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