to the custom of the country, where the inhabitants are in habits of collecting what information they can from travellers. We had a long political discussion, originating on the subject of Col. Burr's projects; and amongst the six present, there {59} were no two who agreed in sentiment. Indeed, in this country every man thinks for himself, or at least he imagines he does, and would suppose himself insulted, was another to attempt openly to bias his opinion; but notwithstanding this supposed liberty of sentiment, superior talents when united to ambition, seldom fail of drawing the mass after them. The conversation of this evening was both amusing and instructive; some of the party, particularly Mr. Holly, a New England man, being possessed of very good information, and the arguments were conducted with cool, dispassionate reasoning.
About 8 o'clock, the landlord, who was a German, came into the room and offered to light us to bed: My fellow travellers complied, but I told him I should sit up two hours longer. The old man repeated my words, "two hours," shrugged up his shoulders and went off, while I literally kept my word, amused by a series of three or four of the last Baltimore Federal Gazettes. On going to bed, and finding the bed clothes very light, I added the covering of another bed in the room to mine, which I left so in the morning as a hint to the house.
At five o'clock next morning, we resumed our journey, and found very little snow on the road, though there was so much on the mountains behind us.
The aspect of the country is similar to what it is between the Laurel hills and Greensburgh. Hills running in ridges from north to south, heavily wooded with white oak, walnut, sugar tree and other timber natural to the climate; and the valleys narrow, but rich and all settled.
At eight miles from Greensburgh, we passed on our right
