LETTER II.

VOYAGE CONTINUED-GULF STREAM-SANDY HOOK-PILOT BOAT -NEW YORK-CUSTOM HOUSE REGULATIONS-LOCAL ADVANTAGES OF NEW YORK - HARBOUR

STREETS- PUBLIC

BUILDINGS-BATTERY-BAY-LONG ISLAND-BROOKLYN

NAVY YARD-STEAM FRIGATE.

New York, May, 1818.

AFTER leaving Fayal we enjoyed in general fair winds and pleasant weather, till near the banks of Newfoundland, where we experienced the usual fogs and a thunderstorm. Excepting the phenomena of the Gulf stream, we met with nothing very deserving of notice during the second portion of our voyage. This singular current is so called in consequence of having its source in the Gulf of Mexico from which it issues between Florida and the island of Cuba, and flows in a north-easterly course, skirting for a time the shore of America and then losing itself in the vast Atlantic. Its velocity near its source is about four knots an hour, which gradually decreases, as the distance from the source and the centre of the current becomes greater, but its most remarkable characteristic is the very high temperature which it retains even at

a distance of fifteen hundred to two thousand miles from the Gulf. Intelligent shipmasters are accustomed to observe the comparative state of the thermometer in the water and in the air, as an important assistance in ascertaining their course; and in going out to America they keep as much as possible to the north of the stream, to avoid its powerful obstruction. For several days we found the water from ten to fifteen degrees warmer than the air, and on one occasion the variation was as much as twenty-two; we were then at no great distance from the southern extremity of Nova Scotia, when the thermometer stood in the air at 45o and in the water at 670 Fahr.

On the seventeenth day after losing sight of Fayal, we made Sandy Hook, and had the pleasure of taking an American pilot on board. The boat in which he came out to us particularly attracted my notice, by its neatness of appearance and great rapidity of sailing. It was a small decked vessel, schooner-rigged, and very sharp in the bows. At a great distance we observed its peaked sails skimming over the water, and bearing down upon us with the utmost precision and velocity; when a short way off, its foresail was backed for a moment, and a small two oared yawl lowered over the side, which brought the pilot to our vessel, and returning, was instantly hoisted on board; the sails were again trimmed, and it darted away, as if to display its superior speed and mock our tardy motion; it

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stretched across our bows, and dashed alternately to windward and leeward, sweeping round our vessel like a sea gull round a rock.

The progress of our ship up the river was prevented by a strong head wind, but the passengers were eager to get to New York, rather more than twenty miles distant, and we chartered the pilot boat to convey us: to her the head wind was a matter of little consequence, and in four hours we were safely landed at the wharf. Before getting ashore, which was about nine o'clock at night, we were boarded by the emissaries of two morning newspapers, who extracted from us the principal occurrences of the voyage, with the names of the passengers, and next morning by six the whole was served out to the public from both offices.

The custom house regulations of the United States relative to passengers, are very liberal,all their personal luggage, and even implements of trade and husbandry for their own use, being exempted from duty; and I found the officer who was put on board the vessel to examine our trunks, perfectly civil and accommodating. His appearance bespoke him a man of habits and taste very superior to a large proportion of those whom we find performing similar duties at home, and one whom no one would be disposed to insult with the offer of those paltry gratuities, to give them no worse name, for which excuses are so frequently discovered. I had been solicited to take charge of some

volumes as presents from persons at home to their friends here, and as they could not be included in the entry which I was required to make, under the sanction of an oath, respecting my own luggage, I showed them to the searching officer, and at once obtained his permission to send them ashore. All that he detained was a selection from a bundle of tracts, which he begged me to give him with a view to their being reprinted here;—few persons in the same profession at home would have been likely to prefer such a request.

I have now spent several weeks in New York, but shall postpone for the present any remarks upon the social, moral, or political characteristics of its inhabitants, in the hope that I shall hereafter have abundant opportunities of more extensive observation; the remaining pages of this letter shall rather be devoted to brief notices of the more remarkable peculiarities of their city.

New York is built upon the southern point of Manhattan island, and enjoys a situation in every respect admirably suited for commercial purposes. The Hudson, or North River, passes it upon the one side; a narrow part of Long Island Sound, familiarly termed the East River, washes it upon the other; while in front is a noble bay, expanding between the shores of Long Island and New Jersey, in which the united navies of the world might spread their canvass. Below the bay are the Narrows, facilitating the defence of the harbour, and at va