Tuesday, November 4th &
5th, 1823 – In the morning went to Mr Dick’s [Janitor of the University]
and got up and packed and sent to the wharf. Mr Dick has several species of
Cactus from the Rocky Mountains but they are too small to bear a voyage across
the Atlantic.
Left Philadelphia at 12 o’clock and reached Burlington at
4 in the afternoon [of the 4th Nov]. Went to William Coxe, Esq., whom I found still very ill –
but considerably better since I saw him before…..[and yet, Douglas goes on to say..]
he was not able to leave his room, indeed he was so ill before I left that to
appearance he could not live long. [So I guess he must have deteriorated sharply while Douglas
was there?]
I obtained all that was in the house [of varieties of
apple seeds], consisting of about eight or nine varieties and only two or three
of each, with two bottles of cider seven years old – one made from Wine-sop,
one from Virginian crab-apple: this is a present from Thos A. Knight and Jos
Sabine Esqs., from Will. Coxe. I also got a few seeds of ornamental plants. I
received from him and family all the attention they could give under the
present circumstances.
I had not time to call on Mr Smith, and as I saw all the
trees sent off before going to Philadelphia, left Burlington at 2 o’clock in
the afternoon [of the 5th Nov] by steamboat for Bordentown, and then by stage to South Amboy.
The night was exceedingly dark and rainy; the coach broke down at 11 o’clock at
night, and having to stop two hours in repairing, got to South Amboy at 4
o’clock on Wednesday morning. This is a specimen of great speed – twenty-nine
miles in thirteen hours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One can only
assume Douglas is being sarcastic about the speed of travel as, at an average
of only 2.2mph, he could literally have walked it faster!
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