New York is but little inferior to the capital cities of Europe, with the exception of London and Paris. It has, at present, 220,000 inhabitants, and its commerce is so extensive, animated, and active, that, in this respect, it is scarcely surpassed by any. There are so many descriptions of this great city, that to say much on the subject would be merely repetition. The first impression that it made on me was very striking, on account of the beauty of its situation. In the interior the style of building resembles that of many English cities. It has one remarkably fine street, called the Broadway, which traverses its whole length; other parts are old, and not so handsome. In the Broadway, which is the favourite resort of the fashionable world, is an uninterrupted line of shops, but little inferior to those of London and Paris. The city is extremely animated, and people of all nations carry on business here. We were assured that the population had been diminished, in a few days, by the emigration of 20,000 of the inhabitants, who had fled to other towns for fear of the cholera.[26] It is well known that this lamentable disease had been very fatal in Canada, and had now penetrated into the Northern States of the Union: it was raging in Albany, on the Hudson, at Detroit, and on the great lakes, so that it seemed as if it would defeat our project of beginning our journey to the interior by that route. This had been my plan, in which the recommendations of our worthy countryman, Mr. Astor,[27] would have been of great service, as he is the founder and head of the American Fur Company, which has spread its trading stations over the whole of the interior of North America. I formed numerous interesting acquaintances, in a short time, in New York. Several estimable fellow-countrymen, Messrs. Gebhard and Schuchart, and Mr. Iselin, did their utmost to afford us their counsel and assistance. Mr. Schmidt, the Prussian consul, contributed not a little to make our stay in this city agreeable; and so did Mr. Meier and other of our German friends. Mr. Schmidt has a country-house at Bloomingdale, 14 where we passed some very pleasant days in the circle of his amiable family. Mrs. Schmidt, an American lady, had visited Europe and travelled in Germany, and remembered, with pleasure, the banks of the Rhine.
The house at which Mr. Schmidt resides in the summer, is charmingly situated on the banks of that picturesque river, the Hudson, seven miles from the town. The pretty dwelling-house, with a veranda all round, covered with passion flowers, honeysuckles, the red trumpet flower, and other beautiful climbing plants, stands on a verdant lawn, shaded by lofty trees, among which we observed the finest kinds of this country, the trunks of which were slender, and straight as pillars. The park extends to the Hudson, where the tall sassafras, tulip, oak, walnut, and other trees, protected us by their shade; while the large steam-boats, rapidly passing on the bright surface of the Hudson, had a very picturesque effect. Mr. Schmidt had the kindness to afford us an admirable view of what is called the island of New York. Near Bloomingdale is a large and very well conducted lunatic asylum, from the lofty roof of which we enjoyed an inexpressibly beautiful, extensive, and interesting prospect of the whole country. From this spot we overlooked the East and North Rivers, the broad bend of the latter, and its high banks towards Albany; to the north, dark forests, with detached dwellings and country seats; and, in all directions, luxuriant green thickets, towns, villages, and handsome country-houses. At our feet, contrasting with that rich and noble view, full of variety and life, we looked down on the buildings and court-yards of the hospital, in which we could observe the patients; while, in another enclosed space, Virginian deer were sporting and playing. This asylum is a very excellent establishment, and contains a great number of patients: the physician resides in the house, and was so good as to show us over it. New York has many such useful institutions,—hospitals, poorhouses, and houses of correction, in which latter the young, who may still be reclaimed, are not mixed with the old, hardened offenders, but are kept apart. There is an asylum for the deaf and dumb, &c.
Our returning from Bloomingdale, in the evening, was extremely agreeable, the weather being delightful. In the dark thickets and woods were swarms of fire-flies; and from the marshes and pools came the croakings of the frogs, with which we were not yet familiar; but we did not hear that of the celebrated bull-frog.
The most beautiful spots and environs of New York are indebted for the attraction of their views, to the variety of the waters surrounding the city: thus, for instance, at the end of the Broadway, is the Castle Garden, formerly a circular fort, the walls of which are converted into a public walk. From the wall itself is a fine prospect of the noble harbour, the neighbouring city, the banks, the opposite coast, and the broad river, where ships of every kind and of all nations are coming and going. Another favourite place of resort is the garden at Hoboken, the name of which indicates its Dutch origin, for it is well known that the Dutch founded the first considerable settlement in this place, numerous traces of which still remain. 15 The communication with Hoboken is by means of a steam-boat. The garden extends along the banks of the Hudson, and the lofty trees and thickets are pleasing and interesting to the stranger. The tall hickory and other kinds of walnut trees had now their fruit half grown. Storax trees (Liquidambar styraciflua), with their maple-like leaves, grow very high and straight, Gleditschia triacanthos and inermis, with wild vines, climbing round them; and many other fine forest trees afford protection against the heat of the summer. Many European trees and shrubs, too, have been planted here. Thus we saw a hedge of whitethorn, the growth of which, however, was stunted by other wood. Many birds, whose notes were unknown to us, were heard in these shades. On my first visit to New York, I was interested by some collections of natural history; for instance, two museums, one of which, belonging to Mr. Peale, is, however, much inferior to that of his brother at Philadelphia. Being anxious to see Philadelphia, I hastened to set out for that city, and left New York, where the cholera was daily spreading more and more.
