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to look out for some place where I could sleepan almost hopeless task. At last, however, I found a lodging-house, in which I could be admitted. After settling the terms with my landlady, she said to me, 66 I suppose, Sir, you you have no objection to having another gentleman in the same room with you?" I replied that I had a very great objection; but that, in the present state of things, I supposed I must endure it. I then asked her to let me have the bed that was there, and to move in another for my companion; but, answered she, "Oh! you are both to occupy the same bed!" I could, at first, hardly believe my ears; but upon repeating the question, whether she really meant we were both to sleep in one bed, and being answered in the affirmative, I made a precipitate retreat down stairs. I did not then know that, in many parts of the United States, this practice of sleeping double is very common.

This chance of having to sleep with some person, who, besides other amiable peculiarities, might, perhaps, be infected with the yellow fever, hindered me from looking any more for lodgings; and I was glad to accept the invitation of the captain of the vessel I came over in, who politely offered to allow me to sleep on board his ship until I left New York..

CHAPTER II.

PHILADELPHIA,

OWING to the confusion occasioned at the Custom-house by the prevalence of the fever, I found some difficulty in getting my baggage passed, and consequently was detained till I had lost all patience. On the morning of the fourth day, at eleven o'clock, I quitted New York on board the Philadelphia steam-boat, and again descended the magnificent bay, for the distance of five miles. Turning to the west, we then entered the strait that separates Staten Island from New Jersey, after which we entered the Rariton river, and proceeded to the little town of New Brunswick, which is forty miles from New York.

The scenery throughout the whole of this dis tance is, for the most part, that of a flat and uninteresting country, though there are here and there some thriving little villages. Great numbers of small schooners and sloops were sailing in the strait, carrying fish, wood, &c. to New York.

We landed at New Brunswick, which is a thriving place, containing some very good houses; and proceeded by land to Trenton, a distance of twenty-six miles, over a very bad road. All the passengers had previously booked themselves to

go on in the coaches which were waiting for them, and which, to the number of eight, were completely filled, and presented a very extraordinary appearance as they followed one another in a line.

The American stage is very like the old English carriage called a sociable, having an opening all round for about two feet and a half from the top, closed in bad weather by curtains. The whole of the baggage is carried before and behind, on two projecting pieces of wood which are level with the bottom of the stage. There are no outside passengers, but nine inside, upon three seats. This vehicle, which when full is very uncomfort able, is drawn by four horses, and travels at the rate of about six miles and a half an hour. · ́

The scenery on the road to Trenton is very uninteresting, being either through thick wood, or else through an open country, covered entirely with fields of Indian corn. Each of these is surrounded by a zigzag fence made of long pieces of split timber laid upon one another.

Indian corn is the staple of all the States, except of those of New England. This beautiful plant often grows to the height of seven or eight feet, and with its large, long, sword-like leaves, spreads over a considerable space. The part of each leaf that is near to the stalk, serves as a kind of gutter to collect the rain and dew, which are deposited in a small cavity between the leaf and the stalk. After a week or two of dry weather, I

have torn off some leaves of the green plant, and have always found a small quantity of water in the cavity. This property of collecting the water makes the plant peculiarly suited to a climate, where it seldom rains during summer, and then only in short and violent showers.

In all the States in which Indian corn will grow, it produces a much greater crop to the acre than any other grain. I have heard it said, as much as double the quantity of flour, whether calculated by weight or measure. In addition to the abundance of valuable food with which this plant supplies the human race, its long leaves, and the covering pulled off the corn itself, afford, when stacked, excellent fodder for horses and cattle: horses indeed always prefer it to hay. The large stalks look like bamboo; and being very brittle, and full of a soft spungy pith, which absorbs all moisture, form excellent litter for a farm-yard.

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Indeed, upon the whole, Indian corn is the most valuable plant I am acquainted with; and I should recommend the English agriculturist to procure some Sioux corn, a species so called from its having been brought from the country beyond the Mississippi, which is inhabited by a tribe of that name. This species ripens very early in the summer; and, when the corn is in a state of verdure, and when each grain is about the size of a young pea, it is boiled as a vegetable for the table, and is excellent.

On our road we passed through Princetown,

in which there is a large college, once rather celebrated for the learning of its professors.

At Trenton we stopped at a very good inn, where I was lucky enough to get a single-bedded room. This is the spot where, during the Revolutionary war, the Americans under Washington crossed the Delaware on the ice, and surprised and cut off the Hessian auxiliaries.

Over the river there is here a very large and handsome bridge, which is covered at the top, and left open at the sides. At six o'clock in the morning, we had to walk down about a quarter of a mile to the pier, from which the steam-boat for Philadelphia sets out. In order to pay the bill at a tavern one is obliged to go oneself to the bar, as there is no officious waiter who can be called and ordered to bring word what there is to pay. Indeed paying at the bar is customary throughout the whole of the United States, however long or short a time one may stay at a house. I may here remark, as another peculiarity in American taverns, that nothing is expected, either by the waiter or chambermaid, as they are paid by the master of the house, and do not depend at all upon travellers. When remaining, indeed, at an inn for three or four days, the better order of travellers often give the waiter half a dollar, particularly if they expect to return there again. But no one ever thinks of giving anything to the chambermaid. I may make a similar remark with regard to the drivers

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