WHO IS REVIEWER t 
53 
WHO IS REVIEWER? 
As no little curiosity has been manifested 
by many of our readers, to learn who is the au- 
thor of the articles which have appeared in the 
Agriculturist over the signature of Reviewer, we 
do not know a better method to unmask the man, 
and tell them all about him, than to take them 
with us to his own domicil, and there show him 
up in propria persona. 
It was at early dawn of a delightful day, in 
the month of July last, that, mounting a trusty 
nag, and accompanied by our faithful dog, we 
set out to fulfil a long-standing promise of visit- 
ing our old friend Reviewer. Following the 
course marked out on a chart, with which he 
took good care to furnish us beforehand, we 
soon cleared the pent-up atmosphere and hurly 
burly of imperial Gotham, crossed Harlem 
Bridge, and then taking a north-east course, jog- 
ged gaily along, admiring the beautiful scenery 
of Westchester as it spread wide on either hand 
along our route, inhaling large draughts of the 
bracing country air, perfumed by the fresh-cut 
grass, and listening to the sweet caroling of numer- 
ous birds. Soon after crossing the line which 
divides New York from good old Connecticut, 
we left the great eastern highway, and turned 
short into a road of very narrow dimensions, 
and apparently little travelled. We had not 
proceeded far upon this course before the track 
became suddenly rough, hilly, and devious ; and 
thus it continued till towards the close of the 
evening, when we seemed to reach the apex of 
a dividing ridge of high hills or mountains. 
This crossed, we began to descend rapidly, when, 
suddenly turning a lofty precipice, an enchant- 
ing valley, upwards of a mile in width and sev- 
eral miles in length, i spread out before us, 
bounded by high, sharp, conical hills, shut- 
ting it in apparently from all the rest of the 
world. A clear, rapid stream, bordered by rich 
meadows, coursed its devious way, about two 
thirds of the distance down this beautiful val- 
ley; and then took a wild tumble of some 
twenty feet or more over broken rocks, and 
spread out into a lovely lake, bounded by the 
lower range of hills, through whose gorge the 
crystal water broke foaming over another still 
wilder cascade, and again became a swift, 
brawling stream, till it met the tide waters of the 
Sound. 
We had not advanced far into this charming 
valley, when we espied a large, two-story, old- 
fashioned, white house, with a wide piazza in 
front, and dormer windows in the roof, standing 
on the brow of a gentle eminence about two 
hundred yards from the road, and half hid from 
the view, by wide-branching, venerable trees. 
From a previous description, we at once knew 
this to be the " Captain's" residence — for by this 
title, only, is Reviewer known, the country 
over. 
We had scarcely reached the entrance gate, 
from the high road, when we were met and 
heartily welcomed to his home, by a thick-set 
and rather weather-beaten looking man, with 
grey hair and black eyes, and in whose coun- 
tenance sat an expression of no little shrewd- 
ness, commingled with great benevolence. This, 
gentle reader, was no other than our hitherto 
unknown Reviewer ; and if you will now add to 
our description, the habiliments of a half sai- 
lor and half farmer of a highly respectable 
Connecticut class, you will have a very good 
idea of the person whose acquaintance you have 
so long sought. 
The Captain's family consists of a wife — a 
gentle, delicate woman, some ten years younger 
than himself- — two sons, and three daughters. 
The eldest of the latter is well married to a 
young farmer, who is his nearest neighbor. The 
other children are at home. 
His farm contains two hundred and twenty- 
seven acres, and is considered one of the best 
in the valley. It fronts about a quarter of a 
mile along the lake and river, and then runs 
back in the form of a parallelogram to the top 
of a thickly-wooded hill, nearly half a mile in 
the rear of his house. The lower part of the 
farm, bordering the water, is rich meadow, and 
is kept constantly in gi - ass. The centre is roll- 
ing land, and, with the exception of a few acres, 
reserved for lawn and trees around the house, 
this is kept under a regular rotation of grain 
and root crops. Higher up, the surface is so 
steep and rocky that it is never distui-bed by 
the plow, but is left to pasture, orcharding, and 
woodland. Upon the whole, it is a highly de- 
sirable property, and well suited for the varied 
crops usually cultivated to most advantage in 
Connecticut. Perhaps of these, and the man- 
agement of the farm, and some other matters — 
unless the Captain forbid — we may speak 
more particularly hereafter. 
We asked him how, after seeing so much of 
the world, he could be contented to settle in a 
spot so completely inland. He replied that it 
was for this very reason he had sought a quiet 
land-locked harbor; besides, it was the old 
homestead, the place where he was born, and 
where his ancestors had resided from the first 
settlement of the country ; and he had a pride, as 
well as pleasure, in retaining it in the family. 
Then the climate was healthy, his neighbors 
intelligent and agreeable — there were plenty 
of fish in the river, fine sailing on the lake, and 
game in the mountain forests. What more could 
a quiet man desire ? 
The Captain's history we had not fully learned 
till this visit. It seems he had been brought up 
on the farm, and there remained till nineteen 
years old, when he took a fancy to ship as a 
man before the mast, and go to sea. He rose 
rapidly in his new profession, and soon got 
command of a vessel. After this, his course 
was rather a checkered one, with a shipwreck 
or two, and various other mishaps ; yet, in the 
long run, he was prosperous. Fifteen years ago, 
finding he had accumulated enough to enable 
him to live independently, he relinquished the 
sea, and from that time has devoted himself as- 
siduously to the improvement of his farm, of 
which he seems extravagantly fond. Soon after 
we were at his house, he left for a voyage to Eu- 
rope, for the benefit of his health. Recent let- 
ters from him inform us that he has coasted the 
