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The south side of it is all limestone and exceeding
good land, and the north part of it is what they call
slate land and is not very good.
Alexander Thomson had 50 acres Clear when he
bought his plantation, and has cleared other 50
himself, he has plenty of all kinds of grain and he
seems to be exceedingly well pleased with his
situation, and they have never one of his family been
sick since he came to this place, and he says he thinks
people are in general more healthy there than in
Scotland. He told us that all the lands in or nigh that
place was taken up but he could buy plenty of single
plantations with improvements on them for about
three pounds sterling an acre, as he told us that
many people in that neighborhood was selling their
plantations and going back to the Ohio, and he
thought that would be the best place for us.
…The province of Pennsylvania seems the most
desirable to live in of any place we have yet seen, but
it is mostly settled where it is good, and what is to
settle is very dear as you cannot have an acre of good
land within 150 miles of any landing for less than
twenty or thirty shillings.
Here the people are kind and discreet, except the
Dutch or Germans who inhabit the best lands in this
province, who are a set of people that mind nothing
of gayety but live niggardly and gather together
money as fast as they can without having any
intercourse with anybody but among themselves.
Most of the people in this Province look fresh and