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diff --git a/old/63221-0.txt b/old/63221-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a02bf86..0000000 --- a/old/63221-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3803 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Travels in Virginia in Revolutionary Times, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Travels in Virginia in Revolutionary Times - -Author: Various - -Editor: Alfred James Morrison - -Release Date: September 17, 2020 [EBook #63221] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS IN VIRGINIA--REVOLUTIONARY TIMES *** - - - - -Produced by David E. Brown and The Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - _Travels in Virginia in - Revolutionary Times_ - - - - - COPYRIGHTED BY - J. P. BELL COMPANY, INC. - LYNCHBURG, VA. - 1922 - - - - - Travels _in_ Virginia - _in_ Revolutionary - Times - - - EDITED BY - A. J. MORRISON - - - - -ADVERTISEMENT - - -This is a book of Travels in Virginia during a period that may be -called revolutionary, from the year 1769 to the year 1802, when the -United States lay still to the east of France and Spain, and the -limit of Virginia to the west was the river Ohio: it was a proud -commonwealth, and with reason, territorially, in the character of -its ruling people, and in that inexplicable inheritance which has -made Virginia significant. It is interesting to observe, among these -travellers, how carefully the best informed of them estimate the -strength of Virginia, whether justly or not regarded at home and here -and there abroad as the most influential of the new states. Those were -extraordinary years in the making of America, the fund of the capital -of the country, as it were, accumulating to the point of application -in surprising ways. It is well to look back, through foreign eyes, and -see a little of what the situation was at that time in the State of the -first dynasty. - -Of these travellers, one was in the country before the war and his -memoranda introduce the Revolution--very peaceful, then disturbances, -and then musquetry, the author shooting for King George; another -came with the good King’s troops and saw Virginia on parole; one was -a chaplain in the army of the allies, one a general officer of that -army, and there was a surgeon to the enemies from Hesse, whose book is -excellent in a series of remarkable books. The others came after the -war, men of science, youngsters seeing the world, a missionary, a sad -emigrant from France, and a sailor who had quitted the sea and embarked -in the novelist’s business. A notable group of observers, and if, even -where they are most explicit, we could see but a small part of what -they intend us to see, what a picture. From year’s end to year’s end, -decade to decade, the century is out, and everything is different; and -to come at the truth of the matter as it was before we should have to -retrace every step of the way, and that is impossible. As a makeshift -we read novels and documented histories. - -The method in the chapters following has been to let the traveller -tell his own story, interrupting him where he seems least interesting, -adding very little, making him responsible for his version of the -facts. It is not so much the itemized account that is wanted as the -proceeds of the whole, the general balance as one impression. As many -travellers, so many roads and they may follow but one. The young man -will be apt to lose his temper and record disagreeable things. The -great man, treated with consideration, will, if his digestion is good, -be careful to be polite. The season will be a factor, for earth roads -are not the same winter and summer. However, we should not be greatly -deceived by the verdicts of eleven intelligent men who traverse the -greater part of a given region during a space of thirty years. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - I. Narrative of John F. D. Smyth: 1769-1775 9 - - II. Anburey, and the Convention Army in Virginia: 1779 23 - - III. The Abbé Robin, One of the Chaplains to the French Army - in America: 1781 31 - - IV. The Marquis of Chastellux, Major-General in the French - Army and Member of the French Academy: 1782 39 - - V. Dr. Schoepf, Surgeon to the Hessian Troops - (Ansbach-Bayreuth Division): 1783 49 - - VI. Count Castiglioni, Chevalier of the Order of St. - Stephen, P. M.: 1786 61 - - VII. Missionary Journeys of Dr. Coke: 1785-1791 71 - - VIII. A Summer at Bath--Captain Bayard: 1791 81 - - IX. What Isaac Weld Saw: 1796 91 - - X. The Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt: 1796 111 - - XI. John Davis of Salisbury: 1801-1802 123 - - List of Travels 137 - - - - -_I._ - -_NARRATIVE OF JOHN F. D. SMYTH._ - -_1769-1775._ - - _Captain Smyth--The Capes and Jamestown--Williamsburg - and the Races--Richmond--Music of the - Bullfrog--Blandford--Petersburg--Swede’s Bridge--Hicks’s Bridge--Mr. - Willis--James River Lowgrounds--Summer Routine of the Planter. - North Carolina--The Lower Sawra Towns--Journey to Kentucky--Indian - Braves--Fort on Smith’s River--The Wart Mountain: Amazing - Perspective--Judge Henderson’s Settlement._ - - -John Ferdinand Dalziel Smyth, it appears, changed his name in 1793 -to Stuart. Smyth’s last published work was a poem in folio called -“Destiny and Fortitude: An Heroic Poem on the Misfortunes of the House -of Stuart.” His father, Wentworth Smyth, was killed in the Highlands -of Scotland after being concerned in the attempt to bring in the -Stuarts in 1745. J. F. D. Smyth studied medicine at the University of -Edinburgh. He came to America possibly about 1769, and settled at first -near Williamsburg as a physician. He was active in the Revolution, and -for a time drew a pension of £300 a year for his losses sustained in -America. He was killed accidentally in London in 1814. In this case -there is nothing in a name, because in tracing Smyth from the title -page of his best known work, his “Tour in the United States,” nothing -can be discovered about him. It is only by chance that in looking up -Smyth the eye falls upon Stuart. Although he was in most of the English -colonies, and saw the greater part of the Spanish possessions in -Louisiana and Florida, Captain Smyth preferred the Potomac region, and -lived there, both peacefully and adventurously, until finally disturbed -by the war. He was not a Tory, because he was not strictly an American. -In 1778, his correspondence proves, he was a captain in the Queen’s -Rifles. Two years before he had been ingeniously farming some six -hundred acres of good land on the Maryland side of the Potomac. Captain -John Ferdinand Dalziel Smyth, explorer, planter, fighter and author, -was (from his own account) not unlike the more famous Smith, who, if he -had chosen, could have spelled the name with a y as well. - -John F. D. Smyth came in sight of land on the 4th day of August (he -neglects to give the year), “in the forenoon, in a fine day, with a -clear, serene sky. We soon sailed within the capes of Virginia, Cape -Henry and Cape Charles, which last is an island named Smith’s. We past -Lynhaven Bay on our left, and the opening of the Chesapeak on the -right, and in the evening anchored in Hampton Road, which appears to -be very safe. The night being calm, we were assaulted by great numbers -of musketoes, a very noxious fly.” After a day the ship proceeded to -Jamestown, “passing a great number of most charming situations on -each side of this beautiful river.” Jamestown still sent a member -to the House of Burgesses, but there was only one voter, who was the -proprietor of the borough and also the Burgess, Champion Travers, Esq. -Making an excursion with a companion to Williamsburg, with which town -Captain Smyth was well pleased, they “dined very agreeably at the -Raleigh Tavern, where we had exceeding good Maderia.” What with pocket -boroughs and good Maderia, the traveler must have felt as if he had -scarcely left home. - -The author describes Williamsburg, that capital city, but being fond -of sports, he gives most space to the races: “Very capital horses are -started here, such as would make no despicable figure at Newmarket; nor -is their speed, bottom or blood inferior to their appearance. Their -stock is from old Cade, old Crab, old Partner, Regulus, Babraham, -Bosphorus, Devonshire Childers, the Cullen Arabian, the Cumberland -Arabian, &c., in England; and a horse from Arabia named the Bellsize, -which was imported into America and is now in existence.” The -quarter-racing of Southern Virginia and North Carolina struck Smyth as -being a strange institution. Many early travelers devote a page or two -to the quarter-race, a match between two horses to run one-quarter of -a mile straight out. Smyth observes: “They have a breed in Virginia -that performs it with astonishing velocity, beating every other for -that distance with great ease; but they have no bottom. However, I am -confident that there is not a horse in England, nor perhaps the whole -world, that can excel them in rapid speed; and these likewise make -excellent saddle horses for the road. The Virginians, of all ranks and -denominations, are excessively fond of horses, and especially those of -the race breed. Nobody walks on foot the smallest distance, except when -hunting; indeed, a man will frequently go five miles to catch a horse, -to ride only one mile afterwards.” - -Returning from Williamsburg to Jamestown, Smyth joined the ship again, -which, on the 9th of August, got “under weigh” for City Point. They -passed many delightful situations and charming seats, the names of -which are still well known either actually or historically. At City -Point the genial author hired a boat and four negroes for a dollar -and a half per day to continue up the river to Richmond. “I slept on -board the boat, and on the 11th, in the forenoon, landed at the town -of Shokoes, at the falls of James River. There are three towns at this -place. Richmond, the largest, is below the falls, and is separated only -by a creek, named Shokoes, from the town of Shokoes. On the south side -of the river stands the town of Chesterfield, best known by the name of -Rocky Ridge.” In those days the river was the road to town. Tobacco was -boated down to Westham, seven miles above the falls, and thence brought -by land carriage to Shokoes, or Richmond. Smyth speaks of a man who, -bringing a double load down to Westham, unconsciously kept on, passed -all the falls, and arrived not quite sobered at Shokoes. “This is one -of the most extraordinary accidents that has occurred, or perhaps was -ever heard of.” - -The great rivers of America, the great forests, the fierce electrical -storms, the strange methods of agriculture, the lightning bugs, the -mosquitoes and the bullfrogs astonished the European. Of the bullfrog, -Smyth remarks: “Their note is harsh, sonorous and abrupt, frequently -appearing to pronounce articulate sounds, in striking resemblance to -the following words: Hogshead tobacco, knee deep, ancle deep, deeper -and deeper, Piankitank, and many others, but all equally grating and -dissonant. They surprise a man exceedingly, as he will hear their -hoarse, loud bellowing clamor just by him, and sometimes all around -him, yet he cannot discover from whence it proceeds. They are of the -size of a man’s foot.” Bullfrogs by day and the falls by night: “When a -person arrives at Richmond his ears are continually assailed with the -prodigious noise and roaring of the falls, which almost stuns him and -prevents him from sleeping for several nights.” - -Richmond was close to nature in those days. Captain Smyth used to -take walks among the rocks and solitary romantic situations around -the falls. His custom was to carry a book in his pocket, and read -in the shade until he “insensibly dropt asleep. This was my daily -recreation, which I never neglected. But I was once extremely surprised -at beholding, as soon as I opened my eyes, a prodigious large snake, -within a few feet of me, basking himself in the sun. He was jet black, -with a copper-coloured belly, very fine, sparkling eyes, and at least -seven feet long.” - -August 28th Smyth set out for the South. Crossing the James in a -ferry-boat early in the morning, he rode through the towns of Rocky -Ridge and Warwick (about five miles beyond), stopped at Osborne’s, -eight miles from Warwick, and reached Blandford in the afternoon, -having crossed the Appomattox by a lofty wooden bridge at the -town of Pocahontas, one of the three towns at the falls of the -Appomattox--Petersburg, Blandford, Pocahontas. “In Blandford, the -charming, pretty town of Blandford, in a beautiful plain on the river -brink, on a very pleasant and delightful spot, I found an excellent -ordinary at Boyd’s.” - -Smyth purchased two horses at Petersburg. For the best he gave £15 -and the worst cost him £25. On the 4th of September he left Blandford -and rode fifteen miles to Hatton’s Ordinary, and thence to the -Nottoway River, at Swede’s Bridge. “I arrived at Stewart’s Ordinary to -breakfast, which was toasted Indian hoecake and very excellent cyder. -Being always particularly careful of my horses, and they having fared -very indifferently the night before, I ordered the hostler to give -them plenty of meat.” The hostler understanding meat to mean meat, -put bacon before these Petersburg horses. A crowd assembled, and this -new balanced ration became a great joke. The horses having been fed -corn, which, after all, is a form of bacon, the party proceeded to -Three Creeks, crossed them on three wooden bridges, and then crossed -the Meherrin at Hicks’s Bridge, “remarkably lofty and built of timber, -as all in the southern part of America appear to be.” Near Hicks’s -Bridge[A] (and ford) lived Mr. Willis, breeder of the original stock -of triumphant quarter racers. “We took some refreshment at Edwards’s -Ordinary, an exceedingly good building, with excellent accommodations, -lately erected at this place. At the distance of ten miles we entered -the province of North Carolina.” - -Smyth mentions that the James River lowgrounds produced twenty-five, -thirty, and sometimes thirty-five bushels of wheat from one of seed; -the high land from eight to fifteen for one. “Much about the same -quantity of Indian corn is produced from an acre, according to the -quality and excellence of the soil, though it does not require more -than a peck of seed to plant it. The produce of an acre in the culture -of tobacco, in the best land, is about 1,660 pounds weight; on the -worst about 500 pounds weight. An acre always contains nearly 1,250 -hills of Indian corn, with two, three, and sometimes in strong land, -four stalks in each hill, or about 5,000 plants of tobacco.” - -In the summer-time, says Captain Smyth, the average planter “rises -in the morning about 6 o’clock [the very rich men, he says, rose at -9]; he then drinks a julep, made of rum, water and sugar, but very -strong; then he walks, or more generally rides, round his plantation, -views all his stock and all his crop, breakfasts about 10 o’clock on -cold turkey, cold meat, fried hominy, toast and cyder, ham, bread and -butter, tea, coffee or chocolate, which last, however, is seldom tasted -but by the women; the rest of the day he spends in much the same manner -before described [i. e., in trying to keep cool]; he eats no supper; -they never even think of it. The women very seldom drink tea in the -afternoon, the men never.” - -Captain Smyth, as already described (following his tour as he gives -it), landed at Norfolk, saw Williamsburg, Richmond and Petersburg, and -from Petersburg set out for Halifax, in North Carolina. From Halifax -he took the Hillsborough Road and thence passed to Camden, in South -Carolina, coming back to Hillsborough as a base from whence to proceed -to Kentucky, better known at that time as Henderson’s Settlement. -Smyth saw Judge Henderson[B] in North Carolina, and had much talk with -him, thought him an extraordinary man, and became curious to see the -wonderful country beyond the Holston and the Big Sandy, the proprietary -regions of Western Virginia. “From the conversation I had with this -very extraordinary person, Mr. Henderson, I entertained a strong -inclination to pay a visit to his domain; which must certainly afford -a large field for speculation and enterprise, being situated in the -very heart of the continent of America, and in a great degree precluded -from the general intercourse of the rest of mankind, being likewise -several hundred miles from any other settlement.” This was before the -establishment of the county of Kentucky in 1776. After that year the -number of emigrants from the coast country was so large it is almost -a matter of surprise that anybody was left in Virginia east of the -mountains. - -Smyth made a rather difficult journey from Hillsborough to the North -Carolina line. That was the back road in those times, which the -Southern Railway has done so much to develop in recent years. In 1772 -the road was scarcely a blazed path through the woods. Near the North -Carolina line Captain Smyth stayed for about ten days at the upper -and the lower Sawra Towns, old Indian settlements south of Dan River. -“The whole settlement of the Lower Sawra Towns, being a vast body of -excellent and most valuable land containing 33,000 acres, of which -more than 9,000 are exceedingly rich low grounds, is the property of -Mr. Farley, of the island of Antigua, in the West Indies. About the -year 1761 the whole of this extensive tract of land was sold to Mr. -Maxwell, who concluded the purchase without seeing it. In the spring -of the ensuing year he went out to view his new estate. It happened -just at that time that a prodigious flood in the Dan had overspread the -whole of the lowgrounds on the river, of which near 10,000 acres were -covered by the inundation. This extraordinary circumstance and very -awful appearance astonished and intimidated Mr. Maxwell, who on his -return to Westover, expressing dissatisfaction with his purchase, the -£500 was returned to him. That same year Mr. Farley, of Antigua, being -on a visit in Virginia, immediately offered £1,000 for the purchase, -without ever having seen it also; which offer was as readily accepted. -In the year 1769 Mr. Farley’s son, James Farley, came into Virginia, -and ventured out that distance in the back country to view the estate. -After some difficulty in removing accidental settlers, he divided the -tract into numerous plantations and farms which he rented out, keeping -in his own hands a most valuable, excellent tract, the choice of the -whole. In short, the value of this estate has augmented so exceedingly -that in the year 1772 Mr. Farley refused £28,000 for the purchase of -it.” - -This transaction is interesting enough, as showing what the apparent -opportunities were for land speculation in the later colonial period, -and yet how impossible it was for any exclusive business of that sort -to succeed on a large scale. General Washington owned more than 500,000 -acres of land to the west, the proceeds of which to his estate were not -very considerable. Robert Morris, the shrewd financier, went bankrupt -in attempting to develop the western country as a field for the -operator in real estate. There was a continent of land to be exploited, -and it was very difficult to corner even a small part of the market. -The land could not be handled as capital until a sufficient number of -settlers had come in, each contributing his accumulations to enhance -the value of the common stock. It was from the necessity of the case a -common stock at the first, and the pioneers were not long in finding -that out. - -In his journey to Kentucky, Captain Smyth happened upon some of these -pioneers. His observations confirm the belief that the hero is a hero, -but also a very fallible person. “On the 15th day of May I took my -leave of Mr. Bailey and his family (at the Lower Sawra Towns), every -one of whom seemed to be really more concerned for my safety than I -could possibly have conceived, being all in tears and appearing almost -certain that I should be destroyed by the savages; having used their -most earnest persuasions and utmost endeavors to change my resolution -of proceeding on this journey. The kind-hearted and truly amiable Miss -Betsy Bailey insisted on piloting me over the Dan herself, rather than -any of her brothers, although the ford at this place was exceedingly -rapid, rocky and dangerous. In a very few hours, by pursuing the wrong -path, I found myself in the woods without any track whatever to direct -my course, that in which I had been having terminated, being only made -by the hogs, which run wild almost all over America, and especially in -the Western frontiers. It is impossible for me to ascertain how far I -had traveled in this most disagreeable of all imaginable situations, -when all on a sudden, on the side of a gentle ascent, I perceived a -number of men sitting on the ground, and such they were as I had never -seen before, painted black and red and all armed with firelocks and -tomahawks.” - -These were Indians, and they were very hospitable to Smyth. He gave -them the stone buckle and gold lace from the crown of his hat. “They -seemed much pleased with the present and made signs for me to sit -down and eat with them. This I readily complied with, and partook -of a repast which consisted of venison, kernels of hickory nuts and -wallnuts, all mixed together with wild honey, and every one eat with -his hands. Having a keen appetite I eat very heartily, which seemed to -afford a particular satisfaction to my hospitable savage friends, for -such indeed they were to me.” Smyth spent the night with these warriors -(they were really on the war path), and the next morning one of them -put him into the way to Beaver Creek, upon Smith’s River, in what was -then Pittsylvania County. - -Along Leatherwood Creek, Captain Smyth, the bold tourist, saw several -fine plantations deserted of the owners. The cattle and horses were -wandering about and presented a very mournful, melancholy appearance. -Reports of the movements of the Indians had driven the inhabitants -to the fort on Smith’s River. About eight miles beyond Leatherwood -Creek (Patrick Henry lived on that stream for a year or two after the -Revolution) a man appeared on horseback, whose horse was covered with -foam and sweat. He was astonished beyond measure when Smyth told him he -had come from the Sawra Towns and had eaten and slept with a party of -Indians. “In riding about two or three miles further I at length came -to the fort itself, which contained all the inhabitants of the country -around. I was exceedingly happy at the thought of being once more among -inhabitants, but this imaginary felicity was of very short duration, -for when I went to the gate of the fort expecting to go in, I was -positively refused admittance. They within insisted that I was an enemy -or a Frenchman because I had been in company with the Indians and had -escaped unmolested, and also as my accent was different from theirs. -This I found they were informed of by the man I met on horseback, and -who turned back full speed as soon as I acquainted him of my having -been with the Indians. I continued to entreat for admittance until -they threatened to fire upon me if I did not retire, which made me -withdraw from the gate to consider what steps I must pursue, for I -never found myself in so singular and unpleasant a predicament in my -life. I wandered round and round this fortress until night began to -advance, and then ventured to approach the gate once more. They again -threatening to shoot me, I assured them that I would as soon be killed -by them as by the Indians, and solemnly swore I would set fire to the -stockades. Upon this I was desired to wait a few minutes, until they -consulted together; at the conclusion of which they agreed to admit -me. The wicker gate was then opened and I crept in.” The conditions -inside, of necessity, were not very agreeable. - -How exactly truthful Captain Smyth is it is not possible to say. By -his account after a few days at the fort he procured a guide and set -out for the mountains, regardless of the Indians. He had heard of the -Wart Mountain[C] and climbed that eminence for the view which, as he -describes it, was an amazing prospect. Doubtless with a map before him -he was able to include in his description more than the eye fell upon. -“Language fails in attempting to describe this most astonishing and -almost unbounded perspective. On the east you could perceive the deep -and broken chasms, where the rivers Dan, Mayo, Smith’s, Bannister’s -and Stanton direct their courses; some raging in vast torrents and -some gliding in silent, gentle meanders. On the north you see the -Black Water, a branch of the Stanton; and the break in the mountains -where the Fluvannah, a vast branch of the James, passes through. On -the northwest you will observe with great astonishment and pleasure -the tremendous and abrupt break in the Alegany Mountains, through -which the mighty waters of the New River and the Great Kanhawah pass. -On the west you can very plainly discover the three forks or branches -of the Holston, where they break through the Great Alegany Mountains, -and still beyond them you may observe Clinch’s River or Pelisippi. On -the south you can see the Dan, the Catawba, the Yadkin and the Haw, -breaking through the mighty mountains that appear in confused heaps and -piled on each other in every direction.” It is safe to say that Smyth -did not see all this. But the description is interesting. Many voyagers -to the West must have beheld scenes comparable, with thoughts more or -less defined that here was a land for the possessing and a new world -indeed. - -From the Wart Mountain Captain Smyth continued, by way of New River, -the branches of the Holston (Stahlnaker’s Settlement on the middle -fork), Clinch River and the Warrior’s branch to the Kentucky River. “In -five more easy days’ journeys, the particulars of which are not worth -relating, we at length arrived at the famed settlement near the mouth -of the Kentucky on the 8th day of June, after having traveled at least -490 miles, from the fort on Smith’s River, in nineteen days. I was soon -directed to the house of Mr. Henderson, where I found a most hospitable -and kind reception.” - -From that outpost of Virginia Captain Smyth passed down the Ohio to the -territories of Spain, along the Gulf coast by water to East Florida, -and so to Charleston.[D] - - - - -_II._ - -_THOMAS ANBUREY, AND THE CONVENTION ARMY IN VIRGINIA._ - -_1779._ - - _Lieutenant Anburey--Progress of the Convention Army--Winter - Roads--Charlottesville--Colonel Harvey--The Piedmont - Plantation--Roundabout Directions--The Quarter-Race--Richmond--Forest - Fire--Barrack Cats._ - - -General Burgoyne, of amiable qualities but of no great skill as a -commander, having had the misfortune to lose his army at Saratoga, in -the month of October, 1777, a convention was agreed upon, stipulating -the treatment to be accorded the defeated troops. Thereafter, until -exchanged, these Saratoga troops were known among themselves as the -Convention Army. The art of saving one’s face is one of the most -intricate yet in existence. Young Thomas Anburey, who was perhaps a -lieutenant in the Twenty-ninth Regiment of Foot under General Burgoyne, -surrendered with his brother officers, and with them was sent first -to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later to Virginia. Anburey, a very -cheerful young person, kept a sort of journal of his military and other -travels in America, and worked up his notes into the form of letters -to a friend. His observations are not profound, but are marked by -good sense and ingenuousness, and make much better reading than more -pretentious narratives.