£02 



Letters from Baliimore and (he tUinois Country. [July t* 



offered shoes in tlie market, for on« 

 dollar a pair; very good linen for 2s. 3d. 

 per yard. Be sure you buy your horses, 

 Avaggon and harness at Baltimore, as 

 all these articles are dearer here, by 50 

 per cent. A saddle 1 bought at Balti- 

 more for eight dollars, would cost 14 

 or 15 here : — a good felling axe of seven 

 pounds weight would l)e three dollars 

 and a half. Tools of all sorts are three 

 times the price here to what they are in 

 England, (Uitlery would sell well, ag 

 razors, scissors, pen and pocket knives, 

 Sic, I mentioned before that I went to 

 Brookvilie to see the map of the land 

 for sale ; but returning home to Rich- 

 mond, at least to my tent, I lost my 

 way in the woods. I might have been 

 about three miles from my home when 

 it was getting dark. I wandered about 

 without finding my road till I was quite 

 fatigued, as was also my horse by 

 stumbling over fallen trees. Seeing no 

 alternative, I made up my mind to stay 

 where I was till day-light, and so I 

 tyed my horse to a tree, and taking off 

 the saddle, made it my pillow, when 

 lying on the ground 1 made the best 

 shift I could till day-break. The 

 night was fine, it was the IJOtii of Sep- 

 tember, still I suffered much from 

 thirst, and would have given a dollar 

 for a pint of water, but I could not find 

 any. The large black dog, which I 

 procured at Baltimore, stood centinel 

 over me this nisjlit ; wlieu day appear- 

 ed, I soon found tl:e road, and has- 

 tened on to Richmond. My three horses 

 cost nie 270 dollars, and I hare been 

 offered 200 for one of them; tlie oldest 

 of the three laid down his life on the 

 night when we came to t)ur journey's 

 end ; he died of tlie windy cliolic on 

 the 22d of September. The next death 

 in the family was my fine cow, which I 

 purchased on the farm ; this occurred 

 on the 19th of November; hut a cow 

 is no great loss here ; I paid twelve 

 dollars for her alive, <ind I got three and 

 ahalf for her skin, besides sixty pounds 

 of tallow worth six dollars, and the 

 flesh made a month's provision for my 

 two dogs. We found a fine bitch on 

 the road to riiicinnati. My stock now 

 consists of two cows, two horses, four 

 ewes all with lamb, and my hogs are 

 increased to twenty-two. I have bought 

 another sow and two fat hogs for kil- 

 ling,at two dollars the hundred weight : 

 we Killed one of them yesterday. Our 

 neighbours supply us with evei-y thing 

 we want ; we nee<l not go far to buy any 

 thing, thev bring it to tis. I must not 



conclude without giving you some ae* 

 count of the people; they are blunt ia 

 their manners, but kind and sincere; 

 their honesty I believe Lt without » 

 parallel in the world. There ate n» 

 locks or bolts required in this country ; 

 the shops stand open ; tools lie about 

 in the woods and nothing is ever lost. 

 Here are no beggars, no priests, and 

 nobody is poor. I have not seen any 

 thing in the shape of a parson. Lawyers 

 and tax-gatherers are unknown. Here 

 every one makes their own soap, candles 

 and sugar. 1 have plenty of sugar trees 

 on my farm, and grapes growing wild 

 in the fields and woods. No hot-houses 

 are wanting here ; cucumbers, melons 

 and pumpkins grow among the corn. 

 Apples and peaches are sold in Rich" 

 mond at 2s. 3d. per bushel ; onions the 

 same; potatoes Is, l^d the bushel; 

 honey 4s. 6d. the gallon; cyder 6d. the 

 gallon. Whiskey is Is. 1^(1 the gallon; 

 fine goose feathers 2s. 3d. per ponnd; 

 soap 2d.; maple sugar 5d ; wheat 20d. 

 the bushel, and oats lOd ; Indian com 

 ditto; candles, if you buy them, 3d, the 

 pound. Vegetables are scarce, and 

 seeds of all sorts are much wanted here. 

 Tea will double its price in bringing 

 from Baltimore to this place ; brandy 

 the same; butter is Is. 5d. the pound, 

 and eggs 3d. the dozen. Turkeys are 

 Is. I^d. each. A patent forge would 

 be a valuable thing here, also a small 

 box churn ; a day labourer has half a 

 dollar per day and his board. My land 

 is two miles from Richmond; there 

 are plenty of mills for grinding of 

 corn and sawing timber witliin two 

 miles of us, on both sides of the river, 

 A number of people about me have 

 land to sell, some of it much improved^ 

 at least what are calle<l improvements 

 here ; viz. a log-house, stable and barn, 

 an orchard, and sometimes thirty or 

 forty acres of land cleared, that is the 

 trees cut down to wither, about two 

 feet from the grotmd. A plough costs 

 about six or seven dollars, and harrows 

 are about three dollars. You may carry 

 a plough under each arm without be- 

 ing weary ; one hoi-se is enough to work 

 them ; more are seldom used ; the land 

 is very soft, and here they seldom 

 plough deep. My next neighbour Mr. 

 Moore has 80 acres, which he would 

 sell for about 5 or GOO dollars, which is 

 thought cheap, being so near Richmond, 

 which is a thriving little town, only 

 four years old, and contains about 120 

 houses, twenty-five of which have been 

 Iniilt within the last year, though this 



has 



