Pennsylvania- Monday-eve- A Dutchman's inn- I dont know where. Palks County-or some thing like it—

We have only pass'd thro' 2 small towns to day, Allenstown & Kluztown- The former is about 3 miles from Hannover, where we spent the sabbath, & 6 from Bethlehem- Before we enter'd the town, we cross'd the Lehi in 2 places- It was not deep, & we forded it to save time & expence- It runs I believe through Bethlehem or at the side of it & is a very small river- Allentown is not a pleasant place-The houses are almost all stone- It contains 2 small stone churches- We went into a store, where I bought me a coarse tooth comb for 15 cents- I should never get accustom'd to the Pensylvania currency- It diverts me to hear them talk of their fippenny bits (as they pronounce it) & their eleven penny bits— Kluztown is but a few miles from Allentown-It has but one short street which is very thickly built with Stone & log houses— It is rather a dirty street & not more pleasant than the others Stone is used for everything in this state- The barns & houses are almost entirely built of it- I imagine the dutch pride themselves on building good barns, for a great many of them are very elegant- they are 3 & 4 stories high, have windows & one or 2. I saw with blinds- They are larger & handsomer than most of the houses- The dutch women are all out as we pass, dressing flax, picking up apples &c. &c-The dress of the women grows worse & worse-We find them now with very short petticoats, no short gown & barefoot— The country is not pleasant, at least does not appear so as we ride thro' it at all- I should think the land must be good as we see large fields of grain very frequently- There does not appear to be as much fruit as in N Y & N J—We saw immense quantities of apples in each of those states, particularly N J- there would be thousands of bushels at the cider presses, & still the trees would be borne down with them— The roads in this state are pretty good, where, dame Nature has not undertaken to pave them- but she has so much other business on hand that she has never learn'd to pave, & makes a wretched hand at it- I wish she could be persuaded to leave it to Art for the future; for we are very great sufferers for her work- It is quite amusing to see the variety of paintings on the innkeeper's signs- I saw one in N J with Tho^s Jeff'^ns head & shoulders & his name above it- to day I saw Gen G Washington- his name underneath- Gen Putnam riding down the steps at Horseneck- one sign was merely 3 little kegs hanging down one after the other- They have the sun rising, setting, & at Meridian, here a full moon, a new moon, the moon & 7 stars around her, the Lion & Unicorn "fighting &c", & every thing else that a dutchman has ever seen or heard of- I do not believe one of them has wit enough to invent any thing, even for a sign——Several of these creatures sit by Jabbering dutch so fast, that my brain is turn'd & my thoughts distracted, & I wonder I have been able to write a word- If you find it unintelligible you must not wonder or blame me- A dozen will talk at once & it is really intolerable- I wish Uncle Porter was here-How can I live among them 3 weeks? We have come about 24 miles to day- it rain'd a very little this morning & the rest of the day has been quite pleasant tho' somewhat cold- Tomorrow we pass thro' Reading—

Wednesday Oct^ber 31^st Highdleburg-Penn-

We pass'd through Reading yesterday which is one of the largest & prettiest towns I have seen-We stopt about 2 hours in the town, & I improved my time in walking about to see it- I went into the stores enquiring for a scissor case- Almost every one could talk english- but I believe the greatest part of them were dutch people- As soon as we left Reading, we cross'd the Schuylkill- It was not deeper than the Lehi, & we rode thro' it in our waggon. A bridge was begun over it, but the man broke & was unable to finish it- It would have been an excellent one had it been completed- It is now grown over with grass & serves as a walk for the ladies—— We put up for the night at Leonard Shaver's tavern-He is a dutchman, but has one of the most agreeable women for his wife I have seen in this State-I was extremely tir'd when we stopt, & went immediately to bed after tea- & for the first time for a long while, undress'd me & had a comfortable nights rest- We are oblig'd to sleep every & any way- at most of the inns now—— My companions were all disturb'd by the waggoners who put up here & were all night in the room below us, eating, drinking, talking, laughing & swearing- Poor M^r W- was so disturb'd that he is not well this morning, & what is more unpleasant to us, is not good natur'd, & M^rs W has been urging him this half hour, to eat some breakfast- he would only answer "I shan't eat any"-but at length swallow'd some in sullen silence- but is in a different way preparing to ride— If I were going to be married I would give my intended, a gentle emetic, or some such thing to see how he would bear being sick a little- for I could not coax a husband as I would a child, only because he was a little sick & a great deal cross- I trust I shall never have the trial- I am sure I should never bear it with temper & patience. M^r W is I believe a very pious good man, but not naturally pleasant temper'd- religion however, has corrected it in a great degree, but not wholly overcome it- M^rs W- is an amiable sweet temper'd woman, as I ever saw; the more I know her, the better I love her- Susan is a charming girl-but Erastus is rather an obstinate boy- he feels superiour to his father & every one else, in wisdom—M^rs Jackson is a clever woman I believe, but I have a prejudice against her which I cannot overcome- She is very inquisitive and very communicative- She resembles Moll Lyman or rather crazy Moll of Northampton in her looks- She has considerable property & feels it very sensibly- Her youngest son is almost eighteen & has his wife with him, who is not quite as old- They have been married 2 months, & are a most loving couple- I cannot help thinking whenever I see them together, of "love I Sophia?" &c— Her name is Eliza & his, John— The other son is a very obliging but not a very polish'd young man- I like them all better than at first——

Wednesday Eve- Miller's town- Penn- Oct-31^st

We have come 24 miles to day, & just begin to shorten the distance between Pittsburgh & us, & to increase it between Phildelphy (as the dutchmen call it,) & us- It has for a long time been 250 miles to Pitts^g & 60 to Phil^hia- but is now 218 to one & more than 80 to the other— It began snowing this morning which rendered our ride more unpleasant than before- M^r W has continued just as he was in the morning- scarcely a word has been spoken by any of us- I never felt more low spirited & discouraged in my life- We have pass'd through 2 little towns to day- Moyerstown & the other I don't know the name of- We also pass'd thro Lebanon which appear'd to be a town of considerable size & pleasant- we did not stop at all in it- The other towns were merely one short dirty street- this town is one street only, but a tolerably pretty one- There are a number of good houses in it- We have once more got among people of our own nation & language- & they appear very clever—

Harrisburg- P- Thursday- Eve-November-1^st 1810-

It has been snowing fast all the afternoon & we found it very difficult travelling & were oblig'd to put up just in the edge of the town- It was M^r W's intention to cross the Susquehannah which is the other side the town- we shall not pass thro' it- We cross'd the Sweet Arrow, a little river about 8 miles from the Susquehannah— we cross'd it in our waggon-M^r Jeremiah Rees is our landlord- his wife is sick with a fever arising from the Hives at first- He has a sister who seems to take the direction of the female part of the business- She is a strange creature-

Friday morn- I have been very much diverted at hearing some part of her history which she told last night, after drinking a little too much I suppose-She says she has property if she is not married- she had her fortune told a short time since- & was told to think of a certain gentleman living about 300 miles off- which she did, & thought so hard that a drop of blood fell from her nose- She was telling M^rs Jackson of this & ask'd how far she was going- being told about 300 miles- well she said she really believ'd her oldest son was the young man she was to have, for he looks just like the one she thought of- The young man will be quite flatter'd no doubt—— We are all in tolerably good spirits notwithstanding we are unable to proceed on our journey- It still continues snowing, & we shall stay here till tomorrow morning & how much longer I do not know—— There was a cockfighting in the house last night & a great many of the "finest young men in the town" got so intoxicated as to be unable to get home without assistance—— M. V. D.