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from dangers by sea and by land; being surrounded on all sides by countries thickly populated. A perfect wilderness should be avoided by an Englishman. The Americans alone appear calculated to commence a settlement. They make excellent pioneers, and overcome difficulties in the "wild woods," which an Englishman could not encounter. A journey of two or three days to a mill, is nothing to them; even a journey of a thousand miles, is but as a step to visit a friend. It is fortunate for a country, possessing such a boundless territory, the arm of one of whose rivers extends to a distance as great as from my native place to the one in which I am now writing, that her children are of so erratic a dispotion, as to consider her amplitude as a narrow limit. But although all this is extremely well for an American, it is much better for English settlers to confine themselves to a reasonable distance from the seaports; and to endeavour to procure a situation in a country, in which the toils of a first settlement have already been encountered and overcome.

For this reason it is, that my selection has been made of lands interspersed in all directions, with improvements, where good roads are already made, and where grist and saw mills, and other machinery are erected.

In the immediate neighbourhood, for which the company have contracted, there are five grist mills, and thirteen saw mills. The great advantage of these, and of the roads, which are made in all di

rections through the lands, I need not mention. The English farmer having been accustomed to good roads at home, can ill brock those which he will find in any wilderness. Here are turnpike roads leading to the two most important cities of the United States, laid out and much labour done on them; and there is every prospect that they will be completed in another season.

There is a point of time in the settling of new countries, in which purchases by such a company as ours, can be best made. To a perfect wilderness there is an objection, in the difficulty and uncertainty of forming a settlement; and many would find it very unpleasant to endure the privations which must necessarily be experienced by a residence there. When nearly all the land is settled, the small remainder is held at a high price; but at an intermediate point of time, when a considerable part of the land is occupied, the quality of the soil, and the real value of the country ascertained, the difficulties of the first improvements overcome, grain raised, mills built, roads made, and the necessaries, and many of the comforts of life to be obtained-this is, undoubtedly, the most eligible time for a man to pitch his tent; for the land which has not yet been appropriated, may generally be had at a price very low, in proportion to its real worth, estimated by the farmer's profit,-which is its intrinsic value.

I have mentioned the settlements or improvements, with which the lands contracted for by the

society are interspersed. The greater part of these can be purchased, at a fair price, from the present occupants who, being paid for what they have done, are ready to commence anew. It may be better for many emigrants to purchase these improvements, than to take new lands. They can be had in farms of various sizes, from twenty to an hundred acres of cleared land, with a house and barn. These buildings are, in general, made of logs, and when that is the case, are of little value ; but in some instances they are of a better kind, being made of framed timber, and boarded.

The sum at which improvements are estimated, depends upon the care with which the lands are cleared, and the kind of house and barn on them, in addition to the price of the land. As a general rate, a farm of one hundred acres of land, one half of it cleared, with a common log house and barn on it, would be estimated at from 2251. to 270l. or from one thousand to twelve hundred dollars. This however, may alter very soon; and will be likely to increase rapidly, in consequence of our settlement, and the money which will be brought into the country by us. Such is the price at which improved lots (of which I have made several purchases) are at present sold. By the purchase of an improvement, an emigrant will at once be able to keep his cattle and horses; he will have pasture, meadow, and plough land; and can purchase new lands adjoining, and increase his clearings to what size he

pleases. In this manner he may commence his farming with very little of the inconvenience, and all the advantage of a new settler; and the new lands which he can purchase on the terms of the society's contract, will answer for the establishment of his family around him. I have devoted, and shall continue to devote, much of my time to the acquisition of a thorough knowledge of the extent, quality, and value of these improved lots, amounting to several hundreds, in order to point out to those of our countrymen, who prefer making purchases of that kind of property, such as will best suit their different tastes; so that each one may be accommodated in the way he prefers; and I shall spare no pains in the business, for I have the welfare of the settlement very much at heart, which derives the more interest from its being the first BRITISH SETTLEMENT, attempted on a large scale, in the United States. It will therefore be useful for all those who are desirous of purchasing improvements, to make their applications either through the society at Philadelphia, or directly to me at this place. I can then make the desired purchases for them, or provisional contracts, to be ratified within a reasonable length of time, after the applicants shall have seen and approved of the lots.

LETTER III.

Boundaries-Face of the country-Soil-Forest trees-Bushes-Cultivated fruits-Minerals, &c.

SUSQUEHANNA county is situated in the 42d degree of north latitude, on the line which divides Pennsylvania from the state of New-York. It commences about six miles from the Delaware river, and runs west thirty-four miles, and south twentyfour miles. On the north it is bounded by the state of New-York; on the south by Luzerne county; on the east by Wayne county; and on the west by Bradford county.

The face of the country is very picturesque. There is no flat land; it is all in undulations. Rivulets and springs are in the greatest abundance. There is no farm, and scarcely a field, without a stream or spring in it of excellent water, and as clear as crystal. There are no stagnant waters, no swamps, nor marshes, nor musquitoes, which abound so much in many other parts of the United States.

The soil is deep-that is, generally, from one to two feet; in some places, three or four feet. Beneath this, there is an inferior stratum, or sub-soil, composed of clay and extremely fine siliceous sand, intimately commingled. By us it would be called

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