xxiv RIVERSIDE LETTERS 185 



know, my eldest brother Robert's chief de- 

 light. My own children seem never tired of 

 playing (messing ?) about on the edge of the 

 river ; they care little for fishing compared to 

 the delight of making little harbours, canals, 

 &c., in the gravelly beach which is exposed 

 when the river is low in summer time. 

 Most of our family possess, too, a natural 

 ability for mechanical science ; we are all, 

 as the Americans would say, "tinkers," a 

 talent no doubt derived from my grand- 

 father, who was distinctly a genius in this 

 respect. 



I have a sketch which my father made 

 from recollection, of the happy days he spent 

 as a boy in Chester county with his Uncle 

 Ward, who had a farm and mill on a tributary 

 of the Brandywine Creek, which proves that 

 he had just this same delight in running water. 

 His cousin had fixed for him, on a small 

 stream, a little water-wheel with cams attached 

 to its axle, which acted on two wooden ham- 

 mers, causing them to rise and fall on little 



