67 
evening returned to Utica. The day was fine and pleasant. 
The thunder-storm of yesterday, had done some good. I re¬ 
gretted that it was too late upon our return to Utica, to visit a 
hydrostatic lock, designed to weigh the boats which pass on the 
canal. 
Having seen enough of the canal, and being anxious to see the 
newly-settled country between this place and Niagara, we deter¬ 
mined to continue our journey on the next day in the stage-coach. 
With this intention we left Utica at 4 o’clock in the morning of the 
17th of August, and the same day arrived at Auburn, distant se¬ 
venty-three miles. The stage-coaches in this country do not, as in 
England, travel ten miles an hour, but usually six; as the country 
is generally hilly, and the coach, when it carries the mail, stops 
at every village where there is a post-office, on account of the 
great number of newspapers; the letter-bag must be taken out, 
opened, again locked, and then returned; the coachmen also are 
not very punctual, so that travelling is not so rapid as it should 
be. The villages between Utica and Auburn were New Hart¬ 
ford, four miles, Manchester, five miles, Vernon, eight miles, 
Oneida, five miles, Lenox, four miles, Sullivan, eight miles, 
Manlius, six miles, Jamesville, five miles, Onandago Hollow, 
five miles, Onandago Hill, two miles, Marcellus, eight miles, 
and Skeneatelass, six miles. 
Between Manchester and Vernon day dawned, and we found 
ourselves in a rather wild country, in the midst of a wilder¬ 
ness. Oneida is an Indian settlement, and was built by the rem¬ 
nant of the once mighty Oneida tribe, who, unlike their coun¬ 
trymen, unwilling to fly before the white settlers to the west, are 
at present a wretched people, despised and oppressed by their 
neighbours like a gang of gypsies. They have been obliged to learn 
trades, and to labour on farms; they have also been converted to 
Christianity by means of missionaries, and of whom the principal 
one is a Mr. Williams, a converted Indian, educated by the 
Quakers. On entering the village we observed on a little emi¬ 
nence to the left, a small, neat, frame church, where the Indians 
hold their service, and close by, an open plain, surrounded by 
butternut trees, called V Council Grove” where the elders of 
the tribe assemble to deliberate on their most important affairs. 
The houses of the Indians are scattered through the fields, are 
generally small, and built of logs. In the centre of the village 
are white settlers, mechanics and tavern-keepers; the latter of 
whom in particular make out well, as the Indians are fond of 
strong drink. The land belongs to the whole tribe, and each in¬ 
dividual labours for the common good. We observed several 
Indians along the road. They had a tawny complexion, and 
black hair; the men appeared to be well built, and the women 
