it was a bright forenoon, when i set foot on the beach at burlington, and took leave of the two boatmen in whose little skiff i had voyaged since daylight from peru. not that we had come that morning from south america, but only from the new york shore of lake champlain. the highlands of the coast behind us stretched north and south, in a double range of bold, blue peaks, gazing over each other's shoulders at the green mountains of vermont.
the latter are far the loftiest, and, from the opposite side of the lake, had displayed a more striking outline. we were now almost at their feet, and could see only a sandy beach sweeping beneath a woody bank, around the semicircular bay of burlington.
the painted lighthouse on a small green island, the wharves and warehouses, with sloops and schooners moored alongside, or at anchor, or spreading their canvas to the wind, and boats rowing from point to point, reminded me of some fishing-town on the sea-coast.
but i had no need of tasting the water to convince myself that lake champlain was not all arm of the sea; its quality was evident, both by its silvery surface, when unruffled, and a faint but unpleasant and sickly smell, forever steaming up in the sunshine. one breeze of the atlantic with its briny fragrance would be worth more to these inland people than all the perfumes of arabia. on closer inspection the vessels at the wharves looked hardly seaworthy,—there being a great lack of tar about the seams and rigging, and perhaps other deficiencies, quite as much to the purpose.
i observed not a single sailor in the port. there were men, indeed, in blue jackets and trousers, but not of the true nautical fashion, such as dangle before slopshops; others wore tight pantaloons and coats preponderously long-tailed,—cutting very queer figures at the masthead; and, in short, these fresh-water fellows had about the same analogy to the real "old salt" with his tarpaulin, pea-jacket, and sailor-cloth trousers, as a lake fish to a newfoundland cod.
nothing struck me more in burlington, than the great number of irish emigrants. they have filled the british provinces to the brim, and still continue to ascend the st. lawrence in infinite tribes overflowing by every outlet into the states. at burlington, they swarm in huts and mean dwellings near the lake, lounge about the wharves, and elbow the native citizens entirely out of competition in their own line. every species of mere bodily labor is the prerogative of these irish. such is their multitude in comparison with any possible demand for their services, that it is difficult to conceive how a third part of them should earn even a daily glass of whiskey, which is doubtless their first necessary of life,—daily bread being only the second.
some were angling in the lake, but had caught only a few perch, which little fishes, without a miracle, would be nothing among so many. a miracle there certainly must have been, and a daily one, for the subsistence of these wandering hordes. the men exhibit a lazy strength and careless merriment, as if they had fed well hitherto, and meant to feed better hereafter; the women strode about, uncovered in the open air, with far plumper waists and brawnier limbs as well as bolder faces, than our shy and slender females; and their progeny, which was innumerable, had the reddest and the roundest cheeks of any children in america.
while we stood at the wharf, the bell of a steamboat gave two preliminary peals, and she dashed away for plattsburgh, leaving a trail of smoky breath behind, and breaking the glassy surface of the lake before her. our next movement brought us into a handsome and busy square, the sides of which were filled up with white houses, brick stores, a church, a court-house, and a bank. some of these edifices had roofs of tin, in the fashion of montreal, and glittered in the sun with cheerful splendor, imparting a lively effect to the whole square. one brick building, designated in large letters as the custom-house, reminded us that this inland village is a port of entry, largely concerned in foreign trade and holding daily intercourse with the british empire. in this border country the canadian bank-notes circulate as freely as our own, and british and american coin are jumbled into the same pocket, the effigies of the king of england being made to kiss those of the goddess of liberty.
perhaps there was an emblem in the involuntary contact. there was a pleasant mixture of people in the square of burlington, such as cannot be seen elsewhere, at one view; merchants from montreal, british officers from the frontier garrisons, french canadians, wandering irish, scotchmen of a better class, gentlemen of the south on a pleasure tour, country squires on business; and a great throng of green mountain boys, with their horse-wagons and ox-teams, true yankees in aspect, and looking more superlatively so, by contrast with such a variety of foreigners.
