En^8H3

D

"I give tkefe Booh
far ViR faiaidiag ef a. Celiege, at. this Colony

Bought with the income ofthe
Junior Promenade Committee,
Class of 1899, Fund

AMEEICA :
A FOUR YEAES' RESIDENCE
IN THE
UNITED STATES AND CANADA

GIVING A FULL AND PAIR DESCRIPTION OP THE COUNTRY,
AS IT REALLY IS, WITH THE
3ilEDiira, CiiJitnms, k €^m-dn nf tire Sulmlitota ;
ANECDOTES OF PERSONS AND INSTITUTIONS,
PRICES OP LAND AND PRODUCE,
STATE OP AGRICULTURE AND MANUPACTURES.

BY WILLIAM BROWN,
A LEEDS CLOTHIER.

"I guess ttiat' old Coon is wide awake.'' Yankee Farmer.
"Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice." SnAZBFER'S.

LEEDS :
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR
BY KEMPLAY AND BOLLAND, 19, COMMERCIAL-STREET.
1849.

Eqf.Sti

¦f

INTRODUCTION.

TO THE READER.

Having been called upon, in many towns and villages
in Yorkshire, to recite my personal narrative of America
and the Americans, a call which I have always complied
with, my friends now have paid me the compliment of
asking me to publish an account of my four years' resi
dence ia that country, and, at their suggestion, I have
written out, from notes taken at the time, and from
memory, the following pages.
This book contains a true and faithful account of my
peregriuations ia North America, and an account of all
I saw and heard which I thought worth rememberiag. I
have, in general, given the true names of the parties
spoken of, and it has been my aim that I should " nothing
extenuate, nor set down aught ia malice."
It will give my countrymen, who are now thinking
about emigrating to that continent, a fair specimen of
what they may expect when they arrive there ; what
prospects are held out to them by both countries, the
United States a:nd Canada ; with a fair specimen also of
the peculiar characteristics of the great bulk of the
inhabitants. I have also attempted a description of some remarkable
scenes; but, as I have no pretensions whatever to any
literary excellence, I am afraid that, in such descriptions,
I have miserably failed ; for I have a very perfect con
viction of the truth of that celebrated apophthegm, that
there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
But I trust to an indulgent pubHc to forgive me if ever I
have overstepped that critical bound. My avocations ia
life have never given me the leisure to cultivate the muses :
I wa* set to work, as soon as I was able to use my fingers.

IV. INTKODUCTION.

in picking wool, or plying the burling ii-ons. I then went
through aU the grades in the manufacturing and finishing
of cloth, and what I have learned has been picked up in
the highways and byeways of Hfe, among the different
nations among whom it has been my loi to have had a
temporary home.
Unlike many of our modern travellers ia America,
such as Buckingham, Marryatt, or Dickens, my whole
experience has been among the middle classes of society —
farmers, mechanics, and merchants ; there was no veil
thrown over their characters ; I saw them, as it were, in
their daily occupation ; for whether they were at my house,
or I was at theirs, they never looked upon me as a
stranger. My occupation of tavern-keeper gave me more
facilities for observation than any other occupation could
have done. Moreover, firom my residence of two years
in the city of Cleveland, and two years ia the city
of Toronto, my impressions had time to mature, and
become fixed, not like those of a transient traveUeri
who, perhaps, in many places, would scarcely stop twenty-
four hours, nor have a longer acquaintance with many
characters he describes ; but travels through the country
at railway speed, ia perhaps two months, ia the best part
of the year, and among a cHque of friends ; and then takes
upon himself to write a description of the country.
At all events, I have taken time before I have penned
aught down ; and though I may not escape criticism and
contradiction in some of the conclusions I have come to,
_yet I give them as a candid man can only give them — and
that is, as he really found and believed them.
; Gentle reader, 1 remain, as in duty bound.
Yours truly,
W. B.
Leeds, January, 1849.

CHAPTER I.
THE VOYAGE.
Commencement of Voyage— Firet Impressions delusive— Death of an Infant— Fear of
the Ship being set on Fire by the carelessness of the Irish Emigrants — Republican
E.xclusiveness — First sight of Land — New Jersey— Sandy Hook— Ihe NaiTows— Bay
of New York — Long Island — Staten Island — Fortifications — American mode of
steering steamers — Noble aspect of the city of New York — Landing— Revulsion of
feelings — New York •* Runners," or shore touterg ; their unprepossessing charac
teristics — Cautions to Passengers — A New York Lodging House — Crowded quarters,
and more guests than bargained for.
In the month of August, 184 — , myself and family took our
passage in the 2nd cabin of the ship Oxford, Capt. Rathbone, from
Liverpool to New York. We were much pleased with the Captain
on shore, and especially so with Mr. Grates, the mate ; but we soon
found, after our baggage was on board, and before we had left the
harbour, that first impressions are not always the most correct ;
for in the sequel, the Captain never spoke a single word to any of
us during the voyage, except to my wife, who had taken charge
of a sick child which its mother had cruelly neglected for so long
a time that it was too late to save its life ; for in spite of all
the efforts my wife and a gentleman passenger (Mr. Peabody),
and the Captain (to give him his due) made, tlie child died a day
or two before we entered the Bay of New York, and was carried
on shore on Staten Island to be buried there. This was the only
death which occurred during our passage, which I consider
remarkable, as we had about 300 Irish on board huddled together
in the steerage. We had a very fair passage of 28 days, and
should have felt pretty comfortable, if it had not been for the
fear of the ship being set on fire by the thoughtless Irish, some of
whom would, through the whole night, stick a candle against the
side of the ship, or against the berths, as they played at cards
and smoked tobacco ; and if there should be any appearance of
the ship's officers, the lighted candle or the pipe was thrust under
the bedstraw, or into any place at hand, and everything was kept
quiet till the officer's back was turned. I do really believe that,
if there had not been one or two steady Englishmen among the
wild Irish, the ship would have been set on fire, and perhaps
hundreds of lives sacrificed. I do not wish to insinuate that it
would have been maliciously fired, but thoughtlessly done by
some of them, in the same way as cotton warehouses are set on
fire in Liverpool. B

Z THE VOYAGE.
The first inquiry every morning, after leaving Cape Clear, was,
When shall we reach the Banks of Newfoundland 1 and after that
was accomplished. When shall we get a pilot from Sandy .Hook 1
But as for the incidents of the passage, it is superfluous to men
tion the dreary routine of life by a landsman in a voyage across
the Atlantic, the monotony of which can only be compared to a
solitary confinement on shore, especially after the first day or
two, when you have learned the history of all your fellow-pas
sengers, and have sounded the depths of their conversational
powers. A person who has read a great deal of American Eepub-
lican manners from the lying publications issued within these last
dozen years, will be much struck by the aristocratic bearing of
the captain and the cabin passengers, especially if they are of
American birth ; in fact, these parties think it most derogatory
to ever speak a word to any one below a cabin-passenger, or even
respond to a well-meant " Good morning" from him. However,
to a man well-trained in this world, it will be no sort of annoy
ance after the first rebuff, but will be more of an amusement ;
setting him to study the character and pretensions of these sorry
specimens of American aristocracy and exclusiveness.
The first land we saw, on a bright Sunday morning, was the
well-wooded shores of the State of New Jersey, a few miles to the
South of the Hook. We had been beating on and off the whole
night, and had thrown up rockets and blue-lights for a pilot j but
in consequence of the thick fog we did not get one before eight
o'clock in the moming. On reaching the Hook, called Sandy
Hook, you could not expect to see anything cheering, as its name
testifies to its barrenness; but still to a landsman, confined to his
dark abode for a month in an' over-crowded ship, it gives an
indescribable pleasure.
On reaching The Narrows, by which the Bay of New York is
divided into two, the country begins to improve, and every tack
the ship makes discloses new beauties; the low wooded shores of
Long Island are on your right hand, and the picturesque hills of
Staten Island on your left. The comfortable looking houses
painted as white as driven snow, with green Venetian blinds, and
verandahs in front, have a most pleasing effect upon the eye.
The fields, also, standing with crops of the stately Indian corn,
the gardens, the churches, the hospital, and public offices also
give a perfect finish in the land side ; while towards the city, or
the Empire City, as the New Yorkers proudly call it, you have
the broad expanse of the lake-like bay, studded with many
islands, some fortified, from which, as you near them, you may
see protruding the grisly cannon's nose, with which the Yankees
believe and boast most vociferously that they could settle the hash
of all Johnny Bull's shipping very speedily, even if commanded

THE VOYAGE.

by the fighting Napier himself. The innumerable craft in the
bay, with their bleached white sails — the ponderous looking
steamers, with the walking engines and large pulpits high on the
decks, where the steersman stands to guide the ship — a better
arrangement than being at the after end of the vessel, where you
cannot see whither you are driving, for by ropes and pulleys the
man can manage the vessel himself without the bawling and shout
ing you hear on the arrival or departure of an English steamer; —
the varieties of strange objects you see in sailing up to New
York almost bewilder the mind of a stranger : to look around
him and see on his right the castellated islands of the bay; on
his left, the noble river Hudson; and fair in front the splendid
looking city of New York, the steeples of numerous churches,
which are glittering in the sun like gold and silver; while not
a cloud of smoke issues from or around any of the high towers.
Indeed, from the appearance, you would think that not a single
pipe of tobacco was being smoked in the whole city. The
wharves extending on both sides as far as the eye can reach, and
the forests of masts lying along them, are a sight which can only
be exceeded in London and Liverpool. The weary traveller,
coming for the first time to this sumptuous looking city, thinks
that really, if a paradise exists in this sublunary world, it is here
to be found; he is in a perfect ecstasy of delight at his prospects.
The vessel he is m approaches the wharves, and a helping-hand
catches the rope, and the vessel is safe moored. Then all these
illusions vanish at once, and the sad reality strikes you with the
more force from the contrast. A gang of 300 or 400 ruffians,
calling themselves runners, jump on board, begin, very much in
the style of plunderers or pirates, seizing hold of the passengers'
baggage, and endeavouring to persuade them to go to some inn
or lodging-house which they represent, and where each avers
accommodation can be had at such and such prices; another
comes and states that the person who has just left you is the
greatest scoundrel living, and that you will certainly be robbed
and perhaps have your throat cut, if you entrust yourself and
baggage into his hands. Then the swearing and fighting of these
runners, the shouts of the passengers, the crying of the women
and children, make as great a confusion as ever was heard at
Babel. I certainly heard more swearing and more horrid oaths
before I had been four hours in that city than I had before heard
in the whole course of my life.
The appearance of these men is the most disgusting possible;
they are without coats, without cravats, with shirt necks flying
open, a large roll of tobacco in each cheek, the juice from which
exuding down the corners of their mouths adds to the unsightli-
ness of their cadaverous aspect. They principally seem of a
B 2

THE VOYAGE.

mongrel breed, half Indian and half Irish. Their physiognomy
has some resemblance to that of the English gypsies. These
men live partly by alluring travellers to the lodging-houses and
grog shops, and receive a York shilling, or 6| per head, and make
up the remainder of their living by stealing trunks from passen
gers, which they call playing at Trunk loo. It is a disgrace
to the police of the city to allow passengers to be pillaged and
robbed by such a race; but there has been no effectual stop put
to their depredations, although every vessel with passengers
suffers by them. In some instances, passengers who have been
robbed will bring some of them up before the authorities; but as
the landlords back them up, and any one for half a dollar will
swear black is white for another, they very generally get off by
these means. There is also the difficulty of strangers identifying
one out of a thousand, whose appearance and resemblance to each
other are so remarkable.
The steerage passengers by our vessel lost about twenty-seven
trunks by these gentry, and some of these trunks contained all
the money they had in the world; and the losers were forced to
sell what odd things they had left for subsistence till they could get
some employment. When passengers are going West they will
find plenty of runners, who promise to take them to their des
tination : their offices are upon the wharves, and they will book
you, and take your money, and give you tickets to any place you
wish to go to; but beware that you pay no money beforehand, as
in thousands of cases the captains of canal-boats will make you
pay over again, saying you have not paid ihem; and they will
seize your trunks till you pay the fare they choose to charge,
which you cannot resist, as the evidence which you can bring is
perhaps 400 or 500 miles off, and you have no option but to pay
the passage over again, or be left without baggage.
During the voyage there was a young Scotch lad aboard, who
had neither provisions nor bed. We took the young' chap into
our service, and he boiled water for us and did other jobs, for
which we gave him some cushions and blankets to lie upon, and
as much meat as he could eat. A relative of this young man
met us in the harbour, and when the boy informed him how we
had behaved to him, he returned us his very best thanks, and
brought a landlord with him whom he introduced to us as having
good accommodation for passengers in South-street; and, as this
person seemed a decent Welshman, we agreed to go to his house
on the terms proposed. In the hurry and labour which we had
in the lifting and carrying of baggage, we were all thoroughly
tired, and we enjoyed our tea with a zest which they only can
know who have earned it as we had done. Our landlord wished
us, as a favour, that we would all sleep in one room, as they had

NEW YORK TO BUFFALO.

not more accommodation at that time vacant. We agreed to it;
but next morning we were in a most woful state; the beds were
full of bugs, which bit some of us severely. We had also a
legacy of great grey lice; and worse than all, the musquitoes sung
all the night, and bit every one of us upon every part which was
exposed. That night was indeed a torment, and thousands of
times we wished the Scotch boy's uncle was doomed to sleep in
the same beds for a month, as a small punishment for his
treachery in recommending us to such a house.

CHAPTER II.
NEW YORK TO BUFFALO.
General appearance of the City of New York ; its beauties and its nuisances — the large
Inns or *' Houses" — ^Albany and its extortion— 'Great Steamers on the Hudson;
feeding time on board — Canal Boat to Buffalo — Mohawk River — Erie Canal; Utica,
Syracuse, Rome, "Montezuma — American Woollen Manufactories — Number of persons
employed during Summer in the Erie Canal traffic; their Winter quarters and
resources — Rochester ; its flour mills, and water power ; its eligibility for English
Settlers — quality of the soil and productions — encroachment of the Canadian 1 liistle —
Gasport; its natural gas works — Lockport — Ton.awanda Creek — Remnant of the
Aborigines; their resemblance to Gypsies — Niagara River — Salt works at Syracuse
and Montezuma.
New York is a most splendid city. Broadway will match with
any street I ever saw out of London, and the public buildings
are equal to any in the world ; as for instance, the Custom House,
Town Hall, Churches, &c. The promenade called the Battery
Gardens, and the Park in front of the Town Hall, are great orna
ments to the city, and a walk in either of these is a great luxury
to thousands in the cool of the evening, seeking health and
recreation. The churches are numerous, and are beautiful struc
tures, seemingly well supported. There are, however, some
drawbacks to all these beauties : there are no common sewers, and
in hot weather the open streets stink most horribly ; in Pearl-
street, ''where merchants most do congregate," there are old
flour barrels standing at certain distances for people to empty
their slops into; and in many places the street is nearly filled
with old packing cases, piled up so that two carriages can scarcely
pass. Then all the old straw and shavings which have been used
in packing different articles being thrown into a street which is
never swept, you may judge the effect of all the effluvia upon
your sensitive olfactory organs.
This has become so insupportable, that almost every merchant
of condition lives out of town ; and though the expense of boating

0 NEW yORK TO BUFFALO.
or bussing comes to a round sum yearly, yet it is far cheaper, if
you value your health, to do so, than to be almost suffocated
daily with such nauseous exhalations as abound in the city. As
they have now got a plentiful supply of beautiful water, it ia
hoped that the authorities will not rest till the town is sewered
and cleansed, and made so that a decent family may reside there.
The inns, called in general "houses," such as the Washington
House, the Franklin House, the Astor House, &c., are all magni
ficent concerns. Some of these houses can accommodate 500
persons for the night, and dine 1500 or 2000 a day; the charges
are very moderate, except for sherry, for which in some places
they charge three or four dollars per bottle : this is one of the
most expensive luxuries which the Yorkers indulge in; this wine,
and canvas-backed ducks from the Chesapeake, and Tirrapin
soup, form the ne plus idtra of an American supper.
We left New York, after a stay of a few days, in one of the
large steam boats for Albany, which is situated about 170 miles
up the river, the fare for each passenger, baggage included, being
one quarter of a dollar. On our arrival, however, at that place,
they surcharged me seven dollars for extra weight, although we
had fairly agreed at New York that one quarter dollar was to
clear each passenger and his luggage. This was the first direct
robbery we experienced; there was no help for it, so we paid the
money, and, while some of us stood sentry over the baggage, —
which was absolutely necessary, as the runners, in addition to all
the qualifications of their brethren of New York, had assumed
the ferocity of Indian savages, without, however, one particle of
their honour, — one of our party went out to find a line-boat to
go on the canal to Buffalo; and after plenty of chaffing, we
bargained for our passage to that place.
The steam-boats plying upon the Hudson are the largest in the
world, being 330 feet long, of three decks, or, as from the form
of their construction they may be described, three stories high.
There is only one scale of charge for passage, and the meals are
spread in an immense saloon, and partaken of by all who choose
to pay. The sight of a mieal as set out upon one of these boats
is worth seeing. I had never beheld so large a company, nor a
table set out in so superb a style, in any steamer before, as the
first supper I took upon the " Empire" steamer; but this enter
tainment was very transient. I should think that after the supper
had commenced, not five minutes had elapsed before one half of the
guests had " got fed," and were leaving their seats. We, however,
were not in so great a hurry, and we stopped till there were none
left but ourselves and a few men, " old country" folks, and the
table was nearly cleared to make ready for another set. We soon
found out that, when you sit down to a meal in America at a

NEW YORK TO BUFFALO. 7
public table, you must proceed to business instanter if you intend
to have any dinner, and never open your mouth except to admit
your victuals : scarce a word is spoken, every one falls to upon
what is before or near him, cuts for himself, asks no one else to
join, but goes a-head at once and minds nobody's business but
his own. All sorts of meat, beef, pork, pickles, apple sauce,
butter, cheese, potatoes, tomatoes, and pudding, are all on their
plates at once ; and when they arise from table there is perhaps
twice as much left on each plate as each guest has eaten during
the meal. No changing of plates takes place during the meals;
all is put on the table at once, and no quarter is given or
expected. The passage money we agreed to pay from Albany to Buffalo,
on the canal, 364 miles, was one cent or a halfpenny per mile,
board included. The boats are beautifully fitted up, and are as
convenient as is possible in such small vessels; the berths for
sleeping are fixed in the cabins, and are like shelves in a library;
there is one cabin exclusively used by ladies ; each person .has a
small berth, and the travelling is at the rate of sixty miles per
day. There are three good meals provided for you, and, by
taking walks along the banks at certain times, it is altogether as
pleasant travelling as any person not in a hurry could wish.
The Erie canal sweeps along the banks of tbe Mohawk river,
which is classic ground for the Dutch, these regions being first
settled by that people. The Mohawk is a very broad channel,
but being then after a very droughty summer, there was scarcely
any water at all; but, as I was informed, in a few months the
banks would be filled, and there would be no appearance of
scarcity of water. The Falls of this river are celebrated all over
the Continent as being perhaps the noblest in the States; cer
tainly the banks of the river, the rush of the water, the many
mills and manufactories about its streams, may give it a preference
in some people's eyes; but after one has seen the Genessee Falls
and the tremendous Palls of Niagara, all other water-falls in the
world sink into insignificance. Upon the banks of the celebrated
Erie canal, many large, populous, and flourishing cities have been
built since its opening; — Utica, with about 10,000 or 12,000
souls; Syracuse, Kome, Montezuma, &c., &c., of a less magnitude,
all built upon this canal, and looking so like one another that
one description will suffice for all.
The wharves on the canal are flanked with high and large
warehouses, upon many of which are painted in letters as large
as a man, " Cash fob Wheat." Whether such a commodity
would be come-at-able in those places I am not fully informed ;
but if we may judge from the tattle of passengers, it is not many
of the proprietors of these large warehouses that can raise as

8 NEW YORK TO BUFFALO,
much money as will pay their postage accounts; and some letters
were now lying in the office before us which had been imprisoned
in the hands of the postmaster for more than two months, and
would be kept there till the money was raised in coin to pay the
postage. There are a few woollen manufactures also, upon and near the
canal; at Little Falls there are two, the buildings of which really
look very imposing. I entered into both of them, and though
the workmen were at their meals away from the factory, yet I
saw enough to convince me that the manufacturers of England
need have no fear of being eclipsed by the go-a-head Yankees.
They have no patience to make cloth in a regular way; they
have no time to clean the wool, or moat; and as for burling the
cloth, they never think of it; — •" any how" will do, so that it is
quickly out of hand; the dyeing the same. Their machinery is
also far behind ours in size and construction. In fact, everything
aimed at in every one I have been in, both here and elsewhere,
was despatch ! despatch ! every other consideration was absorbed
in tliese words. I have been confirmed in these remarks by
many inspections of American manufactories since examined.
The Erie canal, extending from Albany to Buffalo, is a magnifi
cent work; it was completed in about eight years; it is 364 miles
long ; there is ample room for boats passing one another in any
part of it, and the depth is about seven feet : the locks are equal
to any we have in England, and all double. I asked one of the
lock-keepers how many boats they could lock in one day, and he
replied, that the day before I was there, there had 187 passed
through. The boats are of three sorts; the most common are
called scows, and are built flat-bottomed ; they have generally .1
stable on board to hold three or four horses, and take their horses
along with them. The line boats come next : these boats belong
to different forwarding companies, and have relays of horses at
every place they stop at ; they have accommodation for passen
gers, being all fitted up in a neat and comfortable manner ; the
captain of each boat has what profit he can make of his passengers,
of whioh the owners take no account. The next are boats of a
larger build, and can carry about eighty or ninety tons ; they
are well built, and secured from being plundered, and trade
regularly from one port to another. They belong more to private
merchants than to public companies. There are also a few fly
boats which travel at a greater speed than any of the other. The
scows travel about forty miles per day, the line boats and the
barges sixty, and the fly boats about eighty.
The number of boats in work every year is estimated at 5,000.
It takes four men to man each boat, which will amount to 20,000
men; one woman to each will amount to 6,000, and one boy

NEW YORK TO BUFFALO. 9
driver, making altogether 30,000 people employed on this canal,
and at least 10,000 horses : then there are the lock-keepers, book
keepers, warehousemen, and hangers about, which help to swell
the numbers actually employed for about seven months in the
year to about 35,000. The men employed have, therefore, work
for seven months, and the five months remaining are spent by
them in boarding-houses. Some of them, however, will get work
at chopping wood in winter, and some in threshing and other
farm work ; but the great majority do nothing whatever during
that time, living upon their summers wages, upon the proceeds
of sundry trunks which travellers occasionally lose sight of, and
finish the vacation on the credit system. One great annoyance
on this canal is the number of very low bridges you have to go
under, when, if you are upon deck, you are obliged to lay your ¦¦
self flat down while you pass through, and many accidents happen
to strangers before they understand the shout of the steersman,
" Low Bridge."
Rochester is a city of the third magnitude, in America; it is
situated upon the Erie Canal and the Genessee River, about two
miles from its mouth upon Lake Ontario; and here steamers
arrive continually from various parts of the Lake, not only from
the ports belonging to the Union, but also from Canada. The
city contains about 28,000 souls. This city is famed for the falls
of the waters of the whole river Genessee taking place here, of
which the inhabitants are taking the utmost advantage, in turning
the stream to manufacturing purposes; The flour mills are here
on the most extensive scale of any in the Union, and the con
struction is superior to any in the world. I counted from twelve
to fourteen mills, all in operation, some of which had a comple
ment of ten run of stones, and each pair capable of turning off
from twelve to fourteen bushels of wheat per hour. Every opera
tion in these mills is more like clock-work than anything else;
very few hands are employed, everything is done by the water;
the grain is hoisted up by power, carried to the smut mill, then
to the hoppers, then to the stones, and from the stones to the
cooling frames, and so on to the dressing or bolting mills, which
latter are here preferred to the dressing miUs of the old
country; from the dressing mills it is shot into barrels, which
when filled and weighed are immediately " ended up," branded,
and ready for market. It is really pleasing to see such order and
regularity in any manufactory ; it is here done without bustle or
hurry, and so clean and perfect, that the Rochester brand for
flour stands pre-eminent in the markets of the whole world.
The river, coming down from the high lands towards the city,
is channelled off in portions through the town, as well as a
great part into the canal basin. These goits are carried direct

10 NEW XORK TO BUFFALO.
to the mills, which are generally situated upon the banks of the
river below the falls, and if you stand upon the bridge, you will
see the water shooting out from scores of water-wheels in a sheet
of white foam, making a clear jump of perhaps 200 feet perpen
dicular height into the channel below. Of course, this immense
fall in the tail goit is at present lost, but in the course of a few
years this spare force will be economised and brought into use,
by mechanical contrivances, in which the Yankees are as much
gifted as any nation in the world. There are also two or three
woollen factories established here, which make cloth suitable for
the wear of the farmers in the neighbourhood, as well as a large
quantity sent to Canada and worn there. There are also card
makers, machine makers on a large scale, as well as steam engine
makers, steam boat builders, and locomotive engine manufactu
rers. Furniture, carriage, chair, and sash factories are in abun
dance; in fact, almost every craft which requires power is carried
on here in very great perfection. The markets are well supplied
with animal and vegetable provender in the greatest abundance,
and the apples of Rochester are without exception the finest I had
ever seen in my various travels through the kingdoms of Europe: —
they are much superior to those brought to Liverpool from New
York, and which are grown upon Long Island, and are called
New Town Pippins, both in size and flavour, and are so cheap
that you may buy a bushel for one English shilling. Rochester
I consider the best city in the union for an Englishman desirous
of settling in the States, as from its contiguity to the lake, and
from its immense traffic by the canal and on the railway, it will
always command a good trade, and a great portion of the English
from Canada West pass through on their journeys to and from the
Mother Country, almost -every day.
In travelling by canal a stranger very naturally enquires of
every one he sees, where the good land is, as what he sees from
the banks is the most wretched specimen he ever saw. The
answer invariably is " As you go west you will see good land,"
and west you may go till you come to the antipodes before you
can see any considerable tract of land which an Englishman
would consider Good Land. I made enquiries respecting the
produce per acre of wheat, and I found that around Rochester
ten or twelve bushels per acre was about the average ; but there
is no other place upon this canal where the average will stand as
high. In Indian corn thirty to forty bushels are produced, and
oats and , barley may be reckoned about half as much more as
wheatj In fruit and garden stuff they reap abundant crops,
especially fruit. The gardens, if cultivated as English gardens
are, would be as prolific as any in the world ; but there are no
pains taken here in them ; the plough is generally used instead

NEW YORK TO BUFFALO. 11
of the spade, and every other operation is done in a very rude
and primitive style. In many fields on the banks of the canal,
the white Mexican bean is grown, but we were a day or two before
we could find out what was growing, from the immense quantity
of weeds, which you may safely average at a hundred stalks, as high
again, to every plant of the beans. You had therefore to clear
away the weeds to come at the crop ; these weeds also infest the
wheat and other grain crops, and were it not for the Yankee
invention of the smut mill to clear the grain from weed seeds,
the flour would not be useable for human food. This machine,
however, does its work perfectly, and when the grain has under
gone the operation and is ground into flour, it is equal if not
superior to any produced in the world.
There are also large tracts employed in the cultivation of broom
corn, the bushy straw of which is required in large quantities
for brushes and brooms, and most beautiful articles are made from
it for domestic purposes, and nothing can exceed their utility for
either Sweeping the floor or brushing the clothes. Most of the
prisoners confined in the prisons, if not fit for any other occupa
tions, are taught to make these articles, and by the produce not
only earn their own living, but, having a strict account taken of
their work, are enabled on leaving prison to draw a considerable
sum of money to start them off west, and set them up in some
honest calling, which gives them an opportunity of redeeming
their characters and of becoming good citizens. Large quan
tities also of chicory are produced, which the land seems
particularly well adapted for ; as well as beets, cucumbers, pump
kins, squashes, and melons in endless varieties. Some of these
latter plants attain an enormous size, especially the large melon
squash, the fruit of which I have measured and found to be from
six to seven feet in circumference, and to weigh from 150 to 170
lbs. A smaller sort nearly resembles in colour and conformation
oranges, lemons, and other fruits. These look really beautiful,
climbing up the verandah in front of a neat frame cottage; and
though they are worthless as human food, yet you cannot help
being reminded by them of the enchanted gardens of the
Hesperides. A very great drawback upon most of the farms in the western
part of New York is the progress of the Canadian thistle. This
is fearfully encroaching, and infests the land for hundreds of
miles; it proceeds at the rate of two or three miles a year, and
when this blast comes upon a farm, it is all over for growing
wheat or almost any other crop ; the land becomes almost worth
less, and can only be beneficially employed in growing Timothy
grass or in pasturage. The evil is of such a magnitude, that it is
impossible for the farmers to contend with it, and in consequence

12 NEW YORK TO BUFFALO.
they give up the struggle in despair, and by this means fearfully
increase the calamity. Although this weed is called the Canadian
thistle, yet, during my residence in Canada, I scarcely ever saw
it in large quantities; but in New York State it is rapidly extend
ing itself, and it is to be feared that before long the whole of the
Eastern States will be desolated by it, and there is as yet no
remedy found against its ravages.
The city of Rochester contains many well built streets, generally
of brick, elegant shops, and churches ; the aqueduct of the Erie
canal is a splendid and magnificent structure, the engineering
works of whioh are equal to anything I ever saw. Indeed, accord
ing to my opinion, this city is the best specimen of the go-a-head
principle that can be found upon the face of the earth.
We also pass through the town of Gasport, so called from a
spring of Hydrogen gas which bubbles up in the middle of the
canal, and where a rude gasometer is placed, which supplies a
considerable quantity of light to various parts of the town. The
gas burns exactly the same as that made in our gas factories, and
if properly attended to, and the works enlarged, it is thought
there is a sufficient supply for a large city. The town of
Lockport, as its name testifies, is noted for its numerous locks.
I think about eighteen are here clustered together as near as
possible to be worked conveniently, the workmanship of which is
equal to anything of the kind in England. The banks of the
canal in this place are of solid rock, in some places very deep and
of a width corresponding to the general breadth of the canal.
From this place nothing particular is to be seen till you come to
Tonawanda Creek, where a remnant of the children of the forest
still lingers. They are in appearance and physiognomy very
much like the gipsies of Europe, and their habits of life are also
something analogous to that remarkable people.
On approaching Buffalo, the canal runs along the banks of the
Niagara river for about eight miles. This river is here about
four miles broad, a clear limpid stream, flowing at the rate of
three or four miles per hour, and it exhibits none of the terrible
symptoms it acquires a little further down among the rapids,
before it takes its final leap down the astonishing cataract at the
jnighty falls.
I omitted to mention the immense salt works you pass
through on the banks of this canal at Syracuse and at Mon
tezuma : thousands of acres are covered with sheds for evapo
rating the brine; but this region is no place for an Englishman
to live in, being very swampy, and the air of an evening
so filled with mosquitoes, that we were glad to exchange the
open air on deck for the close confinement of the cabin, and stop
up every cranny in the doors and windows to keep out these

BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 13
terrible annoyances. Let no Englishman attempt to settle in
these regions, unless his skin is as impervious as the shield of
Achilles, and his constitution is proof against the fever-ague.
The towers of the city "of Buffalo meet your eye on passing
Tonawanda Creek ; yet the dreariness of the landscape is not at
all improved. The woods, however, of Canada on the opposite
side of the river give evidence of a vigorous soil there ; but from
the sandy nature of the land under your immediate eye you would
almost pronounce five or six acres to be insufficient for the sum
mer feeding of a pair of tame geese.

