& went immediately to bed after tea- & for the first time for a long while, undress'd me & had a comfortable nights rest- We are oblig'd to sleep every & any way- at most of the inns now—— My companions were all disturb'd by the waggoners who put up here & were all night in the room below us, eating, drinking, talking, laughing & swearing- Poor M^r W- was so disturb'd that he is not well this morning, & what is more unpleasant to us, is not good natur'd, & M^rs W has been urging him this half hour, to eat some breakfast- he would only answer "I shan't eat any"-but at length swallow'd some in sullen silence- but is in a different way preparing to ride— If I were going to be married I would give my intended, a gentle emetic, or some such thing to see how he would bear being sick a little- for I could not coax a husband as I would a child, only because he was a little sick & a great deal cross- I trust I shall never have the trial- I am sure I should never bear it with temper & patience. M^r W is I believe a very pious good man, but not naturally pleasant temper'd- religion however, has corrected it in a great degree, but not wholly overcome it- M^rs W- is an amiable sweet temper'd woman, as I ever saw; the more I know her, the better I love her- Susan is a charming girl-but Erastus is rather an obstinate boy- he feels superiour to his father & every one else, in wisdom—M^rs Jackson is a clever woman I believe, but I have a prejudice against her which I cannot overcome- She is very inquisitive and very communicative- She resembles Moll Lyman or rather crazy Moll of Northampton in her looks- She has considerable property & feels it very sensibly- Her youngest son is almost eighteen & has his wife with him, who is not quite as old- They have been married 2 months, & are a most loving couple- I cannot help thinking whenever I see them together, of "love I Sophia?" &c— Her name is Eliza & his, John— The other son is a very obliging but not a very polish'd young man- I like them all better than at first——

Wednesday Eve- Miller's town- Penn- Oct-31^st

We have come 24 miles to day, & just begin to shorten the distance between Pittsburgh & us, & to increase it between Phildelphy (as the dutchmen call it,) & us- It has for a long time been 250 miles to Pitts^g & 60 to Phil^hia- but is now 218 to one & more than 80 to the other— It began snowing this morning which rendered our ride more unpleasant than before- M^r W has continued just as he was in the morning- scarcely a word has been spoken by any of us- I never felt more low spirited & discouraged in my life- We have pass'd through 2 little towns to day- Moyerstown & the other I don't know the name of- We also pass'd thro Lebanon which appear'd to be a town of considerable size & pleasant- we did not stop at all in it- The other towns were merely one short dirty street- this town is one street only, but a tolerably pretty one- There are a number of good houses in it- We have once more got among people of our own nation & language- & they appear very clever—

Harrisburg- P- Thursday- Eve-November-1^st 1810-

It has been snowing fast all the afternoon & we found it very difficult travelling & were oblig'd to put up just in the edge of the town- It was M^r W's intention to cross the Susquehannah which is the other side the town- we shall not pass thro' it- We cross'd the Sweet Arrow, a little river about 8 miles from the Susquehannah— we cross'd it in our waggon-M^r Jeremiah Rees is our landlord- his wife is sick with a fever arising from the Hives at first- He has a sister who seems to take the direction of the female part of the business- She is a strange creature-

Friday morn- I have been very much diverted at hearing some part of her history which she told last night, after drinking a little too much I suppose-She says she has property if she is not married- she had her fortune told a short time since- & was told to think of a certain gentleman living about 300 miles off- which she did, & thought so hard that a drop of blood fell from her nose- She was telling M^rs Jackson of this & ask'd how far she was going- being told about 300 miles- well she said she really believ'd her oldest son was the young man she was to have, for he looks just like the one she thought of- The young man will be quite flatter'd no doubt—— We are all in tolerably good spirits notwithstanding we are unable to proceed on our journey- It still continues snowing, & we shall stay here till tomorrow morning & how much longer I do not know—— There was a cockfighting in the house last night & a great many of the "finest young men in the town" got so intoxicated as to be unable to get home without assistance—— M. V. D.

Sunday eve- East pensboro' township- P-

We left M^r Rees' yesterday ten oclock- & after waiting some time at the ferry house, cross'd the Susquehanna with considerable difficulty- The river is a mile wide & so shallow that the boat would scrape across the large stones so as almost to prevent it from proceeding- We only came 8 miles- the riding was awful- & the weather so cold that I thought I should perish riding 4 miles- This will do well for us, 8 miles in 3 days- We were to have seen the mountains yesterday, but are 50 miles from it— I should like to have staid at M^r Rees' till we reach home if it was possible, notwithstanding we had like to have all lost our characters there- While we were at breakfast, the black wench miss'd nearly 4 dollars of money, & very impudently accused us with taking it, in rather an indirect manner— I felt at first very angry, but anger soon gave place to pity for the poor girls loss- It was money she had been saving for a long time that she might get enough to buy her a dress- but she left it about very carelessly in the closet where any one might have taken it who was so disposed— But had I been inclined to steal, I could not have stolen from a poor black girl- I would rather have given her as much- I never felt so queerly in my life- To be suspected of theft was so new & unexpected to me, that I was wholly unprepar'd for it— We went to M^r Rees & begg'd him to take some method to satisfy the girl we were innocent but we could not prevail on him to, tho' we really wish'd it-He gave the girl a severe scolding & desir'd us not to remember it against them, or to suffer ourselves to be made a moment uneasy by it, & both himself and M^rs Rees were extremely sorry any thing of the kind had happen'd- The girl continued crying & assuring us her money had been safe all summer till then & nobody had been near it but us- I, nor any of us had any doubt that the landlord's sister, whom I before mention'd, had taken it- She had the day before 2 or 3 ninepences in her shoes, & when M^r W ventur'd to ask her if she had not taken it to tease the wench, she swore by every thing she had not touch'd it- She said it was fashionable for ladies to carry money in their shoes- I suppose she had long been eyeing it, & thought then would be a good opper^ty to take it but did not intend it should be discover'd till we were gone & unable to defend ourselves from the charge which she then meant to make against us— She is so worthless a character in every respect, that I am certain she could be guilty of stealing upon occasion— She was very