25 Jany. 1818.

Dear Robert,

I promised when I left you that I would write you from Baltimore and Pitsburg, but I hope you will excuse my not doing so for lack of time for our stay at each of these places was but short and the little stay we had was busilly employed in repairing to push on our journey. I wrote you from Liverpool giving you an account of our passage to that place which was not of the pleasantest, we sailed from Liverpool on the 14 August with a pretty small breeze from the S. W. and still encreased that night we had a very rough night of it off the Isle of Man which was very disagreeable for some of us, as all the passengers 51 in number were all sick except another man and myself. The next day we were beating out the South channel but towards evening we made for the North channel passed the lighthouse at the Mull of Kintyre next morning being the 16th, about 9 o'clock, where in all likelihood we took the last view of the place that gave us birth, we lost sight of land on the 19th. Nothing particular happened us on our passage during which time we had pleasant weather the most part of the way it was so hot we could hardly bear it, on the 22nd Sept. we had the pleasure to see our pilot coming on board next day we came in sight of land about 12 o'clock. That night passed Cape Hendry lighthouse about 9 o'clock into the Cheasapeak Bay. The mouth of the Bay is about 12 miles wide but the deepest water is on the South side of Cape Hendry, just as we gott into the Bay, and into smooth water there came on a fresh breeze from the South, which carried us up at the rate of 14 miles an hour for seven hours more than we sailed the whole passage by 4 miles. I think it was the pleasantest sail I ever had in my whole life, it being a clear moonlit night with as much sail as the ship could carry, and without feeling the least motion, we arrived at Baltimore on the evening of the 25th after a passage of 6 weeks, so having gott over that passage that the people in your country is so much afraid of, I hear declare that I thoght the passage from Campbeltown to Liverpool worse than I did from Liverpool to Baltimore. The idea of crossing the Atlantic Ocean is really worse than it is but as it is common with people that are not much aquanted with the sea to be trouble with those needless fears that Mankind are subject to, I would advise all such to put a resolution on themselves against such fears for as people have it in their power to choose likly ships so you will have plenty od see room, and I think nothing to fear, we had the pleasure of having a stout ship and a good captain who was very attentive to his business and full of diversion always amusing himself with the children of some of the rest of the passengers always paying particular to make them comfortable. At Baltimore we agreed with two waggoners along with another family that was along with us in the ship from Lancashire and started on the 2nd Oct. and arrived on the 24th during which time I had an opportunity of knowing & seeing some of there customs which are entirely different from yours. When you enter a tavern you gott a room to yourselves to drink a glass of liquor, but you must take it at a kind of counter they have in one corner of the room on purpose to serve out the liquor, among twenty or perhaps thirty strange faces, it would be too tedious here to enumerate all the customs and manners which appear in this country to the emigrant on his first landing which at the beginning is very discouraging, but a little time by paying particular attention to them will make them become natural to them. The idea in your counry that travailing is cheap here is false, the most of the taverns that we stoped at night charged shamefuly, it is true they use people very well but the charge is high, indeed the former is very kind to strangers and is always willing to direct and asist him on his path. We passed through several towns upon our way, some of them was not of much note there names were Liberty, Frederick town in Maryland. Cherlestown, Brighton and a few others I forget in the state of Virginia, Brownville in the state of Pensalvania four days after we started we left the state of Maryland into the state of Virginia at a part called Narpersfarry a small town famous for the manufacture of rifles' pieces, after being about 8 or 10 days in the state of Virginia we left it into the state of Maryland again, and from that into Pensalvania. John Clark gott married upon his sweatheart.........( Rest of letter has been lost. ).

From Robert Porter to Robert Armour, Coppersmith, Campbeltown.