Part 13 (1/2)

Of steareat ular form, also steam-boats with rotatory motions; they however do not answer the purpose I saw patterns of railways, and models of her one, by help of an inclined plane Then twocovered batteries One of the to two long iron bars a rotatoryoff the deck, are intended to keep off a boarding eneive thereat number of household and kitchen apparatus, fire-places of different descriptions, an earth-augur for seeking water, fire-engines of various kinds, a fire-proof roof, contrived by a German, several machines tothe Mississippi, trees lying under water can be taken hold of and sawed to pieces without stopping the vessel in its course, machinery to bore holes in rocks, and others to hoist rocks out of water; the machine contrived in London by Perkins to print with steel;wool, and dressing woollen stuffs; fan- others, an instruricultural instruhs for every kind of soil, invented by Ger and cutting straw A theblocks, which is considered not to be inferior in any respect to that of Brunel, in Ports of flax unnecessary, and yet fits it after fourteen days drying to be broken and heckled For permission to take a copy of the machine, one must pay ten dollars to the inventor I ordered two copies; one for the Agricultural Society of Ghent, and another to present to es, especially of hanging ones, aes in Trenton, near Philadelphia, and another of that near Fayetteville, in North Carolina; also one of a hanging bridge, under which is suspended a canal passing over the river Respecting arle of steel, weighing six pounds, upon which three different haing is said to be heard at a great distance It has been introduced in several places to assemble the people

The patent-office is in the sa with the post-office They pointed out to ilt fra before the catastrophe of 1814, in the house of the president, and contained full length portraits of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, which were presented in 1783, by those unfortunate monarchs to the United States, at their especial desire Both portraits suddenly disappeared, and it is believed that it happened in 1814, when the English ton, and burnt down the house of the president

The patent-office is under the direction of Dr Thornton,[I-30] who is an able draughtsman Under Dr Thornton, a Swiss is employed, whose name is Keller, a very able mechanic, and inspector of theto me Dr Thornton was so kind as to acco aresemblance, and has made busts of the first American statesmen, &c

[Footnote I-30: [Since deceased His place is supplied by Dr

Thoed a party to the Falls of Potomac, with Mr De Bresson, sixteen ens, Jr On the 6th of Noveton and went fivethe left bank of the river, which is at first very broad Both shores are hilly and covered ood, for the most part hickory and different species of oak Of the prienerally the wood is second growth The banks soon beca rocks On the left shore they have dug a canal, this, however is too narrow, and only navigable by long boats, rese the Durham-boats on the St Lawrence river In these boats, wood, lumber, stones, especially mill-stones, and the harvest froton

Five e, to the right shore The chains consist of bars of wrought iron The bridge itself is of wood, as well as the two cross-beah which the chains are passed; these cross-beayptian appearance The length of the bridge is about one hundred and sixteen feet, its breadth sixteen feet

A rather high toll is paid for passing it; we paid a dollar and a half for a carriage with two horses, for going and coh a wood, became a little better after we arrived at the other side of the bridge It was called a turnpike road, but still it continued hilly We passed but a single inn, and saw but a single country house, which belonged to Cohter becaetown; this occurrence produced a great sensation in the United States Most of the people we roes, who huinia, in the vicinity of the falls; when the road becah the forest, to see this natural curiosity, whose noise made us sensible of its proximity

The river runs here over a rocky bed, and is about three hundred paces wide; in the dry season it is a great deal narrower It forh They recall to e and Saratoga

We crept about in the labyrinth of broken rocks, not without danger or difficulty, in order to obtain different views of these falls The sun was shi+ning upon theht of several rainboe soon felt ourselves richly rewarded for our pains

In order to avoid these falls, a canal with locks has been h the rocks, is in so down more than fifty feet We, unfortunately, had chosen Sunday for our excursion; the inhabitants were gone to church, and there was nobody to give us the necessary explanations There was no vegetation on the rocks about the falls, except sole clover We saw also upon the rock a creeping cactus plant, rese the cochineal cactus, with small pear-shaped fruit, which contained a purple-red slin of ton by the road we ca the late season, it was as war building When it is once surrounded by handsos, it will produce a fine effect It is built of white est is over the rotunda, and the two ss The capitol stands on an acclivity, and in front is three stories high, and on the back, which is opposite the president's h In front is the entrance, with a portal of Corinthian colue balcony, decorated with columns The entrance under the portal is a little too low

In the centre of the building, under the principal doht from the roof Pictures are to be placed in this hall, under the bas-reliefs One of these represents the deliverance of Captain Sinia, by the Indian Princess Pocahontas; another is an allegory, representing the landing of European euous to the balcony, which contains the library of Congress During the English incursion in 1814, the library was destroyed by fire; the present library has been gradually collected since, and consists in great part of the late President Jefferson's books Under the large hall is a small one, supported by three rows of coluht froe hall, and serves as a passage

It has been proposed to place there the coffin of the great WAshi+NGTON

No principal staircase is yet built, but a great nuether very angular Colualleries and saloons; the capitals of the coluyptian taste, and the ypte” In the corridor leading to the senate chamber, are columns, the shafts of which represent a bunch of stalks of Indian corn, and the capitals the fruit of the saht hand side fro to it, the office of the president, and session room of the supreme court of the United States This, and the senate chamber, are built in a se officer The meed; every one has a chair, and before hi the four pictures by Trumbull, which are hereafter to be placed in the rotunda One of them represents the Declaration of Independence: there is a very fine engraving of this picture; another, the surrender of General Burgoyne to General Gates, near Saratoga; the third, the capitulation at Yorktown, and the filing off of the English between the Anation of General Washi+ngton, and laying down of his coress on the 23d of Dece likenesses As to the composition and execution of these pictures, the first makes one think of the pedantic school of Benja The painter was, moreover, placed under restraint by want of taste in his countrymen for the fine arts, who reselish ancestors: the posture of al been prescribed hi is the hall of representatives, likewise in for to it In this hall is a full length portrait of General La Fayette The ceiling of this saloon, like that of the senate chamber, and supreme court roo-stone The gallery above the principal dome, affords a very extensive view The principal avenues of the city, which is to be built, all depart from this point, and this view recalls the situation of the castle at Carlsruhe, with this difference, that here no wood, and but few houses are seen

