IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA. 207 



like monkeys; their whole slight-of-hand appears to consist of a 

 dead pull; and their mode of running, with their time for lying 

 back or making play, seems to be entirely governed by their 

 masters, whom, on a mile-course, they must frequently pass in 

 heats, and who appear ever on the alert to direct them/' 



RESTLESSNESS OF THE AMERICAN CHARACTER. 



" When very near the top of the mountain (one of the Alle- 

 ghanies) for the ascent is full four miles, I encountered one of 

 those groups, men, women, and children, and waggons, which 

 appear in constant progress towards the * far-west.* With what 

 apparent indifference, if not positive pleasure, do the people of 

 this country quit their ancient homes, and wander forth in search 

 of new ones, to be again, in turn, deserted if not by themselves, 

 by their restless and enterprising children ! The Tartar habit of 

 movement and frequent change, which is, I fancy, natural to 

 man, finds in no country, at the present age, such inviting fa- 

 cilities as are offered in this, nor could a people be found who 

 more fully enjoy them. ******* 

 Unconscious agents in the hands of the Almighty, it is to advance 

 the great cause of civilization, whose pioneers they are, that 

 they endure toil for their lives, without the prospect of reaping 

 any one personal advantage which might not have been attained 

 in the first ten years of their labour. 



" It is not through ignorance either that they continue in these 

 simple and rude habits of life. There must, however, be a great 

 charm in the unrestrained freedom of this sort of life; since I 

 have frequently met women, who were bred in the north, well 

 educated, and accustomed for years to all the agreements of 

 goodly society, who yet assured me that they were happiest 

 when living in the solitude of their plantation, and only felt dull 

 whilst wandering about the country, or recruiting at some public 

 watering-place." 



COTTON MANUFACTURES. 



" The designs of the printed cottons, and the colours, both 

 struck me as being exceedingly good; in texture, however, I 

 did not conceive any of the cloths equal to similar stuffs which 

 I had seen at home in manufacturing towns. One of the part- 

 ners informed me that they supplied large quantities of goods to 

 the markets, both of India and of South America;, the manu- 

 facturer's chief draw-back, he said, was found in the cost of 

 labour; indeed, judging by the dress and neat appearance of the 



