chase on the Delaware, he was very anxious, as I was told, to obtain Hunter's Island; and showed his good taste, if I am correctly informed, by offering a very large price for it. It is in all respects superior to the acquisition he afterwards made on the Delaware. But Mr. Hunter was quite right to decline, on any terms, parting with such a gem as this.

The second time that I went to this island to enjoy its scenery, we were accompanied by a friend from New York. Mr. Hunter had by this time heard of our being in the neighbourhood, and, having noticed us when going away, he followed, and begged us to return to his house and take some refreshment. It was getting late in the evening, and we were therefore obliged to decline his hospitality; but we promised to take an early opportunity of paying him a visit, which we accordingly did on the 16th November. Mr. Hunter was long a member of Congress,-seems a very gentlemanly person, of mild manners,-very anxious that a good understanding should subsist between the people of the United States and of England, and regrets much the views which Captain Hall has given of North America. He expressed great approbation of the system of farming practised by several Scotch farmers whom he knew in various parts of this neighbourhood, especially by a Judge Somerville. Mr. · Hunter has lately had a large collection of paintings made for him in Italy by, I think he said, his brother, at present in that country. Among those which I saw, were some of considerable merit by Poussin, Watteau,

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&c.; but, as a whole, his gallery does not take a very high rank. A choice collection by the best masters only, even on a much smaller scale, might have no inconsiderable effect in forming the taste of the people in this part of the United States-far more than the acquisition of so large a number of pictures of the middling class. Chaste works of art are much wanting in the United States. Few persons comparatively are yet acquainted with them. The collections of paintings, and of works of art in the large towns, show great want of information and skill.

I have never been able to discover either here, or in other parts of the United States where we have yet been, any ground for an observation which has been again and again made by British writers, viz. that it is difficult to understand the language which the Americans use, and that an American does not at once under

stand what an Englishman says. On the contrary, I think it much more difficult, in travelling in Britain, to comprehend the various dialects that are used by the lower classes in different parts of the country. Even in London, the language is very different in the city and at the west end of the town. The style of speaking is very much the same all over this country. The only variation seems to consist in the different signification which is given to a few words in America, such as the following:-A lady calling on us when there were some melons on the table, we asked her, as soon as the servant brought a plate, to partake. She was

in a hurry, and took up a little bit in her hand, saying, allow me to take it " friendly,"-meaning unceremoniously. Of such words as this there is a considerable number, but there is generally no difficulty in finding out the sense in which they are used.

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CHAPTER XX.

Removal from New Rochelle to Mr. Van Boskerck's Boarding-House at Hoboken-Situation-Colonel Stevens' Property at Hoboken, formerly Mr. Byard's Estate -Great Undertakings of Colonel Stevens' Family -Steam-Boats, Stages, &c.-Patent for the Invention of Shell-Bombs -Hoboken Ferry-Twin Steam-Boat tried without Success-Superintendents of the Ferry-Sum paid for Ferry-Wharfage at New York-The Extent of Wharf for Hudson River Steam-Boats-Salaries to Master and Crew of Ferry Steam-Boats-Salary to Porter-Beauty of Walks at Hoboken-Mr. Van Boskerck's Family-Gentlemen go to Market at New York-They frequently carry Home their Purchases-Shoe-black's Dinner at New York-Mr. Taylor, Dutch Congregational Minister at Bergen-Character of Americans of Dutch Extraction-Clergymen preach in Dutch Language-Mr. SobriskiHis Property-His Manners-Clergymen of New York-Their Orthodox Doctrines-No Connection of Clergy with the State-No Grounds for the Charge of Fanaticism against the People of United States generally-Mr. Cone-Mr. Power-Interval between Morning and Evening Service-Grace said at Hoboken Boarding-House-Women employed in making Men's Clothes-Mr. Rowe's EstablishmentHis Clothing-store at New Orleans-Custom of Visiting on New Year's Day-Seed Cakes-Mildness of Winter, 1829-30-Filling of Ice-Houses-Mr. Scott, from Somersetshire, Overseer of Farms in New Jersey-His Mode of living-Watering of New York Streets in January, 1830.

From December, 1829, to January, 1830. IN the middle of December, we removed from New Rochelle to Mr. Van Boskerck's boarding-house at

Hoboken on the opposite side of the Hudson from New York, from which it is distant about a mile and a-half, by steam-boat, which passes every quarter of an hour, from sunrise till after sunset. The situation is most convenient, in a charming spot in the country, with delightful walks at our door, and it is in our power at any time to be in the heart of New York in twenty minutes. The village of Hoboken, at one end of which Mr. Boskerck's house is placed, is on the New Jersey shore, and is part of the extensive property of Colonel Stevens, a gentleman above eighty years old, who has three miles of fine coast adjoining to it. This was the principal part of the estate, and the residence of Mr. Byard, an American loyalist, whose property being confiscated, the greater part was bought by Colonel Stevens at a very low rate, at the end of the revolutionary war. The Colonel and his family, consisting of four sons, are all engaged in great undertakings connected with steam navigation. They are proprietors of the "North America" steam-boat, and three others of the same class, which ply between New York and Albany upon the Hudson. They have steam-boats in New York Bay, and on the Delaware, carrying on an intercourse between New York and Philadelphia; and they are proprietors of the stages required for the land part of the communication between New York, Brunswick, and Trenton. They also have steam-boats and stages to Newark, about nine miles from New York. The road from Newark to New York is made through