ALEXANDER WILSON. 



VIII. 



DURING the next two or three years 

 Wilson resided principally at Phila- 

 delphia, writing and superintending the 

 bringing out of his work, varying these 

 sedentary occupations with extensive ex- 

 cursions into the neighboring country. The 

 coloring of the plates gave him a great deal 

 of trouble, this branch of the art being but 

 little understood in this country, and, in his 

 desire to make his illustrations as true to 

 nature as possible, he endeavored to mas- 

 ter its difficulties, and with fair success, for 

 his biographer tells us that he wrought at 

 this department himself. 



In 1812 Wilson set out on an expedition 

 into the Eastern States, ostensibly for the 

 purpose of visiting his subscribers and set- 

 tling accounts with his agents, but from a 

 short letter written to Mr. George Ord, giv- 

 ing an account of his excursion, it is evi- 

 dent that if he attended to his business as 

 author, he managed to mingle with his busi- 

 ness the pleasures of his pursuits as a nat- 

 uralist. As this letter is the last of the 

 series from which his biography was com- 

 piled, and of no great length, we give it in 

 full. 



"Boston, October 13, 1812. 

 " To Mr. George Ord : 



" Dear Sir : It is not in my power at 

 present to give you anything more than a 

 slight sketch of my ramble since leaving 

 Philadelphia. My route up the Hudson 

 afforded great pleasure mingled with fre- 

 quent regret that you were not along with 

 me to share the enjoyment. About thirty 

 miles south of Albany we passed within ten 

 miles of the celebrated Catskil Mountains, 

 a gigantic group clothed with forest to the 

 summits. In the river here I found our 

 common reed {^Tizania aquaticd) growing 

 in great abundance in shoals extending 

 across the middle of the river. I saw flocks 



of redwings and some black ducks, but no 

 rail or reed birds. From this place my 

 journey led me over a rugged mountainous 

 country to Lake Champlain, along which I 

 coasted as far as Burlington in Vermont. 

 Here I found the little coot-footed tringa 

 or phalarope that you sent to Mr. Peale; a 

 new and elegantly marked hawk; and ob- 

 served some black ducks. The shores are 

 alternate sandy bays and rocky headlands 

 running into the lake. Every tavern was 

 crowded with officers, soldiers and travel- 

 ers. Eight of us were left without a bed; 

 but having an excellent- great coat I laid 

 myself down in a corner with a determina- 

 tion of sleeping in defiance of the uproar 

 of the house and the rage of my com- 

 panions who would not disgrace them- 

 selves by a prostration of this sort. From 

 Lake Champlain I traversed a rude moun- 

 tainous region to Connecticut River, a 

 hundred miles above Dartmouth College. 

 I spent several days with the gun in Grafton 

 and Ryegate townships, and made some 

 discoveries. From this I coasted along 

 the Connecticut to a place called Haver- 

 hill, ten miles from the foot of Moose hil- 

 lock, one of the highest of the White Moun- 

 tains of New Hampshire. I spent the 

 greater part of a day in ascending to the 

 peak of one of these majestic mountains, 

 whence I had the most sublime and aston- 

 ishing view that was ever afforded me. 

 The immensity of forest lay below, extend- 

 ing on all sides to the furthest verge of the 

 horizon; while the only prominent objects 

 were the columns of smoke from burning 

 woods that rose from various parts of the 

 earth beneath to the heavens; for the day 

 was beautiful and serene. Hence I traveled 

 to Dartmouth and thence in a direct course 

 to Boston. From Boston I passed through 

 Portsmouth to Portland and got some 



