In the afternoon we viewed the Town which contains according to several Gentlemen residing here, about 500 Dwelling Houses besides Stores and Out Houses. The Streets are irregular and badly laid out, some paved others not, Two or Three are broad the rest narrow & not straight, most of the Buildings are pyramidically shaped like the old Dutch Houses in N. York, we found Cartwright's a good Tavern tho his charges were exorbitant & it is justly remarked by Kahn the Swedish Traveller in America that the Townsmen of Albany in general sustained the character of being close, mercenary and avaricious — they deem it 60 miles from Albany to Cherry Valley — We did not note any extraordinary Edifices in the Town nor is there a single Building facing Albany on the other Side of the River. The Fort is in a ruinous neglected Condition and no- thing now to be seen of Fort Orange erected by the Dutch but part of the Fosse or Ditch which surrounded it. The Barracks Digitized by Microsoft® 354 The Hudson River are built of Wood and of ordinary Workmanship the same may be said of the King's Store Houses. The Court House is large and the Jail under it, one miserable Woman is now in it for cutting the Throat of her Child about 5 years old. There are 4 Houses of Worship for different Denominations and a public Library which we did not visit, most of the Houses are built of Brick or faced with Brick. The Inhabitants generally speak both Dutch and English & some do not understand the latter. The Shore and the Wharves 3 in Number abounded in Lumber. Stephen VanRenslaer the Patron or Lord of the Manor of Renslaerwick his House stands a little above the Town he is a young man (since deceased) — the Site of the Town is hilly and the Soil clay but round the place it is a mere Sand bearing pine Trees chiefly of the Pitch Pine, some Lime or Linden Trees as well as other Trees are planted before the Doors as at N. York and indeed Albany has in other Respects much the Aspect of that City, the Houses are for the most Part covered with Shingles made of White Pine, some few with red or black Tiles. In one of the Streets there is a Sign of the Jersey Shoe Ware House being supplied in Part with Shoes by Henry Guest of N. Brunswick, there is a Town Cloc which strikes regularly. We saw some Indians here & found the Weather very warm and sultry. nth Having hired an open Waggon the Company quitted Albany early in the Morng. intending for Schenectady by way of Cahoe's Falls, the Fare of the Waggon with Two Horses was 2 op. It is called 7 miles from the City to the Mouth of the Mohawk's River & from thence to the Cahoes 5 Miles, from the Cahoes to Schenectady 16 Miles from Albany to Schenectady in a Direct Line along the usual Road 1 7 Miles (there are now Mile Stones set up) The Patroons House at the North End of Albany is a large handsome Mansion with a good Garden & Wheat Field that reaches down to the North River, the Road leads along the Bank for about 6 or 7 miles from Albany and the rich Bottom on each side of the River is near Half a Mile broad con- sisting of a black Mould very level & low, proper for the best Sort of Meadow, but here sown with Wheat and Peas both which look well, some of the Peas are up and some are now sow- Digitized by Microsoft® A Voyage up the Hudson in 1769 355 ing, very little Indian corn is raised in these Parts & that not planted in Furrows & Rows but at random, one Field excepted, they plant three or 4 Feet apart in the Hills & the same Ground every year, the Land back of this fertile Space is covered with the Pitch and White Pine chiefly and yet not bad Land, and along the Mohawks River also this rich flat Ground extends from a Quarter to Half a Mile wide, but somewhat narrower on the upper parts of that River. This Stream at the Cahoes is reckoned to be about a Quarter of a Mile in Breadth & the Falls extend quite across, the Heighth of the Fall is conjectured by Mr. Wells & the Two Surveyors to be 60 Feet or upwards but I have seen a Copper plate that calls it 75, tho' upon ocular view it appears less, the Fall is almost perpendicular, the whole Body of the River brawling over a Slate Rock, the Banks of