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Show 72 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMT·:fUCA: tented with what they poflcf:, they arc for ever changing. It i ' fcarcely po ible in any part of the continent to lind a man, :1.1nongfl: the midcUing and low r clalfcs of Americans, who has not ch:wged his [1rm and I1is rdidc:ncc many diftcr nt times. Thus it i , that though there ar not more th< n four millions of people in the United States, y t they arc fcattcrcd fr m the confines of Canada to the farthcfl: extremity or Georgia, and from the Atlantic to the banks of th MiflifTippi.. Thouf. 1nds of acres of wai1c land arc annually ttkcn up in unhealthy and unfruitful parts of the country, notwitbfbmling that the b fl: fcttled and healthy parts of the middle fiates would maintain five time the number of inhabitants that they do at prefent. The American, however, docs; not chan£Te about from place to place in this manner merely to g~atify a wandering difpofition; in every change he hopes to make money. By th dcfire of making money, both the Germans and Americans of every clafs and defcription are aCtuated in all their movements; fdf-interdl: is always uppermofl: in their thoughts; it is the idol which they wor{hip, and at its {brine thoufands and thoufands would be found, .in all parts of the country, ready to make a facrifice of every noble and generous fentiment that can adorn the human mind. In coming to this place from Lancafl:er I cro.fl(;d the Sufquehannah River, which runs nearly midway between the two towns, at the [m;lll village of Columbia, as bett r boats arc 1 cpt there than at cithl.:r of the ferries higher up or lov.-cr down the river. The Sufqu - hannah is here fomewhat more than a qu~lrtcr of a mile wide, and for a confiderable difl:ancc, both above and belo v the ferry, it abounds with iflands and large rocks, over which lafl: the water runs with prodigious velocity : the roaring noiJc that it makes is heard a gr at way o{[ The bank rife very boldly on each fide, and arc thickly wood ·d ; the iflands alfo arc covered with fmall trees, which, interfpcr(ed with the rocks, produce a very fine effect. The fcenery in every point of view is wild and romantic. In crof1ing the river it i n ·ccfL1ry to row up againfl: the fiream under the fhore, and then to {hike over to the ppofite fide, under the £helter of fomc of the largcfl: iflands. As thefe rapids continue for many miles, they totally impede the navigation, ex-cepting Y 0 R K. ccpting when there arc floods in the river, at which tim b ;,c r,l{ <; may be conduCted down the flream, carryin o- fevcral hu ndred b~t1W s uf flour. It is faid that the river could be rendered n.tvigable in this neigh bourhood, but the cxpenfc of (uch an undertaking would be l'nurmnu:;, and there is little likelihood indeed that it will ever be ..lttemptecl, as -the Pcnnfylvanians arc alrcaLly engaged in cutting a can:1l below IIarriiburgh, which will o meet the navigable part of the river with the S huylkill and alfo anoth..:r c:.1nal f.-<Hn the Schuylkill to the Delaware, by mcaPs of which a vent will be opened for the produce of the cou ntry bordering upon the Sufquvhannah at PhilJddphia. Thefe canals would have been finiD1ed by tbi ' tim· if the fubfcribers had all paid their rcfpcCl:i vc D1ares, but at prcfent they arc almofl: at a fiand for want of money. The qu::mtity of wild fowl that is feen on every part of the Sufquehannah is immenfc. Throughout America the wild fowl is excellent and plentiful; bnt there is one duck in particular found on this river, and alfo on Patowmac and James rivers, which furpalfcs all others: it is called the white or canvafs-back duck, from the feathers between the wings being fomewhat of the colour of canv::ds. This duck is held in fnch cfiimation in America, that it is ient frequently as a prefent for hundreds of miles-indeed it would be a dainty morfel for the greatctl: epicure in any conn try. York contains about five hundred hou{es and fix churches, and is much fuch another town as Lancafl:er. It is inhabited by Germans, by whom the fame manufaCtures are carried on as at Lancafier. The courts of common pleas, and thofe of general quarter fcffions, were holding when I reached this place; I found it difficult, therefore, at firft, to procure accommodation, but at lafl: I got admiilion in a houfc principally taken up by lawyers. To behold the firange aifemblage of perfonG that was brought together this morning in the one poor apartment which was allotted to all the lodgers was really a fubjeet of diverfion. Here one lawyer had his clients in a corner of the room; there another had his; a third was £having; a fourth powdering his OWl hair; a fifth noting h.is brief; and the table fl:anding in the middle of L the |
