Travels in the United States of America by ith The Author\'s Journals of his Two Voyages
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ith The Author\'s Journals of his Two Voyages >> Travels in the United States of America
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8 [Illustration: PETER BROWN'S ARMS.]
TRAVELS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA;
Commencing in the Year 1793, and Ending in 1797. With The Author's
Journals of his Two Voyages Across the Atlantic
* * * * *
BY WILLIAM PRIEST, Musician,
Late of the Theatres Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston.
* * * * *
CAPPRICCIO con----
* * * * *
LONDON:
Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul's Church-Yard
* * * * *
1802.
Bryer, Printer, Bridewell Hospital, Bridge Street.
PREFACE.
An elegant writer observes that a preface may be dispensed with in any
work, if the author (either from his humility of justice) think that his
style be calculated only to put his readers to sleep. Though I do not
think the publication of the following sheets will _materially_ affect the
price of opium, I cannot intrude this volume on the public without
informing them, what all my friends will vouch for the truth of, viz.--
that on my return from America, in 1797, I wrote the work in its present
form _for their_ perusal; and, that conscious of my want of talent as a
writer, I resisted all their entreaties for its publication, till within
these three months.
The public, I presume, will not be _wholly_ disappointed; the _extracts_ I
have made from _Jefferson_, _Belknap_, and other american writers, are
worthy their attention: _I_ have no other merit than having placed them in
a tolerable point of view.
"The God of Truth, and all who know
me, will bear testimony that, from my
whole soul, I despise deceit, as I do all
silly claims to superior wisdom, and
infallibility, which so many writers, by
a thousand artifices, endeavour to make
their readers imagine they possess."
CONTENTS.
Introduction
JOURNAL--Gravesend--why so called--Deal--Falmouth--Pendennis castle--a
gale--a hymn--the gulph weed--sun set at sea--dolphins and flying fish--
first account of the yellow fever--arrival in the Delaware--on shore in
the Jerseys--Woodbury--melancholy visit to Philadelphia--arrival at
Annapolis
ANNAPOLIS--why so called--extract from the charter--situation--loss of the
trade--accounted for--Annapolitans partial to theatrical amusements--
produce of Maryland--tobacco--wheat--new species of manure
JOURNEY TO THE CAPITAL--filial affection of the negroes--fried squirrels
and coffee--Baltimore--the mighty Susquana--intrepidity of a slave--how
rewarded--Wilmington--Brandywine--grist mills--the battle--Chester--
arrival at Philadelphia
TWO ANECDOTES--a gentleman blacksmith not ashamed of his origin--a high
sheriff doing his duty
PHILADELPHIA--state of, in 1681--Penn's arrival in 1701--intended plan of
the city--not observed--situation--advantages of exports--entries in 1793--
buildings how constructed--houses removed intire--new theatre--pleasure
carriages--removal of the state government to Lancaster
MANNER OF LIVING OF THE PHILADELPHIANS--breakfast--dinner--supper--bad
effects of such diet--relishes in stile at an American tea-garden
BACK SETTLER--arrives at his purchase--builds his huts--manner of clearing
the land--Indian corn--advantages of--the black and grey squirrels--
attacked by the Indians--extract--he escapes the scalping knife--more
comfortably situated--an idle back settler--his manner of life--what he
calls liberty--joins the Indians at war with the states--the demisavage
copies only the black side of the Indian character
PENNSYLVANIA PLANTER--enjoys a happy state of mediocrity between riches
and poverty--the children how disposed of--the boys--effect of the
religious education given to the girls not intirely eradicated even by a
brothel--a country sleighing match--another in Philadelphia in stile--a
fiddler a necessary apendage
FROGS--two extracts--they sit croaking to the wonderment of strangers--
land of enchantment--frog concert--how supported--treble--counter tenor--
tenor--bass--fire-flies--night-hawks--probable effects on an enthusiastic
cockney
JOURNEY TO LANCASTER--the Pioli--Wayne's surprise--appointed to the
command of the western army--Indian war--shocking effects of--
misunderstanding between the Canadians and American citizens--accounted
