some in three, some in five compartments; and, being merely
forelocked together, are easily carried across the hill, from the canal
on one side to the continuation thereof on the other.[L]

A few hours after quitting these planes, we came to the end of the
railway, and had to coach it over a ten-mile break in the line. It was
one of those wretched wet days which is said to make even an old
inhabitant of Argyleshire look despondingly,--in which county, it will
be remembered that, after six weeks' incessant wet, an English
traveller, on asking a shepherd boy whether it always rained there,
received the consoling reply of, "No, sir--it sometimes snaws." The
ground was from eight to eighteen inches deep in filthy mud; the old
nine-inside stages--of which more anon--were waiting ready; and as there
were several ladies in the cars, I thought the stages might be induced
to draw up close to the scantily-covered platform to take up the
passengers; but no such idea entered their heads. I imagine such an
indication of civilization would have been at variance with their
republican notions of liberty; and the fair ones had no alternative but
to pull their garments up to the altitude of those of a ballet-dancer,
and to bury their neat feet and well-turned ankles deep, deep, deep in
the filthy mire. But what made this conduct irresistibly
ludicrous--though painful to any gentleman to witness--was the mockery
of make-believe gallantry exhibited, in seating all the ladies before
any gentleman was allowed to enter; the upshot of which was, that they
gradually created a comparatively beaten path for the gentlemen to get
in by. One pull of the rein and one grain of manners would have enabled
everybody to enter clean and dry; yet so habituated do the better
classes appear to have become to this phase of democracy, that no one
remonstrated on behalf of the ladies or himself.

The packing completed, a jolting ride brought us again to the railway
cars; and in a few hours more--amid the cries of famishing babes and
sleepy children, the "hush-hushes" of affectionate mammas, the bustle of
gathering packages, and the expiring heat of the poisonous stove--we
reached the young Birmingham of America about 10 P.M., and soon found
rest in a comfortable bed, at a comfortable hotel.

If you wish a good idea of Pittsburg, you should go to Birmingham, and
reduce its size, in your imagination, to one-fourth the reality; after
which, let the streets of t