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this account we must receive with fome limitation his details of the nefarious practices of land-jobbers; and the methods which they employ to cook up their lands, and otherwife impofe upon the public. After this we come again to the Indians; and are treated with the old legend of prince. Madoc; and the colony of Welsh Indians ftill afferted to exift fomewhere on the Miffouri: and the laft of these fix chapters is taken up with the Cincinnati, an American order inflituted by the officers of the United States previous to their difbanding, after the peace with Great Britain.

We prefent our readers with the following anecdote of, the delegates of the Ofage nation, during their abode at Philadelphia.

"The evening of the day on which the Ofage Indians vifited Congrefs, they made their appearance at the theatre in the Penfylvania Avenue; which was announced by hand-bills. Their performance here was by no means difinterested; for they ftipulated with the managers to be paid half the net proceeds, with a fupply of rum during the entertainment. Their dance confifted of ftamping in proceffion round the stage in different figures, and fcreaming in horrid difcord. The war-dance exhibited fome. thing of the terrific; and the fcalping fcene was a dreadful picture of that inhuman practice among favage nations. The act of taking off the fcalp of the fuppofed victim, was executed with fuch adroitness, a false scalp being fubftituted, that the deception was not to be perceived. One of the chiefs eminently exerted himfelf on this occafion. Before the conclufion of the entertain ment, the greateft part of them were intoxicated, and the audience became anxious to quit the houfe. Next morning, the chief, who had been the principal actor, was found lifeless in the, bed which government had provided for him: and his death was imputed to excefs of drinking, and his great exertions during the preceding evening. His interment was attended by his tribe, with the Creeks, and a great concourfe of people, among whom were feveral members of Congrefs. Much curiofity was excited, from the hopes of witneffing the favage ceremonies on fuch an occafion; but thefe expectations were difappointed, very little being faid or done over the grave. In order to guard against a fimilar catastrophe, the inhabitants were publicly cautioned. againft giving thefe ftrangers any ftrong liquors; and informed, that the allowance made them by the government was in every respect abundant." P. 225.

Chapter XXII. gives a fhocking picture of the excelles and brutalities in which the lower claffes of Americans indulge, particularly in the Southern States. The practice of finoking tobacco muft indeed be come to an aftonifhing

height,

height, if, as Mr. Janfon affures us, boys, and even chil. dren, indulge in it to fuch a degree, as to produce fick nefs, and even death. In proof of this he quotes a Maffachufet's newspaper, which records the death of mafter James Verry, aged twelve," a promifing youth, whofe untimely end is fuppofed to have been brought on by exceffive fmoking of fegars!!!" He ftates, on his own authority, the fondness of an infant not four years old, the fon of a fegar-maker in Alexander, for the fame unnatural indulgence. He himself faw the child at this amufement, and, on expreffing his furprize, was informed by the father, that his offspring had contracted the habit a year before, and that he fmoked three, four, or more, daily, with which he was regularly fupplied, "or he would cry for them." Notwithstanding all this the child was fat and healthy.

Mr. Janfon likewife gives perfonal evidence for the exiftence of a mode of fighting among the Southern Americans, the most brutal and ferocious that can easily be conceived.

"Paffing, in company with other travellers, through the ftate of Georgia, our attention was arrefted by a gouging-match. We found the combatants, as Morfe defcribes, faft clenched by the hair, and their thumbs endeavouring to force a paffage into each other's eyes; while feveral of the bystanders were betting upon the first eye to be turned out of its focket. For fome time the combatants avoided the thumb ftroke with dexterity. At length they fell to the ground, and in an inftant the uppermost fprung up with his antagonist's eye in his hand!!! The favage crowd applauded, while, fick with horror, we galloped away from the infernal fcene. The name of the fufferer was John Butler, a Carolinian, who, it seems, had been dared to the com bat by a Georgian; and the firft eye was for the honour of the fate to which they refpectively belonged.

"The eye is not the only feature which fuffers on thefe occa, fions. Like dogs and bears, they use their teeth and feet, with the most favage ferocity, upon each other.

"A brute, in human form, named John Stanley, of Bertie county, North Carolina, fharpens his teeth with a file, and boafts of his dependence upon them in fight. This monfter will alfo exult in relating the account of the nofes and ears he has bitten off, and the cheeks he has torn.

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"During the author's refidence in North Carolina, Mr. Standen, the poft-mafter, and a merchant of Edenton, had a part of his cheek bitten off in an affray with O'Mally, a tavern-keeper in that town.”.

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"A man of the name of Thomas Penrife, then living in Edenton, in the fame ftate, attempting at cards to cheat some halfdrunken failors, was detected. A fcuffle enfued; Penrife knocked out the candle, then gouged out three eyes, bit off an ear, tore a few cheeks, and made good his retreat.

"Near the fame place, a fchoolmafter, named Jarvis Lucas, was befet by three men, one Horton, his fon, and fon-in-law. Thefe ruffians beat the unfortunate man till his life was defpaired of, having bitten, gouged, and kicked him unmercifully. On the trial of an indictment for this outrageous affault, a Carolina court of juftice amerced them in a small fine only." P. 301.