for--French agents--the British government vindicated--Proceed on the
journey--charming prospects--beauties of the Susquana destroys the
navigation--arrival at Lancaster--rifle manufactory--uncommon shot of two
back woodsmen--Dutch schools--three concerts--two German sans culottes--
extracts from the regulations of the Hanover dancing assembly--German and
Irish emigrants
FEDERAL COINAGE not approved of by the people--the new scheme contrasted
with the old one--advantages of an even division by the decimal
DELAWARE SHAD FISHERY--stupidity of the Anglo-Americans in giving English
names to animals peculiar to the new continent--length of the siens--
greatest haul of shad on record--fanatical law of the Quakers injurious to
the fishery--sturgeon--extract from general Lincoln on the migration of
fishes
JOURNEY TO BALTIMORE--water-stage--Newcastle--Glasgow--the Elk--bay of
Chesapeake--arrival at Baltimore--yellow fever
BALTIMORE--situation--disadvantages of--the Dutch plan of canals not
adapted to a southern latitude--the former race-course in the centre of
the town--anecdote
MANUFACTORIES--not the interest of the Americans to engage in them--why--
American iron--its malleability--two patents granted by Congress--
sawing-mills--ship-building
SHOOTING AND FISHING--partridges--no game laws--woodcocks in August--the
American ortolan--back woodsmen--their game--wild turkey--squirrel
shooting--American fishing parties--how conducted
INDIANS--genius for oratory, painting, and sculpture--their continence--
extract--the Indian student--the splenetic Indian--his remedy--seen in
another point of view--the Indian orator--verses on an Indian burial-ground
SCHEME OF A RIFLE CORPS--of forming the corps--rifles--powder--
accoutrements and dress--exercise
SPECULATION--the United States--the land of--100 acres of land for a
dollar--flour--the mines--description of a coal-bank
CLIMATE--Cooper on this subject not to be depended upon--quotation
from Jefferson--the N.W. wind not accounted for--Volney--his intended
investigation
WHITE SLAVE TRADE--mortality on board a white Guineaman from Ireland--
Hibernian and German societies--the trade not allowed in New England--a
German flesh-butcher sells his countrymen at Philadelphia during the fatal
yellow fever of 1793
JOURNEY TO BOSTON--Pennsylvania the garden of the United States--
Bristol--Trentown--New Brunswick--New York--arrival in Yankee Land--land
speculators harangue--interrupted--arrival at Boston--P.S.--dramatic
mania--detestation of the primitive Bostonians to theatricals--are first
introduced as moral lectures--the theatrical opposition
BATTLE OF BUNKER'S HILL--inscription from a monument on the scene of
action--anecdotes of Cox, the celebrated bridge-architect--connects Boston
with the Continent--goes to Ireland, where he builds seven bridges
BOSTON--situation--West Boston--advantages of the harbour--the long
wharf--new theatre--university of Cambridge--new bridge a mile in length--
Irish market
BOSTONIAN FIRE ALARM--amateur firemen--negro incendiaries--good effects of
their villainy
FANATICISM--Brownists--intolerance proved from their own writers--
rebellion against parents made a capital crime--smoaking tobacco and
drinking healths forbidden--proclamation against wearing long hair--
persecution of the Quakers--Penn's retaliation--poetry
NEGRO SLAVERY--state of in the Southern, Middle, and New England Slates--
abolition society--extract from Jefferson's Virginia
YELLOW FEVER--a new disorder--first imported from the coast of Guinea to
the West Indies in 1792--extract from Dr. Rush--a disorder fatal only to
one race of men not new--plague among the red men--how accounted for by
the fanatics--not to the satisfaction of a philosopher--age of the world
proved to be 36,960 years from the falls of Niagara
AMERICAN FISHERY ON THE BANKS OK NEWFOUNDLAND--extract from Dr. Belknap--
dumb fish--how cured--merchantable--Jamaica fish--former and present state
of the fishery
NEW ENGLAND STATES COMPARED WITH THOSE OF THE SOUTH--beauty of the women--
accounted for--general knowledge of the inhabitants--free schools--how
supported--difference of climate
VOYAGE TO ENGLAND--journal--severe gale at N.E.--the vessel encrusted with
ice--stand to the southward--the gulph stream--another gale--misfortunes--
arrival at Dover--conclusion
_ERRATA._
P. 11, 1.8, for _plantation_, read _plantations_.
32, 1.5 and 6, are a note having reference to p. 28, 1.11.