CHAPTER III.
BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND.
Situation and advantages of Butf.ilo— Great passenger traffic — Singular origin of Buffalo ;
Rathbone's successful forgeries ; his punishment and popular honours — ^Blanket
manufacture — the Seneca Indians ; their settled and prosperous life ; picturesque
costume of their squaws — A Batfj^lo Hotel — ^Elfacts of Tobacco-chewing — Climate —
a Court of Justice — Public buildings — Illegal games— Effects of N.E. winds on the
water in the harbour and canal — Chanticleer — Cock-fighting — Abundance and cheap
ness of provisions — Departure on Lake Erie — Barcelona — City of Erie — Desolate
aspect of the landscape — Connaught ; its tobacco growth aud trade — Fairport—
Cleveland, the •' Queen ofthe Lakes."
Buffalo, situated at the foot of Lake Erie, in the north-west
part of the State of New York, is a well-built city, arid contains
35,000 inhabitants. It has all been built within the last
thirty-six years, and owes its prosperity to its favourable situa
tion, and its harbour, which is capable of containing 1000 sail of
vessels of all descriptions. About one hundred steamers enter
and depart daily, and the docks are as well thronged with ware
houses, merchandise, drays, and labourers, as those of any port or
city in America. It is the great entrepdt of the produoe of the
western parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinnois, Michigan,
and Wisconsin, besides a great traffic to Canada and Lake
Superior. Main street in Buffalo is the finest of any out of New
York, and the inns are as large and as numerous as in any city
of the world, the influx of travellers brought to this city by
the canals, railway, stages, and private waggons every day being
enormous; indeed, it is calculated that for seven months in the
year at least five thousand persons pass through on their way to
the west every day. These, with the few returning, and the mer
chants from Canada and from the interior of the country, always
give the city a business-like appearance, something resembling
New York or Philadelphia.

14 BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND.
There is a remarkable circumstance connected with the growth
of this place. One of the first houses built as a tavern here was
by a man called Rathbone, who conceived the notion of building
a large city, where at that time was only a .miserable village.
He, accordingly, commenced his speculations, and actually built
thousands of houses, warehouses, shops, markets, churches, and
wharves, with the aid of forged bank bills purporting to be from
all parts of the union. Millions of dollars were manufactured
by him and his colleagues, and the work went bravely on for
twelve or fourteen years, till the magnificent city was brought to
its present glory, when at last the fraud was discovered, and
such an exposure of villany and rascality was brought to light as
was never witnessed before in either this or in any other country.
Rathbone was tried for the offences, found guilty, and sentenced
to confinement in the State's prison for five years. All the
interest that could possibly be brought to bear was exerted to get
a mitigation of his sentence, but the case being so notorious
and of such a magnitude, he was forced to stop his time out ;
and when he was liberated, the whole town turned out en masse,
accompanied with music, flags, and banners, to welcome him
home again; and not only this, but every workman in the city
contributed one day's wages, every merchant, professional man,
shopkeeper, and tradesman, contributed one day's profit, towards
starting him again in business.
In the neighbourhood of Buffalo is a manufactory of blankets
where the best Markinaw blankets are made. It is near the road
to the village of the Seneca Indians, who have some good farms,
where for a considerable time they have cultivated the arts of
peace; and their farms, buildings, carriages, and horses are as
beautiful and as well managed as those of their neighbours, the
pale faces.
I had many conversations with some of this nation, whom I
found very communicative, and very gentlemanly in their
behaviour. They generally bring their squaws with them, who
being very smartly decked out with men's hats bound with gold
or silver lace, large cloaks (or blankets as they call them) edged
with spangles, beautiful mocassins adorned with small beads in
the forms of flowers, look very pretty in their picturesque
costume. The price of entertainment at Huff's hotel for board and
lodging is one dollar a day, and the tables are plenteously sup
plied three times a day with all the substantials and many of the
luxuries of life. The ladies generally sit up stairs, and the men
in the large bar room smoking, drinking, or chewing tobacco.
This latter habit is almost universal among all classes of native
Americans, which they carry to a great excess : some will consume

BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 15
daily three or four papers, each paper weighing about one ounce.
This, I think, it is which gives all such chewers that cadaverous
appearance for which they are so remarkable; there is nothing
in the climate, which is not so greatly different from our o^vn,
to give it; the heat for about a week in July may be hotter, and
the cold in January for the same time may he more intense; but
after this, the climate is much the same as in England.
I went into the Court House in Buffalo during the sessions,
and was much struck by the proceedings. There were three
judges upon the bench (a president and two assistants.) A most
infernal looking scoundrel was upon his trial for a robbery, and
the counsel for the defence always alluded to his client as the
"gentleman" at the bar. The counsel wore neither wigs nor
gowns, and, as well as the judges, being dressed in plain clothes,
it was to my thinking more like a town's meeting at our Leeds
Court House, than anything I could liken it to. The barristers
all chewed tobacco, just as unceremoniously as the spectators,
and were sat with their heels upon the backs of the nearest
chairs, squirting out the tobacco juice upon the floor, which was
almost covered in all vacant places with the unseemly expec
torations. There is here a beautiful lighthouse to guide vessels into the
harbour; a custom house and theatre; and the town is abundantly
supplied with " ball alleys," where resort hundreds of blacklegs
from noon to midnight, ready to pick the pocket of any unfortu
nate green-un who should ignorantly stray into one of these dens
of infamy. The game played here was formerly called nine
pins, and had become so notorious that the legislature, by a
special act, put them down under fine and imprisonment; but
Yankee ingenuity was too much for the lawmakers, as they
immediately put up another pin, and called it ten pins, and con
tinue to this day to practise it in the various cities of the union,
in all its inglorious ramifications and degrading influences.
The prevalence of strong north easterly winds has the effect of
drivinor out all the waters from the basin of the canal in Buffalo,
and from the harbour, so that the canal from the lock of Tona
wanda to Buffalo is at those times quite drained of water. We
were taken, about one mile from Buffalo, by this circumstance, in
the middle of the night, and had to stop where we were till the
next morning, when a coach took us on to the city.
About four o'clock in the morning we were awoke by the crow
ing of innumerable cocks, or, as they are here called, roosters;
the whole welkin resounded with their "most sweet voices."
There must have been many hundreds within about half-a-mile
of us, and I could not imagine how, in such a place, so desolate
and forlorn in appearance as the country seemed to be, for what

16 BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND,
purpose so great a number of these fowls should be kept. There
are certainly many log cabins in the swamps and marshes, and
upon small plots of ground between Black Rock Mills and
Buffalo, but no farms, barns, or stabling could be seen. On
inquiry, however, we learned that Buffalo is famed for its breed
of game cocks, and the amusement of cock-fighting is carried on
there to a great extent, which afterwards I found from ocular
demonstration to be the fact. I had been in good hopes that this
barbarous and demoralizing practice had not been transplanted
into this new country; but there it is in great force, with all its
demoralizing effects.
The markets at Buffalo are well supplied with fish, flesh, and
fowl. The price of a quarter of lamb, weighing about 5 lbs. was
25 cents, or Is. sterling, and every other article was in the same
ratio. Before leaving we provided ourselves with everything
requisite for our voyage up the lake, as we took the second
berths, and cooked and found our own provisions. There are
ahvaj's four or five steam vessels that ply every day for the
different ports upon lake Erie, but all vessels going beyond Cleve
land are compelled by law to call there, which is rather more
than half the length of the lake, viz., 190 miles. The first stop
page is at a village, or rather, as the Yankees call it, a city, called
Barcelona, where there is a good landing place and a lighthouse,
which is supplied with gas from a spring of carburetted hydrogen
found contiguous. The next is the city of Erie, in Pennsylvania,
with a noble bay in front of the town, but unfortunately too
shallow for the largest class of steamers. However, the town is
well built upon the high level land, the principal houses being
built in a handsome square. The Reed House is a splendid
hotel, and capable of entertaining three or four hundred guests;
and a good house kept by old uncle Dominick Brown is as good
a house as is kept in all America for comfortable accom
modation, good fare, and reasonable charges. There is also
in this city a handsome marble building, with Corinthian
portico, built for a branch of the United States bank, but then
unoccupied; and the mahogany doors being left quite open, any
one had an opportunity to walk in and look around, nobody even
in care of it.
In all cases, after you leave the older settlements, you come
upon the clearings, with the primeval forest at the distance of
perhaps a quarter of a mile on each hand. The black stumps
are standing in the fields, 200 or 300 to the acre, and the ever
lasting snake fences are made use of. All this, with thousands of
partly decomposed trees lying about in all directions, impresses
the mind with a consciousness of desolation. To one of the
initiated it is a pleasant clearing; the more naked the landscape

BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND. 17
is, the more it pleases the eye of an American; but to an old-
country man it looks, as I have described it, more like a valley of
desolation than a smiling vineyard.
Connaught is a place wholly supported by the growing of
tobacco, and manufacturing it for smoking, chewing, and cigars.
The whole population is engaged in this business. The method
of disposing of their produce is as follows : — When they have got
a sufficient quantity manufactured to fill an immense waggon, a
young man starts upon his journey to dispose of the stock; he
has a span of horses in the waggon, and every village he stops at
he is ready for business, either to sell or barter (mostly the latter).
He never pays a tavern bill in anything but either cigars or
tobacco, or some commodity he has sbtained for it, and in this
manner he will travel 1000 miles, or till he has quite exhausted
his stock, and is too far from the upper ports, where he can have
another supply from home. His journeys will take up about
three months each, and he will make three journeys a year.
Anything which he has is for sale; his waggon, horses, goods,
watch, and even the coat upon his back; or his favourite knife,
the solace and amusement of many an hour in whittling, is also
at the service of a stranger who will give a quid pro quo. During
his journey he will have turned over everything he had, perhaps
three or four times, and he sometimes brings home a cargo of
pork, apples, Indian corn, wheat, flour, or cheese, or, indeed, any
thing which can in any way be made serviceable for either use or
sale. Fairport is another place similar to the above, with a landing
place, large stock of fire wood for the use of the steamers, and a
well-built lighthouse. A trip upon this lake in fine weather ia
equal in interest and scenery to anything seen in America. The
lake, in some places seventy miles broad, at some places only about
fifteen, the banks nearly all about 200 feet at least high, the
clearings seen distinctly from the decks of the vessels, the light
houses on the banks at each landing place, the noble timber, tho
pleasant looking valleys, all combine to raise the interest which a
stranger cannot fail to experience as to the future prosperity of
this great state (Ohio). In about eighteen hours from leaving
Buffalo you arrive at Cleveland, the " Queen of the Lakes," as the
inhabitants delight to call it; and a fairer or more beautiful city
never stood upon God's ground.

lo CLEVELAND.
CHAPTER IV.
CLEVELAND.
Plan and general character of the city — Churches and public buildings — ^Brilliancy of
American skies — Clearness of the Atmosphere — Rapid evaporation of rain — An old-
country sportsman's disappointment — Scarcity of game — Bear bunting — Flights of
pigeons — Deer stalking — Joe Adams.
Cleveland is elevated about 200 feet from the harbour, in a
dry sandy soil, and contains about 8000 inhabitants; there is
also the city of Ohio on the other or western side of the river,
which, however, may be reckoned only as a suburb to it; the
latter contains, perhaps, 1500 inhabitants, and there are many
very handsome buildings which have never been occupied, and
which are now going rapidly to' ruin, as the tide of speculation
has left the place and travelled furthef west. The streets in
Cleveland are called after the different lakes, as Erie Street,
Ontario Street, St. Clair Street, Huron Street, and Superior
Street. The houses in the great business street, as well as in
many others, are built of brick in a very handsome and sub
stantial manner; the shops are well supplied with merchandise;
the churches, of which there are six, are all beautiful structures.
The English church in St. Clair Street, though built of wood, is
a neat gothic building, handsomely pewed and carpeted, with a
good organ in the loft, and a full choir of singers. The Rev. Mr.
Berry is the incumbent, and to his unwearied zeal and fervent
devotion this church is indebted for its present pre-eminence over
all the other churches in the city. The Baptists come next in
respectability; the Methodists in two sects, the Congregational,
one other church, and a small Jews' synagogue. The handsome
Court House stands in a large square of beautiful houses, and the
market house and jail are situated near the same locality. The
streets are all laid out parallel to each other, and to the lake,
crossed at intervals of about 200 yards by others; they are laid
out to be about three miles long, but are not built upon, even
partially, more than perhaps a mile. Upon the wharves there are
a great many large warehouses, where " cash for Avheat" stands
conspicuously upon many a building. In the city there were
only seven houses licensed for the sale of spirituous liquors, yet
there were many which would in England be called Tom and
Jerries; and boarding-houses innumerable.
On my first arrival in America, I was much struck with the
extreme brilliancy of the sky; not a cloud was to be seen from
day to day, and, even if it rained ever so hard, only a white mist
appeared; no such thing as a black cloud was ever seen; objects
were distinctly visible at a great distance. At first I thought,
from a slight painful effect upon my eyes, that something was

CLEVELAND. 19
the matter with them; but as this immediately subsided as soon
as I was in the house, I was soon convinced .that it was owing
to the intensity of the light, which in broad day light is many
degrees more brilliant than in the northern latitude of England.
If a person be sufficiently elevated, he may see with the naked eye
an immense distance. I have stood upon the southern bank of
lake Erie at the going-away of the snow, and distinctly seen the
opposite shore of Canada, with its woods, houses, and partial
clearings, although the nearest distance (directly opposite) was
not less than seventy miles. After a thunder shower in summer,
and even after rain at any time of the year, the rapid evapora
tion of the moisture from the warm sandy earth or road raises
a white steam or mist, and the ground actually smokes like a
boiling cauldron till the whole moisture is evaporated, and in a
few hours all is clear and bright again, as if no rain at all had
fallen. I kave many times smiled at a newly arrived emigrant, a
morning or two after his arrival, turning out with his gun on his
shoulder for the woods, to shoot. As the bush in general ap
proaches, almost always in some parts, to within a mile of the
western cities, he enters the first he comes to and looks about
him for something upon which to waste his powder and shot; he
sees, however, not a living creature, unless perhaps a chitmonk,
a small animal something resembling a squirrel, but only about
the size of a mole. This he does not notice, but marches along
perhaps for miles and hours, and still sees nothing at all;
not a bird can be seen among the trees, and not a sound can be
heard, but perhaps the " woodpecker tapping the hollow beech
tree." This he may hear, and he will, (till he knows better)
think that this sound comes from a couple of workmen hammer
ing away at an empty cask. He very likely will not see another
feathered fowl, unless he comes to a clearing and sees some round
the barn door. For anything like game in the northern parts of
Ohio there is none, except a few black squirrels; although I once
saw a covey of partridges, which perch upon trees; and there are
also a few of what are called pheasants, but they are so scarce that
a man does not see one perhaps once in a- year. Wild swans are
also sometimes heard of.
Sometimes in winter a bear strays down from the wilds of
Michigan, after the time of recovering from the dormant state in
which nature places them every winter, and finding himself
hungry, and nothing to eat in those uncultivated regions, he
wanders to the settlements, and then lives upon anything left in
the fields, and now and then a young pig; but these bears will
not attack a man unless he is the first aggressor. When a visi
tation of the bears happens in Ohio, all the sportsmen in the
c 2

20 CLEVELAND.
locality assemble to hunt them, and guns, dogs, and horses are
in great requisition. They are generally found in the cany
brakes, bordering the rivers, which are impassable in summer,
but in winter are frozen hard enough to bear anything. These
swamps also produce cedar, cypress, and willows, and the canes
or reeds are sometimes ten or fifteen feet long.
The party of sportsmen begin at one end of these flats, and
traversing the whole ground are sure of finding bruin, if he is
there, and bring him home in triumph. His skin will sell for
from six to ten dollars, and his flesh from one to two shillings a
pound. About the middle of May the pigeons begin to come from the
roosting or breeding places in Alabama or Tenessee, in such quan
tities as would stagger belief. They arrive in flocks of from
three hundred yards to three miles broad, flying in nearly a
straight line, and about twenty deep ; and flock succeeds flock so
fast, that a person having only a single-barrelled gun cannot load
his gun after he has fired before another flock passes over his
head. They generally fly about nine feet above the tops of the
trees or buildings, and many boys go upon the house-tops with
sticks and stones to have a fling at them in .passing over. The
first day I saw these immense flocks I shouldered my old gun
and started to the edge of the forest, to catch them as they came
flying over, and I fired nearly all my powder away but killed
very few. At last an old farmer came by, and having asked me
how I had sped, he asked to look at my shot, and when he saw I
had been using partridge shot, he told me that it was almost an
impossibility to kill pigeons with such small shot; but, says he,
"if you want to kill, get some No. 3 shot, and leave the forest,
where the lowest tree you see is above 200 feet high, and go to
the shore up the lake, or into some second growth of trees, or into
a large clearing, where you will then have a chance of reaching
them; but you will never succeed here." I took his advice, and
every morning after, at eight o'clock, found me in a plantation of
chestnuts, where I had plenty of sport; but after killing about
two dozen, I left, to have them cooked for the passengers and
boarders' dinner. This sport continued for above a month; from
eight o'clock in the morning to twelve o'clock at noon, there was
no slackening of the streams of birds ; from twelve till about four
they ceased; then they began coming again as numerous as ever
till dark. In the night millions were always found roosting in
the woods, especially in the beech groves, as they are very fond of
eating the beech nuts, or mast, as it is called; but their ulti
mate destination is to the banks of Lake Superior, to the millions
of acres of swampy land covered with wild rice. In what way
they find their road to their original breeding places I never

CLEVELAND. 21
could learn; but this I know, that the stream of migration with
man and animals is always to the west, and that not one for every
hundred ever comes back the same way they went, if they come
back at all.
There is a tract of country covered with timber, about fifteen
miles square, in Ohio, which is completely occupied by the pigeons
in the breeding season, the nests in which are so numerous, that
large branches are every moment broken off by the weight, whioh
endangers any luckless wight who ventures among them; but
there are hundreds of hogs feeding upon the young swabs, ejected
from the nests by either this or by any other accident. Pic-nic
parties, of fifty or sixty, take beds and bedding, cooking stoves,
and waggons for tents, and pitching near the borders of the
pigeonry, enjoy themselves in shooting, cooking, dancing, and
other diversions, sometimes for a fortnight together; and a
Yankee who has oncfe been at one of these parties is always
anxious to join again in such a pleasing and exciting entertain
ment and relaxation.
Also, in winter, a few deer stray down among the settlements,
and this calls out the hardy sportsman ahunting, who generally
takes two or three dogs which are trained to the sport, and,
getting upon the track, pursues them for days together. His
practised eye can discover the time that has elapsed since the
animals passed, by .the unerring marks he finds in the snow and
in their resting places, and away he goes, following his hounds
perhaps for hundreds of miles, till at last he hears that the dogs
have sight of the game. He then places himself in a position
to intercept the animals in their flight, and his ever ready rifle is
sure to bring a prize down. All his toils are now forgotten, and
he very seriously commences, after he has secured this, to look
after the others, of which he knows the number, and is never
satisfied till he has captured the whole herd. Let it be observed
that it is only the strongest men and the lightest of foot that can
bear the fatigues of deer hunting ; but a few such are to be found
in every locality out west, who for indomitable courage, love of
the excitement, and the eclat which attaches to the reputation of
being the best sportsman, will far outdo' an Indian in exertion,
and bear perhaps twice as much fatigue as could even Tecumseh
himself. Such a man is my worthy friend, Joe Adams, the lawyer of
Cleveland, who is the very personification of bodily strength and
manly vigour, standing about six feet high, slim built, and not
weighing more than 175 or 180 lbs., well practised in walking
and running. He is, as his neighbours say, a " caution," and:
whether he takes a suit in hand in the court of justice, or in the
wilds of the forest, he will not be satisfied unless he comes off
conqueror.

22 AMERICAN HABITS.
The hares, or rather rabbits, for these animals may pass.
for either, are not much in repute ; they are very like, in
appearance, to English hares, but they burrow in holes under the
roots of trees, and their flesh has a dry earthy taste, and is not
worth the trouble of cooking.
Black squirrels are, however, a general favorite at table : they
are cooked many ways, but stewed to breakfast is the mode which
gives the most satisfaction ; they very much resemble in flavour a
good fat English rabbit ; when dressed they weigh about one
pound each ; they also make an excellent pie.

CHAPTER V.
AMERICAN HABITS.
Comumnity of Shakei-s — the Tunkers — the Harmonists — the Mormons — the Methodists — ¦
Frequency of Fires ,in America ; Incendiarism — Quack Medicines — Quack Doctors —
Regular Practitioners — Prevalent Diseases — Cause of Liver Complaint — College of
Oherlin — Teetotal College at Berea.
The different religious sects are more multifarious in America
than in any other part of the world, and the iiames they take are
generally significant enough of their faith, such as the Shakers,
the Tunkers, the Harmonists, &c.
The Shakers have a settlement of about 1500 acres at Warrens-
ville, near Cleveland, which is in a prosperous and flourishing
condition. The men live separate from the women about a
quarter of a mile. The men's houses are painted dark red, and
the women's white. They never meet together except in their
Meeting Houses on Sundays, where their peculiar mode of worship
attracts many strangers. The mummeries which they practise,
however, would disgust most Christian men. In their dress and
dealings they are something like the old Quakers in England;
their integrity is unquestioned, and their farms are the best
managed of any within 100 miles of them. Their gardens and
nursery grounds are kept in the nicest order, and the seeds which
they produce are esteemed more than any other upon the whole
continent of America, and I believe that large quantities are sent
to Europe. They also grind all their own corn, as well as some
for their neighbours, make all their own cloth and clothing, and
have a beautiful manufactory of water pails and window sashes.
As they live in the greatest order and with economy, they are
blessed with all the good things of the world; they live well, and
all their produoe is of the first quality; and by their example
they shew what a community of men and women can do, if
animated by a right spirit of industry and integrity. It is a

AMERICAN HABITS. 23
sight worth looking at to see a shakers' waggon come to market,
laden with the good things of life, dravra by four beautiful horses
with long manes and flowing tails, and bright harness, and always
attended by two venerable looking personages, dressed in their
own quaint costume. They, however, know how to bargain, and
though you may depend upon the quality of their goods, yet they
will have a good price for everything they sell.
The Tunkers are a religious body of Germans ; they also have
a dress peculiar to themselves, and wear their beards long, in
appearance resembling the Johannaites of this country. They,
however, have wives and. children, which the shakers have not,
although the latter will take into their community a woman or a
man with children, if he or she has any property, or if they are
likely to become useful members of their society.
The Harmonists are also Germans, and have two settlements
in Ohio : they have been often described ; and as I have not had
the pleasure of inspecting their settlements, I shall pass . them
over. The Mormons. The founder of this sect, Joe Smith, was a cold
blooded Yankee, as some of them delight to style themselves, who
first started a community at Kirkland, about eighteen miles from
Cleveland, and there built a temple, which is now standing, but
only three or four of the brethren inhabit the building. These
latter-day saints, as they are called, after their temple was erected,
set up a Bank, one of the kind that are called the " Wild Cat
Banks." They issued bills and notes to the amount of nearly
half a million of dollars ; but as soon as they were called upon
to redeem them they suspended payment, and I believe they never
took up one hundred dollars of the whole amount. The Heads
then removed to the north-west of Illinois, where they founded
another temple on a grand scale, and the city of Navoo. Con
verts fiocked to join them from all parts of the union, from Canada
and from England, till their city counted near 20,000 inhabitants,
and they could bring 1000 well trained men into the field to defend
themselves against their envious neighbours. The dark deeds
done by the elders of this sect are too well known, by the reports
in the different publications in America, for me to recapitulate
them. Suffice it to say, that the national militia was called out,
and after a hard contest, and the death of Joe Smith their leader,
who was killed by the invaders, their settlement was destroyed, and
the society moved west, and are now located somewhere about the
Columbia river, in the Oregon territory.
The Methodists are a large and respectable body in the west ;
their preachers have residences, but no stated salaries to live
upon ; but each member contributes something towards their
maintenance. They have also the benefit of a " Donation." In-

24 AMERICAN HABITS.
vitations are given to all the members and their friends to attend
this party, and each guest takes something with him ; cloth,
linen, cotton, tea, coffee, sugar, .potatoes, apples, Indian corn,
flour, or any article in which they deal, and which may be
useful to the preacher and his family. Tea and coffee and supper
are provided, and the afternoon is spent in the ordinary way of
such soirees ; and this is the way the preachers of the Wesleyan
Methodists are supported by the brethren. The building of
churches of such denominations is as much a speculation as the
buying of 1000 barrels of ashes or 1000 bushels of com.
The frequency of fires in America is noticed by every stranger
visiting the country. These fires arise from many causes ; among
the first you may reckon that the houses in all country places are
almost entirely built of wood, and covered with shingles ofthe
same material, and there being no regular chimney sweeps, the
soot gets on fire, in which case the roof not only of the house, but
also of the neighbouring houses, barns, and sheds, are in great
jeopardy. These dangers are enhanced by high winds, which
drive the fire rapidly forwards, and sometimes in a few minutes a
whole street will be in a blaze. There are also many cases of
arson, and I believe the hand of the incendiary kindles above one
half of the fires in the whole country, especially in out-of-the-way
places. I have heard two men quarrel, and one has threatened
the other to burn down his house and bam ; and when a quarrel
does take place between two such men, they have each been known
to watch their premises all night for two or three months. This
is a horrible state for a society^ to be in, but truth compels me to
state the fact as it is.
The variety of quack medicines used in America is astonishing ;
scarcely a paper is published, but nearly one-half of it is filled with
advertisements of wonderful cures wrought by the use of these
nostrums. The manufactories of these medicines are numerous ;
some of the establishments are sixty or seventy yards in length
and five stories high, where the operations are worked by steam
power ; and the quantities of pills made is immense, as well as
of medicines in other forms. The sale of these commodities is
carried on in almost every town and village of the union. Indeed,
true bred Yankees, men or women, always imagine they are either
sick or very likely soon to be so ; and if one is really sick, he
takes the pills to cure him, and if he is not, he still takes them
to keep off sickness. They are, therefore, in constant requisition,
and no house is ever without a plentiful supply. New York,
Rochester, and Buffalo, are the places where most of these medi
cines are made.
There are also to be found, in every city, some famous quack,
who has conferred upon himself the diploma of M.D. : he gives

AMERICAN HABITS. 25
out tkat he has learned his practice among the wild Indians ; and it
is astonishing the number of patients who frequent his house. He
also, in general, keeps a boarding house for his patients exclu
sively, and some have as many as twenty and thirty constantly
in their care. The regular practitioners are also numerous, and
dash about in gigs and buggies in the same way as our medical
men at home. In their prescriptions, however, they generally
give their patients some or other of the advertised medicines
above alluded to.
The most common diseases of the country in the west are liver
complaints, fever agues, and diarrhoea. Pulmonary complaints are
also numerous. There are also the same complaints in this region
as inhabitants in Europe are subject to, but in general the
symptoms are more violent. Liver complaints in some shape or
another are almost universal; they are occasioned by the water,
as I am informed, and it is said that none of the animal crea
tion are exempt from it. Butchers say that they never slaughtered
ox, cow, sheep, or pig, where the liver was not affected. As the
country becomes more cleared and the swamps more perfectly
drained, it is thought that this prevailing malady will be
ameliorated, if not completely eradicated.
About twenty-five miles from Cleveland is situated the college of
Oberlin, open for young men and young women. The religion
of this academy is called Congregational. Some few years ago
the professors proceeded to England on a begging tour, and suc
ceeded beyond their expectations ; and I have heard many of
the students express their wonder how easily the British parted
with their money, intimating at the same time that the old pro
verb of " fools and their money" was in this instance verified.
They succeeded so well, that another college was immediately
started, and the place was named Berea. This was upon the
teetotal principle of abstaining from all sorts of wines, beer, and
spirits, and also from the use of coffee and tea, as well as upon the
Pythagorean system of abstaining from flesh meat. The pro
fessors made the tour through the principal cities on the sea
board, and picked up scholars in abundance, their terms being
low and their professions being high. When the poor boys were
brought to hominy and molasses three times a day, instead of the
three comfortable meals they had been used to, they were sorely
dejected; some of them bolted into the woods and wandered to
the west, and some of them ran away to get to their parents in
the eastern cities. Amongst the rest were three youths, who
left in the depth of winter without a cent in their pockets, and
traversed the whole distance of eight hundred miles on foot, and,
as I heard from the brother of one of the boys, who stopped at
my house on his way to Wisconsin, all arrived safe and in good
health at their respective homes.

20 CLEARING LAND AND FARMING,
CHAPTER VI.
CLEARING LAND AND FARMING.
Sudden storms— A windfall— Clearing land — A Logging Bee — A Raising Bee — ^Fixst
sowing of the land— Fencing— Tree Stumps — How to insure punctuality at Milking
time — Indian com ; its uses and modes of preparation — Buck wheat — Ignorance and
laziness of American farmers ; their prejudice against m.anure — Encouragement of
weeds — Hogs ; modes of feeding and curing ; their destruction of the Rattle Snake.
One beautiful warm day, when we were residing at Cleveland,
all of a sudden some of our windows, which were partially
open, were blown' in, and we had all to run and hold the whole
for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour before the hurricane
had somewhat abated. Then the rain began pouring in torrents,
and continued for the space of six hours after dark, and the
thunder pealed upon us with such deadly sound, as if the whole
welkin was at the point of dissolution; the lightning gleamed
every half minute, accompanied with tremendous crashes: so
awful a storm I had never seen or heard. The streets were
inundated presently, and being upon a steep hill shelving do-wn
to the lake on one side, and to the river and canal on the other,
the water in running down soon cut for itself channels, which
grew wider every moment, so that, before the end of the storm,
the canal was completely filled with sand for above a mile, and
there was a hole washed in one of the streets above forty yards
wide and twenty yards deep, extending from the street down to the
bank of the canal at the bottom. Very providentially there
were no houses near where the waters accumulated ; else, had it
been in some parts of the town, which were densely populated,
much more damage would have been done, by the washing away
of houses; and perhaps many lives would have been lost.
Sometimes a great hurricane of wind takes place, without
any such accompaniment as described above, but to the full as
destructive. Such a gale will pass over a clearing, and will bosom
itself at one Weak point of the forest. Continuing to rage with
increasing violence it begins to make an impression upon the
trees, and they give way: this opens a passage for another gust
of wind, and the trees already fallen have left an opening which
acts as a funnel in conducting the force into the heart of the
bush. Tree after tree falls in rapid succession, one tree dodging
against another, and helping the wind to level it; and so it rolls
for sometimes 200 miles in length, and from half a mile to two
miles in breadth; and when the wind abates, the traveller will
see thousands of the mighty trees, which have braved the
elements for the last 500 years, lying stretched upon that earth
which has sustained them so long, their heads all pointing one
way, and their enormous roots, accompanied with the earth they
were imbedded in, sticking up like the side of a middle-sized mud
house without windows.

