Part 21

“To the Printers of the Wilkes-barré Gazette.

“Gentlemen,

“It is painful to reflect, that speculation has raged to such a degree of late, that honest industry, and all the humble virtues that walk in her train, are discouraged and rendered unfashionable.

“It is to be lamented too, that dissipation is sooner introduced in new settlements than industry and economy.

“I have been led to these reflections by conversing with my son, who has just returned from the Lakes or Genesee, though he has neither been to the one or the other;—in short, he has been to Bath, the celebrated Bath, and has returned both a speculator and a gentleman; having spent his money, swopped away my horse, caught the fever and ague, and, what is infinitely worse, that horrid disorder which some call the terra-phobia[18].”

Footnote 18:

Our farmer does not seem to have well understood the import of this word, but we may readily guess at his meaning.

“We can hear nothing from the poor creature now (in his ravings) but of the captain and Billy—of ranges—townships— numbers—thousands—hundreds—acres—Bath— fairs—races—heats—bets—purses—silk stockings—fortunes—fevers—agues, &c. &c. &c. My son has part of a township for sale, and it is diverting enough to hear him narrate its pedigree, qualities, and situation. In fine, it lies near Bath, and the captain himself once owned, and for a long time reserved it. It cost my son but five dollars per acre; he was offered six in half a minute after his purchase; but he is positively determined to have eight, besides some precious reserves. One thing is very much in my boy’s favour—he has six years credit. Another thing is still more so—he is not worth a sous, nor ever will be at this rate. Previous to his late excursion the lad worked well, and was contented at home on my farm; but now work is out of the question with him. There is no managing my boy at home; these golden dreams still beckon him back to Bath, where, as he says, no one need either work or starve; where, though a man may have the ague nine months in the year, he may console himself in spending the other three fashionably at the races.

“_A Farmer._”

“_Hanover, October 25th, 1796._”

The town of Bath stands on a plain, surrounded on three sides by hills of a moderate height. The plain is almost wholly divested of its trees; but the hills are still uncleared, and have a very pleasing appearance from the town. At the foot of the hills runs a stream of pure water, over a bed of gravel, which is called Conhocton Creek. There is a very considerable fall in this creek just above the town, which affords one of the finest seats for mills possible. Extensive saw and flour mills have already been erected upon it, the principal saw in the former of which gave, when we visited the mill, one hundred and twenty strokes in a minute, sufficient to cut, in the same space of time, seven square feet, superficial measure, of oak timber; yet the miller informed us, that when the water was high it would cut much faster.

[Sidenote: CONHOCTON CREEK.]

Conhocton Creek, about twenty miles below Bath, falls into Tyoga River, which, after a course of about thirty miles, empties itself into the eastern branch of the River Susquehannah. During floods you may go down in light bateaux along the creek, Tyoga and Susquehannah rivers, the whole way from Bath to the Chesapeak Bay, without interruption; and in the fall of the year there is generally water sufficient for canoes from Bath downwards; but owing to the great drought that prevailed through every part of the country this year, the depth of water in the creek was found insufficient to float even a canoe of the smallest size. Had it been practicable, it was our intention to have proceeded from Bath by water; but finding that it was not, we once more set off on foot, and pursued our way along the banks of the river till we came to a small village of eight or ten houses, called Newtown, about thirty miles distant from Bath. Here we found the stream tolerably deep, and the people informed us, that excepting at one or two narrow shoals, they were certain that in every part of it, lower down, there was sufficient water for canoes; accordingly, determined to be our own watermen, being five in number including our servants, we purchased a couple of canoes from two farmers, who lived on the banks of the river, and having lashed them together, in order to render them more steady and safe, we put our baggage on board, and boldly embarked.

[Sidenote: CANOES STRANDED.]

It was about three o’clock on a remarkably clear though cold afternoon that we left the village, and the current being strong, we hoped to be able to reach before night a tavern, situated, as we were told, on the banks of the river, about six miles below Newtown. For the first two miles we got on extremely well; but beyond this the river proving to be much shallower than we had been led to believe, we found it a matter of the utmost difficulty to proceed. Our canoes repeatedly struck upon the shoals, and so much time was consumed in setting them again free, that before we had accomplished more than two thirds of our voyage the day closed. As night advanced a very sensible change was observable in the weather; a heavy shower of hail came pouring down, and, involved in thick darkness, whilst the moon was obscured by a cloud, our canoes were drifted by the current, to which, being unable to see our way, we had consigned them, on a bank in the middle of the river. In endeavouring to extricate ourselves we unfortunately, owing to the darkness, took a wrong direction, and at the end of a few minutes found our canoes so firmly wedged in the gravel that it was impossible to move them. Nothing now remained to be done but for every one of us to jump into the water, and to put his shoulder to the canoes. This we accordingly did, and having previously unlashed, in order to render them more manageable, we in a short time contrived to haul one of them into deep water; here, however, the rapidity of the current was so great, that notwithstanding all our endeavours to the contrary, the canoe was forcibly swept away from us, and in the attempt to hold it fast we had the misfortune to see it nearly filled with water.

