An Englishman's Travels In America: His Observations Of Life And Manners In The Free And Slave States - 1857 - By J. Benwell.
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Having Secured A Passage On Board A Canal Packet About To Start, I At
Once Embarked, And In A Few Hours After Was Running Up The Erie Canal
At The Rate Of Six Miles An Hour, The Boat Being Towed By Four Light
Horses Of High Mettle.
The trappings of these animals were of a novel
description, bells being appended to various parts of the harness, and
streamers, or plumes of white hair and gaudy ribbons, floating in the
air from the bridle of each.
A postilion, in a suit of grey, with an
otter-skin cap, rode on the rearmost or saddle horse, and his
_nonchalance_ and perfect command of his team were surprising. This boat
was some sixty yards in length, and constructed only for passengers and
their luggage. The interior formed a long saloon in miniature, fitted up
with lounges, and tastefully decorated; a promenade on the deck or top
furnishing a good place for exercise. At night our saloon was converted
into a general dormitory, a portion being partitioned off for the
ladies, by ranges of shelves being suspended from the sides, on which
were laid the mattresses, &c. Owing to the number of locks and stoppages
at the miserable towns and villages on the canal banks, our passage to
Buffalo took several days; and the country being flat and uninteresting,
although divided into farms, which in general appeared to be in a state
of tolerable cultivation, I was not a little relieved when we began to
approach the city.
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