[E] - -After being quartered for more than a year in Massachusetts, Anburey -and his friends were sent South, in order to shift the incidence -of taxation in the matter of subsistence for so many able-bodied -men, numbers of whom (the Hessians, for instance) no doubt had in -America their first opportunity of getting at least one square meal -a day. “Especially the Germans,” says Anburey, “who seeing in what a -comfortable manner their countrymen live, left us in great numbers, -as we marched through New York, the Jerseys and Pennsylvania; among -the number of deserters is my servant, who, as we left Lancaster, ran -from me with my horse, portmanteau, and everything he could take with -him.” It was at best a strange spectacle, this of an army of desirable -citizens marching captive through an abounding wilderness, and merely -on parole. - -From Lancaster the Convention Army moved to Frederick Town, in -Maryland, where they spent Christmas Day, 1778. The commissary of -provisions at Frederick, Mr. McMurdo, was very polite to the officers -quartered at his house. Anburey says: “His attention was such that -although for this day (which is as much a day of festival as in -England), he had been engaged for some time past among his friends and -relations, he would stay at home and entertain us with an excellent -Christmas dinner, not even forgetting plum pudding. I now experienced -what had been often told me, that the further I went to the southward -I should find the inhabitants possess more liberality and hospitality.” -Anburey’s impressions of the North, of course, were formed rather -precipitately at Saratoga. - -Charlottesville, almost a frontier town then, was the destination of -the Convention Army. “After we left Frederick Town we crossed the -Potowmack River with imminent danger, as the current was very rapid, -large floats of ice swimming down it; though the river was only half a -mile wide, the scow that I crossed over in had several narrow escapes. -At one time it was quite fastened in the ice, but by great exertions of -the men in breaking it, we made good our landing on the opposite shore, -near a mile lower than the ferry.” And the river crossed, hardships -only increased on the Virginia side. The roads were bad from a late -fall of snow not sufficiently encrusted to bear a man’s weight. The -troops were continually sinking in mud up to their knees and cutting -their shins and ankles; and after a march of sixteen or eighteen miles -over such badly metalled roads, the men often had to sleep in the woods -and the officers in any cabin available. - -“But on our arrival at Charlottesville no pen can describe the scene of -misery and confusion that ensued. The officers of the First and Second -Brigade were in the town, and our arrival added to their distress. This -famous place we had heard so much of consisted only of a courthouse, -one tavern, and about a dozen houses, all of which were crowded with -officers. Those of our brigade, therefore, were obliged to ride about -the country and entreat the inhabitants to take us in.” The men fared -very badly. Instead of sleeping on the snow, under the trees, they -went into barracks, hastily covering over a few cabins which had been -begun but were left unroofed, and half-filled with snow. The trouble -was that Colonel Harvey, to whom Congress had assigned the business -of getting quarters ready for the tourists, had in turn placed his -brother in charge. Colonel Harvey’s brother said that the army was not -expected until the spring. There was no whiskey provided, the stock -of provisions was scant, and the quarters were as described of the -fretwork description. - -“As to the officers, upon signing a parole they might go to Richmond -and other adjacent towns to procure themselves quarters. Accordingly -a parole was signed, which allowed a circuit of near 100 miles. And -after the officers had drawn lots, as three were to remain in the -barracks with the men, or at Charlottesville, the principal part of -them set off for Richmond, and many of them are at plantations twenty -or thirty miles from the barracks. I was quartered, with four other -officers of our regiment, at Jones’s Plantation, about twenty miles -from the barracks. The face of the country appears an immense forest, -interspersed with various plantations, four or five miles distant from -each other. On these there is a dwelling house in the centre, with -kitchens, smoke-house and outhouses detached, and from the various -buildings each plantation has the appearance of a small village. At -some little distance from the houses are peach and apple orchards, and -scattered over the plantation are the cabins and tobacco houses.” The -worm fence was an object of wonder to every foreigner, and yet in a -country of abundant timber the most natural thing in the world. Anburey -mentions that in the New England settlements (where the holdings -were smaller and fences could be made with more particularity) the -inhabitants had a saying, “He is making Virginia fences,” used of a man -not sober, but able to walk, as it were. - -Anburey was twice at Richmond, once in the winter and once in the -summer of 1779. The neighboring gentlemen were very hospitable, -and would not let him leave until he had visited the whole circle. -He speaks especially of Warwick and “Tuckahoe.” The proprietor of -“Tuckahoe” was threatened with the burning of valuable mills because an -English officer had been made welcome. It was an idle threat. On the -way to Richmond, by the road through Goochland Courthouse, Anburey met -that perennial, the celebrated roundabout directions: “If perchance -you meet an inhabitant and enquire your way, his directions are, if -possible, more perplexing than the roads themselves, for he tells you -to keep the right-hand path, then you’ll come to an old field; you -are to cross that, and then you’ll come to the fence of such a one’s -plantation; then keep that fence, and you’ll come to a road that has -three forks; keep the right-hand fork for about half a mile, and then -you’ll come to a creek; after you cross that creek you must turn to the -left, and there you’ll come to a tobacco house; after you have passed -that you’ll come to another road that forks; keep the right-hand fork, -and then you’ll come to Mr. Such-a-One’s ordinary, and he will direct -you.” The fact of such directions as these, and the use made of them, -are to be explained when we remember that the backwoodsman carries a -map in his head, whereas the cockney’s brain is damaged by the use of -maps. - -In the woods the Convention officer came upon a track for -quarter-racing. “Near most of the ordinaries there is a piece of ground -cleared in the woods for that purpose, where there are two paths, about -six or eight yards asunder, which the horses run in. I think I can, -without the slightest exaggeration, assert that even the famous Eclipse -could not excel them in speed, for our horses are some time before they -are able to get into full speed; but these are trained to set out in -that manner the moment of starting. It is the most ridiculous amusement -imaginable, for if you happen to be looking another way, the race is -terminated before you can turn your head; notwithstanding which, very -considerable sums are betted at these races. Only in the interior parts -of this province are these races held, for they are much laughed at and -ridiculed by the people in the lower parts, about Richmond and other -great towns. At Williamsburg is a very excellent course for two, three -or four-mile heats.” - -On his summer trip to Richmond, Anburey was struck by the numbers of -peach orchards in full fruit--“it is deemed no trespass to stop and -refresh yourself and your horse with them”--and by the sight of a -family leaving a most comfortable house and good plantation to set out -for Kentucky over the mountains. The summer of 1779 apparently was a -good peach season, and a bad season in the item of forest fires. “The -town of Richmond, as well as the plantations around for some miles, -has been in imminent danger; as the woods have been on fire, which for -some time past has raged with great fury, and that element seemed to -threaten universal destruction; but, providentially, before it had done -any material damage there fell a very heavy rain, which, nevertheless, -has not altogether extinguished it [July 14, 1779]. During the summer -months these fires are very frequent, and at Charlottesville I have -seen the mountains on a blaze for three or four miles in length. They -are occasioned by the carelessness of waggoners.” - -During the winter of 1779 the Convention Army at Charlottesville -lost heavily by desertion. “I should observe that this desertion is -among the British troops. For what reason it is impossible to say, -the Americans shew more indulgence to the Germans, permitting them -to go round the country to labor, and being for the most part expert -handicraftsmen, they realize a great deal of money exclusive of their -pay.” - -The officers made themselves pretty comfortable. They put up a coffee -house, a theatre and a cold bath. Anburey made, or had made, a drawing -entitled “Encampment of the Convention Army at Charlottes Ville, -in Virginia, after they had surrendered to the Americans.” In this -interesting print it is difficult to distinguish the theatre, but the -coffee house is easily found. - -September, 1780, when orders came to move to the North again, the -officers were loath to go. They had understood that they were to remain -at Charlottesville until exchanged. Several of them “had laid out great -sums in making themselves comfortable habitations; for the barracks -became a little town, and there being more society, most of the -officers had resorted there. The great objection to residing at them -on our first arrival, was on account of the confined situation, being -not only surrounded, but even in the woods themselves. The proprietor -of the estate will reap great advantages, as the army entirely cleared -a space of six miles in circumference around the barracks. After we -quitted the barracks, the inhabitants were near a week in destroying -the cats that were left behind, which impelled by hunger had gone into -the woods. There was reason to suppose they would become extremely wild -and ferocious and would be a great annoyance to their poultry.” - -The Convention Army, crossing the “Pignet Ridge, or more properly, -the Blue Mountains,” at Wood’s Gap, moved to Winchester, and thence, -recrossing the Ridge at Williams’s Gap, proceeded to Frederick Town, -and so to New York to take ship. - - - - -_III._ - -_THE ABBÉ ROBIN, ONE OF THE CHAPLAINS TO THE FRENCH ARMY IN AMERICA._ - -_1781._ - - _‘New Travels in America’--From Rhode Island to - Maryland--Annapolis--The French Army in the Chesapeake--M. de La - Fayette--Williamsburg--Tobacco--Yorktown after Siege--Billetting of - the French Troops._ - - -The French Army, after a voyage of eighty-five days, landed at Boston -June 24, 1781. With it came the Abbé Robin, a philosopher who was -more than once in America and has left recorded descriptions of -Louisiana as well as of the Atlantic Coast. The Abbé Robin was a -genial, generalizing observer--his New Travels in America[F] is an -interesting book, particularly in its passages with a bearing upon the -activities and the good behavior of the Allies from France. We learn -therein how the French introduced among us the brass band and set on -foot improvements in the art of the dance: they also brought us to a -knowledge of the ancient diversion faro. - -The New Travels of the Abbé Robin, like so many other travellers’ books -of that period, are in the form of letters to a friend. The author -proceeded with the Army from Boston to Providence, through Connecticut -(where he was struck with traces of the “active and inventive genius” -of the inhabitants), to the Camp at Philippsburg, down the Hudson into -the Jerseys, past Philadelphia and Baltimore. He writes: - - - Annapolis, September 21, 1781. - - The army was to prosecute the rest of the march to Virginia by land, - and with that view took the road leading to Alexandria, a flourishing - commercial town upon the Potomack; but upon the news of the arrival - of the _Romulus_ ship of war, with two frigates and a number of - transports, we turned off towards Annapolis, but the horses and - carriages continued their journey by land. - - As we advance towards the south we observe a sensible difference in - the manners and customs of the people. This opulence was particularly - observable at Annapolis. That very inconsiderable town, standing at - the mouth of the river Severn, where it falls into the bay, out of - the few buildings it contains, has at least three-fourths such as - may be styled elegant and grand. The state-house is a very beautiful - building, I think the most so of any I have seen in America. The - peristyle is set off with pillars, and the edifice is topped with a - dome. - - We are embarking with the greatest expedition; the weather is the - finest you can conceive, and the wind fair: I think the impatience of - the French will soon be at an end. - - - Williamsburgh, September 30, 1781. - - The army has had a very agreeable passage hither, except the - grenadiers, chasseurs, and the first American regiments [these - sailed from the Head of Elk], who were fourteen days on the water. - Judge how inconvenient this must have been to troops crowded into - a narrow space, and without any decks over them; while even the - officers had nothing but biscuit to live upon. The shores of this - Bay, which is formed by the influx of so many great rivers, are far - from being lofty, neither are they much cleared