402 Notes and Recollections of a Tour 



depot, and after the delay of a few moments, proceeded on 

 to Springfield, which we reached at half-past 12 o'clock, at 

 noon. The country between Worcester and Springfield is 

 quite difterent from that between Boston and Worcester. 

 The rich and cultivated fields, nor the waving masses of 

 grain, do not greet the eye. The route passes through a 

 rocky country, varied by hill and dale, and generally rather 

 thickly Avooded, with a good growth of timber : but pass- 

 ing so rapidly on, we could scarcely distinguish what sort 

 of trees were the most generally distributed. 



Our next route was down the Connecticut river. The 

 rains of a few days previous had swollen this stream six or 

 eight feet ; but the water was now rapidly subsiding, and 

 there was little more than sufficient depth, over the rapids, 

 to allow the passage of the rather diminutive steamboat 

 which plies up and down this route. There is nothing re- 

 markable in the scenery of the Connecticut ; the banks, 

 except for some distance below Springfield, are rather low, 

 and in many places the low ground or valleys extend in- 

 land, and occasionally the river had overflown a large por- 

 tion of their surface. At 4 1-2 o'clock we arrived at Hart- 

 ford, after an exceedingly pleasant jaunt of nine hours, — 

 distant about one hundred and twenty-five miles. 



Hartford. — Our time here being rather limited, we called 

 on our friend Dr. E. W. Bull, whose beautiful garden is sit- 

 uated on High street, only a short Avalk from the Court 

 House, or centre of the city. It comprises a beautiful spot 

 of ground containing about 15 acres, varied in its outline, 

 with great undulations of the surface, forming a deep val- 

 ley on one side, through which a small stream winds its 

 way. The grounds are laid out in a picturesque style, with 

 curved walks and grassy slopes, and upwards of three acres 

 of them embrace one of the best collections of hardy trees 

 and shrubs, roses, fruit trees, &c., to be found in the State. 



The garden fronts on High street, about three hundred 

 feet, and is there laid out with a central entrance walk, from 

 which two walks diverge in either direction, leaving a large 

 space, with a view to the erection of a house at some future 

 day. Extending down the hill the grounds widen, in the 

 rear of houses which front on High street, and reach down 

 and across the valley to a private road on the otlier side. 

 It is at the farthest point in this valley that a picturesque 

 cottage has been erected, which forms a pleasing scene 



