LETTERVI.
Arrival at Philadelphia.—Some Observations on the Climate of the Middle States.—Public Carriages prevented from plying between Baltimore and Philadelphia by the Badness of the Roads.—Left Baltimore during Frost.—Met with American Travellers on the Road.—Their Behaviour preparatory to setting off from an Inn.—Arrival on the Banks of the Susquehannah.—Passage of that River when frozen over.—Dangerous Situation of the Passengers.—American Travellers at the Tavern on the opposite Side of the River.—Their noisy Disputations.
MY DEAR SIR, Philadelphia, February.
AFTER having spent some weeks in Washington, George Town, and Baltimore, I set out for this city, where I arrived four days ago.
The months of October and November are the most agreeable, in the middle and southern states, of any in the year; the changes in the weather are then less frequent, and for the most part the air is temperate and the sky serene. During this year the air was so mild, that when I was at George Town, even as late as the second week in December, itwas found pleasant to keep the windows up during dinner time. This, however, was an unusual circumstance.
WINDS.
In Maryland, before December was over, there were a few cold days, and during January we had two or three different falls of snow; but for the most part the weather remained very mild until the latter end of January, when a sharp north-west wind set in. The keenness of this wind in winter is prodigious, and surpasses every thing of the kind which we have an idea of in England. Whenever it blows, during the winter months, a frost immediately takes place. In the course of three days, in the present instance, the Susquehannah and Delaware rivers were frozen over; a fall of snow took place, which remained on the ground about two feet deep, and there was every appearance of a severe and tedious winter. Before five days, however, were over, the wind again changed, and so sudden was the thaw that the snow disappeared entirely on the second day, and not a vestige of the frost was to be seen, excepting in the rivers, where large pieces of ice remained floating about.
It was about the middle of December when I reached Baltimore; but I was deterred from going on to Philadelphia until the frosty weather should set in, by the badness of theroads; for they were in such a state, that even the public stages were prevented from plying for the space of ten or twelve days. The frost soon dried them, and rendered them as good as in summer. I set out when it was most severe. At day-break, the morning after I left Baltimore, the thermometer, according to Fahrenheit, stood at 7°. I never observed it so low during any other part of the winter.
INTENSE COLD.
Several travellers had stopped at the same house that I did the first night I was on the road, and we all breakfasted together preparatory to setting out the next morning. The American travellers, before they pursued their journey, took a hearty draught each, according to custom, of egg-nog, a mixture composed of new milk, eggs, rum, and sugar, beat up together; they appeared to be at no small pains also in fortifying themselves against the severity of the weather with great coats and wrappers over each other, woollen socks and trowsers over their boots, woollen mittens over their gloves, and silk handkerchiefs tied over their ears and mouths, &c. so that nothing could be seen excepting their noses and their eyes. It was absolutely a subject of diversion to me, and to a young gentleman just arrived from the West Indies, who accompanied me from Baltimore, to see the great care with which they wrapped themselves up,for we both found ourselves sufficiently warm in common clothing. It seems, however, to be a matter generally allowed, that strangers, even from the West Indies, unaccustomed to intense cold, do not suffer so much from the severity of the winter, the first year of their arrival in America, as the white people who have been born in the country. Every person that we met upon the road was wrapped up much in the same manner as the travellers who breakfasted with us, and had silk handkerchiefs tied round their heads, so as to cover their mouths and ears.
About the middle of the day we arrived at the Susquehannah, and, as we expected to find it, the river was frozen entirely over. In what manner we were to get across was now the question. The people at the ferry-house were of opinion that the ice was not sufficiently strong to bear in every part of the river; at the same time they said, it was so very thick near the shores, that it would be impracticable to cut a passage through it before the day was over; however, as a great number of travellers desirous of getting across was collected together, and as all of them were much averse to remaining at the ferry-house till the next morning, by which time it was supposed that the ice would be strong enough to bear in every part, the people wereat last over-ruled, and every thing was prepared for cutting a way across the river.
THE SUSQUEHANNAH.
The passengers were about twelve in number, with four horses; the boat’s crew consisted of seven blacks; three of whom, with large clubs, stood upon the bow of the boat, and broke the ice, whilst the others, with iron-headed poles, pushed the boat forwards. So very laborious was the task which the men at the bow had to perform, that it was necessary for the others to relieve them every ten minutes. At the end of half an hour their hands, arms, faces, and hats, were glazed entirely over with a thick coat of ice, formed from the water which was dashed up by the reiterated strokes of their clubs. Two hours elapsed before one half of the way was broken; the ice was found much thicker than had been imagined; the clubs were shivered to pieces; the men were quite exhausted; and having suffered the boat to remain stationary for a minute or two in a part where the ice was remarkably thick, it was frozen up, so that the utmost exertions of the crew and passengers united were unable to extricate it. In this predicament a council was held; it was impossible to move either backward or forward; the boat was half a mile from the shore; no one would attempt to walk there on the ice; to remain all night in the boatwould be death. Luckily I had a pair of pistols in my holsters, and having fired a few signals, the attention of the people on shore was attracted towards us, and a small batteau, which is a light boat with a flat bottom, was dispatched for our relief. This was not sent, however, for the purpose of bringing a single person back again, but to assist us in getting to the opposite shore. It was slipped along a-head of the large boat, and two or three men having stepped into it, rocked it about from side to side until the ice was sufficiently broken for the large boat to follow. The batteau was now in the water, and the men seating themselves as much as possible towards the stern, by so doing raised the bow of it considerably above the ice; by means of boat hooks it was then pulled on the ice again, and by rocking it about as before a passage was as easily opened. In this manner we got on, and at the end of three hours and ten minutes found ourselves again upon dry land, fully prepared for enjoying the pleasures of a bright fireside and a good dinner. The people at the tavern had seen us coming across, and had accordingly prepared for our reception; and as each individual thought he had travelled quite far enough that day, the passengers remained together till the next morning.
DISPUTATIONS.
At the American taverns, as I before mentioned, all sorts of people, just as they happen to arrive, are crammed together into the one room, where they must reconcile themselves to each other the best way they can. On the present occasion, the company consisted of about thirteen people, amongst whom were some eminent lawyers from Virginia and the southward, together with a judge of the supreme court, who were going to Philadelphia against the approaching sessions: it was not, however, till after I quitted their company that I heard who they were; for these kind of gentlemen in America are so very plain, both in their appearance and manners, that a stranger would not suspect that they were persons of the consequence which they really are in the country. There were also in the company two or three of the neighbouring farmers, boorish, ignorant, and obtrusive fellows. It is scarcely possible for a dozen Americans to sit together without quarrelling about politics, and the British treaty, which had just been ratified, now gave rise to a long and acrimonious debate. The farmers were of one opinion, and gabbled away for a long time; the lawyers and the judge were of another, and in turns they rose to answer their opponents with all the power of rhetoric which they possessed.Neither party could say any thing to change the sentiments of the other one; the noisy contest lasted till late at night, when getting heartily tired they withdrew, not to their respective chambers, but to the general one that held five or six beds, and in which they laid down in pairs. Here the conversation was again revived, and pursued with as much noise as below, till at last sleep closed their eyes, and happily their mouths at the same time; for could they have talked in their sleep, I verily believe they would have prated on until morning. Thanks to our stars! my friend and I got the only two-bedded room in the house to ourselves. The next morning I left the banks of the Susquehannah, and the succeeding day reached Philadelphia.