50 .ARLINGTON STAGE COACHES. 



proceeded next morning to Saratoga, by Union Village and 

 Schuyler-ville, where the stage stopped a little after twelve, 

 to afford two passengers an opportunity of dining, who did 

 not take breakfast at Arlington, although only twelve miles 

 distant from Saratoga, the end of our journey. This accom 

 modating spirit of stage-coaches stopping whenever passen 

 gers choose to feed, and calling for or setting them down at 

 their respective residences in towns, seems at variance with 

 the character of the people, and is somewhat trying to the 

 temper of a newly-imported traveller. In Britain travellers 

 must wait for the coaches which arrive and depart from each 

 place at specified hours, with perfect punctuality. In Ame 

 rica the coaches wait for the travellers, and the consequent 

 irregularity is such, that if a coach is said to reach a given 

 place by twelve, there is an equal chance whether it does so 

 by twelve at noon or midnight. 



The road from Arlington passes for many miles along the 

 river Battenkill, the banks of which afford good sheep-pas 

 turage, and some fine grain-growing districts were seen near 

 Cambridge, before reaching Union Village. 



From Schuyler-ville to Saratoga, the soil is of the quality 

 of drift-sand. A fence of considerable extent was observed 

 on the wayside, composed of pine-tree roots adhering to the 

 trunks, and placed close to each other, so as to form an effec 

 tual barrier against ordinary intruders. This was the most 

 picturesque fence I ever beheld. 



&quot;The stage passengers and other travellers we came in con 

 tact with throughout our excursion in the states of New 

 England, were chiefly mechanics, unobtrusive in manner, 

 intelligent, and free from vulgarity. They conversed on 

 every subject connected with their own and other countries, 

 and betrayed none of that question-searching curiosity im 

 puted to the population. They seemed to possess a general 

 knowledge of British literature, and more especially of the 

 works of Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns. They are 

 also familiar with the works of Captain Hall and Mrs 

 Trollope, and occasionally asked if I found the people of the 

 States as inquisitive as represented by those writers. The 

 proceeding s and success of Dr Franklin were often quoted ; 



