a climate; as no tolerably correct account of it could be given, except in the details of a meteorological table.
The climate of Rhode Island and Connecticut does not differ very materially from that of Massachusetts. In the southern parts of these states, summer may set in a few days earlier, and the winter be generally a little more temperate, but the change of climate is slight.
In the very cold tract are included the eastern and northern parts of New York, being the mountainous country, and the region lying to the east of it. Here the winters are long and severe, being more so as you proceed to the north. The climate of this region may be generally described as similar to that of the New England states, which lies in the same latitude. In the parts of Michigan territory, lying within this region, the climate resembles that of Canada.
In the region we have called very cold, the range of the thermometer is from thirty degrees below zero to ninety-eight above it; including great extremes both of heat and cold.
2. The cold region comprehends a great and very unequal range of country. In the eastern division it extends from the foregoing line, to Lakes Ontario and Erie, westward; and south, on the Atlantic coast, to about Cape Henlopen on the Delaware. Hence a line may be protracted to Washington, and along by the foot of the first mountains in Virginia to about Morgantown, North Carolina; thence through the mountains to Kenaway river, and north-east on the west side of the mountains to the upper part of Chesnut Ridge, in Pennsylvania. In the westward, the southern boundary of the very cold region before-mentioned, may be assumed as the northern boundary of the cold; and the southern boundary of the cold may be protracted westward from the head of Chesnut Ridge to the high lands, dividing the waters falling into the Ohio from those falling into the great lakes, and along in a northern and western direction, crossing the Mississippi about thirty miles below Praire des Chiens, thence south and west, crossing the Missouri about thirty miles below the Platte river; thence southward to the west of the Great Osage village, and then eastward to the Arkansas river, above the Hot Springs. In this division the winters commence in December and end in March, and the heat of summer commences in May and ends in September. The heat and cold here also go to great extremes; but the weather is very changeable, particularly in winter, so that neither severe heat nor severe cold lasts long at a time. The country in this division is also generally healthy.
In this division are comprehended the south-eastern and western parts of New York, New Jersey, the northern and eastern parts of Pennsylvania, most of Delaware and Maryland, the central and mountainous parts of Virginia, the southern portion of Michigan territory, the northern extremities of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and portions of the Missouri and Arkansas territories.
In the south-eastern parts of New York the prevailing winds, during the summer, are southerly; the weather is variable, and the change of temperature sudden and frequent. The mild and damp sea air penetrates far inland; indeed, as far as the Highlands, the climate differs little from that of the seacoast. In the parts of New York west of the mountains, the average temperature is about three degrees higher than in the same latitude farther east. South-westerly winds prevail through most of the year; and the chill easterly wind is nearly unknown.38
The climate of Pennsylvania is very various. On the east side of the Alleghany Mountains it differs little from that of Connecticut. It is, like the other countries east of the mountains, subject to great and sudden changes; but on the west side, it is much more agreeable and temperate, with a greater portion of cloudy weather, and winters milder and more humid than on the Atlantic. The winter season commences about the twentieth of December, and the spring sets in about two weeks earlier than in the eastern parts of New York. There is frost almost every month in the year in some places, and the extremes of heat and cold are considerable. The keenness of the north-west wind in winter is excessive, but the state is, upon the whole, extremely healthy, and numerous instances of longevity occur.
The climate of New Jersey is dissimilar in different sections of the state. In the northern parts, there is clear, settled weather, and the winters are exceedingly cold; but the whole is very healthy. In the districts towards the south, particularly near the extremity, the weather approaches more nearly to that of the southern states, and is subject to very sudden changes. The climate of Delaware is much influenced by the face of the country; for the land being low and flat, the waters stagnate, and the inhabitants are consequently subject to intermittent fevers and agues. The northern parts, however, are much more agreeable and healthy than those to the south.
Among the mountains of Virginia the summers are delightful, and the heat is never found to be so oppressive as it is in the Atlantic districts; the winters are so mild in general, that snow seldom lies three days together on the ground. The salubrity of the climate, also, is equal to that of any part of the United States; and the inhabitants have, in consequence, a healthy, ruddy appearance. Perhaps there is no part of North America possessing a more agreeable climate, than that section of Virginia which lies west of the Blue Ridge; and, in particular, the fertile county of Bottetourt, which is entirely surrounded by mountains. Here the frost in winter is regular, but not severe. In summer the heat is great; but there is not a night in the year that a blanket is not found comfortable. Before ten o’clock in the morning the heat is greatest; at that hour a breeze generally springs up from the mountains, and renders the air agreeable the whole day. Fever and ague are disorders unknown here, and persons who come hither afflicted with them from the low country, get rid of them in a very short time. Except in the neighborhood of stagnant waters, Virginia has, upon the whole, a healthy climate.
The climate of Maryland is various in different districts, but for the most part mild and agreeable, well suited to agricultural productions, and particularly fruit trees. The eastern parts are similar to Delaware, having large tracts of marsh, which, during the day, load the atmosphere with vapor, that falls in dew in the close of the summer and autumn, which are unhealthy, and during which the inhabitants are much exposed to fever and ague. In the interior hilly country the climate improves very much, and among the mountains it is delightful and healthy; the summers being cooled by fine breezes, while the winters are tempered by a southern latitude, which renders them much milder than to the northward.
In the southern portions of Michigan territory, the winters are not severe, and the spring sets in as early as in any other part of the state which lies in the same latitude. In 1820, at Detroit, the mean heat of December was twenty-seven degrees, and of July sixty-nine. The temperature of this territory is rendered milder by the neighborhood of such large bodies of water, and by the absence of great elevations. The portions of the Missouri and Arkansas territories, that lie within the boundaries of the cold region, partake of the character of the climate already described. As the country in these territories is open and generally level, the temperature depends chiefly on the latitude.
The northern and north-eastern parts of Illinois are cold in the winter; the air from the great lake is chill and bleak, and sensibly affects the country exposed to its influence. In the region of Ohio, sloping towards the lakes, the snow falls to a very considerable depth, and lies long; sleighs and sledges are much used. The transitions during the winter are violent and frequent. That part of Indiana contiguous to Lake Michigan is often exposed to heavy falls of rain, and is consequently marshy and unhealthy.
3. The temperate region is situated between the cold, and a line drawn from Morgantown, North Carolina, south-westward along the foot of the mountains to their termination in Georgia, thence in a north-west direction by Florence, in Alabama, and crossing the Mississippi river about the upper part of the Chickasaw Bluffs, thence north-west to the Delaware towns on White river, and thence south-west to the Arkansas, above the Hot Springs. The region described within these limits lies in the very heart of the country, the whole being on a considerable elevation. It comprehends Kentucky and Missouri, with nearly the whole of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Tennessee, the south part of Pennsylvania, the western part of Virginia, and small portions of North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. This climate is distinguished from the foregoing by an earlier spring, and by greater serenity, and fewer changes.
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