'f flip' b'^ IP*''-'' ( i pmnu mm iiiiiiii If Pmlp M '{{ 111 ■ i ill i ' '''*! 111!!!-: NORTHERN TOUR. A NORTHERN TOUR: I BEIBTG Ji GUIDE TO SARATOGA, LAKE GEORGE, NIAGARA, CANADA, BOSTON, &c. &c. THROUGH THE STATES OF PENNSYLVANIA, NEW- JERSEY, NEW-YORK, VERMONT, NEW-HAMPSHIRE, MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE-ISLAND, AND CONNECTICUT 5 £IffBRACIIfa \TS ACCOUNT OF THE Canaky Colkgesj Public InstiiutionSf Natural Curiosities^ and interesting , Objects therein. PHILADELPHIA: H. C. CAREY & I. LEA, 1825. EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit: BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the thirtieth day of (L. S.) May, in the forty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1325, H. C. Carey & I. Lea^ of the said District, have deposited in this Office the Title of a Book, the right whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the words following, to wit:— "A Northern Tour: being a Guide to Saratoga, Lake George, Niagara^ " Canada, Boston, Stc. &c. through the States of Pennsylvania, New-Jer- " sey, New-York,Verraont, New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode-Island, •' and Connecticut ; embracing an Account of the Canals, Colleges, Public '* Institutions, Natural Curiosities, and interesting Objects therein." In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, intituled, "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authoi's and proprietors of such copies, dunng the times therein mentioned;" And also to the Act, entitled, "An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, < An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the au- thors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Lydia R. Bailey, Printer. ADVERTISEMENT. It is the object of the little volume, which is here pre- ^Sented to the traveller, to afford what has hitherto been wanting-, in an excursion through the northern part of the Union — a work to which he may conveniently refer for in- formation, on those subjects that will naturally attract his attention, during- a tour. Tables have been prepared andl inserted, which it is believed accurately mention the differ- ent routes, and the distances between the different places on those routes 5 they have been formed from the best authorities on such subjects. Attention has been paid, in the accounts given of the various public works and institu- tions, to collect all the information relative to them from sources that may be relied on ; but every thing so rapidly changes and improves in the countries through which we pass, that perhaps some things may have been inadvertently omitted. The mineralogy and geological character of the different districts have been attended to, and it is believed that they will be found as correct as can be expected. The most accurate historical accounts have been introduced, of events worthy of remembrance, that have occurred on any of the spots near which our course may lie ; and where the official documents relative to them were not to be obtained, the historians of the greatest accuracy and celebrity have been referred to. IV ABVEllTISEMBKT. In pawing through the state of New-York, a traveller will find a vast mass of information in the M'^orks of Mr. Spafford, a gentleman who has collected, with extraordinary diligence and accuracy, an immense number of useful facts, relative at once to its history, antiquities, institutions, geography, and commerce. The travels of Mr. Darby through the same state abound, like his other works, with a great deal of valu- able information and many ingenious speculations. Mr. Sil- liman's Tour from Hartford to Quebec is in the hands of every one ; equally delightful from its profound science, its glowing descriptions, and its liberal sentiments. All that is interesting with regard to New-England, is combined in the volumes of Dr. Dwight, a scholar and a poet, who has de- scribed her history with the elegance and research of the one, and delineated her native beauties with the ardent per- ceptions and expressive language of the other. To these writers we have been indebted for much valu- able matter ; and to them we would refer such travellers as seek for more extended information than the size and charac- ter of this little volume would permit us to introduce. Fhiladelphiay June 1, 1825. I f "1=^ I :t: 35 _JL_. ^- .-^;*S* CONTENTS. Route from Philabeuphia to New-York - - » 3 New- York to Saratoga - . . . 14 Excursion to Glenn's FallSt and Lake George ------ 67 Albany to the Fails of Niagara 79 Falls of Niagara to Quebec - - 162 Montreal to Albany 212 Burlington to Boston - - - - 236 Albany to Boston ------ 246 Excursion to Nahant - - - - 262 Boston to Nkw-York . . = - - 264 CONTENTS. louTE FROM Philadelphia to New-Yohk - - - 3 New-Yokk to Saratoga . - - . 14 Excursion to Glenn^s Falls, and Lake George --...> 6?" --™™-=— - Albany to the Falls of Niagara 79 ■ Falls of Niagara to Quebec - - 162 ■■ — Montreal to Albany - - - . . 212 burlingtoit to bostojt - . - . 236 Albany to Boston ------ 246 Excursion to Nahant - - - - 262 Boston to New-York - . = . - 264 NORTHERN TOUR. IN the gratification of a reasonable and useful curiosity, it has of late years become a custom with a large portion of the citizens of the United States, to pass the summer and au- tumnal months in a tour through the northern section of the Union. The idea which so long prevailed, of making Eu- ropean countries the only field for observation and amuse- ment, has passed away ; and while a few are led across the Atlantic by a more ardent curiosity, the great majority of our countiymen are content to gratify it amid congenial manners and institutions in their native land. It is true, the nations of Europe present scenes and objects which are unknown to us ? fancy may there indulge itself amid mouldering ruins, dignified by all that age and classic glory can impart ; philosophy may view the varied effects of successive revolutions, in every age and in eveiy climate — of customs, which have blended the rudeness and ignorance of past ages with the splendour and refinement of modern times — of governments, in every form except that alone which we have learned to prize — of civilization, here carried to the highest point of luxury, there depressed as low as hu- man nature can endure— of commerce, in one age emiching whole nations, which in another are little better than a bar- ren waste — of ambition and national pride, destroying the prosperity of extended regions, from the mere desire of ag- grandizement, or the support of unfounded pretensions 5 in a word, the European traveller beholds around him a vast field, in which improvement has gradually worked its way, A 2 NOETHEIlir TOUH. but he sees, on every side, the marks of ancient ignorance, useless and "absurd habits aT)d custonris, and the remnants of fom)cr barbarism blended witlj tlie tyranny which is not ye' extinct. Surely our own country presents a fairer and a nobler scene ; one on wliich fancy may indulge in brighter visions, on whicli philoHopliy may reflect with more justice and de- light. It presents to us the desert and the wilderness start- ing into improvement and civilization ; smiling villages ris- ing into towns, ;uid towns fast passing into nch and lordly cities ; ti)cy are inhabited h»y a manly and intelligent race, "who have received, almost unaltered, from Iheir earliest fore- fathers, the freest and noblest institutions, wliich they in their turn are handing down, uninjured, to the countless generations which are- to succeed them. Nature here seems to have exerted more than her ordinary energies, and to have formed her works on a nobler scale — every region teems witli tlie richest prodvictions of agriculture — commerce smiles upon and enriches every sliore — and conscious and proud of the high spirit of her people, America offers to otlier nations her example, but seeks not to aggrandize herself by inter- fering in their views, or pursuing the delusions of a false am- bition. With such a coimtry open to our investigation, and that country our home^ there arc few travellci's who will not pre- fer it to more distant lands ; and such it is the object of this little volume to accompany in some of their excursions, to point out to them those scenes whicli are worthy of their no- tice, to revive those recollections on which it is useful and pleasant to dwell, and to afiord them at once a memorandum wid a guide. ROUTE FROM PHILADELPHIA TO NEW-YOBK. PHILADELPHIA TO NEW-YORK. Direct Route. M. M. Philadelphia. Cross P'rankfoi'd Creek to Frankford - - 5 5 Holmcsbuig- 5 10 Cross Pennepack Creek Poquasin Creek 2 12 Neshaminey Creek 4 16 Bristol 4 20 Morrisville 10 30 Cross Delaware River to Trenton - - - 1 31 Lawrenceville 6 37 Princeton 4 41 King-ston, on Millstone River 2 43 New-Brunswick 14 57 Cross Raritan River Rah way on Rahway River 12 6^ Elizabeth town 5 74* Newark 6 80 Cross Passaic River Hackensack River 4 84 Jersey City (PaulusHook) 5 89 Cross Hudson River to New-York 2 91 Deviations. 1. Philadelphia to Trenton by water. Burlington, N. J. 18 Bristol, P. 1 19 Bordentown, N. J. 9 28 Trenton^ N.J 5 33 BOUTE FKOM PHILADELPHIA TO KEW-YORJC. 2. Bordentown to New-York, M. M. Cranberry 15 Spotteswood 10 25 South Amboy 8 33 Cross to North Amboy 2 35 New-York (by steam-boat) 22 57 3. New-Brunswickf by Staten Island^ to New-York. Woodbridg-e 10 Staten Island Sound, New Ferry - - - - 4 14 Castleton 7 21 Lazaretto 122 New-York (by steam-boat) 5 27 4. By ElizabethtowH Point to New-York. Elizabethtown to Elizabethtown Point -- - 2 iVei(;-PbrA; (by steam-boat) - - - - - - 10 1,2 Philadelphia to Trentoit, hy watery 33 miles. Since the establishment of steam boats, this has become the usual route, and the road is not often selected by travel- lers, especially in summer. The passag-e by water is indeed highly agi-e cable; the views are more beautiful, and the river presents a finer prospect above Philadelphia than it does lower down. Soon after leaving the city, the shores gradually contract, and offer bolder features than the flat banks which present themselves to the eye of the traveller, on either side, in his passage from Baltimore. The shores, but especially that of Pennsylvania, are adorned by many smiling villages, and the country-seats of gentlemen of Philadelphia. At eighteen miles from that city is Burlingtorit on the Jersey shore, BRISTOL — BORDENTOWN". 5 which, if its size and population are not adequate to its cor- porate rank — that of a city, may, from its fine green bank, which gradually declines to the margin of the river, its neat houses, its smiling aspect, and salubrious air, well merit the reputation it enjoys, as one of the most charming retreats in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. On the opposite bank of the Delaware, and at about the distance of a mile from Burlington, is Bristol, one of the pretti- est country towns in America. Its population does not exceed one thousand inhabitants; but the houses are in general good, and those fronting on the river are built with great taste ; their green lawns descending to its very margin, decked with shrubs, weeping willows and other ornamental trees, are ex- ceedingly picturesque ; and the house of Mr. Craig gives a character of Attic beauty and exquisite simplicity to the whole scene. It is formed on the model of a Grecian tem- ple, and is indeed, though with some variation in the propor- tions, a copy of the beautiful temple of the Muses on the Ihssus, one of the most enchanting remnants of Athenian taste. Leaving Bristol, the passage up the river becomes perhaps still more interesting, Thougii the banks are no longer so thickly gemmed with country-seats, yet they begin to pre- sent in themselves something of a stronger and more pictu- resque character, occasionally rising, especially on the Jersey shore, into abrupt cliffs, many of wliich are adorned with no- ble forest trees. A liveliness is imparted to the scene by the sloops which are constantly met, on their way between Tren- ton and Philadelphia, and the intermediate villages. The Durham boats too are seen stealing slowly and silently along the shores ; the men engaged in poling them occasionally endeavouring to relieve the tediousness of their employment hy their songs, whose moiiotony would usually render them uninteresting, but which, harmonizing with the placid still- ness of the water over which they are passing, and their slow and silent progress along the shore, makes them not uninter-» esting. Nine miles above Bristol, we reach Bordeniown, a village on the Jersey shore. It is built on a lofty cliff, rising abrupt- ly from the river, and an excellent road has been cut tlirough it for a new line of stages, established on tliis route to New- York. The road from Bordentown to South Amboy is a new a2 h BORDENTOWN. j one, and presents little variety; it has, however, the advantage of being the shortest distance by land between New-York and Philadelphia. Bordentown is a very pretty village, contain- ing about one hundred dwelling houses, in general very well built ; and, like BurUngton and Bristol, is a favourite retreat of the Philadelphians in summer. There is a cu'cumstance, however, connected with its history, which will render it pecuharly interesting to the traveller — it was the residence of the late Francis Hopkinson, a name dear to the scholar as long as wit and humour shall charm, and still dearer to the||| patriot, as long as ardent devotion to his country's good shall^' claim his admiration and love. An anecdote is mentioned with regard to him, which it is believed, has never yet been pubhshed, and which shows that his merits were not known to his own countrymen alone. During the revolutionaiy war, a party of Hessians invaded Bordentown so suddenly, that Mr. Hopkinson's family had barely time to escape, leaving their house and all it contained a prey to the invaders. After the retreat of the British from Philadelphia in 1778, a volume was brought to Mr. Hopkinson, which a Hessian officer had left behind him at his lodgings ; it was a book that had belonged to his library at Bordentown, and on the blank pag-e the officer had written in German, that he had taken the volume from the hbrary of Mr. Hopkinson, who was a violent and uncompromising rebel ; but that, from the books and the phi- losophical apparatus in the room, he was certainly a man of great learning and science. That this httle village was formerly the abode of one, who had so nobly distinguished himself in the defence and ser- vice of our country, must ever impart to it a charm in the eye of a traveller ; yet perhaps, his sensibilities will not be less awakened, when he beholds it now the residence of one who has sought its peaceful retirement after having been driven from the palaces of Europe — when he reflects that the brother of a mighty Emperor, who ruled nearly the whole of Eu- rope, and himself the sovereign of a great nation, is now an humble citizen of New-Jersey, known perhaps more by his charities, and the benevolence of his heart, than by the high station he so lately held. Foint JBreeze, the residence of the Count de Survilliers (Joseph Buonaparte,) is a fine estate of about five hundred acres, extending along Crosswick's creek, a stream which FBANKFORD — HOLMESBURG. f enters the Delaware at Bordentown. The grounds are laid out with great taste, and afford in some deg-ree a specimen of a Eui'opean park. The mansion of the Count does not present, either in its situation or exterior appearance, any thing" to be greatly adnured, and is certainly far inferior in both respects to the old house, which was burned down a few years since ; and which, placed directly on the Point, had the advantage of a noble view. The interior arrange- ments are, however, exceedingly commodious ; and the splendid collection of paintings which adorns the rooms, is a treasure that no other part of the continent can boast, and will afford a traveller of taste the highest gratification. From Bordentown, a passage of five miles brings the tra- veller to Trenton, the capital of the state of New-Jersey, and the termination of steam-boat navigation on the Delaware. Phiiadelphia to Trentoit, hy land, 31 miles. Leaving Philadelphia by the great eastern road, the first village is that of Frankfordy about five miles from the city. As this stage may be considered as an envu'on of Philadel- phia, it has all the character belonging to it; the road is a fine turnpike, and the country is level, with gentle undulations. Frankford is a very pretty village, consisting of one main street, about a third of a mile in length ; the houses are built of stone, or board, neatly painted, and smTounded with httle gardens ; and the road being wide, is planted on each side with trees in front of the houses. The country around Frankford is agreeable, and forms from the numerous villas in the neighbom-hood, one of the most cheerful residences in the vicinity of the city. It contains about one hundred houses ; and, though it has no staple manufacture, yet the numerous shops, stores and taverns, give it a busy appear- ance. From Frankford, the road proceeds in a north-eastern di- rection five miles to Holmesburg, a village on the Pennepack creek. On the right, as the country recedes from the eye, it gradually becomes more and more level for about a mile to Sie river Delaware, along whose margin it descends into mea- 8 BRISTOL — ^MORRISVILLE — TRENTON. dows and marshy ground; it is beautifully variegated with woods, villas and occasional glimpses of the river, though the road is not sufficiently elevated to afford any very extensive or commanding views of it. Two miles from Holmesburg the road crosses the Poquasin creek, four miles farther the Neshaminey, and in four more we reach Bristol on the Delaware. The soil is in general loamy, mixed with gravel, and a substratum of soft micaceous granite; the aspect of the country is pleasing, the reach of* . prospect often extensive, and presenting good farms, th^l houses neat and frequently elegant, and the whole bespeak- ing a character of comfort and wealth in the owners; indeed they are generally either respectable country gentlemen, or citizens who have retired from Philadelphia to become farmers. Passing Bristol, the road proceeds for a few miles along the shore of the river, which it then leaves, and takes a di- rect course to Morrisville^ ten miles from Bristol, and situated on the bank of the Delaware opposite to Trenton. This town takes its name from Mr. Robert Morris, and exhibits an unfortunate scheme of a man whose mind was perhaps as great as that of any one of his age, but whose designs proved ultimately too vast for that age to realize. Taking advantage of the rapids in the Delaware, Mr. Morris contemplated the erection of most extensive manufacturing establishments, to accommodate which this town was laid out; but the undertak- ing was not suited to the existing state of the countiy, was soon neglected, and eventually tumbled into ruin. One of the houses, a handsome building intended for the residence of Mr. Morris, was afterwards occupied by the celebrated French general Moreau. From Morrisville the road crosses the Dela- ware on a substantial wooden bridge, erected in the year 1805, to Trenton, Trenton to New-York, 60 miles. Trenton^ the capital of New-Jersey, is a neat country town, containing about four thousand inhabitants, though incorpo- rated as a city. The situation of the town is open and plea- sant, and its elevation above the river affords a pleasing prospect up it, which is closed by high hills, but extends over the fine countiy of Pennsylvania on the western shore. TRENTON — PRINCETOSr. » But Trenton is chiefly remai-kable as the scene of Gene- ral Washington's victory over the British at Christmas, 1776; an event, which, among- his many great acts, is perhaps the best proof of his fortitude and resources; which retrieved the sinking fortunes of his country, and raised the gloomy despondence of the Americans, then almost on the verge of despair. The continental army, defeated in several battles, had been driven from the Jerseys across the Delaware by the British; and broken, disheartened, and without resource, as they were, could oppose no obstacle to the successful in- vasion of the middle states. The genius of Washington how- ever was equal to the occasion, and by the acts of one deci- sive night, he robbed them of the fruits of a whole campaign, imparted new hope and vigour to oui' cause, and opened the way to eventual triumph. Taking advantage of the festivity of the season, when the British were carousing over the fallen fortunes of their adversaries, he crossed the Delaware, though full of ice, in the middle of a stormy night, attacked the enemy early in the morning, and after a severe conflict com- pelled them to surrender at discretion. It is said, that as the battle was about to commence, the General had placed him- self very far in advance; observing this, his aides-de-camp begged him to retire where he would be less exposed to danger, and equally able to superintend and direct the mo- tions of his troops; but appearing to have staked every thing on the event of this conflict, he calmly replied to them^ *' Gentlemen, from this point I only go forwai-d." Leaving Trenton, the road continues through a country of a light sandy soil, and not very fertile; though it is well settled with good farms. At six miles we reach Lawrencevilky where the soil changes to a dark earth of light texture. As we approach Princeton^ four miles farther, tlie country becomes high and open, affording many noble prospects; to the south and east, it stretches in a flat sandy plain to the shores of the ocean, along which are seen rising the liighlands of the Ne- vesink hills, giving a rich termination to the viev/. To the north, the country becomes more and more hilly, till it termi- nates in a distant blue ridge. Princeton itself commands a fine prospect, but has httle besides the college to recommend it; except tliis, the town consists chiefly of taverns, stores, and a few good dwelling-houses, straggling for nearly half a mile along the road side. The College is a large plain stone build- 10 rRINCETOSr— XEW-BRrUSWICK. ing-, about one hundred and eighty feet long-, fifty-four deep, and four stories hig-h, without a soHtary architectural orna- ment. As a literary institution, however, Nassau-Hall holds quite a distinguished rank among those of the United States. It was incorporated in 1746, though it was not permanently established at Princeton until 1757. The number of students is about one hundred^ and it is resorted to, not only by young men from New-Jersey, but from most of the other states. It has a handsome library and museum, with a fine collection of philosophical instruments; and within its walls have been educated some of the most distinguished citizens of the coun- try. The battle of Princeton was fought in the town on the 3d of January, 1777. It was a continuation of the plan which General Washington had so nobly commenced at Trenton, and was attended with equal success. He is reported on this occasion to have exerted himself with great personal bravery, and to have been several times exposed to the most immi- nent danger. Two imles from Princeton brings the traveller to Kingston^ a village on the MiJlstone river; and fourteen miles farther, to New-Brunswick. For the first few miles, the soil is barren and stony ; but as we proceed it improves, and on approaching the latter place the country presents a more agreeable aspect, and is settled with numerous farm-houses. ' New-Brunswick is a pleasant town, or rather city, for it has that corporate rank, situated on the banks of the Raritan, a river which is navigable for vessels of eighty tons, and which is here passed by a fine bridge of twelve arches, and four hundred and forty feet long. It contains a population of nearly four thousand persons. There are many good houses, especially on the main street, which is broad, and is the resi- dence of a number of genteel families. The town is very old, and was originally founded by the Dutch, whose descendants still compose a large propoi'tion of its inhabitants. The col- lege, founded by the Dutch clergy, though now no more than a grammar school, is a handsome and spacious edifice. On crossing the bridge from New-Brunswick, the prospect on the Raritan, both above and below, is very beautiful; that above embracing an extensive sweep, with elevated banks, fringed with wood, and crowned by a finely cultivated coun- try. The view down the river is not so extensive, but the ELIZABETHTOWJf — NEWAHK. 11 heiglit and colour of the banks, and the noble woods which overhang them, are finely contrasted. For a few miles, the country is rather barren, and a reddish soil prevails ; but where tlie road to Amhoy crosses it, the view on the right is very fine, extending over the vale of the Raritan to its mouth, and embracing the two towns of Am- boy, situated on their jutting promontories, the bay of the Raritan, the fine plains of Staten Island, and the blue liigh- lands of the Nevesink faintly rising in the distance. At Rahway, twelve miles from New-Brunswick, we cross the river of the same name, and in five miles farther arrive at Elizabethtoiun, whose spires are seen as we approach it, rising among the trees. It is a neat town of four thousand inhabitants, with a market and several churches, sun^ounded by small but well-cultivated farms and villas, many of which are quite handsome. In antiquity it exceeds every other town in the state, having been settled as early as 1664. The steam-boat route here leaves the main road, and passes through a beautiful country, covered with neat farms and handsome houses, two miles, to Elizabethtown-Point, whence the passage to New-York by water is only ten miles. - From EHzabethtown to Newark, the next stage, is only six miles, through a weU cultivated district. Newark, the largest and most flourishing town in the state, with a population of seven thousand inhabitants, is situated on the west bank of the Passaic river, six or seven miles above its mouth by the course of the river, though only two or three in a direct line. To a traveller from the South, this town, wliich is certainly one of the prettiest in the United States, will appear ex- tremely interesting, as it is the first instance of that beauty, blended with attention to pubhc convenience, and to ex- treme neatness, which becomes more common as he advances into the eastern states. The main street is two hundred feet wide, and forms a noble esplanade, along which are many well-built houses 5 there are five churches, some of them adorned with handsome spires, and several other public buildings 5 and the trade of the place is flourishing and ex- tensive. On the Passaic river, fourteen miles north of Newark, are the celebrated falls, and the village of Patterson, The road passes over a reddish sandy soil, and presents a scene of great interest and beauty. Three miles above Newark is the t2 PATTERSOSr. village of Belleville;* and five miles farther that of Eguanouk. Patterson is a busy town, containing* about two thousand four hundred inhabitants, and is celebrated for its extensive manufacturing establishments ; a great facility for the forma- tion of which is afforded by the noble water-power of the Passaic. There are no less than ten cotton factories with fifteen thousand spindles, two large duck manufactories, a rolling and slitting mill, a nail manufactory, and a paper mill. But what perhaps renders this spot even still more attractive to the traveller, than the sight of a busy manufacturing town, is one of those majestic water-falls which the rivers of our country so often present. At this spot the Passaic de- scends into the level country from a ridge of hills, which, extending far across New-Jersey to the Hudson, appears to be the first of many lines of highlands which follow in suc- cession to the north. A walk of a quarter of an hour along the eastern bank of the river, brings the traveller to the rock over which it tumbles into a deep cleft or chasm a perpendicU' lar depth of seventy-two feet. The hills around rise into lofty- cliffs crowned with forests ; and the white sheet of water rushing over the precipice and boihng beneath, tlie dark hue of the rocks continually wet with spray, the mist for ever ris- ing and forming a continued rainbow, all contrasted with the placid surface of the stream but a few yards below, and the quiet and solemn grandeur of the woods around, present a scene of truly romantic beauty. From Patterson the traveller may proceed to New-York, without returning to Newark, by an interesting ride of twenty miles, through the towns of HackensacJc, Durham and Hohoken. Returning to the main route, the road from Newai'k to the Hackensack river, four miles, passes nearly the whole distance on a noble causeway over a body of flat salt marshes, which extend from Newark Bay along the river Hackensack several miles into the country. A part of these marshes has formerly been a cedar swamp ; the road is formed by cutting a ditch on each side so as to drain a space suflicientiy wide on which logs of cedar are laid across close togetlier and over these earth is placed to the depth of two or three feet, foi-ming a * Near this village is a copper mine, which was worked during the re- volutionary war, but is now neglected. The ruins of the edifices attach- ed to it are visible ; and the mineralogist will be rewarded for half aa hour's research. It is known by the name of Schuyler's Mine. II PAULUS HOOK. 1:1 hard and even surface, while the line of trees on each side af- fords a grateful shade from the summer heat. At the end of the causeway the river Hackensack is passed on a bridge one thousand feet in length ; it is a deep stream, soon falling into Newark Bay, and navigable for several miles into the country. From this river the road passes for five miles over a rocky ridge, and through the salt marshes which border the Hudson, to Jersey City^ or Paulus Hook ; immediately opposite to which, on the eastern bank of the river, here two miles wide, stands the city of New- York. 14 ROUTE rnoM NEW-YORK TO SARATOGA. New-Yobk to Albany, by water. M. M. New-York to New-Jersey State line - - 21 Stony Point - 18 39 West Point 12 51 Newburg" 8 59 Poughkeepsie 14 73 King"ston 15 88 Catskill .... - 21 109 Hudson 3 112 Albany 28 140 New-York to Albany, along the Eastern Bank of iht Hudson JRiver. New-York to King-sbridg-e 14 Phillipsburg, on Sawmill river, - - - - 5 19 Tarry town -.-..----. 10 29 Sing-sing' -.--- 6 35 Cross Croton river - 3 38 Croton 1 39 Verplank's Point --.-..-- 5 44 Peekskill 2 46 Fishkill, on Fishkill creek, 20 66 Cross Napping" creek, ...... 5 71 Poughkeepsie ---.--.-- 9 80 Hyde Park 6 86 Staatsburg - 5 91 Rhinebeck 6 97 Clermont 13 110 Jauseas creek 1 111 Hudson ... 12 123 ColumbianviUe, on Kinderhook creek, - 6 129 3fEW-T0RK TO SARATOGA. 