street, and ornamented, or rather disfigured, on the top with large iron weathercocks; but in that part which has been lately erected, the streets are commodious, and many of the houses are handsome. The public buildings are an elegant Dutch church, one for episcopalians, two for presbyterians, one for Germans, one for methodists, and one for Roman catholics; an hospital, city hall, and a handsome prison. The building in which the state legislatore meet, is called "The Capitol;" it stands on an elevation at the end of the main street, and presents a fine appearance. The inhabitants of this city, a few years since, were almost entirely of Dutch extraction, and it had then the character of being a very unsocial place; but now strangers from all quarters are settling in it, and liberal sentiments, hospitality, and good manners, are rapidly gaining ground. The rent of a house and shop in Albany, in a good situation, is from 5 to 700 dollars per annum, and the taxes about twenty dollars. There are many small wooden houses, which are from 50 to 150 dollars a year, according to size and situation, Mechanics are paid the same here as at New York; their board and lodging is three dollars a week. The markets are well supplied with excellent provisions; beef, mutton, and veal, are 5d.. to 6d. per lb,; geese, 2s, 3d. each; ducks, 13d.; fowls, 8d. to 9d.; butter, 14d. a lb.; potatoes, 20d, a bushel; best flour, 458. a barrel (196 lb.); fish, 3d. to 6d. a lb, ; rum and gin, 4s. 6d, a gallon; brandy and hollands 9s. 6d. The conveyance by water between this city and New York has been brought to the highest degree of perfection. It is performed by packets, which carry horses, &c., and by steam-boats, for the convenience of passengers. One of these vessels, the "Chancellor Livingstone," is probably equalled by none in the world; she may properly be termed a floating palace, affording all the elegant accommodations of a first-rate hotel. Her length is 175 feet, and breadth 50, and she is propelled by a steam-engine of eighty-horse power; there are beds for 160 persons, and settees provided for forty more: the ladies have a separate cabin, entirely distinct from the gentlemen. On deck there are numerous conveniences, such as baggagerooms, smoking-rooms, &c.; and on the descent to the cabins are placed cards of tradesmen, and of taverns and hotels in the chief cities, and also religious tracts in great abundance. The fare between the two cities is eight dollars, including board; and an excellent table is at all times provided. The city of Hudson is situated on the east side of Hudson river, thirty miles south of Albany, and 130 north of New York. It has had the most rapid growth of any place in the United States, except Baltimore; for though only laid out in 1784, such has been its surprising progress, that by the last census the number of inhabitants amounted to 4,048, and at present the population is estimated at upwards of 6,000. It is surrounded by an extensive and fertile back country, is a place of very considerable trade, and is rapidly increasing in wealth and importance. The town is planned in squares, formed by spacious streets, crossing each other at right angles; each square contains thirty lots, two deep, divided by a twenty feet alley, and each lot is fifty feet in front, and 120 in depth. The inhabitants are plentifully supplied with water, brought to their houses in wooden pipes from a spring two miles distant. It stands upon an eminence, from which are extensive and delightful views, consisting of hills and valleys, variegated with woods and orchards, corn-fields, and meadows, with the noble river, which is in most places a mile broad, forming a number of fine bays and creeks. From the south-east to the south-west, the city is screened with hills, at different distances, and west afar off over the river and a large valley, the prospect is bounded by a chain of stupendous mountains, called the Catskill, being the first part of the Allegany chain of mountains, which adds magnificence and subli-. mity to the whole scene. Schenectady, sixteen miles north-west of Albany, is a handsome, well-built city, on the Mohawk river, and by the last census contained 5,909 inhabitants. It is a place of brisk trade, and has a bank, a college, and three places, for public worship, viz. a Dutch, a presbyterian, and an episcopal church. The annual expence of education at the college, including board, is less than 100 dollars.. The chief business of this town is to receive the mer-. chandise from Albany, and put it into batteaux to go up. the river, and forward to Albany the returns from the back country. The other most important towns and villages are Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Troy, Lansinburgh, and Waterford,. on the Hudson; Utica, Herkimer, and Rome, on the Mohawk; and Seneateless, Geneva, Canandaigua, and Buffalo, to the westward. Of these, Buffalo, delightfully, situated near the margin of lake Erie, 327 miles from Albany, and 22 from the falls of Niagara, promises to be a place of great importance. It was laid out for a village STATE OF NEW YORK. about eleven years ago, and at the commencement of the late war was possessed of a considerable trade; but in December, 1813, it was entirely destroyed by the British, (see page 248:) since that time its growth has been rapidly increasing. It is now incorporated, and contains a bank, court-house, jail, post office, exchange, custom-house, two printing offices, a presbyterian church, and a public library. The whole number of buildings is about 250, and the population about 1,500; who are mostly emigrants from the eastern states. The principal streets are from 66 to 100 feet wide; these are intersected by others of equal width, and as many of the houses are of brick, two and three stories high, they make a neat and handsome appearance. Buffalo, standing on the great road leading from Albany to Ohio, possesses natural advantages for trade, equal, if not superior, to any internal place in the United States; having at present a ship navigation for 1,000 miles west, through lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan, and with little expence may be extended as much further: a boat navigation may likewise be easily opened to communicate with the river Mississippi. Canandaigua, the principal town of Ontario county, is a delightful place, and has hitherto been the largest of any of the towns in this part of the state. It is distant 208 miles from Albany, and was laid out about thirty years ago upon ground which then cost from one to two dollars an acre, but which is now, by the improvement and progress of settlement, worth from 500 to 1,000 dollars an acre for the town lots, and from 80 to 100 for the out lots: the land is rich, and all arable. As this town stands in the centre of a well settled country, it has a very considerable retail trade; and though it is far from a market, yet it flourishes in an eminent degree. