perience to convince us that every stump
would not be our last; it was amusing to watch the cool and easy
skill with which the driver wound his horses and wheels among
these stumps. I thought he might have been imported to Bond
street with great advantage. The forest became thicker and more
dreary-looking every mile we advanced, but our ever-grinning
negro declared it was a right good road, and that we should be
sure to get to Nashoba.

And so we did....and one glance sufficed to convince me that
every idea I had formed of the place was as far as possible from
the truth. Desolation was the only feeling--the only word that
presented itself; but it was not spoken. I think, however, that
Miss Wright was aware of the painful impression the sight of her
forest home produced on me, and I doubt not that the conviction
reached us both at the same moment, that we had erred in thinking
that a few months passed together at this spot could be
productive of pleasure to either. But to do her justice, I
believe her mind was so exclusively occupied by the object she
had then in view, that all things else were worthless, or
indifferent to her. I never heard or read of any enthusiasm
approaching her's, except in some few instances, in ages past, of
religious fanaticism.

It must have been some feeling equally powerful which enabled
Miss Wright, accustomed to all the comfort and refinement of
Europe, to imagine not only that she herself could exist in this
wilderness, but that her European friends could enter there, and
not feel dismayed at the savage aspect of the scene. The annexed
plate gives a faithful view of the cleared space and buildings
which form the settlement. Each building consisted of two large
rooms furnished in the most simple manner; nor had they as yet
collected round them any of those minor comforts which ordinary
minds class among the necessaries of life. But in this our
philosophical friend seemed to see no evil; nor was there any
mixture of affectation in this indifference; it was a
circumstance really and truly beneath her notice. Her whole
heart and soul were occupied by the hope of raising the African
to the level of European intellect; and even now, that I have
seen this favourite fabric of her imagination fall to pieces
beneath her feet, I cannot recall the self-devotion with which
she gave herself to it, without admiration.

The only white persons we found at Nashoba were my amiable
friend, Mrs