15 M. M. Kinderhook Landing' 5 134 Greenbiish - - 18 152 Cross Hudson river to Albany - - - - 1 153 New-York to Albasty, along" the Western Bank of the Hudson River. New-York to Hoboken 2 New-Durham 3 5 Hackinsack 9 14 Gloster 8 22 New-York and New-Jersey State line - 3 25 Tappan - - 1 26 Nyack - - 5 31 Warren - - 7 38 Stony Pomt - - - - 5 43 Gibraltar 4 47 West Point 3 50 Canterbury ---------- S 55 New-Windsor --------- 3 58 Newburg ---. 2 60 Milton - - - - 12 72 Pelham 12 84 Kingston 9 93 Cross Esopus creek to Sagertie's - - - 12 105 Catskill - - 12 117 Athens 6 123 New-Baltimore 14 137 Albaj^y --15 15^ ALBAifY to Saratoga, hy Schenectady. Ar,BATfY to Schenectady 16 Cross Mohawk river to Longtown - - 8 24 Ballstm. --- 4 28 Ballston Springs ---,---. 331 Saratoga Springs .---_-. 8 39 IQ HOBOKEN— -KINGSBRIDGE — PHILLIFSBUAG. Albany to Saratoga, by Waterford. M. I^I. Albany to Mohawk river 9 Waterford 2 11 Anthony's Hill - 15 26 Ballston Springs 3 29 Saratoga Springs -.,--.- 8 37 We shall not detain our readers with a description of the great commercial city of New-York ; one sufficiently minute would occupy too much space in our little volume, and it may easily be obtained from the regular guide-books of the place. Leaving New-York therefore, at once, we shall endeavour to point out to the northern tourist, the objects which will attract his notice, as he glides in the steam-boat along the waters of the majestic Hudson. On leaving the quay, the right is formed at first by the city itself, then by its environs, gradually becoming less and less compact, till they are succeeded by the villas, country- seats, and small farms, which usually surround a large city. The left is formed by the Jersey shore, on which are scatter- ed the houses of tiie city of Jersey and Hohoken, the banks gradually becoming bolder as we proceed ; and about three miles above Paulus Hook, the attention of the traveller is at- tracted to the spot where General Hamilton was killed by Mr. Burr, on the 11th July, 1804. At Fort Xee, six miles farthfer, the western shore becomes still more abrupt, and the precipice higher ; on the opposite bank, but about a mile above, is Fort Washington ; and though the hills are bold, they are less perpendicular, and slope more gradually to the river, than those of New-Jersey. The river is here upwards of a mile in width. The same character continues untU we pass the small creek which leads to Klngshridge, the bound- ary of the city and county of New-York. The name given to this creek by the Dutch was Spyten Duyvil Kill, or Spi- ting Devil creek 5 a name probably conferred on it by some I TAPPAN SEA. 17 worthy burgomaster of yore, from the troubles and dangers he encountered, in exploring its almost endless windings. . After this the country is more tame, though beautifully che- quered with wood and cultivation, as far as PhilKpshurgt five miles above Kingsbridge. From Fort Lee the Jersey shore becomes more and more bold ; its precipices, some of which are three hundred feet high, extend in a regular and continued hne for about four- teen miles, where a larg-e bay, running in to the westward, ''> forms the entrance of the Tappan Sea. These chfFs, which are known by the name of the Palisades^ are basaltic, and seem to form a part of the first great ridge of hills which passes along the eastern side of the continent : they vaiy in width from half a mile to two miles, and will attract the at- tention of every traveller, from the lofty and perpendicular face which they present. The rock is hard, fine, and of a • dark colour ; it was used in former ages by the Indians, for their aiTow-points. About twelve miles above Fort Lee, the line which divides the states of New- York and New-Jersey strikes the west bank of the Hudson ; and from that point northward, both sides of the river belong to New- York. The Hudson, which below had seldom exceeded a mUe in width, now spreads into an expanse of water not less than three miles broad, which was denominated, by the ancient Dutch navigators, the Tappaan Zee; and where, it is said, the cautious Mynheers always prudently shortened sail, and im- plored the protection of St. Nicholas, ere they crossed. The passage, of eight miles, through this lake, is exceedingly in- teresting, and miglit demand at our hands some dehneation of , ■ its beauties ; but this has been already done by the enchant- ing pen of the venerable historian of New- York, who imparts 'a classic feeling to every scene he has described, and whose description the traveller will thank us for inserting. " Now did the vessel of the gallant Peter, career it gayly ' across the vast expanse of Tappan Bay, whose wide extend- ■ ed shores present a variety of delectable scenery — here the bold promontory, crowned with embowering trees, advanc- ing into the bay — there the long woodland slope, sweeping ' up from the shore in rich luxuriance, and terminating in the upland precipice — while at a distance a long waving line of rocky heights, threw their gigantic shades across the water, Kow woiSd they pass where some little modest interval, 18 TAPPAN SEA^ opening among these stupendous scenes, yet retreating aas| it were for protection into the embraces of the neighbouring mountains, displayed a rui-al paradise, fraught with sweet and pastoral beauties; the velvet tufted lawn — the bushy copse — the tinkling rivulet, stealing through the fresh and vivid verdure — on whose banks was situated some little In- dian village, or peradventm'e, the rude cabin of some solitary hunter. **The different periods of the revolving day, seemed each with cunning magic, to diffuse a different charm over the scene. Now would the jovial sun break gloriously from the east, blazing from the summits of the liills, and sparkHng the landscape with a thousand dewy gems ; while along the bor- ders of the river were seen heavy masses of mist, which like midnight caitiffs, distm-bed at his approach, made a sluggish retreat, rolling in sullen reluctance up the mountains. At such times all was brightness and life and gayety — ^the atmo- sphere seemed of an indescribable pureness and transparen- cy — the birds broke forth in wanton madrigals, and the freshening breezes wafted the vessel merrily on her course. But when the sun sunk amid a flood of glory in the west, mantling the heavens and the earth with a thousand gorge- ous dyes — ^then all was calm, silent and magnificent. The late swelling sail hung lifelessly against the mast — the sea- man with folded arms leaned against the shrouds, lost in that involuntary musing which the sober grandeur of nature com- mands in the rudest of her childi-en. The vast bosom of the Hudson was like an unruffled miiTor, reflecting the golden splendour of the heavens, excepting that now and then a bai'k canoe would steal across its surfe.ce, filled with painted savages, whose gay feathers glai-ed brightly, as perchance a lingering ray of the setting sun gleamed upon them from the western mountains."* Near the little village of Tappmiy and three or four miles from the western shore, is the tomb of Major Andre, the amiable and interesting young English officer, who, in the year 1780, fell a victim to the schemes of the treacherous Arnold and his own imprudence. At that period, liis fate was by many considered unjust, by all was lamented — ^but timcj which always corrects the transitory, and often incon- * Knickerbocker, II. lOSi 3IAJ0R AKDHE. 19 sideraie, opinions of the day, has justified the decision of the American general, as consonant to the principles of morahtyj of warhke intercourse and of honour. It is said he was amiable and accomphshed, and nature had bestowed on him a taste for elegant literature and the fine arts, which had been greatly improved by a good education, and attentive study. His fidehty, with his situation and character, made him a good agent in the conduct of the plot, which had been formed by sir Henry Clinton and the infamous Arnold, for deUvering up West Point to the British ; but his high ideas of candour, and his abhorrence of duplicity, made him in- expert in practising those arts of deception which it requir- ed. After having secretly met Arnold on the beach of the river, and formed the necessary plans, he attempted to re- turn to New-York, assuming a feigned name and a disguise ; but when he had advanced some distance in security, and thought Jiimself out of danger, he was stopped and discover- ed by three of the New- York militia, who were, with others, scouting between the outposts of the two armies. Andre offered his captors a purse of gold, and a new valuable watch, }f they would let him pass; and permanent provision, and fu- ture promotion, if they would convey and accompany him to New-York. They nobly disdained the proffered bribe, and delivered him, a prisoner, to Lieutenant-Colonel Jemison, who commanded the scouting parties. In testimony of the high sense entertained of the virtuous and patriotic conduct of John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van-Wert, the captors of Andre, Congress resolved, *'that each of them re- ceive, annually, two hundred dollars in specie, during hfe ; that the board of war be directed to procure for each of them a silver medal, on one side of which should be a shield, with tliis inscription, * Fidelity,' and on the other the following motto * Vincit Amor Patriae ;* and that the commander in chief be requested to present the same, with the thanks of Congress, for their fidelity, and the eminent service they ren- dered their country." Lieutenant Colonel Jemison forward- ed to Washington all the papers found upon Andre, with a letter giving an account of the whole afiair ; but the express, by taking a different route from the general, who was return- ing from a conference at Hartford, with count de Rocham- beau, missed him. The same packet, which detailed the particulars of Andre's capture, brought a letter from him, in 20 MAJOR ANBRE. which he avowed his name and character, and endeavoured to show that he did not come under the description of a spy. The letter was expressed in terms of dignity, without inso- lence, and of apology, without meanness. He stated therein, that he had held a correspondence with a person, under the orders of his general ; that his attention went no fmlher than meeting that person, on neutral ground, for the purpose of intelligence ; and that, against his stipulation, his intention, and without his knowledge beforehand, he was brought within the American posts, and had to concert his escape from them. Being taken on his return, he was betrayed in- to the vile condition of an enemy in disguise. His principal request was, that "whatever his fate might be, a decency of treatment might be observed, which would mark, that, though unfortunate, he was branded with nothing that was dishonourable, and that he was involuntarily an impostor." General Washington appointed a court martial, who exa- mined into the affair with the most scrupulous care, and finally condemned him to death as a spy, agreeably to the laws and usages of nations. The British officers made eveiy exer- tion to save him, but without effect. It was the general opinion of the American army, that his life was forfeited ; and that national dignity and sound policy required, that the forfeiture should be exacted. Andre, though superior to the terrors of death, wished to die like a soldier. To obtain this favour, he wrote a letter to Washington, fraught with sentiments of military dignity. From an adherence to the usages of war, it was not thought proper to gi'ant his request; but his delicacy was saved from the pain of receiving a nega- tive answer. The guard, which attended him in his confine- ment, marched with him to the place of execution. The way over which he passed, was crowded, on each side, by anxious spectators. Theix' sensibility was strongly impressed, by beholding a well-dressed youth, in the bloom of life, of peculiarly engaging person, mien and aspect, devoted to immediate execution. Major Andre walked with firmness, composure and dignity, between two officers of his guard, his arms being locked in theirs. Upon seeing the prepara- tions, at the fatal spot, he asked, with some degree of con- cern, "must I die in this manner }" he was told it was un- avoidable. He repUed " I am reconciled to my fate, but not MAJOR ANDBt. 21. lo tlic mode ;" but soon subjoined, " it will be but a momen- taiy pang-. " He ascended the cart with a pleasing- counte- nance, and with a degree of composure, which excited the admiration, and melted the hearts, of all the spectators. He was asked, when the fatal moment was at hand, if he had any- thing to say ? He answered, " nothing- but to request, that you will witness to the world, that I die like a brave man.'* The succeeding moments closed the affecting scene. This execution was the subject of severe censures. Bar- barity, cruelty and murder, were plentifully charged on the Americans ; but impai'thl men of aU nations allowed, that it was warranted by the usages of war. It cannot be condemn- ed without condemning the maxims of self preservation, which have uniformly guided the practice of hostile nations. The finer feelings of humanity would be gratified, by » 60 o .1 § a; 1 t 1 ^ ffi.2 1 1 15 u 1=1 ** .< « C Oj O , O o 1 ■£3*5 OS 4/ £ « d; CS W5 1 © 0) " ^ S 8 § Oj ^ .2 -Is^s !|^ i; a a H h ;§hph> U p4 ^ 02 W s r^^-^r^.'v^ . i~v^^- ,-^A.^r«A^ /~^ •^§ 1 ♦- -S OS 1. t en « ■5 ill •2 1 ^ ?^ si dj C! sS S <-> 1 o .Si =* s -Co a ft o _o g-5 If .2 2 CU 1 T3 ■5 a iS , 3 « «^= o 'S a fy OaS^:! '-( H o < h CO M d hi eo 1 •9SU.no J S^.lV p^ yunoj- -SS-FT-? XSUM -SSV73 033S c 2 WEST POINT — MIIITART COIIE&B. ' rt our- ot. and and " ' t^l^^-i >? H^ is ism g ^'^?, b A isl 1 !:it I 9 » « U 1 t -V .1 %-* lytiqiie appliquee : du second ordre, p Perspective, Sha Descriptive Geom 2 "o 1, u ft ■(-< d Spherical Trigo on of Algebra to G French of Lacrois 'ari-ar. ens d'Algebre, par Algebra. "S 1 1* c a *3 6 1 ''5 ssaideGeometne ana bes et anx Surfaces ( rozet's Treatise on Shadows. rozet's Treatise on Conic Sections. St. ise on Plane am on the Applicati islated from the t, by Professor I id re's Geometry, lenient des elem ix's Elements of ■"=3 3 s It SI re de Gil B d's Lecteur d's French O O V, es -tJ N J, g jj .-no; h W u o I ss H ^o>A K«m r-'^ryr^f.^r-/.^ rJ^>^ r-sj^^^ r-^^ r-A^ hD io , fl s Jf W w ^ 5 o 2 .S io .»-4 a 73 j3 -« Co t< as *- S 1 ^ ** ^ 1 1 ^o QJ 2 S 5 =^ 1^ ■fi to 3 ^ fl * is O V . 1 -^ s-^ S '2 2 *^ ■* s S a fe 1 8^ i f •1 1 ■ s 2 ;: « 5 « C s <) ^1 uQ H K S H <; H fe CO ;» ^ W 6 H Accordingly, three attempts were made to take it ; but they all proved unsuccessful. In the year 1757, however, about two years after its erection, the Marquis de Montcalm, who then commanded the French army, determined to besiege it in form. In August of that year, he landed ten thousand men on the shore of the lake, and summoned the fortress to surrender ; the place where he landed is still pointed out, and the remains of his batteries are yet visible. He had a powerful train of artillery, and although the fort and works 72 FOET WIlllAM HESTBT^ — FORT GEORGE. were garrisoned with three thousand men, and were most gallantly defended by the commander Colonel Monroe, it was obliged to capitulate : but the most honourable terms were granted to Colonel Monroe, in consideration of his gallantry. The bursting of the great guns, the want of am- munition, and above all, the failure of General Webb to succour the fort, although he lay idle at Fort Edward with four thousand men, were the causes of this catastrophe. The capitulation was however, most shamefully broken. The Indians attached to Montcalm's army, while the ti'oops were marching out at the gate of the fort, dragged the men from the ranks, parti culai-ly the Indians in the English ser- vice, and butchered them in cold blood ; they plundered all without distinction, and mm'dered women and little children with circumstances of the most aggravated barbarity. The massacre continued all along the road, through the defile of the mountains and for many miles, the miserable prisoners, especially those in the rear, being tomahawked and hewn down in cold blood. It mig-ht well be called the bloody defile, for it was the same ground that was the scene of the battles only two years before, in 1755. It is said, that efforts were made by the French to restrain the barbarians, but they were not restrained ; and the miserable remnant of the gan'ison with difficulty reached Fort Edward, pursued by the Indians, although escorted by a body of French troops. "I passed over the ground," says Mr. Sihiman, "upon which this tra- gedy was acted, and the oldest men of the country still re- member the deed of guilt and infamy." Fort William Henry was levelled to the ground by Mont- calm, and has never been rebuilt. Fort George was built as a substitute for it, on a more commanding site, and although often mentioned in the history of subsequent wars, was not the scene of any very memorable event.* It was the depot for the stores of the army of General Bur- goyne, till that commander relinquished his connection with the lakes, and endeavom'ed to push his fortunes, without depending upon his magazines in the rear. Nor are the historical recollections, which this spot revives, all that render it interesting to the traveller. The view from it, up the lake, is exceedingly beautiful. On the right, the * Silliman's Travels, 163, LAKE GEORGE. 7o mountain comes immediately down to the water, leavin^^ scarcely room for a few neat settlements, which stand prettily at its foot. On the left, the hills mount immediately from the plain, at the distance of about half a mile from the lake, but soon winding- around, project into it in a bold promontory; they are covered with a thick forest, which at the foot is formed of deciduous trees, intermixed with evergreens 5 but as they rise, pine, hemlock, spruce and fir, assume their pre- rogative, and clothe the summits with perpetual verdure. In, front, a number of beautiful wooded islands are seen ; and beyond them, the mountains, interlocking- for a g-reat distance in a variety of shades. We now enter Caldwell, the capital of Warren county, a flourishing- town, containing- about sixty houses, a printing" office, a neat church, and tlie public building's of the county. The hotel is larg-e, commodious and well furnished, so that travellers who visit the lake will not suffer for want of ac- commodation. It is named after James Caldwell, a g-entJc- man to whose liberalit}'' and public spirit it owes its existence, and who has conferred on the whole district inestimable be- nefits by his individual enterprise. After reposing- at nig-ht from the fatig-ues of a roug-ii and uncomfortable journey from Saratoga, the traveller should arise with the dawn of day, to behold the beautiful scenery of the lake, and sail for an hour on its placid bosom. It is hardly necessary for us to describe the enjoyment of such an excursion; but the description which has been given by a traveller, who seems to unite with a profound and accurate knowledge of the works of nature, a glowing perception of her beauties, and a peculiar felicity in depicting them, is so graphically coiTect, that we shall take the liberty of insert^ ing it. *'In the first gray of the morning," says Mr. Sillirnan, *'I was in the balcony of the inn, admiring the fine outline of the mountains by which Lake George is environed, and the masses of pure snowy vapour, which, unruffled by the slig-htest breeze, slumbered on its crystal bosom. During all the preceding days of the tour, there had not been a clear morning ; but now, not a cloud spotted the expanse of the heavens, and the sky and the lake conspired to exalt (jvery feature of this unrivalled landscape. G 74 XAKE 6i:0HG£, " The morning came on with rapid progress ; but the woody sides of the high mountains, that form the eastern barrier, were still obscured by the lingering shadows of the night, although on their tops the dawn was now fully dis' closed, and their outline, by contrast with their dark sides, was rendered beautifully distinct ; while their reversed images, perfectly reflected from the most exquisite of all mirrors, presented mountains pendent in the deep, and ad- hering by their bases to those which at the same moment were emulating the heavens. "A boat had been engaged the evening before, and we now rowed out upon the water, and hastened to old Fort George, whose massy walls of stone, still twenty feet high, and in pretty good preservation, rise upon a hiU, about a quarter of a mile from the southern shore of the lake. I was anxious to enjoy, from this propitious spot, the advanc- ing glories of the morning, which, by the time we had reached our station, were glowing upon the mountain tops, with an effulgence that could be augmented by nothing but the actual appeai'ance of the king of day. " Now, the opposite mountains, those that form the west- ern barrier, were strongly illuminated down their entire de- clivity, while the twin bai-rier of the eastern shore, except on its ridge, was still in deep shadow. The vapour, wliich was just sufficient to form the softened blending of light and shade, v/hile it veiled the lake only in spots, and left its outline and most of its surface perfectly distinct, began to fonn itself into winrows,* and clouds and castles, and to re- cede from the water, as if conscious that its dominion must now be resigned. The retreat of the vapour formed a very beautiful part of the scenery; it was the moveable light drapery, which at first adorning the bosom of the lake, soon after began to retire up the sides of the mountains. At the distance of twelve or fourteen miles, the lake turns to the right, and is lost among the liighlands ; to the left is North- west Bay, more remote, and visible from the fort. The promontory, which forms the point of juncture between the * This possibly is an American word, meaning the rows of hay that are vaked toff^mer in a meadow, before the hay is thrown into heaps. It exactly describes the vapour, as it appeared in some places on the lake^ and I knew no other word that did. «! LAKE GEORGE, 7S lake and the bay, rises into lofty peaks and ridges, and forms in appearance the northern exti'emity of the lake. Up these mountains, which are even more grand and lofty than those along the margin, the vapour, accumulated by a very slight movement of the atmospliere from the south, rolled in im- mense masses, eveiy moment changing their form ; now obscuring the mountains almost entirely, and now veiling their sides, but permitting their tops to emerge, in uncloud- ed majesty. ** Anxious to witness, from the surface of the lake, the first appearance of the sun's orb, we returned to our boat, and in a few moments reached the desired position. Oppo- site to us, in the direction towards the rising sun, was a place or notch, lower than the general ridge of the mountains, and formed by the intersecting curves of two declivities. *' Precisely through this place, were poured upon us the first rays, which darted down, in lines of burnished gold, diverging and distinct, as if in a diagram. The ridge of the eastern mountains was fringed with fire, for a mile. The nmnerous islands, so elegantly sprinkled through the lake, and which recently appeared and disappeared through the roUing clouds of mist, now received the direct rays of the sun, and formed so many gilded gardens. At last came the sun, * rejoicing in his strength,' and as he raised the upper edge of his burning disk into view, in a circle of celestial fire, the sight was too glorious to behold ; — it seemed, when the full orb was disclosed, as if he looked down with complac^sncy, into one of the most beautiful spots in this lower worldj and, as if gloriously representing his great Creator, he pronounced it *all very good.* I ccilainly never before saw the sun rise with so much majesty. I have not exaggerated the eifect^^ and, without doubt, it arises principally from the fact, that Lake George is so completely environed by a bariier of high mountains, that it is in deep shade, while the world around is in light; and the sun, already risen for some time, does not dart a single ray on this imprisoned lake, till, having gained considerable elevation, he bursts, all at once, over the fiery ridge of the eastern mountains, and pours, not a horizontal, but a descending flood of light, which instantly piercing the deep shadows that rest on the water, and on the western side of the eastern barrier, produces the finest possible effects of contrast. When the sun had attained a little height above ment of all associations, that of combination into famihes 5 they had their villag-es, their tribes, their nations, and their confederacy : but they had not advanced beyond the first stag^e of g-overnment 5 they were destitute of an executive and judiciary, to execute the determination of their councils; and their government was therefore merely advisory, and without a coercive principle. The respect which was paid to their chiefs, and the general odium that attached to dis- obedience, rendered the decisions of their legislatures, for a long series of time, of as much validity as if they had been enforced by an executive arm. They were originally divided into five nations— the Mo- hawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas. In 1712, the Tuscaroras, who hved in the back parts of North Carohna, and who had formed a deep and general conspiracy to exterminate the whites, were driven from their country; they were adopted by the Iroquois as a sixth nation, and lived on lands between the Oneidas and the Onondagas, assigned to them by the former. The Mohawks had four towns and one small village, situ- ated on or near the fertile banks of the river of that name. The position of the first was at the confluence of the Scho- harie creek and Mohawk river, and the others were farther to the west. This nation, from their propinquity to the set- tlements of the whites, from theu' martial renown, and mih- tary spirit, have hke Holland, frequently given their name to the v/hole confederacy, which is often denominated the Mohawk, in the annals of those days. . The Oneidas had their principal seat on the south of the Oneida lake, the Onondagas near the Onondaga, and the Cayugas near the Cayuga lake ; the principal village of the Senecas was near the Genesee river, about twenty miles from Irondequot Bay. Each nation was divided into three tribes, the Tortoise, the Bear, and the Wolf; and each village was a distinct republic, and its concerns were managed by its particular cliiefs. Their exterior relations, general interests, and national affairs, were conducted and superintended by a great council, assembled annually in Onondaga, the central canton, composed of the chiefs of each repubhc ; and eighty sachems were frequently convened at this national assembly. It took cognizance of the great questions of war and peace. THE moatrois. 109 of the affairs of the tribiltary nations, and thelf negotiations with the French and Eng-hsh colonies. All their proceed- ings were conducted with great deliberation, and were dis- tinguished for order, decorum and solemnity. In eloquence, in dignity, and in all the characteristics of profound pohcy, they surpassed an assembly of feudal barons, and were per- haps not far inferior to the great Amphyctionic Council of Greece. The conquests of the Iroquois, previously to the discovery of America, are only known to us through the imperfect channels of tradition ; but it is well authenticated, that since that memorable era, they extenninated the nation of the Eides or Erigas, on the south side of Lake Erie, which has given name to that lake. They nearly extirpated the An- dastez, and the Chouanons ; they conquered the Hurons, and drove them and their allies, the Ottawas, among the Sioux, on the head waters of the Mississippi, where they* separated themselves into bands, and proclaimed, wherever they v/ent, the terror of the Iroquois. They also subdued the Illinois, the Miamies, the Algonquins, the Delawares, the Shawanese, and several tribes of the Abenaquis. After the Iroquois had defeated the Hurons, in a dreadful battle fought jiear Quebec, the Neperceneans, who hved upon the St. Lawrence, fled to Hudson's Bay to avoid their fury. In 1649, they destroyed two Huron villages, and dispersed the nation; and afterwards, tliey destroyed another village of six liundred families : two villages presented themselves to the confede- '"rates, and lived with them. ** The dread of the Iroquois,'* i^ays the liistorian,* " bad such an effect upon all other na- tions, that the borders of tlie river Ontaouis, which were long thickly peopled, became almost deserted, without its ever being knov, n what became of the greater part of the inhabitants." The Illinois tied to the westward, after being attacked by the confederates, and did not return until a ge» neral peace ; and were permitted, in 1760, by the confede- rates, to settle in the country between the Wabash and the Scioto rivers. The banks of Lake Superior were lined with Algonquins, who sought an asylum from the incursions of the Five Nations. They also harassed all the northern Indians, * Harriot, p. 70. K 110 THE IROaUOIS. as far as Hudson's Bay ; and they even attacked the nations on the Missouri. Nor was it with Indians alone, that these gallant warriors contended ; for nearly a century and a half, they carried on a war against the French possessions in Louisiana and Cana- da, sometimes alone, and sometimes in conjunction with the English colonists. During this eventful period, they often maintained a proud superiority, always an honourable resist- ance ; and no vicissitude of fortune, or visitation of calamity, could ever compel them to descend from the elevated gi'ound which they occupied in their own estimation, and in the opinion of the nations. In 1683, M, Delabarre, the governor-general of Canada, proceeded with an army against the cantons. He landed near Oswego, but finding himself incompetent to meet the enemy, he instituted a negotiation, and demanded a confer- ence. On this occasion, Garangula, an Onondaga chief, at- tended in behalf of his country, and made his celebrated reply to M. Delabarre. The French retired from the coun- try with disgrace. The second general expedition was un- dertaken in 1687, by M. Denonville, governor-general. He had treacherously seized several of their cliiefs, and sent them to the galleys in France. He was at the head of an army exceeding' two thousand men. He landed in Ironde- quot Bay, and when near a village of the Senecas, was at- tacked by five hundred warriors : he would have been de- feated, if his Indian alhes had not rallied and repulsed the enemy. After destroying some provisions, and burning a few villages, he retired without any acquisition of lam-els. The place on which the battle was fought, has within a few years been owned by Judge Porter, of Grand Niagara. On plough- ing the land, three hundred hatchets, and upwai'ds of three thousand pounds of old iron, were found. The confederates, in a year's time, compelled their ene- mies to make peace, and to restore their chiefs. It was with the French the only means of escape from destiniction. Great bodies of them threatened Montreal, and their canoes covered the great Lakes ; they shut up the French in their forts, and would have conquered the whole of Canada, if they had understood the art of attacking fortified places. This peace was soon disturbed by the artifices of Kondia- ronk, a Huron chief; and the Iroquois made an hruption on THE moauois. Ill the island of Montreal, with one thousand two hundred men, destroying every thing before them. The third and last grand expedition against the confede- rates, was undertaken, in 1697, by the Count de Frontenac, the ablest and bravest governor that the French ever had in Canada. He landed at Oswego, with a poM^erful force, and marched to the Onondaga lake, but he found their principal village burnt and abandoned. He sent seven hundred men to destroy the Oneida castle, where a few prisoners were taken. An Onondaga chief, upwards of one hundred years old, was captured in the woods, and abandoned to the fury of the French savages. After sustaining the most horrid tortures, with more than stoical fortitude, the only complaint he was heard to utter, was when one of them, actuated by compas- sion, or probably by rage, stabbed him repeatedly with a knife, in order to put a speedy end to his existence ; "Thou ought not," said he "to abridge my life, that thou might have time to learn to die like a man. For my own part, I die contented, because I know no meanness with which to reproach myself." After this tragedy, the Count thought it prudent to retire with his army; and he probably would have fallen a victim to his temerity, if the Senecas had not been kept at home, from a false report, that they were to be at- tacked at the same time by the Ottawas. Ever faithful to their treaties, the Iroquois adhered to the English throughout our revolutionary struggle ; and though we may weep over the sufferings of our countrymen on the frontiers, who felt their heavy vengeance, we must still ad- mire the constancy and firm fidelity of this savage race. The smiling banks of the Mohawk could tell many a tale of savage horror, acted upon them in those dreadful times; but perhaps the traveller who now visits Onondaga Castle, will think that our vengeance has been ample. It became necessary, however, in the revolutionary war, that the Iroquois should receive a signal chastisement for theu' barbarous and cruel incursions; and accordingly. Gene- ral Sullivan, with an army of nearly five thousand men, marched into their country, in the year 1779. Near New- town, in the present county of Tioga, he defeated them, and drove them from their fortifications. He continued his march between the Cayuga and Seneca lakes, and through their territory as far as the Genesee river, destroying their orchards. 