CLEARING LAND AND FARMING. 27
This is called " a windfall," and I was credibly told that one
of these tornadoes, which happened when I was in Cleveland,
blew a house, with all its inmates, furniture, and every other thing
in it, right across a small creek, and safely landed it on the
opposite bank, at a distance of 200 yards. This was in the town
of Euclid, about six miles from my house.
The term "windfall" literally means the same thing, in
England, but is valuable in a different sense from what it is in
America. In the latter it is of use in giving a help to extending
the clearings; in England it gives to the life possessor of an
entailed estate the value of the timber blown down, which he had
not the right to fell. In a figurative sense, the term is familiar
as signifying any accident that brings an unexpected gain.
March and April is the time for the farmer who intends to
clear any new land, in order to secure a crop of wheat for the
succeeding year. If, therefore, he or his family are not strong
enough for the undertaking themselves, they hire out the job to
persons who are accustomed to it, and are always ready at hand,
and easy to find. The oommon price of clearing land, fencing,
burning up, and making ready for the seed, is ten dollars per
acre, one half cash and one half store pay, or produce. After the
ten acres are marked out, the men begin the process of felling the
timber, two men at one tree. They have the knack of throwing
the falling tree to any point they wish, and accordingly they
make it dodge against another tree in the direction they are
clearing, the weight of whioh leaning against the next makes it
easier to felL The trees, if very large, -will average about two
hundred per acre; but, if smaller, perhaps three hundred per
acre; but all the trees are of one height, unless some pine trees
are growing among them; these trees tower over every other
tree of the forest, and never put out a single branch till they are
high above the loftiest oak, beech, or maple; and some of the
stems of these pines measure, before you come to a single branch,
upwards of 200 feet. Onward go the men, not heeding what sort
of wood they are cutting .down ; they strike right and left, and
at the end of a single week they will have felled the whole ten
acres. Let it be understood that the felling of trees in America
is not like felling them in England, where the timber is worth
two shillings per square foot, and where the woodman cuts as
near the root as possible. In America they leave a stump of each
tree standing about three feet high, or just the most convenient
height a man can more easily use his axe with the most effect.
When the whole of the ten acres are felled, the next operation of
the men is to cut off the limbs of the trees and pick out what logs
will be suitable for splitting up for fencing rails and for building
purposes; and, if a saw mill is within a come-at-able distance.

28 CLEARING LAND AND FARMING.
they will save some of the soft wood for that operation; or, if
near a city, they will save the beech, maple, and hickory, which
make the best firewood (and sometimes oak) for that purpose.
But we will suppose that none of these advantages are ¦within
reach of this clearing: then the men only draw as much out,
with oxen, as will serve to fence the clearing and build a shanty
for either man or beast; after which they go round among the
neighbours for five or six miles, and invite them to a Logging
Bee. They pro'vdde a substantial repast of beef, pork, and whis
key, against the day. The females are also invited to come in
the after part of the day, to take a cup of tea and join in the
dance at night, and great numbers are sure to be collected
together. Each man appears on the appointed day, early in the
morning, with his yoke of oxen ready to commence business; and
verj' soon a large heap of logs are piled up and fired; they then
commence raising another pile and firing that; and so they go on
till the whole five hundred years' growth of the ten acres is
blazing away like — in short, like blazes ! The owner, during
this time, is handing round refreshments to the workmen; but
there is no stopping till the whole is on fire. They then turn
their oxen among the grass in the neighbouring field or wood,
still coupled together, and betake themselves to the house, where
their dinner awaits them, to which we may suppose they do
ample justice. After they have sat awhile after dinner, and the
whiskey begins to circulate freely, some will volunteer a song.
At last Old Snowball, a dusky son of Africa, is called forth, and
his fiddle being in readiness, each man chooses his partner, and
"off she goes" is the order of the day; sometimes within doors,
and sometimes ¦without, and sometimes both, the nigger fiddling
away on the door threshold. This amusement is carried on till
daylight next morning, without intermission. As soon as one
party is tired, they retire to chat or liquor, and make room for
another party. The nigger never tires; he is in his proper
element, and rasps away at his cracked straduarius as if he would
saw it in two, making at the same time such contortions in face
and limb as would set a whole audience in a roar of laughter.
When daylight appears, then every man catches his oxen, and
wends his weary way towards his own clearing, and is ready and
willing the next day to join another Logging Bee, or to caU his
neighbours to his own assistance.
The building of a farmer's first house is accomplished in the same
manner : all is done in one day, and they never leaye the house till
the new farmer and his wife are put to bed in their new dwelling.
This is called a Raising Bee, and is universally followed in all the
backwoods. It answers also for making the stranger acquainted
with his neighbours, and oftentimes acquaintances are formed and
love matches made, which continue to the end of life.

CLEARING LAND AST) FARMING. 29
When the timber lately growing on the land is thoroughly
burnt up, which generally takes a week to accomplish, if the
weather is ever so favourable, the ashes are either collected and
sent to the ash factory, or if that is so far distant that they will
cost more carrying there than the price will amount to, which
is at the rate of five cents or 2^d. per bushel, it is spread abroad
among the stumps, levelled as well as the rake' can do it, and the
land is then ready for sowing. There is no ploughing or harrow
ing necessary ; there are no weeds or grass whatever in the earth ;
it is quite bare of vegetation. The seed is then thrown on, there
is no fear of birds stealing any of the seeds ; there are none worth
speaking of at all, except woodpeckers, and they live on the
insects bred in decayed trees, and will not taste grain of any
sort. The men are now occupied in splitting up the logs, saved for
that purpose, into rails for the fence ; they use no posts, but a
fence of light rails piled one upon another in a zigzag line, cross
ing over one another's ends, at the obtuse angles ; and a rider on
the top of all This is called a legal fence ; it is about six feet
high, when completed, and, though it looks strange and ugly to
an Englishman accustomed to see nice trimmed hedge-rows, walls,
or picket fences, yet it answers well for all intents and purposes
of the farmer, and is surely both soon put up, and repaired after
wards with very little trouble.
The stumps still stand in the ground, which cannot in general
again be sown with wheat or grain, till the expiration of twelve
or fourteen years, when the roots become so decomposed that a
yoke of oxen will draw the plough, going round the stumps, and
stopping instantaneously when the plough meets with any obstruc
tion. At that time the land is found very favourable for the
growth of Indian corn, among which they sow melons, squashes,
pumpkins, or cucumbers. Grass seeds are sown, after the first
cropping. Timothy grass and clover yield good crops ¦without
manure, except about a peck of gypsum, (plaster of Paris) finely
ground into powder, sprinkled upon each acre. This substance
has a surprising effect upon these grasses, and you may see to a
foot where it has been laid ; it is a very cheap article, and sells
for about 1 dollar to 1^ dollars per barrel (or 4s. 2d. to 5s. 3d.)
I have many times, in looking over a farm, said to the owner,
Why don't you grub up the stumps, at all events from this field
in front of your house ? The answer invariably was, " There are
from 200 to 300 stumps per acre, and to stub them up would
cost at least on the average one shilling sterling each, which in
round numbers would amount to (say) twelve pounds or sixty
dollars per acre ; and if I wanted to sell my land, the price which
I could obtain for it, buildings included, would be at the utmost

30 CLEARING LAND AND FARMING.
fifteen dollars, or three pounds sterling, per acre ; so there is no
encouragement for grubbing up the stumps. There is also another
consideration : if the stumps were grubbed up, a hole would be
made in the earth where the stump and roots came out ; this hole
would want filling up and levelling, which would cost a great deal
in labour ; but if the stump is allowed to rot upon the place
where it grew, it will fill up its own hole, so the trouble and
expense is saved by allowing them to decay where they are." I
should then ask, " How many years will it take, before your land,
which is already in cultivation, will be clear of stumps, allowing
them to decay gradually ?" His answer would be, " The oak,
ash, and hickory, will be sufficiently decayed in twenty years ; the
birch, elm, and whitewood, in about sixteen years; but the pine
and chestnut will remain sound in the earth for fifty years, and
then," he would archly observe, " they tum to stone." This is as
much as to say, that no man now alive will ever see the stumps
of these trees eradicated from the land, (by the operation of time
alone) which had been cleared in his days, even if done when he
was ever so young. In some bleak and exposed situations, some
farmers insist that the stumps do more good than harm in the
fields ; for they maintain thaj, in winter time, they hold the snow
from blowing away from the land, and by that means the frost
does not pick out the wheat plant half so much as if the field
was not covered. This I believe is correct, for upon the Prairies,
where for hundreds of miles there is no shelter at all for the wheat,
they have adopted the plan of sowing among the Fall wheat a
quantity of Indian corn, the strong stalks of which, being firmly
rooted in the ground, will effectually prevent the snow from blow--
ing away and leaving the land bare. This Indian corn, however,
does not produce any corn, but the dried stalks are most excellent
fodder for cattle.
In about a rood of ground near my house, I made some very
interesting experiments in the growing and uses of Indian corn.
In April, as soon as the snow was off the ground, I planted this
breadth of land with this corn. I planted it in rows thirty
inches apart, and six inches in the ridges. My neighbours laughed
at me, and said I was planting twenty times more seed than was
necessary. I told them to wait and see the issue. The plants
came up early in May, and, though so rank in the ground, they
looked extremely well, and, by digging between the ridges as
near the plants as possible, the stalks were soon as thick as a
man's thumb. When they were of this thickness, and about
two feet six inches high, I began cutting with a knife for fodder
for my three cows. I cut about twelve stalks every morning for
each cow to eat at milking time; and then turned them out to
go where they pleased till milking time came again in the even-

CLEARINfi LAND AST) FARMING. 31
ing. As sure as six o'clock came, then came the cows, and
another portion of the com ¦ stalks awaited them. I have no
hesitation in stating that this fodder is the best that ever was
thrown before a cow, and will produce the richest milk and the
most plentiful supply; and it would answer just as well in
England for the same purpose. Only let a cow that has once
eaten of it, see a single stalk in a man's hand, and she will follow
him to any place he wishes to lead her to.
The first cutting was done this way : I took every alternate
plant in the rows, and if more stalks than one were at a root,
I took the surplus; in this way I went through the whole patch,
till the whole was thinned; I then commenced again and took
the remainder; and as soon as one row was completely reaped, I
had the ground dug, manured, and planted again, exactly in the
same way as before. This was about the middle of June, and so
I went through the whole, taking care always to dig up the rows
as soon as they were cleared. By the time the last row ¦was cut,
my second crop was ready for use, and it was treated exactly in
the same manner. I continued this all through the summer, and
had three crops, and in one part four crops, of green fodder for
my cows, and well they paid me for my pains. The animals not
only gave the best and richest milk, but they also got as fat
as beef; and though the summer was as hot as ever was kno^wn,
and many of my neighbours' cows were nearly out of milk, mine
were giving copious meals, and were never known to be one
minute late at milking time.
My neighbours took no pains with their cows ; never gave
them anything except the slops from their houses : the cows had
to seek on the common, or in the edges of the bush, or the banks
of the creeks, for all they had to live upon; and, as on the bare
common the grass was burnt up, and near the water courses it
was over ripe, long and coarse, and the herbs in the woods were
all tumed bitter, it was imposssble for cows, so carelessly pro
vided for, to be anything but as poor as crows; while mine were
as sleek as a race horse and as fat as butter.
Indian corn, besides being used as food for horses, cows, and hogs,
enters largely into consumption as food for man. It is eaten in
the green or milky state, boiled upon the cob, brought to the
table in that state, and being peppered and salted according to
taste, it is eaten along with meat the same as asparagus, and is
equal if not superior to either that delicious plant or green pease.
It is also roasted, and sold .at the street corner warm, as potatoes
are in London. It is sometimes crushed and prepared in the
same way as furmity. The meal of Indian com is also used to
make hasty pudding or mush, whioh being eaten with molasses
and milk forms a wholesome and cheap diet for any person. It

32 CLEARING LAND AND FARMING.
is generally liked by all classes of native Americans, and after the
English have got accustomed to the taste, it is equally relished by
them. In many of the fashionable boarding houses there is a
notification stuck up every time this is prepared for supper or
breakfast; and should any accident occur in the making, all seem
to feel the disappointment. Used in making bread by itself, it is
confined to the lower claiSses, who praise it much ; but I never
could be brought to admire Johnny cake; although, if one-third
of fine sifted yellow corn meal is mixed with two-thirds its weight
of flour, and this be baked into bread in the usual way, it makes,
to my thinking, the sweetest and most nutritious bread I ever
tasted, and at this moment we are never without it, if we can get
it, ahd should use it irrespective of its being so much cheaper, as
I believe it is the most wholesome food that man can eat. The
American whiskey is also in a great measure distilled from this
corn along with rye. In America Indian corn is called, as indeed
it is, " The Staff of Life."
Buck wheat is also grown in large quantities in Ohio, from
which is made the buck wheat cakes, which are considered by
gastronomists as the glory of the states. These cakes are made
nearly in a similar way to Yorkshire pancakes, and are generally
used for breakfast, served up with molasses.
The Yankee farmers are the most careless in their operations of
any agriculturalists I ever saw. They would 'not lay in their
manure, as they said it would fill their fields with weeds; and
some of them would be at the pains of remo^ving their large barns,
as they were so crowded up with the midden that they could
scarcely get in at the door : they, therefore, to get out of the way
of this obstacle, put rollers under the foundations of their wooden
barns, and by the joint operation of perhaps twenty men, with
stangs and levers, removed the whole building for twenty, thirty,
or forty yards; and so got rid, for a time at least, of this great
nuisance. This was at a time also when their land was pining
for manure, and would not produce one quarter of the crops it
ought to do by good management ; but the force of prejudice,
ignorance and idleness, carried the day, though the joint labours
of twenty men in one day, with waggons and oxen, would remove
a pretty smart dung heap. The manure, however, was now left
to itself, and was soon covered with a most luxuriant crop of
weeds, the seeds of which were carried by the winds into
all the fields contiguous, where they fructified most prodigi
ously; so that, in passing such a farm, I defy any man to tell
whether beans, swedes, pumpkins, or potatoes were growing upon
the land.
In the grain also, as brought to the market, you will find an
abundance of weeds; to remedy which the merchant has to put it

CLEARING LAND AND FARMING. 33
through the operation of a smut mill before it could be called in
a merchantable condition. There is no exaggeration in this
statement : I have put do^vn the faot as I have seen it.
The quantity of pigs, or rather, as they are called, hogs, kept
even in the cities, is immense; and they, by strolling up and
down from house to house, have become very cunning at thieving.
They will watch the operations going on in a cooking shed with
the most intense interest, and if the cook only turns her back for
one minute, it is an even chance but a great part of the dinner
has disappeared, and the delinquent hog is waddling away with
what was neither too hot nor too heavy for him. It, therefore,
behoves all to look well to have their yard gates fastened while
the operation of cooking is going on.
In the baok woods the settlers breed large quantities of hogs,
which they turn out into the woods as soon as the snow is gone,
and there they wander many miles from home in the forest
during the whole summer; but as soon as the snow again covers
the land they find their way back to the plaoe where they were
bred, or at least as many of them as are left, for many casualties
arise by disease and the wolves ; but generally a fair proportion
comes back, and a good many more than the farmer calculated
upon, as many of the sows will have had young ones; so that a
settler never knows to a certainty the number of hogs he is pos
sessed of. The hogs of one year old will, when they retum home,
have become quite fat "with eating the nuts, acorns, and beech-
mast, as well as the roots found in the ground; and the farmer
¦will immediately commence killing some for present use, and also
for barrelling ; but the greater part he 'will put up and commence
feeding them with milk and Indian corn, or any other grain he
may have produced, till near Christmas, and then commence
slaughtering. Some he barrels, and the remainder he takes in
carcases to market. There are thousands of waggon loads of such
hogs carried to all the shipping ports, and the price they are
generally sold at on the average is two to three cents per pound
(or Id. to l^d. English). The pork which has been fed in the
woods is called shack-fed, and is not so good as the corn-fed; but
the fat makes as fine oil as ever was used for any purpose that
fine oil can be used for — ^for lights, or for greasing wool, or
machinery, and even for sallad. But if the hog be salted and
kept for any length of time, the fat becomes rancid and the lean
hard, and I never knew an Englishman who could relish it at all.
On the contrary, the corn-fed pork is as good as any in the world,
and if cured in the same way as Yorkshire bacon and hams, the
greatest epicure could not tell the difference. I have cured large
quantities and neyer had one failure, and I never tasted better
bacon or ham in the whole course of my life. If, however, the

34 TAXES, BANKRUPTCY, AND BANKING.
pork is barrelled by the farmer, he puts such an enormous quan
tity of salt among it, and no salt petre, afterwards filling up the
barrel with water, that any one unaccustomed to eat it would
think he was eating the very salt itself. They do, however, before
boiling or frying, mollify it a little by steeping it for a time in
warm water ; but they can never free it of the large quantity of
salt it has imbibed in the barrel. Curers from England and
Ireland have now gone out to the pork-producing countries, and
what passes through their hands will, I have no doubt, be found
equal to any in the world.
The number of hogs roaming through the woods of Ohio have
done one good; and that is, they have nearly eradicated the
whole breed of rattle snakes. If one is anywhere near, the hog
is sure to kill and eat him, and his bite, as I am told, has no more
effect upon the animal than a common scratch. About thirty
years ago the country abounded with these snakes and with mes-
sasogee; but now they are rarely met with. One farmer who
had lived on a clearing in the midst of the bush told me that he
had only seen two of the rattle snakes for the last seven years.

CHAPTER VII.
TAXES, BANKRUPTCY AND BANKING.
American Taxation — Partiality of popularly elected Justices — ^Facilities for fraudulent
Bankruptcy — Repudiation — Banking Laws ; evasion of their requirements — Unlimited
credit obtained by Directors from their own Banks — System of exchanging paper
between different Banks — Turning a penny on misfortune — Conveniences of suspending
payment— Shameful exposure of banking transactions — Worn out bank notes and the
*' Burning Committee" — Extensive forgeries — Scarcity of specie.
Many persons have the idea that there are no taxes to pay in
the United States of America; but alas ! when they get there,
they will find themselves wofully mistaken. In fact, taking every
thing into consideration, they will find that the' citizens of this
Republic are as heavily taxed as any other nation under the
sun. The estimates for the year 1848 required for the Federal
Government alone were 74,000,000 dollars; but this is not all;
for there are twenty-eight other Governments to support; and if
there are not King, Lords, and Commons in each, there are a
Governor, Deputy Governor, Legislative Council, and House of
Representatives, all paid officers, with such a host of officials as
no other government can show. Indeed there are more office
holders in that country than in all Great Britain, even reckoning
the Army, Navy, and Church in England into the bargain.
Every State lays on taxes ad libitum upon its o^wn citizens; there
are direct taxes levied with the most scrupulous exactness ; there

TAXES, BANKRUPTCr, AND BANKING. 35
is no shunning the taxgatherer. A tax is laid upon all land,
uncleared and cleared; upon all houses, so much for a one-story
house and so much for a two-story house (the Yankees, to evade
the double tax, have invented a house of one and a half stories,
which comes under the first category); they pay taxes for all
horned cattle, sheep, horses, and dogs ; for the furniture in the
house, and for all bills, bonds, and mortgages which they possess ;
for aU steam-boat, canal and bank shares : in fact they pay for
every sort of property they possess, except hogs.
The State government of New York costs the citizens nearly
10,000,000 dollars per annum ; and the State of New Jersey, one
of the worst in the union, costs about 3,000,000; but if we
average each State at three millions, this will make 84,000,000
dollars, which added to the seventy-four millions for the Federal
Government will shew to the most incredulous the real ex
penses of republican government. There are also municipal
taxes, of no light amount, the mayors, aldermen, and councillors
being all paid out of these taxes, as well as marshals, town-clerks,
jailers, constables, and deputies without number. The justices
of the peace, or squires as they are called, charge for themselves;
they are elected by their fellow townsmen, and, many of them, in
cases which are brought before them, do not forget the power which
helped them into their present exalted station, especially if plain
tiff or defendant be a stranger in the place. In the higher courts
there are always three judges upon the bench at once; and though
the salaries of these officials are extremely moderate, from 700 to
1500 dollars, yet they make up in numbers, as there are more
judges of assize in the State of Ohio, than in the whole British
Empire in Europe.
In the year 1841 a general bankruptcy law was passed by the
Federal Congress, of which about 84,000 persons took the benefit
in five months; but there was such an outcry made by other
countries, that it was repealed; however, as long as it lasted,
they made the utmost use of it. A man to get clear of his
debts, had only to declare himself a bankrupt, and he was ordered
to attend the commissioners. Those from Cleveland had to attend
at Chilecothe, nearly 200 miles distant : the commissioners had
from 1000 to 2000 to examine each day, and the reader may
judge of the scrutiny the bankrupts had to undergo and the sifting
of their accounts, by the numbers to be examined. Yet they all
got their papers signed and came home, very few people knowing
that some of them had ever been bankrupt at all. There were
no messengers put into possession of their property, no removal,
no sales by the sheriff. The property was, no doubt, transferred
for a time to a brother, father, or a friend, and after a short time
was delivered back to the whitewashed bankrupt, now clear of hi
D 2

36

TAXES, BANKRUPTCr, AND BANKING.

debts, and both ready and willing to lend a helping hand to his
friends in the like emergency. The great regret oi this class of
traders was, that the act did not go far enough, and take corpora
tions as well as individuals ; in which case they could so easily
have sponged off their foreign debts, and left John Bull and
Johnny Crapeaux to seek their own remedy. Some States, how
ever, were determined to have a share of the plunder and stop
the interest of their debts, and for years, as the Rev. Sydney
Smith knew, they never paid one cent for either interest or
principal. A calculation was made by a friend of mine, who was very
well informed on this subject, by which he estimated that the
losses sustained by the English merchants through the operation
ofthe bankrupt law, and by the English capitalists, would amount
in round numbers to above 100,000,000 dollars or twenty-five
millions sterling. All the private debts fell upon the English
merchants, and not one cent in the dollar w.is paid in dividends.
The capitalist was, however, in a better situation than the mer
chant ; there has now been some sort of a compromise effected
between the Dr. and Cr., and it is to be hoped that. before lend
ing any more money to repudiating states, the capitalist will
rather invest his surplus on schemes nearer home.
There never was any sort of stigma cast upon the bankrupts ;
but, on the contrary, they were more esteemed for their clever
ness, and in common parlance called " Smart men." One gentle
man, Mr. Griffiths, of Cleveland, could not wait till he got his
papers, and boldly put himself forward as a candidate for the
House of Representatives at the very time his commission was
being worked. He, however, did not succeed in the election.
The reign of Andrew Jackson, commonly called Old Hickory,
was particularly famed for the great increase of Pet Banks, which
in the slang of the country were called Wild Gat Banks. By the
Acts of Congress during his administration, all banks, before they
could get an Act of incorporation, were obliged to have in their
coffers a certain quantity of gold and silver, and a certain amount
of government bills ; and if the Bank Commissioners were satis
fied, on inspection, they gave .the necessary certificate, and the
banks were then allowed to commence operations. I will, for
example, describe the establishment of the two banks in Cleve
land, viz., the Commercial Bank of Lake Erie and the Cleveland
Bank, which were established at the same time as almost twenty
other banks in the same neighbourhood. A company of mer
chants, shopkeepers, and others was formed; a president, manager,
cashier, teller, and clerks, were appointed, as well as a full directory.
This kind of thing was carried on simultaneously in all the banks,
say about twenty, situated in or near that part of Ohio called

TAXES, BANKRUPTCY, AND BANKING. 37
the Western Reserve, or New Connecticut. As soon as every
thing was ready for the inspection of the Commissioners, they
were invited to coaie on a certain day to visit them, examine
their stock of specie, bills, &c. Accordingly they arrived in
Cleveland from Columbus, the capital of the State, on the
appointed day, and were ushered into the Bank of Lake Erie.
The money bags were exhibited before them, as well as the bills,
which being duly counted were then passed, the certificate signed,
and the Commissioners invited to take a recess in the manager's
house. As soon as their backs were turned, the same money,
which they had seen, was immediately removed over the way to
the Bank of Cleveland, and there passed another inspection by
the same Commissioners, and being found 0. K., or, all correct,
the papers were duly filled up as before; another recess was taken,
and the money was immediately transferred to the Bank of Nor-
walk ; from thence, always preceding the Commissioners, it was
sent to Massillon, Paineville Akron, Medina, and to every place
to which the Commissioners were authorized to go. The banks
were all declared competent to begin issuing their own bills, and
every thing went on in a flourishing manner.
The Directors being all in business in some way or other, some
as shopkeepers and some as land speculators, &c., were the prin
cipal customers of their own banks : they drew out as much
money (as they called their bills) as they pleased; and, if one was
gently reproved, he had only to draw a good large bill, get another
person to endorse it, and then his account had a respectable
appearance. One of these bank directors, called Canfield, one of
the officers of the bank himself, went to the bank one day, and
asked the cashier to give him bills to the .amount of 60,000
dollars, as he was going to Sandusky to buy a large quantity
of land. As, however, the quantity he wanted was not ready
filled up, he said, "Give me as many as I want unfilled up, and
I can fill them up as I want them, and, if I do not want them,
I will bring them back." Accordingly he got all he asked for,
attended the sale, and purchased largely, paid away the bills and
filled them up as he wanted them, to the full amount of the forms
he had with him. When he returned to Cleveland, he informed
the cashier that he had not made use of them, and so the matter
rested for a time.
It was the custom of all the banks in the west to exchange
their o^wn bills with other banks which were at the distance of
400 or 500 miles. In consequence of this, you seldom saw a note
of any of the banks in your own neighbourhood for a very long
period after the bills were issued, and they would never issue
their own paper when discounting bills, unless they were satisfied
that the party getting them would not negociate them within a

38 TAXES, BANKRUPTCY, AND BANKING.
certain distance. By this means they had soon an immense
quantity of paper afloat in various parts of the Union, and in
their coffers they had the bills of their customers. By and by,
however, the bills in rather inconvenient quantity, began to make
their appearance at the counter, and some of the holders would
take nothing but specie, which was a commodity very scarce with
these paper flyers; and if they had it, they would not, if possible,
part with it; they would have given the biUs of other banks at
a distance of 1000 miles with pleasure. At last a person took in
bills for specie to the amount of perhaps 200 dollars, and he
would take nothing but hard cash for them; this brought them
up at once, and they suspended cash payments immediately. The
announcement spread like wild-fire through the city, and caused
a run upon the other banks, which also suspended. The alarm
then extended to the country villages, and the holders flocked in
from all parts, till the city was almost full of people. But the
doors of the banks were all closed and guarded by soldiers, to keep
the crowd from rushing in and sacking the place. Bills were
stuck on the door stating the stoppage was only temporary, and
that in a few days business would be resumed and go on as usuaL
This, however, did not satisfy persons who had come forty or fifty
miles. The directors and debtors of the bank then issued biUs
and stuck papers in their windows stating, that the biUs of the
Bank of Cleveland or the bills of the Commercial Bank of Lake
Erie, would be taken there at twenty-five cents on the dollar, for
goods. People who had come so far considering that they had
better have something for their bills than nothing, were soon
induced to flock to the shops which took their paper and ex
changed it for dear goods,, even at one quarter of the nominal value
of the bills. By this means large quantities of goods were got
rid of, and the debtors were enabled to pay off their balance at
the bank in its oiim coin, and make an immense profit by the
occurrence. By law a bank can at any time close for ninety days without
forfeiting its charter; and at the expiration of this time the
Cleveland banks had got in the greatest part of their notes.
They then issued bills and advertisements in the papers stating
the pleasure they had in announcing the reopening of the bank,
and their readiness to redeem all the outstanding bills when pre
sented at the counter. This scheme was acted upon twice suc
cessfully; but the third time the legislature interfered, and sent
commissioners to examine into the affairs of the bank, with power
to examine persons and papers, and to report accordingly.
In their examination the whole secrets of their practice came
out, and exposed a system of the greatest villany. The Canfield
affair was thoroughly investigated ; but he had made the estates

TAXES, BANKRUPTCY, AND BANKIN«. 39
he had bought near Sandusky safe by false sales to his friends,
and immediately took the benefit of the general bankrupt act.
Norman Baldwin also transferred his property in the same way,
and got whitewashed. In fact, the greatest part of the directors
and large debtors did the same thing, and their assets being
declared nil, nothing at all was recovered from any of them.
As the bank notes in the course of a few years, by constant using,
become soiled and nearly wore out, there is generally a committee
of one director appointed as a burning committee. Mr. Lyman
Kendall, an extensive merchant, had always been the committee
for the Commercial Bank. Lyman thought, wh^n a pile of five
thousand dollars was put into his hands for burning, that they
would still serve another turn. He accordingly paid them away
on his own account, without acquainting the other officers of the
bank, and the transaction was only brought to light by the
commissioners in their investigations. As all the directors and
officers had been deeply implicated, they would not denounce one
another. How Kendall's affair was settled at last I do not know;
but when I came away from Cleveland he was under bail for the
five thousand dollars, which he had surreptitiously applied to his
own purposes. This is a fair specimen of the way banking has
been managed in the west. Many banks that issued tens of
thousands of dollars in Michigan were found to have never had
100 doUars of their own in their banks from the first estab
lishment. But bad as this is, it is not the worst part of money trans
actions in America, for at the time I was there, fully one-third
of all the bills which were circulated were either frauds or for
geries. As I said before, no bank issues bills to be negociated
near home; most of the bills which a tradesman takes are of
banks located at a distance, and the only guide to distinguish
the good from the bad is by taking in a paper published weekly,
called the Detector, giving a list of all the banks in all the states,
and of all the sets of bills which have been forged upon them.
Now a forger, who is at the expense of having plates engraved of
the bank bills which he intends to counterfeit, will not be
satisfied with issuing 200 or 300 dollars; he generally goes "the
whole hog," and manufactures the spurious money wholesale, get
ting them (through his agents, whose ramifications extend all
through the union,) rapidly into circulation. There is, there
fore, scarcely a Detector published which does not give an account
of some fresh forgery just found out. I have now a Detector
before me, and find that, out of about 1500 banks in the whole
union, there are 1476 forgeries of sets of bills. There are also
about 100 sets of bills of various amounts purporting to be of
banks of which there is no existence, and the forgers are so

40 FARMS FOR SALE OR RENT. WINTER 0AITIE3.
expert that they can take a one dollar bill and make it into a
ten, or a ten dollar bill and make into a fifty. There are
thousands of bills always in circulation that have been so altered.
Some persons no doubt will say, " If I was there I would not take
a bill of any sort at all;" but they would find that there is no
other circulating medium there; hard dollars cannot be had;
there are at least in the state of Ohio one thousand townships
which could not raise 100 dollars in coin each, in twenty-four
hours, if it would save the lives of a hundred of the principal
inhabitants of the place. However, as it is now four or five
years since I was there, and as they have had since then a good
market for their grain and com, perhaps money may be some
thing more plentiful. There are manufacturers of bogas, which is
the name they give to spurious Mexican dollars, which at one
time, being well executed, had an extraordinary run.

