Botanists -- United States -- Correspondence; Gray, Asa, 1810-1888 -- Correspondence
I met Professor Bailey,[33] of West Point, on board the boat in which I
came up the river. He had called the evening previous, when both Dr.
Torrey and myself were out. He informed me that the professorship of
chemistry, etc., was now established by law on the same footing with the
other professorships at West Point, and that the pay of all was
increased, so that it is now equivalent to that of a major of cavalry;
and more than this: he has been successful in obtaining the place for
himself. The stage is nearly ready, and I must hasten. Did the doctor
meet Mr. Herrick? I have been thinking that, as they do not know each
other, the chance of their meeting at the Astor House is but slight. I
must have given both him and yourself no little trouble with my
expedition trappings; and if Herrick should conclude to stay at home
after all, which is not unlikely, we shall lose our labor. However, tell
Dr. T. that I will do as much for him whenever he fits out for an
exploring expedition!
CLEVELAND, OHIO, August. 12, 1838,--
the 4th day of my pilgrimage.
Ere this reaches you, a letter which I sent to the post-office in
Batavia, New York, will probably have come to hand. The coach called for
me before I had finished, and I was obliged to take my portfolio in my
hand, and finish, seal, and address the letter in the coach during a
moment’s delay at the stage-office. I arrived at Buffalo a few minutes
after sunset; stopped at a hotel not very munch smaller than the Astor
House, with accommodations scarcely inferior. Learning that a boat was
to leave for Detroit and the intervening ports that evening at eight
o’clock I secured a passage. The internal organization of the Bunker
Hill (and I believe the other boats on the lake are not materially
different) is rather odd, but very well adapted to answer the purpose
for which it is intended. All the boats carry large quantities of
freight, and the whole space beneath the main deck is occupied by
merchandise, and by the boilers and fuel. The deck is crowded with
boxes, bales, and casks, many of which are directed to places in the far
West yet so distant that they have hardly commenced their journey. The
after part is occupied chiefly by a sort of cabin for deck passengers
(equivalent to steerage passengers), in which men, women, and children,
Dutch, Irish, Swiss, and Yankee, are promiscuously jumbled. It is
infinitely better, however, than the steerage of packet-ships. The bow
of the boat is occupied by a different set of passengers, viz., eight or
ten horses, destined to draw sundry wagons which now occupy a very
conspicuous situation in front of the promenade-deck. You would suppose
there was no room left for cabin passengers. On the contrary, their
accommodations, though by no means splendid, are really very comfortable
and complete. They occupy what in a North River boat forms the
promenade-deck, which here extends nearly the whole length of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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