260 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



by which I might form an idea how rich and 

 grand the face of the country had once been. Here 

 it was that, in the great and momentous struggle, 

 the colonists lost the day; and there, they car- 

 ried all before them :— 



"They closed full fast, on every side 

 No slackness there was found; 

 And many a gallant gentleman 

 Lay gasping on the ground." 



Here, in fine, stood a noted regiment; there, 

 moved their great captain; here, the fleets fired 

 their broadsides; and there, the whole force 

 rushed on to battle : — 



"Hie Dolopum manus, hie magnus tendebat Achilles, 

 Classibus hie locus, hie acies certare solebat." 



At tea-time we took our tea together, and the 

 next morning this worthy American walked up 

 with me to the inn in Albany, shook me by the 

 hand, and then went his way. I bade him fare- 

 well, and again farewell, and hoped that fortune 

 might bring us together again once more. Pos- 

 sibly she may yet do so; and should it be in 

 England, I will take him to my house, as an old 

 friend and acquaintance, and offer him my choic- 

 est cheer. 



It is at Albany that the great canal opens into 

 the Hudson, and joins the waters of this river 

 to those of Lake Erie. The Hudson, at the city 

 of Albany, is distant from Lake Erie about three 

 hundred and sixty miles. The level of the lake is 

 five hundred and sixty-four feet higher than the 



