1824, ] 
West-Indies and South America. This 
may be called the cold climate of the 
United States, as it greatly resembles , 
that of Canada. .During four months 
the winter is very severe, the thermo- 
meter falling often to 20° below zero; 
the snow falls two or three feet deep, 
and lies long on the ground, during 
which time the people travel in sleighs, 
as in Canada, Russia, and Germany. 
The summer for a short time is nearly 
as. hot as in the Southern States; bat 
in general, the climate is extremely 
healthy .and pleasant. The tnhabi- 
tants are principally descended from 
English puritans, who finding them- 
selves aggrieved by the intolerance of 
the government of Charles the First, 
crossed the Atlantic in search of free- 
dom. The present race have abandoned 
much of their original “austerity; they 
are hospitable, kind, polite, and are the 
most intelligent, the best educated, and 
the most enterprizing of the Americans. 
Such is the progress of population that, 
‘the New England States are annually 
sending thousands of their citizens 
over the Alleghanies to settle in, the 
fertile regions along the mighty rivers 
of the west. The Yankees are the 
most persevering of emigrauts; where- 
ever success is possible, they suc- 
ceed ; where others fail, they make 
their fortunes. During the last thirty 
years few foreigners have ventured to 
compete with them on their native soil; 
and now that the country is more 
thickly settled, and every profession 
filled, the chances of success are almost 
desperate. New England is the only 
part of America where o/d English 
~ customs prevail—where national feeling 
most predominates, and where the rem- 
nants of puritanic strictness and reli- 
gious discipline still present themselves. 
The second division consists of the 
Middle States, or New York, New 
Jersey, and Pennsylvania; containing 
‘more than two millions and a-half of 
inhabitants, Except in the lower parts 
of New York, and the sandy plains of 
Long Island and New Jersey, the soil is 
in general excellent, particularly in 
Pennsylvania. From Philadelphia to 
Pittsburgh (a distance of 300 miles), 
the soil, with the exception of the 
mountainous region, is equal to any in 
Europe. It is a ‘clayey loam; in rainy 
seasons rather difficult to till, but pro- 
ducing a most abundant harvest. Tillage 
prevails over pasture, though great quan- 
tities of cattle are raised in the western 
ecounties, and fattened in the rich mea- 
Letters from America.—No. I.» 
307 
dows along the Delaware. The horses 
are the best in America, great pains 
having been taken to improve them of 
late years by judicious crossings with 
English and Arabian breeds. The cli- 
mate is extremely healthy through the 
greater part of the Middle States. with 
the exception of some marshy districts 
near the banks of the Delaware, where 
the inhabitant are subject’ to fevers in 
autumn. The summer is nearly as hot, 
here as in the West-Indies,. the thermo- 
meter often rising to 929, and remain- 
ing at that temperature for many days. 
July and August are very sultry, but 
September and October are truly de- 
lightful. Winter begins in November 5. 
snow falls in December, and disappears, 
in January, when some warm weather 
often gives the appearance of spring; a 
succession of cold, snowy, or rainy 
weather takes place in February. and 
March, and the warm weather returns 
by the middle of April. Spring there 
is none, for the interval between the 
cold. of Canada and the heat of the 
West-Indies is not more than a few 
days. Hence ‘the heat at the beginning 
of summer is very oppressive. The 
population is a mixture of Dutch, Eng- 
lish, Irish, and German emigrants. The 
richest lands'in the Middle States are in 
the hands of Dutchmen and Germans ; 
but they have not made so much pro- 
gress in the comforts and elegancies of 
domestic life as they have done in fer- 
tilizing the fields. Many of the farmers 
within sixty miles of Philadelphia, who 
are principally of English descent, live 
in considerable style ; almost every man 
keeps his carriage, has a piano. for his 
daughters, and sends his sons to the 
university. Both here and in the Eastern 
States, the merchants are the wealthiest 
and most influential men in the.com- 
munity. Many of the merchants of 
New York and Philadelphia have prince- 
ly fortunes, and live in great splendour. 
The third division, that of the South- 
ern States, consists of the country 
south of the Susquehannak, with a po- 
pulation of three millions and a-half. 
These States are Maryland, Virginia, 
North and South Carolina, Georgia, 
and the new states that have. been 
formed ‘from the territory of Louisiana. 
From the Delaware to the Mississippi 
the soil is sandy for 50, and sometimes 
100, miles from the sea, and: produces 
nothing but pines, except on the allu- 
vial banks of ‘rivers, where it is exceed- 
ingly fertile. Between the sandy track 
and the mountains, the land is fer- 
2R2 
