of northerly wind;
but it blew as though issuing from a furnace, and afforded no present
relief. The sky continued to show "fiery off," and the musquitoes of
that ilk did credit to the genealogy my informant ascribed to them: but
there is a period beyond which even suffering ceases; this happy
insensibility I had attained; and when after midnight we were landed at
Utica, I felt as though I could have slept soundly and well even beneath
the heated deck of our canal packet.

I got an excellent bed at the hotel, however; and at daylight awoke to
feel once more the delightful sensation of coolness. In the night heavy
rain had fallen; a light but pleasant breeze was blowing; and the past
was already a subject for merriment, although it was such matter for
jest as I never willingly will undertake to collect again.

LITTLE FALLS.

SARATOGA.--BALLSTON.--ALBANY.--MOUNTAIN-HOUSE.--CATSKILL.--HYDE
PARK.--LYNN.

The early hour of six A.M. saw us once more in motion for Schnectady, by
way of Little Falls. We pursued what is termed the ridge road, running
along the valley of the Mohawk.

The day was bright, and not over-warm. The sun's rays being tempered by
a delicious north-east breeze, the condition of the atmosphere
completely re-invigorated the almost prostrate body, whilst the
loveliness of the prospect delighted and cheered the mind. No valley in
the world can present charms more varied or more beautiful; even making
every allowance for the happy change from musquitoes, swamps, close
confinement, and suffocation, to freedom, exercise, and healthful
breezes, with the satisfaction consequent upon the re-enjoyment of all
these.

We frequently ran along the line of cuttings for the railroad now in
progress between Utica and Schnectady. The rocky nature of the ridge
whose line they pursue, offers formidable impediments; but the work was
proceeding with great rapidity notwithstanding. This railway, when
complete, together with the canal by whose side it runs, will afford a
facility of communication between New York and Utica, which, for speed
and convenience, can have no rival.

We breakfasted at Little Falls, a small town built on what was, at some
period or other, the very bed of a torrent, amidst the huge piles of
rock riven from the mountains in its course. Although overshadowed by
the steep heights that wall the ravine in which it lies, it is kept cool
and healthful by the constant current of air following t