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Show JS6 TRAVELS TllROUGil NORTH AMERICA: lat 'ly er 8:ed, the il:rects arc commodious, and many of the houfcs are ln!lll[! me:. Great pains have been tal en to have the ilrccts well pav~J am1 lighted. II re arc four places for public worn1ip, and an ho(j)ital. Albany is in fnmmer ti1 1c a very difitgrccablc place; it {bnJs in a l w fit uation, jull. on the marPi!l of the river, which rum very Oowly here, and to\\':Hlls the n ning >ftcn c:~~:halcs c:luuds of vapours; immediat ·ly b - hind th ~ town, likcwifc, is a brgc f nd bank, that prevents a free circulation of air, while at th~ f:m1c time it po verfully refleCts the nl}S of the fun, which D1ines in full force upon it the whole day. Notwith. flanding all rhis, however, t 1c climate is deemed \'cry falubriOLl . The in 1abitants of this pL1cc, a few ) cars ago, were almofl: entirely of Dutch extraction; but nov.r £tnngers arc flocking to it from all q nrtcrs, as there arc few pbc<.:s in Amnica more adva.ntagcouOy fituatcd for commerce. The flourifhinrr Date of its trade has already been mcntionul; it bids f.1ir to tival that of New York in proccfs of time. The fourth of July, the day of our arriv,1l at Albany, was the anni..,crfary of the d~claration of American independ nee, and on our arrival we were told that great }11'cparations were making for its celebration ·*·. A drum and trumpet, towards the middle of the day, gave notice of the commencement of the rejoicings, and on walking to a hill about a quarter of a mile from the town, we faw f1xty men dra vn up, partly militia, partly volunteers, partly infantry, partly cavalry; the latter were clothed in fcarlet, and mounted on horfcs of various dcfcriptions. About three hundred fpeCt:ators attended. A few rounds w rc fired from a three pounder, and fomc volleys of fmall arms. The firing was fini{hcd befon~ one hour was expired, and then the troops returned to towu, a p<'rty of militia ofliccrs in uniform marching in the rear, u ,dtr the !hade of umbrellas, as the day was cxccffively hot. Having '' Q,, r l:!nd lord as foon as I c fo ml out who we wuc. immediately came to us, to lt.:qu~Jl that Wt W< ulJ CXCWfL thl! ConflliCd f1.llC in \\ hich hi~ hrntfe 11 a., as thi~ was the 1nn ive rfary day of" .1\ me,, 1 ican 1 n• cpen ~nee," or, a~ lome, llldrcd, more J•rupcrly called it, of " American Repentance." We were all of us not a little f1 rprifcd at this add refs, and from fL1ch a perf on; inllanccs, ho·.v-ever, are n t wanting of people openly dccla1 ing, that th• y have never cujoyullo much (l'i ict an1l bappinL 'in their own homes fincc the revolution as Lh y du.l 11 he 1 the llatcs were the colonies ofGrcat Britain. Amongllthe plantcrs in Virginia 1 h ·ard language of this fort mo~e than once:. reachc<l DEPARTURE FRO ALB A NY. 157 re c 1c·i t0wn, tl c who e body immcdi<ttely difp Tfed. The volunteers and I' lid<l L t1iccrs a: :;r .-.rd dined together, a d fo ended the rejoicings O! the cbv, no 1 ublic ball, no g~nc ral e11tc ·taint 1ent was there of any dckr., ,ll >n . J day flill fr ·ih in the memory of every American, and wh1~..-b af pL'ars [o gloriou in the annals of thcir country, would, it might b c.>..pc cd, have alled forth more brilliant and mt rc general rcjoicin •'S ; but th ... dvwmio-ht} h co-m1tic people in this neighbourhood, intent upon makinr.- uwncy, and enjoying the folid adv<1ntagcs of therevolution, arc but littk difpofc i to wall.~ their time in what they confider idle dcmonfH<tions of joy. LETTER XX. Departure from Albatry.-Di!Jicu!ty qf hinizg a Carriage.-Arrival at Cohoz.-Dejcription of the curious Fall tbere if the Moha'\iJk River.Sti/ 1-'loater .-Saratoga .-Few qf the 11/orks rcmai11 ing there .-Singular Mineral Springs mar Sarntoga.-Fort Edward.-Mifs M'Crea cruelly murdac:d tbere by llldians.-Fort Amt, wretched R.oa I thitber.-Some OljervatiJm on th:1 American Woods.-liofjes jadc:d.-D.ffjiculty of getting for· vard.-Arrive at Sl:erltjb:Jrougb.~Drear!f7tlly it!Ffled by Mtifquitoes.-Particular Dticription qf tbat I'fli:B.-Great Danrrcr f!"![ttes Jometimes from their Bite.-Be.ft Remedy. MY DEAR SIR, Skcnc!borough, July. WE remained in Albany for a few days, and then fet o1f for Skene[. b ron·~b, upon Lake Champlain, in a carriagt hired for the purpofc. The hiring of this vehi lc was a matter atttndcJ with [( m . tt-ouble, and detained us longer in the town than we wiD1ed to ib_v. There were only two carri 1ges to be had in the whole place, and the owners havin.j an undcrilanding with each other, and thinking that we fhould be forced to give whatever price they afkcd, pofitively rcfufed to let us have |