sun shone for a few moments in each instance through the aperture. The position of the luminous area, in every instance, with respect to the mountains, was the same. The density and aspect of the clouds were the same, the direction and strength of the wind were very nearly the same, and both cases happened in the same season of the year.

We arrived at Sheffield in the afternoon, and continued there till one o'clock the following day, being confined by a violent rain. From October 15th to October 24th it rained more or less every day except two, the 20th and 21st. On the 24th we rode to Goshen, twenty-four miles; and on the 25th to New-Haven, forty-two.

I am, Sir, &c.

FIRST JOURNEY

TO LAKE

WINIPISEOGEE, OR WENTWORTH.

LETTER I.

Journey to Andover. Atkinson. Hampstead. Chester.

Pembroke. Concord. Boscawen.

bornton. Gilmantown. Meredith,

Salisbury. San

Center Harbour.

Winipiseogee Lake. Its extent. Fed by subjacent Springs. Its numerous and beautiful Islands.

DEAR SIR;

ON Tuesday, September 15th, 1812, I left NewHaven and rode to Hartford, to meet the American board of commissioners for foreign missions. On the Thursday following I rode to Stafford spring, the next morning to Worcester, and on Saturday arrived at Charlestown. On Tuesday I rode to Andover, and the next day attended an examination of the theological students, highly honourable both to themselves. and the professors. September 29th, in company with two young gentlemen, A. B. of Yale college, directing our journey towards the central parts of New-Hampshire, we passed through the parish of North-Andover, Bradford, Haverhill, Atkinson, and Hampstead, and reached Chester at the commencement of the evening: twenty-six miles. The road, though repaired only by statute labour, is generally good.

The surface of the country from Haverhill to Chester is a succession of handsome hills and vallies, everywhere arched. The soil is a light brown loam, moderately good, and universally cultivated, except where handsome groves, interspersed

at very agreeable distances, form one fine feature in the landscape. Another still finer is made up of distant mountains, sometimes very noble, seen successively from the summits of the hills.

The houses and barns throughout this region are generally good; and together with the out-buildings, enclosures, and fields, sufficiently indicate, that the inhabitants are in comfortable circumstances.

Chester I have mentioned heretofore, and have nothing to add concerning it here. The town of Atkinson is less than that of Chester, and Hampstead than Atkinson.

There is in Atkinson an academy, established in 1789 by the Honourable N. Peabody, who gave to it a thousand acres of land. There is also a large meadow, in which, when overflowed by water, raised by a dam, a tract of six acres rises, and floats as an island.

Atkinson contained, in 1775, 575; in 1790, 479; in 1800, 474; and, in 1810, 556 inhabitants. Hampstead contained, in 1775, 768; in 1790, 724; in 1800, 790; and, in 1810, 738 inhabitants.

A part of Atkinson was annexed to Haverhill, when the line was finally run between New-Hampshire and Massachu

setts.

Atkinson was incorporated in 1767, and Hampstead in 1749.

On Wednesday we proceeded to Concord. The road for fifteen miles, to Pembroke, is a turnpike, lately formed through a tract almost absolutely uninhabited, and alternately covered with forests of maple, pine, and oak. The first is principally marsh, the second an alternation of plains and rising grounds, the third a succession of hills. All of them are dull and dismal, and the whole region is one of the most uninviting which I have met with. The road is good and direct.

Pembroke is built principally on a hill, declining easily towards the south-west. The houses are not unlike those which have been mentioned. All these towns have decent churches. The prospect from the hill in Pembroke is fine, and the soil like that which has already been described.

In the year 1775, Pembroke contained 744 inhabitants; in 1790, 956; in 1800, 982; in 1810, 1,153.

From Pembroke to Concord the road, which is generally firm and good, lies almost wholly on a pine plain. We, however, wandered out of the direct road, and lost five miles by A considerable part of this distance we found un

the error.

inhabited.

Concord is pleasantly situated on both sides of the Merrimac. The town is built principally on the western side, upon a single street, near two miles in length, and running parallel with the river. Its site is a handsome plain, limited westward by hills at the distance of perhaps half a mile, and eastward by an interval, which is both pleasant and fertile. The prospect from this town up and down the river is extensive and interesting, and the scenery around it is cheerful. The intervals within the limits of the township amount to about one thousand acres, the current price of which, by the acre, is from sixty to one hundred and twenty dollars. The western part of the township, separated from the town by a pine ridge, is excellent land. The public buildings are the church, courthouse, a well-built school-house, and the state-prison. The church is a large and good building. The state-prison is a noble edifice of beautiful granite, which abounds in the vicinity. It is a copy of the state-prison at Charlestown, both in the materials and the structure. The centre and one wing only are finished.

Concord contains between three and four hundred families, all united in one congregation, the largest in the state. The township was incorporated in the year 1765; and, in 1775, contained 1,052 inhabitants; in 1790, 1,747; in 1800, 2,052; and, in 1810, 2,393.

Since the revolution, Concord, much more frequently than any other town in New-Hampshire, has been the place where the legislature has held its sessions, and will probably be the permanent seat of government.

The next morning, Thursday, October 2d, we rode to Meredith bridge, in the township of Guilford: thirty-two miles. The road for the first eighteen miles lay along the Merrimac, and was to a considerable extent sandy. The remaining fourteen passed through a region of hills and vallies.

The first township, which we entered after leaving Concord, is Boscawen. Like Concord it is built principally in a single

VOL. IV.

K