With the faation, we made an excursion by water to Mount Vernon, the country-seat of the great Washi+ngton Mount Vernon is situated sixteen ht bank of the Potoinia We hired a steam-boat for the purpose, on board of which ent at half past ten o'clock, at Georgetown We went across the long bridge through an opening of a double drawbridge, and steered down the Poto on our left, had a very handsome appearance from the water, and especially the cape, named Greenleaf's point, situated at the junction of the east branch with the Potomac, which is fortified, and contains very spacious storehouses Eight ton, we stopped at the city of Alexandria, lying on the right bank of this river, in order to obtain a boat for landing at Mount Vernon Alexandria is one of the three cities of the district of Coluetown, and Alexandria This town is said to have a considerable commerce; it has a harbour ooden wharves, near which I saw several schooners lying, and also two brigs

It is said to contain about eight thousand inhabitants The streets are long and very straight, crossing each other at right angles After a stay of twenty minutes, we continued our course Both banks are hilly, in soravel, and they are covered ood At a winding of the streaton, recently built upon a rock on the left bank, co the stream with its batteries In an oblique direction on the opposite shore, we at last perceived Mount Vernon, beautifully situated The water near the banks being very low, the steam-boat stopped in the middle of the stream, about a mile from the shore, and we landed in boats We ascended by a very bad road to a place where cattle were grazing, which I heard was forarden Between three oaks and some cypress trees,a coarse wooden door about four feet high, in a very bad piece of reat was my astonishment, when I learned that this was the entrance to the sepulchral vault of the greatest e; of WAshi+NGTON!

I picked up some acorns fallen from the trees which shaded the tomb; my object was to plant them when I returned ho of a cypress tree The toers have nearly cut to pieces the whole of the pall covering the coffin, in order to preserve it as a relic It was last opened at the time of General La Fayette's visit

Thence ent to the dwelling-house, about three hundred paces distant, and situated on a hill, from which there is an extree Washi+ngton, who, being absent upon business connected with his office the greatest part of the year, permits his inherited property to decay very h, built of wood, and without taste On the side next the river, it has a piazza, and on the other, is the entrance with stone steps, which are almost decayed By ht and left with the wings and household buildings Farther on, are houses for negro slaves, of whose dirty, ugly, and ragged children,a greatSunday, we hadaccess to the house; at last we succeeded in getting into the lower story, which has been left nearly in the sareat possessor But the nu to the library, has been increased by reat s decorate the walls, especially a very handsoton was presented with by that unfortunate ilt frame above, are the arton's fa and G W There are also two very good engravings, representing the battle of Bunker's Hill, and the death of General Montgomery; four views of the attack of Gibraltar and its defence, and a reat man painted on enamel One of the keys of the Bastille, sent after its destruction by General La Fayette to Washi+ngton, is exposed in a case of glass, under it is a sepia drawing of the deulations of the roo-room I observed a valuable chimneypiece of Italian allo-antico_

It is known that when General La Fayette was visiting Washi+ngton's burial place, an eagle made his appearance in the air and hovered over the spot until the general had proceeded farther We also observed to day a very large one, which seeht;hi He see while, and when the last boat came near the steam-boat, he suddenly left the place, fleards the wood, and was lost to sight

In our travelling company, I became acquainted with Count Miot, who had formerly been minister of the interior in Naples, and afterwards in Spain, under Joseph Buonaparte, and noas travelling for pleasure, and to visit his ancient entlemen of our party to dinner at his house, and we reiven by Baron Mareuil, more than two hundred persons, the members of the diplomatic body, the first authorities of the country, and the principal inhabitants, were present

I met with General Bernard, and becaht side appeared to be palsied Theacquaintances I made, were those of Commodore Porter, whose name, as well as the important services he rendered to his country, and his late trial, have rendered hiineers I became farther acquainted with Mr Calvert, who told o travelled to Weimar, where he was presented at court and was very well received The ladies were very elegantly dressed, and danced very well They danced ures The arrison The ball, however, did not last long; I was one of the last to go, and came home at eleven o'clock The president was not there; he does not accept any invitation in the city The present president receives even the foreign ministers only when they have been announced by the secretary of state The president is likewise exe visits, which he had already the kindness to give me notice of by Mrs Sullivan, in Baltiiven by General Brown, in honour of the ientlemen I found there were mostly officers of the army There is scarcely an army in Europe in which the corps of officers is better composed than in the small American army; since in the United States no one can on any account be an officer, if he is not well educated The officers are exclusively taken from the military acadereater part of the inferior officers ere advanced during the last war, had been dismissed Such a measure is in this country unavoidably necessary, where none but people of the lowest class enlist as soldiers in the army; without such an interval between the officers and the rank and file, discipline could not beman is seen in the uniform of an American officer, it may with confidence be inferred that he is in every respect fit to maintain his place in the best society

At the third ball, given by Mr Huygens, we oncetiiment of artillery He is an Irishman by birth, educated in a French military school He had been formerly in the French service, and is patronised by General Bernard