rence, and by the Lakes Ontario and Erie. Between the former and the southern boundary are the smaller lakes, which, by means of the Genessee and Oswego rivers, form a natural communication with the Hudson, and also with the Susquehannah and Alleghany rivers, that have their source within the southern limits. It has been ascertained, that, of 55,000 square miles, which this territory contains, between 4000 and 5000 are covered with water. Minerals. Of iron there is an inexhaustible quantity in the high lands, and in different parts of the state, as far as Indian river, or west branch of the Oswegatchie, where iron works are now erecting. The iron sand ore of the borders of Lake Champlain, and in the high lands, gives a metal of a very superior quality. Native silver has been found near Sing Sing, in a small vein. Ores of tin have been discovered in the high lands, aud also in the counties of Essex and Clinton. Ores of arsenic are found in Orange county, in the town of Warwick. In 1812, Mr. Jesse Buel, editor of the "Plebeian" at Kingston, Ulster county, sent me a piece of ore of antimony, found near that place, of which a hundred parts give from fifteen to sixteen of the metal, and 0.00025 of silver. The specimen analyzed by Mr. Godon, and which excited some fruitless researches, was given to me by Dr. Vanderlyn, to whom it was presented in his shop by some person, who pretended that it was taken from a mine with which he was acquainted. Lead ore is found at Ancram, and Claverack, in Columbia, Essex, Clinton, Herkimer, and Ulster counties. In the Shawangunk Mountains are several veins, the ore from some of which yields 80 per cent of metal. Black lead, or plumbago, exists near the city of New York, and in the high lands sixty miles north; also in the counties of Ulster and Jefferson, and near Lake Champlain. Vegetable Kingdom.-The common forest trees are oak of different species, ash, walnut, pine, maple, beech, chesnut, birch, poplar, cherry, cedar, elm, hemlock, sumach, &c. The greatest proportion of timber in the western country consists of oak, elm, sugar, maple-tree, black walnut, beech, butter nut, chesnut, cucumber. The indigenous plum tree yields a fruit of an agreeable flavor, which ripens late in autumn. The wild grape, of which there are four kinds, grows throughout the 22.-VOL. II. B whole territory. In some places the wild gooseberry, with very small prickly fruit, has been seen. In the north-western parts, near the river St. Lawrence and Ontario, black and white oak abounds, interspersed with pine and hickery. The natural growth consists of maple, beech, elm, bass-wood, and birch. There are some tracts covered with pine. Animals. The mammoth, of enormous size, formerly an inhabitant of this district, is only known by Indian tradition, and by the remains of the bones lately discovered. The skeleton of one, weighing nearly 1000 pounds, was dug up in 1801, in the county of Orange. Part of other skeletons were found in different places, where marl abounds, and at the depth of ten or twelve feet below the surface. In 1817 another was found at the depth of four feet, in the town of Goshen, near Chester, on the farm of Mr. Yelverton. The tusks were more than nine feet in length. The black and grey wolf were formerly numerous, which induced the municipal authorities to offer a premium for their destruction; since this, being every where pursued, they are now rare. The bears are still numerous near new settlements in the western parts, to which they are attracted by the Indian corn and young hogs, which they greedily devour. Excellent hams are made of the grown bear, and the cub is by many considered as not inferior to lamb. The cougouar, called the panther, flies to the thickest woods from the approach of man, and seldom appears near his place of residence. The elk and moose deer still inhabit the uncultivated regions. The male of the latter, armed with enormous horns, grows to the height of nineteen hands. The woods of the Genessee county abound with deer. Previous to the year 1799 five hundred deer were annually killed in the neighbourhood of Bath. The other animals common to the eastern states are the grey and red foxes, martin, sable, racoon, skunk, mink, heaver, otter, fisher, musk rat, squirrel, and hare. The musk rat, of which Kalm saw great numbers on the shores of the Hudson, and whose odor in the night he found disagreeable, have become rare, on account of the value of their skin. For the same reason, the martin has almost disappeared, while the squirrel, on which he preyed, has proportionably increased. The last is numerous near cultivated lands, and nutbearing trees. In October 1816, a hunting party, consisting of thirty-four persons, killed in one day 780 black squirrels, near Rochester, in Genessee county, from which they were then migrating. Another party, on the first of that month, killed a still greater number, 4260, near the eastern part of the town of Scipio, in the county of Cayuga. Snakes. In the uncultivated parts the black-snake, copperhead, and rattle snake, are found. On the 3d of June 1817 a snake was seen by the crew of the General Scott schooner, thirty miles below Erie, and three from land, in the lake of this name, which was from thirty-five to forty feet in length; the neck ten or twelve inches in diameter; of a dark mahogany color, nearly black. It raised its head out of the water a few yards from the vessel. Fishes.