of woods, and it is - but rarely that you discover any habitations; but the few we saw were - very agreeably situated. This country will be, in time, one of the - most beautiful in the world. - - When our little fleet had sailed up James River, celebrated for the - excellent tobacco which grows upon its shores, we disembarked at - James-Town, the place where the English first established themselves - in Virginia. The troops have already joined the grenadiers, - chasseurs, and the three thousand men brought hither by Count - de Grasse, consisting of the regiments of Agenois, Gatinois and - Touraine, under the command of Mons. de St. Simon, Maréchal de Camp. - This General had a little before effected a junction with fifteen - hundred or two thousand Americans, commanded by M. le Marquis - de la Fayette, who, as you have heard, could never be reduced, - notwithstanding the forces of Cornwallis were three or four times his - number. I should have mentioned, that M. de la Fayette, in quality of - Major-General of an American army, at the age of twenty-four years, - found himself at this time superior in command to a French general - officer, and continued so until the other detachments of the army - were collected into one body under General Washington. - - Williamsburg does not contain above a hundred and fifty houses, and - is the only town we have yet seen in Virginia worth mentioning not - situated on the banks of any river. What makes the situation of - this place valuable, is the neighbourhood of James and York rivers, - between which grows the best tobacco in the whole State, and for - this reason it seems to have been built where it is: I do not think, - nevertheless, that it will ever be a place of any great importance; - the towns of York, James, Norfolk, and Edenton, being more favourably - situated for trade, will undoubtedly eclipse it. - - With the most lively satisfaction I contemplated these monuments - of the real glory of men, the college and the library; and while I - contemplated them, they recalled to my mind places and persons most - intimately connected with my heart. The tumult of arms has driven - from hence those who had the care of these philosophical instruments, - for the Muses, you know, take no pleasure but in the abodes of - peace: We could only meet with one solitary professor, of Italian - extraction; and I can not but say, his conversation and abilities - appeared to be such, that after what he had told us in commendation - of his brethren, we could not help regretting their absence. - - About Williamsburg and the shores of the bay, the land is covered - with trees yielding rozin; the meadows and marshes subsist great - numbers of excellent horses, which far exceed those of the other - states in point of beauty: vast quantities of hemp are raised here, - as well as flax, Indian corn and cotton: the cotton shrubs produce - annually, and at the first view we took them for beans in blossom. - Silk worms succeed here very well, and it is not improbable but they - may at some future time form one of the most considerable branches - of trade in this State. The commodity most in demand is tobacco; - you well know the character it has, and for common use it may be - considered as the best in the world. What the English imported - yearly from this State, and from Maryland, might have amounted to - about ninety-six thousand hogsheads; but among themselves they did - not consume one sixth part of that quantity, and either disposed of - the rest among us, or exported it to the north [of Europe]; judge - then how valuable this commerce was to that nation. They purchased - it here at the very lowest rate, taking it in exchange for their - broad-clothes, linen and hard wares, and selling again for ready - money what they did not want for their own home consumption, and - thus they increased their capital every year to the amount of eight - or nine millions. No other of their possessions, not even those - in India, ever afforded them so clear a profit. Three hundred and - thirty vessels, and about four thousand sailors were constantly - employed in this trade: of these the city of Glasgow, in Scotland, - owned the greatest part, and by that means supported its flourishing - manufactures, which were perhaps more considerable than those of any - town in England. - - Since the war, the tobacco exportation has been only about forty - thousand hogsheads annually; what advantages then would have accrued - to the English, could they have sooner made themselves masters of - Chesapeake-bay. There are now fifty or sixty vessels collected at - York, under the cannon of Cornwallis, sent on purpose to load with - this weed, which three fourths and a half of the human race take such - supreme delight in chewing, snuffing or smoking. - - The army is at present before York. We hear the reports of the cannon - very distinctly; and I am now going to join the troops, where I think - I shall shortly have something very interesting to impart to you. - - - Camp at York, November 6, 1781. - - I have been through the unfortunate little town of York since the - siege, and saw many elegant houses shot through and through in a - thousand places, and ready to crumble to pieces; rich household - furniture crushed under their ruins, or broken by the brutal - English soldier; carcases of men and horses half covered with - dirt: books piled in heaps, and scattered among the ruins of the - buildings, served to give me an idea of the tastes and morals of the - inhabitants; these were either treatises of religion or controversial - divinity; the _history_ of the English nation, and their foreign - settlements; collections of charters and acts of parliament; - the works of the celebrated _Alexander Pope_; a translation of - _Montaigne’s Essays_; _Gil Blas de Santillane_, and the excellent - _Essay upon Women_, by _Mr. Thomas_. - - The plan of the fortifications for the defence of York and Glocester - has been entirely changed; they are drawing them into a narrower - compass than before, have destroyed the English works, and are busy - at constructing new ones. The travelling artillery is partly at - Williamsburg and partly at York; and the heavy cannon is at West - Point (called _Delaware_ in the maps), a place situated between the - two rivers that form that of York. - - On the twenty-fourth [of October] the troops began to go into winter - quarters. The regiments of Bourbonnais and Royal Deux Ponts are at - Williamsburg, where our head Quarters are fixed. The regiments of - Soissonnais, and the grenadier companies, and Chasseurs of Saintonge - are at York. The rest of the regiment of Saintonge is billetted about - in the country betwixt York and Hampton; and this latter place, - situated on James River, is occupied by the Legion of Lauzun. - - This great and happy event, in which the French have had so - considerable a share, will soon give a new turn to American affairs. - The Southern States, so long harassed and distrest, will now assume - new spirit and activity. To what a pitch of grandeur will not these - new states shortly arise. - - NOTE.--In his second letter the Abbé mentions M. de St. Simon. This - was the philosopher, whose plans for reorganizing society are still - of interest. - - - - -_IV._ - -_THE MARQUIS OF CHASTELLUX, MAJOR-GENERAL IN THE FRENCH ARMY, AND -MEMBER OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY._ - -_1782._ - - _M. de Chastellux--Tour to the Natural Bridge--New Kent Court - House--Hanover Court House--Offley--Secretary Nelson--Willis’ - Ordinary--Monticello--New London--Cumberland Court - House--Petersburg--Richmond--Formicola’s--Governor Harrison--College - of William and Mary._ - - -“From the moment the French troops were established in the quarters -they occupied in Virginia, I formed the project of traveling into the -upper parts of that province, where I was assured that I should find -objects worthy of exciting the curiosity of a stranger; and faithful to -the principles, which from my youth I had laid down, never to neglect -seeing every country in my power, I burned with impatience to set out. -The season, however, was unfavorable, and rendered traveling difficult -and laborious; besides, experience taught me that traveling in winter -never offered the greatest satisfaction we can enjoy--that of seeing -Nature as she ought to be, and of forming a just idea of the general -face of a country; for it is easier for the imagination to deprive -the landscape of the charms of spring than to clothe with them the -hideous skeleton of winter; as it is easier to imagine what a beauty -at eighteen may be at eighty, than to conceive what eighty was at -eighteen.” - -In these words, the Marquis of Chastellux, writing from Williamsburg -about the 1st of May, 1782, begins the chronicle of his tour to the -Valley of Virginia. He was in America with the army perhaps two years, -during which time he sustained his reputation as a capable officer, an -agreeable man, and a philosopher of tolerant insight. M. de Chastellux -was a good traveler. In the country, if the bacon and eggs were stale -and the vintage was spring water of the morning, he found something -to admire in the landscape. At Philadelphia he dined with members of -the Congress, of all parties, listened to political theories, drank -tea with the ladies, was easily amused and formed opinions which may -be discovered on a careful reading. Where is there a more sensible -man than the old campaigner? The Marquis of Chastellux entered the -army at fifteen, and was given command of a regiment at twenty-one. -He served with distinction in the Seven Years’ War. His studies were -never neglected, and being a man of rank he was early adopted among the -scholars. - -On the 8th of April, 1782, M. de Chastellux set out from Williamsburg -for Rockbridge County. “On the 8th I set out with Mr. Lynch, then my -aid-de-camp and adjutant, Mr. Frank Dillon, my second aid-de-camp, -and M. le Chevalier d’Oyré, of the Engineers. Six servants and a led -horse composed our train, so that our little caravan consisted of four -masters, six servants and eleven horses. I regulated my journey by the -spring, and gave it time sufficient to precede us. The eighteen miles -through which we passed before we baited our horses at Bird’s Tavern -were sufficiently known to me, for it was the same road I traveled -the year before in coming from Williamsburg. The remaining sixteen, -which completed our day’s work and brought us to New Kent Courthouse, -offered nothing curious. All I learned by a conversation with Mr. Bird -was that he had been pillaged by the English when they passed his -house in their march to Westover in pursuit of M. de la Fayette, and -in returning to Williamsburg after endeavoring in vain to come up with -him. Mr. Bird repeated with indignation that the refugee camp followers -had taken from him the very boots from off his legs. As the next day’s -journey was to be longer than that of the preceding one, we left New -Kent Courthouse before 8 o’clock, and rode twenty miles to Newcastle, -where I resolved to give our horses two hours repose. When the heat was -a little abated and our horses were somewhat reposed we continued our -journey that we might arrive before dark at Hanover Courthouse, from -which we were yet sixteen miles. The country through which we passed -is one of the finest of lower Virginia. There are many well cultivated -estates and handsome houses. We arrived at Hanover Courthouse before -sunset, and alighted at a tolerable handsome inn--a very large saloon -and a covered portico to receive the company who assemble every three -months at the courthouse, either on private or public affairs. This -asylum is the more necessary, as there are no other houses in the -neighborhood.” - -From Hanover Courthouse, which, as well as New Kent, had reason to -remember the passage of the English, the party proceeded at 9 the next -morning towards Offley, the residence for the time of General Nelson, -recently Governor of the State. “I had got acquainted with him during -the expedition to York, at which critical moment he was Governor, and -conducted himself with the courage of a brave soldier and the zeal of a -good citizen. I am sorry to add that the only recompense of his labors -was the hatred of a great part of his fellow citizens, arising from the -necessity under which he had often labored of pressing their horses, -carriages and forage.” - -M. de Chastellux and his aids arrived at Offley at 1 o’clock on the -10th of April, and spent two rainy days there. General Nelson was -absent, but Secretary Nelson was there, an old man very gouty, who -related with a serene countenance what the effect had been of the -French batteries in front of Yorktown. “The tranquility which has -succeeded these unhappy times by giving him leisure to reflect upon -his losses, has not embittered the recollection; he lives happily on -one of his plantations, where in less than six hours he can assemble -seventy of his relations, children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces. -The rapid increase of his own family justifies what he told me of the -population of Virginia in general, of which, from the offices he has -held all his life, he must have it in his power to form a very accurate -judgment. In 1742 the people subject to taxes in Virginia amounted only -to the number of 63,000; by his account they now exceed 160,000. - -“After passing two days very agreeably with this interesting family, we -left there the 12th at 10 in the morning, accompanied by the secretary -and five or six of his young relations, who conducted us to Little -River Bridge, a small creek on the road about five miles from Offley.” - -Eleven miles through woods brought them to Willis’s Ordinary, a -solitary place, but at the moment crowded. “As soon as I alighted -I inquired what might be the reason of this numerous assembly, and -was informed it was a cock fight. This diversion is much in vogue in -Virginia, where the English customs are more prevalent than in the rest -of America. Whilst our horses were feeding we had an opportunity of -seeing a battle. The stakes were very considerable; the money of the -parties was deposited in the hands of one of the principal persons, -and I felt a secret pleasure in observing that it was chiefly French. -Whilst the interested parties animated the cocks to battle, a child of -fifteen, who was near me, kept leaping for joy and crying, ‘Oh, it is a -charming diversion.’ We had yet seven or eight and twenty miles to ride -to the only inn where it was possible to stop before we reached Mr. -Jefferson’s.” - -Keeping on towards Monticello, the party passed an ordinary, some -sixteen miles from Willis’s, kept by an extremely fat man. They found -him contented in an arm chair, which served him also for a bed. A stool -supported his enormous legs. “A large ham and a bowl of grog served him -for company, like a man resolved to die surrounded by his friends.” - -They spent the night twelve miles farther on at a house where there -were fourteen children, not one of them ten years old; and set out -at 8 o’clock the next morning through the foothills of the Southwest -Mountain. That day, the 13th of April (an important day with Mr. -Jefferson) they came to Monticello. “The visit which I made Mr. -Jefferson was not unexpected, for he had long since invited me to come -and pass a few days with him; notwithstanding which I found his first -appearance serious, nay even cold; but before I had been two hours with -him we were as intimate as if we had passed our whole lives together. -Walking, books, but above all a conversation always varied and -interesting, made four days pass away like so many minutes. I recollect -with pleasure that as we were conversing one evening over a bowl of -punch, after Mrs. Jefferson had retired, our conversation turned on -the poems of Ossian. In our enthusiasm the book was sent for and -placed near the bowl, where by their mutual aid the night far advanced -imperceptibly upon us. Sometimes natural philosophy, at others politics -or the arts, were the topics of our conversation, for no object had -escaped Mr. Jefferson; and it seemed as if from his youth he had placed -his mind, as he had his house, on an elevated situation, from which he -might contemplate the universe.” - -Mr. Jefferson and M. de Chastellux rode over to Charlottesville, “a -rising town,” to see Colonel Armand,[G] whose legion was in quarters -there. Colonel Armand had a pet wolf which had been caught wild in the -neighborhood. M. de Chastellux left Monticello on the 17th, and on -the 19th arrived at the Natural Bridge, by way of Rockfish Gap and -Steel’s Tavern. Returning by way of New London (Bedford), “already a -pretty considerable town, at least seventy or eighty houses,” the party -of tourists reached Cumberland Courthouse on the 23d. “This is the -chief manor house of a very considerable country; it is situated in a -plain of about a mile diameter, sixteen miles from Hodnett’s, which we -had passed. Besides the courthouse and a large tavern, its necessary -appendage, there are seven or eight houses inhabited by gentlemen of -fortune. I found the tavern full of people, and understood that the -judges were assembled to hold a court of claims--that is to say, to -hear and register the claims of sundry persons, who had furnished -provisions for the army. We know that in general, but particularly in -unexpected invasions, the American troops had no established magazine, -and as it was necessary to have subsistence for them, provisions and -forage were indiscriminately laid hold of on giving the owners a -receipt, which they call a certificate. During the campaign, whilst the -enemy was at hand, little attention was given to this sort of loans, -which accumulated incessantly, without the sum total being known, or -any means taken to ascertain the proofs. Virginia being at length -loaded with these certificates, it became necessary, sooner or later, -to liquidate these accounts. - -“The last Assembly of the State of Virginia had accordingly thought -proper to pass a bill, authorizing the justices of each county to take -cognizance of these certificates, to authenticate their validity, and -to register them, specifying the value of the provisions in money, -according to the established tariff. I had the curiosity to go to the -courthouse to see how this affair was transacted, and saw it was -performed with great order and simplicity. The justices wore their -common clothes, but were seated on an elevated tribunal, as at London -in the court of King’s bench or common pleas. We had rode forty-four -miles, and night was closing fast upon us when we arrived at Powhatan -Courthouse, a more recent settlement than that of Cumberland. We had a -good supper and good beds, but our horses were obliged to do without -forage.” - -Early in the morning of the 24th they left Powhatan, and rode -forty-four miles to Petersburg, passing Chesterfield Courthouse, where -were still to be seen the ruins of the barracks occupied by the Baron -Steuben and burned by the English. At Petersburg M. de Chastellux -called at ‘Battersea’ and was entertained at ‘Bollingbrook.’ The town -is described as already flourishing, and destined to become more so -every day--the depot for a vast region to the south. “Five miles from -Petersburg we passed the small river of Randolph over a stone bridge, -and traveling through a rich and well peopled country, arrived at a -fork of roads, where we were unlucky enough precisely to make choice -of that which did not lead to Richmond, the place of our destination. -But we had no reason to regret our error, as it was only two miles -about and we skirted James River to a charming place called Warwick, -where a group of handsome houses form a sort of village, and there are -several superb ones in the neighborhood. As we had lost our way and -traveled but slowly, it was near 3 o’clock when we reached Manchester, -a sort of suburb to Richmond, on the right bank of the river, where you -pass the ferry. The passage was short, there being two boats for the -accommodation of travelers. Richmond is divided into three parts. I was -conducted to that on the west, where I found a good inn. Mr. Formicola, -my landlord, is a Neapolitan, who came to Virginia with Lord Dunmore, -but had gone rather roundabout, having been before in Russia. His only -error was the exalted idea he had formed of the manner in which French -general officers must be treated. After dinner I went to pay a visit -to Mr. Harrison, then Governor of the State. He talked much of the -first Congress in America, in which he sat for two years. This subject -led us naturally to that which is the most favorite topic among the -Americans--the origin and commencement of the present revolution.” - -This conversation with Governor Harrison, other conversations, and -M. de Chastellux’s own careful observations led him to form opinions -about Virginia, then the most influential of the States, which were -correct enough. His analysis was a forecast. There can be found no -better summary of conditions in Virginia at that time, the statement -of a man of great good sense and a wide experience of men and -affairs. He remarks: “One must be in the country itself, one must be -acquainted with the language, and take a pleasure in conversing and in -listening, to be qualified to form, and that slowly, a proper opinion -and a decisive judgment. After this reflection the reader will not -be surprised at the pleasure I took in conversing with Mr. Harrison. -He urged me to dine with him next day, and to pass another day at -Richmond. We set out, however, on the 27th, at 8 in the morning for -Westover. We traveled six and twenty miles without halting, in very -hot weather, but by a very agreeable road, with magnificent houses in -view at every instant; for the banks of James River form the garden of -Virginia. - -“It is not by accident,” observes the Marquis of Chastellux, writing -at Williamsburg, May 1, 1782, “that I have postponed the consideration -of everything respecting the progress of the arts and sciences in this -country until the conclusion of my reflections on Virginia; I have done -it expressly because the mind, after bestowing its attention on the -variety of human institutions, reposes itself with pleasure on those -which tend to the perfection of the understanding, and the progress -of information. The College of William and Mary, whose founders are -announced by the very name, is a noble establishment which embellishes -Williamsburg and does honor to Virginia. I must add that the zeal of -the professors has been crowned with the most distinguished success, -and that they have already formed many distinguished characters, ready -to serve their country in the various departments of government. After -doing justice to the exertions of the University of Williamsburgh, for -such is the College of William and Mary, if it be necessary for its -farther glory to cite miracles, I shall only observe that they created -me a doctor of laws.” - - - - -_V._ - -_DR. JOHANN DAVID SCHOEPF, SURGEON TO THE HESSIAN TROOPS._ - -_1783._ - - _Dr. Schoepf--Leesburg--Plantation Houses--The Price of - Land--Fredericksburg--Hunter’s Iron-Works--Richmond--The - General Assembly--The Tavern Formicola--Manchester--Mr. - Rubsamen--Williamsburg--Yorktown or Little York--Surry Court - House--Smithfield--The Nation of Virginia--Suffolk--The Trade in - Salt._ - - -Dr. Johann David Schoepf was born at Weinsiedel in 1752 and died -in the year 1800. He studied medicine at Hof, Erlangen, Berlin and -Vienna, then traveled in Russia, Italy and Switzerland, and made his -degree in medicine at Erlangen in 1776. That year he came to America -as surgeon to the Hessian troops in the British army. In 1784 he went -to London and traveled through England and in France, Spain and Italy. -He published in 1787 a _Materia Medica Americana_. Dr. Schoepf was -particularly interested in scientific matters, was an accurate observer -of things and of people, and his book is one of the best of the early -travels in this country. These volumes have now been translated, and -the account given below is a modification. Dr. Schoepf approached -Virginia from the north, coming through Western Maryland. - -“By this road Leesburg is the first town on the Virginia side, a place -of few houses, small and wooden. On account of the high, pleasant -and healthful situation a Latin school has been established here. An -advertisement of this institution was to be seen on the tavern door, -recommending it in a handsome style to the public, which should give -it patronage, since schools hitherto, except in the chief cities, are -scarce enough in America. It is not the universal custom in America to -hang shields before the inns, but inns may always be identified by the -great number of papers and notices with which the walls and doors of -these public houses are plastered--and the best inns are in general the -most papered. From such announcements the traveler gets a many-sided -entertainment, and gains instruction as to where taxes are heavy, where -wives have eloped or horses been stolen, and where the new doctor has -settled. - -“Along the road from Leesburg towards Fredericksburg there was not a -little difference to be remarked between the appearance of the country -and the thickly settled regions of Piedmont Maryland and Pennsylvania, -through which we had just passed. It was strange to see so much wild -and newly cleared ground, due not to any unfertility of the soil, -but to the large estates whose owners were unwilling to sell and -found it difficult to secure tenants where there is so much land to -be had almost for the asking. And the contrast in the appearance of -the plantations, after the Potomac is crossed, is rather striking. -In this part of Virginia, as in lower Maryland, the farmer builds a -small village about him. In some cases, however, all of his buildings -would scarcely make one comfortable house. From the time of his first -clearing he is continually adding, and his plan may be not a very good -one. We passed Moore’s Tavern and the Red House (30 miles from Goose -Creek), and skirting the Bull Run Mountains, approached the strictly -tobacco country. Fairly good tobacco is raised to the west along the -foothills, but the profit is trifling on account of the heavy expense -of carriage to warehouses whence it can be taken off by the European -ships. In this region the crop had been greatly damaged by an August -frost. The loss was the greater because many of these planters raise -only the Sweetscented, a tender variety, but more profitable by 2-1/2 -shillings the hundred, or 25 shillings Virginia currency the hogshead. - -“We spent a night at a plantation where, although no tavern is kept, -the traveler is entertained for pay. There are disadvantages about this -sort of inn, but on the one hand the proprietor escapes the payment -of a liquor license and the trouble of catering to a crowd of idlers, -and on the other hand the guest must answer only a few times the usual -questions as to where he is going, where he came from, and what his -business is. The captain had a large family, and wished to sell some of -his land, of which he owned 4,000 acres. Land hereabouts can be bought -for from 25 to 50 or 60 shillings Virginia currency. The captain would -sell his for 40 shillings cash, and with the proceeds move to Kentucky. -The people throughout are bent on providing for their children. This -is difficult to do in the East, and hence the steady emigration to -Kentucky. - -“Beyond this we got out of the right