4 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA : 
hand side, remains thickly wooded, even as far 
as the city. 
Vessels very commonly ascend to Philadel¬ 
phia, when the wind is favourable, in twenty- 
four hours ; but unfortunately, as our ship en¬ 
tered the river, the wind died away, and she 
had to depend solely upon the tide, which 
flows at the rate qf about three miles only in 
the hour. Finding that the passage up to the 
city was likely therefore to become tedious, 
I would fain have gone on shore far below it; 
but this the captain would not permit me to 
do. By the laws of Pennsylvania, enacted in 
consequence of the dreadful pestilence which 
raged in the capital in the year 1793, the 
master of any vessel bound for that port is made 
subject to a very heavy fine, if he suffers any 
person from on board her, whether mariner or 
passenger, to go on shore in any part of the 
state, before his vessel is examined by the 
health officer : and any person that goes on 
shore, contrary to the will of the master of the 
vessel, is liable to be imprisoned for a consi¬ 
derable length of time. In case the existence 
of this law should not be known on board a 
vessel bound for a port in Pennsylvania, it is 
the business of the pilot to furnish the master 
and the passengers on, board with copies of it, 
with which he always- comes provided, Ths 
2 
