I live near the corner of section ten, the place marked J. W., and the dots from thence through section three and two, show the road to Albion; and those through sections nine, eight, seventeen, and nineteen, mark the road to my farm, in the south east quarter of section nineteen. My other farm is in the north-west quarter of section eighteen. Albion is in sections one and two; Wanborough is in section three.
Sections two, five, twenty, twenty-three, thirty, and thirty-three, in all townships, may be entered in half quarter-sections, {273} that is, in eighty acres; but in the other sections not less than a quarter can be entered. Owing to the land being uneven, some sections will a little exceed 640 acres, and the overplus is always put to the north-west quarter. The sixteenth section, in every township, is not sold, but reserved for the support of a public school. But this section in Town 2, is of little value, as much of it is very wet; but let the sixteenth section be good or bad, it is always reserved for school-land, because it is nearly central, should a school ever be opened in that township.
A few years back the United States obtained, by treaty with Indiana,[155] a considerable space of country, to the north of the base line; and in 1819, a new survey was made to the north of us, and the land was put up by auction in December, and in February and April last, to the amount of near a million of acres; but the greater part of it remains unsold, at the land-offices of Shawneetown, Edwardsville, and Kaskaskia. {274} I have heard this land is good; it is partly prairie and partly woodland; not remarkably well watered, and remote from water-carriage. It is represented as too much settled for backwoodsmen, and too remote for Europeans.
In our journey, I frequently mentioned the state of the weather: I will now give a short account of it, from recollection, since our residence here. It was generally dry and hot till the end of October; November dry, temperate, and pleasant; this continued till the 14th of December, then wet and cold. January intensely cold, except from the 6th to the 10th, the thermometer sometimes as low as eight degrees below zero, or forty degrees below the freezing point; but this was only when the sun was set, as it is much warmer in the day than night; in this respect, much more so than in England. The Americans told us, it was the toughest spell of cold they ever knew. The snow was at least eighteen inches on a level. The middle and end of February warm and showery; March generally {275} dry, but colder than the preceding month. On the first of April a heavy fall of snow, and a few following days cold, the rest of April dry; and after the middle as warm as July in England. May variable, hot, temperate, and even cold, but mostly dry. June hot and dry, except a few thunder showers. On the 4th of July a moderate rain, the rest of the month extremely hot and dry; and now, (August the 15th,) the thermometer stands nearly up to 100 degrees. The Americans say, they never knew so little rain as in the last thirteen or fourteen months.
With a few remarks on the country I left, and the one I reside in, I shall now conclude.
England has the advantage in climate, both in summer and winter; and people of large property may have better attendance in England than here. Clothing, furniture, and many articles of convenience and comfort are cheaper, and in greater abundance in England than with {276} us. And, it is true, many young men, who have visited the western country, have been dissatisfied at first, for want of society and amusements, and the difficulty of procuring comfortable places to board and lodge at; with the inconveniences attending getting their clothes made, washed, &c.: females being scarce with the European settlers, as three or four men have arrived to one woman. But after a short time, the greater part of them get reconciled to the country.
I should like to see the climate of this country more temperate, both in summer and winter, particularly the latter; as the cold is extremely severe, but of short duration. And if we had some running streams, it would be much pleasanter in the summer to us, and more beneficial to the cattle.
With regard to water for the stock, during the summer; in some places there has been great want of it, as most of the creeks have been dried up, and some of the cattle of the English Prairie went off to the Bonpas {277} and Little Wabash. But at Birks' Prairie they have done well for water, as most of the creeks of English and Birks' Prairie unite a mile below the south-end of the latter in the woods, and it is there called the big creek, and it is never dry; and from this creek some of the inhabitants of Birks' Prairie fetch all their water in a dry season. But few of these Americans will ever dig a well, and some of those that do soon lose it again for want of welling up. Among the English, there are now a number of wells, and many of them have now a good supply of water. When there are a few more dug, and a few ponds made, I think the prairies will be pretty well supplied with water, both for domestic use and cattle; but it will be difficult to extend it to any manufacturing purpose. This year, great drought has prevailed, from the 1st of April to the 20th of August; but in the last week we have had three good showers, each of several hours' continuance, so that the creeks run again, and the earth is got {278} well soaked; and, I hope, there will be plenty of water for the remainder of the summer. As the first part of it was so dry, we had no buffalo gnats, and but few prairie flies or musquetoes; but a great quantity of common flies, and they, I believe, are numerous all over America, at least we found them so all the way from Baltimore.
When better cabins are built, and we get a little accustomed to the climate, I hope much of the inconveniences we feel from the difference will be over, as we continue to enjoy as good health as we ever did in England. We here take three meals a day,—breakfast of bacon, beef, eggs, butter, honey-bread, with tea and coffee: dinner, some sort of pudding, with meat or game, and water to drink: supper the same as breakfast. I never liked my living in England better than I do here, and I am quite reconciled to the loss of beer or cider at dinner. But I expect beer will be plentiful enough in a few years, and cider at some future period. Brandy, rum, {279} and wine can be procured, and whiskey is in great plenty; and too much of it is drank by many. Beer, peach-brandy, and persico, are also frequently to be purchased. Tea, coffee, sugar, spices, &c. &c. to be procured at the stores, and most articles of clothing; the latter dear. We have most kinds of mechanics, so that we can have many sorts of furniture made; and we have black walnut and cherry-tree wood to make it with; these trees are in great abundance, and we have other sorts for building.