71, 1.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, are a note having reference to
p. 68, 1.4.
131, 1.6, for _freeing_, read _treeing_.
146, the asterisk placed at the word _vessel_ in the 13th line,
should be placed at the word _Newcastle_ in the 15th line.
*TRAVELS IN AMERICA.*
* * * * *
_London, May 7th, 1797._
DEAR SIR,
Since my return, my friends have made a thousand inquiries respecting the
state of America. I do not know how I can inform them of my sentiments on
that subject better, than by having the rough draught I preserved of the
letters I wrote to you from that country fairly copied for their use. If,
like you, they are _really_ my friends, they will take the will for the
deed. The _truth_ of my information, and my _wish_ to contribute to their
amusement, will be a sufficient apology for the many imperfections they
will meet with, in the desultory epistles of
Yours very sincerely.
_Annapolis, December 1st, 1793._
DEAR FRIEND,
The enclosed extracts from my journal will I hope convince you, I have not
_entirely_ forgot my promise at parting. When at Philadelphia I delivered
your letters to----. Believe me
Yours very sincerely.
* * * * *
JOURNAL.
_Gravesend, on board the George Barclay,_
_31st of July, 1793._
Arrived onboard at 2 this afternoon, with an intention of sailing to
Philadelphia: Gravesend is so called from it's being _the end of a
sailors grave_, as those who die on a voyage after passing the fort are
thrown over board.
_August 1st._
Got under weigh with a light breeze at S.W., which not being sufficient to
stem the returning tide, we dropped out anchor again off the Nore light.
_Aug. 2nd_.--Weighed anchor with the wind at S.E., and on the morning
of the 3rd; off Deal, sent a boat on shore, which soon returned with a
supply of meat, water, sheep, poultry gin, and gingerbread; dismissed our
pilot, and soon after doubted the South Foreland; the prospect of Dover
and the adjacent coast delightful.
_Aug 8th_.--Beating to windward with a fresh breeze off the Lizard;
finding it impossible to clear the land, put about, and by three in the
afternoon were safe moored in Falmouth harbour. Went on shore; the lower
order of the inhabitants chaunt, or rather speak in recitative, a strange
dialect, in which I could distinguish several English words.
Took a walk to Pendennis castle, which protects the West entrance of the
harbour; found it garrisoned by a party of invalides, who informed me they
had not two nights in bed to one up; hard duty after twenty years
servitude!
_Aug. 9th_.--Dined on john dory, which I cannot think equal either to
turbot or sole. Falmouth has the best fish market in England: I am
informed, in the course of the year, they have upward of fifty different
species for sale, on very moderate terms.
_Aug. 15th._--Weighed anchor, and having a good breeze at N.E., we
were soon clear of the land. On the evening of the 16th came on a smart
breeze at S.W.; at 2 A.M. the wind changed to W.N.W. and _blew a hard
gale_, which split our jib, and at last obliged us to lie too, under
our courses: shipped some very heavy seas over our quarter, which drowned
three parts of our stock of geese and other poultry; the baggage of near
fifty passengers, for want of being properly lashed, was dashing about the
steerage; which, with the shrieks of the women, heaving of the vessel,
rattling of the wind, and all the _et cetera_ of a storm, was
dreadful indeed.
_Aug. 18th_.--Wind N.W. moderate; the morning delightful; appeared
doubly so, contrasted with the horrours of the night.
_Aug. 31st_.--Fresh breeze at S.W. increasing to a hard gale, reduced
us once more to our courses: at 8 P.M. calm, with a very heavy swell.
