change would it make in the country below, fhould the mountains at Niagara, by any accident, be cleft afunder, and a paffage fuddenly opened to drain off the waters of Erie and the Upper Lakes! While ruminating on thefe fubjects, I have often been hurried away by fancy, and led to imagine, that what is now the bay of Mexico, was once a champaign country; and that from the point or cape of Florida, there was a continued range of mountains through Cuba, Hifpaniola, Porto-Rico, Martinique, Gaudaloupe, Barbadoes, and Trinidad, till it reached the coaft of America, and formed the fhores which bounded the ocean, and guarded the country behind: that, by fome convulfion or fhock of nature, the fea had broken through thefe mounds, and deluged that vast plain, till it reached the foot of the Andes; that being there heaped up by the trade-winds, always blowing from one quarter, it had found its way back, as it continues to do, through the gulph between Florida and Cuba, carrying with it the loom and fand it may have scooped from the country it had occupied, part of which it may have depofited on the thores of North America, and with part formed the banks of Newfoundland. But thefe are only the vifions of fancy *' In addition to what we have already faid refpecting the face of the country in Pennfylvania, it may be obferved, that, excepting the Allegany range of mountains, which croffes the ftate in an oblique direction, and is from twenty to fifty miles wide, the ftate is generally level, or agreeably diverfified with gentle hills and vales. The foil is of the various kinds; in fome parts it is barren; a great proportion of the ftate is good land; and no inconfiderable part is very good. Perhaps the proportion of firft rate land is not greater in any of the thirteen ftates. The richest part of the ftate that is fettled is Lancaster county. The richeft that is unfettled, is between Allegany river and Lake Erie, in the north-west corner of the ftate. Of this fine tract, 100,000 acres, lying on and near French Creck, are for fale by the state. The convenient communications through this creek into the Allegany, and from the Allegany, through various creeks and rivers to the Sufquehannah and Patomak, have already been mentioned. The north fide of Pennsylvania is the richest and the best fettled land throughout, owing entirely to the circumftance of the western road having been run by the armies, prior to 1762, through the towns of Lancaster, Carlile and Bedford, and thence to Pittsburg. For the purpofe of turning the tide of fettlers from this old channel, into the unfettled and more fertile parts of the ftate, the government and landed intereft of Pennfylvania have been, and are still bufy in cutting convenient roads. During the laft fummer (178) they run a road north, from the former roads beyond Bethlehem, to the north portage between Delaware and Sufquehannah; and thence north eighty degrees weft to the mouth of the Tyoga; the firft feventy miles, and the laft above fixty. It is now in contemplation to cut a road from Sunbury, at the forks of the caft and weft branches of Sufquehannah, weft, 150 miles, to the mouth of Toby's creek, which empties into the Allegany river, from the caft. This road will be through a tract of rich land, now for fale by Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, Appendix, No. II. X 3 the the flate. A road is alfo cutting from the mouth of the Tyoga, fouthward, to the mouth of Loyal, a branch of the weft branch of Sufquehannah. Another road is cutting from Huntingdon-town, on Frankstown branch of the Juniatta, westward thirty miles, to a navigable branch of the Allegany. Thus the well judged policy of this ftate, is paving the way for the fettlement of all their waste lands. And to evidence their benevolence, and their wishes to have the advantages of education increafed, and more extensively enjoyed, they have allotted 60,000 acres of thefe waste lands for the ufe of public schools; and above 60,coo more have been granted for that purpose, and to the focieties eftablished for the promotion of knowledge, the arts, religion, &c. In addition to the common obfervation, that the natural growth of this ftate is fimilar to that of New-Jerfey and New-York, which is indeed the cafe in most respects, it may be faid, that there are in Pennfylvania great bodies of fugar-maple, particularly in the counties of Northampton, Luzerne, Northumberland and Waihington, which yield a welltafted and wholefome fugar, to profit. Cumberland and Franklin valley is timbered principally with locuft, black walnut, hickory and white oak. The mountainous parts are covered with pines, chefnuts, &c. The produce from culture, confifts of wheat, which is the staple commodity of the flate, fome rye, Indian corn, buck-wheat, oats, speltz *, barley, which is now raifed in greater quantities than formerly, occafioned by the vaft confumption of it by the breweries in Philadelphia, herop, flax, and vegetables of all the various kinds common to the climate. Pennfylvania