ALBANY. 35 



Betwixt dinner and tea I took an opportunity of delivering 

 a letter of introduction to a gentleman residing a little to the 

 north of Albany, availing myself of a railway coach proceed 

 ing to Schenectady. I chose part of an outside place behind, 

 sufficient to accommodate five individuals of ordinary size, and 

 which was occupied by two beings, half-men, half-boys, sitting 

 cross-legged, and who, by their position and expression of 

 countenance, seemed resolved not to admit a third person* 

 After waiting for some time without speaking a word, I made 

 preparations for taking a place between them ; and at last their 

 legs were only withdrawn to escape the weight of my body. 

 I notice this circumstance, trivial in itself, as being the only 

 instance where rudeness, or want of an accommodating spirit 

 was manifested by travellers in the course of my American 

 tour. The gentleman I called on being from home, I re 

 turned by the fields to Albany. On my way I saw a grey 

 coloured fox, which appeared larger, and not so active as the 

 red fox of Britain. I observed several women engaged in the 

 fields in weeding, cutting, and planting potatoes, and none of 

 them seemed in poverty, or tinged with black blood. Mr 

 Stuart, in his &quot; Three Years Residence in America,&quot; says, 

 women are not allowed to work in the fields, without saying 

 whether the prohibition arises from custom or by law. Women 

 are actively employed in different occupations when their ser 

 vices are wanted, which does not, however, often occur. 