_Sunday 1st September._
Pleasant breeze at N.N.E. The following hymn was written by Mr. Harwood,
for this morning's service.
HYMN.
I.
Father of Heav'n, to thee we raise
(Mark'd by thy kind peculiar care,)
Our songs of thankfulness and praise,
To thee ascends the grateful pray'r.
II.
Thou didst direct the gentlest breath,
That o'er the sleeping waters stole;
Thine is the dreadful voice of death,
In which thy angry thunders roll.
III.
Father of all, 'tis thine to give,
Not what our erring pray'r demands;
With joy thy blessings we receive,
And bow submissive 'neath thy hand.
_Sept. 7th_.--First appearance of the gulf-weed. The trade wind, between
the Equator and the extent of the northern Tropic, setting from the
eastward, forces the water against the islands, and at length into the
gulf of Mexico where it meets with an uniform opposition from the
main, causing a strong current to the N.E., or points somewhat in that
direction. This stream is so violent as to tear up the sea weeds in the
gulf, and bear them as far to the north as latitude 44: the stream is soon
after absorbed in the Western ocean; but causes certain counter currents,
which, for want of being properly allowed for by mariners, have been the
causes of many shipwrecks.
_Sept. 8th_.--Fine morning; wind at W.S.W. A beautiful dolphin struck at
an artificial flying fish, hanging at our bow-sprit; the hook breaking, he
escaped;--continued playing round our bows for some time, and struck at
several flying fish; but we could not again tempt him with the artificial
bait.
_Mem_. To read this lesson once a month.
_Sept. 9th_.--Calm and fog, several flocks of wild fowl. Suppose ourselves
near the banks of Newfoundland. Thermometer sunk 18 degrees since
yesterday.
_Sept. 10th_.--Pleasant morning, having run to the S.W. during the
night: no sign of the banks. A land bird, of the thrush kind, came and
settled on our main yard; seemed quite exhausted; fell upon the deck, and
was taken up by the cabin boy. The poor creature must have been driven off
the coast of America in a violent gale at N.W., the distance from any land
being upwards of a thousand miles; no other circumstance could account for
it's flying so far.
_Sept. 19th_.--Wind at N.N.W. very moderate;--the afternoon calm. The
sun set this evening with uncommon beauty, that glorious luminary was
surrounded with clouds of a vivid yellow, green, and red; strongly shaded
with black half the extent of the horizon. The moon at the same time
rising to the east-ward, with a cool and faint sky, formed a strong and
beautiful contrast.
_Sept. 21st_.--Wind S. with rain. Caught four dolphins, which afforded us
a most delicious repast: in the paunch of one was found a dodon, or
globe-fish; the sailors call it a parrot-fish, from its having a beak
exactly resembling that bird.--At 9 A.M. spoke with the Queen Charlotte of
London, bound to Bristol, out ten days from Baltimore; the captain's
account of the longitude 67. Our joy in being so near the land was of
short continuance; for, in one hour after, we spoke with the Union, eight
days from Philadelphia. The captain informed us, there was a sort of
plague in that city, which carries off great numbers, and that ten
thousand of the inhabitants had fled to the country, to avoid the
infection.
_Sept. 24th_.--Soundings at 60 fathom: lay to all night.
_Sept. 25th_.--Woke with the cry of "Land." At 10 A.M. we took a
pilot on board: he informed us the disorder at Philadelphia is the yellow
fever, imported in a french schooner from the West Indies; some of the
passengers of this vessel died of this fatal disorder, at a lodging-house
in Water-street, and communicated the infection to the family. It is now
spreading rapidly through the city, in all directions. The faculty, so far
from being able to cure this disorder, have, in several instances, fallen
victims to it's fury. Within this few days, a Dr. Rush has discovered this
disorder is _not_ the yellow fever of the West Indies and has applied
an opposite mode of cure by copious bleedings, mercurial medicines, &c.
with some success. What is truly extraordinary, the infection does not
affect _people of colour!_
_Sept. 28th._--Came to an anchor off Glocester Point, five miles
below Philadelphia: the vessel proceeds no further at present, as all
intercourse with the city is cut off, and business at a stand.