Deprived thus of one of our canoes, and of a great part of our baggage in it, which, for ought we knew, was irrecoverably lost, we determined to proceed more cautiously with the remaining one; having returned, therefore, to the bank, we carried every thing that was in the canoe on our shoulders to the shore, which was about forty yards distant; no very easy or agreeable task, as the water reached up to our waists, and the current was so strong that it was with the utmost difficulty we could keep our feet. The canoe being emptied, we brought it, as nearly as we could guess, to the spot where the other one had been swept away from us, and one of the party then getting into it with a paddle, we committed it, pursuant to his desire, to the stream, hoping that it would be carried down after the other, and that thus we should be able to recover both it and the things which it contained. In a few seconds the stream carried the canoe out of our sight, for the moon shone but faintly through the clouds, and being all of us totally unacquainted with the river, we could not but feel some concern for the personal safety of our companion. Before many minutes, however, were elapsed, we had the satisfaction of hearing his voice at a distance, and having made the best of our way along the shore to the spot from whence the sound proceeded, we had the satisfaction to find that he had been carried in safety close beside the canoe which had been lost, we were not a little pleased also at finding our portmanteaus at the bottom of the canoe, though well soaked in water; but such of our clothes as we had taken off preparatory to going into the water, together with several light articles, were all lost.

[Sidenote: SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS.]

It froze so very hard now, that in a few minutes our portmanteaus, and such of our garments as had been wetted, were covered with a coat of ice, and our limbs were quite benumbed, in consequence of our having waded so often through the river. Desirous, however, as we were to get to a house, we determined, in the first instance, to dispose of our baggage in a safe place, lest it might be pillaged. A deep hollow that appeared under some fallen trees seemed well adapted for the purpose, and having stowed it there, and covered it with leaves, we advanced forward. There were no traces whatsoever of a path in the woods where we landed, and for upwards of a mile we had to force our way through the bushes along the banks of the river; but at the end of that distance, we hit upon one, which in a short time brought us to a miserable little log house. At this house no accommodation whatsoever was to be had, but we were told, that if we followed the path through the woods for about a mile farther, we should come to a waggon road, upon which we should find another house, where probably we might gain admittance. We reached this house according to the directions we had received; we readily gained admittance into it, and the blaze of an immense wood fire, piled half way up the chimney, soon made us amends for what we had suffered from the inclemency of the weather. The coldness of the air, together with the fatigue which we had gone through in the course of the day, had by this time given a keen edge to our appetites; no sooner therefore had we warmed ourselves than we began to make enquiries about what we could get to satisfy the calls of hunger; but had we asked for a sheep or an ox for supper at an inn in England, the man of the house could not, I verily believe, have been more amazed than was our American landlord at these enquiries: “The women were in bed”—“He knew not where to find the keys”—“He did not believe there was any thing in the pantry”—“Provisions were very scarce in the country”—“If he gave us any there would not be enough for the family in the morning”—Such were his answers to us. However we plied him so closely, and gave him such a pitiable description of our sufferings, that at length he was moved; the keys were found, the pantry opened, and to satisfy the hunger of five hungry young men, two little flour cakes, scarcely as big as a man’s hand each, and about a pint and a half of milk, were brought forth. He vowed he could give us nothing more; his wife would never pardon him if he did not leave enough for their breakfasts in the morning; obliged therefore to remain satisfied, we eat our little pittance, and then laid ourselves down to rest on our skins, which we had brought with us on our shoulders.

[Sidenote: SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS.]

