566 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



state are chiefly rum, wines, brandy, and gin : 

 Coarse linens and woolens, and the various ar- 

 ticles of cheap clothing : Tea, coffee, chocolate, 

 and all the articles necessary for building, which 

 are not yet produced in the country. The ex- 

 ports are grain of all kinds, bar iron, and nails ; 

 pot and pearl ashes ; beef, pork, live cattle, 

 horses ; lumber, peltry, some flax, and maple 

 sugar. The amount of the commerce of an in- 

 land country, cannot be very accurately ascer- 

 tained ; nor have we any way to determine 

 what quantity of goods are annually brought in- 

 to the state ; or to what value, the remittances 

 annually amount. The trade itself has been of 

 great advantage, in promoting the settlement of 

 the country ; but the carriage of the articles, 

 being chiefly by land, and through long and bacl 

 roads, has been attended with great expense ; 

 and has much prevented the raising of wheat, 

 and other kinds of grain. The natural channels 

 into which the trade of Vermont will resolve it- 

 self, will be a water carriage upon Connecticut 

 river ; and through lake Champlain, down the 

 rivers of Hudson, and St. Lawrence. As vigor- 

 ous attempts are now making, to render all these 

 waters better suited to the purposes of naviga- 

 tion, the time cannot be far distant, when com- 

 merce shall be more easily carried on, become 

 jTiuch increased, and be attended with much 

 greater advantages to the state. The commerce 

 of the state (1806) has of late been much pro- 

 moted, by the establishment of turnpikes, on 

 some of our roads. The people are every year 

 jtetitioning the legislatin-e, for liberty to carry 

 these improvements to a greater extent. It is 



