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THE Country to which the name of GENESEE is given, is the most westerly part of the State of NewYork, and is situated between 3 degrees and 5 deg. 50 min. longitude west from New-York city, and between 42 deg. and 43 deg. 15 min. north latitude. Its greatest length from east to west is 125 miles, and its greatest breath about 95 miles, containing nearly 5 millions of acres. It is bounded south on the north boundary of the State of Pennsylvania; north by the southern shore of Lake Ontario; west by the eastern boundary of Presque-Isle (a flourishing settlement in Pennsylvania) 18 miles; north-west by the south east shore of Lake Erie, 70 miles; west by the streights of Niagara, upwards of 37 miles; and east by a meridian line running due north from the north boundary of Pennsylvania, at the 82d mile-stone, to the south shore of Lake Ontario. Its least distance by road is-to Albany 190 miles, to New-York 245 miles, to Philadelphia 230 miles, to Baltimore 250 miles, to Washington city 280 miles, to Pittsburgh nearly 100 miles, and to Montreal by water 250 miles.

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Its name is taken from the river Genesee, and signifies in the Indian language a pleasant valley. In the year 1789, Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, Esquires, of New England, purchased from the State of Massachusetts the pre-emption right of a large tract of land in the eastern part of this country, under the jurisdiction of the State of New-York; but little was done in the settlement of it until the year 1792, when the roads leading to this country were made and improved, and other extensive improvments were effected; the progress of the settlement of this country has since been uncommonly rapid.

Nearly one half of this country, situated nearest the southern boundary, is generally hilly and broken, consisting however of many fertile tracts of land. The face of the other parts is generally even, a considerable part, on the east of the Genesee river, consisting of low ridges, or gradual swells running parallel with each other, which form handsome uplands and meadows; and on the west of Genesee river the country is more level.* On both sides of Genesee river are large openings which are thinly timbered, very fertile, and could easily be put under cultivation. In the eastern part the country in many places makes a pleasant and flourishing appearance, the settlers having a prevailing practice of building adjoining the public roads, and cultivating lands nearest them. From Canandarqua to Genesee river, a distance of 25 miles, the country has the most flourishing appearance, that part being earliest settled, and abounds with very substantial improvements, which are seldom equalled in the United States, in the pleasantness of their appearance.

The quality of the soil is various, but in the better or most even parts of the country before mentioned, a rich loamy soil is the most common, and it is sometimes covered on the top with a loose black mould, from six to ten inches deep. The most common sorts of timber in these parts of the country is as follows: sugar maple, beech, lyn (here called basswood) oak, ash, and elm; and the hilly parts are mostly timbered with oak. Where the sugar maple and basswood are most common, the land is generally esteemed best for grass, and probably for grain, and is experienced to be durable; and lands which produce mostly beech timber, are considered as generally clayey, wet and cold. A considerable portion of the better part of the country is timbered with oak, and lands on which it is of a large growth are by many esteemed the most durable, although at first not productive of as good crops as maple lands, and harder in tillage. Grain is frequently put into the ground without ploughing, the ground being only broke with a heavy harrow, and often yields, with this cultivation, upwards of twenty bushels of wheat from an acre. In a considerable portion of the country a rock of limestone lies from 2 to 6 feet under the surface of the earth, and large quantities of the loose stone are sometimes found above. the surface, which is manufactured to advantage, and some of the best quality is now used in building. But although the growth of timber usually denotes the sort of soil on which it grows, yet it sometimes happens that the soil varies materially in different places where the same sort of timber grows; and it is observed in some parts that the growth of the young timber is of a different sort from the old. Lands on which the growth of timber almost entirely consists of maple, basswood, and beech, appear to be attended with a scarcity of timber most suitable for fences; although a quantity of oak, elm, ash, &c., is usually found on land of this description, sufficient for the purposes of fencing and building, and basswood rails, when the bark is taken off, are tolerably durable.

