Newport 



about 2,600 men. The difference of exchange be- 

 tween currency and bills, is from 70 to 80 per cent. 



Before I left New York, I took a ride upon Long 

 Island, the richest spot, in the opinion of the New 

 Yorkers, of all America; and where they generally 

 have their villas, or country houses. It is undeni- 

 ably beautiful, and some parts of it are remarkably 

 fertile, but not equal, I think, to the Jerseys. The 

 length of it is something more than 100 miles, and 

 the breadth 25. About 15 or 16 miles from the west 

 end of it, there opens a large plain between 20 and 

 30 miles long, and 4 or 5 broad. There is not a 

 tree growing upon it, and it is asserted that there 

 never were any. Strangers are always carried to 

 see this place, as a great curiosity, and the only one 

 of the kind in North America. 



Tuesday, the 5th of August, being indisposed, and 

 unable to travel any farther by land, I embarked on 

 board a brigantine for Rhode Island. We made 

 sail up the Sound with a fair wind, and after two 

 hours, passed through Hell Gate. It is impossible 

 to go through this place without recalling to mind 

 the description of Scylla and Charybdis. The 

 breadth of the Sound is here half a mile, but the 

 channel is very narrow, not exceeding eighty yards: 

 the water runs with great rapidity, and in different 

 currents, only one of which will carry a vessel through 

 with safety; for, on one side, there is a shoal of rocks 

 just peeping above the water; and, on the other, a 