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture, and have all the necessaries of life within themselves. Provisions are very reasonable: flour, five dollars a barrel; beef, mutton, and veal, three to five cents per lb., and other things in proportion. There are good mechanics in the town, in the various branches calculated for the neighbourhood, and they have high wages. The view of the country round Canandaigua, which may include the whole county of Ontario, is valuable, as it throws light upon the future destinies of that part of America, often known by the name of the back woods, or wilderness. This county is about forty miles long, by forty broad, and contains 1,760 square miles of territory, from which may be deducted sixty miles for water. It 3 с the year 1790, it was actually a wilderness; but the wilderness has truly been made to become a fruitful field, and to "blossom like the rose." Twenty years after its first settlement it contained upwards of 42,000 inhabitants, being nearly twenty-five to the square mile; and they are rapidly increasing in numbers, in wealth, in agriculture, in manufactures, and in the mechanic arts. In the same period the number of looms had increased to 1,903; there were also thirty-seven tan works, seventy-six distilleries, twenty fulling-mills, and twenty-two carding machines, besides some glass-works and potteries: cotton and woollen factories were also commenced near Canandaigua. Land which was originally bought at one dollar an acre, may now be sold at fifty dollars; the average price of land, partly cleared, is from eight to twenty-five dollars; uncleared, four to six dollars; but in the vicinity of villages, nearly ten dollars. Good horses, forty to eighty dollars; cows twenty, and sheep two dollars. The vast increase of wealth in this county may be inferred from this circumstance, that Canandaigua, the site of which twenty years before, would have been reckoned dear at 2,000 dollars, was estimated at the value of 212,485 dollars, and it has greatly increased since: probably the property is now worth 500,000 dollars. Utica, the chief town of Oneida county, is deserving of particular notice, from the importance of its situation, which is on the very route of the Grand Western canal fifteen miles distant from Rome, and ninety-six from Albany, at the head of navigation on the Mohawk river, over which there is a bridge opposite the town. The increase of this place has been remarkable, even before the canal was projected. In 1794, there were only two houses on the spot where Utica now stands ; at present it contains 2,500 inhabitants, and upwards of 500 houses, two-thirds of which have been erected since 1800. The buildings are mostly of wood, painted white; but a good many have been lately built of brick, and some of stone The public edifices are four places for public worship, two of them elegant, an academy, clerk's office, &c. ; among the private concerns are three printing offices, two of which issue newspapers that have an extensive circulation. The town lots are from fifty to sixty feet front, and 100 to 130 feet deep, and sell from 300 to 1,200 dollars; the out-lots contain twelve acres, and the price demanded for them is 5,500 dollars. House rent for mechanics is from sixty to 100 dollars, flour, eight dollars per barrel; potatoes, twenty-five cents STATE OF NEW YORK. per bushel; onions, seventy-five cents ditto; turnips, thirty- The commerce of Utica consists of dry goods, hardware, and cotton, imported; and of grain, flour, provision, ashes, &c. exported: the chief part of the trade is with Lands on the turnpike, in the the city of New York. vicinity of the town, sell from fifty to 100 dollars an acre; at a greater distance, from forty to fifty dollars. The country is very thickly inhabited, and near the town the houses are so close as to resemble a continued village; many of the houses are elegant, with fine orchards attached to them, and the plots of ground adjoining are fertile and Manufactures of different kinds are highly cultivated. making rapid progress; but there are three branches that are likely to flourish in an eminent degree, namely, glass, woollen, and cotton, and they will be of great importance to this town. For the latter branch, the raw material can always be had nearly one half lower than in Europe; and e workmen daily arriving at New York from Great Britain, can be brought here in a few days at a small expense. The trade with the back country is secure to a very large exatent, and provisions must be for ever cheap at Utica. Trade, manufactures, agriculture, &c.-The situation of the state of New York, with respect to foreign markets, has decidedly the preference to any of the other states; and in consequence its commerce is exceedingly extended. Having an easy access to the ocean, it commands the trade of the best cultivated parts of the United States. The exports are, biscuit, peas, Indian corn, apples, onions, boards, staves, horses, sheep, butter, cheese, beef, and pork; but wheat is the staple commodity of the state, of which no less than 677,700 bushels, with 2,828 tons of flour, and 2,555 tons of bread, were exported in one year nearly |