CHAPTER VIII.
FARMS FOR SALE OR RENT. WINTER GAIETIES.
Fraudulent sales of encumbered farms; caution to emigrant pm-chasers — Letting farms
and farming stock *' in shares" — Difficulty of recovering rents — E3xpense of hired
labour — Winter hospitalities and merry-making — Sleighing — Peter Bussey — An English
Chartist's opinion of American republicanism — Indian tradition respecting New Jersey —
Peter Bussey's resources and reverses.
A true bred Yankee, if he has a farm at all, has one for sale ;
he is always on the look out for emigrants, who are the only per
sons who have got money; and if he finds one he will sell if
possible. As the new comer is not acquainted with the law of
selling property; and as a man generally draws up and gives his
own deed, an unthinking stranger will very naturally pay the
money and enter upon the farm ; and as soon as the vendor has
received the price, he is off to the west to buy another uncleared
farm, which he will in a year or two have improved and ready
for sale. After the emigrant has been in the occupation some
time a person waits upon him, and requests the payment of
interest due on money lent upon mortgage of the estate; the pur
chaser knows nothing of this, there is no registry of such deeds,
and he will be compelled to pay; or perhaps the former owner's
wife makes a claim of her thirds, and if she has not signed the
deed she will recover the amount in spite of all that the emigrant
can do : he has no remedy ; the husband of the woman has gone
400 or 600 miles, to nobody knows where, and there is no alter
native; and if he follows his man, the laws being different in
different states, he can do no good; he must make the best he

FARMS FOB SALE OR RENT. WINTER GAITIES. 41
can of his bargain, and compound with the woman. I know
many cases where emigrants have been so imposed upon, and it
behoves them, before paying any money, to take the advice of
some competent and trustworthy person, and learn, if possible,
whether any incumberance is upon the land, or else to keep one-
third of the purchase money in hand for a year or two, in case
there should be a claim unsettled.
Many farms are let upon shares, the owner finding land,
farming utensils, a yoke of oxen and seed ; the tenant giving the
manual labour and general management. When the crops are
reaped, a division takes place, and one-half of the whole produce
goes for the owner's share, and the other to the cultivator. Very
little land is let on a fixed rental, as the collection of rent cannot
be effected in America as easily as in England; the rent due is
only accounted as a common debt, and to recover it a course of
law must be resorted to, in which, if the defendant is a " smart
man," he may keep the claimant out of his money for years.
There is no protection for the landowner unless he can get his
rent paid before-hand, and even in that case he wiU be in the
same predicament in the second year. This being generally the
case, very few persons have more land than they can manage
themselves. They do not often employ labourers, except at hay
time or harvest, the wages being so high as to run away with a
great part of the produce. In some cases of mowing and hay
making the operator gets one-half of the crop for his labour.
The winter is the season of enjoyment in the United States as
well as Canada. When the snow is deep enough for sleighing,
parties of pleasure are the order of the day ; all out-door work is
suspended, the horses are hitched to the sleighs, the parties
muffled up in buffalo skins take their seats, and away they go for
perhaps ten or twenty miles to a tea party and a dance. Of all
travelling this is the most pleasant, if you have good horses, and
some will carry you at the rate of fourteen or fifteen miles per
hour. The motion is easy, more easy than in a railway car, and
if you do come in contact with an old stump or an unseen hole
and get upset, all is soon put to rights again, and you proceed aa
before. When you arrive at the destined place, a set of merry
faces welcome you to the feast, and after you have regaled your
self with the good things provided, the dancing commences,
which continues all night; and, if a great snow storm should
happen, which is nothing strange, perhaps you may be detained
another day and night ; but as all the company are determined to
make one another comfortable, there is no regret expressed, but,
on the contrary, invitations and good wishes are handed about as
if every one was resolved to make the most of the present
enjoyment.

42 FARMS FOR SALE OR RENT, WINTER -GAITlES.
There are great diversities of sleighs, some of which are hand
somely built like a phaeton without wheels ; some completely
closed like a carriage, and some belonging to the farmers are
merely pot crates fixed upon runners. They are always driven
at the full speed of the horses, and I can tell you that the merry
tinkling of the sleigh bells, which by law all must be provided
with, carries with it a sound of agreeable associations, and is not
heard without pleasureable emotions by the most stoical. Parties
who keep no horses or sleighs can, at a reasonable charge, hire
them for particular occasions, if bespoken in time ; but I have
kno^wn every vehicle in tovm engaged above a week before some
particular day. This time is the harvest of livery-stable keepers,
of whom there are not a few in Cleveland, and they make more
money in a good sleighing season than in all the rest of the year
put together.
On my first arrival in New York, an Englishman asked me if
I knew Peter Bussey, who was formerly a delegate to the chartist
convention from Bradford ; and on my answering in the affirma
tive, he said we ¦will call upon him, as he now lives in Front Street
keeping a tavern. Mr. Bussey appeared very stout, and had a
well accustomed house. I congratulated him upon his good
fortune, and asked him how he liked the republican form of
government. He said, " This government is not what it is
cracked up to be, and I believe, if I were to go back to England
with my present experience, I should then become as great an
advocate for Tory measures as ever I was for those of the Chartists."
I replied, " But you seem to be doing very well here, have a well
accustomed house, and plenty of business." " Yes," he said, " but
it is a business which I do not like, and I have made up my mind
to take a farm in Jersey." I told him that I understood that
New Jersey was famed for being the worst State in the Union for
agricultural operations, and that the Indians had a tradition,
that, when the Great Manitou made the continent of America, he
dashed the dirt from his fingers, which falling on a heap made
the present State of New Jersey. Peter, however, subsequently
took the farm and lived upon it two years ; but, with all his
boasted knowledge of farming, he could not make it pay, was
forced to give it up, and went again to New York to keep a tavern,
but as this was in a part of the city where he was not known, he
was soon forced to shut up. He then commenced a newspaper,
but this only continued for about five weeks, and finally I saw
him, four years after my first interview, standing near the kerb
stone in Chatham-street, New York, with a quantity of trinkets
in a wheelbarrow before him, bawling out at the full pitch of his
voice, '• Any article in this 'ere tray for three cents, now is the
time, ladies and gentlemen." He was grown quite thin, and his

CAMP MEETINGS. LAW PRACTICE. 43
skin seemed sadly too big for him, and nothing but his voice re
minded me of the great Bradford Chartist orator. Sic transit
Gloria mundi. The whole of his stock-in-trade at that time
would not amount to three dollars or 12s. sterling, including
his barrow.

CHAPTER IX.
CAMP MEETINGS. LAW PRACTICE.
Gathering to the place of meeting — Devotees and pleasure-seekei-s — Reflections on the
motives and eflfects of Camp Meetings — Litigation — Superabundance of Lawyers —
Precedents from the English Courts— Unceremonious treatment of the Court, not
Contempt — Trial of a Horse case — Hard swearing— The witnesses trade — A witness in
two places at once — Court and bar at high words— No notes to be taken of such inde
corum — Suppression of police reports in the Western Courts — A Burking host.
The excitement attending a camp meeting has often been
adverted to; and being determined to see one, I went to Berea,
a distance of about fifteen miles from Cleveland, where a place
was cleared in the woods of about half an acre for the meet
ing. Parties from all the adjacent parts were flocking to the
meeting in covered waggons containing beds, bedding, cooking
stoves, and provisions. As soon as they arrived, they selected a
suitable site for encampment among the trees, just out of the
bounds of the clearing.
In the enclosure there were about six stands for preachers, and
services were performed on each, two or three at a time in constant
succession. The preachers were vehement and energetic, and
appealed more to the passions than to the reason of the audience.
The greatest decorum was observed during the services, and, though
not one quarter of the assembly were religionists at all, yet they
never interfered; they only attended for amusement, of which there
was no lack. While the devotees were rolling on the ground in
agonizing fervour fearful to behold, the others were enjoying them
selves comfortably with smoking, drinking, or chewing tobacco,
chatting with the women, or talking politics with the men. The
revivalists were, however, otherwise engaged : as soon as one of
them felt an overpowering of the spirit, the preacher descended
from his stand and went and kneeled down beside the woman
(for all I saw were of that sex); he then prayed with her and
exhorted her to hold by Jesus, and ended by singing a hymn, in
which all the congregation joined, and the preacher either visited
another or resumed his place at the stand. One of the reasons
for such an assemblage is that, in many out-of-the-way places,
the people have no church or chapel near to go to, and this is the
only chance they have of hearing, perhaps, once a year the gospel

44 CAMP MEETINGS. LAW PRACTICE.
preached. The members of this meeting were principally of the
Methodist persuasion, but the Baptists, Independents, and Con
gregationalists have also their camp meetings.
At night, when the place is lighted up with fires and pine
flambeaus and the men are preaching with all the fire and energy
they are masters of, and a flow of language perfectly astounding,
it must bring to the mind of any person who has read the works
of Sir Walter Scott, the nocturnal meetings of the old Scotch
Covenanters. What lasting effect the conversion of persons at such places
may have, I am not prepared to say ; but it forcibly struck me
as being something like the conversions of the ancient Galatians,
beginning in the spirit but ending in the flesh. Some of these
meetings last a fortnight, but I was quite satisfied with four or
five hours' inspection, and returned home in the dark. These
meetings are generally held at midsummer, when the weather is
fine and no inconvenience can be felt by encampment in the woods,
protected as they are by covered waggons.
It is almost an impossibility for any man, be he ever so
peaceably inclined, to keep out of law in America. Law is cheap
and the quantity of lawyers is out of all bounds, according to the
number of inhabitants. In the city of Cleveland there are as
many lawyers, with 8000 inhabitants, as there are in Leeds with
160,000. Their fees for defending a client before the lower courts
is about one dollar; and it is laughable to hear the quibbles they
make use of in their pleadings. In the higher courts the fees
are about double, but the quibbling is the same, with the addi
tion of quoting the decisions of the English judges. Indeed,
there is no extraordinary decision come to in England, nor any
extraordinary and unheard of argument successfully employed,
but it is immediately engrafted into the practice of the American
courts. This may seem something curious to a stranger ; but the
Yankees take all advantages, fair and unfair, and as they some
times find many fresh dodges in the ingenious arguments of the
English lawyers ready manufactured to their hand, it has become
the general practice to profit by such precedents of the upper
courts of the old country.
The most frivolous and vexatious causes are constantly brought
before the justices' courts. I have seen plaintiff and defendant
with all witnesses come to the court in one waggon, and after the
cause has been tried, the losing party is seen to abuse the squire
for his unjust decision in open court; but in this free and
enlightened country no notice ¦whatever is taken of it by the
court or any one else: in fact, sometimes these courts are more
like a bear garden than a solemn court of justice. In these lower
courts, acting as counsel, there are a set of men called petty-

CAMP MEETINGS. LAW PRACTICE. 45
foggers, who are not regular lawyers; but any one has the privi
lege to plead for hire. These men make up in noise and audacity
for their want of legal knowledge, and are a complete pest to the
society in which they are located, and a disgrace to any court that
tolerates their impudence.
As a specimen of a Yankee trial, I will just give a faithful
report of one; and, as I was well acquainted with the whole par
ties, I will vouch for the truth. Mr. Harland, a butcher, had a
horse to sell, and  was wishful to buy it ; they, therefore,
adjourned to old Denham's tavern to make the bargain, and, after
chaffing and cheapening, the price was fixed at twenty dollars;
but, as the buyer had only ten dollars, it was verbally agreed that
the remaining ten dollars should be paid in two months. As soon
as the time expired, Harland waited upon the defendant, and
requested payment of the balance, but was told that nothing was
owing to him ; the defendant had bought the horse for ten dollars
and paid for him, and he would not give him another cent. As
there were no persons present when the bargain took plaoe, of
course neither could bring witnesses. Harland, however, com
menced a law suit against the buyer, and on the day fixed for the
trial the defendant was seen go into the justice's office, and select
out three men who he knew would suit his purpose, and calling
them into the middle of the street, addressed them thus : — " Do
you three, all of you, recollect being at old Denham's last May day,
when I bought a horse for ten dollars of Mr. Harland?" Oh !
yes, they all said at once. One said it was a bay horse, with two
white fore legs; another said it was a grey horse. " No, no," says
the defendant, " he was a black horse, with a white star on his
forehead." "Oh, yes," they all remembered : " and if you recollect,
after I had paid the price agreed for, say ten dollars, I stood half
a dollar and Harland stood another half dollar for the company."
" Oh yes, we will swear that before justice, judge, or jury in any
court ofthe world." " Then," says the defendant, " there is a sub-
pena for each of you, and half a dollar into the bargain ; now come
into court and let us have the trial over." The cause was called
upon ; these three men swore as above, and poor Harland was
nonsuited. Now, the justice knew as well as the defendant,
that these men were perjuring themselves; but he would have
said afterwards, if questioned on the subject, " If the men are
swearing falsely, I cannot help it; the plaintiff has his action
against them ; it is sufficient for me to take such evidence as is
brought before me."
Now this is no unusual occurrence ; the justice's offices are
always crowded from morning till night with men, who are ready
to swear to any circumstance you wish to dictate to them ; the fee
is half a dollar, and there are tens of thousands of persons in this

46 CAMP MEETINGS. LAW PRACTICE.
free and enlightened country who have no other visible means of
gaining a living.
I once had a trial myself, and was very near losing it by a
subpenaed witness, and should have done so but for a lucky
thought that just struck me at the time. The circumstance was
thus: — George Throup owed me ten dollars, and I was rather
pushing him for the balance, and told him that, if he did not pay
in a week,J-would summon him before the squire. He, however,
did not give me time for this, but immediately commenced an
action against me for ten dollars, alleged to be due to him for
fiUing my ice house, and that I had charged him four dollars too
much for a barrel of beef, which he swore I had sold him for four
dollars, and not for eight dollars, which was the actual price.
When the trial came on, he stated to the squire that he had filled
the ice house for me, for which he charged sixteen dollars; but
as a friend of mine had made a written agreement with him to
do the whole job for six dollars, this was conclusive against
Throup, so far as the ice house was concerned; but then there
was the barrel of beef ; and he brought a witness to swear that
he was present when the bargain was made, and that four dollars
was the price agreed to be paid for it. The squire looked at me
and said, " What can you say to that, Mr. Brown ?" I said that
the evidence was false; but the justice said, "I shall be
forced to give this against you, as you have no evidence." The
thought then struck me, and I called Colonel Abbey, the chief
constable, as a witness for me in the following manner : —
" Do you recollect being up in Michigan last winter, about the
10th or 1 2th of January ?" " Yes."
" Do you recollect seeing the witness there at that time ?"
" Yes." " Then, Mr. Benedick," I said, " Please to refer to your books
and see if there was not a warrant issued against this man, along
with six others at that time, for the murder of the landlady at
Bedford, and that this man had made his escape and got away
to Michigan, where Mr. Abbey saw him on the very day he swears
he was present in my house. When Mr. Abbey came back he
regretted that he had not the warrant then on him, that he might
have taken the rascal into custody." This concluded my defence,
and when the squire turned to where the witness stood, to ask
him how he could be at these two places at once, the bird was
flown ; he had made his exit, and the justice awarded to me the
whole of my claim, but of which I never collected one cent. This
is the way that Yankee justice is dispensed, and the way that
causes are got up and supported in thousands of instances.
I was once in the court during a trial about the bank, when
Judge Hayward called Counsellor Paine a liar. Mr. Paine re.

SOME AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS. 47
torted and called the Judge a liar, a thief, and a swindler. The
language used was so extraordinary, that I took out my tablets
for the purpose of taking short-hand notes, which being perceived
by Burgess, an officer of the court, he whispered me to desist, as,
he said, if it were known that I should make the same public, I
should certainly be tarred and feathered, the Yankees being
very tenacious about the honour of their country, and not liking,
above all things, that the real truth should be published to the
world. There are no police, reports published in the West ; they will
not allow it, as it would detract from their honour; and hundreds
of crimes, such as murders, robberies, and swindling are kept
closely in the dark, as much as possible, for this purpose. There
was living in Cleveland about five years before the time I was
there, a Yankee Dutchman, called Von Volkenberg, who kept a.
tavern immediately upon the banks of the Cleveland and Ports
mouth canal. Many emigrant travellers stopped at this house,
and many were found after a few days drowned in the canal. It
was always suspected that they had been 'drugged by the landlord
and thrown out of the windows into the canal; and, a fire happen
ing in the house, about twenty trunks were found empty in the
cellars, which no doubt had belonged to some of these unfortunate
emigrants. At last, however, he was caught in the act, was tried,
found guilty, and sentenced to the State's prison for five years ;
but he made his escape, and was seen about Cleveland at times,
and was not taken up, till some robberies had been committed in
which he was implicated, and he was then taken again into
custody, but made his escape the second night, and fled to the
West, and was never again heard of while I stopped in Cleveland.

CHAPTER X.
SOME AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS.
Common use of celebrated names — IHj-ria ; aged looks of its people — Premature decay of
native Americans — Respectful and tendertreatraent ofthe fair sex — Divorces — Barter —
Wheat alone saleable for Cash — Encroachment of Lake Erie on the city of Cleveland —
Corporation Contracts — Railway formations — The Yankee Pile-driver — Suspension of
railway works for want of funds — Depreciation of railway paper — Militia training —
" Whipping" the British army in effigy— Triumphs of the fourth of July— The
The Canadian rebellion — American sympathisers and British renegades — Runaway
Slaves— Pursuit and escape — A Negro Pastor— Flattering prospects for Emigrants —
Disappointed hopes — A Leeds Emigrant's experience.
The names of places in America is at first startling to an old
countryman. Ask a man in 'New York state where he has been,
and perhaps he will say he had been living at Troy, but had left
there and gone to Syracuse and thence to Rome. There are also

48 SOME AMERIC.VN^ CHARACTERISTICS.
the names of all the great men that history speaks about, from
Lycurgus to Cincinnatus; and Prance, Spain, and Portugal are also
"located" by name in many towns and villages; there are Paris,
Madrid, Toledo, and Lisbon; and whatever any of those cities
were famed for, you are sure to be reminded of it by either some
street in the place, or perhaps by a newspaper. There is one
city, about twenty miles from Cleveland, called Illyria, a town
beautifully built, with a handsome church, square, and court
house. It is situate upon the Black River, about four miles from
its embouchure on Lake Erie, and contains about three thousand
souls. The land in the locality is a rich black mould, which
tinges the water, and gives the name to the creek. The harbour
in its outlet is called Charleston, and is famed for the quantities
of wheat exported from thence. The country, however, is very
unhealthy: fever agues are almost universal to all who are not
acclimated, and indeed many of the old settlers are taken ofi' by
this malady. In traversing these regions you will find many
inhabitants whom you would take to be at least seventy years old,
but upon inquiry you will perhaps find none above forty-five, nor
women above thirty-five, unless they are old-country bred folks.
The native women, all over the Union, at twenty-seven look as old
as an Englishwoman of forty-five; but whether this is owing to
their early marriages or to their manner of living I am not
physiologist enough to determine. I only state the fact as I found
it. It certainly is not brought about by any ill usage the fair
sex meet with in America, for there is no country under the sun
where women are paid so much deference to, or where they are
more carefully nurtured. If any man should dare to abuse his
wife, the whole neighbourhood would meet the affront, and a con
tinuation of such treatment would form a good ground for a bill
of divorce. In fact, there are more divorces in one year in the
state of Ohio than there are in ten in the United Kingdom. In
the year 1843 there were 447 bills of divorcement sued out in
that state, and they were principally at the suit of the women,
whose husbands had behaved ill, neglected them or absquatulated
(run away).
In consequence of the great scarcity of a circulating medium
in the Western States already noticed, a great portion of the
business is done on the principles of barter. A farmer bringing
his hogs, his wool, or any other of his produce to market, barters
it at a store for what necessaries he may want, except wheat,
which is always a cash article, and is the only thing that can be
relied upon by the farmer to procure the necessary cash to pay
his taxes with. He may sometimes sell his butter, eggs, and
fire-wood to new comers for cash : but in general, barter ! barter !
is the only means of quitting his stock.

SOME AMERICAN CllAIiACTERlSTlCS. 49
A farmer who grows no wheat is very badly off to raise his
taxes. I have known such instances as the following : — a farmer
will come to the city and bring from his farm a load of fire-wood
for sale : perhaps he would come into my house and ask if I
would buy a load of wood. I should say, no, I was well supplied.
He would then say he would take a small price for it if he could
be paid in cash. I should then ask him what sort of wood he
had; he would answer beech, maple, and hickory. I then should
step out to see it, and finding it fresh chopped, I should say I
cannot buy green wood, I want some dry, ready for the cooking
stove. He would reply that fine weather would soon dry it
sufiiciently for any purpose. I should then take out half a dollar
in silver, and say, 1 will give you this for the load ; but he would
not take it. I should then say, " Well peddle it round the city,
and if you can get more for it, take it; and if you cannot, come
to me at last and I ¦will stand to my ofier." He would say " That
is fair, however;" and perhaps half an hour before sun-down he
would return, and say, " I guess you shall have the load of wood
as I cannot do better." When he had got the money he would
then state, that he had only so much money (naming the sum) to
raise, and then he would do for another year without a cent more
money ; and he would then start ¦vrith his two horses and waggon
on his way home rejoicing.
The washing away of the banks of Lake Erie and its encroach
ment, by the hea^vy rains, upon the city, suggested to the
minds of the corporation the necessity of piling and banking the
margin, and grading the banks into a regular slope. They,
therefore, contracted with a person named Whittlesey, brother to
the judge of that name, to do the job, for which he was to receive
eighteen doUars per foot running measure, and be paid in city
debentures at seven years with interest at the rate of seven per
cent. He accomplished the portion he had contracted for; and
the improvement being very manifest, they advertised for contracts
to have the remainder done. As I thought a good job might be
made out of it, I sent in my tender, with the names of my sureties
and the terms I proposed, viz., fifteen dollars per foot, one-third
to be paid in cash as the work proceeded, and the two-thirds to
remain tiU the contract was completed. When this tender came
before the council, not being according to the terms of the adver
tisement, it was negatived, and Mr. Whittlesey was again chosen
to do the whole. However, another member going into the
chamber and hearing the resolutions just passed, got up, saying,
" Gentlemen, what are you about? Shall it go abroad that this
city is so poor that it cannot pay five dollars per foot for a con
tract which will save the city three dollars in seven years.
Better let the banks remain as they are, than proclaim to the

50 SOME AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS.
world this evidence of our poverty and bankruptcy." This was a
poser, especially as I was an Englishman ; and the resolution
giving Mr. Whittlesey the job was rescinded; and the meeting
adjourned sine die; and no more was done in the matter during
the time I stopped in Cleveland.
In the making of railroads the Americans have some plans
which would bear transplanting to England, especially the
Yankee pile-driver. There was one employed upon the Ohio
railroad which I saw in operation, and I never saw a more com
plete machine, nor one which did its work more effectually. The
land in the whole region, called the Western Reserve or New
Connecticut, is composed of a deep bed of sand, and in making
railroads, piles are used for the whole distance. When, therefore,
the roadway is levelled, they bring up the pile-driver, having
ready a quantity of piles sufficient for the purpose lying on
each side.
The pile-driver is a locomotive engine, and when in work
draws up by a rope and pulley the pile, lets it down through a
hole in the frame, and the rammers are immediately working upon
them. As soon as the pile is driven home, a circular saw under
neath cuts off the head of the pile, and the machine moves itself
about four feet forward ready for another pair of piles, one for
each side ; and so it continues, and will drive about half a mUe
of piles a day. The wood employed being generally hard wood,
the tops are sold for fire wood. I purchased one mile's produce
of this, for which I agreed to pay ten dollars ; but as the works
were stopped for want of funds, I could never have my bargain
completed; and the railway was suspended, when I came away.
The dollar bills they issued to carry on the undertaking were
selling at twenty-five cents to the dollar, or for one quarter of
their nominal value.
Eor about two days in the year it is expected that the whole
of the male adult population should turn out in order to be
trained in the military exercise. Although this regulation is not
peremptorily enforced, yet there are a great many who do attend.
Instead of muskets, they have sticks, and they march and counter
march tiU they are well tired, and then they retire to the taverns
to " liquor." But in some cities, such as Cleveland, they have a
regularly organised company or two, who have a training day
every month, and are clothed in uniform and have proper arms,
music and a stand of colours. I have seen them go through their
evolutions and fire rounds of ball cartridge at a target, which is
always the full length picture of an English soldier. In one of
these experiments which I witnessed, the company of greys fired
five rounds at the distance of eighty-two yards, but not one hit
the mark. This put Mr, Augustus Mirvin, the captain, in a

SOME AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS. 51
furious passion, and he seized the musket of One of the men, and
running within six or seven yards of the target, managed to put
the ball into the breast of the picture. Then all the men were
marched to about the same distance, and fired a volley into it
which tore the figure to ribbons ; they then marched in triumph
through the town, and carried the tom picture in front as a
trophy of their prowess. They did not fail to stop opposite my
house, knowing me to be an Englishman ; but I stepped out and
told Mr. Mirvin that I had seen it all, and that he had shewed
his men how to shoot an English soldier in effigy at the distance
of half a dozen yards.
But of all the absurdities practised in that country, those of
the fourth of July are supreme. The day is kept as a national
holiday. Guns are fired, bonfires are kindled ; parties of pleasure
are got up, and a public dinner is always subscribed for — the
after-dinner speeches of which consist of such bombast and
rhodomontade as would outface an Irish mob orator. The
Yankees must, on that day, have something savoury, and the most
grandiloquent speaker is always chosen to give the expected
and necessary oration.
When the Rebellion was raging in Canada, caused mainly by
the emissaries from the States, the sympathisers in the various
cities bordering upon that country formed themselves into lodges,
called Hunters' Lodges, of which there was one in Cleveland.
The members of these lodges were expected to meet every fort
night, and a rebel from Canada, who had formerly been in the
English army and had received a grant of land from the Govern
ment for his ser^vices, was the Inspecting General. His name was
M'Leod, a Scotchman. He had been a prominent leader in the
rebellion, and like the rest of the ringleaders made his escape to
the States, where he continued to agitate among the sympathisers
against the country which had given him birth, had promoted
him in her service, and granted 500 acres of good land as a
testimony that his services had been duly appreciated. All these
benefits, however, were not sufficient to satisfy his turbulent
mind, and he joined the rebels and helped with all his might to
bring destruction upon his neighbours. But the plans of the
freebooters were promptly met, and some of them received the
punishment due to their crimes. Yet it is to be regretted that
the greatest delinquents made their escape.
General M'Leod is now employed in training the lodges from
Buffalo to Detroit, and he is constantly on the move, while his
family is starving in Cleveland. One son of this man I had in
my employ for nearly a year as a coachman, a very decent young
man he was, and I have heard him regret a thousand times the
infatuation of his unfortunate father, in giving up his prospects
B 2

52 SOME AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS.
in Canada for the precarious and inglorious subsistence he received
from these infamous lodges.
Another General of this corps, called Adjutant-General Smith,
came and boarded at my house for a fortnight ; but no money
being at forthcome, I would keep him no longer ; and as he could
not pay for his board, he left me his trunk, which I kept till I
left Cleveland ; and then I took out the contents, — a measuring
tape, an old ring, and some papers of which there was plenty.
These papers were to be given to recruits on their enrolment into
the grand army for the liberation of Canada, and entitled the
holder to have a cultivated farm in that country at the conclusion
of the war, the property of some poor loyalist whom they expected
to dispossess, and so gain a fine farm with all appendages ready
to their hands. This however is a consummation not likely to
come soon to pass, especially by the agency of these lodges, which
are composed of the greatest rascals upon the face of the earth.
The winter of 1844 was to have been the time they intended to
make another brush in Canada ; but information was given at
Washington, and two guns to be used in the expedition were seized
in Cleveland.
Cleveland being a great shipping port of the Ohio, where
vessels are in the constant practice of sailing for Canada, the
place is made the main resort for all, or a great part of, the run
away slaves from Kentucky and Tenessee. There were also some
good friends of emancipation in the town, who always endeavoured
to facilitate the escape of any one that came, or to defend him
if che bloodhounds had laid hold of him. One day, towards
evening, one of these good. Samaritans came to ask me if I could
take in a man and his horse for the night; and, on my reply in
the affirmative, he said the man was a nigger. I told him that
the colour of the man's face made no difference in my estimation ;
if the man came he should be well treated. The man and horse
then came; the horse was cared for in the stable, and the man came
into the house. Supper being ready, he was invited to partake :
but all I could say would not induce him to sit down with the
rest of the company ; for he said he knew it would do me much
harm, and that, if there were any native born Americans at
table, whether they were whigs, democrats, locofocos, or barn
burners, they would immediately leave the table as soon as
darky presumed to sit down with them. He, therefore, had his
supper alone, and after having a chat with me for an hour in the
bar room, be was shown to bed. In about an hour after he had
gone to bed, a person came and wished to see him. I told him
he was in bed and I would not disturb him for any one; he might
call in the morning. However, he came again, and insisted on
seeing my guest, as he said the fellow had committed a robber}''

SOME AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS. 53
at Mesopotamia, and he wanted to arrest him. I asked to see his
warrant; but he had none. I then asked what he had stolen,
and was answered ten dollars. I asked him if it was in bills or
specie, but he did not know. The company then took up the
matter, and told the man that he was a blood-hunter, that would
take a false oath to get the nigger into custody, and then get
false warrants and carry him to sell in Kentucky or Virginia;
but in this instance he would be off his scent, and would get
nothing but his labour for his pains. The man went away again
and called up the justice, and insisted on having a warrant and a
constable of the town to serve it; both of which he very speedily
obtained. However, as soon as he had left my house the second
time, I went up and waked the nigger, and told him of the
charge there was against him. With tears in his eyes he pro
tested that never in his life had he stolen anything from any
one, except that he. had stolen himself bodily from his hard
hearted master, and having been furnished with a horse and
money in Cincinnati, he was making his way to the land of the
free, Canada. I told him to get up and follow me: he was
quickly dressed, and I took him down the back stairs and hid
him in the summer house in the garden till I could get him to a
place of safety. I sent my son to the coachman of the temperance
house, himself a nigger, to come and to bring his coach to the top
of the next street. Harry accordingly came in a few minutes,
we got the run-away slave off, and then almost immediately the
blood-hunter and constable Smith came to seek for him. I told
Mr. Smith that the bird was flown. He, however, would search
the bed where the negro had slept, which satisfied him; but the
blood-hunter claimed the horse and got it, which he afterwards
sold for fifty dollars. The man watched all the steam and sailing-
boats for three nights and two days; but we got the fugitive, on
the third moming, aboard a steam boat to Detroit, where he stepped
on the deck of an English steamer, which landed him at Maiden
in a few minutes, and the man was safe.
This circumstance got me a great deal of ill-will from the
democrats in Cleveland, and many a paragraph was pointed at
the EngUshman who had assisted a darky to escape from slavery.
In about a year after this event, having myself removed to
Canada, I was walking a few miles out of the city of Toronto,
where I was then residing. My second son was with me, when
we met a coloured man dressed very tidily, having a new suit of
black clothes on, and clerical bands to his cravat. On meet
ing, a flash of recognition was passed between us, but at the
moment I could not bethink me who he was. I, however, looked
back, when I perceived he had also stopped, and coming towards
me, he said, " Pray, sir, did you live in Cleveland about a year

