182 
,Birch: a boat in a storm, in which the crew were saving them¬ 
selves from a wreck. 
I inquired, in company with Mr. Niederstetter, after maps, 
but the result was not very satisfactory. It is very difficult to 
furnish maps of the United States, as they have not yet been tri¬ 
gonometrically surveyed, and the only astronomical designation 
of places and maps are founded on common surveys. At a din¬ 
ner given by General Cadwalader, commander of the Philadelphia 
militia, and one of the most distinguished citizens, among other 
new acquaintances, I made also that of General Harrison, of Cin¬ 
cinnati, senator of the United States. He had been a general in 
the army during the last war, and defeated the English General 
Proctor, on the boundaries of Canada, on which occasion, the 
celebrated Indian chief, Tecumseh lost his life. But the general, 
to the great regret and disadvantage of the army, resigned, on 
account of a dispute with the then secretary of war, Armstrong. 
At a party, which consisted of perhaps thirty persons, I was 
much questioned about my journey, and particularly about my 
stay at New Harmony. Mr. Owen’s system does not meet with 
much favour here, and it is not thought that his society will last 
long. Much offence is taken at its irreligious principles, and 
much surprise is manifested, that Mr. McClure, as an old, learned 
and sensible man, should have been so captivated by this new 
system, as to declare in a meeting of a learned society, when a 
proposition was made to buy a new building, that they should 
only wait a couple of years, till this new social system should be 
extended over the country, as land would then be so cheap in the 
cities, that it might be purchased almost for nothing. 
I must not neglect to mention a little present from Mr. Yaux. 
It is a snuff-box, made of the wood of the elm tree at Kensington,* 
under which William Penn made the treaty of 1682 , with the 
Indians. It is very simple, and decorated merely with a silver 
medal, on which is inscribed “ Penn’s treaty, 1682 ,” and below, 
u unbroken faith.” 
* Kensington was formerly a distinct village, on the Delaware above Phila¬ 
delphia; the city has now extended thus far, so that it now belongs to the city. 
The tree was some years ago struck by lightning and destroyed. 
