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    have ajso grown" about forty bushels pf Indian com from off tittle more than an acre of land , and very fine pumpkins , which are excellent food for cattle , with a small rick of Prairie hay .. There is much more to do in these new settlements than those at a distance , are aware of .

    €€ M . Birkbeck ' s house is not yet finished , owing to the difficulty of procuring seasoned materials , and he has so much to attend to for others thiat his own business is retarded . There have been seven families besides ourselves , new settlers this summer , with many single individuals , so that we have plenty of society , and some of a pleasant kind * We believe it best for us that we came

    here , as we have no rent or taxes to pay and plenty of fuel . Living is cheap : good beef is 2 ^ e / . per lb- ; we can buy a dee r for a little more than a dollar ; butter is scarce , but we substitute honey , which we get for a dollar a gallon ; flour is

    about 2 f dollars a bushel ; groceries are dear , but we laid in a good stock at a reasonable rate at New Orleans , which has been an advantage to us and others * There is now a plan entered into by some of the Birkbecks and their friends for a

    cheaper and readier supply of these articles in future . M . B . has now all his family , as Richard and Morris , jun ., are arrived ; they made an expeditious journey from New York , coming across in eighteen days , a shorter time than any one else had performed it in . R . B . seems quite earnest to begin farming for

    himself * but I believe Morris , jun . prefers a situation in England . The R s are now in the Eastern States , and I believe they expect their father this autumn . The servant girl and the men we brought out with us continue faithful , and are of great use to us , though one of the latter

    is just now in trouble , being summoned before a magistrate for carrying a gun on nrst-d $ y , which 1 mention as an instance that the Sabbath ana laws are respected even in these back settlements . Indeed , we have seen very many respectable peoples amongst what are termed Backwoods men , and ^ much more civility than we could have supposed , though there are

    somq of a different character who are taken up occasionally for misdemeanors , which , however * only happens when they are jwajl ^ r the influence pf whiskey . We have also seen some Indians of the Miami nation , who were weUVbqhaved . Charle * T— , whose tetter thou saw , \ j jt ji , < verj friendly ; he has . . * , fc $ » j f < m fPW * W » where he hm efefe-M ^ tJfe cultivation ,

    aajl tlfirm ^^^^ mm gto ^ icm W % * fflP yffll ^^ # l ^< f !^ 4 lP ^^ to lot , .. jfl ^ is i ^ f ^(; , u * ^

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    orchard , which is to be planted soon ; but mjf- wpier hasfbe ^ tjf * & £ dry for a long time , though otherwise delightful . We have plenty of w * l& gt& 0 , ^ whMi a » £ very good ; as also hazel and hickory nuts , with many other fruits unknown fe . England . The grafts and trees ive brought out are nearly aU dead , we

    suppose from the voyage tod heat of the steam-boat ; but we have two white nectarines from seed , which are esteemed rarities , and have sowed many peach stones . We have bought peaches at a dollar per bushel , but hope in a few years to have plenty of our own ; the asparagus seeds thrive well , and we shall plant them out in the spring ; kidney beans flourish

    greatly ; peas have not . succeeded well this year , but we mean to try them in the spring ; and we have introduced the wild strawberry into our garden , also sweet potatoes , which eat like roasted chesnuts : we have not yet any gooseberries or cur rants , but find they flourish well at Harmony , and hope we shall not be long without them .

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    Letters from the Back Settlements of America . 607

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    From M . P . " fVariboroug hy Illinois , " 2 mo . 6 , 1820 , " My dear Cousin ,

    * ' kind letter to my dear deceased father was received by us with much pleasure , and though the individual to whom it was written is removed , I trust , to a happier state of being * I doubt not that it will afford thee some satisfaction

    to receive intelligence of the mourning family of thy friend . " I had often wished to perform my promise of writing to thee , and little thought that I might have a subject . to treat of which would throw so deep a

    gloom over our correspondence . Perhaps my dear father ' s decease might be in some measure occasioned by yielding too much , in general , to languor , produced by the heat , and thus far may be attributable to the climate . We were often

    uncomfortable that he stayed in-doors , reclining on a bed , instead of living almost entirely in the open air as we accustomed ourselves to do . Not many , weeks previous to his death , he , declared that he had neve * enjoyed . so good a state of health as since his abode in the Prairies , which

    was unfortunate , as he thought th ^ t it justified him in riding front Shawnee Town , a distance of 60 mUes , in oneday , l $ e effepfs of which * Iliitii ^ fe ^ llerxii ^ Ker seemed entirely to loa ^ lr bwt it is useless ppvy ' ,, to ia ^ tS ^ r ^ b ^^ event . . The eet ^^ n ^^^ h ^ b ^^^^ ^ W 0 t my dearrwother bore the afflicting

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1820, page 607, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2493/page/43/