Travels in the United States, etc.,: during 1849 and 1850./ By the Lady Emmeline Stuart Wortley.

TRAVELS IN AMERICA.
moment you are half pitying them, half wondering at their forlorn
and destitute appearance, are worth millions of money, and to-morrow, they will shine out in all the splendor of a New York exquisite's toilet They are returned Californians, just landed, come
to enjoy in "the States," the golden fruits of their toils, their perseverance, and their industry.
The wharves of New York, during the business season, are
densely lined with the shipping of every maritime country under
the sun. Merchantmen of every size are there, and for at least
three miles, they present an uninterruptedly continued forest of
masts, and cordage, commingling, apparently, with the chimneys
of almost innumerable steamers. More than a thousand sailing
vessels, nearly a hundred steamers, about eighty tow-boats, and two
hundred canal-boats, may usually be found in the noble harbor of
New-York, during the busy time of the year. In the severest
winter, this harbor is never obstructed by ice, so that vessels are
not inconvenienced on that account.
I have already mentioned the magnificence of the New York
hotels, but must just add, that the enormous Astor House not only
is said to be furnished with its own private printing press for
striking off the diurnal bills of fare, but it also makes all its own
gas. However, it does not yet, I believe, manufacture its own
linen or plate!
The Merchants' Exchange I was much struck with. It has a
glorious portico, formed by a towering and imposing colonnade, the
shafts of whose noble Ionic columns are separately composed of
enormous blocks of granite. We entered the great room, and were
amazed at its magnificent proportions. It is a rotunda, and of
vast diameter, adorned with high marble Corinthian columns.
Beyond this, at the corner of Nassau and Wall-streets, is the
Custom House for the port of New York. It is two hundred feet
long, ninety feet wide, and eighty feet high, and is constructed
wholly of superb white marble: the form is that of a Grecian tem ple of the Doric order of architecture. The front looking to Wall street displays an immensely broad and lofty flight of steps, also of
white marble. I understand it has a second similar front on a
street at the back, which runs parallel to Wall-street (Pine-street,
I believe). Each front has a noble portico. It is made fire-proof
throughout, huge slabs of marble covering the whole roof.
The great hall of business is a rotunda, sixty feet in diameter,
with recesses and galleries, making it eighty feet. It has an elabo rately stuccoed dome, supported by sixteen Corinthian columns.
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