is a good grazing country, and great numbers of cattle are fed, and large dairics are kept, but their beef, pork and cheese, are not reckoned fo good as thofe of Connecticut and the other parts of NewEngland; but their butter has been fuppofed fuperior. Climate, difeafes, longevity, &c.] Nothing different from that of Connecticut; except, that on the weft fide of the mountains, the weather is much more regular. The inhabitants never feel thofe quick tranfitions from cold to heat, by a change of the wind from north to fouth, as those fo frequently experience, who live eastward of the mountains, and near the fea. The hot fouthwardly winds get chilled by paffing over the long chain of Allegany mountains. It has been obferved that Pennfylvania is now more unhealthy than formerly; that bilious and remitting fevers, which a few years ago appeared chiefly in the neighbourhood of rivers, creeks and mill-ponds, now appear in parts remote from them all, and in the highest fituations. This change has been traced to three caufes: Firft, To the increase of mill-ponds. Till these were established, intermittents, in feveral counties in Pennfylvania, were unknown. Secondly, To the clearing of the country. It has been remarked, that intermittents on the fhores of the Sufquehannah, have kept an exact pace with the paffages which have been opened for the propagation of marth effluvia, by cutting down the wood which formerly grew in its neighbourhood. A diftinétion, * See this kind of grain defcribed, Page 53. however, however, is to be made between clearing and cultivating a country. While clearing a country makes it fickly in the manner that has been mentioned, cultivating a country, that is, draining fwamps, deftroying weeds, burning bruth, and exhaling the unwholefome and fuperfluous moisture of the earth, by means of frequent crops of grain, gralles and. vegetables of all kinds, render it healthy. Several parts of the United States have preffed through the feveral itages that have been defcribed. The first fettlers received their country from the hand of nature, purc and healthy. Fevers foon followed their improvements, nor were they finally banished, until the higher degrees of cultivation took place. Nor even then, where the falutary effects of cultivation were rendered abortive by. the neighbourhood of mill-ponds. As a third caufe of this increase of fevers, the unequal quantities of rain which have fallen of late years, has been affigned. While the creeks and rivers were confined within fteady bounds, there was little or no exhalation of febrile miafmata from their fhores. But the dry fummers of 1780, 1781, and 1782, by reducing the rivers and creeks far below their ancient marks; while the wet fprings of 1784 and 1785, by fwelling them beyond their natural heights, have, when they have fallen, as in the former cafe, left a large and extenfive furface of moift ground expofed to the action of the fun, and of course to the generation and exhalation of febrile miafmata *. This ftate, having been fettled but little more than a hundred years, is not fufficiently old to determine from facts the state of longevity. Among the people called Quakers, who are the oldeft fettlers, there are inftances of longevity, occafioned by their living in the old, cultivated counties, and the temperance impofed on them by their religion. There are fewer long-lived people armong the Germans, than among other nations, occafioned by their excefs of labour and low diet. They live chiefly upon vegetables and watery food, that affords too little nourishment to repair the wafte of their ftrength by hard labour. Nearly one half of the children born in Philadelphia, die under two years of age, and chiefly with a disease in the ftomach and bowels. Very few die at this age in the country. Population, character, manners, &c.] In the grand convention which was held in Philadelphia in the fummer of 1787, the inhabitants in Pennsylvania were reckoned at 360,000. It is probable they are now more numerous perhaps 400,000. If we fix them at this, the popula tion for every fquare mile will be only nine; by which it appears that Pennfylvania is only one-fifth as populous as Connecticut. But Connecticut was fettled nearly half a century before Pennsylvania; fo that in order to do juftice to Pennfylvania in the comparifon, we muft anticipate her probable population fifty years hence. At this period, if we admit that the number of inhabitants is doubled once in twenty-five years, by natural increafe, without the aid of foreign emigrations, the population will be equal to thirty-fix for every fquare mile. Add to this, 400,000 for the increase by emigrants and their defcen Enquiry into the caufes of the increase of fevers in Pennsylvania, X 4 dents, 1760 county, dents, which is probably not too large a number, confidering the length of time the extenfive tracts of rich and vacant lands-the spirit of emigration in the eastern states-the probable influx of inhabitants, upon the establishment and falutary