27S TRAVELS THROUGH NORl^i AMERICA i 
powerfully reflects the rays of the sun, which 
shines in full force upon it the whole day. 
Notwithstanding 1 all this,, however, the cli¬ 
mate is deemed very salubrious. 
The inhabitants of this place, a few years 
ago, were almost entirely of Dutch extraction ; 
hut now strangers are flocking to it from all 
quarters, as there are few places in America 
more advantageously situated for commerce. 
The flourishing state of its trade has already 
been mentioned; it bids fair to rival that of 
New York in process of time. 
The fourth of July, the day of our arrival 
at Albany, was the anniversary of the declara¬ 
tion of American independance, and on our 
arrival we were told that great preparations 
were making for its celebration*. A drum 
and trumpet, towards the middle of the day, 
gave notice of the commencement of the re¬ 
joicings, and on walking to a hill about a 
* Our landlord, as soon as he found out who w@ were, im¬ 
mediately came to us, to request that We would excuse the 
confused state in which his house was, as this was the an* 
niversary day of “ American Independance,” or, as some, 
indeed, more properly called it, of “American Repentance.” 
We were all of us not a little surprised at this address, and 
from such a person $ instances, however, are not wanting 
of people openly declaring, that they have never enjoyed so 
much quiet and happiness in their own homes since the re¬ 
volution, as they did when the states were the colonies of 
Great Britain. Amongst the planters in Virginia, I heard 
language of this sort more than oncOo 