112 THB IROaUOIS. corn-fields, and forty villag-es, the largest of which contauied one hundred and twenty-eight houses. This expedition was nearly the finishing blow to the cruelty and audacity of the Indians. Their habitations were destroyed, their provinces laid waste ; they were driven from their country, and were compelled to take refuge under the cannon of Niagara. Their hostility terminated with our pacification with Great Britain. From this period, it is painful to trace the history of the Iroquois ; it is painful to behold their constant diminution, sometimes rapid, and sometimes g-radual. Their present condition fmmishes an admonitoiy lesson to human pride, and adds another proof to the many on record, that nations, like individuals, are destined by Providence to destruction. Throughout every part of our countr}'-, wherever we turn our eyes, the same lesson is conveyed, the same unaccount- able dissolution, if we may use the term, is to be seen. •* Where," says a youthful poet, who has made these events the subject of an interesting tale — Where is the Mohawk, he whose war-cry made A hundred nations flee along the glade ? Where the high race, who battled side by side. Where broad Potomac's sunny waters glide? Where the gigantic warriors, who stood Where Susquehanna rolls the western flood ? Where are the council-fires, which lit the shore Of thy vast valley, beauteous Shenandoah ? No song of Indian maid now swells tlie gale. Which sweeps the verdure of thy quiet vale ; The feast of harvest, and the song of war. Along thy plains shall never murmur more. Of the ancient domains of the Iroquois, all that now remain are a few reservations in the Oneida, Onondag-a and Seneca countries. The Mohawks abandoned their country, during the revolutionary war; and the Cayugas have also since done the same. A remnant of the Tuscaroras reside on three miles square, near the Niag-ura river, on lands given to them by the Senecas and the Holland Land Company. The Oneida reservation does not contain more than ten thousand acres ; and the Onondaga is still smaller. The Senecas have their principal settlement at Buffalo creek ; their reservations are THE mOaUOIS ANCTEXT FORTIFICATIONS. 113 extensive and valuable, containing" more than one hundred and sixty thousand acres ; and they possess upwards of one hundred thousand dollars in the stock of the late bank of the United States. The Six Nations have lost their high character and elevated standing. They are, in general, addicted to idleness and drunkenness ; the remnant of their eloquence and military spirit, as well as national strength, is to be found only among the Senecas. Their ancient men, who have witnessed the former glory and prosperity of their country, and who have heard from the mouths of their ancestors the heroic achieve- ments of their countrymen, weep like infants, when they speak of the fallen condition of the nation. They, however, derive some consolation from a prophecy of ancient origin, and universal currency among them, that the man of America will, at some futm'e time, regain his ancient ascendency, and expel the man of Europe from this western hemisphere. This flattering and consolatory persuasion has restrained, in some degree, theu* vicious propensities ; has enabled the Seneca and Shawanese prophets to arrest, in some tribes, the use of intoxicating liquors ; and has given biilh, at dif- ferent periods, to certain movements towards a general con- federacy of the savages of North America. That they con- sider the white man as an enemy and an intruder, who has driven them from their country, is most certain ; and they cherish this antipathy with so much rancour, that when they abandon their settlements, they make it a rule never to dis- close to him any mineral substances or springs, which may redound to his convenience or advantage. There is another feature in the aboriginal history of this country, which will strike the traveller peculiai'ly after pass- ing Onondaga. Over tl\e vast extent of country spreading to the west of this place, and even beyond the Mississippi, are seen the remains of fortifications, or rude camps, which would seem to be the work of nations advanced in civilization, far beyond the Indians who were found here by the Eu- ropeans. A number of these works are to be found in the western parts of this state. There is a large one in the township of Onondaga ; one in Pompey, and another in Manlius ; one in Camillus, eight miles from Auburn ; one in Scipio, six miles, another one mile, and one half a nnle from that village., k2 114 AKCIENT FOnTIFlCATIOXS. Between the Seneca and Cayug-a lakes, there are several ; three within a few miles of each other. Near the villag-e of Canandaigua, there are three ; in a word, they are scattered all over this country. These forts were, generally speaking, erected on the most commanding ground. The walls or breastworks are earth ; the ditches are on the exterior of the works. On some of the parapets, oak trees are to be seen, which, from the number of concentric circles, must have been standing one hundred and fifty, two hundred and sixty, and three hundred years ; and there were evident indications, not only that they had sprung up since the erection of those works, but that they were at least a second gTowth. The trenches are in some cases deep and wide, and in others naiTOw and shallow; and the breastworks vary in altitude from three to eight feet. They sometimes had one, and sometimes two entrances, as is to be inferred from there being no ditch at those places. When the works were protected by a deep ravine, or a large stream of water, no ditch is to be seen. The areas of these forts vary from two to six acres ; and in some of them, frag- ments of earthenware, and pulverized substances, supposed to have been originally human bones, have been found. The present race of Indians seem entirely unacquainted, alike with the origin and use of these exti^aordinary works; and if any of them pretend to a traditional knowledge, its utter inaccuracy is proved at once, by the contradictory accounts they give, their entire inapplicability to any mode of warfare practised by them, and their unfitness for any of their domes- tic usages. Their origin, it is now in vain even to conjecture; but of all the theories respecting them, that of Mr. Chnton, although apparently contradicted in some instances by seve- ral facts, seems entitled to the most consideration, and sup- ported by the most ingenuity and science. Mr. Clinton be- lieves, that the conquest by the ancient Goths of the civil- ized nations of Europe, the iiTuption of the barbarians from the unknown reg'ions of the north, over France, Italy and Spain, are but modern repetitions of a scene which was act- ed, centuries ago, on the plains of America ; that this conti- nent was inhabited by nations powerful in arts and arms, skilful in agriculture, acquainted with the use of metals, and far advanced in civilization ; that as Siberia and Russia were the *officina gentium' of Europe, so the vast regions in the ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS — WEST HILL. 115 north of Asia, overteeming with population, supplied tlie hordes which soug-ht new homes in another continent ; that the people of America, compelled to defend themselves from their ruthless invaders, constructed numerous works for their protection, and long and vigorously resisted their hardy an- tagonists ? but, like the degenerated Romans, worn down by successive inroads, and perhaps enervated by peace and civihzation, they were conquered by their barbarous and in- numerable foes — while in these rude and decaying monu- ments, we behold all that is left of the ancient and extermi- nated race. " This is perhaps," concludes Mr. Chnton, "the airy nothing of imagination, and may be reckoned the extravagant dream of a visionary mind : but may we not, considering the wonderful events of the past and present times, and the inscrutable dispensations of an overruling Pro- vidence, may we not look forward into futurity, and, without departing from the rigid laws of probability, predict the oc- currence of similar scenes, at some remote period of time ? And perhaps, in the decrepitude of our empire, some ti'ans- cendent g'enius, whose powers of mind shall only be bounded ,by that impenetrable circle which prescribes the hmits of human nature, may rally the barbarous nations of Asia under the standard of a mighty empire. Following the track of the Russian colonies and commerce towards the north-west coast, and availing himself of the navigation, arms and military skill of civilized nations, he may, after subverting- the neighbour- ing despotisms of the old world, bend his course towards European America. The destinies of our country may at length be decided on the waters of the Missouri, or on the banks of Lake Superior ; and if Asia shall then revenge upon our posterity the injuries we have inflicted on her sons, a new, a long and a gloomy nig'ht of Gothic darkness will again set in upon mankind. And when, after the efflux of ages, the returning effulgence of intellectual light shall again gladden the nations, the wide-spread ruins of our cloud-capped tow- ers, of our solemn temples, and of our magnificent cities, will, like the works of which we have treated, become the subject of curious research and elaborate investigation.*' About a mile beyond Onondaga Hollow, is the village of IVest Hilly or, as it is now called, Onondaga Post-Office. It is situated on a fine eminence, and has a court-house and 116 mahcelitts — skeneateless — attbuhk-. offices, a gaol, two churches, and about eighty houses, stores and shops. In nine miles from West Hill, we reach the village of Mar- celluSy seated on Otisc© creek, and containing a church, a school-house, and about forty houses. In the Otisco Creek there are very large springs, which it is supposed are fed from the Skeneateless, by a subterranean passage. It is cer- tain that the waters of the Otisco, for a short distance below these springs, possess strong petrifactive qualities, not ob- servable above. The road now passes through a flourishing country, well cultivated, and containing many manufacturing estabhsh- ments. As we approach Skeneateless, the lake is seen spreading its glassy surface several miles to the south, and its shores gemmed with little villas, rising amid woods and fields. The village of Skeneateless is six miles from Marcellus, contains a church, library, &;c. and appears to carry on a prosperous trade. The lake of the same name, at the outlet of which it is situated, extends about fifteen miles to the south, and varies in width from half a mile to a mile and a half; it is very deep, fed by springs, and is always late in freezing over. Its name signifies * long,' in the dialect of the Onondaga Indians. The next stage is eight miles to the village of Jtuburn, seated at the outlet of Owasco lake. It is the capital of Cayuga county, and contains one hundred and fifty houses and stores, with many handsome private mansions. The com-t-house and county offices are here ; and the state prison and a theological seminary are not far distant from one an- other. Owasco Lake is about eleven miles in length, and from one to nearly two miles in width. Its outlet, Owasco creek, on which stands the village of Auburn, discharges north through AureUus and Mentz to Seneca river, about fifteen miles. Owasco inlet is a small stream that runs into the head of Owasco lake. Owasco, in the language of the Iroquois, is * a bridge ;' and its lake took its name from an Owasco, or bridge, of drift-wood, anciently formed across it, near the north end. After passing Auburn, the country is much more open and improved? well-furnished houses and thriving villages are EAST CAYUGA — CAYUGA LAKE. IIT seen continually. The soil is good, the surface pretty well watered ; its products various, like those of the siuTounding- country, and in luxuriant abundance. There are few better farn-iing counties in the state. This country abounds much with calcareous petrifactions; and the limestone with impres- sions resembhng" muscle-shells, less common in the harder vai'ieties. It seems to have for a basis rock, at various depths, the clay slate, so extensively spread in the west, with tracts of hmestone, gypsum and hydraulic lime. The alluvial soil and sub -soil are principally calcareous, in the southern part; but that of the northern is more loamy. Iron ore is found in nearly every part, in the form of an argillaceous oxyde. Eight miles beyond Auburn bring us to East Cayuga^ a post town, containing about twenty houses, and placed on the margin of the Cayuga Lake. This lake extends north and south, and is thirty-eight miles in length, fomiing a part of the divisional line between Cayuga and Seneca coun- ties. The north end is twenty-five miles south of Lake On- tario. The lake varies in width from one to fbur miles, and has a shore considerably indented and iiTegulai*. In some places, it is terminated by precipices, but is in general ten or tv/elve feet high, with unbroken acclivities, that rise from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet, in about half a mile from the lake. At the Ca)^uga bridge, the lake is a mile and a quarter wide ; at Unioti Springs, six miles above, two ; three, at Levana, foui* miles further south ; and four and a quarter at .Aurora, south of which it contracts to about two miles, and less. This lake freezes in winter, for six or eight miles above the outlet, or where the water does not exceed twenty or thirty feet in depth ; but in the deeper parts, it generally remains open through the season. At its south end, which is in Tompkins county, it receives several fine mill-streams — Fall Creek from Cayuga county, and Six- mile and Main Inlet Creeks, in Tompkins county ; Salmon Creek enters from the east shore, five miles north of these ; and it receives, besides, many smaller mill-streams. This lake discharges itself into Lake Ontario, through the com- mon channel of all the small lakes in this part of New-York, tliat is, the Seneca and Oswego rivers. The Seneca river, leaving the lake of that name at its northern extremity, pursues an easterly direction to the Cayuga lake, which it joins in its most northern point * the mingled waters of these 118 WEST CATfUOA— SENECA FALLS — WATEHLOO. two then flow together, winding along, and receiving in their course the waters of the Canandaigua, O wasco, Skeneateless, Otisco, Onondaga, and other smaller lakes, till they meet the outlet of the Oneida lake, at Three River Point; the united stream tlien receives the name of the Oswego river, and bears it till it enters Lake Ontaiio. It is a singular fact in geogTaphy, that the Oswego river, only twenty-four miles in length, conveys to Lake Ontario the surplus waters discharged from all the lakes of * the lake region,* in the western part of this state, from the Oneida westward to Canandaigua lake, swelled by a vast number of small streams, many of them of sufficient volume for all sorts of hydraulic works. Its width is about two hundred yards, discharging a powerful stream, collected from an area of about seven thousand square miles, in the very heart of a rich and flourishing region. The Cayuga lake, here a mile and a quarter broad, is cross- ed on a bridge built on piles, about two miles above its north- em extremity ; as we pass it, a charming view is presented of the lake, the vaiying declivities of its shores, the farm houses, and the fields, chequered with cattle, or rich with the products of agriculture. Immediately on the western bank is Bridgeton, or West Cayuga, a village settled in the year 1789, by James Bennett and Colonel John Haines, who established a ferry across the lake. It may contain about one hundred and fifty inhabitants. The road now passes over a country well settled, chiefly by emigrants from the eastern states, for three miles, when we reach Seneca Falls. This place contains about forty dwelhng houses, and has a church and parsonage, two large merchant mills, an oil-mill, a fulling-mill, saw-mill, tannery, distillery, several stores and inns, with about two hundred inhabitants. Here are the mills of Colonel Mynderse, a gentleman of en- terprise, who settled at this spot in 1795, where are annually made into flour forty thousand bushels of wheat ; and the reputation of his flour does credit to that gentleman and to the country. The post village of Waterloo, on the north bank of the same stream, is four miles west of Seneca Falls, seven east of Geneva, one hundred and eighty-seven west of Alba- ny ; and has the court-house and jail, a number of manufac- turing establishments and mills, with stores, taverns, about a hundred dwelling houses, and six hundred inhabitants. The location and first settlement of this village were in 181(1, •IS its imnic will hIiow: Niiice Ihiit pcHod, how rapid haw hr^n itH iiici'caMc ! Miit: a lew yearn since, iht' Inm1«i' iniglit liav-iit Irom /}iij/'al<>, thirty from SiuIiih litiy on Lake Ontario, twelve mili-s south of tiie Krie canal, and iifty-elf^ht, Irom I'llniini, on the Tiojua branch of the Hus(|uc- hanna. It contains about, three hun(h'(;d dwelling'; houHc^s, (i, number of shopH, two printing--ol)ice.s, a hank, a land o(lic(r, and a libraiy. 'I'hcre are tlu'ec liandsome chuiches, for l'j])iH- copalians, Methodists and IM-esbyterianH? and a larj^'e and nub- Mtantial nUnu: eililice has lately been erected as an academy, ill which are already nearly one hundred ntudents. This biiildiiij^, it iH (!X|)ec(ed, will in a short time assume tlie stand- ing* of a colle^-e, for which arran^cnumts ai*«' now inakinj.'-. 'I'lie whole population of the villa^'e is about two IhouHand, There are two f';lass liictories in operation, about two miles Month «>f the village i and much of tbi- <;apilal owned here is actively employe'— FORT GEORG£. and the eneiliy pushing" hard upon their rear, they were at last obliged to surrender. The villag-e of Queenston is in the southern part of the township of Niagara. It is the low^er landing' for the port- age round the falls. Amidst the surrounding desolations of war, this place was preserved from destruction, and is now in a flourishing state, having added to its former business a portion of what used to centre at Newark. The portage from Queenston to Chippewa, is ten miles; but the receiving and forwarding merchant, generally transports merchandise the whole distance up to Fort Erie, part of the way in wa- gons, and the rest in boats. Queenston and Lewistown are rivals in commerce. Both of them have good harbours. Indeed the whole river, for seven miles, down to its mouth, may be considered as one continued harbour. The shore is bold, requiring only a short wharfage for vessels to load and unload, and though the current is swift in the channel, an eddy near each shore aids vessels and boats passing up. This is the head of navigation, whence vessels sail to any port, on the lake, and down the St. Lawrence to Ogdensburg and Pre scot. Six miles below Queenston, on the shore, is Fort George^ a position of great importance. On this account it became an object with the Americans to obtain possession of it dm*- Ing the last war, and a combined attack was made upon it on the 27th May, 1813, by the land forces under General Dearborn, and the lake fleet commanded by Commodore Chauncey. The squadron anchored within musket-shot of the shore ; and a hea^^y fire commenced, by which the ene- my's batteries were silenced in ten minutes. The troops proceeded to the beach in three brigades, the advance being commanded by Colonel Scott, who landed under a heavy fire from the British forces. The first, second, and third bri- gades having reached the shore in their order, the enemy soon gave way, and retreated with precipitation to the fort ; this, however, having become untenable from the fire of the American batteries, the}^ abandoned, and, on the approach of the advance of General Boyd's brigade, dispersed in vari- ous directions. During the rest of the campaign, Fort George remained under the American flag, till in December it was finally abandoned. JSEWARK. 161 At the entrance of Niagara river, into Lake Ontario, is the town of Newark, which was burnt, thit)ugh misapprehension or inadvertence, by the American General M'Clure, when evacuating Fort George ; an act which received the severest censure from the government and people of the United States, and was officially disavowed to the British govern- ment. It afforded them however a pretext for acts of cruel and ferocious retaliation, more unjustifiable than the original aggression. When destroyed, it contjuned two churches, a district school, and nearly one hundred dwelling houses, besides offices, stores and shops. Its situation is beautiful, fronting the river, handsomely elevated above the water, and commanding a noble prospect. The streets are laid out at right angles. It had been the seat of the provincial gov- ernment, and was the place of the courts of justice for Niaga- ra District. The court-house and jail had been demolished by hot-shot from the other shore, on the day of the battle ot Queenston. 162 ROUTE TO atTEBEO. FALLS OF NIAGARA TO QUEBEC. M. M. Falls of Niagara to Whirlpool -- 4 Lewistown 3 7 Fort Niag-ara -- 7 14 Entrance of Lake Ontario Genesee River --- 74 88 Great Sodus Bay --.--... 35 123 Osweg-o River --.-----. 28 151 Stony Point 30 181 Sackett's Harbour 12 193 Entrance of St. Lawrence River - - - 20 213 Cape Vincent 2 215 I^ing-ston (U, C") opposite Alexandria - - - - 25 240 Morristown - 23 263 Og-densburg- 13 276 Gallop Rapids -.-.....- 6 282 Hamilton -.....-... 10 292 Longue Sanlt Island - . 17 309 Grass River -- 10 319 St. Regis, boundary of the United States 5 324 Grand Island and Rapids, end of Lake St. Francis 30 354 Cedar Rapids 7 361 Cascades, entrance of Lake St. Louis - 5 366 La Chine, end of Lake St. Louis - - 16 382 Montreal -.-.--.... 7 389 St. Sulpice - - 20 409 Three Rivers - ~ ~ . S5 464 St. Maria 23 487 Point au Tremble ------- 32 519 Quebec - - 20 539 KOUTE TO aUEBEC. 162 DEVIATIONS. Falls of Niagara to KiNGSTOSf, by Yobk, U. C. M. M.. ' Falls of Niagara to Whirlpool ---.-. = .-- 4 Queenston ------..-. 3 7 Newark = ._,„. 7 14 Cross Lake Ontario to York , . . 2S 49 Port Hope - - - - 55 104 Presqu' Isle, or Newcastle - - - . = 30 134 South point of Prince Edward - - - 30 164 False Duck Island ----- » - 25 189 Ernest Town --. = --. - » 15 204 KiNGSToif ..--...-.. 15 219 Mosttbeal io Quebec, fbi/ iand.J Montreal to Port au Tremble - . 10 Cross River des Prairies to St. Sulpice ..-..----- 17 27 Cross St. John's River La Norag-e ..--13 40 Cross La Chatoupe River Berthier - 10 50 Cross Rivers Maskenong and Du Loup Three Rivers 46 96 Cross Maurice River Champlain ---------- 15 111 Cross Rivers Baliscan and St. Ann St. Marie - - 14 125 Cape Saute ----..-.-. 23 148 Cross River Port Neuf Cross River Jacques Point au Tremble ---.---. 12 160 Quebec - - - 20 180 164 lAKE OJTTAIIIO — YORK, Falls of Niagara to Quebec. Os- leaving Niagara for Montreal and Quebec, either of two routes by Lake Ontario may be taken. The English one, as it is called, is by crossing over to York, and then proceeding down the lake to the mouth of the St. Lawrence; whUe in the American hne, you reach the same point by coasting along the northern shore of New-York, and visiting in the route the different towns seated on the margin. Yorky one of the principal towns and the seat of govern- ment of Upper Canada, is situated near the bottom of a small bay, on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, about thirty -five miles north of Newark. A long and narrow peninsula, distin- guished by the appellation of Gibraltar Pointy forms and em- braces this harbour, securing it from the storms of the lake, and rendering it safer than any other around the coasts of this sea of fresh water. At the western extremity of the peninsula, are the public stores and block-houses. On the highest ground, near the point, a light-house of about seventy feet elevation is erect- ed. On the main land, opposite the point, is the Garrison, where was also the lieutenant-governor's residence. Two miles eastwardly, near the head of the harbour, were two wings of the Parliament-House, the main edifice not being yet erected : they were built of brick, one story high. The Legislative Council sat in one of them, and the House of Re- presentatives in the other. Being burned by the Americans, their walls have been repaired, and converted into baiTacks. The town occupies the intervening space between that site and the Garrison. The harbour in front is w^ell secured, has safe anchorage, and is sufficiently capacious to contain a considerable fleet; but the shore is not bold, and no wharves are yet built, except one, which is an appendage of the new naval store-houses : vessels consequently lie off at anchor, and load and unload by boats. The entrance into the har- bour, also, is somewhat intricate ; but the light-house is de- signed to remedy this difficulty. The Don empties its waters into the head of the harboui-, east of the town; and two miles west of the Garrison is the mouth of the Humber, formerly named the Toronto, a name which was also applied to the bay. Both of these rivers afford convenient mili-seats, LAKE ONTAllIO PHESaU^ ISLE. 165" During' the war, York was twice visited by the Americans, and the military stores and other pubHc property seized and destroyed. From York, there is a mihtary road, called Yonge Street, extending in a direction nearly north thirty-two miles to Lake Simcoe, whence there is an easy passage into Gloucester Bay,- a good harbour on Lake Huron ; by this short road, salving a distance of live hundred miles in the ordinary route through Lakes Erie and St. Clair. Pursuing our passage along the Canada shore, the first port of any consequence is Presqu? Isle, or Newcastle, half- way from York to Kingston. It is protected from winds, and is almost encircled by a peninsula, which projects in a cm*ve into the lake. The basin of water thus embayed is of suffi- cient depth, and the shore is convenient for a landing place; but the entrance into the harbour, not being very direct and plain, requires considerable care. The navigation from Presqu' Isle eastward along the shore, is attended with some difficulty and danger, by reason of bays and points, and the winds to which the coast is peculiarly exposed. Nine miles after passing Presqu' Isle, the shore of the lake takes a south-easterly direction along the peninsula oi Prince Edward county. This peninsula is formed by the bay of Quinte, which extends from Maryborough, at the head of the St. Lawrence, westward, in a very irregular form. At the north-west angle of the bay, it receives, through the river Trent, after a circuitous route, the waters of Rice Lake, which lies forty miles to the west, and with which there is a communication from a chain of lakes in a north-westerly direction, towards Lake Simcoe. At the north-east point of the bay, between Fredericksburg and Richmond, the Appanee river falls in from the east. On this river, amidst a flourishing little village, in the rear of Fredericksbm-g, are valuable flour-mills, said to be the best in the province. Passing the southern promontory of Prince Edward, the shore of the lake strikes to the northward ; and just beyond the mouth of the bay of Quinte, two passages are formed by Amherst Island, which lies in the St. Lawrence: — the south, keeping outside of the island, directly to Kingston ; the other, through the sound between the island and north- ern shore. In this sound is the harbour of Ernest Town, m 166 LAKE ONTARIO — rOHT NIAGARA. latitude 44° 10' north, and 75° 56' west from London. It h a broad open bay, of sufficient depth, a smooth bottom, and good anchoring g-round. The access to it is free from sand- bars and shoals. The bank of the shore is even and gravelly, and of such a descent, that a wharf of from fifty to one hun- dred feet is sufficient for vessels to lie alongside of it in safety. The harbour is sheltered by considerable projections of land on each side. The force of hea\y swells is also broken, and the violence of winds and storms weakened, by .Bmherst Island, once known as L* Isle de Tonti, which lies in front. From here, the passage to Kingston is easy and direct. Taking the passage along the southern or American shore of Lake Ontario, Fart Niagara^ on the point between the river and the lake, is the first object worthy of notice. It was built by the French in 1751, and taken from them by Sir William Johnston in 1759. At the close of the revolu- tionary war, it was possessed by the British ; and though, by the terms of the treaty which terminated that contest, it fell to the United States, it was not delivered into their posses- sion until 1795. In the late war, soon after General M'Clure's evacuation of Fort George, Lieutenant-Colonel Murray, with a body of British troops, crossed the river in the night, and at four o'clock in the morning of December 19th, 1813, sur- prised the garrison, and took the fort by storm. It remained in possession of the enemy through the remainder of the war, and was restored at its conclusion. Since that time a large stone wall has been ei'ected along the lake side, to prevent the encroachment of the water, and preserve some of the buildings, which, but for this precaution, would have fallen down the bank. The first place at which the steam-boat stops is Port Ge- nesee, at the mouth of that river, seventy-four miles from Fort Niagara. The shore is formed by the counties of Nia- gara, Genesee and Monroe 5 a fertile body of alluvial land, gradually sloping down to the water from the mountain ridge. It is true, that the climate along the lake is sensibly affi3cted by the exhalations which arise from it in summer ; but still it cannot be called unhealthy. It is not exactly such a coun- tiy as a settler should select, immediately on leaving a hilly, elevated ti'act, where tlie streams move rapidly, and the clouds are driven from bill to hill, or swept by the winds along the lAKE ONTARIO— PORT GENESEE. 