60 Zoar. 



with Mr. Biernler, (to whom I had a letter of introduction,) exam- 

 ining the improvements of these industrious people. The language 

 spoken is German, so that in the short space of a few minutes I was 

 transferred from the mixed jargon of a western canal boat, into a 

 community whose dialect, dress, buildings and n)anners, were assim- 

 ilated to what is seen in the heart of Germany, and to the middle of 

 the seventeenth century. There was something so patriarchal and 

 primitive in all around me, that I was delighted with the transition. 

 Their present population is about three hundred. The buildings 

 are generally of frame work, some filled in with bricks, and with 

 high pointed roofs. They are covered with red tiles, made of the 

 common clay of the country, burnt very hard, so as to be durable, 

 and they look well because they are durable. Manufactures of flour, 

 woolen, linen, leather, fee, are all carried on, and recently a large 

 furnace has gone into operation near the margin of the canal. A 

 substantial wooden bridge crosses the Tuscarawas, here about eighty 

 yards wide. From the top of the Zoar hotel, which is surmounted by 

 a handsome cupola, there is a delicious prospect of the surrounding 

 country. The lands of the colony lie on both sides of the river, 

 stretching out into broad hills and wide finely cultivated alluvions, 

 through which the Tuscarawas winds for four or five miles, bordered 

 with the richest verdure ; all kinds of cereal productions suited to 

 the climate, here find congenial soils. The meadows are very fine, 

 and the banks of the river are so low as to admit of irrigation, thus 

 producing a succession of crops on the same field : amidst other ar- 

 ticles, 1 noticed a large field of rape, with its bright yellow blos- 

 soms now fully expanded. The seed yields a fine oil, suitable for 

 lamps. The Germans are every where noted for their taste in the 

 cultivation of fine flowers. This little " city of refuge," although so 

 far removed from the " fader land," and seated in the wild woods of 

 the Tuscarawas, instead of the classic groves of the Elbe, keeps up 

 an extensive garden, and one of the finest green houses I have ever 

 seen. It contains a number of lemon and orange trees, at least 

 twelve feet in height, filled with the richest fruit ; and a large num- 

 ber of rare exotic plants and shrubs in full bloom, filling the large 

 and lofty room with the richest perfumes. The house is kept with 

 the utmost neatness and order. A flower and vegetable garden of 

 two acres, laid out with great beauty and in the best German taste, 

 slopes gradually to the south in front of the green house. Here the 

 choicest peaches, pears, plums and grapes, are also cultivated. A 



