290 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA: 
offered it to os for our perusal, and began to 
talk upon the politics of the day ; we thanked 
him for his offer, and gave him to understand, 
at the same time, that a loaf would be much 
more acceptable. Bread there was none ; we 
got a new Vermont cheese, however. A third 
house now remained in sight, and we made a 
third attempt at procuring something to eat. 
This one was nearly half a mile off, but, alas 1 
it afforded still less than the last; the pedpie 
had nothing to dispose of hut a little milk. 
With the milk and the cheese, therefore, we 
returned to our boat, and adding thereto some 
biscuits and wine, which we had luckily on 
board, the whole afforded us a frugal repast. 
The people at the American farm houses 
will cheerfully lie three in a bed, rather than 
suffer a stranger to go away who comes to seek 
for a lodging. As all these houses, however, 
which we had visited, were crowded with in¬ 
habitants, we felt no great inclination to ask 
for accommodation at any of them, but deter¬ 
mined to sleep on board our little vessel. We 
accordingly moored her at a convenient part 
of the shore, and each of us having wrapped 
himself up in a blanket, which we had been 
warned to provide on leaving New York, we 
laid ourselves down to sleep. The boat was 
decked two-thirds of her length forward, and 
had a commodious hold; we gave the pre- 