167 natural hollows of hill-bound valleys. But these remaiks apply equally to the neighbouring counties, long since thick- ly settled, and far from being sickly. The climate is mild and temperate, more so than the country about Albany, which is farther south and less elevated. Fruit trees put forth their blossoms sooner, and grain and grass are earlier in the spring by some days, often one or two weeks. Pm't Genesee is seven miles below Rochester 5 it is the shipping place of that town, and indeed of all the surround- ing countr}^, and contains from thirty to forty houses. Mr. Spafford states, that the exports from it amounted, in 1818, 1819, 1820, and 1821, to between three hundred and seventy and three hundred and eighty thousand dollars. In 1820, they consisted of sixty-seven thousand four hundred and six- ty-eight barrels of flour, equal to three hundred and thirty- seven thousand three hundred and forty bushels of wheat ; five thousand three hundred and ten barrels of potashes ; two thousand six hundred and forty-three barrels of beef and pork ; seven hundred and nine barrels of whiskey; one hun- dred and seventy-five thousand staves 5 sundries, as butter, lard, corn, cider, lumber, cheese, hams, oil, fruit, &c. amount- ing to the value of ten thousand five hundred and twenty-four dollars. In 1822, the collector estimated the flour alone at one hundred thousand barrels, and that the value of that and all other articles of produce of the country, exported both down the canal and the St. Lawrence, say in nearly equal quantities, will probably amount to five hundred thousand dollars. Leaving Port Genesee, we coast along the south shore of the lake, passing the mouth of Irondequot Bay, Pulineyvilki a pretty little village, pleasantly seated on the water's edge, and carrying on a considerable trade, and reach in thirty -five miles Cfreat Sodus Bay. This bay forms a safe and commo- dious harbour, and has from six to eight feet of water on the bar at the entrance. It has three islands, of considerable size, under cultivation ; and the whole circumference of the bay, with its coves and points, is about fifteen miles. Its waters are deep and clear, abound with fish and fowl, and its shores have a great many fine sites for buildings, commanding ex- tensive and highly picturesque views. Fort Glasgoiv, at the head of navigation on the bay, has a pleasant situation and &. good harbour; and from this place to the village of Clyde, 168 EAKE ONTARIO — OSWEGO. in Galen, on the Erie canal, there is a good road over a por- tage of ten miles and three quarters. A road is now opening- from Adam's mills, on the inlet of Port bay, to the canal at JBucksville, in Mentz. There are numerous roads, communi- cating' with the villages of Rochester, Canandaigaa, Geneva, Waterloo, Auburn, Oswego, Utica, &c. Iron ore and salt springs have both been discovered in the neighbourhood, and works have been erected for their manufacture, which will no doubt add to the prosperity of the place. The shores of Lake Ontario, both east and west of Sodus, are composed of vast banks of earth, twenty or thirty feet high, and everywhere yielding to the abrasion of the waters of the lake. One dense and continuous forest covers the shore, occasionally relieved by new farms. The country is extremely beautiful, picturesque and variegated, around the bay, and the soil is excellent. As we proceed along, the shore presents a number of in- lets, like Great Sodus bay, with narrow entrances and capa- cious basins, destined, in all probability, when the population increases, to become flourishing' ports. The mouth of C^we- go river is twenty-eight miles beyond Sodus ^ just within it is the port of Oswego, with the village of tine same name. Over the bar at the enti-ance are ten feet of water^ and it is considered as one of the best harbours on the lake. The lake vessels can only navigate half a mile above the village, to the Rift ; thence a boat navigation to the falls, twelve miles, where there is a portag'e of a mile. About one mile south- west from Oswego village, there is a button wood tree of enormous dimensions. It was measured, a year or two since, and found to be thirty-five feet six inches in circumference, two feet from the ground. This tree is hving, and appears to be growing fast, though hollow, with only a thin shell on the surface. It stands about fifty rods from a public highway, in a piece of woodland, and well merits notice. Beyond Oswego river, the shore of the lake bends to tlie southward, and then turning again north, forms a considerable bay. After passing this, there are several islands, opposite to which is the large inlet forming the bays of Chaumunt and Sacketfs Harbour, which are separated from each other by a small peninsula or promontory. The town of Sackett's Har- bour stands on the south-west side of the bay, in latitude north 43° 56\ and west longitude 76° from. London, or 1** LAKE ONTARIO— SACKETl's BAHBOUR — BIACK RIVER. 169 east of Washington city. The bay and harbour are both well situated for shelter and defence. It is in some measure land-locked by two large and some smaller islands, standing" in the mouth of the bay, eight miles distant to the west from the village. Chaumont bay is an embranchment of the same sheet of w*ater which forms the harbour below the mouth of Black river : it does not however contain as good anchorage^ nor does the position of its shores render it so favourable a site, either as a naval, military or commercial depot, as the bay now known as Sackett's Harbour. The latter is perhaps one of the best situations in the world for ship-building. A low and narrow crescent of land extends from the lower ex- tremity of the village, and forms an inner and outer harbour. The latter, within two fathoms of the shore, has a depth of water sufficient to float the largest ship of the line that can be formed : the vessels can be framed on nearly a level with the water, and launched with the greatest ease. The depth of water continues to the mouth of Black River , near which another very excellent position presents itself for the con- struction of ships either of war or commerce. In each of those places of ship architecture, now lies the hull of a first- rate man-of-war. One of them, covered by a good building', is said to be the largest ship of war that ever was built; and what is even more astonishing, she was advanced to her pre- sent state of forwardness in thirty days, in the depth of win- ter. Several otlier vessels of war are here laid up. The Madison barracks, situated about four hundred yards north- eastwardly from the borough, on the bay shore, were erected in 1816-17, are of blue schistose limestone, and enclose three sides of a parallelogram of about three acres, the side towards the bay being open. They are a solid range of buildings, and add not a little to the appearance of the place. During the war, Sackett's Harbour was once the scene of military events. While the works around the harbour were yet in an imperfect state, it was attacked by Sir George Pre- vost, who, seizing the favourable opportunity of the absence of General Dearborn with his army, and Commodore Chaun- cey with his fleet, on their expedition to Niagara, embarked his troops, and sailed from Kingston, on the 27th May, 1813, the very day of the capture of Fort George. By adverse winds and other circumstances, the attack was delayed until the morning of the 29th, when, under cover of the ships and P 170 lAKE OlfTARIO— V1NCENT*S POINT. gun-boats, about a thousand men landed on a peninsula call' ed Horse Island, a mile to the west of the harbour. After a contest of some duration, General Brown, with a very small body of regulars, and some militia collected in great haste from the surrounding country, succeeded in repulsing the enemy, who were compelled to retire so rapidly as to leave most of tJieir wounded and some prisoners behind. On leaving Sackett's Harbour, the adjacent shores of the main and those of the islands are low, and composed of flcctz limestone, admixed with animal exuviae. The border of the lake is uniformly low, not being elevated above the water more than three or four feet. The debris thrown up by the action of the lake consists of rounded pebbles of limestone, with a very few fragments 'of some other kinds of stone. I'he timber is the sugar-maple, pine, linden, elm, oak of several species, though it is not very abundant, birch and beech: the soil is extremely fertile. When at some distance from the shore, the high hills near the source of Black river, and be- tween Utica and Oswego, are seen far inland. This uniformity continues, with little interruption, all the way to Vincent's Pointy the entrance of the St. Lawrence, twenty-two miles from Sackett's Harbour. Directly opposite this point is Kingston^ though the river, here twelve miles wide, is divided into two channels by a large island, called Grand or Long Isle. Having now made the circuit of Lake Ontario, it may be proper, before leaving it, to mention a few general circum- stances relative to it. The form of Lake Ontario is elliptical, and a central line from one extremity to the other measures about one hundred and ninety miles, its greatest width is fifty-five miles, and its medium may be about foily miles. The St. Lawrence issues from tlie north-east end of this lake, which receives the Niagara river towards its western extre- mity ; and from the entrance of this river to the eastern termination of the lake, its centre forms the boundary be- tween the United States and Canada ; nearly half, therefore, of Lake Ontario, is within the state of New-York. It is a very, deep lake, with sufficient water in every part, and it has very good harbours ; it is never entirely closed with ice, and is computed from some soundings to be five hundred feet deep. The level of Lake Ontario is three hundred and tAKE ONTAKIO — KINGSTON. 171 thirty-four feet below that of Lake Erie, twenty-one miles distant in the nearest place, and two hundred and thirty-one feet above the tide water of the Hudson at Albany. The appearance of the shores exhibits great diversity: to- wards the north-east part they are low, with ma)iy marsh}' places ; to the north and north-west they assume a lofty, cha- racter, but subside again to a very moderate height on the south. Along the borders of the lake, the country is every- where covered with wood, through whose numerous open- ings frequent patches of settlements are seen, which give it a pleasing effect, greatly heightened by the white cliffs of Toronto, 'and the remarkable high -land over Presqu* Isle, called the Devil's Nose, on the north. The view on the south is well relieved, with a back ground produced by the ridge of hills, that, after forming the precipice over which the ca- taract of Niagara pours, stretches away to the eastward : the object which closes the prospect in this direction is a conical eminence, towering above the chain of heights, called Fifty= mile Hill, as denoting its distance from the town of Niagara^ A great variety of fish is found in abundance in the lake i sturgeon, tro.ut, salmon, dace, carp, pike. Sec. The height of the water in tlie river and lakes varies according to the season, being sensibly though not immediately affected, by the quantity of rain and snow, faUing on the regions whence the tributary streams flow into the lakes. ^ In ordinary years, the water continues to rise in Lake Ontario until about the 20th of June. Kingston is the British naval depot on lake Ontario, and IS a very pretty and flourishing town. Next to Quebec and Halifax, it is the strongest fortified post in British America ,- in commercial business, it is the third town in the Canadas, being inferior only to Montreal and Quebec. It is situated in latitude 44° 12' north, and longitude fS® 41' west from London. It occupies the seat of old Fort Froniehac, the ruins of which are still to be seen, as are also the remains of a breastwork thrown up by the English under Colonel Bradstreet. The harbour is on the east side, and is formed by a bay, stretching northwardly in front of the town, and meeting the waters of a river, on which, a few miles above, the Kingston mills are erected. The western shore of the bay is bold, and suitable for wharves, of which there are 172 ST. LAWRENCE — GANANOaUI. already as many as ten or twelve, where vessels of any burden n^y lie in safety, and load and unload with convenience and ease. Eastward of the bay, the land projects southwardly a considerable distance to a point called Point Frederick, or Navy Point, beyond which is Haldemand Cove, a deep basin of water, sheltered by this point on the west, and Point Hfenry on the east, and guarded against south winds by Wolfe Island in front. In this cove the king's shipping lies, and on its western margin are the royal dock-yard, wharf; stores, he. ; the entrance into the cove is safe. The town harbour has shoals, but vessels entering or departing may steer either to the right or left, and avoid them. The principal fortress is at Point Henry, which commands both the town and harbour. Snake Island, situated near the outlet into the open lake, is fortified, and made a telegraphic station, to communicate with a telegraph at Fort Henry. The first place on the Canada shore, of any note, after leaving Kingston, is Gananoqui, eighteen miles below, at the mouth of the river of the same name. It is supplied from a lake also of that name, and another small one further north, and discharges its waters into the St. Lawrence, in Leeds, the second township below Kingston. At its mouth there is an excellent harbour, the channel being from twelve to fifteen feet deep, and the current very slow. Above the rapids, it is navigable by boats. Its waters accommodate some valu- able mills, and a furnace for the manufacture of iron. At an early period of the war between the United States and Great Britain, Gananoqui was visited by a party of volunteers from the southern shore, under the orders of Captain Forsyth, who routed the guard, took a number of prisoners and arms, and burnt the barracks and public stores. The whole bed of the St. Lawrence, for fifty miles, is now studded with islands, which are covered with the most luxu- riant foHage, wherever their rocky smface aflbrds any place for trees to fix themselves. These, from being exceedingly numerous, have been called "the Thousand Islands;" but their exact number was not known, until the commissioners for determining the boundary between the United States and Canada, ascertained that there were sixteen hundred and ninety-two, reckoning as an island every rock on which there was a tree. The scenery of the river is here exceedingly impressive. A savage wildness prevails along its shores, ex- ST. LAWRENCE — ALEXANDRIA — ^MORRISTOWN. 1/ ' oept here and there a speck of cultivation, where the settler's Imt is seen, or a httle village breaks upon the view. Some- times you meet a solitary Indian, gracefully standing in the bow, and winding his canoe around the islands, or engaged in fishing. The black cedars, which hne the shores or crown the rocky islands, thickly scattered over the immense surface of the river, add by their savage monotony to the rudeness of the scene. The islands appear so close together, that fre- quently, till you approach quite near, no opening can be per- ceived; when suddenly you pass close between, or skirt round by a short tack, into an open expanse. The basis of these islands is granite. A chain of primitive mountains leaves the elevated country south-west of Lake George, and proceed- ing to the north-west througli the state of New-York, crosses the St. Lawrence between Kingston and Brockville. The passage of the St. Lawrence over this chain, forms the Thou- sand Islands. Every part of this stream presents phenomena to demonstrate that this ridge was once unbroken, and that in it, at some point, existed a cataract, above which the wa- ters of Lake Ontario were elevated much higher than their present level. The disruption or gradual wear of this mass of rocks released the imprisoned flood, inundated the coun- try below, and then perhaps was formed the cataract of Ni- agara. Twenty-five miles below Kingston is Alexandria, a village on the southern shore of the St. Lawrence, at the mouth of Otter Creek. There is a direct road from this place to Utica, through Martinsburgh, Trenton, &c. ; and the distance to Montreal by this route is forty-five miles nearer than by that of Sackett's Harbour. Twenty-three miles below Alexandria is the village of Morristowriy and opposite to it, on the Canada shore, that of Brockville, where the Thousand Islands terminate. The for- mer is situated on the north side of Mill creek, a small stream, with a large mouth, that here enters the St. Lawrence, mak- ing a smaU harbour for canoes. It is the place where General Wilkinson embarked his army, in the autumn of 1813. On the opposite side of the river, which is here about one mile and a quarter wide, but a little above it, is Brockville. The scenery, which, during the whole passage down the St. Lawrence, is remarkably fine, is here worthy of particular notice. The land rises by a gentle and almost imperceptible p2 174 ST. LAWRENCE — BROCKVILLE. acclivity from the water, and presents a landscape of surpass- ing beauty. The noble river, roUing in its bed the collected waters of mighty lakes, the tributes of a thousand streams ; now roaring amid rocks and rocky islands, which rise from his bosom crowned with tufted forests, or presenting nothing but dark and craggy rocks to the passing wave; now gliding along with silent majesty, and bearing promiscuously the slender bark of the Indian, and the steam-boat, the master- piece of civihzed art ; while its shores form a country that ere long shall teem with all the luxuriance of agriculture, and where we now see peeping from among primeval forests many a cheerful settlement, and towns destined to be the seats of extensive trade. Those who have never beheld the St. Lawrence can form but a faint idea of this Missouri of the North : it presents a feature in the country, at once beau- tiful and grand. We may here apply the lines which were written by a poet, while sailing on its waters:— See ! in his bark, the painted Indian ghde, Down the white rapids of the lordly tide. Through massy woods, through islets flowering fair. Through shades of bloom, where the first suiful pair For consolation might have weeping trod. When banished from the garden of their God. But see ! the tinges of the west decline, Atid night sinks dewy on these banks of pine : Among the reeds, in which our idle boat Is rock'd to rest, the wind's complaining note, Dies, like a half-breathed whispering of flutes — See ! on the wave the gleaming porpoise shoots. Amid the rippling current's silvery light. Where wave and rapids sparkle through the night; Here, as along the shadowy bank we stray. And the smooth glass-snake, ghding o'er our way. Shows the dim moonlight through his scaly form. Fancy, with all the scene's enchantment warm. Hears, in the murmurs of the nightly breeze. The song of spirits, warbled through the trees. ' The town ofJBrockville is a new settlement, pleasantly situ- ated, with a custom-house and some well built houses. Be- tween it and Prescot, thirteen miles below, commences a secondary region, consisting in a great part of schistose sand- ST. LAWHENCE — PKESCOT — OGDESrSBURG. 1/5 stone, upon which often rests an alluvial deposit. Immediate- ly below Brockville, the Canadian shore is formed by a high and perpendicular ledge of the latter formation. Below this place, the river is without islands for fifteen or sixteen miles, and extends to the width of a mile and a half, with shores ris- ing by a gentle acclivity from the water, and, where cultivat- ed, inexpressibly beautiful. The soil is exuberantly rich, and covered with a growth of timber, indicative of extraordinary fertility, such as white birch, red maple, sugar tree, elm, lin- den, hemlock, and white pine. Prescot is a settlement began before the late war, at a point well situated for a commercial establishment, and al- though yet in its infancy, considerable aiTangements have been formed for estabhshing and supporting it, as a stand for forwarding the business of the Canadian side of the lake and river. In the progress of the war, Prescot was fortified. The fortification has received the name of Fort Wellington. It has a garrison of regular troops, and is an important mili- tary post, commanding the river and the opposite town of Ogdensbiu-g. Ogdensburgf on the American shore, is a much more popu- lous and flom'ishing place. It is the capital of St. Lawrence county, and situated on a beautiful plain, inmiediately north of the mouth of the Oswegutchie River. It is regularly laid out, and contains about one hundred houses and stores, the county buildings, and is a pleasant place, of considerable bu- siness. There are several vessels owned here, employed in the trade of Lake Ontario ; for Ogdensburg has a good har- bour, and claims to be at the foot of the lake navigation, as there is but very httle ciurent to this spot, and a sufficient depth of water for the usual lake craft. One of its store- houses is of stone, three stories, one hundred and twenty by sixty feet. It is a port of entry and delivery, has a coUector of the customs, and a printing-office. During the late war, soon after the commencement of hos- tilities, it was slightly fortified, and became a station for a small military force. In the autumn of the first year of the war. Colonel Lethbridge, who commanded at Prescot, at- tempted to take it. His troops, in about twenty boats, sup- ported by two gun-boats, moved up the river three quarters of a mile, then tacked and stood over towards Ogdensburg. ITS ST. LAWRENCE — GALLOP BAPIDS. As soon as they changed then* course, the batteries at Pres- cot commenced firing- across, to cover their landing. When they reached the middle of the river. General Brown, who had hitherto reserved his fire, opened his battery upon them with very considerable effect. Two or three of the boats were shattered, and tliey all returned to Prescot, This was the first step of that military career in which success so uni- formly attended General Brown through the war. In the following winter, Lieutenant-Colonel M'Donnell, having then the command at Prescot, planned and executed another attack. For several days he had exercised his troops on the ice, near the shore, and again paraded them there, ap- parently for the same purpose, but prepared for an assault. His progress towards Ogdensburg was not noticed there, until he was marching on a quick step and pushing for the shore. Captain Forsyth then rallied his men, formed them in haste, and attempted a defence ; but being unprepared and inferior in strength, he was driven from his position and forced to retreat. Colonel M'Donnell took possession of the village, and brought over to Prescot the cannon and stores found in it. Ogdensburg was not again occupied as a mili- tary station during the war. Th^ steam-boats do not proceed any further down the St. Lawrence, as the navigation is interrupted at intervals by the rapids, and the voj'age must be made in batteaux pr flat-bot- tomed boats. The rapids commence about six miles below Ogdensburg, with what are called the Gallop Rapids. The bottom of the channel of the St. Lawrence makes in many places a consider- able slope, down which the whole body of water rushes with surprising velocity. There is generally only a very small part of the channel where boats can pass ; and they must be piloted with much skill and coolness, especially as in the worst part, called "the Lost Channel," if the true course were once missed, they would be dashed to pieces in an instant. The water, which is very much agitated in every part of the rapids, assumes in the Lost Channel the appearance of the most terrible surf. The rapids are of different lengths. The longest, called the Long Sault, continues for nine miles. It is curious to see with what velocity the trees on the banks appear to run past you, as you descend the rapids j indeed ST. LAWJIENCE LONS SAULT— WILLIAMSBURG. 177 the whole voyage afFords a great deal of amusement, though when going down some of the most difficult passes, astonisli- ment and fear usurp the place of all other feelings. Sixteen miles below Ogdensburg, on the southern shore, is the village of Waddington, containing nearly one hundred houses, an academy, a number of mills, and some elegant seats belonging to the proprietors of the town. The mills are owned by these proprietors, and stand on a branch of the St. Lawrence, separated from the main stream by Ogden Island. The dam extends to the island, and cost more than three thousand dollars. A bridge is also thrown across this channel, here about two hundred yards broad. Immediately opposite this village, is the rapid called Le Petit Saultt which materially injures the navigation of the St. Lawrence. The rapid called the Long Sault, is a little farther down the river, with the Long Sault islands. The noise, the con- tinual motion, and magnitude of its contending waves, render the Long Sault at once the object of terror and delight. They burst upon each other, and tossing aloft their broken spray, cover the stream with a white and troubled surface, as far as the eye can extend. From a point of land, on the north shore, formed by the sinuosities of the stream, much gran- deur is displayed. The baiik is here about fifty feet high, and commands a view of the principal branch of the river, for a distance of two or three miles 5 in which the effulgence of the impetuous current is beautifully contrasted with the bordering shades of the woods. Towards the south shore, which is separated by islands from the branch now described, the stream is much less broken, and its depth precludes the use of poles. The length of the Long Saidt is estimated at nine miles ; and a boat usually descends it in about twenty minutes, which is at the rate of twenty -seven miles an hour. Seven miles below Waddington, on the northern bank of the St. Lawrence, is Williamsburg^ beautifully situated, but consisting of little more than a few poor wooden buildings. Some celebrity however is attached to it, from the battle of Chrystler's farm, which was fought in the neighbourhood on the 11th November, 1813. The American army, under Gene- ral Wilkinson, were proceeding down the St, Lawrence to at- tack Montreal : the commander in chief, with the greater proportion of the troops, were in the boats, but a consider* 17S ST. LAWRENCE COUKWALt. able force, the advance of which was under the command of General Brown, and the rear g"uard under that of General Boyd, marched along* the Canada shore. Colonel Morrison, with a body of British troops, pursued and harassed the Americans on their mai'ch, in consequence of which General Boyd formed his forces, and moved ag-ainst the enemy ; he commenced the action by a charg-e upon a pafty of them, posted in a wood, who, after a short skirmish, were driven back on the main body. This was advantageously drawn up, behind the deep ravines which intersected the plain. General Covington advanced, upon the rig-ht of the enemy, with his brigade, while Colonel Ripley assailed his left flank, with the twenty -first regiment, after having driven back, with the bayonet, a superior number opposed to him. The contest now became general throughout the line ; but the unfortu- nate fall of General Covington, who was killed while gallant- ly leading his brigade to the charge, and the want of ammu- nition, forced the American army to retire. After a contest of two hours, with alternate success on either side, the whole of the Americans engaged retired and re-occupied the ground from which the enemy had been originally driven, while the latter drew off to his camp. Soon afterwards, the American infantry were embarked on board the flotilla, while the dra- goons and light artillery proceeded by land. to the foot of the rapid. The British, with as little justice as in several other events of the war, claimed this victory; though from their own statements, they gained nothing by the event. The object of the American general was to eifect his passage down the St. Lawrence, that of the British to retard or defeat it ; in neither did he succeed : the passage was prosecuted by the Americans, and so far from their further descent be- ing retarded or prevented, neither the column on shore, nor the troops in the boats, were again assailed. In twenty miles farther we pass the mouth of Ch'oss Rivery opposite to which, in Canada, is Cornwall, a flourishing town, watered by a rivulet running througli it, and situated on a commodious bay of the river below the Long Sault. It is the seat of the courts for the eastern district, has a very respect- able literary institution, a church and rectory, and consider- able trade. Five miles below is Si. Regis, the point where the north- em boundary line of the Unrted States strikes the St. Law- ST. LAWRENCE — CEDARS — CASCADES. 