OCR Text |
Show TH AV·EL, 1 TilE UNITED STATES: : d~ n' :c r!i it contain , :1.re liable to receive any injury whatfocvcr from :. 11 ov:rturn, and as, added to this, you m.ty procccu mu h hfl:cr an<l t a!icr in it than in a c.trriagc on wheels; having Ctid then that there \Vas [now ot the ground, it will perhaps be a fub_jcc:t of wonder to you, that we had not one of theft~ f.tfc and :u.:rcc.tbk carriages to take us to New York; if fo, [mull inform you, that 110 e. · pcri~nccd traveller in the miJdlc 1l1tc fcts out n a long journey in a flc ibh at the commence1 1cnt uf '"'inter, a, unexpc ~l:cd th:1ws at thi period now take pLtcc very commouly, and to rapid arc they, that in the courfc of one morning the fiww fomctimcs entirely cliC;1ppears; a (crious objeCt: of confidcra.tion in thi co•,mtry, where, if you happen to be left in the lurch with your fleigh, other carriages arc not to be had at a moment's warnin~Y, In the prefent inlhnc , notwithfl:c nding the intenfc (cverity of the cold, and the appearan cs there ere of its long ntinuancc, y 't I had not been eight and forty hours at cw Y rk when every vdtigc of froll was gone, an 1 the air became as mild as in the month of 'eptcm cr. This fuddcn change in the weather afforded me an opportunity of fccing, to much greater advantage than might have b<.:en exp Cl:ed at this il:afon of the year, part of New York and Long Inand, which the l11ortnefs of my flay in this !leighbourhood had not permitt~!d me to viiit in the fummer. After leaving the immediate vicinage of the city, which :{bnd at the fouthern extremity of the former of thefe two iilands, but little is to be met with that dderves attention; the foil, indeed, is fc:rtilc, and the face of the country i not unpleafingly diverfified with ri!lng grounds; but there is nothing grand in any of the views which it affords, nor did I obferve one of the numerous feat , with which it is overfprcad, that was difl:ingui(hcd either for its elegant neatnc!s or the delightfulncfs of it fituation ; none of them will bear any comparifon with the charming little villas which adorn the banks of the Schuylkill ncar Philadel-phia. On Long H1and much more will be found, in a piCl:urefque point of view, to intereil the traveller. On the wdlem fide, in particular, bordering upon the Narrows, or that contracted channel between the iiland , LON I S L A ' 1 l. ill.uH.l.;, thrOtwh \:vhich v ·flct pa[~ in f.tiling to N, w York (10.11 the l.u1t ic, the country is really romantic. The ground here is ,. ·ry lllll ·h brukcn, anJ nnmbcrlefs large maftcs of wood ll:ill rLmain {1 ,111 linrr.., , 1hrourrh the vifl.as in' ·hich you oc ::t!lonally catch the moil dcli g. htfttl proJpcC.ts ftbc lifbnt hills on Staten Hhn l and the New Jcd<:y fl 10n, and f tbc water, which is confbntly enlive led by vdtl-ls failing to and fro. To an inhabitant of one of tl1c l.uge to\\nS on the o.tfl. of Ameri ca, a country houfc i not merely d ·firablc ~ :1 r lace of rctirem<:nt from noife and bufilc, where the owner may indulge his f.mcy in the cont ·mpbtion of rural fCencs, at a feafon when natur' is attired in her mofl: plc<lfing garb, but alfo as a fafe retreat from the dreadful maladies which of hte years have never :fitilcd to rage with more or leis vi rulence in thcfc places durin r eruin months. When at Philadelphia the yellow ft:vcr committed fuch dreadful havoc, !}x1ring neither the ri h nor the poor, the young nor the aged, who had the confidence to remain in the city, or were 1111. blc to quit it, f ·arcely a finn-] infl:ance occurr cl of any one of tho.fc falling a vidim to its ban ful inOucnc , who Jiveu b·1t one mile removed from town, where w.1s a frc<.: L ircu!.ttion of air, and v. h at the (an c time !l:udiuufly avoid..::d all communication with fhc fick, or with "thoft; who had vilitl'd them; every pcrfon therefore at Pllibdelphia, New York, Baltimore, ·c. who is [u/lici ently wealthy to aJlord it, ha his country ba!Jit.tti 11 in the nt:ighbourhooJ of thcfc rcfp.:chvc places, to which he m:.ly retire in the hot unhealthy feafon of the year; I ut this delightful part of I ,ong lil< nd, of which I hav<.; been fpcJ! in ~ 1hough it affords fuch a number of charming fituation for Jirtlc villas, is unfortunately too far removed from New York to be a conveni<:nt place of retreat to men (o dcq ly eugagcd in commercial putfuits as arc th greater number of the inhabitants of that city, ami it remains almofl: defl:itute of houfrs ; whillt another part of the iOanJ, more conveniently fituated, i crowckd with them, although the f:1cc of tht: country is here flat nnd [andy, devoid of trees, aud wholly uninterdling. The |