.543 Obse>'vatio?ts made during a Tour in the United Slates. [Jan. Ii 



lalic, to the place of beginning. Tliis 

 difuict of coiiiitiy is tlivjclcd into l-'j 

 towiiihips, of live miles fquiire, or 46,000 

 acres eacii; and through its centre pulTes 

 the great roud to Detroit, the capital 

 of the prcfent territory an J future Itate 

 of Muciiii^an. On tl.e divillon of tiiis 

 county aiaoiig the purchaferA, M 1,000 

 acres of hmd were voluntarily given up 

 by them for the enilounient of fchools ; 

 befidcs which, mucii individual property 

 has been alligned in diilerent to'.vniliips 

 ibr the fame ultful purpofc. The rapid 

 population ol'TruaJmll may be cflimated 

 by tiie following t'aci ; on tlio lit of Ja- 

 nuary, 1804, it contained 793 faniihes; 

 on tiie 20th of April, 1803, it poUblVed 

 1089 families, cxciufive of the inliabi- 

 tants of two townlhips, from which no 

 returns were received, four-tenths of 

 ■wliom arc of tlie better order of yeo- 

 manry from JSew England. The reft are 

 principally fanners froni Peunlylvania 

 and the adjoining liates. I heard of l)ut 

 one Kngliih f.uuily, from Yorklliire, in 

 tlie county ; fevtral refpcctable Irilh, and 

 no Scotch. When I was in Trumbull, 

 no criminal profecutiou had been pre- 

 I'euted, and oidy eight indictments for 

 alVaults. There were there then 'Jo pub- 

 L"c or free fchools, 7 circulating liljraries, 

 24 favv and 17 grift mills, and 13,000 

 dollars fubicribcd for building an aca- 

 demy at Burton, 56 feet long and 38 

 deep. In fonn, this county refendjlcs 

 a lady's fill didended : the ends of the 

 handle of which reprefents the entrance ; 

 the termination of the paper, the rich 

 and fertile productions and romantic 

 Uiorcs of Lake Erie. The goods im- 

 ported into tliis county are received prin- 

 cipally by the way of Xew York ; from 

 ■which city there is water commuiiicHlion 

 vi'\i\\ Lake Erie, except for about fixtceu 

 iniles, which is now tunipiking. 'J'iiis 

 advantage, and the additional one of the 

 merchants of New York, from greater 

 capitals, and from their harbour never 

 Imviiig beea frozen over more than 

 twice in the memory of man, enables 

 tliem to import European goods at live 

 per cent, lets than thofe of l^hiladclphia ; 

 and gives a probability, that that city 

 ■will become tlie great mart for fupplying 

 Weftern America, the conlumptiou of 

 ■which, in that cai'e, would pafs tiirough 

 the county of Trumbull. However firange 

 it may appear, vegetation was ccrttiiidy 

 forwarder in Trumbull than more to the 

 Ibuth : on tlic 11th of Jlay v>c had wild 

 ftrawberries in great abundance ; and 

 ■we obfervcd, in the firll week of June, 

 1 



the berries of the elder quite red, 

 tliough on our return, on the eall of tlie 

 Alkgliauy, we found it only in flower. 

 Trumbull is dillant from Wafliington 

 city 'in miles; from the lujrth part 

 there arc .'i-1, and from the fouth part 

 •12 miles of land- carriage. From Al- 

 bany, about 100 miles, all water carri- 

 age, except fixiceii mdcs. Erom Ualti- 

 nioie .'{22 miles, all navigable, except 

 the lall 15 miles ; and down the Ohio, 

 by the AlilUllippi, there is a communis 

 cation by water-carriage with the reft of 

 the world. 



Erom Lake Eric there is not, at moft, 

 more than 12 miles land carriage to 

 the waters of the Ohio, and coufequont- 

 !y of all the world, by the grand river, 

 and the i\Ialioning branch of the big 

 Beevor; and by the Cayahoga and the 

 Mutkiiigum, the diftance from the na- 

 vigable waters which conncCt liie north- 

 ern « ith the fouthern world, cannot ex- 

 ceed from 20 to 24 miles. The waters 

 of Lake Erie are navigable for velVels of 

 every fize; an 1 was, when I \va,s theie, 

 navigated by 22 velVels, bcfides open 

 boats. The whole country is remarkably 

 well watered, and the rivers which empty 

 into, as well as the lake itfelf, arc full of 

 very vahuible fdh ; among which are the 

 mulkalunga, which weighs from 40 to 60 

 pounds, has umi-h the talleofveal when 

 freth, and when faked is as good as cod. 

 Thefe fiih are in great abifndance, and 

 already an important trade has com- 

 ir.enced of liairelling and fending them 

 down the Ohio. The frcfh-water llur- 

 geon, which rcfembles tlie fea-filh of that 

 name, though it does not contain fo 

 much oil, and which will weigh from 50 

 to 100 pounds ; the black bal's, from I 

 to4pouniis; the mullet is found often 

 to weigh 10 pounds; and the pike and 

 pickerel, two dilliiKl't fpccies of flat- 

 hea;led fi(h, unlike tlie European pike, 

 but which rife from j-to about 8 pounds. 

 Ijcfides which, thefe waters abound iu 

 cat-lifli, white percii, craw lilh, &c. &c. 

 The waters of Lake Erie are frelh and 

 pleafant. Indian tradition ad'erts that 

 they rife every feven years: the truth is, 

 the lake rifes from the melting of the 

 fnow to the northward, every fummer 

 during the months of June and July, 

 from lix inches to about two feet. Pro- 

 bably Erie is no where more than 40 

 fathoms deep, as fordings have been had 

 in every place where they have beea 

 attempted, which is not the cafe in Lake 

 Oneida. It appears evident, that the 

 whole of the country between Lake Eiie 



andl 



