Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 9).djvu/263

 The sales of land in the late Indian purchase in Indiana have commenced at Jeffersonville.—They are now exposed by auction in lots of half quarter sections, (80 acres.) Only a very small part of the quantity offered has been sold. The price obtained is almost uniformly a dollar and a quarter per acre, the minimum rate now established by act of Congress. A few lots which present superior local advantages have sold higher. I know of one, with an excellent mill-seat, that gave three dollars per acre. The lands offered, but not sold at the present auction, may afterwards be privately purchased at the land-office for a dollar and a quarter per acre. No credit is given to those who buy public lands. The purchasers, whose lands were by law forfeited for non-payment, have got another year's indulgence, but this act of lenity does not extend to those who are not actual settlers. Quarter sections are divided into half quarters, by south and north lines. A considerable number of back-woodsmen, who had previously taken possession of lands in the new purchase, attended the public sales for about a week. During the night they lodged in a joiner's shed, which {231} is a mere temporary roof, composed of loose boards, for the purpose of sheltering workmen from the direct rays of the sun.

I lately returned from visiting the camp meeting of Wesleyan methodists, where I remained about twenty-four hours. On approaching the scene of action, the number of horses tied to fences and trees, and the travelling waggons standing in the environs, convinced me of the great magnitude of the assemblage. Immediately round the meeting a considerable number of tents were irregularly disposed. Some of them were log cabins that seemed to have served several campaigns, but most of them constructed by poles, covered over with coarse tow cloth.