i 370 TRAVELS IN THE XJMiTEi) STATES I 
mediate vicinage of the city, which stands at 
the southern extremity of the former of these 
two islands, but little is, to be met with that 
deserves attention; the soil, indeed, is fertile, 
and the face of the country is not unpleasingly 
diversified with rising grounds; but there is 
nothing grand in any of the views which it 
affords, nor did, I observe one of the numerous 
seats with which it is overspread, that was 
distinguished either for its elegant neatness.or 
the delightfiolness of its situation; none of 
them will bear any comparison with the 
charming little villas which adorn the banks of 
the Schuylkill near Philadelphia.. 
On Long Island much more will be found, 
in a picturesque point of view, to interest the 
traveller. On the western side in particular, 
bordering upon the Narrows, or that con¬ 
tracted channel between the islands through 
which vessels pass in sailing to New York 
from the Atlantic, the country is really ro¬ 
mantic. The ground here is very much 
broken, and numberless large masses of wood 
still remain standing, through the vistas in 
which you occasionally catch the most delight¬ 
ful prospects of the distant hills on Staten 
Island and the New Jersey shore, and of the 
water, which is constantly enlivened by vessels 
sailing to and fro. 
To an inhabitant of one of the large towns 
