A Brief Account, Together With Observations, Made During a Visit in the West Indies, and a Tour Through the United States of America: in Parts of the Years 1832-3; Together With a Statistical Account of Upper Canada

A Brief Account, Together With Observations, Made During A Visit In The West Indies, And A Tour Through The United States Of America: In Parts Of The Years 1832-3; Together With A Statistical Account Of Upper Canada by Thomas Rolph. Thomas Rolph’s travelogue documents his travels during the years 1832–3 in the West Indies, the United States, and Upper and Lower Canada. It combines first-person observations with a Statistical Account of Upper Canada, prefaced by a pro-emigration and pro-British policy stance. Rolph, a physician resident in Ancaster, Upper Canada, records detailed tours of Barbados, various Caribbean locales, and then sails to the United States, visiting Philadelphia, New York, and surrounding regions, before turning north to Canada. The book interleaves vivid geographic descriptions—harbors, bays, rivers, and mountain passes—with social and economic commentary: climate and health prospects in Upper Canada, canal navigation, timber and agricultural wealth, and the comparative attractiveness of Canada to British emigrants, contrasted with U.S. opportunities. He critiques slavery and advocates gradual emancipation and British support for reform. The Appendix contains census-like data and notes on banking, roads, emigration, and Indian affairs. The work offers a rich, sometimes opinionated snapshot of early 19th-century Atlantic world and imperial expansion.