About eight or nine in the morning they breakfast on tea and coffee,
attended always with what they call _relishes_, such as salt fish,
beef-steaks, sausages, broiled-fowls, ham, bacon, &c. At two they dine on
what is usual in England, with a variety of american dishes, such as bear,
opossum, racoon, &c. At six or seven in the evening they have their
supper, which is exactly the same as their breakfast, with the addition of
what cold meat is left at dinner. I have often wondered how they acquired
this method of living, which is by no means calculated for the climate;
such stimulating food at breakfast and supper naturally causes thirst, and
there being no other beverage at these meals than tea, or coffee, they are
apt to drink too freely of them, particularly the female part of the
family; which, during the excessive heats in summer, is relaxing and
debilitating; and in winter, by opening the pores, exposes them to colds
of the most dangerous kind.

The manner of living I have been describing is that of people in moderate
circumstances; but this taste for _relishes_ with coffee and tea extends
to all ranks of people in these states. Soon after my arrival at
this city, I went on a party of pleasure to a sort of tea-garden and
_tavern_[Footnote: By the word _tavern,_ in America, is meant an inn or
public house of any description.], romantically situate on the bank of the
Scuylkill. At six in the evening we ordered coffee, which I was informed
they were here famous for serving _in style_. I took a memorandum of what
was on the table; viz. _coffee, cheese, sweet cakes, hung beef, sugar,
pickled salmon, butter, crackers, ham, cream_, and _bread_. The ladies all
declared, it was a most _charming relish_!

Yours sincerely, &c.