44 LOWELL MANUFACTORIES. 



foxtail grass growing in a situation which induced me to think 

 it was indigenous. 



The surface of the country along the banks of the Merri- 

 mack, after leaving Newburghport, is finely undulating, and 

 several sweet lakes were seen. The soil, on passing Ando- 

 ver, was of the worst description of sand, bearing crops truly 

 wretched. A few patches of hops were seen in the fields. 



The stage from Newburghport to Lowell was crowded with 

 well-dressed females, unembarrassed in manner, untainted 

 with forwardness or vulgarity, and who evidently had not 

 been accustomed to high life. On our arrival at Lowell, we 

 observed several stages deposit loads of the same sex, which 

 circumstance was accounted for by the extensive cotton- 

 manufactories situated in the immediate neighbourhood. 

 There is a constant succession of females departing from, and 

 arriving at, Lowell ; the high wages of those attending the 

 factories attract such as particularly want a sum of money, 

 after obtaining which they return home. 



Lowell is the chief seat of cotton manufactures in the Uni 

 ted States ; was formerly a section of the town of Chelmsford, 

 and derives its name from Francis Lowell, who introduced 

 the manufacture of cotton into the States. It is situated at 

 the confluence of the rivers Merrimack and Concord, and has 

 risen into manufacturing importance of late years. The source 

 of its riches and power is the water of the Merrimack, which 

 is conducted to the town by a canal, one mile and a half in 

 length, eight feet deep, and sixty wide, distributed by lateral 

 branches, and again discharged, either into the Merrimack or 

 Concord ; the fall being thirty- two feet. Lowell communi 

 cates with Boston, from which it is distant twenty-five miles, 

 by a canal, and a railway is now forming. 



The manufactures comprehend those of cotton, and woollen 

 of various kinds, gunpowder, ale, &c. The chief manufactu 

 ring company is the Merrimack, which, in 1832, employed 

 four hundred males and nine hundred females, with one thou 

 sand looms and twenty-six thousand spindles at work. 



By the census of Lowell for January, 1828, the total popu 

 lation was 3532, of which 2190 were females. On 12th June, 