road, and meeting only a few -darkeys, whose horizon was not extensive, traveled half a day before -we were set right. We passed Cedar Run at a dangerous ford, and came -to a plantation where there is a copper mine worked intermittently, -a narrow vein. Following the direction, “keep straight on” (nobody -thinks the stranger can be quite as ignorant as he says he is), we -crossed Acquia Creek, and reached Fredericksburg. The public buildings -of Fredericksburg--church, market house and court house--we found in -bad condition, not because they had been damaged directly by the war, -but simply because during the war there had been no use made of them. -Tobacco was bringing a small price here, and at a sure profit to the -buyers. No ships were in and taxes were due; the price had been knocked -down to 25 shillings the hundred. The same at Alexandria. Hunter’s -Iron Works, near Fredericksburg, at the falls above Falmouth, is one -of the finest and most extensive works of this sort in America. There -is a rolling and a slitting mill, both very ingeniously contrived, and -of this description of iron works there have been up to this time only -one or two established in all America. Under the British rule such -enterprises were forbidden. Past Fredericksburg, we had the honor to -breakfast with an American general, whose attire was conspicuous--a -large white chapeau, a blue coat, a brown waistcoat and green breeches -decorated him, and he a short, fat man. - -“From this point on towards Richmond the country is open and level, -and adorned with many large and at times tasteful dwellings. The -rich Virginians do not prefer a town life. Here and there we passed -large wheat fields. Several years before the war, owing to the heavy -English import duties on tobacco, the people had begun to raise wheat -on a more extensive scale. Here, as in other parts of America, the -cornfields are seeded to wheat without removing the stalks. The weevil -is bad, especially if the grain lies long in the straw. After floating -off the light seed the good, heavy grain is broadcasted, mixed with -shell lime. Between Fredericksburg and Richmond we noticed a good many -swampy spots, which might easily be drained. We met on this road, to -our great surprise, two Alsatians traveling along on foot, with their -bundles slung behind. They had come into the Chesapeake on a French -ship, and were seeking their fortune in Virginia. A foot passenger is -a very unusual sight in Virginia. Passing Hanover Courthouse (December -18, 1783) and Hanover Town, we came to Richmond. On this road we were -struck with the little provision made for the winter feeding of cattle. -How easy it would be to lay down grass. Near Richmond we saw mules, -the first pair. Mules, being found well adapted to the country, are -beginning to be used a good deal. - -“Richmond, before 1779 not a very important town, is built on two -heights, separated by a creek called Shokoes. The houses are in general -of wood, and are irregularly scattered about. A recent census gives the -number as 280, and the population about 2,000. The falls of the James -engaged my curiosity first. The total fall of the river from Westham -to Richmond (7 miles) is only seventy-one feet, and hence there is -no stupendous cataract. But the falls as a whole, over innumerable -boulders, between winding wooded banks, present a great and striking -appearance. The sound of the water, particularly at night, is heard not -only through the entire town, but before the wind for several miles -around. At the falls innumerable herring and shad are caught early in -spring, and at times even in February. These appear in the Delaware and -the Hudson not before the middle of April or the first of May. James -River is one of the greatest and most beautiful of American streams. - -“During my stay at Richmond the Assembly was in session. A small frame -building serves as House of Assembly, and with a change of properties -as ballroom and banquet room. The term is used, ‘the Assembly sits.’ -This does not seem to me to be precisely descriptive. The members -appeared to me to be anywhere rather than in their seats, and to be -discussing anything except laws to be framed. The doorkeeper was -busy, and in the vestibule there was an uproar. The vestments of the -members are diverse--boots, trousers, Indian leggings, great-coats, the -usual coat, and short jackets. In other words, each one wears what he -pleases. The members from the West are greatly inconvenienced in coming -so far. They even speak of establishing a separate government for the -West, as in the province of New York, where there is a Governor at New -York and another at Albany. If this is done, the West will very likely -become in a short time an independent State. The pay of members has -recently been fixed at 18 Virginia shillings or 3 Spanish dollars per -diem. During the war they preferred tobacco (50 pounds) to currency. -At a vote, the Speaker calls for the Ayes and Noes, and judges with -a critical ear which side has made the majority of sounds. If the -predominance is a matter of doubt a division is called. - -“I stopped at the Tavern Formicola, which was naturally much crowded -at that season. Every evening there came generals, colonels, captains, -senators, delegates, judges, doctors, clerks and gentlemen of every -weight and calibre to sit around the fire, drink, smoke, sing and swap -anecdotes. Very entertaining, but Formicola’s not being a spacious -house, I found the crowd embarrassing. There is only one newspaper -published at Richmond; this paper appears twice a week. - -“On the south side of James River, opposite Richmond, lies a little -town called Manchester. The rocks in the river between the two places -have been bought up, as well as a narrow strip along each bank, and the -owner proposes to throw a fine bridge across, which, if built, will -be the first and only one of the kind in America. The project depends -upon whether the Assembly will license this bridge as a toll bridge. -At Manchester I visited Mr. Jacob Rubsamen, a German, who was before -the war engaged in mining in Jersey. At the outbreak of the war he -came to Virginia and set up a powder mill, the first powder mill to be -established in this country. Rubsamen was able to find saltpetre in the -mountains; his sulphur he brought from Europe, on account of the heavy -expense of getting it out in this country. His works were not very -profitable, and were destroyed in the end by the British. Mr. Rubsamen -told me that lead ore is found on New River and the Greenbrier, copper -on the Roanoke (Dan), and iron everywhere about, particularly in -Buckingham County. Coal was recently discovered twelve miles from -Richmond by the mere chance of the uprooting of a tree by the wind. -This coal brings 1 shilling a bushel (at the wharf), Virginia currency. -Its smell is disagreeable, as I observed when at Richmond. - -“Leaving Richmond we reached Williamsburg in two days, passing by -Warwick (where the British had destroyed a considerable plant for -the working of iron), Osborne’s, a pleasant place, though small, and -Petersburg, a town of a thriving trade and larger than Richmond. Cotton -is raised in this region on good new land or on heavily fertilized -land, and the favorite tobaccos are the Sweetscented, the Long Green, -the Varina, the Frederick, the Oroonoko, the Hudson, Thickjoint, -Thickset, Shoestring and other varieties. - -“Williamsburg is to be counted among the most beautiful of American -cities. The Capitol, or Statehouse, closes one end of the High Street, -a large and modern building. Because no better use can be made of it -now, a Latin school is to be established where the government was once -installed. Doctors in all the faculties are graduated at the College of -William and Mary. Most of the students, however, complete their studies -at the English and Scottish universities. The citizens of this town, -as of all lower Virginia, greatly hope that the seat of government -will be brought back to Williamsburg. At the tavern I found very good -entertainment and paid high for it. The black attendants, neatly and -modishly attired, make their bows with dignity and respectfulness. They -spoke with enthusiasm of the politeness of the French officers lately -quartered there. - -“We made an excursion to Yorktown, called also Little York, to see -that famous place, and particularly to inspect the great oyster banks -there. The inhabitants have not yet recovered from the disturbances of -war, and many houses are still in ruins or half repaired. The spars of -the ships sunk in the river to block the passage are yet to be seen. -We returned the same day to Williamsburg, to set out the next morning -for the South. Seven miles from Williamsburg, on the Southern road, we -came to James River, and after much delay were obliged to turn back -to Williamsburg because of an unfavorable wind at the ferry. The next -day at sunrise, when the wind is generally still, we came again to the -ferry and were put across, but not without delay. Lord Cornwallis was -the excuse. They said he had ruined the wharf, and the tide was not yet -high enough to take off men and horses from the bank, which is there -low. - -“Not far below the ferry lies James Island, formerly only a peninsula; -in a fierce storm with high water the river broke through the slender -tongue of land. Jamestown appears in several modern geographies as a -place of eighty to a hundred houses. In reality there are there but one -or two, and they ruinous. The most valuable land in this region is that -along the rivers and creeks, not so much from the superior fertility, -as because of the accessibility to water transportation. Such land -sells at four, five or six pounds, Virginia. If the corn crop fails the -planter is in straits, and if the price of tobacco is high everything -else--bacon, corn, etc.--is high in proportion. Desiring gain, and -spending his time on tobacco, the planter loses through not giving -attention to those articles of necessity which he might produce at home. - -“Five miles from James River we came to Surry Courthouse, where there -was a crowd, because it was court day. Eleven miles farther on we -passed Nelson’s Ordinary, and after ten miles more reached Smithfield, -or Isle of Wight Courthouse. The road from Williamsburg is mainly -through woods, but we passed more churches (five, that is to say) than -during any other day’s journey in America. - -“Towards Smithfield the traveler passes beyond the tobacco country. The -chief exports here are tar, pitch, turpentine and salted meat. A barrel -of tar, thirty-one and one-half gallons, costs from 8 to 9 Virginia -shillings; a barrel of turpentine 18 shillings, and a barrel of salted -pork (220 pounds) 50 shillings. At Smithfield we spent the evening with -a party of gentlemen from the neighborhood. The conversation was for -the most part on the subject of Virginia, what advantages that State -has over every other State in the world, and how the nation of Virginia -is superior to every other nation--in resources, manners, purity of -speech and in all respects. - -“The stranger notes deficiencies. For instance, a gentleman of -Petersburg remarked to me that he thought of sending his son to -Edinburgh to make a doctor of him, since he would probably not marry -and set up as a planter, being now past the age of twenty-one. But it -must be admitted that physically, the Virginians are a comely race, and -they show on all subjects clear and strong understandings. It is to be -regretted that they do not give more attention to the exact sciences. -They read, but they do not study. - -“Christmas Eve we came to Everett’s Bridge, and the next day to -Suffolk, on another arm of Nansemond Creek. In the month of May, -1779, a great part of Suffolk was burned by the British. There are no -stones at this place, and the deep, fine sand of the streets is an -inconvenience. Before the houses they lay a sort of pavement, pitch -and tar mixed with the sand and allowed to harden. They drive a trade -from this place to the West Indies in small vessels, shallops of twenty -to fifty tons burthen. Salt is an especial article of their traffic. -When the vessels, which bring it from Tortola, Turk’s Island and other -of the West Indies, are delayed, the price of salt is tripled and -quadrupled. During the war the people were greatly in want of salt, -and the attempt was made to get it from the sea by damming the water -in ponds along the coast. Little success attended this experiment -south of the thirty-seventh parallel, probably because of the frequent -rain-storms which freshened the ponded sea water. - -“From Suffolk to Cunningham’s we skirted the great Dismal Swamp. Along -the road from York, in Virginia, to this point it is observable that -the south bank of all the rivers and creeks is steeper and rougher than -the north bank. This may be due to the weathering of the north and -northeast storms.” - - - - -_VI._ - -_COUNT CASTIGLIONI, CHEVALIER OF THE ORDER OF ST. STEPHEN, P. M._ - -_1786._ - - _Luigi Castiglioni--Alexandria--Mount Vernon--General - Washington--Fredericksburg--Peach Trees and - Persimmons--Richmond--Petersburg--Colonel Banister--Dr. - Greenway--Colonel Coles--Staunton River--Buckingham Court - House--Eniscotty--Rockfish Gap--Staunton--Middle River - Ford--Winchester--Charlestown._ - - -In the diary of George Washington for the year 1785 appear these -entries: “Sunday, December 25.--Count Castiglioni came here to dinner. -December 29.