54 SOME AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS.
ago, and keep a tavern?" I told him that I did, and that he was
the runaway whom I had assisted to make his escape. He fell
down upon his knees to retum me thanks, while the tears rolled
down his sable cheeks. I told him to reserve his thanks for God
Almighty; I was as thankful as he was, but I had done no more
than my duty, which any other Englishman would have done
under tbe same circumstances. He then told me the remainder
of his history; as how he had been invited to come to Canada
and take charge of a negro congregation, and that as soon as he
was safe landed at Maiden, he had made his way, and joyfully
joined his brethren, and was now comfortably settled and perfectly
happy. He gave me many pressing invitations to call and see
him, and I promised to do so if ever I came near to his residence;
but I never had that pleasure. My sons, however, went one
Sunday to hear him preach, and the report they gave was, that
he made a most eloquent sermon, and at the conclusion finished
with this remark — " I have a favor to beg ! that my brothers will
not call upon me on Saturdays, if possible, for any spiritual
advice, as on that day, I have to study the subject of my Sunday's
discourse; but at the same time,' if any of you comes to market,
and is wishful to leave your pastor a goose, a duck or ^ iowl for
his Sunday's dinner, I do not wish by any ineans to debar you
from it. I only wish you to leave it with my housekeeper, and
call upon me on the Monday following."
Many persons have left England, and, having got fixed in
America, and during the time of their novitiate, thought that
everything in that country was as brilliant as the weather, have
written home to the friends they had left behind such flaming
accounts, as have made many a heart pant to be with them and
share in the glorious doings in America. After a while, when
the ready money they had taken with them was gone, they have
begun to slacken in their correspondence, as it was too expensive :
the postage of twenty-five cents both ways was more than they
could afford very often; their letters were now few and far between :
but whether it is from the wish not to contradict their first ¦
impressions, or to make good the old proverb that misery likes
company, their letters run in the same boasting strain as at the
first, and, in accordance with the jargon of the country, praising
up the land of their adoption and the institutions they had then
the happiness to live under. Their friends have been tempted to
leave their comfortable homes in England to go and join their
relations, who were in fact only obtaining a miserable existence
in the back settlements of America. I have seen many disap
pointments of this sort to emigrants, some of whom, having been
comfortable before, when they saw miserable shanties where
they expected mansions, immediately returned while they had

SOME AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS, 55
the means ; but by far the greatest number would amalgamate
their finances with their relations and so spend the remainder of
their miserable lives, buried in the forest. I will relate a case in
illustration. A Mr. L. S. N. left Wortley, near Leeds, a good
many years ago, and often wrote to his relations pressing them
to join him in his good fortune. After a long continuance of
such letters, all in the same strain, teUing his sister's husband,
Mr. B., that he had a farm of 160 acres, a good house to live in,
and a large woollen factory carried by a powerful stream of water;
that he kept seven cows, four horses, poultry and hogs innumerable,
and had every necessary of life and most of the luxuries at their
command, the desired effect was produced, and Mr. and Mrs. B.
and their two daughters started from Leeds for this land of pro
mise. On their voyage across the Atlantic they experienced such a
succession of bad weather that their ship was dismasted, and they
lay like a log of wood upon the water for many days in momentary
expectation of going to the bottom. However, they were fallen
in with by a vessel from China which carried them to Martha's
Vineyard, in Rhode Island. Rescued from their perils though
¦with reduced finances, they thought all would be well when they
got to Scrubgrass (ominous name), in the North Western part of
Pennsylyania, and they made their way by New York to Phila
delphia, and from thence by the canal through the Alleghany moun
tains. After about a week's travelling upon this canal they came
to Franklin, at which place they had to leave the water and hire
a waggon to take them to the brother's settlement. Just before
dusk they arrived at an old log hut, dark as a dungeon, with
only two windows in it of about a foot square each, and of the
most miserable and forlorn appearance. On knocking at the
door, Mr. L. S. N. came out, and seeing who they were, to do him
justice, welcomed them right heartily. Mr. B., as soon as he saw
him cried out, "Oh what hast thou been doing to bring me and
my family to this miserable place T but the other in a good
humoured way stated " We are not so house proud as you are in
Wortley; but we get along as well I can tell you"; and,
addressing his wife, desired that supper should be prepared for
them immediately. Accordingly the Johnny cakes were kneaded,
the pork was cut for fryiug, and the coffee was prepared as
quickly as possible. When these things were placed on the
table, the old settler said, "You must excuse sugar, we have
none ; we are thirty miles from a store ; and though, we
made as much maple sugar as we thought would suffice
yet, ha^vdng been too liberal with it, it is now quite
exhausted." "Well, well, replied Mr. B  , bring us some
milk." " Nay, we cannot do that," was the answer, " we have
none." "Why," says Mr. B  , you wrote me, and I have

oQ SOME AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS.
your letters in my pocket at this moment, that you had seven cow9,
and how can say you have no milk!" "It is quite true," said
L. S. N., " that we had seven cows in summer ; but having no
hay and no fodder for them, four of them have been starved to
death, and we have only kept the other three alive by felling large
trees and allowing them to brouse upon the buds, which always
appear before the setting in of winter." Of course this was a
closer in respect to milk ; and next the coffee was found fault
with ; but when they were informed that it was made from bran
which was saved when they had any wheat to grind, the new
comers were satisfied that the beverage was certainly better than
could have been expected. Their pork having been fed on -nuts
and acorns in the wood, and called shackfed, next came under the
discussion, and with a similar result. The beds which the party
had brought with them haying been spread upon the floor of the
house, they soon retired to rest. Mr. B  was still in hopes, from
the cheerfulness of his brother-in-law, that when he saw his woollen
factory in the morning, he would be better satisfied, and from
previous description he supposed that the factory would be at
lea^t as large as any in Leeds or the neighbourhood ; but what
was his surprise in the morning to see the boasted factory
dwindled down to a shabby frame building about 24 feet square
and two stories high ; the machinery consisted of one carder 24
inches wide, one swift and a breast with a single worker upon it ;
in fact the whole engine would stand upon a common card table,
such as is found in the houses of the lower classes in Yorkshire.
He had one billy of 21 spindles, and a jenny of 30 spindles ;
these with two narrow looms were all that constituted this wonder
ful woollen factory. Mr. B  was so indignant, that he was for
starting off back immediately ; but his wife and daughters pre
vailed upon him to stop for a short time.
He wrote me a letter of which the above is the substance, and
requested me to send him word how Cleveland was situated, and
if people could get anything fit to eat there, as in the place were
he then was, he could neither live nor half live. I wrote him
that, bad as everything was in Cleveland, yet we could always get
the best of meat, bread, fruit and vegetables, and that I should
advise him to set off on foot to see me, and if he liked my place
better than Scrubgrass, I would lend him my horses and omnibus
to fetch his wife and daughters. I told him that the distance
being only in a direct line about 150 miles, a Yankee would think
nothing at all of the journey. However, he did not relish the
journey of 150 miles on foot, but as soon as he got my letter he
hired a waggon, got his- baggage packed, and started off, bidding
an everlasting farewell to Scrubgrass and its famous woollen
factory.

MORE CHARACTERISTICS. 57
In about three days he arrived at my house almost over
joyed to find himself, as he said, at something like a home ; and
while his wife and daughters were with my wife and daughter sat
round the kitchen fire, all five crying at the miseries related, Mr.
B  and myself were discussing a mint julep and^the fragrant
weed in the bar, and he has many times confessed to me, that that
night was the happiest he ever passed in his life.

CHAPTER XI.
MORE CHARACTERISTICS.
Recession of the Margin of take Erie — Natural Terraces — Beautiful villa sites — Extensive
coal beds near Cleveland — Township boundaries and Roads — Glorious sunsets — -
Condition of popular schools and need of raform — Electioneering habits — Payment
of election bills — Locofocos — Ballot voting — Presidential election — General Harrison — ¦
Corrupt practices of tbe -VMiigs — President Tyler — Government patronage — Sudden
conversion of expectants — Impertinent questions — National conceit — Rubbing posts
for loafers — Sheep wanting shepherds — A sympathiser's exploit in Canada — Naming
of children — An Irish family in search of a land without taxes — Their disappointment
and retui'u to Canada — Millers' wages — Anti-Renters.
The banks of Lake Erie at some remote period have run above
twenty miles in-land, and there are regular rises or terraces still
existing, which plainly show that they have formerly been the
shores of the lake. There are three rising embankments, as if
done by the hand of man at certain distances from its present
margin, which have been used time out mind by the Indians as
roads. Two of these embankments approach each other near
Cleveland within a quarter of a mile, and run parallel for several
miles; the main road to Buffalo, called Euclid Street, is made to
run exactly between them, and this has been taken advantage of,
beautiful houses and villas having been built upon each embank
ment, at an elevation of about fifteen feet above the road with a
gradual descent down to it. There is not a more charming place
in the world for country houses, — room enough for gardens and
pleasure grounds in front, while behind the cultivated farms
extend to the bush, which is generally within a quarter of a mile.
On the third bank are the coal mines ; they are worked without
shafts, being entered on the level, and the beds are in thickness
about five feet; the coals are about the same in quality as those
found in the neighbourhood of Leeds, and answef well for the
purpose of fuel or for the making of gas, and they are sent to the
different cities of Canada for that purpose. In private houses,
however, they make very little use of them, as all their habits
have been long familiar with wood, and not many houses have
fire places or stoves suitable for burning anything else, although
coal would be found much cheaper. The price it is sold at in
Cleveland is from eight to ten cents per bushel, or 4d. to 5d.

58 MORE CHARACTERISTICS.
English, and a bushel is supposed to weigh about eighty-four
lbs. There is a growing trade in this commodity, which at some
future day will become of the utmost importance; at the rate at
which land is now clearing, the present supply of fire-wood will
soon be exhausted, and well will it be for the state of Ohio that
they have this inexhaustible bed of coal in store for that con
tingency. The bed extends in breadth about 400 miles, and in length
1500, and no doubt but coal will be found from the state of
Maine to the Rocky Mountains.
The townships in the new states are generally laid out in
squares of five miles each way, and the boundary of each is carried
in a perfect line, irrespective of any road, mountain or water
course. Indeed some ofthe boundaries will cross a stream twenty
times in the distance of three or four miles. The roads are made
in general in the form of a cross, right through the middle of the
township; and the village, so called, is in the exact centre, where
a post office, a church, and a public house are sure to be found, as
well as a blacksmith's shop and a town school. The bye roads
diverge from these main streets at right angles, which are again
crossed, and the farms are all numbered, which makes it per
fectly easy for any person to find the farm he is in want of.
The main roads, though sometimes dignified with the name of
streets, and with turnpikes upon them, are kept in a shocking
manner; in winter time they are almost impassable; there are
holes in some of them which would almost bury a horse, and if
their four-wheeled waggons were not made of such excellent
materials and such good workmanship they would not be able to
get along at alL But, when snow is on the ground, wheels are
dispensed with, and all the farm produce is carried to market
upon sleighs. There are, however, government roads, which for
1500 miles run due west, are macadamized the whole way, and
kept in constant good repair. This line, when completed, will
run right through the Rocky Mountains, and only terminate at
the Pacific Ocean.
The most glorious sight that ever mortal man beheld is the
sunset upon the Western Lakes; the purple, gold, and crimson
colours are of the most gorgeous description. I have often gazed
with wonder and delight upon the picture; and, though I had
seen the sun rising from the summit of Snowdon, and had seen
some of the clear skies in many European countries, yet this was
the most brilliant and the most beautiful of aU I had ever seen;
the sight alone was almost worth a man's while travelling a
thousand miles to see.
Of all the reforms wanted in the United States, that of common
schools requires most attention. School houses are to be found in

MORE CHARACTERISTICS. 59
every township (or town as a plot of land five miles square is
called), but the masters are so badly remunerated and so lightly
esteemed, that they are for the most part as ignorant of the duties
of their office as the oxen of the field. They are expected to
board out among the farmers, whose sons are under their tuition,
and so they travel about for a home from one house to another,
never, perhaps, stopping more than a month in one lodging. The
annuity which they are entitled to, over and above their board,
can never be collected, for the farmers consider that it is so much
money thrown away; and so these poor pedagogues drag on a
miserable existence, changing their situations from bad to worse,
and can never raise themselves to anything like a comfortable
"getting along."' No competent man wiU spend his time in a
school room under such circumstances, as situations for qualified
men, as clerks to merchants or lawyers, are easily obtained; and
there a man has a chance of advancing himself, and of becoming
by diligence either a partner or sole principal. This state of
things must continue till the State Governments make a radical
reform in all such institutions, compelling all candidates to
undergo a strict examination as to their competency for their
duties, enforcing better regulations in the conducting of such
establishments, guaranteeing the masters a certain and fixed
salary, and by these means raising the character of the school
masters and placing them on that respectable footing which the
importance of their functions requires. The books also which are
used in such schools are in as much need of being reformed as
the schools themselves. Many of those in present use contain
lying accounts of the great feats performed by some imagined
hero of the revolution, in discomfitting three or four times their
number of Britishers. It is high time that all this, tending to
foster a bad feeling between the two countries, were done away
with, and not instilled into the minds of the youth of the rising
generation, for, " What education did at first receive.
Our ripened age confirms us to believe."
The various elections for members of Congress, for members of
the state legislature, and for corporate offices, take up much time
of the lazy part of the population in going from one bar room to
another and talking politics. Indeed, from one year's end to
another it is the everlasting talk, and whether the party be whig,
democrat, locofoco, or barnburner, the same cuckoo note is
sounded, and the ears of the customers are dinned with their
cursed jargon.
But upon the eve of an election all the passions of the parties
are excited to the utmost pitch; and if you take any notice
whatever of any party, you may believe that the entire salvation

60 MORE CHARACTERISTICS.
of the country depends upon the party who should be chosen at
the election, as the crisis is just then at hand; and if the opposing
party should unfortunately be elected, then all the boasted privi
leges of the most free and enlightened nation upon the face of
the earth are gone forever. Agitation is never at a stand-still;
there is always some man or measure to advocate or depreciate;
and the whole society is kept in a ferment of hot water con
tinually. As a specimen of the way in which city elections are carried
on, I will relate what they were and are in Cleveland.
At the election of mayor, aldermen, and marshal for the city
of Cleveland, the committee of Dr. Milnes (for mayor), two others
(for aldermen), and Colonel Abbey (for city marshal), sent for me
a day or two before the election, and asked me if I would lend
them my omnibus, man, and horses, for the purposes of bringing
up their voters on the election day, which I agreed to do for six
dollars. The Doctor then said, " you must also provide refresh
ments for the voters ;" to which also I agreed, on the condition
that one of the committee should sit at my house in order to see
that no improper person should be admitted, as I was not
acquainted sufficiently to discriminate. This was called an excel
lent suggestion, and on the day was punctually acted upon. The
voting, although by ballot, went merrily on, and ended by the
party at my house coming off conquerors. Then a supper was
ordered for the committee, and drinking and speechifying was
carried on till about eleven o'clock, at which time I carried in
my bill, amounting in the whole to eighteen dollars. The com
mittee stated that a meeting would be held in the morning, and
the money would be paid during the day. However, weeks and
weeks passed away and no money could be had. I waited upon
the mayor many times and he declared he had no funds, but
would pay his share if I would take it out in physic !_ which, as
neither I nor my family were sick, I respectfully declined. He
then said he would give me an order upon David Hirsh, who had
a store in the dock, for his share, say six dollars. I thought I
might as well have something as nothing, so I took the order and
went to find Mr. Hirsh. He, however, had not opened his ware
house for above a month, and it was with the utmost difficulty
that I found him ; but he promised to meet me in his store the
following moming, and he would allow me the amount of my
order in any sort of goods which I could select out of his stock.
When I got there I found his brandy all foisty, and he had no
sugar, tea, or coffee, and indeed nothing worth anything, except
a good stock of locofoco matches. I, therefore, to close the
account, took out the whole six dollars in locofoco matches ; and
this is the general way of paying debts incurred in elections, and

MORE CHARACTERISTICS. 61
well may the party using such dodges be styled Locofocoes. The
parties are so distinct and well known that, although the voting
is by ballot or rather by ticket, every voter is as well known and
how he votes, as in this country with open voting; but there is
no list afterwards published, nor would such a work be tolerated.
The election of President of the United States is carried on
with all the rancour and all the corruption that can possibly be
used. When General Harrison was elected President, and Captain
Tyler for Vice-President, the whigs having been out of office for
twelve years were determined to carry their man at whatever cost.
In the city of New York they hired a thousand men, the very
scum of the earth, to vote. Their wages were a dollar a day,
with roast beef and hard cider as much as they chose. At that
time the waterworks from Croton to New York were building, so
these men took the name of pipe-layers ; they were brought up
and polled in all the forty-eight wards of New York, then sent off
immediately to Philadelphia, Albany, and to all other places that
they could get to in time to vote. These men took the necessary
oaths at all and every place, and were the means of carrying the
election with a great majority, and poor Harrison, a very quiet
and inoffensive man, was elected President. But the cares, the
anxiety, and the labour he was subjected to, brought him in
one month's time to an untimely grave. He received 5000 letters
a day from different persons soliciting offices, every office under
the federal government, from the highest to the lowest, becoming
vacant at every new election, and the patronage being always
exercised by the new chief officer, and the old incumbents tumbled
out neck and crop. This was too much for a man who was much
debilitated by living in a warm climate, and brought from his
retirement where he might have lived many years longer; and the
United States lost a valuable, because an honest, citizen: and,
according to the laws of the United States, Captain Tyler, the
Vice-President, reigned in his stead.
The great watch- word or party cry at that election was "Log
cabins and hard cider." During the progress large log cabins
were built and mounted upon wheels, and dragged round the
to^vras, and all might have as much liquor as they desired. The
log cabins, after the election was over, were kept as trophies of
the great victory which took away all the spoils of office from the
democrats, and conferred them upon the whigs.
The agitation still continues; the party out are always canvass
ing for the reinstatement of their friends in office, and those who
are in office are always agitating to keep their friends in, well
knowing that it is certain ruin if their opponents succeed. The
administration tof Mr. Tyler was satisfactory to none except
to the office-holders or expectants, among whom many who

62 MORE CHARACTERISTICS.
had been his bitter opponents became all of a sudden his best
supporters. In the second year of the administration of President Tyler,
there was a great commotion in the United States, got up to
assist the Irish in their anticipated struggle for independence, and
O'Connell was praised up to the echo as the Washington of
Ireland. Meetings were called and subscriptions raised in almost
every town in the states. One of these meetings was held in
Cleveland, and about twelve dollars in promises were put do^wn.
Among the fiery speakers at this meeting was a Mr. William
Milford, an Irishman himself and a partner in the firm of
Standard, Griffiths & Co., merchants. This man had been a
Democrat in the preceding election, but came out at this time
as the warm supporter of Tyler, and praised to the skies a foolish
son of the President, who had been making some flaming speeches
against the British Government and in commiseration of the Irish.
Mr. Milford laid it on pretty thick to the astonishment of many
of his old friends; a carefully revised copy of his speech was
published in the Cleveland Herald and sent to feed the vanity of
both son and father in Washington. There was also another docu
ment sent about the same time, signed by all his friends both poli
tical and domestic, stating that Mr. Milford was particularly weU.
fitted to fill the duties of Head Custom-house officer in Cleveland,
at that time filled by Mr. Geo. Mirvin who was an inveterate
Whig. In about a fortnight after this Mr. Mirvin received
notice of being superseded in his office, and of Mr. Milford's
getting the appointment. The soft sawder of Milford and his
friends had weighed down the known abilities and tried experience
of Mr. Mirvin, and he had to retire to make room for the new
comer who only delayed taking possession of his office till he had
got his papers from the Bankrupt office, ha^ving taken the benefit
of that swindling act in order to enter his new occupation free
from debt.
There is nothing more annoying to an Englishman than to be
pestered with all sorts of impertinent questions, which will be
put to him by almost every stranger he meets, — such as the
following : — " Well, is this your own house or you rent it !"
" How much rent may you pay?" " How much money did
you make last year?' "You are an old-countryman, I guess?"
"What money did you bring out with you into this free country ?"
You are always expected to return civil answers to all these
questions. Then the party will remark that if Queen Victoria
were to come over to this free country, the way she would stare at
the improvements we have made would be a " caution." The bulk
of them believe that the Queen lives in the tower of London, that
William Shakspeare was bom at Harford, in Connecticut, and

MORE CHARACTERISTICS. 63
that Robert Eulton, invented the first steam engine. It is of no
use to tell them otherwise; if you should differ with their know
ledge in these particulars, you are set down in their minds as a
person who ¦wishes to detract from the honour of the country,
and, in fact, a downright enemy to the commonwealth.
They also believe themselves to be the very salt of the earth ;
and in their common discourse boast what extraordinary feats
they would perform if the Queen of England and the Duke
of Wellington were to invade the particular locality in which
they reside. Their knowledge of geography is confined to the
twenty-eight states of the union, with what they have lately
learned about Texas, Mexico, and Canada, (California may now
be added to their map) ; and are much amazed that the people
of that infatuated country, Canada, should stiU prefer to reside
under a monarchy, especially when they see the blessings
enjoyed by themselves, who are the most free and enlightened
nation on the face of the earth.
A couple of Yorkshiremen being engaged in working in a
field belonging to a doctor in Cleveland, they were much annoyed
by a Yankee loafer, with the questions he put to them, the
answers to which he retailed out vrith interest to his boon com
panions. At last they were resolved to have a joke at his expense.
They, therefore, told it at the tavern, which this man accustomed,
how they intended to fill his mouth for the next day. When, there
fore, the men were at their work among the blackened stumps
standing in the field, the loafer came at the usual time, and one
said to the other, " I should like to know the reason that people in
this country fix so many rubbing posts in the fields, for the cattle ;
now where I come from, we never set more than one in one field."
The other replied, " I suppose that they put down one rubbing
post in this country for every head of cattle they keep, so that all
of them can rub themselves at one and the same time." This
was enough for the loafer; he immediately went to tell the last
specimen of Yorkshire ignorance at the tavern, but instead of the
laugh being at the expense of the countrymen, he found that he
had been played with, and the hoax was so keen that he never
gave them any more trouble.
An old Yankee, called Schoville, once addressed me with the
foUo^wing questions; but as an Englishman does not wish to
answer correctly aU such inquiries, it was my custom to answer
them in a way of my o^vni : —
Ques. "Well, stranger, I guess I have seen you somewhere?"
Ans. " Very likely, sir, for I have been here many times."
Ques. "How long are you in this country?"
Ans. " I have neyer been measured since I came, but I suppose
I shall be about five feet eleven inches, the same aa I was in the
old country."

64 MORE CHARACTERISTICS.
Ques. " Pray what may your name be?"
Ans. " I cannot tell — on my first arrival I was Called Captain
Brown; after about a month I was promoted to Major; I was
afterwards dignified on a morning with ' Well, Colonel, how do
you do this morning ?' and now I am generally known by my
neighbours as old General Brown, and by my women customers as
old uncle Brown; so it is impossible for me to know to what
eminence I may be raised, or by what name I may at some future
time be called?"
This satisfied the old gentleman, and I was no more pestered
with impertinent questions.
A gentleman from Leeds, Mr. David Laird, of the late firm of
Kitson and Laird, came to our house in Cleveland in the year
1843, and stopped with us a few days. As I had been acquainted
with Mr. Laird for many years, and always had the utmost
esteem for him, I was very glad to see him, and he seemed to be
equally delighted. He told me of his dissolution of partnership
¦with Mr. Kitson, and of his resolve to leave Great Britain, and
seek a home in America, where he already bad a brother and
sister. He told me that his intentions were to go over to
Wisconsin, and purchase about a thousand acres of land in that
country, and begin sheep farming. I asked him where he intended
to provide himself with shepherds; he said that at first he would
not keep more than about 300 or 400 sheep, and it would not
require more than two persons. I told him he was mistaken, for
that it would take just as many shepherds as sheep, and to keep
them safe, the sheep must always be taken to the man's house, and
never left alone in the night ; the wolves were so numerous that
they would destroy the whole flock in a single night, and they
regularly hunted in packs, and all the vigilance he could use
would avail nothing against so daring and cunning an enemy.
He laughed at the idea, but went out to see for himself. He
found that my words were true, and after taking a long round
through that country, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana he returned to
Cincinnati, and from thence he returned to England, satisfied
it was no country for him. He is now located upon a farm in
Wigtonshire, in Scotland, and has given up all thoughts of
America. During the rebellion in Canada, a large company of sympa
thisers was raised in Cleveland, who marched by land up to
Detroit and crossing the river there, landed without opposition on
the British side, and took the garrison and authorities by surprise.
The company was headed by a person called Melton, who going
up to the barracks met with a British officer. Surgeon Hume,
who was quite alone and unarmed, but was in regimentals. He
was summoned by Melton to surrender, but instead of that, he
demanded by what authority they acted, when they declared it

MORE CHARACTERISTICS. 65
was in tbe name of the liberating army of Canada, and that, if he
did not immediately surrender, they would shoot him do^wn : and
accordingly Melton gave the word and he was fired at and
wounded, but made towards a cottage near, whither he was
quickly followed and actually hewn to pieces by these ruffians.
Melton got possession of his gold lever watch, with the
appendages, and his followers had the division of sixty sovereigns
amongst them which the Doctor had in his pocket at the time.
A terrible vengeance, however, awaited them ; when confronted
with British troops, they showed the greatest cowardice, made
scarcely any resistance, a good number were taken prisoners,
tried by a drumhead Court martial, and instantly ordered for
execution. The leaders, however, as in nearly all such cases,
made their escape, and I have seen this ruffian with the watch
upon him many times. He is now a regular black leg ; he
resides in Cleveland about two months in the year, and in the
other months he joins a gang of gamblers, thieves and murderers,
and plies his vocation on the river Mississippi, from New Orleans to
St. Louis, taking Chicago, Detroit, Sandusky or St. Louis,
Cincinnati, Wheeling, and Pittsburg in his route from or to his
regular domicile.
The Americans are very fond of giving pompous and high
sounding names to their children, and are not content vrith one,
but some will have, like a German Prince, half a dozen, such as
Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren Smith, Thomas Jefferson
Eranklin Coleman, Edmund Burke Clinton Johnson, or Jonathan
Washington Adams Brown. In general you may kno^vy whether
the father is a whig, a democrat, or a barnburner, . by the names
he gives his progeny, and in case he changes his politics, as is
often the case, he will immediately apply to the magistrates in
session assembled, and have the whole of his family named afresh,
and they afterwards bear the names of some leader or supposed
leader of the party to which the father has last attached himself.
The Quakers, however, of Pennsylvania have set their faces
against such a multiplicity of names, and the following anecdote
is told of an old gentleman of that persuasion. When sending out
his son on his first mercantile journey, he gave him this advice :
— " If thou finds a man with two given names, be very careful of
doing any business "with him except on ready money terms, but
if he has three, have nothing whatever to do with him, for he will
have been a spoiled child, and is sure to cheat thee, if thou hast
ought to do with him."
An Irish family, consisting of an old man, wife, son, and daugh
ter, came to my house ; and, as they liked the appearance of the
town and neighbourhood, they said they thought they would buy
a farm as near the city as possible. They informed me that they

b MORE CHARACTERISTICS.
had been living in Canada for the last thirty years on a grant of
land of 300 acres from the government to the old gentleman who
had been in the army ; — that as the government had now begun
to lay taxes upon them, and they had never paid any before, he
would not submit to it, and had sold out his farm and stock, and
getting one third of the price in gold, had given credit of one and
two years for the remainder, being determined to come to a coun
try where no taxes were required. I asked him where that
country was, for I knew none so lightly taxed as Canada. He
was surprised to hear that taxes existed in that free country to
which he had come, and could not believe it, when I told him of
the taxation levied in Ohio, which amounted to ten times more
than was demanded in Canada. However, he wished to see a
Mr. James, who was formerly a neighbour of his ; and when he
asked him about the taxes, and was con^vinced that he had come
to a country where the land was not half so good, and where the
taxes were ten times as heavy, I never saw a family in such
distress at their folly in parting with their handsome well cleared
farm of 300 acres, with a rush of fine pure water right through
their dwelling and milk house, which fell into a beautiful natural
pond of about four acres in front of their house, and which was
well stored with fish ; besides the many conveniences which they
would never enjoy again ; and where they had saved a pail-full of
sovereigns. I thought the hearts of the women would break. To
go back again was what I advised them, and repurchase their old
farm ; but the man said he could not stand the ridicule of his old
neighbours, and he would see through the five north western
states, before he decided where he would again settle down.
Accordingly, he hired a waggon, horse, and men by the week, and
started on a voyage of discovery to find a country where there
were no taxes to pay, to be free from a country where a hundred-
acres farm pays no more than about three and sixpence per an
num, and where all sorts of clothing is at one half the price that
it is at in the United States.
The man and waggon returned in about six weeks, having been
discharged and paid off in Detroit, where the family had made up
their minds to again settle in Canada.
There have been thousands of statements respecting the wages
of labour, one of which, lately published in a good many papers,
was by a person from Wakefield, a com miller by trade, stating
that there was always work for millers in America, that the
wages were ten shillings a day, and there were in almost every
place mills always ready to employ hands from the old country.
Now I am not going to dispute about the quantity of mills, or
about the amount of a good corn miller's wages ; but the ten
shillings which he gets per day is not ten shillings sterling ;

MORE CHARACTERISTICS. 67
a New York shilling is only of the value of an English sixpence.
This lessens the sum one-half; and then the workman has to
take the greatest part of his wages in orders upon a store
where he is charged twice as much for every article he gets
as he could have bought it for at another place for cash ; more
over the mUls can only work from three to four months in a
year, that is, from the harvest till the frost sets in, which freezes
up not only the water but the waterwheel itself; and the miller
wiU then, if he labours at all, be forced to the general winter
occupation of chopping wood till the next harvest, for all the
grain which could not be ground before will have been for
warded to a shipping port to make money of, as no Yankee will
allow his wheat to lie a dead stock on his hand, but must be
turning into cash this his only product that wiU at all times
command the value in actual money.
The Dutch were the first settlers in New York state, but when
the English took possession of it, they changed the name of the
chief town from New Amsterdam to New York. The original
colonists were, however, allowed to keep their possessions, and
some of the Dutch fathers, having had large tracts of country
granted to them by the Dutch government, they were soon
satisfied with the change.
Their descendants now enjoy those properties, and the Patroon
of Albany and the Van Rensellaers are among the most wealthy
of the citizens of that state. The latter family have a whole
county of their own, called after their own patronimic, which is
let off to tenants at a certain rental.
The farmers have far some years been much dissatisfied, thinking
that they had as much right to the land as the family of the Van
Rensellaers, and were determined to cease paying rent. The same
scenes were now enacted as we see in Ireland ; a process server
was waylaid by the No-rent party, and if he did not give up the
process warrants he was made in some instances to swallow
them, and in others (not a few) he was cruelly murdered. This
was carried on a great while, but at last government interfered,
and many were brought to justice, and some few were hanged.
In all their attacks upon the officers of the law they were dis
guised as Indian savages, but no savages ever seen upon the con
tinent were actuated by the same abominable spirit which
actuated these anti-renters.

e2

68 MECHANICAL INVENTIONS.
CHAPTER XII.
MECHANICAL INVENTIONS.
The Yankee Pile Driver — Machinery for making ¦Window Sashes ; Flour Barrels ; Shoe
maker's La^ts, or Statuary — Smut Mill, fec^Machine-made Ship Blocks, Nails,
Cards, Slays — Stuiip Extractor — Horse Ferry Boats — Percussion Water-wheels — .
Stoves for economising fuel— The Roller Gin— The Moating Machine — The American
Whiflaer.
The inventive talents of the Americans for saving labour are of
the first order, they are equal if not superior in this respect to
any other nation. Among the many useful inventions, the follow
ing struck me as original, and one which would bear transplant
ing into our own country, viz., the Yankee Pile Driver. This
machine, which I have already noticed, is a locomotive engine
fixed upon wheels ; and when it is in operation, it is upon the
exact level of the intended railway, coffer dam, |or whatever
work where piles are required. The piles being all [cut and laid
ready on each side of the machine, one is yoked to the tackling
and drawn up till the point slips through a hole in the platform,
which hole is exactly over the place where the pile is to be driven
down. As soon as it is fixed, the tup immediately commences
hammering away upon the head of the pile, and soon drives it as
deep into tlie ground as is reqtiired. The pile for the opposite
side is thfen similarly hoisted up ; the hamiher is started on that
side, and in a fe^w ihinttes this is also driven home. A circular
saw working underneath cuts off the tops of the piles at the exact
height, and the machine moves itself forward the distance required,
ahd then rests upon the newly driven piles, where it is ready for
the next pair of piles, and so on till the whole distance is accom
plished. A great part of the American railroads are laid upon
piles for the whOle length of the line, and this machine will drive
half a mile of double piles in one day, and level as it goes along.
I'he machinery for mahufacturing window sashes, pannelled
doors, &c., is aiother labour-saving contrivance. A person want
ing half-a-dozen pairs of sashes, has only to give bis dimensions,
and in about one hour he may call and have the whole ready for
him, and glazed as ¦well. The machines used for this manufac
ture are formed something like a broad cloth power-loom, and the
plane is fixed ahd works something like the shuttle. This plane
cuts the guts for the sash exactly of the size and form wanted,
while another machine is cutting the outer frame. A sufficient
quantity of these being cut, they are brought upon a strong
table, and being tenoned and jointed in the machine, they are
then placed in their proper position, screwed u-p tight and pegged,
and are ready for glazing, which is instantly done, and the sash
is finished, having taken less time in the whole operation than

MECHANICAL INVENTIONS. 69
it has taken the writer to pen this description. An eminent
builder from Huddersfield, Mr. Wm. Barras, being in Cleveland,
I told him of this machine ; but as he thought he knew more of
making windows than any man in that city, he could scarcely be
prevailed upon to look at it. However, I took him down to the
factory, and I never saw a man more astonished in my life than
he was, to see the order, regularity, and excellence of the work ;
and he declared that machinery of that sort would make any
man's fortune in England.
The making of flour barrels is another manufacture of a similar
sort. The wood having been split by the axe, and cut off the
required length for the staves, these undergo the same operation
as the ¦window guts, and are quickly made of the proper form to
a hair's breadth, and are then taken and put together in a frame,
and ¦will hold water as soon as turned out. A man and two boys
¦wiU turn out a perfect flour barrel in seven minutes and a half,
or about 100 a day, and better made than can be done by the best
cooper in the world, by the ordinary methods.
The making of lasts for shoemakers is by another useful con
trivance. The machine will turn out a pair of lasts, right and
left, in about a minute : it can be so regulated that four or five
sizes may be cut from one pattern; and I understand that statues
in marble or stone can be cut out by suoh machinery, as exact as
possible, and of any size that is required.
The Smut Mill I have already noticed. The cooling machinery
for flour, and the elevators have raised the character of American
com miUers above all others, for cleanliness, dispatch, and excel
lency of workmanship.
The Americans were, I believe, the first to make ships' blocks
and nails by machinery, and saw mills of the present perfection.
They have also invented machinery for making woollen and
cotton cards ; and though they have been much improved by our
artizans here, yet to the Americans belongs the honour of having
invented them.
Thsy have also invented a machine for making weaver's reeds
or as we call them slays, which has also been introduced into this
country with the greatest success, especially in the cotton trade ;
and the articles made are far superior and cheaper than ever were
made by hand.
They have also invented a stump extractor; but as most of
them prefer to allow the stump to rot in the ground, and fill
up its o^wn hole, it is not necessary for me to give a description
of it.
Their Horse Eerry Boats and horse saws are excellent inven
tions, and perform the purposes for which they are intended
perfectly well.