On the 16th, at six in the morning, I embarked on board the Swan steam-boat, which was so crowded with passengers that there was scarcely room to sit down. On our left we had Staten Land; but we soon turned to the right, into the river Raritan, on which New Brunswick is situated.
New Brunswick is a village, consisting of many straggling streets, where all the passengers landed from the steam-boat, and took their seats in stage-coaches, drawn by four horses, which were standing ready to receive them. The heat was great, the company very mixed, and I had the misfortune to have noisy and disagreeable companions. A long hill, with steep sides, which appears to consist of a reddish clay, extends along the water-side to New Brunswick. On the eminence above the town it was naked and rather sterile; the road was bad, and we were roughly jolted as we drove rapidly along. Meadows, fields of clover, rye, oats, and maize succeeded each other in the vicinity of the habitations, as well as plantations of European fruit trees, full of large caterpillar's nests, but flourishing in the greatest luxuriance. The beautiful red trumpet flower partly covered the sides of the houses, about which Italian poplars and Babylonian willows were frequently planted; the latter are often very high and spreading. The cattle are partly without horns. Sheep and swine were numerous.
While we were changing horses at Kingston, negro and other children offered milk, little cakes, and half-ripe fruit for sale, of which a great deal was bought. Some German peasants, lately arrived from Europe, who were welcomed by their relations, previously settled in the country, completely filled a couple of stages, and were not a little merry, in their low German language, at which Americans laughed heartily. From this place the country was rather woody. Here and there were fine forests, the shade of which was very refreshing in this hot weather. The growth of timber was very fine. A pretty wild rose blossomed among the bushes in the meadows. Oak, sassafras, walnut, chestnut, plane, and tulip trees, displayed their luxuriant foliage of various and often glossy green. The tulip trees, when young, are distinguished by 16 their pyramidal shape and beautiful light green leaves; they were at this time covered with their seed vessels, which were full-grown, but not ripe. The branching phytolacea, and the thorn-apple with its large white flowers, which were now open, as well as several plants brought from Europe, grew in abundance by the road-side, also species of sumach, partly entwined with wild vine; and in the forest was underwood of Rhododendron maximum. We passed rapidly through Prince Town, and arrived at Trenton, on the Delaware, a straggling town, lying among thickets, on the low banks of the river. A long, covered wooden bridge led to the opposite bank of this broad river, which was animated by ships and boats. Such colossal, covered wooden bridges are very common in the United States; and many travellers have already described the construction of these useless masses of timber. From Trenton, we hastened over a sandy tract to another place on the river, opposite to which is Bordentown, and at a short distance lay the steam-boat, Trenton, ready to convey us down the river to Philadelphia. We descended the fine river Delaware, the low, verdant banks of which are covered with many towns, settlements, and country houses; here and there, too, with forests of oaks, &c., and of a kind of pine (pinus rigida).[28] After taking dinner, at which we were waited on by negroes and mulattoes, we reached Philadelphia about five or six o'clock.
This city extends a great way along the right bank of the Delaware, but has by no means so beautiful and striking an effect as New York. It is large and regularly built; the long, straight streets crossing each other at right angles. The modern part of the city is handsome, consisting of lofty brick buildings, ornamented in the English fashion; but the older parts of Philadelphia consist of low, mean houses. It is very judicious that, in hot weather, an agreeable shady walk is formed by awnings spread before the houses, and that the streets are well watered. The water-works are at Fairmount, where there is a basin, from which pipes convey the water to every part of the city.
The streets which run at right angles to the Delaware are called by the names of different kinds of trees—Mulberry Street, Walnut Street, Chestnut Street, &c.: the streets which cross them are numbered, First Street, Second Street, Third Street, &c. Chestnut Street, without doubt the finest, is full of life and traffic. A part of it has, in the middle, a shady avenue of lime trees; and, besides, there are, in many of the streets, rows of trees which do not yet afford much shade. Splendid shops, in almost uninterrupted succession, line the streets, and you find here all the manufactures and produce of the other quarters of the globe. The ancient, injudicious practice of having the churchyards in the towns is still retained in America. They are filled with great numbers of whitish monuments, of various forms, often planted with high trees, and lie quite exposed to view, being separated from the street only by an iron railing. Philadelphia has a considerable number of public buildings, especially many churches and meeting-houses of 17 different religious denominations, most of which are extremely plain brick buildings, without any external ornaments whatever. This country has no history like the Old World, and therefore we look in vain for the ancient Gothic cathedrals, and those awe-inspiring monuments of past ages, from which the traveller in Europe derives so much pleasure and instruction. Besides the churches, the principal buildings are the State House, where the independence of the country was proclaimed on the 4th of July, 1776, the United States Bank, the Bank of Pennsylvania, the Exchange, the University and the Medical College, the Mint, some hospitals, the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, and many others, which it would lead us too far to mention here.
Philadelphia would make a more striking impression if we could find a spot commanding a view of the whole; but as it lies in the plain between the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill, which unite five miles below the city, no such spot is to be found.