After a favourable passage, we at length reached Albany, which is an
extensive city, and the depot for produce, especially wheat, brought
_via_ the Erie Canal from the interior; being, in fact, the storehouse
of the trade to and from the interior States of the Union, west, as well
as from Canada and the Lakes. It is finely situated on the west bank of
the Hudson; many of its inhabitants are descended from the first
colonists, especially the adventurous and persevering Dutch, who, like
the Scotch, cling with tenacity to the spot they fix upon, and quickly
accumulate property. This city is continually growing in importance,
from the vast number of small capitalists who flock there and settle;
and it will eventually, no doubt, vie with New York itself in wealth and
importance. As I determined to make no stay here, but to proceed up the
Erie Canal to Buffalo, I did not see much of this place, and must
therefore omit any lengthened description of it. From what I did see, it
appeared a densely-populated, well-built city, laid out with much
regularity, and boasting of many substantial buildings, several of the
edifices being constructed of white marble.
Pages:
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59