178 A PEEP AT 



Thunder storms in America are terrible. Lightning 

 conductors line the houses every -svhere. 



At Springfield I witnessed the annual celebration 

 of the Fourth of July, — being the seventy-fifth year 

 of the Independence of the United States. Upwards 

 of twenty thousand persons assembled to see the fire- 

 works. 



At Springfield I went on board a Steamboat and 

 proceeded down the Connecticut river as far as Hart- 

 ford, distant twenty-seven miles. The Connecticut is 

 a beautiful river. It was called the QuoneTctacut by 

 the Indians, which is said to signify Long River ^ or 

 the River of Pines, After forming the boundary line 

 between New Hampshire and Vermont, it crosses the 

 western part of Massachusetts, passes the State of 

 Connecticut, nearly in its centre, and empties itself 

 into Long Island Sound. Eoth sides of the Connecti- 

 cut are lined with rich farms, dotted with beautiful 

 white painted houses with green Venetian blinds. The 

 principal villages between Springfield and Hartford 

 are Longmeadow, Thompsonville, and Windsor. 

 Thompsonville is a place of importance in the manu- 

 facture of Carpetings. A short distance below this 

 place the Connecticut river is divided by a large 

 island. The river on both sides, at this place, during 



