Tuesday, August 19th, 1823 - In company with Mr Hogg [aforementioned] we went on
board a steam packet to New Brunswick, thence by coach to Trenton by Kingston, Princeton,
Lawrenceville.
Steamboat traffic on the Hudson and surrounding areas would
be well established by this time. The first commercially successful steamship, the
North River Steamboat, colloquially known as the Clermont, was operating from
1807, as this early advertisement for it demonstrates:
A replica of the Clermont was built in 1909 and is shown here at anchor. Douglas would have travelled on the original of this or a vessel much like it.
US Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
The whole country appeared well cultivated, of a rich light
soil; for upwards of ten miles it appeared a garden. This is Douglas the gardener, keenly observing the horticulture of every place he passes through. Slept at Trenton.
By this time Trenton, close by the Delaware Falls had been capital of the State of New Jersey since 1792 so Douglas would find himself in a well-established and bustling city, although not on the scale of New York.
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