I believe that I have not heretofore mentioned any particulars respecting the dust of the roads of this country. The clothes of travellers are frequently covered with it, and it passes through the smallest crevices, into trunks and packing boxes. This may probably arise from the heat of the climate, which dries the mud very much, or from the fine division of the earthy particles, and perhaps from the abundance of vegetable matters intermixed. I lodged at a tavern about two miles west of New Lancaster. The landlord removed from Pennsylvania to this neighbourhood about twenty years ago. The site of the house in which he now lives, is the third that he has cleared of the timber with his own hands, since his arrival. His buildings and farm, by their neatness, bespeak his industry, and he seems to enjoy the comforts of affluence as the reward of his labours. In the neighbourhood of this place are some high ridges of a coarse-grained sandstone, with some small pine trees on their summits. The lower lands are rich. The landlord showed me a pumpkin that weighed a hundred and sixty pounds. _Monday, Oct. 2._ On the morning of this day, and on the afternoon of the 30th ultimo, I passed through several low prairies of small size; the soil is of a black vegetable matter, that is somewhat bituminous, and appears to be imperfectly decomposed. Some chinks of two or three inches wide, that are to be seen in the surface, show, that at other seasons of the year, this ground is wet. Except for the heat of the climate, it is probable that {279} these prairies would have been mosses similar to the peat earth of Europe. New Lancaster is a county town,[152] with a court-house and a bank. The situation is pleasant, and the town contains some good brick houses. Neatness and comfort are apparent there. Lebanon is a small place, situated on high ground. It is entirely built of wood. Several persons affirmed to me, that the ague is not prevalent in this place. Newark[153] is a county town of a pleasant aspect. Some parts of the lands adjoining are moist, and naturally fitted for being converted into meadows. Good iron is made in the neighbourhood, and sold at four cents per pound. There was a young man in the tavern there, who said, that he had come directly from Philadelphia, and that he had seen a considerable number of families on their journey to the eastward, after finding themselves dissatisfied with their prospects in the western country. On the evening of the 2d and on the 3d, much rain fell. On the 4th, I resumed my journey.--I observed much land well adapted for meadow, and a few small patches actually occupied in that way; and noticed that the ground in general yields more grass, and has preserved its verdure better than that in the lower parts of the State. I halted for the night at Mount Vernon,[154] which is another county town, and the place of the Owl Creek Bank, well known among the paper manufactories of this country.