3 72 TRAVELS IN THE UNITED STATES : 
be a convenient, place of retreat to men so 
deeply engaged in commercial pursuits as are 
the great number of the inhabitants of that 
city, and it remains almost destitute of houses ; 
whilst another part of the island* more conve¬ 
niently situated, is crowded with them, ah 
through the face of the country is here flat 
and sandy, devoid of trees* and wholly unin¬ 
teresting. 
The permanent residents on Long Island 
are chiefly of Dutch extraction, and they seem 
to have inherited all the coldness, reserve, and 
covetousness of their ancestors. It is a com¬ 
mon saying in New York, that a Long Island 
man will conceal himself in his house on the 
approach of a stranger; and really the num¬ 
berless instances of shyness I met with in the 
inhabitants seem to argue, that there was 
some truth in the remark. If you do but ask 
any simple question relative to the neighbour¬ 
ing country, they will eye you with suspicion* 
and evidently strive to disengage themselves 
from you; widely different from the Anglo- 
Americans, whose inquisitiveness in similar 
circumstances would lead them to £ thousand 
impertinent and troublesome enquiries, in 
order to discover w hat your business was in that 
place, and how they could possibly take any 
advantage of it. These Dutchmen are in ge¬ 
neral very excellent farmers; and several of 