-The Hudson is annually visited by immense shoals of shad, herring, and sturgeon. It has been lately ascertained, that the New York waters contain 147 species of fish, besides nineteen varieties, in all 166. Oneida, and the other smaller lakes and rivers with which they communicate, also abound with excellent fish; bass, pike, white fish, salmon, trout, eels, and a fish known by the name of buffalo, which sometimes weighs thirty pounds. The largest salmon of Fish Creek and Seneca River often exceed this weight, and are sold from a dollar to a dollar and a half each. In the description of the lakes mention is made of the fishes with which they are peopled. In Lake Ontario there are sturgeon of 100 pounds weight, The muscalinga, described as a species of pike, weighs from ten to fortyfive pounds; the salmon-trout fifty pounds. The oysters of New York are of a prodigious size and excellent quality. In Lake Champlain was formerly seen the fish known by the name of chaousarou, five feet long, as thick as a man's thigh; armed with scales impenetrable to a dagger; with a bony substance, flat, indented, hollow, projecting from under the throat, by means of which it catches birds among the reeds. This lake contains' sturgeon, black bass, pike, and cat-fish. Population. The population of this state, ascertained at different epochs, is as follows: In 1781, Inhabitants 50,291, including Blacks. In 1800, 1810, 586,050, 20,613 959,049, 15,017 10,374 25,333 The increase in the last ten years was From the year 1786 to 1790, the population gained a yearly increase of 9 per cent. 372,999, or 64 per cent. in the Union. In population this is the second state According to the last census there were, under sixteen Between sixteen and forty-five, Males. Females. 239,635 226,756 The last census gives 20 persons to a square mile; and it results from the three last enumerations, that during this interval it doubled in less than sixteen years. It has been considerably increased, however, by emigration from the New England states to the western country. The progress of the population of blacks has been as follows: 1813 (by computation) 100,000 nearly. The following table contains the enumeration of the inhabit ants of the city of New York made in April 1816: Excess of females 77; Aliens of both sexes 6,985; Persons of color not slaves 7,774; Persons of color, slaves, 677. Indians. The remains of the six confederated nations, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Senecas, Cayugas, and Onondagas, inhabit the western parts of this territory. In the war of the revolution all these tribes were in favor of the English, except the Oneidas and Tuscaroras. The Pagan party of the Oneida nation, in the General Council at Oneida the 25th day of January 1817, proposed an address to the governor of the state, requesting to be known in all future transactions as "the second Christian party of the Oneida nation of Indians." Their conversion was produced by the religious instructions of a war chief of the Iroquois nation, Eleazer Williams. Manners and Customs. The population of this state is composed of emigrants, and their descendants, from every country of Europe, and also from the New England states. The latter have established themselves in the western parts. The southern, including the city of New York, are inhabited by the descendants of Dutch, Scotch, and Irish. The first constitute a great portion of the inhabitants of Albany, Kingston, and other villages; and there are several little colonies of German farmers, who, like the former, retain the language, habits, and customs of their forefathers. The Dutch are distinguished by their air and dress, their habit of smoking tobacco, and their great attention to domestic cleanliness, order, and economy. The manners and customs of the population, and even their physical character, are daily becoming more uniform. Every where from the ocean to the lakes we see the same robust form, and healthy complexion, among all classes, the joint effect of abundance of provisions, ease, and independence. The usual period of marriage for males is from twenty-one to twenty-five, for females from sixteen to twenty. The natives are remarkable for their early maturity. Diseases. The prevailing diseases are chiefly of an inflammatory nature; and of these the most fatal is consumption of the lungs, which, of late years, has swept off about a sixth of the number on the lists of mortality. The influenza extended over the whole country in the year 1807, and few persons escaped its attack. The dysentery is sometimes epidemical in the summer of years subject to great variations of temperature. Intermitting and remitting fevers are not so prevalent as formerly. Scrofulous affections are rare. In the marshy places of the western counties a disease, called the lake fever, often prevails during the autumnal heats; and Dr. Barton observed many cases of goitre in the Onondago Valley, in the neighbourhood of the Mohawk river. The drowned lands in Orange county are so unhealthy during the hot season, that in draining them the most sturdy laborers are overpowered in a few days. |