In the morning we found that the man had really made an accurate report of the state of his pantry. There was barely enough in it for the family, and unable to get a single morsel to eat, we set out for the little house where we had first stopped the preceding night, which was the only one within two or three miles, there hoping to find the inhabitants better provided for: not a bit of bread however was to be had here; but the woman of the house told us, that she had some Indian corn meal, and that if we could wait for an hour or two she would bake a loaf for us. This was most grateful intelligence: we only begged of her to make it large enough, and then set off to search in the interim for our canoes and baggage. At several other places, in going down the Susquehannah, we afterwards found an equal scarcity of provisions with what we did in this neighbourhood. One morning in particular, after having proceeded for about four or five miles in our canoe, we stopped to breakfast; but nothing eatable was there to be had at the first house we went to, except a few potatoes that were roasting before the fire. The people very cheerfully gave us two or three, and told us at the same time, that if we went to some houses at the opposite side of the river we should most probably find better fare: we did so; but here the inhabitants were still more destitute. On asking them where we should be likely to get any thing to eat, an old woman answered, that if we went to a village about four miles lower down the river, we should find a house, she believed, where “_they did keep victuals_,” an expression so remarkable that I could not help noting it down immediately. We reached this house, and finding it well stocked with provisions of every kind, took care to provide ourselves, not only with what we wanted for immediate use, but also with what we might want on a future occasion, in case we came to any place equally destitute of provisions as those which we had before stopped at; a precaution that was far from proving unnecessary.

But to return. We found our canoes and baggage just as we had left them, and having embarked once more, we made the best of our way down to the house where we had bespoke breakfast, which stood on the banks of the river. The people here were extremely civil; they assisted us in making fresh paddles in lieu of those which we had lost the night before; and for the trifle which we gave them above what they asked us for our breakfasts they were very thankful, a most unusual circumstance in the United States.

[Sidenote: SUSQUEHANNAH.]

After breakfast we pursued our way for about seven miles down the river, but in the course of this distance we were obliged to get into the water more than a dozen different times, I believe, to drag the canoes over the shoals; in short, by the time we arrived at a house in the afternoon, we were so completely disgusted with our water conveyance, that had we not been able to procure two men, as we did in the neighbourhood, to conduct our canoes to the mouth of Tyoga River, where there was reason to imagine that the water would be found deeper, we should certainly have left them behind us. The men set out at an early hour in the morning, and we proceeded some time afterwards on foot along the banks, but so difficult was the navigation, that we reached Tyoga Point or Lochartzburg, a small town built at the mouth of the river, several hours before them.

On arriving at this place, we heard to our disappointment, that the Susquehannah, although generally at this season of the year navigable for boats drawing four feet water, was now nearly as low as the Tyoga River, so that in many places, particularly at the rapids, there was scarcely sufficient water to float a canoe over the sharp rocks with which the bed of the river abounds; in fine, we were informed that the channel was now intricate and dangerous, and that no person unacquainted with the river could attempt to proceed down it without great risk; we found no difficulty, however, in hiring from amongst the watermen accustomed to ply on the river, a man that was perfectly well acquainted with it; and having exchanged our two canoes, pursuant to his advice, for one of a very large size, capable of holding us all conveniently, we renewed our voyage.

[Sidenote: SUSQUEHANNAH.]

From Lochartzburgh to Wilkes-barré, or Wyoming, situated on the south-east side of the Susquehannah, the distance is about ninety miles, and when the river is full, and the current of course strong, as is usually the case in the fall and spring of the year, you may go down the whole of this distance in one day; but owing to the lowness of the water we were no less than four days performing the voyage, though we made the utmost expedition possible. In many parts of the river, indeed, we found the current very rapid; at the Falls of Wyalusing, for instance, we were carried down three or four miles in about a quarter of an hour; but in other places, where the river was deep, scarcely any current was perceptible in it, and we were obliged to work our way with paddles. The bed of the river abounds with rock and gravel, and the water is so transparent, that in many parts, where it must have been at least twenty feet deep, the smallest pebble was distinguishable at the bottom. The width of the river varies from fifty to three hundred yards, and scarcely any stream in America has a more irregular course; in some places it runs in a direction diametrically opposite to what it does in others. The country through which this (the eastern) branch of the Susquehannah passes, is extremely uneven and rugged; indeed, from Lochartzburgh till within a short distance of Wilkes-barré, it is bounded the entire way by steep mountains either on the one side or the other. The mountains are never to be met with at both sides of the same part of the river, except it be at places where the river takes a very sudden bend; but wherever you perceive a range of mountains on one side, you are sure to find an extensive plain on the opposite one; scarcely in any part do the mountains extend for more than one mile together on the same side of the river, and in many instances, during the course of one mile, you will perceive more than a dozen different changes of the mountains from one side to the other. It may readily be imagined, from this description of the eastern branch of the Susquehannah, that the scenery along it must be very fine; and, indeed, I think there is no river in America that abounds with such a variety and number of picturesque views. At every bend the prospect varies, and there is scarcely a spot between Lochartzburg and Wilkes-barré where the painter would not find a subject well worthy of his pencil. The mountains, covered with bold rocks and woods, afford the finest foreground imaginable; the plains, adorned with cultivated fields and patches of wood, and watered by the noble river, of which you catch a glimpse here and there, fill up the middle part of the landscape; and the blue hills, peeping up at a distance, terminate the view in the most pleasing manner.

