1805.] Observations made during a Tour in the United Stales, 29 



" 'ibc ik-ath of Sebiu'liau at Alkafllw is 

 impei-tt'Cily proved : tVoiii all tlie telli- 

 monie.s iiotLiu^ fiuther can be afcertaiu- 

 ed tliun Unit he was wounded iu tlie 

 Jicad, and was I'eeu to tall from iiis laorfe. 

 I'lie body wLicli was felected as the 

 Kini^'s was too much Lacked and disfigu- 

 red to be kiiowabie ; and ;ilthoui^h fome 

 of the Vdw'i attendants, elpecially Se- 

 baltiaii Refeudius, recognised this body 

 for tiie King's in the jirefence of Mtdey 

 Hamet, yet to thii evidence one may re- 

 ply witii Gebaae/, ' Nothing niore na- 

 tural than this. Who could have con- 

 tradicted Refeudius in the prefence of 

 the Barbarian King ; elpecially as, in 

 cafe (jf Sebalcian's furvivancc, it would 

 b^ moft for his interell to pafb, among the 

 Moors at leall, for having been killed.' 

 ]S'or can it be denied that a report origi- 

 nated almolb immediately, that not the 

 King's body, but that of aSvvifs, had been 

 folcmnly buried. The tales which, ac- 

 cording to I'trrcras and Tliuanus, falfely 

 occafioned the lufpicion of the King's 

 prefervation, are without probabihty. 



" The pretended Seballian therefore 

 cannot on this ground be rejeficd decid- 

 edly. But, on a clofer obfervatlon of 

 liim, are there no traces of impofture .' 

 None : and a thoufand flrong circum- 

 ftances plead for him. lie is in the hands 

 of the itieci at \'enice, a fevere tribunal, 

 whofe lirft rule was faid to be correre alia 

 pena prima dl examinar la colpu. Tliis 

 tribunal confines him three whole years, 

 is unable in all that time to find evidence 

 of his impofture, although the Spaniards 

 vvould affuredly have been aftive in fur- 

 nilJiing proofs againft fo inconvenient a 

 claimant. When at length tiiis tribunal 

 is prefled for a decilion, what does it do.? 

 In fa6t notliing. It finds no guilt in the 

 man : it lets him at liberty : but orders 

 him to quit the territory of the republic, 

 left it ihould become a neft of intrigue 

 and confpiracy. ' This (continues the 

 hiflorism,) looks more hke the treatment 

 of unwelcome innocence than of dete6ted 

 guilt.' Nor was it agreeable to the Ve- 

 netians that the Grand Duke nf Florence 

 iliould fcize the exile, and deliver him 

 over to the Spaniards ; for Cardinal OfTat 

 exprefsly fays in his Letters that they con- 

 lidered it as a heinous affront. When 

 he gets to Naples, there mull have been 

 ^gain the iiime deficiency of hoflile evi- 

 tlence,- elf'e why fo much deference and 

 attention, and fo cautious a removal to 

 San ], near : the former pretenders had 

 been put to death without cciemony. It 



would be tedious if I were to follow our 



author through all the lieps of his invcfli- 

 gation, which, had he underftood writing, 

 might have beeii renrlered yet more inte- 

 reiling. One hears the ietturing profeffor 

 throughout ; but fomething of iieatnefe 

 and grace may be contentedly religncd 

 fur ei'udition, ctire, and impartiality." 



For the Montlilt/ Magazine. 

 OEsr.RVATioNs made duntig a ^ov^s. 



t/iroug/l tJte UNITED STAT£S o/' .VM1> 

 KXCA. 



NO IX. 



THE lands in the vicinity of Pittf- 

 burgh, more efpccially the bottom* 

 on the ^Uleghany, are very rich. Sijc 

 years before I viflted this town it was a 

 frontier fettlemcnl againft hoi'tile Indians, 

 and tlie lands, in coniequencc, fold verj 

 low. It is but a few years liuce a iVIr. 

 Wood firft furveycd this country, and wa* 

 offered an cxtenfivc tratt of it gratis, 

 which he refufed. His ion has fince pur- 

 chafed a confiderable farm in the neigb- 

 bourhood of Pittlburgh, and erected a 

 very handfome brick houfe at the en- 

 U-ance of the town, which is irregularly 

 built ; and the flreets are narrow, and 

 the lioufes have the dirty, fmoaked ap* 

 pearance they exhibit in Englilh cities 

 where coals are moll ufed. It is iituatje 

 on a plain, running to a point, at wbicb 

 the clear Itream of the Alleghany and 

 the muddy waters of the Monongahela 

 unite and form a beautiful bafon, the 

 fource of the f»r-famed Ohio, or Belle 

 River of the Freix;h, which, after run- 

 ning 1183 miles, empties itielf into the 

 Mihiilippi. 



The Alleghany is at Pittlburgh about 

 a quarter of a mile wide, and runs at the 

 rate of about four knots an hour. The 

 Monongahela is about half a mile wide, 

 its waters being forced back by the more 

 impetuous ftreimi of the Alleghany. At 

 the confluence of thefe rivers the French 

 ere<?ted a fort, which was captured by the 

 Englifh under General Forbes in Novem- 

 ber 1758. It was foon afterwards aban- 

 doned, and one higher up the Alleghany 

 eredted, which js now in exifience. At 

 the point where the rivers meet, the 

 cliff rifes about twenty ftet above the 

 waters, the Monongalrela bearing a fouth- 

 eafl, and the Alleghany a north-eaft di- 

 rection. Soon after the capture by the 

 Britifh the town was laid out, and|named 

 after the elder William Pitt. About 

 fcvea mijes to the S. E. of thii town is 



the 



