Owing to the number of locks and stoppages
at the miserable towns and villages on the canal banks, our passage to
Buffalo took several days; and the country being flat and uninteresting,
although divided into farms, which in general appeared to be in a state
of tolerable cultivation, I was not a little relieved when we began to
approach the city.
The formation of the Erie Canal was one of those grand internal
improvements frequently to be met with in that country, and which have
contributed to its general prosperity in no small degree. The projector
of this vast undertaking, De Witt Clinton, is justly esteemed by
American citizens, who regard him as a public benefactor, and his name
ranks with the founders of their independence. The canal runs, for a
considerable distance before it reaches Buffalo, parallel with the lake,
but separated from it by a sort of artificial sea-wall. As we merged
into the vicinity of this magnificent inland sea, the sun was shining
brightly, and gave it the appearance of molten silver.
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