The country bordering upon the Susquehannah abounds with deer, and as we passed down we met with numberless parties of the country people engaged in driving these animals. The deer, on being pursued in the neighbouring country, immediately make for the river, where men being concealed in bushes placed on the strand, at the part to which it is expected they will come down, take the opportunity of shooting them as soon as they enter the water. Should the deer not happen to come near these ambushes, the hunters then follow them in canoes: it seldom happens that they escape after having once taken to the water.

Very fine fish are found in every part of the Susquehannah, and the river is much frequented by wild fowl, particularly by the canvass back duck.

The whole way between Lochartzburg and Wilkes-barré are settlements on each side of the river, at no great distance from each other; there are also several small towns on the banks of the river. The principal one is French Town, situated within a short distance of the Falls of Wyalusing, on the western side of the river. This town was laid out at the expence of several philanthropic persons in Pennsylvania, who entered into a subscription for the purpose, as a place of retreat for the unfortunate French emigrants who fled to America. The town contains about fifty log houses; and for the use of the inhabitants a considerable track of land has been purchased adjoining to it, which has been divided into farms. The French settled here seem, however, to have no great inclination or ability to cultivate the earth, and the greater part of them have let their lands at a small yearly rent to Americans, and amuse themselves with driving deer, fishing, and fowling; they live entirely to themselves; they hate the Americans, and the Americans in the neighbourhood hate, and accuse them of being an idle dissipated set. The manners of the two people are so very different that it is impossible they should ever agree.

[Sidenote: WILKES-BARRÉ]

Wilkes-barré, formerly Wyoming, is the chief town of Luzerne county. It is situated on a plain, bounded on one side by the Susquehannah, and on the other by a range of mountains, and contains about one hundred and fifty wooden dwelling houses, a church, court house, and gaol. It was here that the dreadful massacre was committed, during the American war, by the Indians under the command of colonel Butler, which is recorded in most of the histories of the war, and which will for ever remain a blot on the English annals. Several of the houses in which the unfortunate victims retired to defend themselves, on being refused all quarter, are still standing, perforated in every part with balls; the remains of others that were set on fire are also still to be seen, and the inhabitants will on no account suffer them to be repaired. The Americans are equally tenacious of the ruins in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia.

It was our intention at first to have proceeded down the river from hence as far as Sunburg, or Harrisburgh; but the weather being now so cold as to render a water conveyance, especially a canoe, where you are always obliged to sit very still, extremely disagreeable, we determined to cross the Blue Mountains to Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, situated about sixty-five miles to the south-east of Wilkes-barré; we accordingly hired horses, as we had done on a former occasion, to carry our baggage, and proceeded ourselves on foot. We set out in the afternoon, the day after that on which we terminated our voyage, and before evening crossed the ridge of mountains which bounds the plain of Wilkes-barré. These mountains, which are extremely rugged and stony, abound with iron ore and coal; for the manufacture of the former several forges have been established, but no use is made of the coal, there being plenty of wood as yet in the country, which is esteemed much more agreeable fuel. From the top of them you have a very grand view of the plain below, on which stands the town of Wilkes-barré, and of the river Susquehannah, which may be traced above the town, winding amidst the hills for a great number of miles.

[Sidenote: WOODS.]

The country beyond the mountains is extremely rough, and but very thinly settled, of course still much wooded. The people, at the few houses scattered through it, appeared to live much better than the inhabitants of any other part of the States which I before passed through. At every house where we stopped we found abundance of good bread, butter, tea, coffee, chocolate, and venison; and indeed we fared sumptuously here, in comparison to what we had done for many weeks preceding.

The woods in many parts of this country consisted almost wholly of hemlock trees, which are of the pine species, and grow only on poor ground. Many of them were of an unusually large size, and their tops so closely matted together, that after having entered into the depth of the woods you could see the sky in but very few places. The brush wood under these trees, different from what I ever saw elsewhere, consisted for the most part of the oleander and of the kalmia laurel, whose deep green served to render the gloom of the woods still more solemn; indeed they seemed completely to answer the description given by the poets of the sacred groves; and it were impossible to enter them without being struck with awe.