In the afternoon we went on board on the canal boat here in Albany. These boats are all the same size. They are about 30 ells long and 5 ells wide with room for freight in the center and a cabin in each end with costly curtains in the windows and painted floor with carpets on; the other furniture in the rooms were for the most part polished.
At the first start of the canal boat they pushed this forward with poles a little ways up the locks, that is, a dam which the boat went up; above the lock there was built a large dam in which the boat was turned around and under a house. Now one of the locks was closed and the water tapped off
so that the boat stood dry on some beams; there was an arrangement whereby the boat was weighed with the cargo in, excepting the people that went ashore; when this was done the lock was opened and the boat floated and went back. From there it was taken with 2 horses and hauled all the way to Buffalo. With wonderment we looked at the works on this canal especially the locks which were 85 in number and between 5 and 6 ells high and all of cut marble, and a large part of the finest white marble. Along the canal there is an immense number of cities which are lately founded; but I do not know the name of them because I did not understand English. With wonderment we saw near a little town a large steep hill which was covered with railroads for steam cars. Yes, there went one railroad which could not escape this hill and there for the first time we saw many cars hooked together which came down the hill without both horses and engines, that we could see; when they came down they were taken with horses; likewise when the horses came to the hill from below with the car many were hooked together and went up the hill of their own accord.
Erik Hougen, from Thiin, stated that he took a ride on a steam car from Albany, a distance upward which hauled 18 cars full of people; but when they came to such a hill he said, the engine let go of them and the other cars went down the hill by themselves; in the middle of the hill they met a car with an awfully large load of stones which went up on the other track. I did not see any engine that pulled but by the side of the load was a big iron beam which went on cushions. This was probably the machine. Perhaps this was in the same hill on which we saw the cars go.
In Rochester we had heard it said that there were Norwegians there; thither we came one morning early and went ashore and looked about in the city. Ansteen now met a man that had arrived a year before; this man was going to work so he did not get to talk much with him; he directed us to where we might meet one who had been there a few years but him we did not meet. While we went there and waited we met a man by a bridge who was from Faaloino in Stavanger County and had come over the year before. He told us where the Norwegians had located in the west, namely,
in the State of Illinois, which was over 1000 miles from Buffalo. He told us that the Norwegians who had come to Illinois had written to them how it was there, that a plain laborer could get from 1 to 1½ dollars per day and afterwards about the tradesmen, how much they could get according to their kind; he said, “if you have so much money that you can get there, you should not stop before you get there; if I had so much money I would go tomorrow,” said he. He went with us into a merchant he was acquainted with and asked if our money was good enough; but he said that it did not pass in Illinois and if they desired would exchange it without any per cent. That was very good for there we got Illinois money; yes, we got some silver too in place of paper.—The above mentioned man told us that the canal was damaged and that we must not make contract with the captain farther than there for the time being. Now, we parted with pleasure from this man and betook us on the journey to Buffalo, which is 100 miles from Rochester.
When we came to the break in the canal referred to above we got on to another boat; a lot of people came on board which were from Bavaria in Germany, and some French; there was certainly 100 of them and all were peasants; and all their male persons had blue linen shirts outside of their clothes with large pockets on them which hung outside and many wore caps which fitted close to the head.—These people all had to be in the freight room; but we were allowed to be in the front room with some Scotchmen with whom we were in company from Albany; these were mostly young people of both sexes but very good-natured and jolly with singing and other entertainment; we got so acquainted with these as if we were the best friends at home, but we did not understand each others’ talk. When we came to Buffalo, which is the end of the canal, we had to go from there on steamboat to Detroit; from Buffalo the Scotchmen secured passage for us just as for themselves but some of them parted with us there.—In Buffalo we first saw Indians; that is, the original Americans who live about like the Lapps in Norway and subsist on hunting and without houses; but have tents which they move from one place to another. Those we saw there we could notice were women; we came first into a merchant
where one stood and talked with him; when she went out we asked him what kind of a person that was; he answered it was an Indian; but we did not yet understand what that meant.—Their clothes consist of trousers on each hip which extend from the upper part of the hip with a belt around the waist and a strap from the trouser hips up to it besides a shirt above which extends down to the hip, that is the underwear; outside they have a sort of blanket which consists of white, blue, and colored stripes which they hang over the head and which reaches down on the legs and this they hold around themselves with their hands; on their feet they have shoes of skin which are fitted tight to the feet and no socks but the women have the most beautiful etchings outside of their trousers and some of them wear much of gold and silver ornaments.
Now we went on the steamboat in company with these Scotchmen in Buffalo which went to Detroit over the Erie Lake which is a fresh water and which is so large that we could not see land only on one side; but when we came to Detroit we did not know where to go; but 2 carpenters of these Scotchmen said that they were going to Schicago, the same place as we were going to. We went with them to the boarding house; I at once went out and down on the wharf to look around; on the street I met one of the Norwegians who had gone out from Bergen the 7th of April this year. When I came to talk with him he related that there were about 80 persons in the company who were bound for Schicago and they had been staying here for 5 days and had not got passage but after 2 days they were to get passage. Now we took leave of these Scotchmen and went to our fellow countrymen with whom we have kept company from that time on. In Detroit we had to pay 10 dollars apiece to Schicago, which is 700 miles, which also was fresh water. On this steamboat were such a great number of passengers that we could hardly sit down. The sailors and others were so thievish that we could scarcely keep our baggage; yes, a part of it they took from us.
They went into a city to take wood (fuel), the name of it I do not remember but there was a fort. Here we got to see plenty of Indians; when we got ashore there was on