OCR Text |
Show TRAVELS TI1ROUGII NORTII AMERICA: the river :1.t diff~.:rent di!bnccs, and which fccmed to g1iJe along , a s it were, by th ~ power of m.1gic, for the f.1ils all huno- down loofc an c1 motionlLt"s. The (un, ictting in all his glory, acldcd frdh beauties to this c 1lm and peaceable (c~:nc, an l permittLU us for the laO: tim~ to bt;hold the d iO:.wt fp ircs of New York, illumined by his parting r::~ys . T o defc rihc all the pr;ltH.I and beautJul profpdl:s prc:fentcd to tbe vi ew n paili nt; alon·y this nd)k river, \Votdd be an endkfs t:lfk; ::til the '.trious ef( cls th,lt can be fuppofc l to arifc from a happy combination f wood and w.tlcr, of hill :111 l d.tlc, arc here f('en in the grcatefl: perfeCtion. In fomc places the river expanJs to the breadth of five or fix miles, in others it narrows to that of a few hundred yards, and in variou. parts it is interi~'e rfcd with i!Lmds ; in fume places again its courfe can be traced as far as the eye c Jn reach, whiHl in others it is [oJdenly lofl: t0 the view, as it winds between its lofty banks; h ere mout1tains cover d with rocks and trees rife almoO: perpcndicub.rly out f the water; there: a fine champaign country prcf·nts itfelf, cultivated to the very marg in of the river, whilfl: neat f: rm houfcs and di(l.ant towns embclli!h the charming landfcapes. After funfet, a bri11{ wind fprang up, which carried us on at the rate of fix or ftven miles an hour for a confiderable part of the night; but for fome hours we had to lie at anchor at a place ' "'here the navigation of the river \vas too dif11cult to proceed in the dark. Our floop was no more than fev nty tons burthcn by rcgifl:er; but the accommodations ihe afforded were mofl: e ·cellent, and far fuperior to what migh t 1 e expeCted on board fo fmall a veffd; the cabin was equally large with that in a common merchant vcficl of three hundred tons, b 1ilt for crofling the ocean. This was owing to the great bre:1dth of her beam, which was no lcfs than twenty-two feet and a half although hc.:r length was only fifty-five feet. All the floops engaged in thi c; trade are built nearly on the fame conO:ruClion; fhort, broad, and very fhallow, few of them draw more than five or fix feet water, fo that they are only alculated for failing upon fmooth water. Early the next morning we found ourfelvcs oppofite to Weft Point, a place rendered remarkable in hiO:ory by the defertion of General, Ar-nold, |