179 rence ; beyond this point, therefore, both sides of the river belong- to Canada. Passing- this, we soon enter a wide expan- sion of the river, known by the name of Lake St. Francis^, descend the Rapids called the Cedars and Cascades, and reach the entrance of Lake St. Louis, foily -seven miles from St. Reg'is. The rajDids of the Cedars are formed by a cluster of isl- ands, in the midst of the river ^ for almost one and a half miles above, it has assumed a sudden declivity and winding course. An awfui and solemn effect is produced by the in- cessant sound, and rapid motion of the ever-swelling- waves, which, covered with eifulgent whiteness, drive along with ir- resistible fury. In descending, the batteaux are steered near the western shore, to avoid the tremendous and broken swell, which in some places is interspersed with rocks. Although this coarse is not unaccompanied by danger, the Canadians are in general so experienced and skilful, that an accident almost never occurs. About three miles below are the Cascades ,- they are about two miles in length, and flow among three different islands. The rapidity and force of the stream, arising from the great declivity of its bed, and the number of rocks and cavities which it contains, causes it to break.into masses of white foam, moving in a direction the reverse of that of waves produced in a troubled ocean, by the agency of storms. They curl their resplendent tops towards the quarter fi-om whence they are impelled. The mind of a .stranger is filled with admiration, on beholding, in the calmest and finest weather, all the noise, effect and ag'itation, which the most violent conflict between the winds and waters is capable of exhibiting. The boundary line between Upper and Lower Canada strikes the St. Lawrence about the middle of Lake St. Fran- cis, neai' Pomt-au-Bodei. From this place it. is formed by ait imaginary line, taking a northerly course till it reaches the great river Ottawa, which then becomes the division as far as its source. Immediately at the foot of the Cascades, the last series of the rapids, opens Lake St. Louis, which is formed by an ex- pansion of the St. Lawrence at the mouth of the Ottawa river. This large stream rises in the country of the Timmiskamaings, on the same high land on which the Abbitibbee and other waters that flow into Hudson's bay have their source ; it is 180 ST. LAWREKCE — lA CHINE. the great channel by which the skins from the north-west are conveyed, and though the navigation is in many places interrupted by rapids, the hunters contrive to transport their canoes around them. Just above its junction with the St. Lawrence, it spreads into what is termed the Lake of the Two Mountains ,- at the lower part of this lake, or rather be* tween it and the Lake of St. Louis, spread three islands, Jesus, Perrot and Montreal. At La Chine, a little village on the island of Montreal, the passage by water ends, and the traveller is conveyed in a caleche or stage to the city. This village is the place whence all the merchandise and stores for Upper Canada are em- barked in batteaux, to proceed up the St. Lawrence. Dur- ing the summer season, they are constantly passing be- tween this place and Kingston in Upper Canada. The set- tlement of La Chine received its name from a plan which had been projected, of penetrating through the continent of North America to China, the persons engaged in the enter- prise having embarked at this spot. From La Chine also the canoes employed by the North- West Company in the fur trade, take their departure. Of all the numerous contrivances for transporting heavy burdens by water, these vessels are perhaps the most extraordinary; scarcely anything can be conceived, so inadequate, from the slightness of their construction, to the purpose to which they are apphed, and to contend against the impetuous tor- rent of the many rapids that must be passed in the course of the voyage. They seldom exceed thirty feet in length, and six in breadth, diminishing to a sharp point at each end, without distinction of head or stern : the frame is. composed of small pieces of some verj^ lig-ht wood ; it is then covered with the bark of the birch tree, cut into convenient slips, that are rarely more than the eightli of an inch in thickness ; these are sewed together with threads made from the twisted fibres of the roots of a particular tree, and strengthened when necessary by narrow strips of the same materials applied on the inside ; the joints in this fmgile planking are made water- tight by being covered with a species of gum, that adheres very firmly, and becomes perfectly hard. No iron work of any description, not even nails, enter into the construction of these slender vessels, which, when complete, weigh only about five hundred weight each. On being prepared for the ST. LAWRENCE FUIl TRADE— VOYAGEURS. 181 voyag'e, they receive their lading-, which, for the convenience of carrying- across the portages, is made up in packages of about three quarters of a hundred weight each, and amounts altogether to live tons, or a little more, including provisions and other necessaries for the men, of whom eight or ten are employed to each canoe. They proceed up tlie Grand or Ottawa river, as far as the south-west branch, by which, and a chain of small lakes, they reach Lake Nipissivg; through it, and down the French River into Lake Huron ; along its northern coast, up the narrows of St. Mary, into Lake Superior, and then by its northern side to the Grand Portage — a distance of about eleven hundred miles from the place of departure. The difficulties encountered in this voyage are not easily con- ceived i the great number of rapids in the rivers, the dlfter- ent portages from lake to lake, which vary from a few yards to three or four miles in length, where the canoes must be unladen, and with their contents carried to the next water, occasion a succession of exertions and fatigues, of which but little idea can be formed, by judging it from the ordinary occupations of other labouring classes. The men employed in this arduous service are called voy- ageurs ; they are robust, hardy and resolute, capable of en- during great extremes of fatigue and privation for a long time, with a patience almost inexhaustible. In the large lakes, they are frequently daring enough to cross the deep bays, often a distance of several leagues, in their canoes, to avoid lengthening the route by coastmg them. Yet, notwithstand- ing all the risks and hardships attending their employment, they prefer it to every other, and are very seldom induced to rehnquish it in favour of a more settled occupation. The few dollars they receive as the compensation for so many privations and dangers, are generally dissipated with a most careless indifference to their future wants ; and when at an end, they contentedly renew the same series of toils to obtain a fresh supply. The ride from La Chine to Montreal is one of the most beautiful that can be imagined ; the country on either hand presents all the embellishment of a numerous population, leitile soil, and good cultivation. About hve miles from the city, the road passes along a ridge for more than tiiree miles, commanding a beautiful view (.ver the fields and meadows 182 MONTIIEAL. beneath, with the St. Lawrence, studded with islands, wan- derin,^ among- them. " It is a pleasant relief to the eye, tired with the contemplation of dreary forests and wide wateiy wastes, when the fair seigniory of Montreal suddenly opens before you. Rich and undulating- lands, sprinkled with villas, and bounded on one hand by wooded heights, and on the other by the gray city, its tin roofs and spires blazing in the setting sun ; the vast river, chafed by hidden rocks into sounding and foaming rapids, and anon spreading his waters into a broad sheet of molten gold, speckled with islands, batteaux, and shipping 5 the distant shore, with its dark line of forest, and far off, two solitary mountains, raising their blue heads in the vermil glories of the horizon, like sapphires chased in rubies. Along the road, French faces, with all tlie harshness of feature and good humour of expression peculiar to the national physiognomy, look and gossip from door and window, orcliard and meadow; a passing salutation easily winning a smile and courteous obeisance."* The island of Montreal forais the seigniory of the same name, and also the county of Montreal. The gi-eatest part of it was granted, in 1640, to Messrs. Chen-ier and Le Royer; but whether disposed of by them, or forfeited to the crown, does not appear from any official record that has been pre- served : it is at present wholly the property of the seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal. The island is divided into the following nine parishes: — St. Ann, St. Genevieve, Point Claire, La Chine, Sault au Re- collet, St. Laurent, Riviere des Prairies, Point au Tremble, and Longue Point. The soil of the whole, if a few insignifi- cant tracts be overlooked, is scarcely excelled in any coun- try, and is highly productive in grain of every species, vege- tables and fruits of various kinds ; consequently there is hardly any part of it that is not in the most flourishing state of cultivation, and it may justly claim the pre-eminence over any part of Lower Canada. The city of Montreal, in latitude 45° 00' north, longitude 73° o7' west from London, is placed on the south side of the island, whose banks are here from ten to fifteen feet high from the level of the water. It is built in the form of a pa- rallelogram, extending from north to south. A deep and * Views of Society in America, p. 275. MOXTREAt PTTBHC BtTIIBIKSS. 183 rapid current flows between the shore and the island of St, Helen; a strong- north-east wind is therefore necessary to carry vessels up to the town; and when that is wantnia^, they remain at anchor at the lower end of the stream. This in- convenience mig'ht have been obviated, had the city been built about a mile below its present site, at a place called the Cross. The population of Montreal is about twenty-five thousand. It is divided into the Upper and Lower Towns ; one, how- ever, is but little elevated above the other. The streets are for the most part laid out in a regular manner, generally rather narrow, but the new ones are of convenient width. The houses are mostly built of gTayish stone, and the roofs are covered with sheet iron or tin ; many of them are large, handsome, and in a modern style, seldom however exceed- ing two stories in height. In the lower town is the Hotel Dleu, founded by Madame de Bouillon, in 1644. It has a superior and thirty nuns, whose principal occupation consists in administering relief to the sick, who are received into that hospital. A large room in the upper part of the building, is appropriated as a ward for female, and one immediately under it for male patients. As the institution was intended for public benefit, the medicines were, during the French government, supplied at the ex- pense of the crown. The fund by which it was supported, being vested in Paris, was lost in consequence of the revolu- tion. Its present slender resources are chiefly derived from some property in land. The General Hospital stands on the banks of the river, arid is separated from the town by a small rivulet. It owes its establishment, which was in 1753, to a widow lady named Youville. It contains a superior, and nineteen nuns. The upper town contains the cathedi'al, the English church, the convent of Recollets, that of the sisters of Notre Dame, the seminar}^, the government-house, and the courts of law. The Cathedral church is a very spacious building, contain- ing five altars, all of which are very richly decorated. A tnost all the christenings, marriages and burials of the Ho.rian Catholic inhabitants, are performed in this church, on which occasions, as well as before and during the masses, they ring the bells, which are five in number, to the annoyance of those who are not fond of discordant sounds. The funerals 1S4 MONTREAI— ST. XAWSEXCE. are conducted with great ceremony, the corpse being; always attended to the church by a number of priests chanting' prayers, and by little boys in white robes and black caps, carrying vvax-lig-hts. The Barracks are agreeably situated near the river, at the lower end of the town ; they are surrounded by a lofty Wall, and calculated to contain about three hundred men. The walls around the town are generally mouldering-, and some of them are in ruins, although the gates are quite perfect. The walls were erected as a defence against the Indians; and they have been found useful^ even so late as the year 1736. They also served a good purpose, on occasion of the large fairs held in Montreal, to which the Indians from all parts resorted with their furs ; because the inhabitants were thus enabled to shut them out at night, when danger might have attended their remaining, in a state of intoxication, to which they are much addicted. Notwithstanding this defence, however, Montreal has been always an easy conquest to re- gular troops. The greater number of the inhabitants con- sists of persons of French extraction, though the eminent merchants and the principal people of the town, are gene- rally Enghsh, Scotch, Irish, or their descendants, all of whom indiscriminately pass for English with the French inhabitants. The French retain, in a great measure, the manners and cus- toms, as well as the language of their ancestors, and present a strange contrast to the inhabitants of tlie United States, and even of Upper Canada. Indeed, the degree to which they have preserved the language and manners of France is truly surprising on this continent, where every thing so rapidly changes and improves. From Montreal to Quebec, down the St. Lawrence, the distance is one hundred and eighty miles. The navigation assumes a bolder character than it had above; it is conducted in decked vessels of all sizes; and the impediments in ascend- ing or descending are such as may be overcome with much ease, if it be judged expedient that their cargoes should be so conveyed, in preference to transporting them in small craft. On either side of the river, the prospect is worthy of admiration. The different seigniories, all in the hig-hest state of improvement that the agriculture of the country will ad- mit, denote both affluence and industry. The views are always pleasing, and often beautiful, although the component ST. LAWREKCE — POUT AU TREMBLE — SOHEL. 185 parts of them do not possess that degree of gi'andeur which is perceivable below Quebec. Numerous villages, built around a handsome stone church, constantly invite the tra- veller's attention; while single houses and farms, at short distances, appear to keep up a regular chain of communi- cation. In fact, whoever passes from one city to the other, whether by water or by land, cannot fail to be highly grati- fied, and to meet with many objects worthy both of observa- tion and reflection. If the traveller should not be inclined to pursue his journey farther along the St. Lawrence, he may here return south- ward by a regular hne of conveyance to Plattsburg, which is distant but sixty-six miles. Continuing his com'se toward Quebec, the first place which he passes is Port au Tremble, ten miles below Montreal ; a neat village, containing about fifty houses, a church, chapel, and parsonage-house. The main road to Quebec passes through this place, which always brings to it a constant suc- cession of travellers, for whose reception there are some inns, where accommodation, in all the principal requisites, is to be obtained. Ten miles farther bring us to the town of *S';^. Sulpice, on. the northern shore ; and in twenty -five more, we reach IVil- liam-Henry, or Sorel, built at the mouth of the River Richlieu. This is the point of communication between Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence, and is of course a station very impor- tant to the countries on these great waters. The fort was intended as a defence against the incursions of the Indians, and received its name of Sorel from a captain of engineers who superintended its construction. The present town was begun in 1785, by some loyalists and disbanded soldiers ; and it continues to be the residence of many old military pension- ers. Although the plan of the town occupies about one hundred and twenty acres, the number of houses does not much exceed one hundred and fifty, exclusive of stores, barracks, and government buildings. The form is regular, and the streets intersect each other at right angles, leaving a central square, of more than five hundred feet on a side. The town is built entirely of wood, and the aspect of many of the buildings is more hke that of an Anglo-American town than any yet seen in Lower Canada. The population is about fifteen hundred. The churches are of stone. ft2 186 LAKE ST. rETER — THREE RIVERS — RICHLIEU RAPIDS. *The River Sorel, or Michlieu, is two hundred and fifty yards broad, opposite to the town; but it presents the singular ex- ample of a river much naiTower at its embouchure than at its orig-in. It is more than four times as wide at St John's as at Sorel, and continues to widen all the way up the stream to Lake Champlain. From St. John's, there is also a ship navigation into the lake ; but from the town of Sorel, vessels of one hundred and fifty tons ascend only twelve or fourteen miles. Just below Sorel, the St. Lawrence spreads into Lake St. Peter, another basin, and the last in its progress towards the sea. Like most of the others, this has a group of islands, covering about nine miles of the western part; between them^ two distinct channels are formed: the one to the south being the deepest and clearest, is consequently the best for ships. ' The banks on each side are very low, with shoals stretching from them to a considerable distance, so that only a narrow passage, whose general depth is from twelve to eighteen feet, is left unobstructed. The town of Three Rivers, the capital of the district of the same name, is a large place, being the third in point of size in the pro^dnce. It is eighty miles below Montreal; at the head of the tide of the St, Lawrence, and at the entrance of St. Maurice ri^'er into it. It contains about three hundred and twenty houses, and two thousand fi\'e hundred inhabit- ants: it extends about one thousand three hundred yards along the river, and was founded in 1618. There is but little variation in the general aspect of the river, until we reach the Richlieu Rapids, about fifty-two miles below. The bed of the stream is here so much con- tracted or obstructed by huge masses of rock, as to leave but a very narrow channel, wherein at ebb tide thei'e is so great a descent, that much caution, and a proper time of the ebb, are necessary to pass through it. At the end of the .rapids, there is good anchorage, where vessels can wait for a convenient opportunity to pass them. From Montreal thus far, the banks are of a very moderate elevation, and uniform- ly level ; but here they become much higher, and gradually increase in their approach to Quebec, until they attain the height of Cape Diamond, upon which the city is built. Quebec, the capital of Upper Canada, and one of the oldest cities on the western continent, contains a population of about aUEBEC — THE CHATEAU. 187 twenty tliousand. It is built on a promontory formed by the entrance of the river St. Charles into the St. Lawrence, which is the termination of a ridg-e of land, generally from one to two miles wide, that runs from west to east. On the north side, it has the bold promontory of Cape Diamond, rising almost perpendicularly three hundred and forty-five feet above the water; and across it, at the north-east or lower end, the city is built. The fortifications, extending- across ttie peninsula, shut in the ground on which the city stands, the circuit of which is about two and a half miles. It is di- vided into two parts, the upper and lower. The upper town is situated on the side of Cape Diamond, which slopes to the north, towards the river St. Charles. It is separated from the lower town by a line of steep rocks, which run from the cape towards the west. The lower town is situated imme- diately under Cape Diamond, on ground that may be tenned artificial, as formerly at flood tide the water of the river used to wash the very foot of the rock. The streets run from the upper side of Cape Diamond, down to the St. Charles, a distance of about half a mile: they are of considerable breadth, and tlie houses large and commodious ; those next the river have attached to them very extensive warehouses, and vessels come close to the v/harves to discharge their cargoes. The communication between the upper and lower towns is by a winding street, at the top of which is a fortified gate. The upper town is the seat of the government, and the principal residence of the military. The peculiar situation occasions great irregularity and unevenness in the streets. Many of them are narrow, but most of them are well paved : the breadth of the principal ones is thirty-two feet, others only from twenty-four to twenty-seven feet. The houses are generally built of stone, of very unequal height, with sloping roofs ; but great improvement has of late years taken place in the mode of building, and many of the houses are modern in their appearance, and very handsome. There are a number of public edifices in Quebec, though none of them of remark- able elegance. The Castle^ or Chateau de St. Louis, is the residence of the governor. It is a plain building, of common stone, situated in an open space, the houses around which form three sides of an oblong square. It consists of two parts, the old and the new, which are separated from each other by a spacious court. The former stands just on the verge of aii 1^8 Q.UEBEC— THE CHATEAU. inaccessible part of the rock: behind it, on the outside, there is a long galleiy, from which if a pebble were dropped, it would fall perpendicularly for a great distance. This old part is chiefly taken up with the public offices, and all the apart- ments in it are small and ill contrived ; but in the new part, which stands in front of the other, facing the square, they are spacious and tolerably well finished, though none of them can be called elegant. This part is inhabited by the govern- or's family. The Chateau is built without any regularity of design, neither the old nor the new part having an uniform front. It is not a place of strength, as commonly represent- ed. In the garden adjoining to it, is merely a parapet wall, along the edge of the rock, with embrasures, in which a few small guns are planted, commanding a part of the lower town. Every evening during summer, when the weather is fine, one of the regiments of the garrison parades in the open place before the Chateau, and the band plays for an hour or two, at which time the place becomes the resort of numbers of the most genteel people, and has a very gay appearance. The interior of the castle is shown to visitors with great readiness ; but there is nothing worthy of very particular ob- servation. Some of the rooms are large and handsome, but they are inferior in elegance to those of many private houses. The furniture, with a few exceptions, is far from being splen- did : some articles are rich, but many are hardly worthy of the distinguished place they occupy. Among its curiosities is a famous round table, with a circular place cut in the middle. This, it seems, is occupied by the host, when he drinks wine with his friends, who are arranged round him 5 that there may be no impediment to conviviality, nor even the usual trouble of circulating the bottle, there is an inge- nious machine, made of brass, and shaped somewhat like a sextant, which can at pleasure be attached to the table, or be removed. The centre embraces a pivot, on which it moves, and the periphery of the circle sustains the bottle : the machine revolves in the plane of a horizontal circle, in other words, on the circular table ; this is effected merely by touching a spring. The contrivance is certainly as important as it is original. From the gallery of the castle, there is a magnificent view of the river and the surrounding country. The foundation of the castle is two hundred feet above the river; and though aU£BEC — PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 189 this elevation renders it a cool and refreshing spot in tlte heats of summer, it must make it bleak and cheerless in winter. The Catholic Cathedral is a long, elevated, and plain build- ing of stone, with the spire on one side of its front. The interior is neat and spacious ; and it is capable of containing" four thousand persons, being two hundred and sixteen feet long, and one hundred and eight broad. Its appearance is ancient and venerable, and its walls are adorned with pictures and imaged. The Protestant Cathedral is the handsomest modern build- ing in the city. It is of stone, and its dimensions are one hundred and thirty-six feet long by seventy-five broad. It stands on ground nearly as high as any in the place, and is seen at a great distance. Near this church is the Court-House, a handsome stone building, one hundred and thirty-six feet long and forty -four wide. These two buildings are constructed on the site for- merly occupied by the church and garden of the Recollets, or Franciscan friars, which were destroyed by fire about thirty years since. Considered as ornamental to the city of Quebec, it is to be regretted that separate situations have not been allotted to them 5 and that in a country where public buildings, capable of attracting notice, are rarely to be met with, two edifices of such consequence should have been placed so near to each other. The Hotel Dieu, with its gardens, occupies a large extent of gi'ound. It was founded in 1638, by the Dutchess d'Ai- guilion, who sent from the Hospital at Dieppe, three nuns, for the purpose of commencing this charitable and useful institu- tion. It consists of a superior, and twenty-seven sisters, whose principal occupation is to assist, and to administer medicines and food to invalids of both sexes, who may be sent to the hospital, and who are lodged in wards, where great regard is paid to cleanliness. The principal building is three hun- dred and eighty -three feet long by fifty broad, and the whole institution is conducted with a humanity, benevolence, com- fort and good arrangement, which do infinite credit to the city, and to the charitable sisterhood who preside over it. The Convent of the Ursulines is a square, whose side is one hundred and twelve feet ; the institution was founded in 1639, by Madame de la Peltrie, a young widow of good family 190 aUEBEC — ^PUBLIC BUILDIN-SS. in France. It is possessed by a superior and thirty -six nuns, who are chiefly engag-ed in the instruction of young women. The Bishop*s Palace stands near the grand battery, in a very commanding situation 5 it has been for several years oc- cupied for public offices and for a library ; an annuity being paid to the Catholic bishop. Its chapel is converted into a hall, in which the provincial parliament holds its sessions. The monastery, or College of the Jesuits, now used for bar- racks, is three stories high, and forms a parallelogram two hundred and twenty -four feet long by two hundred feet wide. It was originally founded in 1635 ; the society of Jesuits in Canada at that time formed a numerous body, and their "col- lege was considered as the first institution on the continent of North America, for the instruction of young men. The advantages derived from it were not limited to the better classes of Canadians, but were extended to all whose inclina- tion led them to participate in them; and many students came thither from the West Indies. From the period of the expul- sion of the Jesuits from the states of Europe, and the con- sequent abolition of their order on that continent, this estab- lishment, although protected by the British government, be- gan rapidly to decline. The last member of that fraternity died about twenty years since, and the buildings, as well as lands, which form an extensive domain, devolved to the crown. The landed property was designed by the sovereign as a recompense for the services of the late lord Amherst, who commanded the troops in North America, at the time of the conquest of Canada, and who completed the reduction of that province, under the British government. The claim to these estates has however been rehnquished by his successor, for a pension. The revenue arising from them, has been appro- priated by the Legislature of Lower Canada, to the purpose of establishing in the different parishes, schools for the edu- cation of children. The Jesuits' college is now converted into a commodious barrack for the troops. The Seminary, a building of some extent, fonning three sides of a square, open towards the north-west, contains a variety of apartments, suited for the accommodation of a certain number of ecclesiastics, and of young students, who are of the Roman Catholic religion. This institution owes its foundation to M. de Petre, who, in 1663, obtained from the king of France letters patent for that purpose. Tythes were aUEBEC ^PUBLIC BUILDINGS — ^FORTIFICATION S. 191 enjoined to be paid by the inhabitants, to the directors of ttie seminary, for its support; and a thirteenth in addition to what was already the rig"ht of the church was levied. This regula- tion being found too oppressive, was altered to a twenty-sixth pai't of the produce, to be paid in grain ; from which tax, newly cleared lands were exempted for a space of five years. The members of this seminary are composed of a superior, three directors and six or seven masters, who are appointed to instruct young men in the different branches of education professed by each. Since the decline and extinction of the order of Jesuits, the seminary, which was at first exclusively designed for the education of priests, and, excepting the col- lege of Montreal, is the only public establishment of the kind in the province, has been opened to all young men of the Catholic faith, although they may not be destined for the sacerdotal function. The north-east aspect of this building is agreeable in summer, having under it a spacious garden, which extends nearly to the precipice on the east, and over- looks the lower town. It is built of stone, forming three sides of a square, two hundred and nineteen feet long and one hundred and twenty broad. The New Jail is a handsome structure of stone, standing on very elevated ground ; it is one hundred and sixty feet long by sixty-eig'ht broad, and three stories high ; the cost of it exceeded fifteen thousand pounds. The Artillery Barracks were built by the French in 1750. They extend five hundred and twenty-seven feet by forty, and contain accommodations for the artillery troops of the garrison, work-shops, store-houses, &c. and every variety of small arms for twenty thousand men, which are always kept fit for immediate use, and are fancifully arranged. Next to the public buildings of Quebec, the most interest- ing feature is its Fmiijications. The lower town of course is not included in these ; its situation is such as to render its defence impracticable, and there is no military work within it except a small battery. But the upper town presents to Si traveller, unused to military works, a scene which he can scai'cely conceive ; seated on the summit of the rock, its precipice on the south and east woidd seem to make caution almost useless, but art has superadded her defences, and ren- dered it impregnable. A complete wall of the heaviest hewn stone, constructed with elegance, as well as strength, com- 192 dUEBEC—FORTIFICATIONSr pletely encircles the town, and is furnished with strong massy arches and g-ates, and with deep ditches. The walls of Quebec vary much, in different parts, in height and thickness. Everywhere, however, they are hig-h enough to render escalade very difficult, and a breach almost hope- less. In the strongest parts, next to the plains of Abraham, they appear to be forty or fifty feet thick, and equally high. Even the lofty precipices of naked rock are surmounted with a stone wall, and with cannon ; and the highest points are crowned with towers and distinct batteries. In general, the curtains of the wall are looped for musketry, and pro- jecting bastions present their artillery towards the assailants, in every direction, and of course so as to rake the ditches. " When we visited the plains of Abraham," says Mr. Silli- man, " we drove out and in by the g-ate St. Louis, where the wall appeared to be fifty feet thick,' and nearly as high ; this was the judgment we formed, without inquiry — I need not say, without measurement. A deep ditch succeeds, and then there is an exterior, but lower wall, and another ditch, both of which must be scaled, before the main wall can be ap- proached. A storming party would be dreadfully exposed, while mounting this exterior wall. The avenue to the gate is bounded on both sides by a high wall, and makes several turns in zigzag. At every turn, cannon point directly at the approaches; and generally, down eveiy ditch, and in every possible direction, where the walls can be approached, great guns are ready to cut down the assailants. The highest part of the citadel is Brock's batteiy, which is a mould artifi- cially raised, higher than eveiy thing else, and mounted with cannon, pointing towards the plains of Abraham. It was named after General Brock, who fell at Queenston during the late war, about the time that Montreal was threatened by Generals Wilkinson and Hampton. This commands every part of the works on that side, and is intended, I presume, besides the general objects of defence, to operate, in the last resoi-t, on an enemy who may scale all the other walls. " We were however very forcibly struck with the formida- ble preparations, which seem on all sides to render an attack upon the place a hopeless enterprise. Within the walls are numerous magazines, furnished with every implement and preparation, and more or less proof against the various missiles of war. Piles of cannon-balls are everywhere to be aUEBEC- — FORTiriCAT10:srS — EKYIRONS. 