--Count Castiglioni went away after breakfast on his tour -to the southward.” - -This was Count Luigi Castiglioni, who had landed at Boston in May, -and after going through New England and a part of Canada, had come -to New York, whence, on the 27th of November, he had set out for the -South, reaching Alexandria December 24th, and spending Christmas at -Mount Vernon. Count Castiglioni was a man of science, Chevalier of -the Order of St. Stephen, P. M., member of the Philosophical Society -of Philadelphia, and also member of the Patriotical Society of Milan, -Patrician of Milan. The book written by him, _Viaggio negli Stati -Uniti_, is particularly descriptive of the useful plants to be found -in this country, with a view to their introduction into Europe, either -for the farm and the kitchen garden or for practical inclusion in -the _materia medica_. This book and that of Dr. Schoepf, 1783-1784, -give an excellent statement as to the natural history, the methods of -agriculture, milling, mining, etc., of that period in the history of -the fourteen States. - -“Alexandria,” says Count Castiglioni, “numbers 300 houses and possibly -3,000 inhabitants. At times, although the latitude is only 38 degrees -45 minutes, the cold is so great that the Potowmack may be ridden and -driven over. Such freezing weather is never of long duration, and many -winters the river is not frozen at all. This newly established town has -already received the name and the privileges of a city, and as soon as -the Potowmack is made navigable will become one of the most flourishing -of the trading towns of Virginia. - -“When I was there the plan for the improvement of the navigation -(suggested by General Washington) was beginning to be put into effect. -Near Alexandria brick and tiles are made at a reasonable price, the -soil thereabouts being a soft, viscous clay. They make lime there -from the oyster shells, which are found in extraordinary banks. The -people have two theories about these great shell banks, one being that -they are due to successive inundations of the sea, the other that the -aborigines assembled them, either for burial mounds or for some other -religious purpose. - -“The morning of the 25th of December I left Alexandria and went to -Mount Vernon. There I spent four memorable days. General Washington -is perhaps fifty-seven years of age, a man large and strong of build, -of a majestic but kindly bearing, and, notwithstanding the fatigues -of war, appears not yet to be aging. This celebrated man, who began -and so happily carried through the American war, seems, as it were, -to have been formed by nature to free this country of European rule -and to inaugurate an epoch in the history of mankind. Bred to arms, he -has not neglected the study of politics, and there is probably no one -in America who has a better knowledge of the present condition of the -United States or more sincerely desires their welfare. May Heaven spare -him many years for the good of his country, for an example to it and to -Europe. - -“Leaving Mount Vernon December 29th, in the morning, I went by -Colchester, a little place on the River Ochoquan, Dumfries, where there -are several warehouses for tobacco; Aquaja (only a few houses), and -fourteen miles beyond came to Falmouth, on the Rappahannock, whence it -is the custom to ferry down to Fredericksburg, on the opposite bank. -Fredericksburg, like Alexandria, is by law styled a city, and carries -on a heavy trade in tobacco. From Fredericksburg many plantations are -seen, larger and smaller. The large houses are generally built with a -porch, and the outbuildings ranged at either side. The tobacco exhausts -a cleared field in three years, and no attempt is made to manure, the -cattle being kept at large in the woods. Two acres in tobacco bring -about two hogsheads, or maybe 3,000 pounds. One thousand pounds (a -hogshead) fetches from 27 to 39 shillings Virginia money the hundred. - -“The following day I traveled thirty miles through a district where -much tobacco is raised, and much peach brandy and persimmon beer is -made. The peach flourishes so in Virginia that often when a tract of -land is cleared the peach trees take possession of the whole area, -nothing being done for the propagation of them except letting in the -sun on the ground. The persimmon is gathered from a sort of Guayakana -in the woods. The fruit would be very good to eat but for the skin, -which has an unpleasantness in the taste. In the evening I came to -Richmond, now the capital of Virginia, a town which has grown rapidly, -and numbers some 4,000 inhabitants, and 400 houses. The town is built -on two hills, separated by a brook, over which is thrown a wooden -bridge, with side ways for foot passengers. The trade of the place -consists largely in tobacco, and there is much competition from the -other markets at Alexandria and Petersburg. When I was there a well had -just been dug to the depth of seventy feet on one of the hills, which -rise one above another from the James, here a river foaming among great -rocks. I visited the spot. The earth removed smelled of sulphur, and -had the look of rotted wood, ash gray, but turning white on exposure -to the air. There were found at the bottom of this well, bedded in the -earth described, many bones, some larger than the bones of cattle, and -also remains of the aboriginal Indians, stone implements, etc., proof -that these tribes had been in possession of the land many centuries -before. - -“January 6th [1786] I passed on to Petersburg, through Osborne’s. -Blandford, Pocahontas and Petersburg are now incorporated under the -name Petersburg. Great quantity of tobacco is brought to Petersburg, -even from the North Carolina country, and is there exported to Europe -as James River tobacco, which is the best sort. - -“A mile from the town lives Colonel Banister, a nephew[H] of the -famous John Banister, who gave up his place as professor of botany and -librarian at the University of Oxford, and settling in this part of -Virginia, at great pains and with rare judgment collected and described -a number of the scarcest plants. From Colonel Banister’s I went, on -the 9th, to Kingston, a rich plantation belonging to Captain Walker, -in the county of Dinwiddie. The following day I visited Dr. Greenway, -by birth an Englishman, and an amateur of botany.[I] I examined his -collection with true pleasure, and the next day came again, since Dr. -Greenway had given me leave to transscribe from his notes; I have -included this material in my descriptions of American plants, relative -to the medicinal practices of the aborigines. Five miles from Kingston -the traveler passes the River Nottoway. The few Indians remaining of -the tribe of that name live near Southampton Courthouse, forty miles -distant. - -“Having come from Kingston along this road, by the Nottoway and -Hiksford (a wooden bridge leads over the Meherrin), thirteen miles -beyond the Meherrin, I entered the State of North Carolina on the -parallel thirty-six degrees thirty minutes. In this and other parts of -Virginia, as also in both the Carolinas, there is found a very noxious -serpent called by the inhabitants the Moquisson. - -“Returning from Georgia and the Carolinas, after I had passed the -River Dan [May 11, 1786] three miles from the North Carolina line, -I came to the plantation of Mr. W----. In the evening prayers were -read, but after the first verse the announcement was made that it was -bed time, and we had better disperse. The next day I reached Colonel -Coles’s, having come forty miles through Paintonborough and by a -bridge over Banister River. I had met Colonel Coles at Richmond, and -was received by him with great cordiality. When he heard that I was -on my way to Philadelphia he gave me a letter to his brother, Colonel -John Coles, who has a place on that road, near Charlottesville. I -examined with pleasure, at Colonel Coles’s (on Staunton River) several -artificial meadows of clover and rye grass, or wild rye, and also the -Colonel’s stud. - -“I crossed the Staunton in a boat the morning of the 14th. Here I -left the main road and traveled twenty miles through a rough country. -The next day, after passing Johns’ Ordinary, I came to Buckingham -Courthouse, situated on a high hill, at the foot of which runs the -Appomattox. - -“I spent the night at Mr. Patteson’s, who has a fine plantation near, -and the following day reached James River, twenty miles beyond. A mile -from the river a high wind began to blow and the sky was suddenly -covered with black clouds. - -“Thunder and lightning followed, and the rain and hail came down -in streams. The horses were frightened and would not go on. When -we reached the bank the storm had almost passed. We called to the -ferryman, who was standing in his door on the other side, but he -moved not a foot until the rain had entirely ceased, and then gave as -excuse that he had not seen us. While we were waiting a large serpent -came out of the river onto the banks. I killed it, and found it to -be not unlike what they call in Lombardy the smiroldo. On the other -side of the river, in a group of houses, stands the building in which -the court of Albemarle County was formerly held. I dried my clothes -here, ate dinner, and kept on four miles to Eniscotty, the residence -of Colonel John Coles, who received me hospitably as his brother. The -situation, at the top of a hill, is such that the leaves fall later -there, and appear earlier in the spring, than in the country adjacent. -The calicanthus grows well, with such an exposure; the hill is called -in the neighborhood the Green Hill, which, indeed, in situation and -fertility may be compared with the foothills of Monte di Brianza. The -mulberry and the vine should flourish here. - -“May 18th I left Eniscotty. I crossed the Blue Ridge by the road -through Rockfish Gap, which is not comparable, either in steepness or -in length, to the roads over the Apennines, much less those over the -Alps. Thick fog, followed by rain, compelled me to spend the day at a -house on the divide, the proprietor of which told me much regarding -the fertility of the lands in that region and the customs of the -inhabitants. He informed me that many people from the lower country -stayed at his house on their way to the springs in the Alleghany -Mountains. Having crossed the Blue Mountains and the South River, I -came to Stantown the morning of the 23d. Here I was enabled to see a -mocking-bird. These birds are often kept in cages, and are bought by -the English at extravagant prices. They are very scarce to the north, -and have many times fetched three to four guineas at Boston. About -Stantown tobacco is only beginning to be cultivated. They raise wheat, -Turkish corn [Indian corn] and hemp. Heavy rains kept me at Stantown -until the 27th, and prevented me seeing the extraordinary Natural -Bridge. - -“At Middle River, a small stream usually fordable the year through, I -found several travelers waiting for an opportunity to cross. I put up -at a house nearby, and as often as the rain permitted went out, like -the Egyptians, to measure with a rod the rise or fall of the waters. - -“The morning of the 29th the good man of the house advised me that I -might now cross. A crowd of people were at the bank to see us make the -attempt. My servant stripped himself and ventured in (on horseback) -with the carriage. He had hardly left the bank when the force of the -stream swept him down and overturned the calesche. I called to him from -where I was standing that his only hope was to let the horse go, and -swim; he kept by the horse, and managed to save both it and himself. I -resolved never again, in the matter of ferrying a swollen stream, to -trust to the advice of these wild pioneers. The next morning I was able -to cross, and at the North River was taken over in a flat canoe, the -horses swimming at the side. - -“The following day, having passed Smith Creek, a dangerous stream, I -came into a new road, full of roots and bad from the rain besides. The -wheels of the calesche, which had already been many times repaired, -broke into a hundred pieces, and at the first smithy I determined to -abandon the vehicle and continue the journey on horseback. Beyond the -Shenadore, which we crossed in a canoe, the horses swimming behind, -we fell into a marshy and rocky road, which leads over Mill Creek -and Stony Creek. Keeping on, through a country of many delightful -prospects, between the Blue and the Alleghany Mountains, we passed -through Millerstown, the county seat of the county of Shenadore, -Stowerstown, Newtown, and arrived at Winchester. - -“Winchester, for commerce, is one of the most important towns of -Virginia. The number of the houses is about 200. The traffic is in -wheat, flour and hemp, sold at Baltimore and Philadelphia, whence -European manufactures are brought and expedited further beyond the -mountains. The water at Winchester--limestone--has a strong effect on -first being used. The 18th of June I left Winchester and spent that -night at Weathers-don-Marsh, called also Charletown, and from there, -on the following day, passed the Blue Ridge for the second time at -Harper’s Ferry.” - - - - -_VII._ - -_DR. COKE IN VIRGINIA._ - -_1785-1791._ - - _Dr. Thomas Coke--The Eastern Shore--Alexandria--Swollen - Creeks--The Pies of Mecklenburg--A Retired Dancing-Master--Halifax - County--Following the Spring--Petersburg--Dan River - Landscapes--Richmond--Port Royal._ - - -It would be an interesting book that should give the history of -missions in this country. That godly man, Nicholas Ferrar, who was -so active in the affairs of the London Company; the good minister -of Jamestown, who came with the first supply; the pastors of the -congregations that settled in Massachusetts; the Jesuit fathers; the -emissaries of the Society of Friends; the Presbyterians from the north -of Ireland and from Scotland; Whitefield, Asbury, Coke--how large was -the share of these men in the making of America. Among them, Dr. Thomas -Coke was not the least. He was nine times in this country and covered -a great part of it as then known, including the islands of the British -and