In the next chapter, in the midst of much extraneous matter, Mr. Janfon gives a difgufting account of the negro nudities, which the traveller is expofed to fee, in paffing through the fouthern ftates of the American union. We then come to General Miranda and his expedition; and are informed of the proceedings of the American courts against Mr. Ogden, who furnished that enterprizing adventurer with the fhip in which he embarked for the Caraccas. Chapter XXV. relates more particularly to Mr. Janfon's own transactions, and is certainly not the leaft entertaining in the volume. It defcribes the town of Norfolk, in Virginia; and the great fwamps which extend from that vicinity through a confiderable part of the state of North Carolina. Norfolk, it feems, in the winter feafon, is itself no better than a swamp, for the streets are fo muddy, that the gentlemen are obliged to fortify themselves with thick foes over their boots. Mr. Janfon having in a dark evening loft his bearings, in the attempt to ford one of these muddy paffes, was unable to extricate himself without the lofs of one of his fboe-boots, which was in vain raked and dragged for next morning.

The author was induced to accompany a fporting friend into the great, or difmal fwamp of North Carolina; but did not find his way back again without undergoing a fevere fright. When he had penetrated a confiderable way into this wilderness, a form came on which obfcured the sky, and bewildered his guide, who ufually trufted to the fun in fteering through the tracklefs wafte. For fome time they wandered in uncertainty, the guide narrowly infpecting every large tree which they paffed. At length he exclaimed that he had difcovered his route, and pointed to a large tree, the bark of which was incrufted on one fide with green mofs. This he declared to be the north fide of the tree; and trufting to this evidence, he was able to extricate himself and his friend from their difagreeable dilemma. The Indians, in traverfing the woods, regulate their route by fimilar obfer

vations.

Mr.

Mr. Janfon met with a ftill more hazardous adventure in eroffing a leffer fwamp of North Carolina. About midway, he faw a large quadruped climb a tree about two hundred yards before him. Advancing within fhot, he fired upon the animal, which he wounded, and brought to the ground. At the fame time his horfe took fright, and threw him; and on recovering his feet, he beheld a large panther flowly advancing towards him, while his negro guide exclaimed, "Maffa, Maffa, we are loft!" Though his gun was empty, he involuntarily prefented it towards his enemy, which had the defired effect; for the animal inftantly made a stand, uttered a hideous roar, and retreated into the thickeft part of the swamp, where Mr. Janfon prudently left him to his fate.

This anecdote introduces the narrative of feveral marvellous rencontres between planters and bears, in which the man finally got the better of the beaft, even though deftitute of offenfive weapons; but not without fuffering feverely from the hugging and biting of his ferocious antagonist, We were furprized at meeting with nothing about the rattlefnake, the Boa-conftrictor, and the other tremendous reptiles with which thefe defolate American wilds abound. But to make amends, Mr. Janfon prefents us with a chapter on the mocking-bird, the red-bird, or Virginia nightingale, the wood-cock, the wood-pecker, and the whip-poor-will.

After a moft fuperfluous and filly chapter, entitled Eccentric Advertisements, we advance in our journey as far as South-Carolina; and are prefented with fome obfervations on the staples of that rich and fertile diftri&t, and on the flave trade, which still continues to be practifed by the merchants of Charlestown. If we may rely on the ftatements of Mr. Janfon, flaves are ftill treated with great rigour in many parts of the United States; and are fometimes wantonly killed by their favage mafters, for which crime the only penalty is a moderate fine. In a country profefling fuch an enthufiafm for liberty, this is peculiarly reprehenfible; and we entirely concur in the fentiment quoted by Dr. Morfe, and after him by Mr. Janfon, from an European writer: that "If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, figning refolutions of independence with one hand, and with the other brandishing his whip over his affrighted flaves." The Southern States, where flavery chiefly prevails, derive an advantage from the practice, which we fhould never have looked for, viz. a proportional increase of their influence in the national legiflature. For, ftrange to tell! the negro population is in

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cluded in the cenfus, which regulates the number of reprefentatives from each state. On this account the ftate of Virginia fends five more representatives and five more electors for the prefident and vice-prefident than the state of Maffachufets, although the number of its free people is lefs by 40,160. A conftitution fo unequal in the diftribution of its rights cannot furely be of long duration: and we may foon expect to fee a feparation between the northern and fouthern flates of the union.

The number of flaves in the United States is estimated by Mr. Janfon at a million. Nine-tenths of these are found in the provinces of Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland. In Georgia and Kentucky their numbers have been rapidly on the increase, having lately doubled in the former; and increased in the latter, in the proportion of 40 to 12. In the rest of the above-mentioned ftates the number of flaves is likewife on the increase; in New-York it is nearly ftationary; in Penfylvania and Delaware it has diminished; and in the New England ftates, flavery is nearly abolished.

In the remaining chapters of this work, from chapters XXX, to XXXV. inclufive, Mr. Janfon proceeds, in the fame irregular and unconnected manner, to blend his own. remarks on mifcellaneous fubjects, with narratives and details to which they have no manner of reference. He makes a tranfition from American agriculture to the yellow fever; from that to the profpects of an emigrant in the Trans-Atlantic regions; from that to the action between the Bofton and Ambufcade, and the hiftory of Captain Whitby and the Leander; and from that to the ufe of gypfum as a manure, and the life and converfation of Thomas Paine, and Counfellor Emmet.

Mr. Janfon gives a very difcouraging view of the profpects of an emigrant to America, in whatever line he propofes to employ himfelf. If as a farmer or planter, he has to encounter in the first place the knavery of the landjobbers, "the very name of whom," fays Mr. Janfon,

makes my pen recoil from my paper." Suppofing he has overcome this obftacle, and been able to obtain a good right to the lands for which he has payed his money; he has next to ftruggle with the fquatters, who are certain families of white people that take poffeffion without any right, and are often able to keep their hold in defpite of the lawful proprietor. Even when thefe difficulties are furmounted, the great work remains fill to be accomplished; trees are to be felled, houfes erected, ground cultivated, and ftock railed;

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