The most useful sorts of timber are, the sugar maple, oak, pine, yellow poplar, (here called white wood) wild cherry, white and black walnut, chesnut, hickory, wild plumb and dogwood. Of shrubs and plants the most noted are, sassafras, wild hops, fox grapes, in some parts, elder, sumac, raspberry, ginseng, sarsaparilla, snakeroot, spikenard, mandrakes, in taste and flavour much resembling a pine apple, strawberries, whortleberries, cranberries, and wild gooseberries. The sorts of trees and shrubs

* According to the geographical descriptions given of this country, it is erroneously reported as being "a dead level," a description that is only applicable to a small proportion of it.

which are most scarce, are hemlock fir, cucumber tree, white poplar, white and black birch, turmeric tree, spruce pine, locust tree, prickly ash, spice wood, hazel nut, willow, and alder. Fruit, as apples, peaches, plumbs, cherries &c. grows to much advantage, and in some parts are orchards that were raised by the Indians; but fruit trees, in this country, were mostly destroyed in the expedition of General Sullivan against the Indians in the revolutionary war. This country is very favourable for the raising of grass, the uplands usually producing from a ton and a half to two tons an acre, and sometimes. three tons. It is uncommonly favourable for wheat, of which, when it is well and early put into the ground, from twenty to twenty-five bushels are usually raised on an acre; but it has been known to yield forty and frequently thirty bushels an acre, and the grain is generally large and of good quality. Corn generally grows to the amount of 30 to 40 bushels on an acre, and in some instances, on the flats of Genesee river and of Mud Creek, it is said, to the extent of 70 to 80 bushels an acre, and is very heavy and substantial in quality. Rye commonly yields a less quantity than wheat; oats, buck wheat, and other sorts of grain, are very productive. Flax and hemp grow very luxuriantly, though in some years the crops of flax are indifferent. Potatoes, turnips, cabbages, onions, and other productions of the gardens, grow to great perfection. Tobacco is raised of a good quality, but as yet not in large quantities: a gentleman from Maryland has raised some thousand plants of it, last fall, and it is believed that it might be advantageously raised for market. Maple sugar is manufactured in such quantities that some of the Inhabitants make from five hundred to upwards of a thousand pounds of it in a season. A tree produces, by boiling down the sap, from two to five pounds of sugar, and it is made near the end of winter, when but little of any other work is done on a farm. The sap of the maple also affords a supply of vinegar, and excellent molasses.

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Of wild animals, the most remarkable are bears, wolves and deer, which abound most in the hilly parts; also, elks, a large species of deer, weighing five or six hundred pounds, and a few panthers. Foxes, martins, minks, otters, and muskrats, are found here. Sheep are sometimes destroyed by wild animals; but as a liberal reward is allowed for killing these, they become scarce, as population increases. Squirrels are so numerous in some years as considerably to injure corn; and upwards of 2000 of them have sometimes been killed in a day, which is occasionally appointed for that purpose by the inhabitants; the most common kinds of them are the black, and the red; the grey coloured being very scarce. Of reptiles, the most remarkable is the rattle-snake, which is seen mostly in the hilly country. Large numbers of pigeons frequent the country in spring and fall, of which a great many are caught by nets and shooting, and beds are sometimes made of their feathers. There are partridges and quails; and wild fowl and fish are abundant in lake Ontario and the other lakes and in the rivers. In reference to horses, those which have been raised in this country are very thriving. It has been supposed that this country is unfavourable to the raising of horses which are brought from other states, when they are put to feed on the natural pasture and herbage; but it is reported that when they are well kept, and have salt sometimes given them, they are then as healthy as elsewhere. Oxen grow uncommonly large, frequently measuring from six and a half to seven feet and upwards, round the shoulders, and are mostly used for work, being very manageable, and perhaps most suitable for the working of new lands. A larger breed of horned cattle has lately been introduced, and is now raising. Sheep and hogs are very thriving. The growth of cattle is rapid, from the abundance of the herbage. natural to the woods, and the excellence of the improved pasture; and a cow commonly brings forth a calf at the age of twenty four months and frequently of twenty months.

