OCR Text |
Show TRAVELS IN THE UNITED STATES: of Indi.1n c rn and hcrnp that are raifcd uron them year after y~ar. The ,.rcat fertility of thcfc fbts i to be afCribed to the rcgul. r annual o ·ert1owing of the Gene{; c River, whofe wat ·rs arc C>...t rcmcly muddy, and lcavt no !i11all qu:1ntity f Dime behind them before they H'turn to their natural channel. 1 hat river 'tnptics it( If into Lal·c Ontario: it is !omewhat more than one hundred miles .in length, but nly n:lvil·;tbL.: fvr the bft forty miks of its courfc, c. ccpt at the time of the inundat ions; and cvu1 th en the n.wigatlon .i not u1 intcrrup <.:ll tbc whole w~ y down to the b.l- ·, th rc being three confidcr.tble f:J.lls in the river abont ten !1liles above its mouth: the trrcatcfl of thcfe f.llb is faid to be ninety feet in pcrp ·ndicul.1r he1ght. ~ . The I igh htnds ill the ncighbourho d of tht Genefc · 1 iver are !tony, and arc not diflin ruin1ccl for th ·ir f rtility, t ut the valleys arc ; 11 extremely fruitful, and :J.hound with rich timber. The [ummers in this J at t of the country are by no 1c:1n fn hot as· to an1s th..! Athntic, and the winters arc mod,·ratc · it i feldom, jnJccd, that the fnow lies on the gronnd much longer than Iix or fcvcn weeks · bit t notwithil.a ncl in rr this ircumfbncc, and th at the ' b f.tcc of the o mtry is fo much divcrfificd with rifin o· grounds, yet the whole of it i drc dfu11y unhealthy; fcarccly a :Gunily el' ape the baneful effeCt of the ftvers that r.tge here during the .llltumn feafon. I was informed hy the inhabitants, th tt much fewer perfons had been attacl eel by the fever the bfl: fea.fon than during former years, and of th fe few a very {i 1all num er died, the fever luving prove l much lefs malignant rhan it was ever known to be before. This circumfbn c led the inhabitants to hope, that as the country became more cleared it would become much more healthy. It is well known, indeed, that many ptu ts of the country, which were c trcmely h althy while they remained covt red \Vith wood, and which alfo proved healthy after th<.:y had been. generally clearcd and f..:ttled, were very much oth nvi[c when the trees were firfl: cut down: th"s has been imputed to the v;1l ours arifing from the newly cleared lands on t eir being firfl: expofed to the buming ray of the fun, a1d wl icb, wh'I.O: the newly clc:ued fpots r main furroundcd by wools, there is not a fufficient circulation of air to difpd. The 8 u~ A R R I V E A T B A T I I. -137 tmhealthinefs of the country at prcfcnt does not deter numbers of people from coming to fl:!ttle here very year, antl few part of North America can boafi of a more rapid improvement than the Gentfcc.; country during the laD: four years. In our way to Bath we paf1(;d through fcveml frnall towns th at had been lately begun, and in thcfc the houfl:S we1 c comfortable and neatly built; but tlu; grcatc.;r part of thofc of the farmers were wrc.;tchctl indeed; one at which we flopped for the night, in the courlc of our j<JUrncy, had not even a chimney or windo.w to it; a large hole at the end of the roof fupplicd the deficiency of both; the door was of fuch a nature, a)((), as to make up in fomc mcafurc for the want of a window, as it adntittcd light on all fides. A htavy £til of ii1ow happened to take ph e \\hdll wt were at thi houfc, and as we lay flrttch don our fkins bcfide th ~ fire, at night, the fi1ow \vas blown, in no fma.ll quantitie , through the rtvicts of th' door, uncl r our vc.;ry cars. At fome of thcfc ]JOu[cs we got plenty of venifon, and good hutter, milk, and bread ; .but at o her we could get nothing whatfocvcr to cat. At one little village, confilling of three or four houfe , the people told u,, that th y had not even fufficient bread and milk for thcmfdves; and, indeed, the fcantincfs of the meal to which we f.'lw them fitting down confirmed the truth of what they faid. We were under the neccffity of walking on for nine mile b ·yond thi village bdorc we ould get any thing to Gtti,Jy our appetites. The fcdl of iiJOw, whi h I have mentioned, interrupted our progrc.G through the woods very confiderably the fubfeCJnent moming; it all difappeared, however, b 'fore the nc. t night, and in the comfc of the third day from that on which we left the banks of the Ccn~f~c River we reachcd the place of our deftination. • |