Colonial days in old New York

								

the river; between the buildings was an unpaved carriage-road, the
foot-path beside the houses being the only part of the street which
was paved. In winter the sloping descent, continued for more than a
quarter of a mile, acquired firmness from the frost, and became very
slippery. Then the amusement commenced. Every boy and youth in town,
from eight to eighteen, had a little low sledge, made with a rope like
a bridle to the front, by which it could be dragged after one by the
hand. On this one or two at most could sit, and this sloping descent
being made as smooth as a looking-glass, by sliders’ sledges, etc.,
perhaps a hundred at once set out from the top of this street, each
seated in his little sledge with the rope in his hand, which, drawn
to the right or left, served to guide him. He pushed it off with a
little stick, as one would launch a boat; and then, with the most
astonishing velocity, precipitated by the weight of the owner, the
little machine glided past, and was at the lower end of the street
in an instant. What could be so delightful in this rapid and smooth
descent I could never discover; though in a more retired place,
and on a smaller scale, I have tried the amusement; but to a young
Albanian, sleighing, as he called it, was one of the first joys of
life, though attended by the drawback of walking to the top of the
declivity, dragging his sledge every time he renewed his flight, for
such it might well be called. In the managing this little machine some
dexterity was necessary: an unskilful Phaeton was sure to fall. The
conveyance was so low that a fall was attended with little danger, yet
with much disgrace, for an universal laugh from all sides assailed the
fallen charioteer. This laugh was from a very full chorus, for the
constant and rapid succession of this procession, where every one had
a brother, lover, or kinsman, brought all the young people in town
to the porticos, where they used to sit wrapt in furs till ten or
eleven at night, engrossed by this delectable spectacle. I have known
an Albanian, after residing some years in Britain, and becoming a
polished fine gentleman, join the sport and slide down with the rest.”
Mrs. Grant tells of another interesting and unusual custom of the
children of Albany:


“The children of the town were divided into companies, as they called
them, from five to six years of age, until they became marriageable.
How those companies first originated, or what were their exact
regulations, I cannot say; though I, belonging to none, occasionally
mixed with several, yet always as a stranger, notwithstanding that
I spoke their current language fluently. Every company contained as
many boys as girls. But I do not know that there was any limited
number; only this I recollect, that a boy and girl of each company,
who were older, cleverer, or had some other pre-eminence among the