45 
by means of dry walls, the stones of which are partly hewn, and 
separated from each other, somewhat like those of Scotland. No 
old trees are found, because the first settlers very imprudently 
destroyed all the wood, and now it must be raised again with 
much trouble. Lombardy poplars, and plane trees are frequent. 
The inhabitants generally appear to be in good circumstances, at 
least the farmers seem to prosper, and the houses appear to great 
advantage, for instance, we remarked a common village black¬ 
smith shop, which was built of massive granite. At the very 
neat village of Miltonbridge we passed over the river Neponset, 
which is navigable for small vessels. 
Quincy contains about four thousand inhabitants, and has as¬ 
sumed this name in honour of the mayor’s family, which is here 
much beloved and esteemed. Mr. Quincy’s country seat, to 
which we repaired from the house of the ex-president, is about 
two miles distant from the latter, and lies in the neighbourhood 
of the sea on a small eminence, from which there is a very hand¬ 
some prospect towards the bay. Mr. Quincy introduced us to his 
family, to his wife, two sons, and four daughters. The eldest 
daughter is very accomplished, and excels in painting landscapes 
in sepia. Some years ago she visited the Falls of Niagara with 
her family, and sketched several views. The other daughters are 
also very well educated, and have a talent for music. We met 
here several gentlemen from Boston, among others, Mr. Shep¬ 
herd, Mr. Everett, and President Kirkland, from Cambridge, 
who was accompanied by an aged English teacher, Mr. Cooper, 
who fled from England with Priestley, thirty-five years ago, 
and now directs Columbia College in South Carolina. He ap¬ 
peared to be a gloomy, austere man, and very different in his ad¬ 
dress from the humane and friendly manner of Dr. Kirkland* 
Towards evening we returned to Boston by a shorter road, and 
passed the Neponset by means of a long wooden bridge, which 
Mr. Quincy built not far from the place where it empties into 
the sea. We then passed through Dorchester, and saw on an emi¬ 
nence to the right the remains of two redoubts, built by the Eng¬ 
lish, which the great Washington took from them, strengthened, 
and thus principally contributed to the evacuation of Boston. 
I accompanied, August 4th, a party to a Mr., Nathaniel Amory ° 
we passed over the long mill-dam, which cuts off a part of the 
water surrounding Boston, and is to be filled up in time, and 
houses built on it. Six miles from the city is a wooden bridge 
over Charles river, which we crossed to see the arsenal on the op¬ 
posite side. This establishment was built in 1816. A long yard, 
surrounded with a wall of granite, is attached to the chief arsenal, 
which is three stories high, with two wings, containing the offices 
and dwellings of the two directors, Major Craige and Lieutenant 
