man, by war, by stratagem, by fire and blood, the possession of the soil! These sanguinary contests had taken place on every foot of ground we were traversing. Women and children had been cut off, and taken into a cruel captivity, in the absence of the men; and it was not till a vast amount of human life had been sacrificed, that peace and abundance were made to take the place of a ruthless contest, which ended in the extirpation or banishment of the original lords of the soil. Peaceful flocks were now grazing, watched over by the children of the villages, where the war-whoop and the scalping-knife used to hold dominion.

We finished our railroad journey at New-Haven, and embarked on board a steamer. Our course lay down the Sound, skirted on one side by the Connecticut shore, and on the other by Long Island. The Sound is a most magnificent inlet to New-York from the great Atlantic. Being now on board an American steamer for the first time, I was intent upon seeing whether the people indulged in those tobacco habits which travellers have almost uniformly attributed to them. We had been pretty free from anything offensive in the railroad car; and I began to doubt whether the reports were true, or to think they were exaggerations. I was soon undeceived. The practice in question was almost general; and nearly the whole deck soon became coloured and almost impassable. Among the rest of the passengers were two young people, male and female, who were evidently not man and wife, but in the probable way of becoming so. They were very respectable in their appearance and attire, the young man having the bearing of a farmer of the first class; and the lady, it is to be presumed, a farmer's daughter, of prepossessing appearance, dressed very genteelly, and withal wearing, what seemed to be pretty generally the fashion in America, a green veil. Our young couple, of course, avoided the public, kept themselves in close quarters in one corner of the deck, and were in ardent conversation. In pacing backwards and

forwards, my attention was attracted to this scene; and I observed that the young gentleman, about every five minutes or less, poured forth a stream of tobacco saliva at the lady's feet. This, it is to be presumed, was by way of libation to his goddess; it was an offering of love. The thing seemed a perfect matter of course; and neither the lady, nor anybody else, appeared in the least annoyed. It may be as well to dismiss this whole affair at once; and I am sorry to say, that, though I saw occasion to differ in opinion with American travellers on many points, in this I was obliged to agree with them. The deck of steamers seems to be the favourite arena for this kind of exploit. I declare, I saw men, again and again, sitting under the awnings of their beautiful vessels, when it would have been quite as convenient, and often more so, to pour the contents of their mouths into the water as upon the deck; but they invariably preferred the latter, and rendered it next to impossible to move without treading in this liquid nuisance.

Heaven is always propitious. In the midst of what was so offensive in man, nature presented great beauties and glorious scenery on every side. The entrance into NewYork harbour on the side we took is very intricate, requiring great skill on the part of the pilot. We had to pass a place which English jack-tars, when New-York was a British province, designated "Hell-gate," not a very religious, but certainly a very appropriate, name. It is a sort of whirlpool, and the waters are much agitated; while the rocks in the river are of such a nature as to narrow up the channel, and render destruction certain if the exact course is not hit by the pilot's skill. In a bend of this intricate channel we were within an ace of running down a vessel, which, turning the point unseen, and getting into the current, was rendered perfectly helpless in herself, and was exposed to the instant rush of our steamer. With great promptitude and skill our captain turned his vessel nearly

round, so as completely to avoid the ill-fated ship, and she passed safely down the channel. The sight for some minutes was horrific. I felt perfectly certain, that nothing could save us from being brought into collision; and, had this taken place, one or both vessels must have gone to the bottom very near the place so ominously named "Hellgate." We were spared this fate by a gracious interposition of Providence.

As we advanced, we obtained a good view of the buildings on the banks of the channel. The villas of the citizens of New-York are seen on each side; and many of them are splendid and superb. The wealthy merchants and others seek repose from business, and invigorated health, in these princely retreats. Ship-building establishments, of great magnitude, are found in these quarters; and there is a goodly number of hospitals, asylums, prisons, and places of a similar description in view. New-York harbour itself breaks upon the view of the voyager on turning a promontory, all at once. The sight is dazzling. Nothing can be more imposing than the harbour, the shipping, and the city, thus bursting upon the astonished beholder.