Several mineral springs have been discovered, one of sulphur situated 12 miles north west of Geneva, is of a sufficient size and fall for an overshot mill, and its scent is conveyed by the wind nearly the distance of two miles. This spring issues out of the ground in different branches, and adjoining it are two large bogs of sulphur, into which a stick may be thrust upwards of six feet deep.

It is

supposed that at this spring the manufacture of brimstone would be considerably important. Near this spring a house for entertainment is opened, which is much frequented, either from motives of pleasure, or the medicinal qualities of the spring. A spring is reported to be discovered near Canandarqua lake, the water flowing from it forming a crust of allum on the adjoining rocks. A salt spring is said to be discovered west from Genesee river; but the Inhabitants are at present plentifully supplied with that valuable article from the salt works in the military lands, at the distance of 10 to 60 miles, and is sold and also exchanged for grain, near Geneva, at a dollar a bushel. Near the head of the Genesee river there is a remarkable spring, the water issuing from it being covered with a sort of oil called by the Indians Seneca Oil, which is excellent for wounds and other medicinal uses. A considerable quantity of Plaister of Paris was lately discovered near Geneva, which is reported to be of a good quality.

This country is considered as indifferently watered in regard to springs and running water; but it is expected that the further clearing of land will cause a greater plenty of that article, which at present frequently runs under ground by the hollowness which is occasioned by the roots of trees; and a considerable quantity is now probably consumed in the nourishment of timber. Water, is however, readily found by digging wells, commonly 15 to 20 feet in depth, and is not worse in quality than in many of the most populous parts of the United States. The practice of the inhabitants of building adjoining the public roads, often occasions too great a distance from springs, and they might frequently be conveniently supplied with water, were they to build on other parts of their farms. There is however a considerable number of streams suitable for mills, insomuch as the greater part of the inhabitants are not farther distant than a few miles from mills which are plentifully supplied with water in all seasons. As to curiosities, the falls of Niagara and Genesee river, are very remarkable; the falls of Niagara being the greatest curiosity of the sort in the world, falling 157 feet perpendicularly, where the river is three quarters of a mile wide, and are sometimes heard at a distance of 40 or 50 miles. There are many remains of antient fortifications, a chain of which appears to extend from the lower end of lake Ontario to the west of the Ohio river. These forts afford much speculation concerning their origin, but the most probable conclusion is that they were erected by the French upon their first settlement in America, about 200 years ago.

The following are the principal rivers and lakes:

Genesee river, rising in Pennsylvania, runs a northeasterly course of above 100 miles, and empties into lake Ontario. It is situated 40 miles west from Seneca Lake, and is boatable nearly 50 miles, but its navigation is interrupted by some falls. On this river are extensive and very rich bottoms, which are in some part nearly two miles wide, and are partly overflowed in the spring season; in consequence of which the inhabitants near them are subject to agues and other bilious complaints. Its flats are in some parts cleared of timber for several thousand acres, which are covered with very high and thick grass.

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The Tioga river receives the waters of the Cawanisque, Canisteo, and Conhocton rivers, and flows about 8 miles through the south-east corner of this country to the Susquehanna river at Tioga Point. From this river, arks are loaded with 1200 bushels of grain, boats and rafts of lumber, proceed to markets on the Susequehanna river, and even to the city of Baltimore:* In the spring of 1804, it is supposed that 50 or 60 arks and boats, laden with produce from this country, besides many rafts, were floated down this river to the Susquehanna.

* It is expected that a great part of the produce of this country, will soon be transported to the Philadelphia market, by a turnpike roud, which is nearly completed, between Niscopack, on the Susquehannah, and the river Lehigh, which discharges itself into the Delaware river; the distance of the road being 23 miles. By this route, it is said, the most difficult falls on the Susquehannah may be avoided, and produce will command the highest prices. Produce which is transported down Susquehannah river, is insured by Mr. Goldsborough at Newtown.

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