Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 4).djvu/41

 some of which I have been informed, private gambling is very customary.

There are horse races here annually, which last a week on a course on the common to the westward of the town, which like most other races in this country, are for the mere purposes of jockeying horses, and betting, and are not followed by balls and other social meetings of both sexes, as at amusements of the same kind in Europe. Shooting with the rifle, is a favourite amusement, at which they are very dexterous, meeting at taverns at short distances from town, to shoot, sometimes at a mark for wagers, and sometimes at turkeys provided by the tavern keeper, at so much a shot, the turkey being the prize of the killer of it—the distance is generally, one hundred yards, and always with a single ball.

CHAPTER II

Indian bridges over Chickey creeks—Elizabeth-town—Cheapness of living—Swatara creek and ferry—Middleton—Susquehannah river—Chambers's ferry—Harrisburgh.

On Thursday 29th January I left Lancaster on foot, proceeding along the Harrisburgh road, at a steady pace of about three miles and a half an hour. The weather was remarkable fine, and the road in excellent order, and what was remarkable for the season, a little dusty. About a mile and a half from Lancaster, I past a turnpike toll gate, from a little beyond which I got the last view of the steeples of that town, and soon after I crossed a stone bridge over a branch of Conestoga creek. The road continued {18} fine, and the country rich, laid out in large farms, with good dwelling houses of brick and stone, and immense barns. Though hill and dale, woods and cultivated farms, presented themselves alternately yet there was nothing very striking in the scenery.