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Show 444- TRAVELS IN TilE UNITED STATES: ing wad d fo oft ·n throngh the river. Dcfirous, however, as we were to cret to a houic, we determined, in the firll: infb.nc , to di(pofe of our b.1ggagc in a f~1fc place:, ldl it might be pilla,;ed. A deep hollow that appe:~red under f<.nnc hllcn trees {eemed well adapted for the pmpof<, and having flo\ ·Ld it there, and coven:c.l it with leaves, we advanced for~ ward. Th re were no traces whatfocver of a path in the v.roods wlH·-rc we landed, and for upW<lrds of a mile \;..'e had to force our way thro 1gh the bu{h s along the banks of the river; but at the end of that di(tance, we hit upon one, which in a !hort time brought us to a mifcrable Jittle lo2' houfe. At this houfe no accommodation whatfo~.:ver was to ~-~ be had, but \Ve were told, that if we followed the path through the v,:oods for about a mile f:u·ther, we fhould come to a wafl'gon ro.Hl,. upon which we {hould find another houf~.:, where probably we might o-ain admittance . We reached this hou(c according to the direclions we had received ; we readily gained admittance into it, and the blaze of an immenie wood fire, piled half way up the chimney, foon made us arnends for wlut we had fufr"Cred from th inclemency of the weather. The coldncfs of the air, tog~ther with the f1tignc which we had n-one through in the courfc of the day, had by thi time giv~.:n a. keen edge to our appetites ; no fooncr therefore had we warmed ourfclvcs than we b gan to make enquiries about what we could get to .£:1tisly the call of hunger; but had we afked for a {beep or an ox for fuppcr at an inn in Engl<1nd, the man of the houfc could not, I verily believe, have been mor~ amazed th:lll wa our American hndlor l at thcfc enquiries: " The women wer in bed"-<' lie 1 new not where to fi11d the J·eys"" He did not belicv there ~vva any thing in the pantry"~" Provifions " were v ry fcarce in the country"-" If he gave us any there would not " be enough for the family in the morning"-Such were his an:0.v..:rs to us. However we 1lied him fo cloiCly, and gave him fuch a pitiable defcrip tion of our fuffcrings, that at length he was moved; the keys were found, the pantry opened, and to fc tisfy the hunger of five hungry young men, two little flour akcs, fcarccly as big as a man's hand each, and about a pint and a half f milk, were brought forth. He vowed he c;ould give us nothing more; his wife would never pardon him if he 9 did C A R C I 1 Y 0 F P R 0 V I S I 0 N S. 445 did not leave cnonQ"h fi>r t 1cir bre~ll (:t(l in the mornin:r · ohligeLl v 0 1 therefor ... to remain f1ti sfied, we cat our little pittance, and th n laid our!elvcs down to rdl on our fkins> which we h.1d bn..Jn ht wit 1 us on '- our fh oulders. ln the rnorninn- we faun l th:lt the m~1n Lad really m 1de an accurate report of the {btc of his p ntry . There was barely enough in it f()r t 1c fm1ily, and unJ.bk to ge t a iln nle modi.:! to cat, we ict out for the little: h oufc whcr" we had lidl flopped the p receding night, which was the only one within two or three mile , then.: hoping to find the inhabitan ts better provi 1cd for: not a bit of bread however \>Vas to be hac.llKrc; but the woman of the hou(-:: told u , tint fh had fome Indian corn meal, and that if we could wait for an hour or two {he would lnke a loaf for us. This was n oO: gr.1teful intelligence : we only b gged of her to make it Lll'')'e enoul•b, anJ then fct off to ii·arch in the interim for b 0 our canoes and baggage . At fcver .. d other places, in going down the Sufquc:lunnah, we afterward· fonnd an equal Jcarcity of provifions with what w did in this neighbourhood. One morning in particular, aftr:r having proceeded for about four or five miles in our cano , we fioppcLt t breakbfl:; but nothing eatable was th rc to be hacl at the fir!l: houfe we went to, except a few potatoes that were roafling bdi r the fire . The pcuplc v ry cheerfully gave us two or three, and told us at the f.1mc time, that if we went t fome houfes at the oppofit.: fide of the river we fbol d moil: probably find better fn~ : wt: t: id fo; but here the inhabitants were flill more dcflitute. On an'ing th ·m where we fhou1d be likely to r>et any thing to eat, an old vonun anfwcrcd, that if we wen t to a village about four miles lower down the riv r, w...: ihould find a hou(e, 01e bdievcd, where " tbq did kct1' 'l.Jltizw!J," an cxprc(Ji.on fo remarkable tha t I could not help noting it own immcdiat ·ly. We reached this hou!e, and Ji.ndi ng it well flocked w·th provifions of every kind, took care to provide ourfelvcs, not only with vhat w wantcLl for immediate ufc, but alii with wbt we might want on a future occafion, in cafe we came to any place eqmlly deflitute of provif1ons as thoic \' hich we had before !lopped at; a precaution that was far from proving unncccifary. But |
