Excerpt from The Journal of Madame Knight

Reprinted in Early American Writing

Published in 1994

"This Rode was poorly furnished with accommodations for Travellers, so that we were forced to ride 22 miles by the post's account, but neerer thirty by mine, before we could bait so much as our Horses. . . ."

Historians have learned quite a bit about the colonial period from records kept by explorers, settlers, and travelers. European explorers recorded their impressions of the New World (a European term for North America and South America) in reports they sent back to their home countries to encourage future exploration or colonization (see "Christopher Columbus Reports to Ferdinand and Isabella"; "Alonso de Benavides Reports New Mexico Indians Eager for Conversion"; and "Jolliet and Marquette Travel the Mississippi"). Founders of colonies...