9th. As I shall have an opportunity to send this to-morrow, I must hasten to conclude, as quickly as possible, with a short statement of the present situation of affairs in this neighbourhood. I have hitherto avoided saying any thing on the disagreement between Mr. Birkbeck and Mr. Flowers. Reports are so contradictory, and I have heard so much on both sides of the question, that I am quite at a loss to judge of the merits of the quarrel. Nor do I think it is an easy thing to get at the true origin of it; and could I do so, I have no wish to become a party therein. This unfortunate dispute was the cause of two settlements near each other, and most of those who arrived for sometime either joined one side or the other, which increased the difference. But after a time, as more settlers arrived, they considered they had nothing to do with the quarrel between these two { 300} gentlemen, and settled in the prairies round, and in the woods towards the mouth of the Bonpas. Thus this disagreement was the reason of scattering the English emigrants for some miles round. But if this had been the only effect, it had been of no consequence, as many of the settlers so dispersed, have procured as good situations as they would otherwise have done. But the evil of two villages so near each other has been great; for had they been united, there would have been better taverns, stores, &c. In point of situation and water, Wanborough, in my estimation, has the advantage; but Albion, at present, appears most likely to succeed best. Whatever was the origin of this quarrel, it has been the cause of a much worse name being given to the settlement, in the English Prairie, than it really deserves. For the land is in general pretty good, such as in England would be called rich; as it is capable of producing, in abundance, corn, hay, fruit, vegetables, &c. &c.; and the woods and prairies are pleasant and healthy.
{ 301} Bees are numerous in the woods, but mostly at a distance from us; honey is plentiful, and now sells for 75 cents a gallon. There are some bees kept in hives, the same as in England, and the same sort; and so are the wild ones; they are in hollow trees, and when a swarm is found, they cut down the tree to get at the honey, and sometimes a swarm has several gallons. The Americans often go a great distance in quest of bees, camping out for many nights together. Six weeks ago a party of sixteen, on horse-back, went through Wanborough, towards the north, and seven or eight days after, two of them came back in the morning, almost dead with cold, as there was a severe frost, and they had camped out. They had been about 40 miles, and had met but poor success, having only found four gallons between the two. They said, they lived on the Ohio river, upwards of 50 miles south-east of us. They had been out ten days, and during that time they had not seen a bed. But others frequently { 302} succeed much better, and collect a large quantity of honey in these bee-hunting expeditions.