ochester and Buffalo (both places near the
frontier), tickets were bought by Canada people, who had struggled
across the frozen river and clambered over all sorts of obstructions to
get them. Some of those distant halls turn out to be smaller than
represented; but I have no doubt--to use an American expression--that we
shall 'get along.' The second half of the receipts cannot reasonably be
expected to come up to the first; political circumstances, and all other
surroundings, considered."

His old ill luck in travel pursued him. On the day his letter was
written a snow-storm began, with a heavy gale of wind; and "after all
the hard weather gone through," he wrote on the 2nd of March, "this is
the worst day we have seen. It is telegraphed that the storm prevails
over an immense extent of country, and is just the same at Chicago as
here. I hope it may prove a wind up. We are getting sick of the very
sound of sleigh-bells even." The roads were so bad and the trains so
much out of time, that he had to start a day earlier; and on the 6th of
March his tour north-west began, with the gale still blowing and the
snow falling heavily. On the 13th he wrote to me from Buffalo.

"We go to the Falls of Niagara to-morrow for our own pleasure; and I
take all the men, as a treat. We found Rochester last Tuesday in a very
curious state. Perhaps you know that the Great Falls of the Genessee
River (really very fine, even so near Niagara) are at that place. In the
height of a sudden thaw, an immense bank of ice above the rapids refused
to yield; so that the town was threatened (for the second time in four
years) with submersion. Boats were ready in the streets, all the people
were up all night, and none but the children slept. In the dead of the
night a thundering noise was heard, the ice gave way, the swollen river
came raging and roaring down the Falls, and the town was safe. Very
picturesque! but 'not very good for business,' as the manager says.
Especially as the hall stands in the centre of danger, and had ten feet
of water in it on the last occasion of flood. But I think we had above
L200 English. On the previous night at Syracuse--a most out of the way
and unintelligible-looking place, with apparently no people in it--we
had L375 odd. Here, we had last night, and shall have to-night, whatever
we can cram into the hall.

"This Buffalo has become a large and important town, with numbers of
German and Irish in it. But it is very curiou