70

CANADA.

The percussion water-wheels are a splendid invention : they are
on the screw principle, made for very little money, and by
running at a great velocity, supersede the necessity of having
gearing to multiply the motion in saw mills and other machines
requiring great speed.
The quantity and diversity of stoves for economising fuel are
great ; in some show rooms you may find above one hundred, all
of different constructions, and all having some excellency above
the old plans. Euel being dear in all cities, the utmost economy
is required to be used, and even where the timber fit for fuel is at
your door, it costs much labour in cutting, splitting, and sawing
before it can be used, especially for cooking purposes.
And lastly, an American invented the roller gin, for clearing
cotton from the seeds. This machine is perfect in its operation
and cheap in its construction; and from it is derived the moating
machine now so extensively used, not only in this town, but also
in aU the districts where the woollen trade is fixed, and by which
a sort of wool is brought into consumption, which would have
cost twice ita o^wn price to have cleared it from moats by the old
plan of picking out each separate burr by hand. There are also
a great many other machines which were invented first in
America, and afterwards improved in this country; as for in
stance, Lewis' cutting frame, which is an improvement upon the
American whiffler ; the condenser or endless carding machine.
These are so well known that it would be superfluous to give any
description of them; but the honour of the invention certainly
belongs to the Americans.

CHAPTER Xai.
CANADA.
Departure from Cleveland — Run aground — Arrival at Buffalo — ^Friendly reminiscence — ¦
Chippewa — Niagara — Toronto — Favourable contrast in the appearance of the country
— Park-like scenery, and comfortable dwellings — ^Interesting objects in the neighbour
hood of Tbe Falls — The Whirlpool ; its gloomy character — Falls of Niagara — Museum
— Large bed of water-cresses — The Clifton House — Water works at the Falls — Mag
nificent plan for the city of Niagara.
At length the appointed day for our leaving Cleveland arrived,
and it was with no feelings of regret that I took my leave of
that city, although I had made many friends and formed many
delightful acquaintances ¦with some of the residents there. Ac
cordingly, with two waggon loads of furniture, a span of grey
horses, and an elegant omnibus, which I could not dispose of for
cash, I bade adieu to my numerous friends who were assembled
on the dock there, and in the good ship Sampson, a steam pro-

CANADA. 71
poller, we took our passage to Buffalo. On stopping at Erie we
run aground, and when the vessel by the force of the waves
bumped on the bottom, we were all in great fear of being
wrecked: the horses, which were on deck, began to scamper
about, and I was fearful of their breaking loose and jumping
overboard. But when I spoke kindly to them, they became as
docile as two dogs; they knew me instantly, and came as far as
their tethers would permit to rub their noses against my person,
and were perfectly quiet as long as I stood by them ; but as soon
as my back was turned, their fears immediately returned; so I
was fiorced to stop and keep them company till the vessel floated,
and we were again merrily steaming down the lake. On our
arrival at Buffalo, we put our baggage, horses, and carriage on
board the steamer for Chippewa, and adjourned to our friends to
breakfast. We were guests to the landlord of the Canada House,
who had always behaved to me with the greatest kindness : he
had taken great pains in forwarding passengers to us when we
resided in Cleveland, and it was in a great measure to his
generous behaviour that we succeeded so well in keeping the
tavern there. If ever a copy of this work meets his eye, he will
see that his services were appreciated by me, and that the obliga
tion we were under to him will never be forgotten.
On our arrival at Chippewa, we sent our baggage by the rail
road to Queenshead, and travelled in the omnibus. After stop
ping to allow the younger part of my family to view the falls of
Niagara, and the beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood, and
spending the night at Stamford, within about three miles of the
cataract, and within the sound of its rushing waters, we again
took the steam boat at Queenston, to cross Lake Ontario ; and
in the evening were safely landed in the fair city of Toronto.
Prom lea^ving the bleak, sandy, and barren land near Buffalo,
and landing at Chippewa in Canada, where every thing wears
the appearance of comfort, the contrast cannot fail to strike the
attention of the most superficial observer. He will, at that par
ticular spot and for a considerable distance round, find the coun
try to have more the appearance of England than any other part
which he has seen in America. Indeed from Chippewa to the
Falls, and to Drummondsville, Stamford, and other places, you
travel through a country more like an English park than any
thing else you can liken it to ; and the houses have the signs of
comfort and convenience which you may in vain look for in
Yankee dwellings. In fact, an Englishman finds himself more at
home here, with all its pleasant associations, and his delighted
eye wanders along the ever varying landscape of the city of the
Falls, and his ears are regaled with the music of the mighty
waters. He may inspect the barracks of the queen's troops, or he

72 CANADA.
may view the field of battle at Lundy's Lane, or he may go a little
further and see the place where fell the gallant General Brook,
near to which is erected a handsome monumental shaft, but which
during the late rebellion in Canada was partially destroyed by an
incendiary called Lett ; yet now in its partially ruined state it is a
noble object in the landscape, being upon a lofty hill distinctly
visible from Lewiston and other parts of the state of New York
upon that border. It serves also as a landmark for vessels sailing
upon Lake Ontario from which it is distant about five miles.
There are many interesting walks in the neighbourhood of the
Falls, and one in particular I should recommend to the traveller
who visits the wonderful Cataract ; and that is the Whirlpool.
This place, which at some distant time has been the Pall itself, or
a great branch of it, lies about two miles down the river Niagara,
below the Falls. The waters are nearly all the way broken by
rapids, and come thundering down an inclined plane of about a
fall of one in ten, among the fragments of large rocks lying in
the body of the stream, till it comes to the bend where the Whirl
pool is situated. The waters rush in at one corner, making a
complete circuit round the oval-shaped basin worn in the ground
by its own action, the depth of which is not known, and it would
be a dangerous attempt for any boat to venture into its angry
vortex for the purpose of making soundings.
There is however no particular whirl in the middle of the tur
bulent waters, but whirls are continually formed at a hundred
different places at the same moment, which swallow up any stray
log of wood that is floating upon its surface ; and if you watch
the operation a sufficient time, you will see the same log spring
up again out of the water at another place, like a fish taking a
fly, and it is ejected with such force that, in some instances, the
log will actually, as it were, leap out of the water above a yard
high ; it then is carried away by the rapid current till another
whirl is formed, and then down it goes again. Sometimes, as you
stand upon the brink, almost bewildered with the awe-striking
scene, you will see a whirl within a few yards of where you stand,
and you may then see three or four yards do^wn the centre hollow
which the eddy is making. The drift wood is always floating in
such a continuous round that if it could be noticed, I have no
doubt the pieces are carried round and round, and ground upon the
bottom or sides of the cavernous depths, till at last they are quite
destroyed, and are replaced by other drift wood which the rapids
are continually bringing into this gulph. It is the most awful
sight that nature ever presented to my eyes. The trees which
overhang the waters are lying some with their roots uppermost,
some mouldering away near its edges and upon its banks, some
growing out of their perpendicular, and being of the shaggy hem-

CANADA. 73
look tribe, add to the savage and solitary grandeur of the place.
Not a soul was near when I visited this place alone ; not a living
creature was to be seen, as if it was alike shunned by man, beast,
and bird ; and I had contemplated the scene nearly half an hour,
before I saw hovering over my head an enormous eagle, the only
liying creature I saw near this spot.
For many nights after I had visited this place my dreams
were aU filled with its horrible picture; and, unlike the Palls,
whose beauties grow upon you, and you admire them more and
more the oftener you visit them, and as distance of time mellows
the recollection, it is just the contrary with the Whirlpool;
there is not one pleasurable association connected with it; it still
looks to me like a place of torment. The Whirlpool contained to
my thinking about forty acres.
There is a handsome refreshment saloon near the staircase, but
it was quite deserted. Tho door was, however, left open, and I
went in, and sitting on the bench, carved my initials after the
manner of the Yankees upon one of the pillars of the building.
I have purposely omitted a description of the falls of Niagara;
they have been so well described by many writers, that I found
it would be a work of superoragation to enter upon it. But en
passant I will just mention that on a dark night, when there is
only a faint glimmer from the new moon, large quantities of wild
ducks, which are bred in the numerous swamps in the neighbour
ing counties, are attracted to the spot for the purpose of fishing
in the rapids, and just before the waters take their final leap over
the cascade. They oftentimes get so near the edge of the falls
that the force of the ¦waters takes them down, and they are found
about 300 yards below, floating upon the still water quite dead.
The ferrymen take advantage of this, and on such nights they
are upon the look out and reap a good harvest, sending their
booty to the markets of Buffolo, Toronto, and Hamilton. They
also in certain seasons pick up large quantities of different sorts
of fish killed in a similar way.
There is a splendid museum near the staircase leading down to
the curtain of the falls, which contains many rare specimens of
the curiosities of the locality in geology and zoology; there is a
registry also kept of visitors. Also, immediately contiguous,
there is a bed of water cresses of about two acres, which are the
most prolific and the finest plants I ever saw in my life. The
seed of this vegetable was brought from England by a gentleman
of the neighbourhood, who had noticed the peculiar fitness of the
ground for the- crop, and now they might supply a large city with
that wholesome and delicious esculent.
The Clifton House, which commands from its whole front a
fine view of the falls, is a splendid hotel, where three or four

74 Cliy or TORONTO.
hundred persons may be accommodated. There are also many
other good houses on both sides of the river, so that there is no
fear of parties being in want of creature comforts, and almost any
necessary or luxury can be immediately obtained. On the Cana
dian side of the falls there is erected a water-wheel, and an
hydraulic apparatus is put into motion for supplying the city of
the Falls with the pure element.
This city, of which you may purchase a map, looks upon paper
a most magnificent affair, and is calculated when finished to con
tain about 4,000,000 of inhabitants. The streets are aU marked
out on the ground, but unfortunately not a house is yet built,
and it will perhaps be some thousand years hence before the
dreams of the first projector are half realized. There may,
however, be attempts made to turn some of the waters to account
for manufacturing purposes; but the magnitude of the supply
will stagger any mechanic from commencing the work, as any
puny efforts of his would only show the insignificance of his
handy work.

CHAPTER XIV.
CITY OP TORONTO.

A Canadian Steam-boat— ¦pTarbour and City of Toronto— The environs resembling those of
ancient Vork— The farmers mostly Yorkshiremen— Description of the City— Trades
and manufactures — Plank roads.— Size and plans of Canadian Townships — Simple
conveyance deeds— Excellence of Canadian farming — Neatness of the farms — York
shire names of Townships— Toronto market and its regulations— Police and provision
for the poor — Light taxation — Public Institutions.
The steam-boat. Chief Justice Bobinson, is a superb affair, and
built as a steamer ought to be built, for strength and power. The
engines are of the low pressure principle, and " she walks the
waters like a thing of life." At a time when no Yankee boat
would face the storm, she starts, wind foul or fair, and always
within a few minutes of her usual time is seen rounding the
harbour point of Toronto.
The harbour of Toronto is formed by a peninsula which
juts out from the main land and runs parallel with the shore
about six miles ; it opens on the lake near the battery of Toronto,
and is about a mile and a half or two miles broad ; it is fed by
the waters of the Don river. There is also a chain of islands
below this peninsula, which extend for ten or twelve miles lower
down, and which also in process of time will become harbours for
shipping and be as well protected by nature as the present bay of
Toronto. The buildings in the city have a pleasing effect when
viewed from the water. The two houses of Parliament, the garri-

CITY OE TORONTO. 75
son, the warehouses, the wharves, the cathedral, and the spires of
other churches, all seen at once, as well as rows of handsome brick
houses, present such a sight as I am proud to say, cannot be
¦witnessed in any other place of America. The city itself, on a
nearer inspection, fully carries out the promise a first view gives
you ; and King-street may challenge all America for good build
ings, handsome shops, and merchandize from all parts of the world.
The private houses are also of a superior construction, and the
environs of the city of York are the most like Toronto of any
place I can bring to mind. There is also another circumstance
to remind you of the ancient city. Toronto bore for a long time
the name of York, and it is but recently that its original Indian
name has been resumed. If you hear two farmers talking together
it is an even chance that they are both Yorkshiremen, — the
majority are from that country: the labourers are from Ireland,
and a great proportion of the merchants are from Scotland.
The wharves in Toronto are most commodiously erected on slips
jutting out into the bay ; they extend for about two miles along
the southern side, and reach from the garrison to the gaol. These
wharves are aU, as I believe, corporation property, the water pri-
¦vilege being let on leases of 21 years, the lessee building what
sort of warehousing or offices he pleases. There is a wind-mill
upon the banks of the bay of Toronto, and the only one which I
saw in all America ; another memento of Old Ebor.
The streets in Toronto are all laid out at right angles. King
Street extends from the river Don to the river Humber, about
eight miles ; it is, however, not built upon except here and there
for more than about a mile and a half. The houses in the busi
ness part ofthe tovm are chiefly built of brick, the basement story
being of stone, and three or four stories high, with plate glass
windows, and the shops fitted up ¦with black walnut wood and
bird's eye maple.
Queen-street extends from the centre of the town to the river
Humber, and is about six miles long, built upon for nearly a
mile. Young-street commences at the bay of Toronto, and cross
ing King-street near the middle ofthe city takes a direct northerly
course, extending to Lake Simcoe, a distance of about thirty-
eight miles. This street is built upon for above a mile, pretty
well on both sides, and afterwards it is well lined ¦with farms,
farm houses, taverns, and villages for the whole distance ; and here
the best farms in the province are situated. As the street con
tinually rises in elevation as you recede from the city, and as it
crosses numerous streams of watercourses, the scenery is often
beautifully diversified with hill and dale, with wood and water,
with mills, churches, schools, and workshops. In fact, for a dozen
miles out of Toronto, the street is like one continued country

76 Clir OF TORONTO.
town, and I know no road in any of our agricultural districts that
appears to more advantage, and the nearest resemblance to it is
Leeming Lane. The woods are, however, always to be seen on
both sides at the distance of about half a mile, and being prin
cipally of pine they give the country a more sombre appearance
than is seen in Yorkshire. There are also, in Toronto, brick and
tile makers, as well as manufacturers of coarse pottery ware. The
burial grounds of which there are two called Potter's Fields, are
situate about a mile out of the c ity. From the great quantity of
building always going on, and as in the country they are all built of
wood, an enormous quantity of nails is continually wanted, and
I have known in one or two instances of hardware merchants being
disappointed in getting their supplies, that nails have advanced in
price in one week above forty per cent. ; and I was always much
surprised that some enterprising man had not started a nail factory
in or near the city ; power is easily obtained, or if not in the
situation desired, yet a small steam engine can at any time be
had; and as fuel is cheap there is no business which would pay
so well if it was properly managed. A woollen manufactory to
make the coarse wool of the country into blankets, or for the
common clothing of the country people and farmers, would also
.be an excellent speculation ; but as no supply of workmen could
be depended upon there, a supply of such would have to be
brought to the place from either England or from the States.
The streets leading from the city east or west are all either
macadamized or planked. These plank roads are the best roads
in the world for the purpose of general traffic : they are formed
of planks twenty-one feet long by four inches thick, pegged down
upon five sleepers, which extend the whole distance : they are as
level as possible, and covered with a slight sprinkling of sand. In
travelling upon these roads, in either a waggon, cart, or gig, there
is scarcely any unpleasant shaking, and the horses can be driven
at a capital speed. Although at first sight to an old countryman
the expense would seem startling, yet in this country, where capi
tal timber can be delivered at half a farthing per foot, inch mea
sure, their roads are the cheapest that can be invented. They are
calculated to last without much repairing eleven or twelve years,
and I have no doubt but a good four-inch plank vrill, with ordi
nary care, last twenty years. There is now a plank road com
pleted from Hamilton to Windsor, a distance of about 250 miles,
and they are coming into general practice all over the colony.
A township in Canada west is mostly ten miles square : a
"street" runs up the middle, and concession roads are at every
one mile and a quarter. These concessions are also crossed by
other roads called side lines. All the farms are numbered, and
if you only know the number of the farm and the number of the

CITY OE TORONTO. 7-7
concession, you may go to it without making any inquiry. In
the conveyance of such farms, the examination of the deeds can be
effected in a few minutes at the registrar's office ; in consequence
of which a man, when he sells 'a farm, generally writes out his
own deed, or may get any other person to do it. Forms are
always to be purchased for threepence, whioh only require filling
up and registering, and then they are valid instruments.
After you leave the city, and come into the country, you will
find another great resemblance to Yorkshire. The farm houses
are built in the same style : there are stack covers which stand
upon four posts just as you see in some places in the old country ;
but you never see a stack either covered or thatched in the United
States ; they are left there at the mercy of the winds, the rain,
and the cattle ; for in many places you will see twenty or thirty
head of cattle pulling away at the hay stack. But here all is
neatness ; you may see fields of twenty acres or more each, with
not a single stump left in it. You will see as good ploughing
and general farm management as you do in the best parts of
England. Indeed every thing you see and hear reminds you.
strongly of your English home. The names of the townships are
also very welcome to a Yorkshireman's ears, such as York, Scar
borough, Pickering, Whitchurch, Markham, and Darlington.
There are three capital market houses in town, two of ¦which
are situated in a large square in King Street ; and the Town Hall
and police offices are held in the front and chambers of the New
Building. The large quadrangular yards are occupied all round
by butchers' shops, and farmers bring their produce into the body
of the square. A market is held eyery morning from nine to
twelve o'clock, and all transactions are done for cash, no such
thing as barter for farm produce. If a farmer will sell according
to the times, he can always get money for what he has to sell.
There is also a regular market for fire-wood contiguous, and an
inspector who ¦will not allow the good citizens to be imposed upon
by false measure. There are also public weighing houses, where
every thing that requires to be accurately weighed is taken, and
the note of the inspector settles all disputes.
The regulations for the good government of the tovni are equal
to those of any town in the British Empire, and the poor are also
amply provided for in a building appropriated for that purpose.
The revenue of the city amounts to about £50,000 currency
per annum, and is raised from ground rents, from corporation
and public property, and from a tax of one halfpenny per pound
upon all real property in the city or liberties. There are no other
taxes whatever, neither for watching, lighting, nor for road
making ; the corporation takes charge of the whole of these, and I
never heard a grumbling or a complaint about the way they spend

78

CITY OE TORONTO.

the money. The city is lighted with gas, and the waterworks are
equal to any in England. The water is pumped up out of the
lake, and forced up in pipes to a large filtering machine, the
reservoir occupying a surface of about two acres ; and the water
as supplied to the consumers, is as good as the most fastidious
could desire.
There is a handsome hospital also kept up by the corporation,
in the west end of the town, and a new lunatic asylum has just
been completed at the expense of the government.
St. James' Cathedral is a handsome Grecian building, and is
the largest protestant church in Canada. There are three other
episcopal churches in the city. There is also a Roman Catholic
cathedral and a Catholic church; there are three Methodist
churches, a Scotch church, and a Baptist church for men of colour, t
There are many gardens round about the city; the land is
well adapted for horticultural pursuits, of which many en
lightened gardeners have taken the advantage, and the greens
market is as well supplied as most markets in England, but per
haps dearer by about one-half.* There is a large gaol where
prisoners are confined, and when the other wing is completed it
"wiU be as fine a building for the purpose it is destined for as
can weU be imagined.
There are many tanneries in the neighbourhood of the town,
and about half a dozen iron foundries, where machinery of all
sorts is fitted up, and steam engines made and repaired. There
are also bur stone manufactories. There are two or three marble
masons and statuaries in the city; and gun and rifle making
is a staple trade.
Axes, suitable for the woodman, are made by a Mr. Shaw,
and his brand stands high not only in Western Canada but also
on the opposite shore. Chair factories are common as well as
sash factories : there is also a pail factory just established by a
go-a-head Yankee, which is doing a first-rate business. All
other trades usual in large cities in England equally thrive
here, and gentlemen of the liberal professions are " as plentiful
as blackberries."
* A man of the name of Pape, a gardener, landed at Toronto in 1842, direct
from Leeds. He immediately procured work, which maintained him, and then
he took a well-fenced field of five acres just in the suburbs, for which he agreed to
pay £20 per annum rent. At nights and at other spare times he was always
working in his garden or leading manure ; he begun early in the Spring, and had
the first vegetables in the market. A constant succession of rare and early
radishes, onions, cabbages, aud other plants, procured for him the favourable notice
of the captains of steam boats and ofthe inhabitants of the city ; and by working
almost day aud night, at the end of the season he had cleared as much money as
had paid for a horse and cart, had built him a cottage and green houses ; and he
had remitted home twenty-seven pounds to bring out his wife and family, who
all safely arrived, and he is now doing a firsl^rate business in his line, and appears
always cheerful and happy.

CANADIAN FORESTS. 79
The colleges are well supported, having had large grants of
land from government. The students are numerous ; the build
ings are well adapted for the purpose; the old parliament
houses are given up for their use, and the splendid hall at the
top of College Avenue would be an ornament to any city in the
world. Osgood Hall is also a large, commodious, and elegant
building; it is exclusively used by the lawyers, and has an
imposing appearance from Queen Street, in which it is situated.

CHAPTER XV.
CANADIAN FORESTS.
Surveying the Country for road-maldng — ^** Blazing" a road — Travelling an uncleared
country — Indian trails — An Indian burial ground — Forest sounds at night — Fireflies
versus Diamonds — Terms of sale of land — Description of the Forests — Fire among the
trees.
When a government agent or surveyor starts on a journey for
setting out a road in a new country, he generally travels on horse
back, and taking his directions by the compass, with axe in hand,
he chips a large place out of a tree, and repeats the operation at
intervals of every furlong. This is called " Blazing ;" and the
road is then called a Blazed Road, and a traveller going upon it
has to find his way from one blaze toa nother. From Burrie to
St. Vincent he vrill have to pass along this kind of road for thirty-
five miles, without seeing either a clearing or a human shanty.
Mr. Stevenson, originally from Leeds, who is postmaster of St.
Vincent's and Owen's Sound, informed me that in traversing these
roads, which in fulfilling the duties of his office he has to do once
a week, he has been two or three times lost and bewildered. Snow
being upon the ground which had never been disturbed by the
foot of man, bird, or beast, he was solely indebted to the sagacity
of his horse for his preservation. His continual journeys have,
however, now so well inured him to the road, that he almost knows
every tree in the bush, and he has no difficulty whatever in find
ing his way in either broad daylight, moonlight, or in pitch dark
ness. There are also Indian trails, which are like the sheep tracks
upon our moors, the Indians always travelling in single file, and
I suppose from instinct, always taking the nearest route to the
places of their destination. Having, during my residence in
Toronto, rented a saw miU upon the Rouge or Red River, I had
to spend a great part of my time at that plaoe for about six months.
During that time I made many curious discoveries, which were
entirely new to me, but I suppose were quite familiar to older
settlers. My men, who had one day strayed to the top of a neigh
bouring hill, found by the rooting up of the ground that some

80 CANADIAN FORESTS.
hogs had lately visited that place ; and they wondered what these
animals could be rooting after there, as no beech, oak, or hickory
trees were growing upon it. However, they discovered that this
place had a long time ago been a favorite burying ground of the
Indians, and looking into the holes which the hogs had made, they
found in almost eyery one some relic of a race of men now quite
extinct. There were pieces of broken pottery, broken guns, and
the flint heads of some very handsome tobacco pipes, which the
men brought away. They intended to go again, and take a spade
and mattock with them in order to discover some more Indian
relics. But I persuaded them to allow the dead to rest in peace,
going, however, to view the plaoe myself; and I found that about
forty acres had been appropriated as a place of sepulture, and that
no grave had been dug deeper than about two feet from the sur
face. The whole of the steep bank of the river had been used,
and the graves being one above another in the hill side they looked
like steps from the top to the bottom. The oldest inhabitants
could not tell anything of any Indian being buried there ; but,
as among the relics dug up there were some gun barrels, it must
have been used since the settlement of the French in Canada ;
and I was informed that the gun barrels found were the manufac
ture of that nation.
At night, in travelling through the bush, you are much amused
by the various sounds you hear; the forest and the swamp seem
to be all alive ; and the singing of the tree toads, whistling of the
frogs, with the chirping of the locusts, and the thorough bass of
the bull frog, is a concert which once heard a man does not soon
forget. Then there is the whip-poor-will, a night bird flying about
you and pronouncing its name as plainly as you can do it your
self. I never saw one near enough to be able to give a descrip
tion of it, but I suppose they somewhat resemble the grass drakes
of England. The attention of the traveller is then directed to a
low swampy tract, which seems to him at first sight to be fiUed
with small shooting stars : these are the fire flies which are so
numerous that you may see thousands at any moment, and if you
take a few and keep them under a tumbler glass, they will give
as much light as a small candle. They certainly look beautiful,
and when the niggers hold their accustomed balls, of which they
are passionately fond, some of their dandies will take the trouble
to catch large quantities of these fire flies with hand nets to deck
the hair of their favorite sultanas, who are to be their partners
for the evening in the merry dance. This has a grand effect; not
all the diamonds of Lady Londonderry, nor even the diadem of
England's Queen can show half so brilliant as these humble orna
ments upon the sable daughters of Africa —
" Like a rich jewel in au Ethiop's ear."