_October 1st_.
Brought my baggage on shore, and arrived, at four in the afternoon, at
Woodbury, the county town of Glocester, in the state of West Jersey. With
some difficulty I procured a lodging within half a mile of the town.
Woodbury consists of about fifty well built houses, chiefly inhabited by
quakers, and other dissenters of the most rigid kind; so very primitive
are they in their appearance, that a barber cannot make a living among
them.
_Oct. 13th_.--Spent the last ten days in shooting, and rambling about
the woods. The face of the country is exactly that of an immense forest,
entirely covered with wood, except the plantation cleared by the settlers.
The land sandy, and by no means of a good quality; the chief produce
maize, or indian corn. I counted the increase of _one_ stalk with
three ears; the amount of the grains were upward of _one thousand two
hundred_.
_Oct. 16th_.--I believe the Americans conceive their woods to be
inexhaustible. My landlord this day cut down thirty-two young cedars to
make a hog-pen. A settler informs me, he raised a gum tree from the seed,
which, in sixteen years, measured twenty inches diameter, three feet from
it's base. He tells, me they have ten species of oak; viz, white, black,
red, spanish, turkey, chesnut, ground, water, barren, and live oak. The
white, turkey, and chesnut are used for ship-timber; the acorn of the
latter very superiour in size to any other. Red oak is chiefly used for
pipe-staves, and exported to most parts of Europe, and the West Indies.
Black oak is a dry wood, and easily splits; is chiefly used for the rails
and fences of their enclosures. Ground oak is bushy, and seldom exceeds
six feet in height; it bears a small acorn of a very superiour flavour,
which is the chief food of the deer, and sheep, who run wild in the woods.
Water and barren oak are small and bushy, and only used for firing. Live
oak is _said_ to be very superiour to all the rest, and the best
_ship-timber_ in the world. I am informed it is a sort of evergreen,
seldom met with north of the Carolinas.
_Oct. 26th_.--Went to Philadelphia.--After crossing the Delaware, I found
the land very different from the Jersey shore; a fine stiff black soil,
the clover growing spontaneously. The city exhibited a most melancholy
spectacle; most of the houses and stores shut up, and grass growing in
many of the streets; what few _white_ inhabitants I met with had a most
dejected appearance. The disorder has been most favourable to the softer
sex; women with child, and those above and under a certain age, were in
general free from the infection: but so fatal has it proved to the other
sex, that, in Apple-tree-alley, which does not exceed fifty yards in
length, there are upwards of sixty widows within these two months. The
total loss on this melancholy occasion already exceeds four thousand,
nearly one tenth of the inhabitants! Returning to Woodbury, I met with a
quaker, who informed me of the _cause_ of the infectious disorder in the
Great City: "_It is_ a judgment on the inhabitants for their sins,
insomuch that they sent to England for a number of play-actors, singers,
and _musicians_, who were _actually arrived_; and as a just judgment on
the Philadelphians for encouraging these _children of iniquity_, they were
now afflicted with the yellow fever." I told him, that more likely the
sins of the _quakers_ had drawn down this judgment on the city _of
brotherly love_, and that it was now scourged for _their_ hypocrisy,
lying, canting, and other _manifold iniquities_.
_Oct. 27th_.--Very cold wind at N.W. In the evening snow.
_Oct. 29th_.--Favourable accounts from Philadelphia: the late cold
weather has entirely stopped the progress of the disorder.
_November 26th_.
Set out for Annapolis, and arrived there in health, the 29th, at five in
the afternoon.
* * * * *
_Annapolis, 17th December, 1793._
DEAR FRIEND,
The bay of Chesapeak is one of the largest in the world. From it's
entrance, between capes Henry and Charles, to the mouth of the Susquana,
which forms the head of the bay, the distance is two hundred and eighty
miles, through which great extent of water the tide ebbs and flows. This
bay receives into it's bosom the following rivers; viz. the Patomac, the
Rappahanock, the Patapsico, the York, the James, the Severn, and the Elk,
beside innumerable creeks, and small streams. On an inlet from this bay,
about two hundred miles from it's entrance from the Atlantic, stands
Annapolis, the capital of the state of Maryland, so called in honour of
queen Anne, as appears from the following extract from their charter:--
"Anne, by the grace of God, queen of Great Britain, &c....
