270 



WANDERINGS IN 



Fourth Ncw York. The climate was the only tlimg that I had 



Journey. 



really to find fault with ; and as the autumn was now 



approaching, I began to think of preparing for warmer 

 regions. 



Climate. Strangers are apt to get violent colds, on account of 

 the sudden change of . the atmosphere. The noon would 

 often be as warm as tropical weather, and the close of 

 day cold and chilly. This must sometimes act with 

 severity upon the newly-arrived stranger ; and it requires 

 more care and circumspection than I am master of to 

 guard against it. I contracted a bad and obstinate cough, 

 which did not quite leave me till I had got under the 

 regular heat of the sun, near the equator. 



Its society. I may be asked, was it all good fellowship and civility 

 during my stay in the United States ? Did no forward 

 person cause offence 'i was there no exhibition of drunken- 

 ness, or swearing, or rudeness ; or display of conduct 

 which disgraces civilized man in other countries } I 

 answer, very few indeed : scarce any worth remembering, 

 and none worth noticing. These are a gentle and a civil 

 people. Should a traveller, now and then in the long 

 rnn, witness a fcAV of the scenes alluded to, he ought not, 

 on his return home, to adduce a solitary instance or two, 

 as the custom of the country. In roving through the 

 wilds of Guiana, I have sometimes seen a tree hollow at 

 heart, shattered and leafless ; but I did not, on that 

 account, condemn its vigorous neighbours, and put down 



