ALBANY TO SYBACUSE. 137 



are plain and substantial, their stuccoed walls sugges- 

 tive of the good solid work that is accomplished within 

 them from year to year. 



(SigljteentI) IDag. 



Union Hotel, 



Fonda, New York, 



3Iay Twenty-sixth. 



Moved from Schenectady at eight o'clock in the 

 morning. Found the weather delightful and the scen- 

 ery charming. On either side were the meadows dotted 

 with spring flowers and fertilized by the river, whose 

 shore line of willows and elms w'as brijjht with new 

 green. If I were to except the Berkshire Hills, I saw 

 nothing in Massachusetts to surpass, or even equal, the 

 Valley of the Mohawk. It surprised me that poet and 

 novelist had apparently found so little here for legen- 

 dary romance. 



Had dinner at Amsterdam, sixteen miles from 

 Schenectady, and while halted here had Paul shod 

 for the first time since leaving Boston. Resumed my 

 journey at four o'clock and reached Fonda two hours 

 later. Made twenty-six miles during the day and was 

 now 243 miles from the ^^ Hub." Through the cour- 

 tesy of Mr. Fisher, my landlord at this place, I was 

 given a verbal sketch of Fonda w^hich made a pleas- 

 ant addition to mv own small store of information. 

 There were no striking characteristics here to attract 

 the traveller's eye and history had not chronicled its 

 modest advancement, but for those who enjoy the sight 

 of peace and prosperity, Fonda has a ©harm of its own. 

 Around it on all sides the grain fields were under ex- 



