In Rochester we had heard it said that there were Norwegians there; thither we came one morning early and went ashore and looked about in the city. Ansteen now met a man that had arrived a year before; this man was going to work so he did not get to talk much with him; he directed us to where we might meet one who had been there a few years but him we did not meet. While we went there and waited we met a man by a bridge who was from Faaloino in Stavanger County and had come over the year before. He told us where the Norwegians had located in the west, namely, in the State of Illinois, which was over 1000 miles from Buffalo. He told us that the Norwegians who had come to Illinois had written to them how it was there, that a plain laborer could get from 1 to 1½ dollars per day and afterwards about the tradesmen, how much they could get according to their kind; he said, “if you have so much money that you can get there, you should not stop before you get there; if I had so much money I would go tomorrow,” said he. He went with us into a merchant he was acquainted with and asked if our money was good enough; but he said that it did not pass in Illinois and if they desired would exchange it without any per cent. That was very good for there we got Illinois money; yes, we got some silver too in place of paper.--The above mentioned man told us that the canal was damaged and that we must not make contract with the captain farther than there for the time being. Now, we parted with pleasure from this man and betook us on the journey to Buffalo, which is 100 miles from Rochester.
When we came to the break in the canal referred to above we got on to another boat; a lot of people came on board which were from Bavaria in Germany, and some French; there was certainly 100 of them and all were peasants; and all their male persons had blue linen shirts outside of their clothes with large pockets on them which hung outside and many wore caps which fitted close to the head.--These people all had to be in the freight room; but we were allowed to be in the front room with some Scotchmen with whom we were in company from Albany; these were mostly young people of both sexes but very good-natured and jolly with singing and other entertainment; we got so acquainted with these as if we were the best friends at home, but we did not understand each others’ talk. When we came to Buffalo, which is the end of the canal, we had to go from there on steamboat to Detroit; from Buffalo the Scotchmen secured passage for us just as for themselves but some of them parted with us there.--In Buffalo we first saw Indians; that is, the original Americans who live about like the Lapps in Norway and subsist on hunting and without houses; but have tents which they move from one place to another. Those we saw there we could notice were women; we came first into a merchant where one stood and talked with him; when she went out we asked him what kind of a person that was; he answered it was an Indian; but we did not yet understand what that meant.--Their clothes consist of trousers on each hip which extend from the upper part of the hip with a belt around the waist and a strap from the trouser hips up to it besides a shirt above which extends down to the hip, that is the underwear; outside they have a sort of blanket which consists of white, blue, and colored stripes which they hang over the head and which reaches down on the legs and this they hold around themselves with their hands; on their feet they have shoes of skin which are fitted tight to the feet and no socks but the women have the most beautiful etchings outside of their trousers and some of them wear much of gold and silver ornaments.