ALEXANDER WILSON. Y\\\ 



old negro. The spectators looked on with as much gravity as if they 

 were listening to a sermon, and the dancers laboured with such 

 seriousness, that it seemed more like a penance imposed on the poor 

 devils for past sins, than mere amusement. 



"I waited on a Mr A of this town, and by him was introduced 



to several others. He also furnished me with a good deal of infor- 

 mation respecting the birds of New England. He is a great sports- 

 man, a man of fortune and education, and has a considerable number 

 of stuffed birds, some of which he gave me, besides letters to several 

 gentlemen of influence in Boston. I endeavoured to recompense 

 him in the best manner I could, and again pursued my route to the 

 north-east. The country between this and Hartford is extremely 

 beautiful, much resembling that between Philadelphia and Frankfort. 

 The road is a hard sandy soil ; and, in one place, I had an immense 

 prospect of the surrounding country, nearly equal to that which we 

 saw returning from Easton, but less covered with woods. On reach- 

 ing Hartford, I waited on Mr G — ■ — , a member of Congress, who re- 

 commended me to several others, particularly a Mr W , a gentle- 

 man of taste and fortune, who was extremely obliging. The publisher 

 of a newspaper here expressed the highest admiration of the work, 

 and has since paid many handsome compliments to it in his publi- 

 cation, as three other editors did in New York. This is a species of 

 currency that will neither purchase plates, nor pay the printer ; but, 

 nevertheless, it is gratifying to the vanity of an author, ivhen nothing 

 better can be got. My journey from Hartford to Boston, through 

 Springfield, Worcester, &c, one hundred and twenty-eight miles, it 

 is impossible for me to detail at this time. From the time I entered 

 Massachussets, until within ten miles of Boston, which distance is 

 nearly two-thirds the length of the whole state, I took notice that 

 the principal features of the country were stony mountains, rocky 

 pasture fields, and hills and swamps, adorned with pines. The 

 fences, in every direction, are composed of strong stones; and, unless 

 a few straggling, self-planted, stunted apple-trees, overgrown with 

 moss, deserve the name, there is hardly an orchard to be seen in ten 

 miles. Every six or eight miles you come to a meeting-house, 

 painted white, with a spire. I could perceive little difference in the 

 form or elevation of their steeples. 



" The people here make no distinction between town and town- 