193 seen, and I presume there are some hundreds of heavy cannon mounted on the walls, and in the various defences. About fortj'- acres of ground, within Cape Diamond, are re- served for military works. Beyond the walls, on the plains of Abraham, are the four Martello towers; they are solidly con- structed of stone, and appear to be forty feet high, and at the base have probably a diameter not much inferior; as they have cannon on their tops, they of course sweep the whole plain, and effectually command it ; the particular object of the con- struction was to prevent an enemy from occupying" the high ground on the plains of Abraham. These towers are very strong on the side most remote from the town, and weaker on the side next to it, that they may be battered from it, should an enemy obtain possession of them. " On the whole, as long as the river is in possession of those who defend the town, and as long as the latter is sufficiently furnished with men, and other means necessary to render its fortifications efficient, there appears little hope of taking it at all, and certainly not without such an expense of blood, as it is very painful to contemplate. An officer of the garrison informed us, that it took him one hour and a half, merely to visit all the sentinels on duty, upon the various stations on the v/alls ; this appears to evince, that the walls cannot be much less than three miles in circuit ; and the same military man gave it as his opinion, that it would require at least ten thousand men for a complete garrison." The environs of Quebec include many objects which are worthy of a traveller's notice ; and from the summit of the citadel, a circuit of ten miles will embrace places which are interesting from historical associations and natural curiosities. To the north we see at our feet the Biver St. Charles, spread- ing widely as it enters the St. Lawrence; along its shores are wharves and warehouses, and the lower town is fast encroach- ing upon it ; after winding along for some distance to the westward, it turns to the north, its banks well cultivated, and here and there adorned with villages, till it finds its source in the same highlands from which the larger river of Jacques Cartier also flows. Among these villages, the principal one is Jeune Lorettef nine miles north-west of Quebec, commanding, by its elevat- ed position, an extensive view of the river St. Lawrence, of Quebec and the intermediate countiT, of the southern coast, U 194 JEUNE LORETTE — -CHAaLEBOURG. and the mountains which separate Canada from the United States. The village, which contains upwards of two hundred inhabitants, consists of about fifty houses, constinicted of wood and stone, and has a pretty appearance. The chapel is small but neat 5 and as the parish extends to a consider- able distance around, the Canadians, who form the greatest number of parishioners, have procured a church to be erect- ed for their accommodation, about a quarter of a mile from the villag-e. The Indians attend, with scrupulous observ- ance, to the performance of their devotions. They live to- gether in a state of almost uninterrupted harmony and tran- quillity. The missionary has great influence over them ; and they have exchanged, in some degree, the manners of savage life, for those of the Canadians, in wliose vicinity they reside. This nation originally hved in the vicinity of Lake Hu- ron, nearly a thousand miles from Quebec. It was once the most formidable and fierce of any tribe that inhabited those quarters, dreaded even by the Iroquois ; who however found means to subjugate, and almost extirpate it, by pretending to enter into an alliance. The Hurons too blindly relied on the protestations of the Iroquois, and they seized an opportunity to surprise and slaughter them. Near this village, the St. Charles rolls over a steep and ir- regular rock, of the altitude of thirty feet, forming a beauti- ful and romantic cataract. In passing a mill which is under the fall, the current becomes extremely narrow ; and for the space of tliree miles, is bounded by woody banks, on which there are frequent openings cut through the trees, disclosing the rushing waters. The rapidity of the stream, opposed by rocks, produces quantities of white foam upon its gloomy surface, accompanied with murmuring sounds. The water- fall, with the smaller cascades above it, the mill, the bridge, the village and the distant lulls, present an agreeable land- scape. Proceeding a little towards the east, we find the village of Charlebourg, one of the oldest settlements in the neighbour- hood, and commanding, from its lofty position, a nch and extensive prospect. Still more du'ectly to the north-east, the northeni shore of the St. Lawrence presents itself, adorned with villages as far as the river Montmorenci. The first four miles, to Beauport, are a succession of beautiful meadows, neatly divided into BEAUPORT RIVER MOSTTMORESTCI. 195 small enclosures, by stakes driven into the ground, and se- cured at top by a rail, fastened with withes ; the meadows are covered with thriving cattle ^ they are rich in deep ver- dure, and would adorn the banks of the Connecticut or the Delaware. Houses are scattered here and there, upon the meadows ; and when we begin to ascend the rising ground, we enter the extensive village of Beauport. This village, consisting of sixty or seventy houses, is princi- pally built on one street, and extends quite to the river Montmorenci ; it presents a beautiful and brilliant appear- ance from the bay of Quebec. The farms and gardens of tlie village are all in a flourishing state^ and the orchards, and oc- casional clumps of trees, combine to render it one of the pleasantest roads in the environs of the city. This village is the residence of many families of respectability. The houses are generally of stone, covered with a cement and white wash- ed, on the roof as well as the walls, which gives them a neat appearance, and makes them look very brilliant, . even at a considerable distance? commonly they are of one story, some- times of two, and inside they appear very comfortable. The windows, as is generally the fact in French houses, are di- vided, up and down, in the middle, and swing like doors on hinges. There is in this village, a large and showy church, with three steeples ; and if a traveller has tlie curiosity to enter it, he will be sure of finding some solitary individuals at their private devotions, crossing themselves with holy wa- ter, and silently moving their lips. It contains a number of pictures, and its ceiling is ornamented with golden roses. The river Montmorenci, which we now reach, is a stream not very large, rising to the north, in the Cote de Beaupre, and receives its name from a former viceroy. It sweeps along in many places over rocky precipices — ^the banks are clothed with trees, which, together with the effect produced by the foaming cuirents, and the scattered masses of stone, compose a scene wild and picturesque. After thus exhibit- ing a grateful variety throug'liout its course, the river is pre- cipitated in an almost perpendicular direction, over a rock of the height of two hundred and forty-six feet, falhng, where it touches it, in white clouds of rolling foam, and underneath, where it is propelled without interruption, in numerous flakes, like wool or cotton, which are gradually protracted 196 FALL Of 3I0STM0KEXCI C'HATJiAU KICHEB. in their descent, until they are received into the boiling", profound abyss below. This cataract forms the celebrated Fall of Montmormci, perhaps second only to Niagara in mag-nificence. The effect is indescribably beautiful; the river, like a white ribbon, seems suspended in the air in a sheet of billowy foam; the light spray, like the thin veil around the form of beauty, only re- veals with more softness the bright smooth surface of the tor-? rent ; and the rainbow, arch within arch, presents for ever on the fleecy clouds, as they float away, its glorious colours. The breadth of the fall is one hundred feet. The basin is bounded by steep cliffs, composed of grey lime slate, lying in inclined strata, which on the east and west sides are sub- divided into innumerable thin layers, forming, with the hori- zon, an angle of forty-five degrees, and containing between them fibrous gypsum and pierre a la calumet. Mouldering as they do incessantly, by exposure to the air, and to the action of tjie weather, no surface for vegetation remains upon these substances. Still farther to the north-east, beyond Montmorenci, are the venerable ruins of Chateau Richer, seated on a rocky cliff ris- ing from the St. Lawrence. It was a Franciscan monastery, when the army under General Wolfe encamped on the east- ern bank of the Montmorenci. As the monks used their in- fluence among the inhabitants in their vicinity, to impede a supply of provisions for the English army, it was deemed ne- cessary to send thither a detachment to make them prisoners. They had so fortified themselves within their mansion, that field pieces were required to compel them to surrender. The house was destroyed by fire : and nothing now remains, ex- cept a part of the wails, and the rurns of an adjoining- tower. By an inscription above the door, it appears to have been built upwards of a century ago. The parish church is placed on a bank immediately behind the Chateau, and has two spires. The scene which these objects present, when com- bined together, is one of great beauty ; we see at once the ruins of the monasteiy, the chm'ch, banks clothed with foli- age, and the lower grounds studded with white cottages, over which Cape Toiu-ment, and the chain of mountains whose termination it forms, tower with exalted majesty. Pursuing our panoramic view, as we turn more to the south, the St. Lawrence, with its basin, appears directly at the foot POINT LEVI — CHAUJOIEBE FAIIS. 197 of Cape Diamond, and as we look down it, the beautiful isle of Orleans spreads in its centre. Rising- from the river, in some parts with steep and woody banks, in others with more g-entle ascent, it presents to the eye an agreeable object. Its nearest point is six miles north-east of Quebec, The fall of Montmorenci discloses itself from this island, amidst a rich and enchanting combination of features. The central part is clothed with trees ; and the ground slopes from it on either side, while few eminences occur to interrupt the view. At the lower extremity of the island, there are situations no less bold than picturesque. The northern shore is interspersed with immense masses of detached limestone rock, and the south side is clothed with trees to the borders of the great river ; from either are seen Cape Tourmenty and the isles and mountains named les Ehoulements^ which pierce the clouds with their pointed summits. The soil of the island is in ge- neral fertile, affording more produce than is necessary for the consumption of its inhabitants. Coursing round to the south, and crossing the St. Law- rence,, the first object that attracts our notice is the bold promontory of Point Levi^ rising from the river directly op- posite to Beauport, and about a mile due east from Cape Diamond. It is very lofty, but not quite so high as the for- tress, and was the spot on which General Wolfe had directed batteries to be placed during the siege. Proceeding up the south shore of the river, opposite to the city, we pass the small stream of JEche7nin, at whose mouth are several mills ; and about eight miles above, reach the Chaudiere, a large river flowing from the south. On it, four miles above its entrance into the St. Lawrence, are the Falkf which are well worth a visit : tlieir breadth at the summit is about one hundred and twenty yards, and in the spring of the year the waters flow abundantly, swoln by the increase which they receive from the dissolving snows of the country through which they run, and from tributary streams, which at this season are likewise augmented by the same causes. The waters descend from a height of one hundi'ed and twenty feet; and being separated by rocks, form thi'ee distinct cataracts, the largest of which is on the western side, and they unite in the basin beneath, their broken and agitated waves. The wild diversity displayed on the banks of the stream, and the foliage of the overhanging e2 198 CAPE R0U6i:-=-siLLEaY — Wolfe's cove» woods, the brilliancy of colours richly contrasted, the rapidity of motion, the effulgent brightness of the cataracts, the deep and solemn sound which they emit, and the various cascades further down the river, unite in rendering this such a pleas- ing exhibition of natural objects as few Scenes can surpass. Crossing the St. Lawrence, we find, nearly opposite, on its northern shore, the promontory of Cape RougCy eight miles above Cape Diamond. It is a very lofty bank, suddenly de- clining to a valley, through which a small river, the outlet of a lake situated among the mountains on the north, runs into the St. Lawrence. A slate-stone, of a reddish colour, easily mouldering into thin strata, is found at the surface, on the summit of the bank. Proceeding down the river towards Quebec, we reach Sllkry, three miles above it, where are the ruins of a religi- ous institution, established in 1637 for the conversion and instruction of natives of the country. In the vicinity, the Algonquins once had a village. Several of their tumuli or buiying places are still discoverable in the woods ; and hie- roglyphics, cut on the trees, remain in some situations yet un effaced. A mile below Sillery is Wolfe's Cove, the spot where that celebrated general disembarked his army, previous to the battle on the plains above. The bank cf the river is here extremely abrupt and precipitous, rising to the elevation of two hundred feet ; and on its summit is a fine level surface, forming the Heights of Abraham, rising nearly to the same height as Cape Diamond, and forming the only point from which the fortress could be attacked with any prospect of success. Before leaving Quebec, we may gratify the traveller by a few historical reminiscences. Nearly a century had elapsed from the period at which Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence, before any other intercourse with Canada was carried on, than that of the hunters and traders who visited it to obtain furs. In the beginning of the seventeenth cen- turj", however, Samuel de Champlain, geographer to the king of France, a man of enterprise and talent, actuated by liberal sentiments, and by patriotic more than by interested views, after having surveyed the borders of the river for the choice of a situation presenting the greatest conveniences for a settlement, gave the preference to an elevated promon- tlLEBEC — HISTOHr. 199 tory, between the St. Lawrence and the small river St. Charles. It is asserted, that some of his attendants having pronounced, at the first view of this point of land, the words " Quel bee,'* Champlain bestowed that name on his projected town. By others it has been said, that the place derived its name from ^* Quebeio," an Indian word, signifying-, in the language of the Algonquins, * narrow,' there being just at Quebec a contraction in the river. It was on the 3d of July, 1608, that Champlain founded his town on the site of an Indian village called Stadacone ; and it remained undisturbed as a French colony until 1629, when it was taken by the English, by whom however it was restored tliree years after. In 1663, it was made a royal go- vernment, and became a regular and important colony. In 1690, Sir William Phipps, with a great armament from Bos- ton, attacked, cannonaded, and landed an army before it, but was repulsed with great loss and disgrace. In 1712, the same attempt was again made by an English fleet under Sir Ho- venden Walker, who was wrecked in the St. Lawrence, losing seven of his largest ships and three thousand men ; v^'hile General Nicholson, who was approaching with an army by the way of Montreal, was obliged to retreat. In 1759, it was again attacked by the English ; and in this attempt they were more successful. It was taken, but at a dear cost — ^the hfe of the gallant Wolfe. The British govern- ment, having carried on the war with France, on the Ameri- can continent, for a long time without any decisive success, determined at length to adopt a plan more extended and vigorous. It was concerted to attack the French at their different strongholds at once ; that General Wolfe, who had so eminently distinguished himself at the siege of Louis- bourg, should proceed up the river St. Lawrence, with a body of eight thousand men, and a stout fleet from England, and besiege the city of Quebec ; that General Amherst, com- mander in chief of the British forces in North America, should, with an army of twelve thousand men, reduce Ticon- deroga and Crown Point, cross Lake Champlain, and, pro- ceeding by the way of Richlieu river to the banks of the St. Lawrence, join General Wolfe in his attempt upon the capital of Canada ; and that Brigadier-General Prideaux, with a third army, reinforced by a body of provincials and 200 QUEBEC HISTOaY. friendly Indians under Sir William Johnston, should invest the important fortress of Niagara. In pursuance of this plan, Ticonderoga and Crown Point were taken by General Amherst ; and after a battle under the walls, Prideaux entered Niagara in triumph. The arma- ment intended for Quebec sailed up the river St. Law- rence, without meeting with any interruption, or perceiving any of those difficulties and perils, with which it had been reported the navigation of it was attended. Having reach- ed the island of Orleans, General Wolfe landed his forces on the 27th of June, and erected works for the security of the hospitals and stores. The French were encamped, with a force of ten thousand men, under the Marquis de Montcalm, a gallant and experienced commander, along the northern bank of the St. Lawrence, between the rivers St. Charles and Montmorenci, their left extending to the latter. They had also some artilleiy and a force at Point Levi, on the opposite shore, from which Brigadier-General Monkton was sent with four battalions to drive tliem. He passed the river on the night of the 29th, and marched the next day to the Point, whence he obliged the enemy's troops to retire, and possessed himself of that post : on this occa- sion, the advanced parties had two or three skirmishes with the Canadians and Indians, with little loss on either side. The French soon after passed over from Quebec, with six- teen hundred men, to attack General Monkton, but fell into confusion, fired on one another, and retreated back to the city. General Monkton severely cannonaded and bombarded Quebec from this point; but although his fire was quite destructive to the lower town, and very injurious to the buildings in the upper, it made no serious impression on its defences, and left the place nearly as tenable as ever. General Wolfe determined at length to adopt bolder mea- sures, and to attack the enemy, stationed as they were in a position of great strength. Having selected the place where the attack should be made, which was at the mouth of the Montmorenci, thirteen companies of grenadiers were landed on the morning of the 31st of July, under Generals Townsend and Murray. They had orders, immediately on reaching the shore, to form themselves on the beach; but instead of doing as tliey had been directed, from the noise and hurry of their > BATTLE Of SlONTJUtOREJiTCI. -201 landing", or from an incautious ardour, they rushed impetu- ously towards the enemy's intrenchments in the utmost dis- order and confusion, without waiting- for the corps which were to sustain them and join in the attack. In this state, they were met by a severe and steady fire from the enemy's in- trenchments, by which they were thrown into still g-reater confusion, and which obliged them at length to shelter them- selves behind a redoubt, that the French had abandoned on their approach. This repulse destroyed the plan wliich Gene- ral Wolfe had formed ; and as night was coming- on, and the tide beginning to make, he had no alternative but to retire to his camp across the river. Thus ended the battle of Montmorenci, one which has always been considered as rash, and which the gallant chief himself excused, only on the ground of a desire to act in conformity to the intentions of his government, relying on the courage of his troops. The result, however, caused him extreme mortification : his soul was sensitive as it was brave : he well knew the capricious character of his nation, clamor- ous even to persecution against those who miscarried in their undertaking's, without regarding whether that miscarriage arose from accident or fault ; while success was applauded with the wildest enthusiasm, and with as little reason. Among those who shai'ed his confidence, he was often observed to sigh; he was often heard to complain; and even, in the trans- ports of his chagrin, he declared, that he would never return without success, to be exposed, as other unfortunate com- manders had been, to the censure and reproach of an igno- rant and ungrateful populace. This tumult of mind, added to the bodily fatigue he had undergone, produced a fever and dysentery, by which for some time he was totally disabled. Amid his sickness, however, his daring and intrepid mind suggested to him a plan, the seeming impossibility of which perhaps excited more strongly his determined valour: — this was, to attack the enemy on the plains of Abraham above the city. The situation of that place, and the abrupt precipices by which it is guarded, we have already described ; and so little idea had the cautious Montcalm that such a spot could ever become the scene of conflict, that he had only a few guards stationed there. Breaking up the camp at Montmo- renci, the besieging army were conveyed \xp the river, and encamped on the southern shore, some distance above Que- 202 aUEBEC — KISTOKY. bee. General Montcalm despatched a corps of obsei'vation after them, consistmg- of one thousand five hundred men, under General Bougainville, but still maintained his station with the main army at Beauport. On the 12th of September, one hour after midnig-ht, Ge- neral Wolfe, with his army, leaving the ships, embarked in boats, and silently dropped down with the current, intending to land a league above Cape Diamond, and thus gain the heights of Abraham. As they passed along, an unexpected obstacle had neai-ly defeated all their plans. The French had posted sentinels along the shore, to challenge boats and vessels, and give the alarm when necessary. As the fii'st boat passed, one of them accordingly cried out, " Qui vit?" (Who goes there?) It fortunately happened that there was in it a captain who had served in Holland, and was familiar with the French language and military customs — he promptly re- plied in the proper word, *'La France !" The next question was much more embarrassing 5 for the sentinel demanded, **A quel regiment ?" (To what regiment ?) The captain, who happened to know the name of one of the regiments which was up the river with Bougainville, promptly rejoin- ed, *' De la Reine." (The Queen's.) The soldier immedi- ately rephed, '* Passe," for he concluded at once, that this was a French convoy of provisions, which, as the English had learned, was expected to pass down the river to Quebec. The other sentinels were deceived in a similar manner ; but one, less credulous than the rest, running down to the water's edge, called out, "Fourquoi est ce que vous ne parlez plus haut?" (Why don't you speak louder?) The same captain, with perfect self-command, replied, " Tai toi, nous serons entendues!" (Hush, we shall be overheard and discovered!) The sentry, satisfied with this caution, retired. A little farther on, they made another hair-breadth escape. In the early part of the evening, two French deserters were carried on board a ship of war, commanded by Captain Smith, and lying at anchor near the northern shore. They told him that the garrison of Quebec expected that nig-ht to receive a convoy of provisions, to be sent down the river in boats from the detachment above, commanded by M. de Bougainville. These deserters, standing on deck, and perceiving the Eng- lish boats with the troops gliding down the river in the dark, began to shout and make a noise, declaring tliat they were DEATH OF WOLFE. 203 part of the expected convoy. Captain Smith, who was ig- norant of General Wolfe's design, believing their affirmation, had actually given orders to point the guns at the British troops; when the general, perceiving a commotion onboard, rowed alongside in person, and prevented the discharge, which would have alarmed the town, and entirely frustrated the attempt. Having fortunately escaped these difficulties, the boats glided gently along ; but, owing to the rapidity of the tide and the darkness of the night, they passed the place which had been fixed on, and the troops were landed a little below, at the spot which, as we have mentioned, still bears the name of Wolfe's Cove. The g-allant general immediately sprang on shore, and was followed in silence by his troops. The rugged precipices, full of projections of rocks, and trees and shrubs growing everywhere among tlie cliffs into which the bank was broken, presented a most forbidding appearance ; and General AVolfe, familiarly speaking to an officer who stood near him, said, "I don't believe there is any possibility of getting up, but you must do your endeavour." There was only a narrow path, leading obliquely up the hill, and even this was intrenched, and defended by a captain's guard. These difficulties did not abate the liopes of the general, or the ar- dour of the troops. The light infantry under Colonel Howe, laying hold of stumps and boughs of trees, pulled themselves up, dislodged tlie guards, and cleared the path. The rest of the soldiers, suruKjunting every difficulty, gained tlie top of the hill, and as fast as they ascended, formed themselves, so that they were all in order of battle at day-break. Montcalm, when he heard that the English had ascended the hill, and were formed on the high ground at the back of the town, scarcely credited the intelligence, and still believed it a feint to induce him to abandon that strong post, which had been the object of all the real attempts that had been made since the beginning of the campaign. But he was soon, and fatally for him, undeceived. He saw clearly that the English fleet and army were in such a situation, that the upper and lower towns might be attacked in concert, and that nothing but a battle could prevent it. Accordingly, he determined to engage his enemy without delay; and quitting Beauport, crossed the river St. Charles, and formed his troops opposite to those of General Wolfe. 