266 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



of Albany. The more I looked at the fair Al- 

 banese, the more I was convinced, that in the 

 United States of America may be found grace 

 and beauty and symmetry equal to anything in 

 the old world. 



I now for good and all (and well I might) gave 

 up the idea of finding bugs, bears, brutes, and 

 buffaloes in this country, and was thoroughly 

 satisfied that I had laboured under a great mis- 

 take in suspecting that I should ever meet with 

 them. 



I wished to join in the dance where the fair 

 Albanese was "to brisk notes in cadence beating," 

 but the state of my unlucky foot rendered it im- 

 possible; and as I sat with it reclined upon a 

 sofa, full many a passing gentleman stopped to 

 inquire the cause of my misfortune, presuming at 

 the same time that I had got an attack of gout. 

 Now this surmise of theirs always mortified me; 

 for I never had a fit of gout in my life, and more- 

 over, never expect to have one. 



In many of the inns in the United States, there 

 is an album on the table, in which travellers insert 

 their arrival and departure, and now and then 

 indulge in a little flash or two of wit. 



I thought, under existing circumstances, that 

 there would be no harm in briefly telling my mis- 

 adventure; and so, taking up the pen, I wrote 

 what follows ; and was never after asked a single 

 question about the gout. 



**C. Waterton, of Walton-Hall, in the county 

 of York, England, arrived at the Falls of Niag- 

 ara in July, 1824, and begs leave to pen down 

 the following dreadful accident: — 



