36 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA i 
square wooden tubes, to prevent them frorq 
catching in any thing, and also to prevent 
dust. By means ©f these two simple con¬ 
trivances no manual labour is required from 
the moment _ the wheat is taken to the mill 
till it is converted into dour, and ready to be 
packed, during the various processes of screen¬ 
ing, grinding, sifting, &c. 
Wilmington is the capital of the state of 
Delaware, and contains about six hundred 
houses, which are chiefly of brick. The 
streets are laid on a plan somewhat similar 
to that of Philadelphia. There is nothing' 
very interesting in this town, and the country 
round about it is flat and insipid. Elkton, 
twenty-one miles distant from Wilmington, 
and the first town in Maryland, contains about 
ninety indifferent houses, which are built 
without any regularity ; it is a dirty disagree¬ 
able place. In this neighbourhood I first 
took notice of log-houses; those which I 
had hitherto seen having been built either of 
brick or stone, or else constructed with wooden 
frames, sheathed on the outside with boards. 
The log-houses are cheaper than any others 
in a country where there is abundance of 
wood, and generally are the first that are 
erected on a new settlement in America. The 
sides consist of trees just squared, and placed 
horizontally one upon the other; the ends 