204 auEBEC — HisTonr. Led on by such commanders, the battle, as it was evident it must be, was contested on both sides with unexampled bravery and skill. About nine o'clock in the morning", the French advanced to the charge, with great order and vivaci- ty, though their fire was irregular and ineffectual. On the contrary, the British forces reserved their shot until the French had approached within forty yards of their line: they then poured in a terrible discharge, and continued the fire with such deliberation and spirit, as could not fail to pro- duce a very considerable cflect. General Wolfe was station- ed on the right, at the head of his favourite regiment and a corps of gi-enadiers, where the attack was most warm. As he stood conspicuous in the front of the line, he had been aimed at by the enemy's marksmen, and received a shot in the wrist, which however, did not oblige him to quit the field. Having wrapped a handkerchief round his hand, he continued giving his orders v/ithout the least emotion ; and advanced at the head of the grenadiers, with their bayonets fixed, wlien another ball pierced the breast of the young hero. It was not till that moment, that he svibmitted to be carried into the rear of the line ? he was no longer able to stand, and leaned his head upon the shoulder of a Heutenant, who sat down for the purpose ; wlien, being aroused by the distant sound of "they fly, they fly !" he eagerly asked, "who fly ?" and being told it was tlie French, he replied, " then, I die happy." He asked to be sustained on his feet, that he might once more behold the field, but his eyes were already swimming in death, his vision was gone, and he expired on the spot. A lude stone marks the place where the hero drew his last breath ; and every wandering traveller is anxious to bear away a fragment, which may remind him of the emotions that filled his breast, as he lingered on this scene of long past glory. Tlic jjhilanthropist and philosopher may pity or de- spise the feelings wliich are excited when we contemplate the death of a gallant warrior, on the field of battle, and in the moment of victory, but tliey are feelings implanted in our nature, which cannot be repressed ^ the memory of his exploits is fi,»ndly dwelt on, long after the soldier has moul- dered into dust; and perhaps every manly bosom has known the moment when it su'eiied with tlie wisli of the gallant Gra- ham, that, to press some well fought and hard won field of DEATH OF MOKTCALM, 205 battle, and to die with the shout of victory in oup ears, would be worth dying" for — woidd be worth having lived for. In the plaudits of the victorious hero, let us not forget his noble antagonist. Montcalm was mortally wounded at the head of his troops. He survived long enough to write a let- ter, with his own hand, to the English general, recommend- ing the French prisoners to his humanity; and, when in- formed that his wound was mortal, he expressed great satis- faction that he should not live to see the fall of Quebec. Montcalm's second in command. General Senezergus, also died of his wounds. The victory was of course followed by the surrender of Quebec, and soon after by the subjugation of the entire pro- vince : it thus becomes an important feature in the history of America ; as it terminated a long course of bloody wars, and even contributed, in no small degree, to the general pacifi- cation of Europe. In the following spring, Monsieur Levi, with a considerable army, leaving his encampment at Mont- real, proceeded down to Quebec, in order to attempt its re- covery from the English. General Murray, who commanded in the city, on his approach marched out to meet him ; and on the 28th of April, 1760, a bloody battle occurred, three miles above Quebec, at Sillery; the English aniny, very much inferior in numbers to the French, was severely defeated, with the loss of one thousand men ; and the French, it is said, suffered still more. The English retreated into the town ; up- on which the French immediately invested it, and very possi- bly would have reduced it, but for the arrival of an Enghsh squadron, with reinforcements, when they abandoned the siege, and retired up the river. Nothing interesting occurred in the histoiy of Quebec, from this period, until the time of our revolutionary war, when we have again to record the death of a hero beneath its walls. In the latter part of the year 1775, the provincial Congress determined no longer to act on the defensive against the British, but to carry the war into the Canadas. There were many circumstances which pointed out the propriety of such a course. General Carleton, a man of great energy and en- terprise, had been sent out with extraordinaiy powers, such as no governor before him had ever been intrusted with. It was known that he was exerting all his efforts to excite the Canadians and Indians, and stimulate them to arms against S 206 atrJEBEC— HISTORX. the colonies. The dispositions of the people of Canada were well known still to be French at heart, and even somewhat fickle. It was known, besides, that they cherished a sullen discontent on account of the Quebec Act, just passed by the British Parhament; which, though favourable to their religion, replaced them in their ancient dependence towards the nobles, whom they detested. In addition to these advan- tages, which the moment offered, the province of Canada was unfurnished with troops of the line : they having all been called to Boston, And above all. Congress had been informed, that, in the following spring, the government was to make a grand effort from this quarter; that numerous forces, arms, and munitions, would be poured into it, in order to attack the colonies in the back: an operation, which, if not seasonably prevented, might produce fatal conse- quences. In addition to this, Ticonderoga and Crown Point were both in the possession of the Americans; and the English troops, shut up in Boston, and occupied with their own de- fence, were in no situation to cany succours into a part so re- mote from the provinces of the confederation. All these favourable circumstances co-operating, it was determined to send an army into Canada; and Generals Mont- gomery and Schuyler, with three thousand men, were direct- ed to proceed on the enterprise. The latter, however, owing to sickness, was detained at Albany ; and the entire conduct of the expedition devolved on General Montgomery. The first object of attack was St. John, on the river Sorel, which was garrisoned by two regiments, and well supplied with ammunition, stores and artillery. After a siege of five weeks, the place surrendered at discretion to the Americans. Tliey also took Ckambl^f a small fort in the neighbourhood, and marched on to Montreal, of which, being undefended, Mont- gomery took possession, without resistance. In all his mili- tary operations, however, in all that he wrote and spoke, and in all his actions, this noble officer behaved with an ur- banity and nobleness of spirit, which captivated the affections of foes as well as friends. At Montreal, a place that could demand of right no favour, he published a voluntary mani- festo, in which he declared, that the Continental army hav- ing a generous disdain of every act of oppression and vio- lence, and having come for the express purpose of givin§^ liberty and security, he therefore pledged his honour, t h6n^ us into the village, which is a very beautiful one, and has the general character of the New-England towns, among which we have now entered. The road, everywhere broad, perhaps sixty to one hundred feet, in passing through the vil- lages is widened to two or three hundred feet, often more; this generally composes a tine green area or square, over which the track of the road is carried, and the houses extend on each side, usually white frame houses, with a distance be- tween each ; the houses are always neat, and often elegant, as the cheapness of timber in this country, and the habit of working, admits of giving them much architectural beauty at a small expense. Not only the houses therefore, but the barns, stables and offices, are often quite pretty, and min- gled as they generally are with a few trees, they give to these villages a singularly pleasing appearance. A handsome church and school-house are the appendages of them all, and the first have invariably fine spires, which mark the approach to them from a distance, and are exceedingly pretty. Piitsficldy seated on the shore of the Housatonic, is a very pleasant, handsome and flourishing town, and has con- siderable trade and manufactures. It contains three houses for public worship, two for Congregationalists, and one for Methodists; a bank, a town house, a female academy, a print ing-office, from which is issued a weekly newspaper, and several prosperous manufactories. Large numbers of chaises, coaches, and wagons are made here. Good maible is found in this and several of the neighbouring townships. The Uni- ted States have barracks here, sufficient to accommodate two thousand men, and an hospital. After passing the plain of Pittsfield, which is about three miles in extent, we begin to ascend a ridge of hills; the coun- try loses in a great degree its neat appearance, and the soil is not so fertile, the limestone having changed to rough gra- nite or moor stone : the cultivation is not good, and the liouses are less neat, being chiefly without paint, which gives a dreary appearance to wooden buildings. In this dis- trict, very little corn is raised, but, abounding in grass, vast quantities of cattle are bred and sent to New- York and Phi- ladelphia, where they are sold and fattened. We are now properly among the Green JVoods or Moiin- taimy the general name given to the whole extent of this ridge ; a name no doubt derived from its appearance ; as we Y 254 GREEK MOUNTAINS — CHESTERFIELD— NORTHAMPTON. can discern it from the eminences we cross, extending far and wide, a rude intermingled scene of hills, clustered and interlocking together, with the woods of a remarkably bright green hue, arising most probably from their elevation and consequent superior moisture. The brightness of the woods is in the latter part of summer more discernible, from the low grounds, we eveiywhere pass, being almost burnt up ^ while among these hills, the vegetation has the appearance of being refreshed by perpetual showers. No doubt, how- ever, much of their green hue is derived from the vast numbers of fir, hemlock, elm and other evergreens, which form a great part of their timber ; but even these have a far fresher appearance than in the vales below. As we pass through the forest, the road and all around us is a thick and almost impenetrable arch of fohage, formed by trees of the finest size that the forest can afford, and so close as often to give a dampness to the air. The principal timber is the mountain fir, the hemlock, the spruce, chesnut, beech, and oaks of various kinds ; and the underwood or shrubs ai'c laurel, shumac, and a variety too great to explain i the hem- lock is a beautiful tree ; the lengthened slender ramification or extension of its branches, gives to the scenery all that wildness which is so remarkable in the pictures of Salvator Rosa. Descending the Green Mountains, we reach the village of Chesterfield, on their eastern ridge, twenty-six miles from Pittsfield. The channel of the river Aagawam, which rans a short distance from it, ma)" be regarded as a curiosity. Dur- ing a long succession of ages, it has been worn down in a solid body of rock; the chasm is on both sides neai'ly per- pendicular, descending from six to thirty feet in different places, and appearing like a vast tiench, dug by hiunan hands. Its direction is somewhat winding, but approaches so nearly to a straight hne, that it may be traced from the bridge for a considerable distance. We now enter the Valley of the Connecticut, and in twelve miles reach Northampton, on its shore. This is the largest inland town in Massachusetts, and may contain four hundred houses. A consJdemble number of them are ordinaiy, many are good, and not a small proportion are handsome. They are however so scattered in the different streets, as to make much less impression on the eye than even inferior SOUTHAMPTON HADLET. 255 building's in many other places, where they are presented at a sing-le view. None of the public buildings are handsome. The stores and shops, built on the side of an irregular square in the centre, give the traveller a lively impression of the business which is here carried on. There is no part of New-England more distinguished for the excellence of its habits and principles than this ; a gene- ral love of order prevails ; a general submission to the laws and magistrates ; a general regularity of life, a general har- mony and good neighbourhood; a sober industry and frugal- ity ; a general hospitality and charity. Whenever a person has had the misfortune to have his house or barn burned, it may be considered as having been a standing custom in this neighbourhood, for the inhabitants to raise, and in most in- stances to finish, a new house or barn for him. This custom still substantially prevails, and exists extensively in other parts of New-England.* Several men have lived here, who were persons of much distinction. The Rev. Solomon Stoddard, the second minis- ter, possessed probably more influence than any other clergy- man in the province, during a period of tlairty years. Here he was regarded v/ith a reverence which will scarcely be rendered to any other man. The very savages are said to have felt towards him a peculiar awe. Once, wlien he was riding from Northampton to Hatfield, and passing a place called Dewey's Hole, an ambush of savages lined the road. It is said that a Frenchman, directing his gun towards him, was warned by one of the Indians, who some time before had been among the English, not to fire, because ** that man was Englishman's God." A similar adventure is said to have befallen him, while meditating, in an orchard imme- diately behind the church in Deerfield, a sermon which he was about to preach. Crossing the Connecticut, a short ride brings us to Had- ley. The river, immediately above the town, leaving" its general course, turns north-west, then, after winding" to tlie south again, turns directly east 5 and thus, having wandered five miles, encloses, except on the east, a beautiful interval, containing between two and three thousand acres. On the isthmus of this peninsula lies the principal street, the hand- ♦ Dwight's Travels, I. 295. -at? HADLi;^ INDIA?? IxVVASlO.N. somest by nature in New-England. It is a mile in ieng-th, running- directly north and south; is sixteen rods in breadth; is nearly a perfect level ; is covered, during the fine season, with rich verdure ; extends at either end to tlie river, and presents everywhere a delig-htful prospect. The modern houses on this street are generally good : a considerable number however are ancient, and, having been better built than a great part of tliose, which were erected throughout New-England in early periods, have been pinidently pre- served. In this town resided, for fifteen or sixteen years, the cele- brated regicides, Goffe and Whalley. They came hither in the year 1654, and lived in the house of the Rev. Mr. Russel, the minister. Whalley died in his house. After his decease, Goffe quitted Hadley, went into Connecticut, and afterwards, according to tradition, to the neighbourhood of New-York. It is said, that having been discovered there, he retired se- cretly to the colony of Rhode-Island, where he lived with a son of Whalley during the remainder of his life. In the course of Philip's war, which involved almost all the Indian tribes in New-England, and among others those in the neigh- bourhood of Hadlev', the inhabitants thought it proper to ob- serve the 1st of September, 1675, as a day of fasting and pray- er. While they were in the church, and employed in their worship, they were surprised by a band of savages. The people instantly betook themselves to their arms, which, ac- cording to the custom of the times, they had carried with them to the church, and, rushing out of tlie house, attacked their invaders. The panic under which they began the conflict was so great, and their number was so disproportioned to that of their enemies, that they fought doubtfully at first, and in a short time began evidently to give way. At this moment, an ancient man, with hoary locks, of a most venerable and dignified aspect, and in a dress widely differing from that of the inhabitants, appeared suddenly at their head, and with a firm voice and an example of undaunted resolution, re -ani- mated their spirits, led them again to the conflict, and totally routed the savages. When the battle vras ended, the stran- ger disappeared, and no person knew whence he had come or whither he had gone. The relief was so timely, so sudden,, so unexpected, and so providential ; the appearance and the retreat of him who furnished it were so unaccountable ^ liis MOUNT HOLTOK.E. 257 person was so dignified and commanding-, his resolution so superior, and his interference so decisive, that the inhabit- ants, without any uncommon exercise of credulity, readily believed him to be an ang-el, sent by Heaven for their pre- servation. Nor was this opinion seriously controverted, until it was discovered, several years afterwards, that Goffe and Whalley had been lodg-ed in the house of Mr. Russel. Then it was known that their deliverer w^as Goffe; Whalley having become superannuated, some time before the event took place. From Mount HolyokCy on the southern side of this town- ship, at the distance of three miles from the church, is seen the richest prospect in New-England, and not improbably in the United States. The mountain is about one thousand one hundred feet above the surface of the river. From this spot, the eye is presented with a vast expansion to the south, comprehending the southern part of the county of Hamp- sliire and a portion of the state of Connecticut. The Middle- town Mountains, the Blue Mountains at Southington, both at the distance of sixty miles, and the whole extent of the Connecticut valley to Middletown, together with the long ranges by which it is bordered, appear in full view. To the south-west, Mount Tom, a narrow range running in a direct line with Mount Holyoke, with its various summits, intercepts the prospect, and fm'nishes a fine substitute for more distant objects. But the most exquisite sceneiy of the whole land- scape is formed by the river, and its extended margin. It turns four times to the east and three times to the west, with- in twelve miles, and in that distance its course is twenty -four. It is generally a quarter of a mile wide; and its banks are beau- tifully alternated, with a fringe of shrubs, green lawns, and lofty ti'ees. When the eye traces this majestic stream, mean= dering with a single course through these delightful fields, wandering in one place five miles to gain one, and in another four to gain seventy yards; enclosing, almost immediately be- neath, an island of twenty acres, exquisite in its form and ver- dure, and adorned on the northern end with a beautiful grove; when it marks the sprightly towns which rise upon its banks, and the numerous cliurches which gem the whole landscape in its neighbourhood ; when it explores the lofty forestgj» wildly contrasted witii the rich scene of cultivation ; when it ascends higher, and observes the perpetually varying and ¥ 2 '25S BROOKFIEID WOHCESTEll. undulating arches of the hills, and the Green Mountains re- ceding" northward beyond the reach of the eye ; when, last of all, it rests upon the Monadnoc in the north-east, and in the north-west upon Saddle Mountain, each ascending, at the distance of fifty miles, in dim and misty grandeur, far above all the other objects in view: it will be difficult not to say, that all that is g-rand or beautiful in landscape is spread before us. From Hadley, the road leads us through JBelchertoivn and Ware, twenty-seven miles, to Brookjield. The country, after leaving the Connecticut valley, is not very fertile, and the houses in g'eneral are not very neat or larger as we approach Brookfield, however, we descend into a more agreeable dis- trict. The road passes on through Spencer and Leicester, nineteen miles, to Worcester, over an undulating countiy, and is of course very uneven, though it is well made. Almost all the hills in the southern half of New-England run from north to south ; the roads, therefore, which have an eastern and western direction, are very far from being level. From seve- ral of these hills, tliere are extensive thougli not any very pleasant views : beauty of prospect demands not only ampli« tude, but variety. A continued succession of hills and val- leys, scarcely distinguishable from eacli other in appearance, though less wearisome than the uniformity of a spacious plain, is still remote from that exquisite scenery which con- stitutes the fine landscape — ^the eye instinctively demands something more. Around Worcester, the surface of the country is handsome; the hills slope more gradually, and are moulded into a great- er variety and beauty of form ; the valleys, too, are more open, extended and elegant, than in the preceding parts of this county. The soil also appears to be richer, and better fitted for a variety of vegetation. The forest growth of this and all the preceding townships, is oak, chesnut, hickor}^, &c. interspersed with white and yellow pine. The town is prin- cipally built on a single street, extending from east to west, about a mile and a half on the road. It is situated in a vallej^^; and contains about one hundred and fifty houses, generally well built, surrounded by neat fences, out-houses and gar- dens ; frequently handsome, and very rarely small, old or unrepau'ed. Few towns in New-England exhibit so uniform an appearanceof neatness and taste, or contain so great a CAMBRIDGE— HARVARD COLlEGi:, 259 proportion of good building-s, as Worcester. There is pro- bably more wealth in it than in any other which does not exceed it in dimensions and population. Its trade, consider- ing- its inland position, is extensive and profitable. The number of public officers, professional men, merchants and mechanics, is proportionably great, and produces a very live- ly appearance of activity and business. From Worcester, passing over a fine grazing country, six miles bring us to Shrewsbury. We pass on the road a beau- tiful lake, called Quinsigamond ; about one acre of which is comprised within the bounds of Worcester, and the remain- der in those of Shrewsbury. This lake is about four miles long, and from one hundred rods to a mile broad, and is the largest and handsomest piece of water seen from the great road in this county. Its form is a crescent. From the high ground near Shrewsbury, it furnishes a fine featui'e of the landscape, and exhibits to the eye tlie appearance of a noble section of a iTiajestic river. From Shrewsbury, the road leads us in fifteen miles to Framingham, through a country very similar to that we have already passed. The soil is rich grazing land, of the first quality, rewarding abundantly the toil of the owners, and presenting to the eye of the traveller a continued succession of the deepest verdure. Great numbers of cattle, of the largest size and best quality, are fed on these rich pastures ; and the large well-built barns, and good farmers' houses, are decisive indications of prosperity. The next stage, from Framingham to Watertowriy is througli a country more hilly and rough, with a road often stony, and the culture generally grass ; but the buildings are neat, and bear the marks of approach to a large city, by the superior- ity of the houses, which now change from mere farm houses to country-seats. From Watertown, three miles bring us to Cambridge^ a town formerly noted for nothing but the University, and the villas of the gentlemen of Boston ; now, however, it has become a place of considerable business, and has a large population exclusive of that institution. Harvard College^ the first erected in British America, was begun in the year 1636, by an appropiiation of four hundred pounds sterling, made for the purpose by the general court of the colony. In 1638, the Reverend John Harvard, of 260 HARVARD C0LL£6£. Charlestown, gave to it one-half of his property, amount- ing' to seven hundred and seventy-nine pounds, seventeen shillings, and two pence sterling. From this time, it changed its first name of a public school to that of a college. In 1650, the first charter was gpranted by the general court, which constituted a corporation, consisting of the president, five fellows, and the treasurer, by the title of president and fel- lows of Harvard College. Beside other important powers, this body has the superintendence of all the collegiate pro- perty. The executive officers are, the president, professors, tutors, and librarian. The professorships of divinity, and of mathematics and natural pliilosophy, were founded by Mr. Thomas HoUis, a merchant of London ; the former in 1722, the latter in 1726. The professorship of Hebrew, and other oriental languages, was founded by Mr. Thomas Hancock, an eminent merchant of Boston, in 1765. The professors read lectures to all the students assembled, and give pri- vate instruction to the respective classes. Medical lectures are also read here by professors, who are respectable phy- sicians resident in the vicinity. Partial foundations have been laid for professorships of anatomy and surgery, and for a professorship of the theory and practice of physic, by the late Dr. Ezekiel Hersey, his relict, Mi's. Sarah Hersey, and his brother, Mr. Abner Hersey, of Barnstable ; and a profes- sorship of ch)niiistry and materia medica, by the late Major William Erving. These professorships are called by the names of the respective founders. As the funds are insuffi- cient to support the lectures, the students who attend them are taxed in moderate sums. The buildings consist of University Hall, a fine edifice of granite, one hundred and forty feet by fifty, and forty-two in height, containing a chapel, six lecture-rooms, dining-halls, &c. ; Harvard Hall, a brick edifice, one hundred and eight feet by forty, containing the Hbrary, philosophical apparatus, and mineralogical cabinet ; four other brick edifices, called Massachusetts, Hollis, Stoughton, and Holworthy Halls, each four stories high, containing rooms for the accommodation of students ; Holden Chapel, containing the anatomical muse- um, chymical laboratory, and lecture-rooms; and three college houses of wood, occupied by students. The hbrary is one of the largest in the United States, and contains about twenty- eight thousand volumes. The philosophical apparatus also HARVAHD COLLEGE— BOSTOIf. 261 is probably not surpassed by any in the country. The ch}'- mical laboratory, anatomical museum, and cabinet of mine- rals, are all valuable. The botanic garden comprises seven acres, laid out in an ornamental style, and is furnished with an interesting" collection of trees, shrubs and plants, both native and foreign. The first printing-office in New-England was set up in this town, at the expense of the Rev. J oseph Glover, a clergy- man who died on his passage to America. A Mr. Day was the first possessor of the press. The first thing printed in New-England was the Freeman's Oath; the second, Pearce's New-England Almanac; the third, the New-England Version of the Psalms. From Cambridge, a ride of three miles, and crossing- West Boston Bridge, brings us to the city. 262 LYNN — NAHANT. EXCURSION TO NAHANT. Of late years, Nahant has become a bathing place of great fashion; and a traveller should not leave Boston without visit- ing it. The road to it passes through Ckarlestown, and in six miles reaches the village of Chelsea. From that place to Lynn, we pass for seven miles over a very noble road, made in a direct course from Boston, in the most firm and solid manner, the hills being cut through, and a causeway carried over large bodies of marshy ground, which indeed compose the chief part of the distance. The town of Lynn lies principally stretched for several miles along Lynn bay, exhibiting a village of small farms. Each house has near it a small shop, which is detached, and about ten or twelve feet square: these are occupied by shoe- makers, which is the general occupation of the inhabitants, and is carried on to such an extent, that as many as a million pairs of shoes, chiefly women's, have been exported hence in one year; indeed, the middle and southern states are sup- plied in a great measure from this place. A large proportion of the Lynn people are Quakers, who have a large meeting- house. There are, besides the shoemaking business, manu- factures of leather, both of the common kind and morocco for making shoes. From these manufactories, the people of Lynn are generally very thriving, and live with great neat- ness and comfort. Opposite to Lynn, a narrow beach or isthmus, not more than one hundred yards wide, extends directly into the sea, for two miles, at the end of which is a high rocky island ; and then a second beach, of about one-fourth of a mile, to another similar island, larger in its dimensions. They are called the Great and Less Nahant. The two contain about six hundred acres of land, a great part of which is high, barren rock ; the rest is a good soil, more or less culti- vated with Indian corn, but chiefly in grass, affording excel- lent sheep pasture. The shores of both islands consist of high, rocky promontories, with fine sandy beaches between them, and the sea breaks around with a tremendous surf. STAHANT, 263 The ride over the beach, from Lynn to the islands, is one of the most delightful imaginable ; when the tide is out being as hard as marble, the surf washing the carriage-wheels and feet of the horses, and the sea-breeze at all times blowing with uncommon freshness. The traveller wiU indeed find his ride truly refreshing ; and the island itself is one of the pleasantest places he has visited, from the fine air, and no less beautiful prospect around him, consisting of a vast area of bay and ocean, with a number of islands, rocks and pro- montories stretching into it. On the southern side of the Great Nahant, there is a curi- ous grotto or cavern, called the SwaUow House; the entrance of which is about ten feet wide, five high, and seventy long, increasing after a few steps to fourteen feet in breadth and eighteen or twenty in height. Great numbers of swallows inhabit this cave, and hatch their young here ; and it is a common opinion, that they repose here through the winter, in a torpid state. At the east end, at low tide, in the pools among the large rocks, is found the animal flower, or rose fish, adhering to small stones, in water four or five feet deep. On the north shore is a chasm, thirty feet in depth, called the Spouting Horn, into which, at about half tide, the water rashes with great violence and a tremendous sound. 264 BOCTE FROM BOSTON TO BfEW-YOHK. BOSTON TO NEW-YORK, Cby Steam-Boat. J M. W. Boston to Roxbury .-------- = . 2 Cross Neponset River Dedham - = - , , . 8 10 Walpole 11 21 Foxboroug-h 223 Attleborou^h --.--.- = . 7 30 Pawtucket River and Falls - . . , 8 38 Pkovidekce .,.- 4 42 Trip 2 44 Johnson g 50 Cross Patuxent River Scituate, (R. I.) .-..--.- 7 57 Connecticut State line ...... 7 64 Sterling- --.- = --..-. 4 68 I'lainfield , . . 4 72 Jewitt's City ..--...., 7 79 Cross Quinnebaug- River Cross Sketucket River -.-.-- 5 84 Norwich ..--.-.«.-. 3 87 Quinnebaug River -..---. 2 89 Poquetanuck River ---.-.- 4 93 New-Lokdoit .---.----- 8 101 l^hames River 4 105 Connecticut River --13 118 Faulkner's Islands --16 134 New-Haven Light-House - ... - 13 147 New-Havest --- 5 152 Stratford Point 16 168 Opposite Norwalk -------15 183 Greenwich Point 11194 Entrance of Long- Island Sound - - - IB 210 Hell Gate - 9 219 New-York - 7 226 KOUTE FROM BOSTON TO SfEW-HAVEN. 265 DEVIATIONS. Boston to New-Haven, Chy Springfield and Hartford. J M. M. Boston to Roxbury - 2 Brookline ---------- 3 5 Needham ,-----.- = - 6 11 Natick - ... - 5 16 Framingham .--..-»-- 7 23 Southborough ----- = --= 5 28 Shrewsbury .-..10 38 Worcester ------.--- 6 44 lieicester --...----- 7 51 Spencer .--■-.------ 5 56 Brookfield ...-- = - = -" 7 63 Cross Chickapee River Western -.-----..-- 6 69 Palmer -.-.. = --.-- 7 76 East Springfield ----.--- 17 93 Cross Connecticut River West Springfield ---.-'- 1 94 Massachusetts State line - ^ - - - 5 99 Suffield ....»-...-= 5 104 Windsor - - - - - = - « - - - 10 114 Cross Windsor River Habteokd ---------- 7 121 Berlin ..-..- 10 131 Meriden ----.------ 7 138 Cross Quinnipiack River WalUngford -..