It is difficult, without drawings, to convey a true idea of this magnificent port-one of the finest in the world. It is necessary to remark, that the city stands upon the fork of two great rivers; one to the east, called East River, the other to the North, called North, or Hudson's River. Opposite this tongue of land, at a considerable distance, is the lower end of Long Island, which has the effect of landlocking the harbour, guarding it from storms, and breaking the swell of the Atlantic. By reason of this contiguity of Long Island, the harbour possesses all the qualities of a prodigious basin, with the tongue, on which New-York stands, projecting into its centre. This fine piece of water is entered by two channels; the one from the Sound, which we passed, and the other immediately from the Atlantic. This latter entrance is so narrow, that it is capable of per

fect defence; and it seems impossible for any vessels to pass without being exposed to certain destruction from the raking fire of the batteries. The other inlet to the harbour possesses natural defences, as no ship of war can ascend the rocky and shallow channel we passed.

The ships are moored around the tongue on which the city stands, which forms a sort of crescent with the outward circle projecting into the water. Many hundred vessels of all sizes, some of the largest class, lay at anchor around this point of land-if it can be called at anchorfor there is depth of water sufficient to permit them to touch the wharves without the use of the anchor. Here, in crescent form, these vessels lay, apparently all round the lower point of the city; and many of them, ascending the two rivers, find a resting-place on the banks of these beautiful streams. From this it will appear, that in case Long Island was removed, New-York would be anything but a harbour; and it would be altogether indebted to its rivers for a place of shelter for its ships. Long Island is the patron saint of New-York, the guardian of its interests— indeed, the cause of its greatness.

CHAPTER III.

New-York-Harpers' Printing and Publishing Establishment-The Methodist Book Concern-The Exchange and Custom-House-Excitement respecting an anticipated Revolution in England-Charitable Institutions-The CityLeave for Baltimore-David Creamer, Esq.-The Journey-New-JerseyNewark-Princeton-Trenton-The Delaware-Philadelphia-The Chesa

peake Bay.

ON making the landing-place we were met by Dr. Bangs, the historian of Methodism in America, Dr. Corson, author of "Loiterings in various Countries in Europe," and two of the Harpers, who all welcomed our arrival with hearty greetings. I was appointed to take up my residence in the family of Mr. Fletcher Harper, who at once conducted me to his hospitable home. Besides Mrs. Harper,

sen., I here found a young lady recently married to one of Mr. Harper's sons, a countrywoman, from London, the daughter of Mr. Jeremiah Smith. Of course, I was at home at once; had it not been so, I must have possessed a most morose and misanthropic nature; for everything was done for my comfort which friendship and affection could suggest. This was the first private family I had been domiciled with in America; and certainly the reception I met with, and the habits of the family, tended to give me a most favourable impression of the virtues of private life in the United States.

mon sense.

But besides the order, decorum, and happiness, so apparent in this Christian family, the house itself struck me as one of the most perfect I had ever seen. Everything in America is executed on the most improved scale of comNot that there is any want of taste, of elegance, of decoration; but the basis of every arrangement seems to be that of utility and comfort. This house, so excellent of its kind, is but a sample of the rest. It stood in one of the streets, was one of a row of houses of the same size and form, and was neither greater nor better in appearance than those by which it was surrounded. This gives some insight into the style in which the higher class of merchants and tradesmen in New-York live.

I had only two days to spare for visiting the lions in New-York, and therefore set about the business in good earnest. It is surprising how much may be done in a short time, when resolution and industry are brought into requisition. On the first day, my good friend Mr. Harper conducted me through the city, showing me first his own establishment, the Methodist Book-Concern, the CustomHouse, the Exchange, Trinity Church, Broadway, the landside of the harbour, visiting several magnificent ships, warehouses, and the rest.

Mr. Harper's printing and publishing establishment is as remarkable as anything in the way of business can well be