down on it, mankind begin to look up at it. As for your high towers and monuments, there was a crazy fellow once in this town who undertook to dig through to China, and he got so far that, as he said, he heard the Chinese pots and kettles rattle; but I think that I shall not go out of my way to admire the hole which he made. Many are concerned about the monuments of the West and the East,—to know who built them. For my part, I should like to know who in those days did not build them,—who were above such trifling. But to proceed with my statistics.
By surveying, carpentry, and day-labor of various other kinds in the village in the mean while, for I have as many trades as fingers, I had earned $13 34. The expense of food for eight months, namely, from July 4th to March 1st, the time when these estimates were made, though I lived there more than two years,—not counting potatoes, a little green corn, and some peas, which I had raised, nor considering the value of what was on hand at the last date, was
Rice,.......... $1 73½ Molasses,...... 1 73 Cheapest form of the saccharine. Rye meal,...... 1 04¾ Indian meal,... 0 99¾ Cheaper than rye. Pork,.......... 0 22 All experiments which failed: Flour,......... 0 88 Costs more than Indian meal, both money and trouble. Sugar,......... 0 80 Lard,.......... 0 65 Apples,........ 0 25 Dried apple,... 0 22 Sweet potatoes, 0 10 One pumpkin,... 0 6 One watermelon, 0 2 Salt,.......... 0 3
Yes, I did eat $8 74, all told; but I should not thus
