g myself, servant, and kit to the
Baltimore stage; and at three o'clock A.M. on Friday, I was set down,
cold and weary and wet, at the door of Barnum's hotel. A few thundering
knocks brought down the porter, and I was admitted within shelter of the
well-warmed hall, with

"Och murther alive! Mr. Power, is it yerself, sir? Why, thin, you're
welcome!"

And in five minutes after, I was in a comfortable chamber, and a blazing
fire of wood rising under the inspection of my Irish porter. Anxious to
conclude my journey, I desired him to rouse me in time for the eight
o'clock stage to Washington, though, Heaven knows, I could have slept
for twelve hours at the least; and so tumbled into bed whilst the man
was yet regretting the "mighty haste" I was in.

By nine A.M. I was once more rolling off the pavement of the monumental
city. But what a change was I experiencing! The sun shone cheerily, as
though rejoicing in his conquest over the cold mass which had so long
imprisoned him, and all around appeared to hail his presence with
gladness: the wind was light and mild, the road, which I had seen two
months before all but impassable, was now, by comparison, excellent, and
the surrounding country, then so bleak and bare, was now rejoicing in
the beauty of early spring. My fatigue was all forgotten, and I enjoyed
my present ride as though I had not before known what a bone-breaking
jolt was.

At two o'clock P.M. Washington once more lay beneath me, with the broad
Potomac beyond, looking like a currentless transparent lake, clipped
about by finely wooded irregular heights, and navigated by faery barks.
Such was the aspect this noble river presented, and just such the little
fleet of fishing-boats scattered over its bosom, busied in pursuit of
the shad and the herring, now coming into season.

To my great joy, I found my excellent friend, Captain B----n, was still
resident at Fuller's: my old rooms had that day been vacated for me, a
few hours beheld me comfortably installed, and the rough-work of the
past trip across the backbone of the continent only served to enhance
my present enjoyments.

The Impressions left by my present residence I have already given in an
embodied form to the reader. I shall therefore beg him to accompany me
back to Philadelphia, and thence _via_ Princeton to New York.

_May 26th._--A lovely morning: landed from the Delaware steamer at
Bordenton, and rode thence to Princeton on horseback, sixteen miles;