209 
in Switzerland, and uncle of the celebrated naturalist Desaussure. 
I met at his house a large company of gentlemen, who had dined 
there, and became acquainted with the governor, a very fine 
man. After the company had retired, Judge Desaussure accom¬ 
panied me to one of his step son’s, Colonel Blanding, civil engi¬ 
neer, who has the reputation of being a man of great knowledge. 
The habit of chewing tobacco, practised by several of the gen¬ 
tlemen, and in which they indulge even when in the society of 
ladies, appeared remarkable to me. The society was numerous, 
and composed of many ladies; I became acquainted with two 
Professors of Columbia College, Messrs. Henry and Nott; the 
first is acquainted with the French and German languages, he 
has translated Niebuhr’s Roman History into English. Mr Nott 
studied in England and France, resided for some time in Ghent, 
and married a lady of Brussels. From Mr. Blanding’s house we 
went to the governor’s, where again a large company was assem¬ 
bled to a ball. No other dances but cotillions were danced, in 
the manner of the tedious German quadrilles; the band consisted 
of negroes. The governor, who in this state is elected for two 
years, and his lady, did the honours exceedingly well; he introduc¬ 
ed me to all present, gentlemen and ladies. The acquaintance I 
made with a Frenchman, Mons. Herbemont, was very interest¬ 
ing to me; he has been an inhabitant of the United States for 
more than forty years, w r as formerly Professor of Botany in 
Columbia College, and now lives upon his income. The company 
remained together until the evening. 
On the next morning I received visits from Messrs. Desaussure 
and Herbemont, who came with the design of showing me the 
few curiosities of the city. We went at first to see the water¬ 
works, which provide the whole city with water. In a hollow 
place their is a basin, or rather a reservoir, to which several foun¬ 
tains have been conducted. From this reservoir the water is 
pumped by means of a steam-engine having two horse-power, 
and driven into the city, which is situated one hundred and thirty 
feet above it. The water is distributed in the different parts of 
the town by pipes, which are in the middle of the streets. At 
different places the tubes are provided with fire-plugs, construct¬ 
ed according to the plan of Mr. Blanding. 
Afterwards we went to see the state-house, a large wooden 
building, which will probably in a few years be replaced by one 
of stone. In one of the halls of the state-house, the senators, 
forty in number, were assembled under the presidency of Mr. 
Johns; in another were the hundred and twenty representatives: 
the speaker was Mr. 0‘Neil. The . halls are very plain. The 
senators as well as the representatives, sit in a semicircle, and 
the speaker in a more elevated place in the middle. During my 
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