Immediately afterwards I met a white little boy who followed a tall mulatto woman, and with all his little strength was beating her with a stick; at length the woman could bear it no longer, and told him, if she should be _whipped_ the next moment for it, she would pull his ears if he continued to do so. The same day, in my hearing a mulatto woman was threatened by her master with the application of the "cowhide" for not bringing the Independent his umbrella quick enough! NIGHT From the slight chirping of a few grasshoppers or crickets in England, no one can have a conception of the noise of a summer night here; all the insect tribe seem to open at once and to join in one perpetual chorus, very unpleasant to ears unaccustomed to it. {53} AMERICANS AND SCOTS The Pensilvanians resemble in many points the Scots: they go barefoot, they have both some dirty habits, neither have yet very generally erected temples to Cloacina beyond the immediate neighbourhood of great towns. A medical man lately told me that the itch, a disorder which proves uncleanliness where it prevails, was as rife as in Scotland; of drams of whisky and bitters they are equally fond. In cookery the comparison turns in favour of our northern neighbours, who understand it far better than they do here, where it is the most abominable messing and spoiling of provision imaginable: nothing but frying in butter till the stomach turns even at the smell; of vegetables they have but small variety, and of these the sickly tasting beet is a favourite, which they dress in the same disgusting way as the flesh-meat, neither good for palate or stomach. 22d. At Washington, Pensilvania, eight miles west of Canonsburgh: this latter little town stands in a healthy beautiful situation. It has a college in an unfinished state; there are three professorships, viz. Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, Languages, and Humanity Class, the whole supported {54} by voluntary contributions to which the government have made a handsome addition: at this time there are ninety students.[17] The land about Canonsburgh to this place, is generally of very good quality, and just now may be bought at a reasonable rate; its nominal value, I was informed by one of the students, is from under twenty, to the best about thirty dollars per acre; it abounds in coal, lime, and iron; the first only two cents per bushel at the pit, and laid down at the door for two more. There are many English settlers hereabout, and the shew of improved management was very perceptible. There are some objections however to this part of the country, which perhaps the improvement of roads and canals will in time obviate; it is a distant point from both the great markets for commodities, the Eastern and Western; consequently what they sell is low, and that which they buy is very high. * * * * *