operation of the new government-and the inducements which are held up to encourage settlers to fix in this state. All these things taken into view, we may venture to predict, that Pennsylvania, at the end of half a century from this time, will contain two millions of fouls, which is about forty-five for every square mile, equal to the present population of Connecticut. Statement of the number of taxable inhabitants in Pennsylvania, in the years Philadelphia city} 8,321 1760, 1770, 1779, and 1786*. Bucks county, 3,148 3,177 4,067 4,237 Chefter, 4,761 5,483 6,378 6,268 Lancafter, 5,631 6,608 York, Cumberland, 1,501 3,521 5,092 3,939 Berks, Northampton, Bedford, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Washington, Fayette, Franklin, Montgomery, Dauphin, Luzerne, The number of militia in Pennsylvania, are reckoned at 85,000, be tween eighteen and fifty-three years of age. The inhabitants of Pennsylvania confist of emigrants from England, Ireland, Germany and Scotland. The Friends and Epifcopalians are chiefly of English extraction, and compose about one-third of the inhabitants. They live principally in the city of Philadelphia, and in the * So often have the counties of this state been divided and fubdivided-and the boundaries altered, that a comparison in this statement can hardly be made, except between the feveral totals: as, for instance, it would appear from the above table that Philadelphia county had decreased in population between the years 1779 and 1786-whereas the contrary is the case for Montgomery county was ftruck off from it. The fame is obfervable of all the counties wherein a decrease appears. 3,908 + No return. counties counties of Chester, Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery. The Irish are mostly Prefbyterians. Their ancestors came from the north of Ireland, which was originally fettled from Scotland; hence they have fometimes been called Scotch-Irish, to denote their double descent. But they are commonly and more properly called Irish, or the defcendents of people from the north of Ireland. They inhabit the western and frontier counties, and are numerous. The Germans compofe one quarter at least, if not a third of the inhabitants of Pennfylvania. They inhabit the north parts of the city of Philadelphia, and the counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Dauphin, Lancafter, York and Northampton; moftly in the four laft. They confift of Lutherans, (who are the most numerous fect) Calvinists, Moravians, Mennonifts, Tunkers (corruptly called Dunkers) and Swingfelters, who are a fpecies of Quakers. Thefe are all diftinguished for their temperance, induftry and oeconomy. The Germans have ufually fifteen of fixty-nine members in the affembly; and fome of them have arifen to the first honours in the ftate, and now fill a number of the higher offices. Yet the lower class are very ignorant and fuperftitious. It is not uncommon to fee them going to market with a little bag of falt tied to their horfes manes, for the purpose, they fay, of keeping off the witches. The Baptifts (except the Mennonift and Tunker Baptists, who are Germans) are chiefly the defcendants of emigrants from Wales, and are nor numerous. A proportionate affemblage of the national prejudices, the manners, cuftoms, religions, and political fentiments of all thefe, will form the Pennfylvanian character. As the leading traits in this character, thus conftituted, we may venture to mention industry, frugality, bordering in fome inftances on parfimony, enterprize, a taste and ability for improvements in mechanics, in manufactures, in agriculture, in commerce, and in the liberal fciences; temperance, plainnefs and fimplicity in drefs and manners; pride and humility in their extremes; inoffenfivenefs and intrigue; in regard to religion, variety and harmony; liberality and its oppofites, fuperftition and bigotry; and in politics an unhappy jargon. Such appear to be the diftinguishing traits in the collective Pennfylvanian character. In this connection, and in a work of this kind, the remarks of a citizen of Philadelphia, on the progrefs of population, agriculture, manners and government in Pennsylvania, in a letter to his friend in England, are too valuable to be omitted. The first fettler in the woods is generally a man who has out-lived his credit or fortune in the cultivated parts of the ftate. His time for migrating is in the month of April. His firft object is to build a small cabin of rough logs for himself and family. The floor of this cabbin is of earth, the roof is of fplit logs-the light is received through the door, and, in fome inftances, through a fmall window. made of greafed paper. A coarfer building adjoining this cabbin affords a fhelter to a cow, and a pair of poor horfes. The labour of erecting thefe buildings is fucceeded by killing the trees on a few acres of ground near his cabbin; this is done by cutting a circle round the trees, two or three feet from the ground. The ground around these trees is then ploughed, and Indian |