another. Money is his idol, and to procure it he gladly foregoes every self-gratification. [Sidenote: TICONDEROGA.] From this miserable habitation, just mentioned, we departed as soon as the rain was over, and the wind coming round in our favour, we got as far as Ticonderoga that night. The only dwelling here is the tavern, which is a large house built of stone. On entering it we were shewn into a spacious apartment, crowded with boatmen and people that had just arrived from St. John’s, in Canada. Seeing such a number of guests in the house, we expected nothing less than to be kept an hour or two till sufficient supper was prepared for the whole company, so that all might sit down at once together, which, as I have before said, is the custom in the country parts of the United States. Our surprise therefore was great at perceiving a neat table and a comfortable little supper speedily laid out for us, and no attempts made at serving the rest of the company till we had quite finished. This was departing from the system of equality in a manner which we had never witnessed before, and we were at a loss for some time to account for it; but we presently heard that the woman of the house had kept a tavern for the greater part of her life at Quebec, which resolved the knotty point. The wife is generally the active person in managing a country tavern, and the husband attends to his farm, or has some independent occupation. The man of this house was a judge, a sullen demure old gentleman, who sat by the fire[28], with tattered clothes and dishevelled locks, reading a book, totally regardless of every person in the room. Footnote 28: Though this was the 14th day of July, the weather was so cold that we found a fire extremely agreeable. The old fort and barracks of Ticonderoga are on the top of a rising ground, just behind the tavern; they are quite in ruins, and it is not likely that they will ever be rebuilt, for the situation is very insecure, being commanded by a lofty hill called Mount Defiance. The British got possession of the place the last war by dragging cannon and mortars up the hill, and firing down upon the fort.