1849 October 6, Peace Dale, to My dear cousin

              Peace Dale Oct 6th 1849

My Dear Cousin,

Here I am once more in my own native land, in the home of my childhood. We arrived here safely & without any miraculous escapes or terrible accidents, on Wednesday last. I believe you are "posted up" on the news concerning our movements, to the night we took up our quarters in the "Zephyr House." We left the net morning (after partaking of a breakfast in which a chicken  which must have been at least antedeluvian figured most conspicuously) for the goodly town of Goshen. It was a beautiful morning, the sun was just peeping over the tops of the mountains & as we were borne rapidly along we would now plunge into the deep shadow of some lofty peak, see for a moment the dark hemlocks made still darker by the absence of the sun, the river rolling sullenly along in the deep shade, & even the bright hues of the maple looking sombre and cheerless; & now emerging again we would see the full light of day shining on some snug form house with its little clearing, the maples & beeches looking lively & gay, & the river rippling joyously onward as if toying with the sunbeams. Then we would rush along with a mountain on one side & a precipice on the other & as we passed over the cascade bridge & saw the ravine a hundred & ninety feet below me, tall hemlock trees