"To all, and singular, our faithful subjects within our province of
Maryland, greeting.... Whereas there is a pleasant and commodious place
for trade ... laid out for a town, and port, and called Annapolis, in
honour of us."
This city was intended for the emporium of the province; and surely no
spot ever _seemed_ better calculated for a town of trade and commerce. Far
to the south, and in one of the most pleasant and healthy situations in
America; as the seat of government, being the greatest, and indeed then
_only_ mercantile town in the province; the bay of Chesapeak, and adjacent
rivers, wafting the tobacco and other produce of the country to this mart
at a trifling expense; a harbour where ships might ride at anchor in
perfect security, and where wharfs, with sufficient depth of water for a
vessel of eight hundred tons, might be formed with very little trouble:
but unfortunately these advantages were rendered abortive by the bite of a
small insect; the worms are so troublesome in these waters, that a vessel
lying in this harbour during the summer months will be as full of holes as
a honey-comb. Baltimore, a town on a similar inlet from the bay, about
thirty miles hence, being free from this plague, (by having a great
proportion of fresh water from the Patapsico in it's harbour) has drawn
all the trade from the _capital_: the Annapolians have now but _one_
square-rigged vessel belonging to their port, while their rivals have many
hundreds, and drive a brisk trade to the four quarters of the globe.
Annapolis is whimsically laid out, the streets verging from each other,
like rays from a centre. It is still the seat of government; and it's
state-house is by much the best building I have seen in America. This
little city is now the retreat of some of the best families in the
state. The inhabitants in general are passionately fond of theatrical
entertainments, and received us with a degree of kindness and hospitality
which claims our warmest acknowledgments. I spend my time here very
agreeably. The politeness, ease, and conviviality of the Annapolians form
a strong and pleasing contrast to the behaviour of the stiff, gloomy and
unsocial bigots I was lately surrounded with in the Jerseys. Next to
Virginia, this state was the most famous for tobacco-plantations; but the
people now find the culture of wheat more profitable, as well as less
injurious to the soil. No plant impoverishes the earth so much by it's
growth as tobacco; many plantations, owing to successive crops of this
_weed_, are what is here called _worn out_; formerly, when their land was
in this state, instead of endeavouring to bring it round by a few fallow
years and manure, as in England, they immediately cleared a fresh tract.
They now begin to use manure, and have discovered a very extraordinary
kind; viz. antediluvian oyster-shells, large beds of which are found
a few feet beneath the surface of the earth in several parts of the
state[Footnote: See Bartram's Account of a similar Bed in Georgia,
page 213.]: these being laid on the land, are, by the effect of the
air, crumbled into dust in a few days, and fertilize the earth in an
astonishing degree.--Farewell.--Conclude me
Yours very sincerely, &c.
_Philadelphia, 27th February, 1794._
DEAR FRIEND,
On the fourth instant I left Annapolis on my way to this city. After
travelling eight miles, we passed through a long and dreary wood; here we
met two negroes conveying a coffin on a sort of sledge. On inquiry, one of
them informed us, the coffin contained the corpse of his mother; that on
the death of his old master, his parents were sold to different planters,
which his father took so much to heart, that he died soon after; his
mother only survived him about five months; and they were now complying
with her last request, which was, to be carried to a plantation about
eight miles thence, and there buried with her husband. There seemed a
great degree of dejection in the poor fellow's countenance; and I could
not help telling him, by way of consolation, that his father and mother
were gone to a better place, where there was no distinction of colour, and
where no white man would dare again to part them; but as _words_ are
_wind_, we agreed to administer some more _solid_ consolation, which the
black man received with a look of gratitude, then cast his eye towards his
mother's corpse, and shed a silent tear. Why was not _Sterne_ present at
this scene?
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