CANADIAN FORESTS. 81
A farm is always reckoned 100 acres, and is half a lot ; and
the price varies according to its quality, its privileges, and its dis
tance from market; as, for instance, a farm upon Young Street,
distant two miles from the city, is worth £500 to £600 currency ;
while equaUy good land may be had a few miles further for half
the money. In .buying wild land no value whatever is set "upon
a water privilege, nor for any valuable mineral whioh it may con
tain. If, however, the timber growing upon it is fit for masts for
the royal navy, the Queen of England claims all such in her own
right, and after the broad arrow is marked upon them they are
tabooed from the rest of the community.
The grandeur of the pine grove is a sight worth seeing; 250
trees upon an acre of land, the lowest stem of which, before you
come to a single branch, ¦will be 200 feet high. There is not a
blade of grass growing at its foot, nor any brush or underwood
whatever. You may walk among them without any obstruction
for miles, and in the heat ofthe day find a cooling shade and shelter
from the piercing rays of the sun. It appears as if you were in
a half twilight, and not a rustle beyond what your o-wn foot
makes among the decayed leaves strikes your ears; no birds of
any kind can be seen, nor any squirrels, chitmunks, or rabbits;
aU is still as death and solitary as a desert island. But only let
a fire be kindled and carried by the winds into the upper branches
of these pines, and then a sight wiU appear which would appal the
stoutest heart; the fire leaps from tree to tree with the rapidity of
lightning, and progresses as fast as the wind, nearly as fast as a
horse can gallop. You will then see a canopy of fire on the tops
of the forest, and not a blaze below; indeed, a man might run
underneath when the fire is raging over his head, and if he took
care to dash away the red ashes as they fall from the tops he
would take no harm. As long as the forest is unbroken, the
flames advance; if it approaches a clearing the utmost exertion
of the people is taxed to keep it from their fences and buildings;
for let it catch hold at one end, and it will run along like a train
of gunpowder, and everything upon the farm being of a com
bustible nature wiU share the same fate; and well is it for the
farmer, if his wife and children are safe from its devouring
influence. I have witnessed two such fires as I have described,
and heard afterwards the regrets of many a poor farmer who lived
just in the range of the bush, and had just got his fields fenced
and his house built when this ruthless enemy rushed upon him and
destroyed in a few minutes two or three months' toil; and he
thought himself happy if his dwelling was spared. Sometimes the
the lightning will set on fire a grove of pines or a stack of fire wood ;
but they are mostly kindled by the fires made in the fields in burn
ing up the land after felling the trees. The day after a fire you may
see the blackened boles of trees stiU standing, but all without a top.
G

82 GAME, FISH, AND ACRICDLTIIRE.
CHAPTER XVI.
GAME, FISH, AND AGRICULTURE.
Wild deer — Foxes ; varieties and value of their fur — Abundance of fish — Construction of
a "Brush Dam" — Qualities of land — Bait for cattle ; its absence in the atmosphere
— Agricultural improvement — Breeding of cattle — of horses — Canadian ponies — Chop
ping firewood ; the farmer's winter occupation — Rust In wheat — Artificial grasses — Mr,
Gates' farm — A Morley emigrant's farm — Success of an emigrant from Leeds.
The saw miU which I occupied was situated in the township of
Scarborough, upon the creek called the Rouge River,, and being the
last waterfall nearest the lake, the situation was very subject to
summer and autumn complaints; that is, to diarrhoea and fever
ague. The first we kept down by a medicine composed of tincture
of rhubarb and tincture of cinnamon, each half an ounce, and
about sixteen drops of laudanum to each adult person, given aU
in one dose. This was my specific, and it was, if taken in time,
a never-failing remedy. For the fever ague I prescribed a strong
dose of horse radish, fermented for one night in cider, a tumbler full
at one dose. This always, in whatever cases our men were troubled
with, had the desired effect; we never had a case so bad that we
had occasion to caU in any medical man. The men, however, had
confidence in both of these remedies, and many of our neighbours,
labouring under the same complaints, came and took the medicine,
and none had any occasion to repeat the dose.
There were two branches of this river, which formed a junction
about half a mile below my miU, and a ridge of hills, caUed the
Hog's Back, ran between them. This remarkable ridge penetrated
a great way into the wild country, and from its coverts we had
many of the wild deer visiting us ; as many as five or six were
.sometimes seen at one time drinking in the dam or feeding upon
its margin in the morning ; but as they were very -wild, there was
no coming near enough to have a shot at them; and although
some of the sportsmen of the place foUowed them a considerable
distance, they neyer succeeded in capturing any. We had plenty
of musk rats, martins, and squirrels, but after getting a fine spe
cimen or two, one of which is now in the museum of the Leeds
Philosophical Hall, we never molested them. There are also foxes
in great plenty, of aU the different sorts, the brO^wn, the grey, and
the black. The first, being the most common, were the least in
value, the skins being only worth a dollar each. The grey fox
skins were valued at seven or eight dollars each; but the blacks
are the most esteemed, and will readily seU at thirty dollars, or
£6 sterling each. They are the finest fur to be found in those
regions, and are in consequence the most highly prized. Most of
the skins, when cured, find a ready sale in the United States, and
many persons obtain a living by killing and coUecting them in the
¦winter season.

GAME, FISH, AND AGRICULTURE. 83
Being within about two miles from the mouth of the river, we
were visited every inonth with a fresh shoal of fish, which came
up periodically. In the month of May we had the black bass ;
in June we had the red and yellow bass ;* in July we had other
sorts, and in August we had the salmon. Country farmers come
in large parties at these particular seasons with nets to catch, for
curing, some of whom would procure five or six barrels. We
never interfered ¦with them, except in the salmon season, and then
we made the most we could of the fish, These fish (Salmon) are
generaUy caught ¦with the spear, and the young men are very ex
pert in its use. In the bay, as weU as the open lake, there is an
abundance of white fish. ¦ These to my thinking, are the most
delicate eating of any fish in America : indeed, I think they are
the best of any fish I ever tasted. They are caught by seins or
nets. On a fine night you may see in the bay of Toronto two or
three score of boats, haying each a large fire blazing at the end of
a temporary bowsprit, and a man standing armed with a three-
pronged barbed spear upon the prow, ready to strike any fish
which the light attracts to ¦within his reach. There is great dex
terity displayed, as weU as good judgment, in this operation.
The waters are as clear as crystal, but being a denser medium
than the air, a man must make his exact calculations for the re
fraction, before he strikes, or he wiU overshoot his mark and miss
his prey. The white fish weigh each about two pounds, and three
of them seU for a quarter of a doUar, or one shilling sterling.
Salmon is also sold at about twopence halfpenny to threepence
per pound, and other fish at less than half the price.
In ¦winter time large quantities of muscalonge fish come in a
frozen state from Lake Skugog ; they generaUy weigh about thirty
pounds each, and are very like an English pike in appearance, ,
but considerably larger ; they are very fine fish, and coming in
when there is no other fresh fish to be had, they sell at a good
price. It was formerly the opinion of settlers that the only good land
in America was that in which hard wood grew, such as beech
groves, sugar bushes, and oak openings ; but that upon pine bar
rens there could be no crops expected. This opinion has been
removed in Canada west, where the fiinest farms in aU America
* Our dam being a brush dam, and the only sort that will stand the freshets,
was formed by flrst making a layer of the branches of trees, with the small twigs
upwards and the stumps down the stream : as soon as one layer was completed,
earth and sand was carted upon it, and this being well pressed do^wn, another layer
was added, and more sand, stone, and earth was pressed upon it, and so con
tinued till a dam of ten feet high and perhaps twenty feet wide at the bottom was
formed, which would hold water " like a bottle," as the workmen said. Now, as
the fish always come up from the lake, on meeting this obstruction, they would
endeavour to leap over ; hut as some of them could not reach the top they were
fixed in the branches of the brink, and every moming during the time of their
running up to spawn we could have a hasket full caught this way.
g2

84 GAME, FISH, AND AGRICULTURE.
are now in cultivation, growing twice the quantity of wheat per
acre that any acre of land will or ever did grow, from Maine to
Missouri, or from New Orleans to Sandusky.
To keep cattle in good order it is absolutely necessary that
they should be served three or four times a week with a quantity
of salt ; they are exceedingly fond of it, and when a farmer enters
his pasture with a half bushel measure in his arm, every head of
cattle whioh the field contains, cows, sheep, horses, or hogs, aU
flock round him for their portion of this dainty : he places a
handful upon the ground every few yards as he goes along, to
give to every one a chance of partaking, and the salt is soon
licked up, and a small hole is left where it was laid, caused by
their taking up all the soil on which a particle of salt has touched.
The reason of this is, as I suppose, that there is no salt in the
atmosphere ; and for the same reason a roof ha^ring been covered
with tin plates forty years ago, is as bright as it was on the day
when it was put on ; and an axe left stuck in a tree and forgot,
will retain its polish for years, although it has been out in rains,
dews, and sunshine the whole time. A man also if he intends to
keep his health must take three times the quantity of salt that
he did in Europe.
In the cultivation of land, especially in grass or clover, great
quantities of gypsum are employed, which has here as well as in
the states a most surprising effect, and will more than double the
produce. All other sorts of manure are, however, used in Canada,
which the land repays amply; so that the city is well sought over
by the farmers and gardeners, and a trifle is paid for it.
The breed of oxen in Canada is equal to any we generally see
in the home markets ; great attention has been paid to short
horns, and Devonshire and Hereford breeds are much esteemed.
The agricultural shows established all over the country keep them
all alive to the importance of these improvements. The greater
part of the calves are reared, as the chief part of agricultural work
is performed with oxen, which are in general worked till they are
seven years old, and then fatted for the market ; and as fine beef
may be seen in the markets of Toronto at Christmas time, as in
any part of the world. The price of a small bred cow is about
ten dollars, and for others according to size and breed. A pair of
good working oxen four years old may be bought for sixty to one
hundred dollars ; and the price of best beef is by the quarter, one
penpy sterling per pound for fore quarters, and three halfpence for
hind quarters. Veal is only to be had in the spring, and then it
sells for about half a cent or a farthing a pound lower than beef,
pork, or mutton.
The breed of horses for the road, for agriculture, or for the
turf, are all the descendants of the best that could be procured

GAME, FISH, AND AGRICULTURE. 85
from the mother country, and the races testify that the breed is
not degenerated. There is also a breed of ponies peculiar to
Canada, which for speed in trotting, and bottom, cannot be
equalled on that continent. They are stiff looking animals, have
very strong bony legs, and are from thirteen to fourteen hands
high. If a person has a span of suoh ponies and a sleigh, in win
ter time he may travel at the rate of sixteen or seventeen miles
an hour, although in appearance the animals seem not to possess
such blood and bottom ; but the price they will sell for sets the
question at rest as to their real value.
The chopping of wood occupies a considerable time, and takes
a stranger sometime to acquire the best method; the operation is
effected this way : — after the limbs have been cut from the bole
of a tree, it is measured by a rod into four feet lengths, and then
¦with the axe a nick is cut about five inches deep half round the
bole; the sticks are then split off in that partition, and the opera
tor begins with another length and so continues till the whole
side is finished ; then the round side, which is yet uncut, is turned
up, and the same operation is performed as at first, tiU the whole
tree is cut up and piled in a row four feet deep and four feet high,
which then can be measured off into cords in a few minutes by a
rod eight feet long. A good tree two feet iu diameter and sixty
feet long, ¦wiU deliver about two cords of merchantable firewood.
An expert workman will cut in this way three or four cords per
day, and if the same is paid for, the labourer's wages are three
York shillings, or eighteenpenoe sterling per cord. If hauled to
the city and exposed for sale, the cartage is to add, and this item
comes in the most expensive of the whole. All the farmers who
reside within seven or eight miles, make it their winter business
to chop and haul firewood, and it is the only out-door work in
which he and his men can be beneficially employed. The greatest
e^ril to be apprehended by the farmer in these regions is a droughty
summer, lest his wheat take the rust. A crop may appear most
promising, and in a week's time, if the rust takes place, above
one-half of it is destroyed. This blight is caused by such a copious
supply of sap which the roots are furnishing to the plant, that
the straw cannot contain it, and it bursts in a long crack, allow
ing the sap to exude upon the outside, and instead of being carried
up to feed the com it runs down in a red liquid state, like the
oxydation from old iron ; hence its name of rust. It is remarked
that newly cleared land is more subject to this disease than old
land. The meadow land produces capital crops of Timothy grass
and clover, which are nearly all the artificial grasses cultivated ;
the land is much fertilized and the crops doubled by the use of
about a peck per acre of gypsum or the sulphate of lime, ground
as small as flour and sown in for a top dressing in the spring :

86 GAMK, FIWH, AND AGRICULTURE.
the expense is trifling, and the enlightened farmer never for a
single season omits this operation, if he wishes to have large
crops. One of the best farms to be seen in this neighbourhood is in
the township of Scarborough, belonging to Mr. Gates. He keeps
a splendid tavern just ten miles from the City HaU, upon the
plank road in Kingston-street, and his house is surrounded on
both sides of the street with his farm, which contains about 300
acres, some of which extends to the borders of the lake. He takes
care that every portion of it is well manured, having a large
supply made in his stables, and he grows every thing upon his
own farm that is consumed in his house, except groceries. He
catches as much fish as serves his table all the year round, and
makes as much sugar from his own maple grove as he wants, and
kills his own mutton, beef, and pork.
I visited the farm of Mr. John Tingle, in Scarborough. This
man left Morley, in the neighbourhood of Leeds, about thirty
years ago, where he was a farm labourer, and went to America.
He did not Uke the States, so took a boat at Rochester, and
was landed upon the peninsula which forms the harbour of Toronto.
He there procured a boat, and the ferryman charged him sixpence
for taking him over, which he paid, being the last farthing he
had in the world. However, next day he engaged himself to
Chief Justice Robinson as coachman, and was in his employ for
seven or eight years, respected by his master and all the family.
He then married a fellow- servant, and the judge procured him
the grant of 300 acres of land in the above township, and not a
better farm, or one better managed, can be found there. He has
brought up a family of fourteen sons and daughters, and when
any of them marries, he buys a farm of wild land in some
favorite locality, stocks it for the new couple, and gives them a
fair start. He still keeps improving his own farm, which he will
continue to do so as long as he lives, when he wiU leave it for
sale, the proceeds to be divided among his numerous descendants.
The old man came to my house very often, and was never so
delighted as in talking of Morley, and of his old friends there, to
whom, when I returned home I was charged with aU sorts of
compliments and good wishes.
A person named Garnett came to my house in Cleveland, from
Leeds : he was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and talked of
starting business there ; but first got work as a journe3Tnan.
The payment of wages there being in store pay, he would not
remain. I gave him letters to some friends in Toronto, and he
sailed for that place. He fell in with a gentleman from Cobourg,
and in three days after landing in Canada was located in that
place. He had plenty of work to begin with, which he faithfully

CANADIAN WEATHER. SPORTS. 87
completed, and the next year took many contracts, for houses,
shops, and churches, and when I left in the steamer which stops
at Cobourg, he and his wife were waiting to bid us adieu and wish
us a good voyage to the old country. He was then employing
about forty men. He pointed out his house to us from the deck
of the steamer which he had built for himself the year before ;
and his garden and grounds, being upon a hiU commanding a view
of the harbour, looked at a distance the most delightful place we
had ever seen in America.

CHAPTEE XVII.
CANADIAN WEATHER. SPORTS.
Fox-hunting on the ice with an East Riding pack — Cricket matches — National rivalry in
the game— The frosts— Frost-bitten ; "making a case" of it — Brilliant Sleighing—
Fires during the frost — Expense and economy of fuel — ^House rents — Fences to resist
action of the frost — ^Durability of cedar — Thunder storm — Forest of trees stripped by
the lightning.
We we were always enlivened two or three times every winter
by a fox-hunt upon the ice by a pack of imported fox-hounds,
brought by a person from the East Riding of Yorkshire. The
foxes were brought to the peninsula in bags, and turned loose ;
they soon, however, take to the ice as the land is too narrow for
sly rejmard to hide himself, and then a fair chase is given him,
dogs, men, horses, and sleighs aU scampering away as fast as
possible. There are thousands of spectators, and as they are
stationed in various parts of the bay, the fox gets turned, and,
though he will sometimes twist and twine among the crowd, yet
in general he is at last caught by the dogs ; and then another is
tumed out. This continues till darkness makes it necessary to
be moving off.
There is also the amusement of racket playing, and the club of
St. George stands the highest for cricket playing in Canada.
There is considerable rivalry between this club and that in New
York ; and though at nearly seven hundred miles distance, every
year they contrive to have a friendly game at both their places.
The excitement during the continuation of this game is most
extraordinary ; it is the topic of the whole city, and man, woman,
and child seem as much interested as if the whole honour of the
country depended upon the issue. It is certainly a pleasant sight
to see the picked youth and elite of both nations join in such
friendly rivalry, with such hearty good will on both sides ; and
let us hope that this rivalry may never be superseded by any
thing more serioiis.

88 CiANADIAN WEATHER. SPORTS.
The frost begins to set in about the middle of November, and
will last for about a fortnight, causing the navigation instantly to
cease, and no vessel can be insured that ventures out even into
the lake which is neyer frozen up ; and the steamers which eyery
day leave Toronto for Niagara or Hamilton, have to take their
own risks. As the boats cannot approach the latter place, they
land at Wellington Square, a place about four miles off ; but the
Niagara river is always open, for there are so many rapids that
any ice which may be driven over the Falls would be ground to
powder instantly, and if formed below that, there are other
numerous rapids, and the awful Whirlpool, which would soon
destroy the largest field of ice that could be formed.
On Christmas day, 1 844, the bay of Toronto was quite open ;
the sun shone beautifully, and all sorts of pleasure boats were
seen disporting upon the waters. There was no appearance of any
extra hard frost ; the evening set in calm and bright, the ground
began to crisp under your feet, and at eight o'clock next moming
there were hundreds of people upon the ice, some skating, some
sliding, and some at the game of curling. Horses and sleighs
were going like wild things to haul sand from the island to the
city; and all this had been effected by one night's frost. I took
an axe, and went down to the bay, and in cutting through the ice
I found it in thickness about five inches.
A man travelling in this intense frost runs the risk of being frost
bitten. When such a misfortune happens he at first feels no pain,
but a genial warmth seems to pervade the frosted part, say his
nose; and if a remedy is not promptly applied he runs the risk of
losing that appendage to his face. As soon, however, as he makes
his appearance before any other person, that person soon discovers
the frosted' part, and instantly applies the remedy, which is by
lifting a handful of snow, applying it to the injured part, and
rubbing it vigorously till the circulation is again restored, and no
bad effects afterwards are felt. I have had many a hearty laugh
at a set of mischievous boys coming from school in such strong
frosts, who, meeting with a green-un, would immediately raise an
alarm, and begin rubbing the boy's nose as hard as they could with
snow till they pronounced it well, all the while enjoying the hoax,
and sniggering away at the unfortunate lad, who really thought
that something was the matter with him. The boys then go along
and are again ready for the next simpleton they meet.
When sleighing time was fairly set in, then came the grand
procession of all the fashion and beauty of Toronto. The sleighs
are decked out in the most superb style; the occupants are
wrapped up in the most costly and beautiful furs, figuring on
which may be seen the skins of lions, leopards, panthers, tigers,
and buffaloes ; the horses are richly caparisoned in the same way.

CANADIAN WEATHER. SPORTS. 89
and have round their necks a string of sleigh bells, the jingling of
which gives notice for pedestrians to get out of the way. In
driving they always take the right hand side of the street, and
in this form make a procession for two or three hours round the
town, one following another as fast as their horses can draw
them, every one trying to outvie his neighbour either in the
splendour of his vehicle, the rarity of his furs, or the beauty of
his horses and their housings. To the beholder it is ten thousand
times more exhilarating than the cavalcades on a Sunday after
noon by our nobility in Hyde Park, as among the latter is to be
seen nothing but the solemn, silent, and haughty grandeur of the
aristocrat, but in the former are to be seen the choice spirits of a
rising people, who are determined to enjoy themselves for the
time being, and allow every other man the same privilege, if he
chooses, and can afford it.
At this time, aU through the country, wheels to all sorts of car
riages are dispensed ¦with, all travelling either in private carriages
or in stages is similar, and I have seen a funeral hearse drawn
in the same way, and accompanied by at least 300 carriages of
various sorts, sizes, and calibre, all drawn upon runners; but
at such times bells are not used, as it is allowed by all that these
bells have a merry sound, whioh ill accords with such solemn and
melancholy occasions.
In such intense frosts, it is very melancholy to hear the sound
of the fire bell : the water pipes being very likely all frozen up,
there is no other resource but the leading of water in barrels from
the bay ; aU the draymen in the town are furnished with barrels
for the occasion, and it is a '•' caution," as a Yankee would say, to
see how they whip their horses on the first alarm being sounded,
in order to have the first barrel of water at the fire. The various
fire companies are speedily assembled, the greatest order and
regularity prevails, no hand-over-head work is aUowed ; they go
to business like real workmen, and having powerful engines and
all other sorts of fire apparatus, they perform wonders, in saving
lives and property from the devouring element.
Although in Canada west the thermometer will sometimes fall
to eighteen degrees below zero, yet to a person who has not far
to travel he will feel no particular difficulty in resisting any bad
effect arising therefrom. In fact, he will have no idea that its
severity is half so intense as it really is ; the atmosphere, at such
times, is quite serene, there is no wind, and he will have found in
the old country many days the weather of which was more
piercing than any he ever experienced in Canada, although the
thermometer never descends so low by thirty degrees.
A great drawback to the comforts of the poor in the city is the
dearness of fuel ; a cord of firewood, consisting of 128 feet as it is

90 CANADIAN WEATHER. SPORTS.
piled up in logs, costs two and a half doUars, or ten shilUngs English.
In the hotel which I kept, (having always in that season to keep
four fires) it took us two cords per week. The utmost economy
is used in this article. We had a large handsome box stove for
the bar room, four feet long, two feet deep, and eighteen inches
wide. After the fuel was weU lighted we could stop the draught
by a circular valve, and it would in a short time make the large
room in which it was placed uncomfortably hot ; but as we could
immediately check the heat by the regulator, we always kept it at
an even and pleasant temperature. In the kitchen we had a cook
ing stove which would suffice to boil water, bake bread, and cook
meat for one hundred persons ; it contained two large ovens, and
was capable of boiling four pans at one time. These ovens would
be found very useful and very economical in this country, if they
were a little modified for the consumption of coal. The other
two fires were on the common open plan. Logs of wood four feet
long being placed upon the standards, called fire dogs, on the
hearth, make a cheerful fire, particularly well adapted for keeping
the feet warm.
Another drawback, in the cities, is the price of house rent,
which may be safely estimated at twice the price it is in Leeds.
This is one reason that so many people, both single and married,
always reside in lodging or boarding houses, and such houses
being often inconveniently crowded is one reason of the prevalence
of fevers at some seasons of the year. By liying in the country,
however, all these evils are avoided ; wood being of no value, a
man may have as much as he ¦wiU chop for a very smaU sum, and
he may have a house for a trifle.
If a person wishes to have a durable fence to his garden or
field, it is absolutely necessary that the posts he puts down should
be anchored to the bottom. This is effected by morticing into
the lower part a cross piece of wood which will extend two feet
on each side ; this will keep down the posts in the hardest frosts,
and the fence vrill remain good for many years. I have seen a
boarded fence six feet high drawn so far out of the ground by the
frosts in three years, that in the whole length there was room for
a hog to walk through. Of course the posts were then to take
up, but were made safe enough the second time.
If such posts are made of cedar wood, whioh is as plentiful as
oak, being found in aU the swamps of Canada, they will not rot
in a century. This valuable property is, I beUeve, confined
to this tree; and piles driven into the water, part in and
part out, have never been known to decay. In general, there
fore aU cellar floors and out steps are made of it. It has
also, the property of repelling all sorts of vermin ; no moth, worm,
or bug, will breed near it or within the smell of it. There are

CHARACTER OF CANADA WEST. 91
two sorts of it, the white and the red, but both have the same
valuable properties.
I was once travelling on horseback upon the Kingston road,
when the lightning began to flash and the thunder to growl at a
distance ; but it soon began to rain, and I put up my horse at the
five mile tree kept by Mr. Johnson. While standing under the
piazza in front of his house, watching the awful raging ofthe
storm, a tremendous flash of red lightning ignited a large pile of
brushwood about 200 yards from the house, and struck the pine
forest about t\rice the distance off. The effects of this shock were
to peel off the bark of about a thousand trees as clean as if done
by the hand of man, and the next minute bhe wood looked exactly
like one of our oak plantations after the peelers have stripped off
the bark in the spring of the year. The same phenomenon has
been seen on a smaU scale many times before, but never to the
extent of this.

CHAPTER XVIII.
CHARACTER OF CANADA WEST.
Settlement of the Chippeway Indians — Quam qua Quonabee and his English wife —
Altered habits of the tribe — National education in Canada ; superior position of the
schoolmasters, and regular inspection of the schools on the part of government-
Favourable condition of Canada ; its chmate, extent, fertility of soil and salubrity —
Encougragement of emigration by the Canadian government — Grants of land — Owen's
Sound — Falls of water — Abundance of fish — Communication with Toronto and Hamil
ton — Canada Company's land — Settlements of Owen's Sound, Guelph, and Goderich—
Water power in Canada West — Manufactures — Substitution of tiles for shingles.
At the Credit River, about fifteen miles from Toronto, is a set
tlement of Chippeway Indians, over whom Quam qua Quonabee, or
Peter Jones, is the chief and spiritual pastor. This man, about
twenty-five years ago, preached in most of the large towns in
England, and in London fell in love with a beautiful girl, tho
daughter of a gentleman there. Being a fine looking and well
favoured man, his offers were accepted, and the lady followed
him to his ¦wild home. They were married at New York. This
circumstance has been the means of civilizing the whole tribe.
He has a splendid frame house, furnished in the best English
style, a grand piano graces his parlour, and his grounds are well
cultivated ; his horses and carriages are oftentimes to be seen in
Toronto, where they attract a good deal of curiosity. He has also
built a handsome church, which is well attended. The habits of
this remnant of a once powerful nation are so altered that, if
Chingucchoke, their famous sagamore, could visit their wigwams,
he would not be able to recognize in the inhabitants any trace,
except in physiognomy, of their descent from his celebrated

92 CHARACTER OF CANADA WEST.
nation. They are, however, still addicted to hunting, shooting,
and fishing ; they also trap a great many foxes and wolves, the
skins of which they bring to market. They are very tenacious
with whom they deal, never changing their customer if they are
honestly dealt with, and will not dispose of their game or any of
their merchandize in the open market.
They have yearly grants from the English government of oxen,
ploughs, and harrows, besides blankets and clothing of all sorts;
so being amply provided for they live a lazy hfe, the carking cares
of this world never finding a place either in their heads or their
dwellings. A plan of national education has been tried in Canada with
the happiest results ; every township has a certain grant from
Government for building schools and for maintaining a school
master. This grant, coupled with a small sum paid by the pupils,
places that functionary in a respectable situation, in comparison
¦with the same class in the United States. They also, before being
inducted into an appointment, have to pass a rigid examination
as to their fitness for the office, and a careful inspection is periodi
cally made by the Inspector of Schools, and a full report is
annually made to the Governor-General and the Councils. This
has a very beautiful effect upon the management of the schools,
as well as upon the conduct of the scholars. There is also a
regular committee formed in every township, where the complaints
of any party are examined into and decided upon, instanter. In
these schools are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, and in
some the classical languages are taught ; but as it is not " a sine
qua non" in any master to be versed in the dead languages, it is
not insisted upon ; but a knowledge of them is a great recom
mendation. If the parents of a youth be desirous of giving him
a classical education, all sorts of schools for this purpose are to
be found in the city of Toronto, on easy terms, and to complete
a first-rate education there is the CoUege open to all, at which the
whole cost for board and education will not amount to more than
about £25 sterling per annum. Such is the happy situation of
the rising generation in this favoured country; they enjoy a
climate equal for salubrity to any in the world, and where a man,
if he keeps away from residing near swamps and avoids being out
at nights in the bush, may be assured that there is nothing in
the climate calculated to shorten life more than in any other
country under the sun ; where the taxes are the lightest of any
civilized country ; where the laws are faithfuUy and vigorously
enforced, so that a man can sit under his own vine and under his
own fig tree, none daring to make him afraid.
Many people have the idea that Canada is a small country, and
that it will soon be overstocked with emigrants ; but if such take

CHARACTER OF CANADA WEST. 93
the trouble of looking over a map, they wiU find that in extent
it is twice the size of the United States, with all Europe to boot ;
and the land is far superior in quality, for the production of grain
of all sorts and potatoes, to any land in the union ; and it is not
troubled either with the curse of slavery or with the diseases
incident to many of the States.
The measures now being adopted by the government of the
United Colony of the two Canadas for the encouragement of emi
gration to that country are on the most liberal scale. They are
now making free grants of land to all suitable applicants about
the region of Owen's Sound, where a fine healthy country invites
the emigrant to become a settler in some of the townships already
laid out and surveyed. The land is of a good quality, heavily
timbered with beech, oak, maple, and pine ; where falls of water
are in great abundance ; where the contiguity of lake Huron,
Owen's Sound, and Georgian Bay, will always furnish an immense
supply of the finest fish in the world, — The trout weighing from
thirty-two pounds upwards ; the muscalonge, a very fine fish,
about the same weight ; and the deUcious white fish, are as plen-
ful as herrings on the Scotch coast. There are also innumerable
shoals of fresh water herrings there, which to all appearance are of
the same species as those from the sea, but are in general about
t^wice the size. This country lies to the north west of Toronto,
and is easily accessible irom that city or from Hamilton. There
is also a steam boat communication during summer, as well as
sloops, schooners, and other craft ; so that there need be no fear
of getting up all sorts of heavy baggage, and the emigrant himself
may travel by stage and on horseback to get his domicile prepared
before the baggage and his family can possibly arrive either by
steamer or sailing boat. The distance by water from Toronto to
this region will be nearly 1000 miles, the distance by land is about
150. The road lies through some of the best cultivated land in
Canada, up Yong Street, through Thornhill, Richmondhill, New
market, and Whitchurch, to Holland's Landing on Lake Simcoe;
thence to the town of Barrie, through Sunnydale to St. Vincent's,
where no doubt the first grants wiU be made.
The Canada Company has also about 1,500,000 acres of land to
dispose of in the district of Goderich and Guelph. The liberal
terms offered by this company claim the attention of the emigrant,
as, in case he settles upon their land, he need not pay any money
down, and what capital he has may be all laid out in stocking his
farm ; and he will have been a very indifferent manager indeed, if
before the ten years are expired, which is the credit they give, he
has not made himself independent as a Canadian farmer, and laid
the foundation of a comfortable maintenance for his family. The
lands belonging to this Company are the best and richest in the

94 CHARACTER OF CANADA WEST.
whole continent of America for the growth of wheat and other grain,
and for all kinds of fruit except the peach ; and it is almost impossi
ble for a man to place himself do^wn in any locality but he will have
a faU of water within a few miles of him, which, as the country
gets settled, will be turned first into saw mills, then into corn and
other mills ; and in the choice of land, there wiU be no extra
charge for such a valuable privilege.
The time taken up by an emigrant leaving Liverpool for this
country is only about one quarter of the time that it takes one to
go out to South AustraUa. In about five or six weeks he may be
in the heart of his intended settlement ; and if he is in the proper
time of year he may have a crop growing upon his own land before
an emigrant for South Australia will have reached his destina
tion. Under these and other innumerable advantages, it is no
wonder that the colony of Canada West should prosper in a more
rapid ratio than any country in the world ever did before.
The two places named above, Owen's Sound, and the Guelph
and Goderich districts, contain about as much land as England
proper, without Wales and Scotland ; and in a few years will be
capable of supporting four or five millions of souls. When settled
they wiU form one of the finest agricultural districts in Her Ma
jesty's dominions.
There is no country in the world which is as weU supplied with
water power as Canada West : it is almost an impossibiUty to name
a place that is five miles distant from a fall of water. The inhabi
tants are taking advantage of these, and wherever a fall can con
veniently be worked, a miU of some useful sort is sure to be put
up. They generaUy begin with a saw mill, and end with a corn
mill, as they always expect a saw mill, being weU worked for three
years, will earn the proprietors a corn miU. There are also
woollen mills, chair factories, and other trades which require
power ; and persons who wish to commence in some of these lines
are always ready to rent a water fall, if the owner does not choose
to work it himself. Among other improvements lately introduced
into Toronto, there are two brothers from Selby, in Yorkshire,
called Freek, who have started the manufacturing of tiles for
covering buildings, and every one who is raising a new building
is now covering it with something which is fire proof ; and very
speedily we may expect that shingles or pine slates will be discon
tinued altogether.

