CHAPTER V.

OSWEGO TO CINCINNATI.

Cincinnati, October 21, 1854.—I left Oswego yesterdaymorning, and my stages to the westward were, to Ro-chester, 90 miles; to Buffalo, 60 ; to Cleveland, 183 ; Belle-fontaine, 140; Cincinnati, by Springfield, 117 miles. Iarrived here late at night, after a week’s travelling. As ageneral rule, few trains a day are run upon the Americanrailways, especially in the Western States, where the popula-tion is thinly scattered. This is no doubt the most econo-mical system, but as the trains are by no means punctual inarriving at the stated time, passengers are often detained forseveral hours at those towns where the lines of the differentcompanies join, and thus there is frequently a good deal oftime lost.

I travelled one night along the shores of Lake Erie, whereall the carriages were so completely packed that many pas-sengers had to stand. There are special trains which conveythe European immigrants at lower fares than the ordi-nary trains, but the Americans do not mingle among theseforeigners. The Lake Shore Railway is one of the great linesto the western settlements, and I found myself chiefly sur-rounded with farmers and their families who had sold out“ down east,” and had bought land in the west. The Englishlanguage is spoken with great purity in the Atlantic towns,but some of the young women in the train made use ofa ridiculous number of Americanisms, and had so muchof the strong nasal twang, that at first one might have sup-posed that they were caricaturing this comical habit. TheAmericans are a good natured people, and fond of a joke.A lively merchant that sat beside me threw in a few wordsnow and then to stir up the conversation, which in Scotland