613 
Airs. Wrights Travels in the United States „ 
C>f excelling in the chase. An officer of 
the establishment, from whom I had 
this, added, that he had little doubt 
the two now with them would follow 
the same example. 
You will understand, from what I 
have said upon this military academy, 
that the object of the government, un* 
der whose eye, and at whose expense it 
is conducted and maintained, is not to 
rear a baud of regulars. The youth are 
in no way under obligations; to enter 
into the service of the republic, nor in¬ 
deed, supposing them so disposed, 
would it often be in the power of the 
government to gratify the desire. 
VICINITY OF ALBANY. 
We linger here from day to day, un¬ 
willing to leave the kind and cheerful 
circle who administer so pleasingly to 
us the laws of hospitality ; it is time, 
however, to remember, that we have 
yet a long journey to make, and must 
determine to set forward so soon as the 
skies shaM resume their wonted sere¬ 
nity. This has been a season of un¬ 
common heat, and along the whole 
line of the coast, one of uncommon 
drought. At-, in Jersey, dur¬ 
ing the latter days of July, the mer¬ 
cury twice rose, in a northern expo¬ 
sure, to 100; and for many days 
successively, when the sun was at his 
meridian, varied from 90 to 96. Some 
local causes might there have influenced 
the atmosphere, as I found its tempera- 
iuie had been some degrees lower in 
other places, but every where it had 
been unusually high. In many parts, 
where the soil was light, the herbage 
had totally disappeared, and plants, of 
considerable size and strength, were 
drooping, and occasionally quite bereft 
of leaves. 
In ascending the Hudson we had no 
sooner passed the Highlands, than our 
eyes fell upon carpets of massive ver¬ 
dure, and woods, whose foliage was 
fresh as if daily washed by showers. 
We could have imagined ourselves iu a 
second spring, but for the tropical heat 
which followed us ; and which was only 
broken two days since by the grandest 
and longest thunder-storm that I ever 
witnessed. 
In this neighbourhood nature pre¬ 
sents many beautiful, and some grand 
features; chief among these, is the well- 
known cataract of the Mohawk ; whose 
waters precipitate themselves over a 
fine wall of rock just before they unite 
with those of the Hudson. Its height 
is stated variously; perhaps sixty feet 
is nearest the mark; its immense 
breadth is by some accounted a disad« 
vantage ; I imagine this to be the true 
source of its grandeur, particularly 
as there is nothing :in the surround¬ 
ing scenery to assist the effect. For 
us, however, circumstances combined 
to throw charms around the spot, 
when, beneath an Italian sky, and 
on a carpet of verdure which fairy 
feet might have sought to print their 
magic rings, we stretched ourselves 
with * * * * under the shade of a 
spreading tree, and cast our eyes upon 
the foaming Cohoez, whose dash and 
roar seemed to cool the fervid air. A 
group of smiling handmaids mean time 
spread a repast which an epicure might 
have envied. The scene, the air, the 
laughing heavens, and the cheerful com¬ 
panions, have graven the place on ray 
memory as one of those u sunny spots’’ 
which checquerwith gold the shadowy 
path of human life. 
TRAVELLING. 
If our journey was rough, it was'at 
least very cheerful; the weather beau¬ 
tiful, and our companions good-hu¬ 
moured, intelligent, and accommoda¬ 
ting. I know not whether to recom¬ 
mend the stage-coacli or waggon, (for 
you are sometimes put into the one and 
sometimes into the other,) as the best 
mode of travelling. This must depend 
upon the temper of the traveller. If 
he want to see people as well as things 
—to hear intelligent remarks upon the 
country and its inhabitants, and to un¬ 
derstand the rapid changes that each 
year brings forth, and if he be of an 
easy temper, not incommoded with 
trifles, nor earing to take, nor under¬ 
standing to give offence, liking the in¬ 
terchange of little civilities with stran¬ 
gers, and pleased to make an acquain¬ 
tance, though it should be but one of 
an hour, with a kind-hearted fellow- 
creature, and if he too can bear a few 
jolts —not a few, and can suffer to be 
driven sometimes too quickly over a 
rough road, and sometimes too slowly 
over a smooth one,—then let hi in, by all 
means, fill a corner iu the post-coach 
or stage-waggon according to the vary¬ 
ing grade in civilization held by the 
American diligence. But if the tra¬ 
veller be a lounger, running away from 
time, or a landscape-painting tourist 
with a sketch-book and portablecrayons, 
or any thing of a soi-dlsant philosopher 
bringing with him a previous know¬ 
ledge of the unseen country he is about 
to traverse, having itemed in his closet 
the character, with the sum of its po¬ 
pulation, and in his knowledge of how 
every 
