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Show TRAVELS TIIROUGII NORTH AMERICA: withdmwn from it, as fuitcd the taf1c of th~ builder. However, num bcrs of wooden habit<ltions h ,ve bcu built; but the difr':rent o vner. have all been cautioned a!!aim1: coniid ·ring· t 1e1 1 a permanent. 'I'hc '/ arc to be alJowcd for a c ruin tnm only, and then dcflr ycd. Three commiffioners, who refidc n the ipot, arc :1.ppoint->d by the prc.:fident, with a f1Ltry, for the pmpc fe of fupcri,lt cnJing the public and other buildings, and rcgubting evLry tl.ing pert; ining to the city. The only public buildings carrying on as yet, at-e tbe prcfid ·nt's houk. the capitol, and a large hotel. The 1 rdidcnt's lwuil:, which is nearly complct d on the outlidc, is two iloric high, and built of free fl:one. The principal room in it i , of an oval form. This is undoubtedly th hand.C mcfl: building in the country, and the architccl:nre of it is much e. tolled by the people, who have never fcen any thing fupcrior; but it w'll not b.:.ar a critical examinat"on. Many porfons find fcllllt with it, a beinf)' too J, rge and too fplcn lid fur the rdidcncc of :-~ny one perfon in a rcpublic:m country; and certainly it is a ridiculous habitation for a man who receive a Glary that amounts to no more than £.5,625 il:crlin · rcr annum, and in a country where the cxr ences of living are far greater than they arc even in London. The hotel i a br~:,e bnilding of brick, ornamented with frone; it :fbnds between tl e prcliclent's houfc and the capitol. In the beO'inn in l')' b b of the year 1796, when I 1a!1: ftw it, it was roofed in, and every exertion mahng to have it fini!hed with the utmoft expedition. It is any thing but bt:antifnl. The capitol, at the fame pcril)d, was raifcd only a very little way above the foundation. The fionc, which the prcfidcnt's houfe is built wirh, and ft1ch a will be ufcd for all the JUblic buildings, is \cry fimilar in appearance to tba,t found at Portland in EngLmd; but I wa informed by one of the {culptors, who had frcquc~ttly worked tl<... Portland fl:one in Enghu d that it is of a much fupcrinr qu dity, as it will bear to be cut as fine as marble, and is not li·1ble to be m,iur'!d by min or frof1. OJ the banks uf the Patowr1ac they have incxhaui1ihle qllarric · of this fl:onc; good fjJecimcns of ommon tn,u blc h<l.vc alfo been found; and thtre is in various parts C I T Y 0 F ·w A S li I N G T 0 N. -4·' par ts of the river abundance of c,'cdlcnt flatc, paving fl:one, and limeil: onc. Good coal may alfo be l1:1d. The private houfcs arc all plain buildings; mofl of them have been built on {peculation, and fli\1 remain empty. The gr atefl: nutnbcr, at any one place, i · at Green Leafs Point, on the main ri er, jufl: above the entrance of the caficrn branch. Thi fpot Jus been Jookc l llpon by many as the mofl: convenient one for trade; )Lit others prefer the flwrc of the cafi rn branch, on account of the fu1 criority of the harbour, and the gr at dcplh of the water ncar the fhorc. There arc fcveral other favourite fituation s, the choice of any one of which is a mere matter of [peculation at prefcnt. Some build ncar the apitol, as the mofi convenient place for the rcfidence of members of congrcfs, Come ncar the prcfidcnt's houfe; others aga.in prefer the wefl: end of the city, lh the neibhbourhood of George Town, thin 1:i g that as trade is alr ady cilabli(hed in that place, it muft be from th ence that it will extend into the city. Were the houfes that have b en built lituated in one p ace all together, they would mal·c a very rcfp:..cLblc :tppearance, but fcattcr d about as they arc, a fpceb.tor can fcarccly perceive any thing like a town. Excepting the firccts and :wenucs, and a Jinall p •tt of the ground aclj ining the public buildings, the w wk pbcc is covered with trees. To be under the ncccffity of go ing through a deep wood for one or two miks, perhaps, in order to fcc a next door n igl bour, and in the fame city, is a curi u. , and, I believe, a novel circumilance. The number of inhabitJtltS in the city, in the fpring of 17rJ6, amounted to about fiv · thonfand. imlu i1ng arrilicers, who formed by f.u the hr~eil part of that nun l•cr. Numbers of firangcrs are continually paHtng and rcp,d1ing throtw,h a place which affor s fuch an ext nfive field for fpccub wn. Jn addition to what has air ,:-tdy been i.tid npon the uljdJ, I have only to obft:rve, that notv.•ithftanuing al that ha~ been done at the city, and the large fums of money which h· ve been expended, there an~ numbers of people in the United St~ t ·, linng to the nor h of the l\ttowmac, 1 at ttc u L~rly in Phd<! d ph ia, wl10 :m: fiill \'ery ::-dvc rfe to the runoval of tl1c kat of govl rnm<.nt th1thcr, and arc tl in,' all• in their power to cht:ck the rog1cfs cf the buil ings in tl1 · city, II :~nd |