Travels in North America, From Modern Writers: With Remarks and Observations; Exhibiting a Connected View of the Geography and Present State of that Quarter of the GlobeBingley, William
History
Travels in North America, From Modern Writers: With Remarks and Observations; Exhibiting a Connected View of the Geography and Present State of that Quarter of the Globe
Bingley, William
Canada -- Description and travel; Mexico -- Description and travel; United States -- Description and travel
The principal inn at _Batavia_ is large, and yet constructed upon an
economical principle; for one roof covers hotel, prison, court-house,
and assembly-room. The inhabitants were, at this time, building, by
subscription, an episcopal church, the cost of which was to be twenty
thousand dollars.
_Caledonia_ is a small, but flourishing village, which has a handsome
inn, with very comfortable accommodations; and, close to the road, is a
large sheet of water, from which a clear and rapid stream descends,
through a pleasing valley, into Allen's Creek, before the latter unites
with the _Genesee River_. The banks of this creek are adorned with
natural groves and copses, in which Mr. Hall observed the candleberry
myrtle in great abundance: but a more interesting sight was afforded by
numerous organic remains, with which the blocks of limestone, scattered
through the low ground around it, are encrusted, as if with rude
sculpture. These blocks are mixed with nodules of granite, and present
innumerable forms, both of shells and aquatic plants. This district had
been settled fifteen years; and, when Mr. Hall was here, cleared land
was worth fifty dollars, and uncleared land about fifteen dollars per
acre. At _Avon_ Mr. Hall quitted the main road, and followed the right
bank of the Genesee. The scenery, in the vicinity of this place, began
to improve, but the roads were proportionally deteriorated. Wild even to
savageness, mountain heights branched thickly across the country, with
no seeming order or direction. The only level ground was in the narrow
valleys, along the course of the streams.
The woods in the vicinity of the Genesee abound in large black
squirrels, some of which are as big as a small cat. They are destructive
to grain, and are, therefore, keenly pursued by sportsmen, who
frequently make parties to kill them, and who destroy several thousands
at one chase: their flesh is considered a great delicacy. These animals
migrate, at different seasons; and have the credit of ingeniously
ferrying themselves over rivers, by using a piece of bark for a raft,
and their tails for sails.
_Bath_ is embosomed in wild mountains. The principal houses are
constructed round the three sides of a square, or green; and, as most of
them were at this time new, white, and tastefully finished, they had a
lively appearance, and were agreeably contrasted with the dark adjacent
mountain scenery.
The road from Bath to _Painted Post_, though stony, is tolerably level.
The adjacent mountains have a slaty appearance, with horizontal strata.
Mr. Hall was disappointed at Painted Post, to find the post gone,
broken down or rotted, within the last few years. It had been an Indian
memorial, either of triumph or death, or of both.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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