child, 
 and carefully consulting its features, deduces rules 
 for a happy conception. 
 
 Such being the connection between genius and art 
 it is but reasonable that a mutual intercourse of good 
 offices should subsist between them. 
 
 For my own part, I must confess that nature hath 
 not been over bountiful to me in the article of genius ; 
 but I am desirous of exerting the little she hath given 
 in behalf of those who may have no more than myself. 
 
 For this purpose I have devised a method of writ- 
 ing on any subject. In it not only the sound may be 
 an echo to the sense, if any sense there be, but the 
 eye also shall be gratified with an exhibition of me- 
 chanical elegance and propriety. This is the only 
 elegance perhaps to which such writers can attain. 
 
 By this scheme the construction of a paragraph, 
 the progress of a line, and even the disposition of the 
 words, may all contribute to enforce the idea intended. 
 
 It would be a tedious task to form a system of 
 rules for this new method of writing, or to give a 
 description at large of my useful device. One ex- 
 ample will fully explain the whole, so as to enable an 
 author of the meanest capacity to understand and 
 profit by the design. A little practice will make it 
 familiar to him. 
 
368 At School [No. 117 
 
 A SAMPLE OF GOOD WRITING. 
 
 height 
 to the 
 rise 
 An author who wishes to of excellence of 
 
 good wiiting, must o^ to call in me- 
 
 
 chanical propriety to his aid. He cannot be 
 
 sublime : 
 all at once but ^ 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 to the ^ 
 
 % 
 
 profound, . ^ 
 
 ^ ^ to elegance, 
 
 
 
 'Or 1- xAoS^""^^'^ f/jp , o^ ""^^ f^iiio- -^sts- 
 
 rding to ^^ ^^e beauty ° "S^s cous^^ 
 
No. 117 ] T/ie Art of Wf^iting 369 
 
 And whether he writes in plain prose ; 
 
 Or would in verse his thoughts convey, 
 His rhyming talents to display ; 
 
 and the diction 
 strict propriety should prevail, 
 
 and the sense 
 run parallel to each other ; pleasing as well the eye 
 as the ear. 
 
 Some have a happy talent for expression, whereby 
 they compensate for the want of sentiment by the 
 enchanting melody of their style. Their language 
 
 and the mind lull'd in a pleasing repose. 
 
 Others, without giving to grammar rules offence, 
 shall arrange so unskilfully their words ; breaking as 
 it were, and interrupting the sense (or rather non- 
 sense) they mean to communicate, by frequent (and 
 oft times unnecessary) parenthesis, that the ear stum- 
 bles over their rugged paragraphs, as the feet would 
 stumble in scrambling through a street, when the 
 
 pave 
 
 
 ^ 'S up ; 
 %. been 0. 
 
 ; over 
 stones 
 
 bricks, 
 and 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 «-c5 
 
 
370 At School [No. 117 
 
 The mind of the reader is more fa ti 
 
 gu-- - - ed by travelling through a sentence so 
 
 constructed, than it would be in gliding through a 
 whole page of harmonious phraseology. 
 
 Your precise grammarians are most apt to write in 
 this style, thinking that they have well acquitted 
 themselves, if the strict rules of syntax are in no 
 instance violated. The laborer who mixes the mor- 
 tar, and he who carries the hod, may as well pretend 
 to skill in architecture, as these haberdashers of 
 moods and tenses may pretend to taste and elegance 
 in composition. 
 
 Others there are who affect a singularity of 
 above 
 style It is indubitable verity, that their 
 
 the vulgar, 
 phrases are collated from the most approved authors, 
 and applied with the most becoming aptitude, even 
 to the very point of precision in propriety. Every 
 period is polished and rounded off 
 
 as i-oun^j 
 
 .*-°^ 
 
 Whilst others scorn the 
 
 r -y T 1 • 1 ,• and write, 
 
 of language, deal m demonstration „ 
 
No. 117] The Art of Writing 371 
 
 By the foregoing example it is evident, that not 
 only an author's sentiments may be more forcibly 
 impressed on the mind, but the reader's memory will 
 also be greatly assisted, if happily anything so written 
 should be worth remembering. 
 
Source Book of American History 
 
 FOR SCHOOLS AND READERS 
 
 Edited by Albert Bushnell Hart, Ph.D. 
 
 Author of "American History told by Contemporaries" etc. 
 
 Cloth. lamo. 60 cents, net 
 
 "The book, as the author intends, is abundantly suggestive. But at the 
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 found a rich mine of thought." — Chicago Intcr-Ocean. 
 
 "A fine piece of historical work, grouping extracts from trustworthy rec- 
 ords, and with some facsimile illustrations, with the object of showing whence 
 our knowledge of history is derived, how it is obtained, and what the proper 
 use of material for history is when discovered. It is admirably adapted to 
 give as ample a knowledge as can be furnished consistently with the inevi- 
 table limitations of such a work." — 'J'he Coiigrcgatiotialist. 
 
 "A volume that we have examined with close attention and can commend 
 with confidence. In about fmr hundred pages of text, it finds room for some- 
 thing like one liundred an 1 fifty examples of the original material of our his- 
 tory from the voyages of Columbus to the Spanish-American War. The 
 selections are judiciously made, edited, and annotated; the introductory chap- 
 ters for teachers are of the most helpful sort; and the book is sold at so low a 
 price that no secondary school in w^hich American history is taught can find a 
 reasonable excuse for not employing it as an adjunct to the regular manual." 
 
 — The Dial. 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 
 
 BOSTON CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO ATLANTA 
 
 100 Boylston St. 378 Wabash Ave 319-325 Sansome St. 135 Whitehall St. 
 
STUDENT'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 By EDWARD CHANNING 
 
 Professor of History in Harvard University 
 WITH SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 
 
 By ANNA BOYNTON THOMSON 
 
 Thayer Academy, South Braintree, A/ass, 
 
 8vo. Half Leather. $1.40 net 
 
 COMMENTS 
 High School, Bellows Falls, Vt. 
 
 " The book grows upon one greatly. It is beyond anything I have 
 seen in its principle, its way of dealing with the vital things. It will be 
 a fine book to put into the hands of a Senior class in the high school." 
 — A. B. Crawt'ORU, Principal. 
 
 Worcester Academy, Worcester, Mass. 
 
 " Your book has given us good satisfaction. It is the best School 
 History I know of to give the student a clear conception of the origin 
 and the development of our institutions. It presents to him lucidly and 
 forcefully the questions which have been either the sectional or the 
 party issues of the past; it portrays in a singularly felicitous manner 
 our wonderful growth in population and resources." — M. B. PRICE. 
 
 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 FOR GRAMMAR GRADES 
 
 By EDWARD CHANNING 
 
 Author of "Student's History of the United States," etc. 
 izmo. Half Leather. 90 cents net 
 
 COMMENTS 
 
 Nonotuck-Street School, Holyoke, Mass. 
 
 " I have examined Channing's Short United States History and find 
 it a valuable book. A great amount of new and valuable information 
 is used in a scholarly way to throw light on the great chapters in Ameri- 
 can history. It is refreshing reading from the beginning to the end." — 
 John A. Callahan, Principal. 
 
 Washington Irving High School, Tarrytown, N.Y. 
 
 " It is concise, methodical, attractive, and durable. It is just the kind 
 of a book to put in the hands of pupils." — A. W. Emerson, Principal. 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 
 CHICAGO BOSTON SAN FRANCISCO ATLANTA 
 
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