- 5 143 ^ew-Haven --------- 12 155 266 ROUTE FROM NORWICH TO NEW-YORK:. Norwich to New-York, Cby land. J M. M. Norwich to New-London -- -- 14 Riverhead 7 21 Lyme 9 30 Cross Connecticut River .... - 2 32 Saybrook 2 34 Killingworth - 9 43 Hammohassett River - 3 46 Guildford 6 52 Brandford - . . - 8 60 New-Haven - .-. 7 67 Milford ........... 10 77 Cross Housatonic River Stratford 4 81 Bridgeport .---- 4 85 Fairfield 4 89 Sagatuck 5 94 Norwalk - - 3 97 Stamford 9 106 Greenwich --.-..---. 5 111 Cross Byram River, and enter State of New- York Rye - - 5 116 New-Rochelle ......--. 8 124 Cross Bronx Creek West Farms - 7 131 Cross Haerlem Creek Haerlem 4 135 New-Yoek - 8 143 AOXBUR¥ — DEDHAM. ^67 From Boston to New-York. From Boston to New- York, various routes may be chosen, according to the taste of the traveller. He may either pur- sue his journey along" the road which we have passed from Albany, through the centre of the state of Massachusetts, to Northampton, and thence follow the beautiful valley of the Connecticut river to New-Haven. He may take the regular route to Providence, and thence either go all the way by water to New-York, or continue as far as Norwich, on the river Thames, and then join the steam-boat line. Or he may select an intermediate road, taking a south-western direction from Boston, and pass through the middle of Connecticut, to Hart- ford. Either of these routes will aiford a beautiful journey ; but perhaps that by Norwich unites the greatest expedition and variety. Leaving Boston, we pass the neck which connects it to the main land ; this neck has been originally, nearly such as we have described Nahant, only that it has flat bays on each side, instead of the ocean. At the end of the neck, about two miles from the centre of Boston, is the town of Roxbury, like the rest in the country, built of neat white houses. The country soon assumes the character almost universal in the state of Massachusetts, of a hard stony soil, abounding in rocks, and yielding little but grass, pasturage, some Indian corn and rye, but scarcely any wheat. The rocks are very abundant, but assume rather a different character, as here they are in large round lumps or masses, not stratified, but composed altogether of every species and size of pebbles, bedded in a hard compact stone, forming what is generally called pudding stone. All this country being broken and hilly, abounding with wood and pasturage, is thickly inter- mingled with the villas of the Boston gentry, some of which have fine views over the country below, extending to Boston, its harbour, islands, and a considerable expanse of sea. Crossing the Neponset river, we enter Dedham, ten miles from Boston. It is a neat town, situated pleasantly on a plain, eleven miles south-west of the capital. It is compactly built, the houses are generally good, and several of them are band- 26f8 FISHEB AMES — PAWTUCKET. some. It is the slui'e town of the county of Norfolk, and con- tains one Episcopal and three Congregational churches, a court-house and a jail. Its aspect is that of sprighthness apd prosperity. Several productive intervals, forming the margin of the river, add not a little to its beauty. In Dedham hved Fisher Ames, several years a member of the American Con- gress. This gentleman was born here, April 9th 1758, o^ re- spectable parents, and was educated at Harvard College, where he took the degree of A. B. in 1774. He then com- menced the study of the law, and soon after he began the practice was regarded as an advocate of distinguished talents. In 1787, he was chosen a delegate to the convention, sum- moned for the purpose of ratifjdng the federal constitution, and a member of the house of representatives in the state legislature the same year. The following year he was elect- ed a representative from the district of Suffolk, to the nation- al legislature, and was regularly re-elected during the presi- dency of General Washington. In all these situations, parti- cularly the last, he distinguished himself by sound wisdom, most impressive eloquence, immovable integrity, and exalted patriotism. After his speech on the necessity of making ap- propriations for carrying into effect the treaty with Great Britain, dehvered April 28th, 1796, one of his antagonists ob- jected to taking the vote which was to decide the question, at that time, because the house was borne away by the power of his eloquence. His moral character was still more estima- ble. His integrity appeared to be direct, without effort, and even without dehberation; it seemed to be straight, because it had never been warped ; to dictate what was right, because it had not yet learned to do what was wrong. His sense of rectitude, both public and personal, was not only exact, but delicate and exquisite. His patriotism was glowing. From Dedham to Walpole, the country is chiefly a forest, dull in its appearance and in some places rough and stony. The soil is poor, and the roAd indifferent. There is nothing particularly worthy of notice, in the country over which we now pass ; the villages of Foxhorough and Aitlehorough have nothing to distinguish them, and in eight miles from the latter we reach Pawtucket^ a celebrated manufacturing village. It is well built, and wears a flourishing aspect. The river is a large mill-stream, and just below becomes navigable for boats. Directly under the bridge commences a romantic fall, which, JPROVIDENCE — BROWN UNIVEIISITY. 2^ extending obliquely down the river, furnishes a number of excellent mill-seats. Of this advantage the inhabitants have availed themselves. There is probably no spot in New-Eng- land, of the same extent, in which the same quantity or va- riety of manufacturing business is carried on. The whole de- scent of the river is said to be fifty feet. The principal fa:ll is about thirty. The mass of rocks by which it is produced, is thrown together in the wildest Confusion. The road from Pawtucket to Providence, four miles, is bad, being a deep sand, very heavy, and often stony. Prcyvidence is built on the western side of Pawtucket river, in two divisions ; one on the eastern and the other on the western side of a cove, which is an arm of that river. The site of the western division is a slope, gradually rising from the cove 5 that of the eastern, the narrow base and the side of a lofty hill, which runs between the cove and the river to the point of their junction. The two principal streets, on the eastern side, pass, one at the bottom, and the other at a little distance, along the side of this hill, until they terminate at the river. The principal street on the western side is a part of the great road towards New-London and Hartford. Those on the east are crossed by several others nearly at right an- gles. In point of population, it is the first town in Rhode- Island, and the third in New-England. It contains a court- house, a jail, a market-house, a custom-house, a university, a public library, of about two thousand volumes, a Friend's boarding-school, an academy, five public schools, seven banks, including a branch of the United States bank, and twelve houses for public worship ; and several other public build- ings. Two of the Congregational, and one of the Baptist meeting houses, and the Episcopal church, are among the handsomest edifices of the kind in the United States. The College stands on the summit of the hill: and is a brick building of four stories, one hundred and fifty feet in length, and forty-six in breadth. A projection in the centre, of twen- ty feet on each side, enlarges the breadth here to eighty-six feet, and contains the public rooms. The rest of the build- ing consists of rooms and studies designed for the students. A second edifice, of nearly the same size, has been erected within a few years, to accommodate an additional number of students. They overlook every part of the town; the cove, the river, and the country beyond it on both sides ; together z2 with extensive tracts to the north and east. The prospect is noble ; but is sensibly impaired by the sterility of the soil in the western quarter ; and is not a little deficient in fine varieties of surface. Its leg-al name is now Brotvn University: given it in honour of Nicholas Brown esquire, who has been its most liberal benefactor. This seminary possesses a Hbrary of about three thousand volumes, a philosophical apparatus, and a museum containing a-number of natural and artificial curiosities. Both its internal and external concerns are con- sidered as prosperous. Providence was settled in the year 1636. It was purchas- ed by Roger Williams, and by him and several of his friends the plantation was begun. In 1640 they adopted a form of go- vernment. In 1645 or 1646, the number of men, able to bear arms, was about one hundred. They lived in peace with the Indians until the great war with the Narrhagansetts, in 1676, when these savages invaded the town, and burnt about thirty dwelling houses. This seems to have been the only instance in which the inhabitants sufiered materially from Indian in- cursions. From Providence, a journey of twenty miles brings us to the boundary between the States of Rhode-Island and Con- necticut; the country is a succession of liills and valleys, run- ning north and south. The hills are of considerable height, and incumbered, as the valleys are also, with a multitude of rocks and stones. Four miles within the Connecticut line is Sterling, a neat little village, built on a hill, from which there is a pleasing and extensive prospect over the rich vailey of the Quinne- baug, one of the most fertile and beautiful tracts in New- England. Four miles farther bring us to Plainfieldt a neat village, extending along one street. The road then turns southward and in seven miles reaches Jewitt's City, a collection of a few houses on the eastern bank of the Quinnebaug. Cross- ing this stream, we pass for three miles to the Shetuclcet Ri- vevy through the township of Lisbon, which is an excellent one ; the soil being here, as in most of the region of Quin- nebaug, the reddish loam, before mentioned, but less mix- ed with clay. Naturally, it is suited to every production of the climate ; but it is said, for some time past, to have been less favourable to wheat than formerly. JSOaWICH ^MOHEGAN INDIANS. 271 Oui* journey now lies along* the eastern border of this town- ship. Here it presents a succession of hills and valleys, on which are interspersed fine groves of tall and beautiful trees. One of these eminences, named Bundy Hillf is sufficiently difficult to make a humane traveller feel for his horses. The whole region between Plainfield and Norwich, except the little village mentioned above, is a collection of farms, culti- vated by inhabitants generally in easy circumstances. Cross- ing the Shetucket, the road leads us through a country infe- rior both in fertility and beauty to that on its northern shore, three miles to Norwich. Norwich is at the head of the navigation on the river Thames, and has a population of three thousand. It consists of three parts, Chelsea Landing, the Town and Bean Hill. Chel- sea Landing is situated on the point of land between the She- tucket and Yantic, which here unite to form the Thames. The site is on the declivity of a hill, high, irregular, and rocky. It contains upwards of one hundred and fifty dwell- ing houses, four houses of public worship, a post-office, and upwards of thirty stores. The Town, two miles north-west, is situated in a pleasant vale, partially surrounded by lofty hiUs. It contains a handsome square, a court-house, a post- office, meeting house, and about two hundred houses and stores. Bean Hill is a pleasant settlement, on tlie Hartford road, in the western part, chiefly in one street. Norwich is a pleasant town, and has considerable trade and manufactures. It is favourably situated at the head of naviga- tion, and has an extensive back countiy. The commercial business is much less than it fonnerly was; about twelve ves- sels are owned here, employed chiefly in the coasting trade to New- York and elsewhere. The falls of the river afford seats for various mills and manufacturing establishments. The courts for the county are held alternately at this city and New-London. . At Norwich, we embark in the steam-boat, and sail down the Thames fourteen miles to New-London. On the western bank, in the township of Montville, is the reservation of the Mohegan Indians^ of whom a small remnant is yet left. They are the descendants of those tribes who formerly owed al- legiance to the celebrated chief Uncas. The spot where this chieftain lived is yet shown, and no place could have been pitched on with more felicity. It is a high point of land[, ^72 IKDIAJfS— VNCAS. commanding a noble and extensive view of the Thames, here a large river, and of the country on both sides. It was there- fore well fitted for preparation against an enemy's approach, and furnished every convenience to hostile excursions. At the same time it bordered on a never-failing supply of pro- visions, furnished by the scale and shell fish, with which both the river and the neighbom'ing ocean have ever been richly stored. Uncas was originally a petty sachem ; a Pequod by birth ; a subject and a tributary to Sassucus. When the English made war on the Pequods, Uncas was unfriendly to this chief- tain, and would have quarrelled with him, had he not been kept in awe by the talents and prowess of so formidable a warrior. Upon the death of Sassucus, Uncas became the sa- chem of the remaining Pequods, as well as of the Mohegans. In this character he claimed, perhaps rightfuUy enough, as there was no other acknowledged heir, all the territory which had been possessed by that tribe ; and had a sufficient share of cunning to support his claims witJi very plausible reasons: they were therefore generally allowed. From this time he became one of the most formidable, and altogether tlie most prosperous Indian chief in the southern parts of New-Eng- land. To his enemies he was scarcely less formidable than Sassucus had been before him. At the head of four or five hundred men, he met Miantonomoh, a brave and saga- cious chief of the Narrhagansetts, coming to attack him with twice tlie number ; and after having in vain challenged him to single combat, defeated his ju'my, took him prisoner, and put him to death. On this occasion he cut a piece of flesh from his shoulder, roasted, and ate it ; and with the true spi- rit of a savage, declared, that it was the sweetest meat which he had ever tasted in his life. Uncas died at an advanced age, in his own house ,• and left his power and his property to his children. A few years since, a man descended from Uncas came from North Carolina, or Tennessee, where he was settled, and ob- tained permission of the Connecticut legislature to seD his patrimonial share in this tract. This man had received a mili- tary commission from the British government ; and it is said, was well dressed, well informed, sensible, and gentlemanly in his deportment. He is probably the only respectable de- scendant of Uncas now Hving, NEW-LONDON — fORT TRUMBULL. 273 New-London is situated on a declivity, upon the western side of the Thames. This river is about two-thirds of a mile wide, and forms a harbour of great capacity and depth. Ves- sels of almost any size find in it sufficient water and good an- choring ground. It is also perfectly safe. The centre of the town is about three miles from its mouth. The site is pliea- sant; but would be handsomer if less encumbered with rocks. The principal streets are parallel with the river, and are crossed by others nearly at right angles ; but without any regularity, either in their distances or their direction. Its population is about thirty-five hundred. Proceeding down the Thames, we pass Fort Griswold on the eastern, and Fort Trumbull on the western shore of the river ; both celebrated for one of the most disgraceful acts which is recorded in the annals of modern warfare. In the year 1781, a body of British troops embarked at Long Isl- and, under the command of General Arnold, on the night preceding the 6th of September; and having crossed the Sound, landed at ten o'clock the next morning, in two de- tachments, on the two shores of the Thames, near its mouth. The detachment which landed on the Groton shore was com" manded by Colonel Eyre ; the other by Arnold himself. Fort Trumbull, a small and imperfect work, was evacuated at the approach of the British ; the httle garrison stationed in it crossing the river to Fort Griswold. Colonel Eyre at the same time led on his corps to attack Fort Griswold, defended at that time by about one hundred and fifty militia, hastily col- lected (some of them without arms) for this purpose. As the British drew near the fort, a firing commenced with gi'eatre- solution, and was maintained with the utmost spirit, under the command of the gallant Colonel Leydard, for a considerable time. Eyre was soon wounded, and Major Montgomery, the second in command, killed. Major Broomfield, the officer next in rank, conducted the remainder of the enterprise. The British were severely handled; and though greatly superior in numbers, and in every military advantage except bravery, are said to have doubted for a time whether to continue or re- linquish the assault. The fort, originally imperfect, had been neglected, and had materially gone to decay. Still the ac- tion lasted forty minutes, when the assailants carried the works by the bayonet. The resistance instantly terminated^ The British leader, upon entering the fort, asked who com* 274 FORT ffRISWOLD — ^SAYBBOOK. manded. The brave Leydard, who, by his defence, had merited the highest respect from ever)'- military, and particu- larly from every generous man, answered, " I did command, sir; but you do now." As he uttered these words he pre- sented the hilt of his sword to the British commander, and was instantly run through the body. The Americans had lost but five or six men when the British entered the fort. A causeless and furious carnage commenced immediately on the death of Leydard? and between sixty and seventy Americans were killed on the spot, after they had surrendered their arms, and ceased from every kind of hostility. Three miles below, we reach Long Island Sound, passing on the right a promontory on which there is a light-house. Our course is now along the southern shore of Connecticut, which is indented with numerous bays, running up between the projecting headlands. At six miles we pass Black Point, and five miles farther Griswold's Point, at tlie mouth of the Connecticut river. On the opposite or western promontory is the town of Saybrook, which derives its name from Lords Say and Brooke, who were the first proprietors of it. It is seat- ed on a beautiful plain, at the foot of the hills, and its princi- pal street is about one mile in length, lying nearly parallel with the Sound. Several of the houses are neat ; a consider- able number are ancient and ordinary. The soil of the hills and valleys is generally good; and that of the plain excellent, easily cultivated, and productive of all the grains and fruits of the climate. Saybrook has been commonly, but erroneously, considered as the most ancient settlement in Connecticut. The first Eu- ropean house in the state was built at Hartford, by the Dutch, in 1633, and called the Hirse of Good Hope. The second was built a few weeks afterwards in Windsor, by WiUiam Holmes of Plymouth. On the 29th of October, 1635, a colony from Dorchester, in Massachusetts, planted themselves in Windsor. Two other colonies, about the same time, began the settle- ment of Hartford and Weathersfield. About the middle of the following November, a company sent by John Win- throp, with arms and other necessaries, came to Saybrook, threw up some slight works, and mounted two pieces of cannon. In the revolutionary war, a fort of the same dimen- sions was erected on the same spot, to prevent British priva- teers from entering the river. For this purpose it was per- sachem's head — ^NEW-HATEI?. 275 fectly fitted ; as the channel lies almost under the mouths of its cannon. Since the peace of 1783, these works have been suffered to decay. A part of the wall of the ancient fort is still visible, as are also the ruins of a well, dug" within, to fur- nish water for the garrison. Passing- Cornfield Point, Duck Island^ and Hammohassett Headt we reach in sixteen miles Faulkner's Island, where there is a light-house, and opposite to which, on the main land, is Sachem's Head. This is a ship harbour, and received this de- nomination in the year 1637, from the following fact. Two Pequod sachems, after the defeat of that tribe by Captain Mason, were taken by the troops under Captain Stone, and had their lives spai-ed upon promising to discover tlie place to which their countrymen had fled. The English brought them to this place, and finding that they obstinately refused to give the stipulated information, beheaded them. In thirteen miles, passing the Thimble Islands, we reach New-Haven hght-house, and proceeding up the bay five miles, that city itself. The site of New-Haven is a plain at the head of this bay, lying between two ranges of hills on the east and west ; and limited, partly, on the northern side, by two mountains, call- ed the East and West Rock, a spur from the latter, named Pine Rock, and another from the former, named MiU Rock, which descends in the form of a handsome hill to the north- ern skirt of the city. The harbour is well defended from winds, but is shallow, and gradually filling up with mud. It has about seven feet on the bar at low water, and the com- mon tides rise six, and the spring tides seven or eight feet. The long wharf is three thousand nine hundred and forty- three feet in length, the longest in the United States. In 1765, it was only twenty rods long, yet there is less water at its termination now, than there was at that period. The maritime commerce of New-Haven, is greater than that of any otlier town in Connecticut. The shipping belonging* to this port, in 1821, amounted to ten thousand two hundred and fifty-five tons. The population of New-Haven is about seven thousand five hundred, but the area it occupies is probably as large as that which usually contains a city of six times the number of inhabitants in Europe. A considerable proportion of the houses have court-yards in front, and gar- dens in the rear. The former are ornamented with trees 276 NEW-HAVEN — TALE COLLEGE. and shrubs ; the latter are luxuriantly filled with fruit trees, flowers, and culinary vegetables. The beauty and healthful- ness of this arrangement need no explanation. The central square is open, appropriated to public uses, and is one of the most beautiful in the United States. On and around it are erected the public buildings, consisting of a state-house, an indifferent building of brick, the college edifices, and four houses of public worship, two for Congregationalists, very elegant buildings, one for Episcopahans, a beautiful gothic edifice of stone, and one for Methodists. Besides these, the city contains a jail, an alms-house, a custom-house, an aca- demy, a library of fifteen hundred volumes, a museum, two banks, three insurance offices, six printing-offices, from four of which weekly papers are issued, and two other pericecal publications. New-Haven is one of the most agreeable towns in the United States. The streets are sandy, but are kept clean. The houses are mostly of wood, two stories high, not expen- sive, nor very elegant, yet having an appearance of neatness and comfort. Among the houses recently erected, are seve- ral handsome edifices of brick and stone. The public square and the principal streets are finely ornamented with trees, and a great part of the houses have gardens in the rear, fiUed with forest trees, giving the city a rural and delightful ap- pearance. The burial-ground, in the north-west part of the town, is an object of particular interest. It is laid out in parallelograms, subdivided into family burying places ; the whole ornamented with rows of trees. The monuments are nearly all of marble. Great taste is manifested in the whole design, and the appearance is solemn and impressive. Adjoining the town is Yale College^ one of the most cele- brated hterary institutions in the United States. It consists, altogether, of eight different buildings, founded and erected at different times, but all incorporated under the general name of *' The President and Fellows of Yale College.'* This name it took originally from Governor Yale, who was its first principal donor, and in honour of whom it was named. The college under this name was originally founded in 1700, at Killingworth, whence it was removed in 1709 to Saybrook, and thence to New-Haven in 1716. The first building was of wood, which remained tiU 1782, when it was taken down, and Connecticut College built on its site- The college bbra- YAIE COI.LEG£ — FAIRFIELD. 2r? ry contains about seven thousand volumes, and three libraries belonging to societies contain together two thousand five hundred volumes. The philosophical and the chemical ap- paratus are very excellent. A cabinet of minerals was depo- sited here in 1811 by George Gibbs, Esq., the original cost of which was four thousand pounds sterling 5 the number of specimens, ten thousand. The college has another cabinet, containing about four thousand specimens. The number of undergraduates in 1821 was three hundred and twenty -five, medical students seventy-eight, total four hundred and three; total number educated, to 1820, three thousand four hundred and seventy-eight ; number living, one thousand eight hun- dred and eighty-four. Leaving New-Haven, and proceeding up the Sound, the first prominent object that strikes us is Stratford Pointy and six miles beyond, on a little bay, is the town of Fairfield. This place, like New-London, was, in the revolutionary war, the scene of a disgraceful invasion by a party of the British. On the 7th of July, 1776, a body of troops, chiefly tories, under General Tryon, formerly governor of New-York, land- ed near Fairfield. The women and children, on the alarm, generaDy fled, with such few articles as they could carry with them ; the men, who were mostly in arms, retired to a distance, being unable to make any effectual resistance. The invaders then pillaged the town of what they could conveniently carry away, robbed the inhabitants of their watches, money, and other things, and set fire to every house in the place, to the number of sixty, with the church, meet- ing-house, school-house, and other public buildings. Se- veral women had remained to secure their property, some of whom had protections from officers of the British forces, who had been prisoners and lodged with them ; others were notorious for their aflfection to the British cause : but they were all treated alike with brutal insult, and their pro- perty consumed with the rest. The old people make this event the constant theme of their stories, and say that the town has never recovered its losses. However, it is now re- built, with as many or more houses than it originally con- tained. The inhabitants consist of storekeepers, innkeepers, some lawyers, and a few farmers, who are independent enough to live in the town, or whose farms closely adjom it. The loss sustained by the burning of Fairfield;, was estimated at one A a 278 GHEENWICH POINT— BAHN ISLANDS. hundred and thirty-six thousand dollars. During the same expedition of Governor Tryon, the towns of Norwalk, Gro- ton, and several villages, were also burnt, and New-Haven ravaged and laid under contribution. In 1781, the city of New-London, as we have mentioned, was burnt by General Arnold, although it was his native place — such was the vin- dictive spuit shown by this man against his own countr3nnen. The whole amount of these losses, as ascertained by the le- gislature of Connecticut, was six hundred and forty -seven thousand dollars ; and in consideration of the losses of the private sufferers, the state granted them five hundred thou- sand acres of land on the south side of Lake Erie. Seventeen miles beyond Fairfield, is Ch^eenwich Pointy and a little distance further the boundary line between Connecti- cut and New-York strikes the Sound. In our passage, this fine expanse of water now becomes narrower ; the islands are more numerous, and the shores on each side are more distinctly seen. Of these, nothing can exceed the beauty. The various points successively stretching into the bosom of the water, with the intervening indentations ; the villages, which succeed each other at moderate distances, with their white spires, seen over the tops of the trees, or rising in the open view; the rich fields, which everywhere form the mar- gin ; the hills, gradually ascending as the eye advances into the interior, covered with farms and crowned with groves ; and the multitude of vessels, skimming the surface in every direction — combine altogether as many varieties of beauty, serenity and cheerfulness, as can easily be united within the same limits. The Sound is replenished with a great variety of very fine fish. Among the finny tribes may be reckoned the cod, the striped and sea bass, the black fish, the sheep's head, the blue fish, the frost fish, the white perch, the plaice, the flounder, and many others ; of shell-fish, there are lob- sters, crabs, oysters, clams, muscles, &c. Beyond Throgmorton's Pointy the Sound becomes narrow, very suddenly. Thence to New- York, a succession of hand- some villas is seen at Httle distances, on both shores. We can hardly imagine a more pleasing series of objects, when viewed in connection with their appendages. About eight miles before we reach the city. Great and Little Bam Islands, with several others, occupy nearly the whole breadth of the Soundj leaving but narrow channels HELL GATE BROOKLYN NEW-YORK. 279 between them. Immediately to the north of these islands, Haerlem River dischai-ges itself into the East river 5 the bot- tom of which is formed by large blocks of granite, some of which are visible. Owing to this peculiarity of situation, the position of the rocks, the sudden contraction of the Sound, and the influx and efflux of the tide into and from Haerlem river, a remarkable wliirlpool, called Hell Gate, has been formed. Formerly, it was rarely mentioned but in terms of exaggeration and terror: in later times, however, it has been i found almost harmless. The agitation of the water at half 1 flood and half ebb, is sufficient to alarm one not familiarized to its appeai'ance ; but about high and low water, there is but little commotion. At proper times, with a suitable wind and a good pilot, vessels pass here without danger; but with- out these advantages, they are liable to strike the rocks or be thrown upon the shore. From Hell Gate, a passage of seven miles conducts us along |the margin of New- York Island, laid out for new streets the whole distance. On the other shore is Long Island, and |the village of Brooklyn, which may be considered as part of the city. From, it, a ferry of less than half a mile conveys us o New-York. THE EJSU. 9 38 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 113 648 3 fmmimi