NATIONALITIES OF THE COLONISTS. 95
CHAPTER XIX.
NATIONALITIES OF THE COLONISTS.
Elections in Canada — ^Irish feuds and mendicancy — Scotch Settlers — A Scotchman's
reminiscence of his native land — English emigrant farmers— Cultivation of pease —
Feeding and curing of bacon — The Yorkshire and Yankee horse-dealers; diamond
cut diamond — Suggestions for emigration.
The elections for members of the provincial parliament are
carried on much in the sajne Way as they are in England; the
polling is taken in two days, whether in county, riding, or city.
There is the same excitement as there is in one of our own elec
tions, and in such cities as Montreal and Toronto, where great
numbers of the Irish are congregated, scarcely one takes place
but there is loss of Hfe; Wherever two Irishmen meet together,
although of the same religion and of the same country, yet, from
some local prejudice or some old feud of three or four hundred years
standing, they must keep up the ancient hatred and have a shindy.
A man from Cork will not associate with another from Connaught,
nor work with him, although both .of them are Catholics ; what
can be expected when a Catholic and an Orangeman come into
collision? AU the bad feelings which a bad Irishman can pos
sibly show are then sho^wn ; they will attack one another with
any weapon whatever which is within their reach, and if they get
their man down they wiU never desist till the life is knocked out
of him; but let two or three constables ihake their appearance
showing a determined front, and away the most riotous wiU
scamper as fast as their legs can carry them : but if the police
show any fear, then the only way to queU the riot is to send for
the priest, who wiU come with his stick and begin to lay about
him with vigour; and it is seldom but he can make peace and
quietness, when the constables have failed. It is astonishing that
men with rational faculties can be so besotted in ignorance and
prejudice as to carry out to the wilds of Canada the same fiendish
feeUngs which actuated them at home, and make them always
ready to join in any row, particularly against another of their
countrymen, whom they had never seen in all their lives, and
merely because he came 100 or 150 miles from the place they
came from, or because his religion differed in some dogma, which
none of them understood, from what they themselves professed.
The lower orders of Irish are as prone to begging in America as
they are in their own country or in England. I never saw a
beggar in either Canada or in the States but he or she was from
Ireland ; and in Canada there is no murder or robbery committed
but an Irishman has had some hand in it, either as principal or
accessary. In the states, however, the children of the Irish speedily
amalgamate themselves with the natives, ahd the rising generation

96 NATIONALITIES OF THE COLONISTS.
of Irish descent are not in any way distinguished from the chil
dren of any other kindred. It will be a happy thing for Canada
when it is the case there. The Scotch on the contrary make the
best of citizens ; they are always industrious, make good farmers,
always endeavour to get into the country, not lingering like the
Irish about the towns. If a Scotchman comes to this country
ever so young, he takes a pride in stiU speaking with his native
accent in all its peculiarities; and although his children fall into
the dialect of the country, the old folks stiU adhere to broad
Scotch, and quote their favourite poet Bums with the greatest
delight. I was once walking with a gentleman near his house in
Drummondsrille, and as he had forgot a parcel be had brought
from a distance for a friend whom we were going to call upon, he
stepped back for it, and I was looking over a fence into a Scotch
man's garden till he rejoined me. The farmer just then came out
of his house with a scythe in his hands, and, it being in the fall
of the year, I accosted him with " Good morning frien', hae ye
been mawing when ither focks are busy sawing?" he immediately
laid down his scythe, and taking me by the hand, said, " That
sentiment is from Burns; come into my house and take a cup of
my cider." I tasted his hospitality, and when my friend (Mr.
Geo. Sutton) returned, I was busy with the gude man and his
wife in talking about the canny town o' Glasco. There are also
some few Welsh in Canada, but as they are unassuming and retired
in their habits, I know of no peculiarity which they adhere to, as a
custom brought from their rugged mountain homes. A great
portion of the merchants and shopkeepers in all the cities of
Canada are Scotchmen.
Although there are emigrants from every county in England,
yet the bulk of the farmers are from Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and
Cumberland. They carry out with them the knowledge they
haye acquired in their narive counties, and with them are to be
found the choicest breed of oxen, sheep, and horses. They will
wrangle in the same way as they would at Howden show or at
Boroughbridge fair, about the merits of their nags, and descant
for Iiours on the excellency of their short horns. In pigs too
they are always anxious to get the best breed, and it is astonish
ing to witness the enormous size to which they feed them. As
Indian corn does not always ripen weU in such a northern latitude
as Canada, the farmers feed their hogs upon pease, of which they
grow enormous crops, which seems an extraordinary circumstance,
as that valuable plant cannot be perfected in Ohio or in New
York, being always affected by an insect the larvae of which are
blown into the blossom of the plant when in bloom, which
destroys its vitality for seed ; but if eaten in its green state, it
makes no difference. The States are therefore to be supplied with

NATIONALITIES OF THE COLONISTS. 97
fresh seed every year from either Canada or England, or they
would have no green pease for table. The bacon fed upon pease
and cured the same way as in Yorkshire is equal in flavor to what
is produced in England, and large quantities of bacon and hams
are annuaUy forwarded for sale to Montreal and Quebec, as well
as thousands of barrels of common salted pork for exportation to
the West Indies, or for the navy of England.
A man having a good farm of his own in Upper Canada, and
having knowledge sufficient to manage it, and industry to keep
aU in motion and order, may live here as happy as a king, grow
ing almost every thing he wants on his own farm, and by the
surplus of bis produce always getting money ; and although he
has had much toil and hard labour to bring his farm into a pro
fitable state, he has an ineffable pleasure in contemplating his
own handy-work, and can say with truth, " All this I have accom
plished ¦with my o^wn hands ; I found this plaoe a howling
¦wilderness, and I have made it a fruitful vineyard ; I found it a
swampy and a barren desert waste, and I have made it a pleasant
garden." A man's characteristics stick to him through life : he can no
more alter them than he can add a cubit to his stature. There
are two persons now living in Toronto, and each respected in his
way of Ufe : — Charles Thompson is' a thorough-bred Yorkshire-
man ; Barnard is a cold-blooded Yankee. They are both con
siderable dealers in horseflesh, and are the smartest men in the
whole city. In making a swap they are both perfectly at home,
and there are few men who could get to windward of either of
them. But what more than all delights either of these two men
is to get the advantage of the other ; it is like the sweetness of
revenge to a Spaniard ; and, of course, in their dealings with one
another, each puts forth the best specimen of his generalship.
Now, the Chief Justice had the misfortune to lose one of his coach
horses : he therefore wanted another to match the one left. As
the horse was a favorite and withal a handsome one, he sent to each
of these horse coupers to see him. Mr. Barnard caUed first, looked
at the horse and told his lordship that he could presently find
him a match ; on which the judge said if he could, he would
aUow him to go as far as 160 dollars. A few days passed over, and
as Mr. Robinson had heard nothing from Barnard, he sent for
Thompson. Thompson stated that it would be a difficult matter
to find a match for the horse, but he had at that time a span of
horses, a good match, which he would sell very cheap ; and he
would take his old horse at fifty dollars in part payment. After
examining the new span, they were approved of, and transferred
to the judge's stables. The same day as Mr. Thompson was
driving the judge's horse out of town, he met Mr. Barnard, who
H

98 NATIONALITIES OF THE COLONISTS.
called him back and asked him the price of the horse he was
driving, and ultimately bought him at 100 dollars. He had him
trimmed up the next morning and carried him down to the judge
for inspection, but you may imagine his chagrin and mortification
in being told the whole particulars of the bargain, not so much for
losing the money as for being cheated by his particular friend,
Charley Thompson.
As I have shown that there is no fear of the country being
overstocked, that there is ample room for all that wish to go, I
caU upon the Government of the country to give a helping hand.
We have plenty of ships of war which are rotting inactive in our
ports; we have plenty of officers and men to keep at the public
cost; there would then be no extra expense in the operation, but
rations for the voyage: one pound per head would defray the
whole : and then a million of human beings might be safely sent
out of the country to Canada alone in one year, who might all
be located and put in a way of making their own living, and of
giving employment to those left behind; and it would save
hundreds of thousands of pounds yearly in poor rates. The
guardians of poor-law unions ought also to pay troublesome
paupers to go; get them a grant of waste land; let the expense
they cost at home be continued to them for a year in their
new homes, and the benefits would soon counterbalance the
outlay. At the same time I should do all ia my power to encourage
emigration to our other possessions abroad; — to Australia, New
Zealand, and even to Vancouver's Island. This might be carried
on at the same time, and very soon those colonies would rival any
other country under the sun; and in a few years the population
of English descent would amount to hundreds of miUions, all tied
to us by lineage, by language, and by faith. Such bonds the
greatest revolutions would neyer sever; for if they became inde
pendent states, they would still look to England as the Fatherland,
and would still remain customers for the luxuries of Ufe, if not
for the necessaries.
We should also draw from them the raw materials for manu
factures yet unthought of, in wool, wood, metals, or stone. All
the civilized countries of Europe would flock to purchase either
our manufactures or our raw materials (as they do now for
indigo), and England would indeed become the general mart,
workshop, and warehouse of the world.
If the milUons of money which for the last hundred years have
been expended in the unhealthy regions of Africa or the West
Indies had been employed in facilitating settlements in the
temperate zones, the e^rils of slavery we should never have felt;
nor would it have cost this generation twenty millions to redeem

THE RETURN HOME. 99
the evils entailed upon us by it. It is not too late yet, it only
wants a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether, to effect
this consummation so devoutly to be wished.

CHAPTER XX.
THB RETURN HOME.
Departure from Toronto — The Dutchman's excellent hotel — Canal-boat Captain full of
business ; deputy Captain — ^Friendly testimonial — ^Utica — Albany^- Woollen factories
— New York — Agreeable voyage — Arrival at Liverpool.
On my return home from Canada, we left the city of Toronto
in the steam-boat America, Captain Twoeye, and after calUng at
Port Hope and Cobourg, crossed the lake, and in the morning
were landed in the state of New York, at the mouth of the
Genessee river, within about two miles of the city of Rochester.
We had our baggage overhauled by the custom-house officers,
who behaved in a very gentlemanly manner; we then were
carried up in a coach to the city, and breakfasted at the railway
hotel, kept by a Dutchman, — and a prettier or better conducted
house I never entered. We went through the whole house to see
his accommodations, and I had never seen in America any house,
either public or private, that could compare in comfort with it :
the charges were also on the most moderate scale. I then visited
two or three woollen factories and corn mills, had another peep
at the Genessee FaUs, and coming to the canal wharf, bargained
for our passage to Albany in one of the line -boats. Captain Smith,
for one cent., or a halfpenny, per mile for each person, for bed,
board, and passage. It took us five days to travel the distance.
When we came to the weighing machine, our Captain requested
me to take charge of the boat for him, to take pay of all passen
gers we should get, and pay all the expenses, and buy provisions
as we went along for crew and passengers. He had a lawsuit
to attend to, and would overtake us by the railroad cars at
Syracuse. After he had given his orders to the crew to address
me as Captain, and to obey me as such, I was regularly installed
into the command. We had for fellow-passengers about fifteen
persons from different parts of Western Canada, and a very agree
able party we were. Our Captain joined us at the appointed
place, and very nobly he behaved during the journey; the pro
visions were exceUent and abundant; and we were so pleased
with him that we made a subscription of about one shilling each ;
and when we arrived at Utica, went and purchased for him a
handsome metal coffee pot, a dozen of German silver tea spoons,
and half a dozen table spoons. After dinner we called him into

100 THE RETURN HOME.
the ladies' cabin, and, with a suitable compliment, delivered them
to him as a smaU token of our appreciation of his kindness and
gentlemanly behaviour. I never saw a man so elated with so
trifling a present ; it was such a circumstance as neither he nor
any one else, as far as he knew, had ever before experienced; he
would keep them as long as he lived as the greatest honour ever
conferred upon him; and almost shed tears to think of the plea
sure it would afford to his wife. We landed at Albany at six
o'clock in the morning, and, although it was the custom for
passengers immediately to leave the boat and breakfast at the
tavern, yet he insisted on our breakfasting with him for the last
time. When we took our leave of him he promised that in
future he would always regard the English for our sakes. On
our route we called at Chitenango, at a woollen factory; at Oris-
cany, and saw another; and at the Little FaUs of the Mohawk
river, and saw two factories there. The goods which are prin-
cipaUy made in those places are only suitable for the common
wear of the country; they would not sell in England at any price;
the generality of colours are the self grey and hareback mixture,
which are made narrow, stout and coarse, and sell in retail for
about a dollar per yard. Such goods could be made in York
shire, if wanted, to leave a good profit at 2s. per yard.
We took the steamer from Albany, and in about ten hours
reached New York, the fare costing a quarter doUar per head.
We again admired the magnificent scenery in passing through
the Highlands, West Point, and the Tappan Sea. On landing
there, we took up our residence at the house of Mr. Robinson, in
Front-street, and stopped one week to get everything ready for
the voyage across the Atlantic. We engaged for our passage in
the ship Torolinto, Captain Smith, and being about twenty, all
Britishers, we had very comfortable quarters, and made the
passage to Liverpool in twenty-one days.
On coming down the Erie Canal, and calling at a store, we had
purchased a lot of yeast cakes, which cost us at the rate of four
for a penny; we had with us on board a barrel of the best flour;
and as we had engaged with the black cook to cook for us during
the time we were aboard, we had fresh bread to breakfast every
morning. We had also provided many other little dainties for
our young ones, and we passed the time very pleasantly.
Our Captain, however, vouchsafed very few words to any of us,
but the old mate, an experienced weather-beaten tar, was a kind-
hearted man, and a thorough good seaman. He never threw a
Word away; all his orders were decisive, and were responded to
by the men with good ¦will and alacrity; he was never in a
passion, and never used any angry expressions to them; and
whether the wind was fair or foul, he was always ready not only

SUPPLEMENTARY TACTS. 101
to give the necessary orders, but to lend a helping hand, to furl,
to reef, or tack the ship. There was more confidence to be
placed in this man than in any man I ever sailed with ; he had
crossed the Atlantic above one hundred times, and had visited
China and most of the other countries in the world. In conver
sation his chief delight was to talk of his wife and his little
daughter; and in fine weather he would bring out of his breast
pocket a miniature picture of them both, for our inspection and
admiration. May God grant that his latter days may be spent
in ease and comfort, cheered by those he loves so dearly, and
whom it is his chief solace to contemplate.

CHAPTER XXI.
SUPPLEMENTARY FACTS.
My first law-suit — The plaintiiTs revenge — Reprisals — Turning' the tables — A Jeremy
Diddler — Keg of butter and forged dollar note — A ''cish-for-wheat" merchant with
out a dollar — A loafer " wot wanted a new hat" — Breed of horses, their speed and
paces — Mercantile discredit — .'National vanity and sensitiveness — American hostility
to Britain and repudiation.
The first law suit in which I was involved in Cleveland, was
with a person called Hogan, whose brother-in-law I had bought
out of the St. Clair House. I had paid for every thing as it stood.
This Hogan had formerly lived with the old landlord, Mr. Lake.
When I had been a few days in the house and got the license
transferred into my own name, and one of my sons was relettering
one of the sign boards, this Hogan came to me and demanded the
sign board over the bar-room door. I told him to go to his bro
ther on the other side of the way, if it was his. He said he would
make me pay him for it, as he had borrowed it for his brother.
I told him to go about his business ; he however went to the Jus
tice, Squire Hoadley, and ordered a summons against me for forty-
eight doUars, the aUeged value of the sign. This caused me to
make inquiry, and I found that the board had formerly belonged
to Mr. Isaac Taylor, a coach proprietor, and he had lent Hogan
the sign as it was of no use, but says Mr. Taylor, " I will give it
to you and there need be no more to do about it." But this did
not suit Hogan, and the trial came on before the Squire. I hired
counsel to plead my cause, but a sorry pleading he made of it, for
the Squire ordered a person to go out of court and value the sign,
which he did at two dollars, and then ordered me to pay that sum
and all expenses, which I was compelled to do, although Mr. Tay
lor was there and stated that the sign was his, and that he would
charge me nothing for it; and Hogan got the money, spite of all

102 SUPPLEMENTARY FACTS.
either Taylor or myself could do. As every body in the town was
aware of the infamous behaviour of Hogan in this affair, he was
pretty often taunted with it by his familiars, and it embittered
him against me to such a degree, that he agreed with the landlord
of the Mansion House, which was a rival house to mine, that he
should go down to the steamers as they arrived in the harbours,
where both our omnibuses regularly attended to bring up passen
gers. When my 'bus had perhaps got nearly filled, this fellow
would go and state to them that if they were going to the St.
Clair House, they had better beware, for that many robberies had
been committed there. This became so annoying that I went to
the justice, stated my case and asked his advice, how I must pro
ceed to put down this nuisance. He replied that the only legal
way of punishing the man was by indictment at the sessions. I
then said — What will be the consequence ? He said that a fine
would be laid upon him if found guilty, but as in aU such cases
no effects are ever found to levy upon, he would get off with a
reprimand. I said it was a fine free country where such scoun
drels could set law and justice at defiance in this manner. As I
was coming out of his office, he called me back and said, " Mr.
B  , if you want to get quit of this fellow's impertinence at the
cheapest rate, I would adrise you to give some person a dollar to
give him a good whipping ; only do not say that I advised you to
take this course." I said that, being an Englishman, I would not
take suoh a cowardly advantage, but if nothing but a whipping
would do, I would give him that myself to his heart's content.
He said, " Well, the utmost punishment he can get against you
for assault and battery will be a fine of ten dollars and the expenses,
perhaps four dollars more, but I promise you if the case comes
before me I will be as lenient as I can ; and if it comes before any
of the other justices, I will attend on your behalf and state what
your grievances have been."
The next day was a holiday, and I took a large hickory knob
stick, and went down in the omnibus myself, determined, if there
was a repetition of his behaviour, I would take immediate ven
geance and risk all consequences. I had therefore got two or
three persons into the mind to go up with me, when the fellow
came almost close to me, and within earshot of the travellers, he
begun in his old strain, when I immediately raised my ponderous
club and struck him as hard as I could. Seeing me in such ear
nest he turned tail and ran amongst the carriages and drays. I
followed up and got another blow at him at every turn he made,
whilst hundreds of people were looking on and shouting to me,
" Lay on, Mr. Brown, he richly deserves all you can give him."
When he got into the open street he could run faster than I could,
so he escaped from me and took refuge in the Illinois Coffee House,

SUPPLEMENTARY FACTS. 103
and I stood in the middle of the street taking breath. I saw him
peeping out of the door to see where I was, and I never saw a
man so white in all my life, not even a dead man. My friends
all came round me and expressed the pleasure they felt that I had
given him his deserts ; but they regretted that I should have to
pay for it, yet that any of them would attend at the justice's
office to witness to the provocation I had received.
The next moming, at seven o'clock, (when the justice's office is
always open,) found me at Mr. Benedict's. I told him all the
particulars, and he said, " Well I will do what I can for you." I
then said I must haye a summons against him immediately for
using language having a tendency to create a breach of the peace.
He laughed and said, " Indeed, are you up to that? you will be a
match for the Yankees here very soon. However, you shall have
a summons ;" which was instantly made out and put into the
hands of the constable, who went towards Hogan's house, and met
him on the way, having got his witnesses with him to go for a
summons against me. He was thunderstruck at being served
with a summons himself, and he consulted his friends, who
advised him to get the affair made up; for, although there was
no doubt he could fine me ten doUars, yet the money would go
into the national treasury, so he would get none of it; and, as he
admitted to haying used bad language, he would be also fined;
so it would be better on all sides to make the matter up ; to
which I agreed, if he would be bound by the justices not to inter
fere or insult either myself or boys in future; all which was
accomplished, and I had' never any annoyance afterwards from
either him or any other person in the same way. About a month
after this a lady came to our house to see my wife, and among
other things . stated that Mrs. Hogan had tried to dissuade
her from coming, as Mr. B. (myself) was such a cruel man, and
that her husband had all sorts of marks upon his body at that
time where he had been struck by me with a cudgel about a
month previous.
A man of respectable appearance came up in my omnibus one
night, from a steamer just come in from Buffalo. He stopped
all night, and got his breakfast next morning, and then, without
saying a word to any one, took off, and we considered that he had
left the town ; but his over coat was left in our bar room. In a
day or two after, a farmer called and asked me to buy a keg of
butter. I tasted it, and asked the price ; he stated it to be ten
dollars, which vf&s at the rate of ten cents, or 5d. English per
pound. I offered to take one at nine cents ; but he said he had
just sold one to a gentleman who had given him ten dollars ; and
he left the house : in a few minutes he returned, and asked me if
I could tell him if the bill he had got was a good one. I referred

104 SUPPLEMENTARY FACTS.
to the Banh Note Detector, and told him it was a fraudulent bill
and worthless. The poor feUow was thunderstruck, and began to
drive away his waggon ; but I told him to follow the man from
the place where he had delivered the butter to him, and I would
send round some of my sons to see if they could discover the thief.
My younger son had just got to the lighthouse leading down to
the dock, when he perceived the man with the keg of butter upon
his shoulder, going down the hiU. He stopped him, and seized
the goods, when the man turned upon him, and would have got
away, but assistance coming, the butter was secured, and when the
farmer came up, the man acknowledged that he had paid him the
ten dollar bill, but that he did not know it was a fraudulent one.
The farmer took back his butter, and gave the man his bill ; and,
although I had been the means of saving the man from loss he
would not let me have it for one cent less, neither would he
reward the captors with one cent. I, however, took his address.
The day after the thief came to our house for his over coat, and
my son John immediately informed me that that was the man
who got the butter. To pay me for his bed and breakfast he
pulled out another bill of the same stamp, and requested change.
I detained him tiUthe constable sent for came, and then gave him
into custody. He was searched and forged bills to the amount of
1500 dollars were found upon him. He was, therefore, sent to
prison, and was tried ; but as the farmer would not attend as a
witness, the rascal was discharged, and I saw him in Cleveland
almost every day for two or three months after.
A merchant of Cleveland named Davis owed me two doUars,
which he promised to pay next day. As he did not come, in
about a month I sent a note by one of my boys to his warehouse ;
he said he was sorry that he was quite out of cash. I then told
the boys that if they would get the money out of him, they might
keep it for pocket money ; they therefore let him have very little
ease, but at last they gave up the cause as hopeless. I thought,
then, I would see him myself ; so I went down to his large ware
house and met him, asked him for the money, to which he gave
the usual answer. Then, says I, " pull down your sign of ' Cash
for ¦wheai from over your door in letters two yards long ; for how
can a merchant fulfil any such terms that has not had a doUar in
his possession for half a year ? For shame ! puU it down instanter."
He very assiduously begged me to be seated, and he would step
out and borrow the money for me. In half an hour he returned
with one dollar, which he gave me and promised upon his honour
to call in the evening with the other. About twelve o'clock he
.rattled at my door and was let in by my son, bringing with him
a Pittsburg dollar bill to settle his account with ; but as there
was a discount of twenty-five per cent upon that paper, my son

SUPPLEMENTARY FACTS. 105
would not take it till he had consulted me ; but I told him to
settle the account, and give him a glass or two of anything he
would have into the bargain, of whioh he was ready enough to
take advantage. So this ended my transaction with a cash-for-
wheat gentleman.
On Sunday morning, just before seven o'clock, a goodly com
pany of gentlemen were waiting ready for breakfast, a person
came into the bar of my house and requested a brandy smasher,
which was handed to him, and for which he tendered a bad
shilUng, but as it was immediately seen, he produced another ;
and when the bell rang for breakfast he requested he might be
permitted to wash himself at the sink, whioh is a convenience
always to be found in the bars of taverns in America, as well as
a towel, soap, comb, and brush. All the guests had rushed into
the breakfast room, and had left their hats upon the pegs or upon
the tables in the bar, and no person except a boy was left in the
room ¦with the man. As soon as he had done washing himself, he
left the house, and the company come out from breakfast to take
a walk before church time, one of them missed his new hat, for
which he had given six doUars the night previous ; and we soon
discovered that the loafer had made a smart swap and bolted with
Mr. Higgin's hat, and left his own, a " shocking bad one," instead.
However, as the man had not been gone many minutes, about
twenty of us started off in search of him. My son going down to
the docks just caught sight of him going into a barber's shop, and
followed him in. He was sat down, and the nigger barber was
lathering away at him. My son took up the new hat and said to
him you have made a mistake at our house this moming, and
taken a wrong hat : he "guessed" not, and tried the hat on
again whioh just fitted, but at last he bethought himself that his
hat had a weed on it, so my son brought away the hat belonging
to Mr. Higgins. After the fellow had got shaved he pulled out
sixpence and gave the barber it for his extra trouble in shaving,
for which the Nigger showed his two rows of ivories from ear to
ear. He then requested that the barber should lend him a hat
to go to fetch his own, which he had left at the St. Clair House.
The barber being in good humour with the man in consequence
of his liberality, immediately lent him his own best hat, and
away the fellow cut. After about an hour, the man not returning
to the barber's shop, the Nigger began to be uneasy and coming
up to our house asked if a hat was left for him : he was showed
the loafer's hat, and was thunderstruck to see how he had been
swindled out of his best hat. The poor fellow never afterwards
recovered it ; the man had absquatulated to the West, or gone to
the refuge of the destitute, Texas.
Tlie horses in the West are of au excellent breed, and in

106 SUPPLEMENTARY FACTS.
trotting they excel (as they term it) " all creation." If a man
has twenty or thirty young horses, all of one age and nearly of
one breed, he will know which is the swiftest trotter ; and, if he
can accomplish the mile in two minutes forty-five seconds, the
price of that horse he will state at 300 dollars ; but the others,
which cannot do it, he will readily dispose of for thirty or forty
dollars. Their races are principally trotting matches for one or
two miles : the jockeys are principally young niggers, who, when
mounted take the reins in both hands, and, leaning back, pull at
them as hard as they can, shouting and whipping all the while
like madmen, and the harder they shout and pull the reins the
faster the horse goes. Some persons teach their horses to rack in
their paces, by which both right legs or both left legs strike together,
and they can get over the ground as fast as if they galloped. This,
however, is not called fair trotting, although it is not galloping,
and they are debarred from entering the trotting races, but make
matches with other raokers.
The hatred of the native Americans to the British is manifested
in all their conversation, especially in the party called Locofocos,
who never have it out of their mouths ; they suck it in with their
mother's milk. A farmer from Illinois was descanting upon this
patriotism (as he called it) in my bar room one evening, when I
expostulated with him upon the absurdity of the great dislike
which he seemed to entertain against the English, and asked him
the reasons. He said it was because the English formerly wanted
to tax them without their consent, but they resisted by force of
arms, conquered their liberties, and freed themselves for ever from
the tyranny of English domination. I asked him then if one of
the counties of Illinois, or even one of the States of the Union,
was to declare that they would pay no more taxes to the federal
government, what would he advise that the government should do
in that matter ? He replied, that they would compel them to do
their duty, if they could. Then I showed him that, at the time
when the revolution broke out, the country was under the govern
ment of Great Britain, and it was their duty to enforce obedience
to the laws of that government as it would be the duty of this, if
one of their states should stand out for an exemption from pajdng
a share of their national burdens ; but that it was now sixty or
seventy years since that revolution took place, and it was high
time that all angry feeling were done away with in America,
as it was and had been long done away with among the British,
who were then. the best customers they had for all their surplus
produce, and to whom they were indebted for nearly all the
money they had in the country, and for a great many of the neces
saries, comforts, and luxuries of life ; and I could not account for
the continuance of a desire amongst a large class of Americans to

SUPPLEMENTARY FACTS. 107
create a war-cry against Great Britain, except on the prospect
held out to them by their demagogues, who were the worst men
upon the face of the earth, that by so doing they would expunge
the debt for ever, which the credulous capitalists of England had
suffered them to contract on the faith and security of their
separate governments ; and that thirteen of their states had already
commenced repudiating these debts and would pay neither prin
cipal nor interest upon the money actually advanced to them ;
that this was the real cause, I had no doubt, as the English always
showed them the greatest kindness, and they were showing them
in retum the greatest hatred possible and thwarting payment of
their just debts by all manner of subterfuges.
He said that there were only two or three states that repudiated
in ioto; yet as money was unobtainable others had certainly
refused to pay interest ; but as soon as they could afford it, they
would make good their defalcations. I then asked him how the
state of Illinois intended to settle the twenty millions of dollars
which they owed to their foreign creditors 1 He replied that they
did not intend to repudiate at all in Illinois, they only ceased pay
ing interest to bring down the price of debentures, and as soon as
the price was at five cents per dollar, they would borrow of their
own citizens one million of dollars and buy up the whole debt; and
then if they repudiated, they would only do it for one million, and
would only cheat their own citizens, an affair with which no
foreigners had anything to do. This is the real cause of American
hatred and hostility to the British, and the whole ofthe democrats,
and a great many of the whigs and barnburners are influenced
by the same doctrines. On this person leaving the house he re
marked to his companion, and was overheard by one of our family,
" That old coon is wide awake."
While in New York, I visited most of the places where " mer
chants most do congregate," and being introduced by Mr. Geo.
Strother, passed many hours in respectable mercantile company.
Once at Clarke and Brown's coffee house. Maiden Lane, I was
questioned by a keen Yankee, who asked me, among other things,
in his nasal twang, the reason of so small a quantity of Yorkshire
cloths being then sent for sale to that market in comparison to
what were sent formerly. I answered him by asking him how
long he had lived in New York ; and on his answering twelve or
thirteen years, I told him I was astonished that he did not him
self know the reason ; he said, however, that he did not. I then
told him that the Yankees had cheated the merchants and manu
facturers of Yorkshire so much, and for so many years, that they
were determined to be cheated and robbed no longer; but that if
the New Yorkers wanted goods, and had the ready money to pay
for them, they might still have any quantity they desired, but
never again in thesame way as tbey formerly bad them.

108 SUPPLEMENTARY FACTS.
Another man one day accosted me thus — "Well, stranger, have
you seen our batteries ,in the Bay of New York ?" and on my
answering in the affirmative, he said, "And do you suppose that
if Johnny Bull was to go to war with us, he would ever be able
to make any impression here?"' I told him Johnny Bull did not
wish to go to war with them at all; but if Brother Jonathan was
so foolish as to declare war against him, before the expiration of
twelve months from the declaration grass would be growing in
Broadway, and no mistake. He said he thought it very un
becoming in any stranger to talk in that strain; but I told him
that that was my candid opinion, which I should have expressed
to the President if he had asked me the same question; and
furthermore I believed and was well assured that under these
circumstances the result would be as I had expressed. The man
then tumed upon his heels, appearing much mortified that any
stranger, especially a Britisher, should have the audacity to
express such a derogatory opinion of the empire city of the
greatest nation under the sun. These people, by assuming con
tinually that they are the most powerful nation upon the face of
the earth, and by so few contradicting them, are led actually to
believe what they assert; and a man, to get into their good
graces, has only to give a grandiloquent panegyric upon the glory
of their institutions, the magnitude of their mountains, lakes,
and rivers, and the inexhaustible riches of their prolific soil; he
may also pepper his praises by saying that their citizens are the
bravest the world ever saw, and their glorious flag should in a
very short period be planted upon the whole continent of America,
from Baffin's Bay to Cape Horn, if not upon one at least of the
British Isles. For they say, let us have thirty thousand stout
Irish patriots officered by our enlightened citizens, and we could
soon sing " Hail Columbia" in Hyde Park, and the " Star Span
gled Banner" in the scarlet halls of Westminster.

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