ABSTRACT
Belknap was hurried, and had to close the letter, but not before telling Hazard of the past Friday night, when his evangelical side got the best of him and he journeyed inland to a distant mountain, called Moose Mountain by the locals, 'to visit and preach to the new settlers'. Hazard regretted that his 'present vagabond mode of life' prevented him from extensive investigation into natural history, an object of inquiry that otherwise 'would suit the author taste exactly'. Equally unprovided with books and instruments, and hurried through life on horseback, it is impossible for the author to make any great proficiency in this useful branch of science. More astonishing was the tale of Benedict Arnold’s treasonous design to turn over West Point to the enemy. Belknap’s Christmas was a bit warmer thanks to the arrival of Hazard’s letter of 2 December, which explained his delay as caused not by sickness but by business.
