Ixxxvi 
LIFE OF WILSON. 
about the town the pasture fields and corn look well, but a few 
miles off, the countiy is poor and ill cultivated, 
‘^The literati of Newhaven received me with politeness and 
respect ; and after making my usual rounds, which occupied a day 
and a half, I set off for Middletown, twenty-two miles distant. 
The country through which I passed was generally flat and sandy — 
in some places whole fields were entirely covered with sand, not a 
blade of vegetation to be seen, like some parts of Newjersey. Round 
Middletown, however, the country is really beautiful — the soil rich; 
and here I first saw the river Connecticut, stretching along the east 
side of the town, which consists of one very broad street, with 
rows of elms on each side. On entering I found the street filled 
with troops, it being muster day; and I counted two hundred and 
fifty horse, and six hundred foot, all in uniform. The sides of the 
street were choaked up with wagons, carts and wheelbarrows, filled 
with bread, roast beef, fowls, cheese, liquors, barrels of cider and 
rum bottles. Some were singing out, Here’s the best brandy 
you ever put into your head!'' others in dozens shouting, “Here’s 
the round and sound gingerbi*ead ! most capital gingerbread !” In 
one place I observed a row of twenty or thirty country girls, drawn 
up with their backs to a fence, and two young fellows supplying 
them with rolls of bread from a neighbouring stall, which they ate 
with a hearty appetite, keeping nearly as good time with their grin- 
ders, as the militia did with their muskets. In another place the 
crowd had formed a ring, within which they danced to the catgut 
scrapings of an old negro. The spectators looked on with as much 
gravity as if they were listening to a sermon ; and the dancers la- 
boured 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 I was intro- 
duced to several others. He also furnished me with a good deal 
of information respecting the birds of Newengland. He is a great 
sportsman — a man of fortune and education — and has a consider- 
