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Show STAY AT BORDENTOWN. 19 pine trees, of different varieties, where many birds, of kinds unknown to me, were flying about. The cat bird [Turdus felivox, Vieill.), whose voice has a slight resemblance to that of a cat, was very numerous in this place. From the top of the wooded bank a sort of bridge has been carried out, a great height above the river, and a square place furnished with seats, from which you overlook the whole country. An old Canadian pine stands at the edge of the bank, some branches of which we carried off, by way of memorial. The view from this place is remarkably beautiful; to the right and left extends the river, or rather broad brook, which, at the feet of the spectator, is covered with water plants. The yellow-blossomed Nymphcea adversus, and the beautiful Pontederia cordata grow here in great abundance. There was plenty of occupation for the botanist and the ornithologist, and the sportsman would have reason to be satisfied, for in the neighbouring thickets there were deer (Cervus viginianus), and hares (Lepus Americanus), which frequently crossed our path.* On my return to Bordentown, I found before the door of the inn a number of gentlemen lying in more than easy positions on the benches; the chief subject of conversation was the cholera, which filled the whole country with terror. It was precisely the hottest part of summer, and it was scarcely possible to protect one's self against the swarms of European flies, which are very numerous. On this account there are, in the inns, negroes and mulattoes, who attend at table, and give the company rest from those troublesome insects, and, at the same time, cool air, by fanning them with fans, made of feathers, often those of the peacock. Fans are, in fact, an article of luxury, and are purchased in the towns ; they are made of the tail feathers of the wild turkey, the crane, or the swan, of palm leaves, &c. It was so hot in the daytime, that it was hardly possible to leave the house; and the cholera, therefore, spread rapidly in New York. In this sultry season, the evenings were really refreshing, and gave new life both to men and animals. When it became dusk, luminous insects flew about, and the crickets chirped in notes like those in Europe, but in more rapid succession. On the following day I visited other places and woods in the vicinity of Bordentown. The town itself is built in the country fashion, with regular, broad, unpaved streets or roads, and the houses lie detached from each other, shaded by rows of trees : this is very necessary, for now, at 10 o'clock in the morning, Fahrenheit's thermometer, in the cool passage of the inn, was at 73°. The avenues of trees in the town consisted of robinia, paper-mulberry, large-leaved poplars, which exude an aromatic gum, weeping willows, and Syrian mallow, which latter grow to the height of ten and even fifteen feet. These plants, with their beautiful flowers, flourish here in much greater perfection than in Germany. In the gardens we observed monarda (Oswego tea), * We were told that the Virginian deer were formerly very numerous here, but that it had been found necessary to shoot them, because, in the rutting season, they roamed about and did great damage to the crops. ¦ |