1805.] Ohfervatlons refpeSilng Emigration to Jmirlca. 



pears delightful. Such are for the moft 

 part the back-woodfmen* who fell the fiift 

 trees and erefl milerable hovels fcarteiy fit 

 to fhelter cattle. They are in reality no 

 better than the American aborigines 

 whom they fucceed either in manners or 

 difpofuion. They are too lazy to culti- 

 vate the land, and truft chiefly to hunting 

 for their fubSftence. This vangusrd is 

 in a (hort fpace of time fuccteded by a 

 fecond corps, of rather better morals ; 

 they parch 'fe for a trifle the improvements 

 of the firft poffcflors, who again rufli fur- 

 ther into the woods, and recimmence 

 fimilar operations. The fecond party ge- 

 nerally cultivate a fmall p.^rtion of land, 

 and buin a better kind of fhelter, deno- 

 minated i'g-houfes from their Aibftance 

 of log-: of wood, whidi they plainer with 

 the ftiffcff ioil they can find. The firft 

 difficulties of a fettiement being thus over- 

 come, a third corps arrives, and purchafes 

 of (he fecond, wlu purfue the fteps of the 

 firff party. The lalt comers are common- 

 ly ot induftrious habits, and become fta- 

 tjonary, although it is not unfrequcnt to 

 find feven or eight different pplTeflbrs who 

 altogether will not hold the l^nds more 

 than three or four years. When any one 

 of fettled and ii duHriaus habits becomes 

 the proprietor, he begins tr> clear the land 

 in earned, and when he has enough to 

 fubfilt iiimfelf and his family, he begins 

 to enlarge and improve or build a more 

 commodious houfe. Thefe hahiiations, 

 in their bell ftyle, are either log or framed 

 houfes. The former are formed of logs 

 of wood notched and joinrd at the cor- 

 ners j the interftices are filled with mofs, 

 ftraw, orgiafs, and plaiflcred with earth. 

 The roof is pen-frally of bark, but fbnie- 

 times of fpiic boards.' The chim'.'.ey,. if 

 there is any, is a pile of ftones ; if not, a 

 fire is made on the ground, and a hole is 

 left in ttie roof to emit the fmoke. Some- 

 times another hole is made in the fide to 

 admit light, which in inclement weather 

 is clofed by a (liutter j at other times 

 there are only two doors oppofi;e to each 

 other, of which the one to windward is 

 kept fliut, and the other left open to an- 

 fwer the purpofe of a window. In every 

 feafon a conltant fire mull be kept, as the 

 finoke is nectffary to keep oft'thofe fwarnis 

 of mofquitoes and other infe£ls with 

 which tne woods abound ; and the fame 

 precautions muft alfo be taken to dcfe/,d 

 the cattle from them, as, fmatting under 



• Volney and Wel^ corroborate this ftate- 

 iDcu'. in the fulled ?nd mod explicit manner, 



407 



the vennm of thofe infcJils, they will dif- 

 appeir in ihe fure.ts and grow wild. A 

 fmouldering fire of green leaves and brufh- 

 wood, which will caul'e a great fmoke, 

 is made near to a-.d to the windward of 

 the place where they aie to remain during 

 the night. Such are the aCyh of tiie fe- 

 cond or third parties, and nothing can 

 be imagined more dreary. They .^re 

 however more or lefs decent and capacious 

 accord ng to the tafte or moral difpofitiorj 

 Oi the inhabi.antt and if he be indolent he 

 is fatisfied with the fiift rude eflay ; if he 

 be indultrious, fo loon as he has cleared a 

 luffiri.'nt quantity ot land he enlarges his 

 huf, or ereifs anoiher upon a more conve- 

 nient fpit. If he has moiiev, and a fiream 

 rn his land capHhls of working a (aw-mill, 

 he gets one budt, and c^'nvcrts the trees 

 wh"ch he d-iily fells into planks, and witfi 

 thefe he covers the ou;(iiie cf his houfe ; 

 the joints, latiers, and all the other parts 

 of the fkeleton are of tolerable carpenter's 

 work ; and this, when it is covered with 

 fhingles, confti'utes what they cull a frain» 

 ed houfe. Tiiey aUb add perhaps a barn, 

 a liable, and cattle-pen. At the ve y fiill 

 fight of ihrfe habitations it is Cdfy to judge 

 of the different degrees of profperity and 

 induPiry of the proprietors of them. By 

 thefe progreflive fteps the face of the 

 country quickly chansces, and cultivated 

 fields fucceed to ufelefs forefts. 



The American, who knows not the en» 

 joymcnts of the European far.^)e^, and who 

 only reads or hears repeated what their 

 newlpapers teem with, of tlie fuperior 

 hie Jings which they enjoy over the inhabi- 

 tants ot every other country on the face of 

 the globe, bflieves that independence and 

 happinefs is not to be found elfewhere j he 

 is fatisfied with his fituation.is habituated 

 to the fcourges of the clima'e and the 

 diudgeryof his labour. The European 

 emigrant, on the contrary, who has wit- 

 nell;d a difl'crent order of th'.ngs, is a pray 

 to chagrin, diiappointment, and defpair } 

 and either wanting courage or the money 

 which he has walled in unprofitable fpecu, 

 ].(tion to carry him back to his native land, 

 he vegetates where his foilv, ciedjlity, or 

 avarice, had placed him, and weiisout a 

 reftlefs life. His children, however, if 

 bom in the country, or brought thither at 

 a tender age, have all the advantage* of. 

 not knov/ing that there is another and a 

 better counlcy on this f;!o'>e, are recon- 

 ciled to their fate and (eek no fai ther.— 

 One generation fuftkes to convert the 

 European into the American, with ad his 

 habit:, cultoms, and predilcitions. 



Tliefe, 



