ing day, Sunday, I went to Kingston (four miles) to church; where I found the congregation adjourned into the woods, the numbers being too great to be otherwise accommodated. It was a sacramental occasion, and long tables were spread under the trees; the people flocking for miles in every direction, as in Scotland. This spectacle, so impressive in an American forest, was rendered still more interesting by the surrounding scenery, which was beautiful. Immediately below the wood there was a wide expanse of water, the confluence of the Holstein and the Clinch · rivers, where they unite to form the Tennessee; and at a distance was a chain of mountains, strongly resembling the chain which comprises Coniston Fells and Langdale Pikes; while the surface of the ground, sometimes gently undulating, and sometimes broken into narrow, lofty, and precipitous ridges, was almost every where covered with stately trees, of a gigantic stature. We set off early the next morning, and reached Knoxville at night, delighted, yet almost exhausted, with the constant succession of magnificent mountain views. At Knoxville I staid at Ray's tavern, which, being built of bricks, and divided into convenient rooms, appeared like a palace, after our late accommodation. On On my arrival I found several gentlemen sitting in the portico before the house, among whom was the resident agent of the United States among the Choctaws, who had been at Washington, and was bringing a handsome present from the Government to the missionary settlements at

Yaloo Busha. The following morning I rose early, and walked about the town, beautifully situated on the Holstein. At five o'clock most of the shops were open, the newspapers were in the course of delivery, and every thing bore the appearance of eight or nine o'clock in a more northern town. We rode for about seventeen miles, when we were compelled to halt by the heat of the day. In the evening, the fragrance of the woods and the melody of the birds were delightful; and the cool clear streams seemed to refresh our horses greatly after their toilsome journey, our detention in the morning having thrown us more into the heat of the day than usual. We now began to be more sensible than ever how much we had been indebted to the thick woods, which, till within a few days, had almost entirely protected us from the rays of the sun.

At eight o'clock we stopped at Myer's, a German, who treated us very civilly. Opposite the house they were making hay, the first we had seen cut; the smell of which transported me for a time to Indeed, for several days I had been perpetually reminded of home by the general aspect of the surrounding scenery; the rich crops of wheat and barley, which in this section of the country had almost displaced the Indian corn; the "hum of children just let loose from school," who often accosted us with their little bows; and a style of manners resembling that of the country people in the neighbourhood of our lakes, in all its most valuable characteristics. Some of the customs, indeed, were different, as I

was still occasionally placed at the family suppertable with labourers in their shirt-sleeves; but that family, and those labourers, appeared as cordial, obliging, and accommodating, as those with whom I have ventured to compare them; in their own way, as respectful, and much more intelligent: in short, any thing, rather than what people generally mean when they say Americans. I am, &c.

LETTER XVII.

Richmond, Virginia, June 20, 1820.

I CONCLUDED my letter this morning, because I did not wish to inflict more than two sheets upon you at once; but it did not bring me so far on my route as I intended. I however pass over a few days of my narrative, as they afforded no very peculiar occurrences. In speaking of East Tennessee, a delightful country, of which I have the most agreeable impressions, I forgot to say that the inhabitants are anticipating considerable advantage from improvements in the land communication between the Tennessee and the Black Warrior. They have also some prospect of the completion of two canals, which have long been projected, and appear in the maps of the United States, and which would connect the waters of the Tennessee with those of the Tombigbee and the Alabama, and afford a passage for the produce of East Tennessee to Mobile and the Gulf of

Mexico. This would supply a great stimulus to industry; as Mobile at present obtains a large proportion of her flour from New-Orleans, by way of Lake Borgne and Port Chartrain,-a channel of communication rendered so expensive by a heavy tonnage duty, that flour was selling at Mobile when I was there extravagantly higher than at New-Orleans.

We had for some days been almost insensibly ascending the Alleghany mountains; but to the 12th we saw nothing which indicated any extraordinary elevation. On that afternoon, however, we had a very extensive, though not a particularly interesting, view; and the air was so cool, that I was glad to ride in my great coat. Our mountain ride gave us an appetite before the end of our day's journey; and we stopped to take coffee at a small house on the ridge, where we were detained till it was nearly dark,-the universal custom of making and baking fresh bread for you being a sad detention to travellers, who ought never to order breakfast or tea unless they can af ford to stay two hours. About nine o'clock we arrived at the bottom of one of the little valleys very common among the Alleghany mountains, and took up our abode for the night at the ferry-house on the Kanawa, a large river, which falls into the Ohio. We crossed it in a ferry-boat at half-past four o'clock the next morning (the 13th,) and breakfasted at Major -'s, a fine friendly old gentleman who I found sitting in his neat white porch, and whose respectable appearance rendered me almost ashamed to ask if he entertain

ed travellers; although I am now pretty well accustomed to consider neither the imposing aspect of a house, nor the sounding title of its inhabitants, whether Dr. Colonel, Judge

they do not "keep private entertainment." The old gentleman was much interested in hearing about England, the native land of his grandfather. His wife, who made breakfast for me, was a sensible well-read gentlewoman, who might fairly pass in any society, incredible as this may seem in the wilds of America within twelve miles from the summit of the Alleghany. One of the daughters, a nice modest girl, sat by Dr. Kingsbury, my missionary friend, who had called here on his way to Brainerd, and left the "Life of Harriet Newell," which had greatly interested all the family. Soon after breakfast we reached the top of the Alleghany, where to our surprise we found a turnpikegate, the first we had seen for many months. The view was extensive, though disappointing as a whole the loss of one magnificent prospect, however, was far more than compensated by the succession of beautiful and interesting valleys, through which we continued to pass for several days, surrounded by ranges of lofty mountains at different distances. Soon after we began to descend, we stopped for some cold water at an attractive inn, where we found the people assiduously and cordially civil, like our honest and best kind of inn-keepers at home. They offered to fetch us some seed-water if we would wait a few minutes. The long steep descent from the top of