She invited me to lodge at her house till a passage
by water should offer; and being tired with my foot travelling,
I accepted the invitation. She understanding I was a printer,
would have had me stay at that town and follow my business,
being ignorant of the stock necessary to begin with. She was
very hospitable, gave me a dinner of ox-cheek with great good will,
accepting only a pot of ale in return; and I thought myself
fixed till Tuesday should come. However, walking in the evening
by the side of the river, a boat came by, which I found was going
towards Philadelphia, with several people in her. They took me in,
and, as there was no wind, we row'd all the way; and about midnight,
not having yet seen the city, some of the company were confident
we must have passed it, and would row no farther; the others knew
not where we were; so we put toward the shore, got into a creek,
landed near an old fence, with the rails of which we made a fire,
the night being cold, in October, and there we remained till daylight.
Then one of the company knew the place to be Cooper's Creek, a little
above Philadelphia, which we saw as soon as we got out of the creek,
and arriv'd there about eight or nine o'clock on the Sunday morning,
and landed at the Market-street wharf.
I have been the more particular in this description of my journey,
and shall be so of my first entry into that city, that you may
in your mind compare such unlikely beginnings with the figure
I have since made there.
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