several of the French Indies. - -Dr. Coke was born in 1747, and was graduated B. A. at Oxford in -1768. In 1775 he was made D. C. L., and had considerable prospects -of church preferment, but was reckoned a Methodist after 1776. His -bishop reproved him, but declined to remove him. His rector dismissed -him. Wesley employed him for a time to assist in answering his -voluminous correspondence. In 1782 he was the first president of the -Irish Conference, and held the office for the rest of his life, with -a few intermissions. In 1784 he drew up a plan for missions, and was -appointed superintendent, with episcopal functions, in America. That -year he came to this country and ordained Asbury, at Baltimore, as -deacon, elder and superintendent. Wesley was very indignant at the -change of the title superintendent to bishop, and the confirmation of -the change led in 1792 to the O’Kellyan schism. Dr. Coke possessed a -private fortune of £1,200 a year. He died in 1813 on a voyage to India. -His work in the field of missions was cosmopolitan, and to him more -than to any other the creation of the vast network of the Methodist -foreign missions is due. - -September, 1784, Dr. Coke sailed from King Road, Bristol, for New York. -In November he was on the Eastern Shore. Returning to Philadelphia -and Baltimore, he was at Alexandria March 9, 1785. This great man was -able to enjoy the country. He was born in Wales. But he does not seem -to have been skilled in the art of cross-country horsemanship in all -weathers. He writes (March 9th): “In my ride this morning to Alexandria -through the woods, I have had one of the most romantic scenes that ever -I beheld. Yesterday there was a very heavy fall of snow and hail and -sleet. The fall of sleet was so great that the trees seemed to be trees -of ice. So beautiful a sight of the kind I never saw before.” - -There was no one to pilot Dr. Coke from Alexandria, and his servant had -overstayed his time on a visit to the Eastern Shore. Between Alexandria -and Colchester there were two runs to be crossed, both greatly swollen -from the sudden thaw. “A friend who lives in Alexandria came with me -over the first run, and everybody informed me I could easily cross the -second if I crossed the first. When I came to the second (which was -perhaps two hours after I crossed the first) I found that I had two -streams to pass. The first I went over without much danger; but in -crossing the second, which was very strong and very deep, I did not -observe that a tree, brought down by the flood, lay across the landing -place. I endeavored, but in vain, to drive my horse against the stream -and go around the tree. I was afraid to turn my horse’s head to the -stream and afraid to go back. In this dilemma I thought it most prudent -for me to lay hold on the tree, and go over it, the water being shallow -on the other side. No sooner did I execute my purpose so far as to lay -hold of the tree (and that instant the horse was carried from under -me) but the motion that I gave it loosened it, and down the stream it -instantly carried me.” The tree, with passenger, lodged below at a -little island, and then there floated down another tree. The doctor, -besides being thoroughly wetted, was near losing his life. After more -than a hundred years the suggestion may be offered that the first tree -should never have been laid hold of. “I was now obliged to walk,” -continues Dr. Coke, “about a mile, shivering, before I came to a house. -The master and mistress were from home, and were not expected to return -that night. But the principal negro lent me an old ragged shirt, -coat, waistcoat, breeches, etc., and the negroes made a large fire and -hung my clothes up to dry all night.” Before bedtime the horse, having -got around the tree, was recovered and brought in by a neighbor, who -supposed the rider to be drowned. “As he seemed to be a poor man, I -gave him half a guinea. I trust I shall never forget so awful but very -instructive a scene.” - -After this March welcome to Virginia, Dr. Coke passed through the -State into North Carolina, and returned to Alexandria May 23d. He was -at Fredericksburg and Williamsburg (where inquiring for a Methodist -he was told there was one in the town, who proved to be “a good -old Presbyterian” and hospitable), at Smithfield and Portsmouth, -in Mecklenburg County, at New Glasgow, towards the mountains, and -in Culpeper County. These sojournings are specified. There was a -bad season in May that year, and near Alexandria the creeks were -again difficult at the crossings. It was observed on this, the first -tour, that in Mecklenburg County “they have a great variety of fruit -pies--peach, apple, pear and cranberry, and puddings--very often.” -About New Glasgow (on Buffalo River, just north of Amherst Courthouse) -Dr. Coke remarks: “The wolves, I find, frequently come to the fences -at night, howling in an awful manner; and sometimes they seize upon a -straying sheep. At a distance was the Blue Ridge, an amazing chain of -mountains. I prefer this country to any other part of America--it is -so like Wales, my native country. And it is far more populous than I -expected.” - -In April, 1787, Dr. Coke was a second time in Virginia, scarcely a -fortnight. He had come from England to the Island of Antigua, and -sailed from St. Eustatia in a large Dutch ship, February 10th, for -Charleston. “In the course of our journey through North Carolina I -preached at the house of a gentleman near Salisbury, who was formerly a -dancing-master, and has amassed a considerable fortune, with which he -has purchased a large estate. In traveling through Virginia our rides -were so long that we were frequently on horseback till midnight after -preaching in the middle of the day. Since I left Charleston I have got -into my old romantic way of life, of preaching in the midst of great -forests, with scores and sometimes hundreds of horses tied to the -trees, which adds much solemnity to the scene. - -“In the course of my journey through this State I visited the county -of Halifax, where I met with a little persecution on my former visit. -I am now informed that soon after I left the county on my former tour -a bill was presented against me as a seditious person before the grand -jury, and was found by the jury, and ninety persons had engaged to -pursue me and bring me back again. Another bill was also presented -in one of the neighboring counties, but was thrown out. Many of the -people, I find, imagined that I would not venture amongst them again. -However, when I came they all received me with perfect peace and -quietness. Indeed, I now acknowledge that however just my sentiments -may be concerning slavery, it was ill-judged of me to deliver them from -the pulpit. Many of the inhabitants at Richmond, I was informed, said -that I would not dare to venture into that town. But they did not -know me, for I am a plain, blunt man, that goes directly on. However, -instead of opposition, the Governor of the State, who resides there, -ordered the Capitol to be opened to me, and a very respectable and very -attentive congregation I was favored with.” On the way from Richmond to -Alexandria there was a plot laid for Dr. Coke by a company of agreeable -men at one of the inns. “In the first dish of tea there was a little -rum; in the second a little more, but the third was so strong that on -our complaining of a conspiracy, it seemed as if the rum had sprung -into our tea of itself, for both company and waiters solemnly protested -they were innocent. On the last day of April Mr. Asbury and I arrived -at Baltimore.” - -The following year, 1788 (the Atlantic seems to have been but a ferry -even then), Dr. Coke was in Virginia again for a few days, coming, as -in 1787, from the West Indies by Charleston. “In traveling from North -Carolina to Virginia we were favored with one of the most beautiful -prospects I ever beheld. The country, as far as we could see from the -top of a hill, was ornamented with a great number of peach orchards, -the peach trees being all in full bloom, and displaying a diversity of -most beautiful colors--blue, purple and violet. On the opposite side -of a beautiful vale which lay at the foot of a hill, ran the River -Yeadkin, reflecting the rays of the sun from its broad, placid stream; -and the mountains which bounded the view formed a very fine background -for the completing of the prospect. The two days following we rode on -the ridge of a long hill, with a large vale on each side, and mountains -rising above mountains for twenty, and sometimes, I suppose, for -forty miles on each hand. In Halifax County, Virginia, where I met -with much persecution four years ago, almost all the great people of -the county came in their chariots and other carriages to hear me, and -behaved with great propriety: there were not less than five colonels -in the congregation. On the 18th of April we opened our first Virginia -Conference for the State of Virginia in the town of Petersburgh. From -Petersburgh we set off for our second Virginia Conference, which we -held in the town of Leesburgh, visiting Richmond by the way.” - -Dr. Coke’s fourth and last journey in Virginia (the last, that is, -recorded in his book, published 1793) was again in April, year 1791. As -in 1787 and 1788, the approach was from the south. “On Monday, the 11th -of April, we arrived at Dickes’s Ferry, in Virginia. Our ride on that -day was remarkably pleasing. The variety arising from the intermixture -of woods and plantations along the sides of the broad, rocky river Dan, -near which we rode most part of the time, could not but be a source of -great pleasure to an admirer of the beauties of nature. Hitherto (April -15th) I might be said to have traveled with the spring. As I moved from -South to North the spring was, I think, as far advanced when I was in -Georgia as when I came into Virginia. But now it has evidently got the -start of me. The oaks have spread out their leaves, and the dogwood, -whose bark is very medicinal, and whose innumerable white flowers form -one of the finest ornaments of the forest, is in full bloom. The deep -green of the pines, the bright transparent green of the oaks, and the -fine white of the flowers of the dogwood, with other trees and shrubs, -form such a complication of beauties as are indescribable to those who -have only lived in countries that are almost entirely cultivated. - -“For about 800 miles which I have rode since I landed in South -Carolina, we have had hardly any rain. But this day, the 16th, we -were wetted to the skin. However, we at last happily found our way to -the house of a friend by the preachers’ mark--the split bush.” This -circumstance may appear to many immaterial; however, as it may convey -some idea of the mode in which the preachers are obliged to travel in -this country, I will just enlarge upon it. The method was to split two -or three bushes, at the junction of several roads, along the road that -should be followed; very useful to the itinerant at the formation of -new circuits in the forest. Dr. Coke observes: “In one of the circuits -the wicked discovered the secret, and split bushes in wrong places on -purpose to deceive the preachers.” - -The character of this great man appears in his book, written without -artifice. The people were glad to see him. “On the 20th of April -we opened our conference at Petersburgh. April 24th I preached in -Richmond, in the Capitol where the Assembly sits, to the most dressy -congregation I ever saw in America. However, they gave great attention. -In the afternoon I rode to Colonel Clayton’s, about twenty-five miles -from Richmond. April 20th I came among the cedar trees. This evening we -arrived at Port Royal, where a numerous and very dressy congregation -had been waiting for us about two hours with wonderful patience. A -gentleman of the name of Hipkins, a capital merchant of the town, sent -us a genteel invitation to sup with him, and lodge at his house. I -accepted of it. Soon after I came in he observed that the Philadelphia -paper had informed the public of the death of Mr. Wesley.[J] I gave no -credit to the account, but, however, intreated the favour of seeing the -paper. He sent immediately to a neighboring merchant who took in that -paper, and about 10 o’clock the melancholy record arrived. I evidently -saw by the account that it was too true. - -“The next morning I set off for New York, in order to be in time for -the British packet. At Alexandria the news was confirmed by a letter -from London. On the 29th I crossed the run of water called Akatenke, -down which I was carried by the flood. We were now come into a country -abounding with singing birds. But alas! I could take no pleasure -in them, the death of my venerable friend had cast such a shade of -melancholy over my heart. The night being very dark, it was with great -difficulty that my friend, who traveled with me, and myself found our -way from Alexandria to Blaidensburg.” - - - - -_VIII._ - -_A SUMMER AT BATH._ - -_1791._ - - _Captain Bayard, of the Artillery--From Baltimore to - Bath--Bath described--Tea at Bath--Irish Comedians--Valley - Lands--Winchester--Colonel P.--The Sabbath in America--Land - Merchants._ - - -In the year VI (1798) there was published at Paris a book written by -a retired captain of artillery, Ferdinand Marie Bayard, described on -the title page, “A Journey Into the Interior of the United States, to -Bath, Winchester, the Shenandoah Valley, etc., etc., During the Summer -of 1791.” It is strange that this book has not been translated. It is -interesting as a sort of sentimental journey of a very intelligent -man (member of the Society of Sciences Letters and Arts at Paris), -who visited a spot not often mentioned by the early traveler in this -country. Captain Bayard was born at Moulins la Marche in 1768, and was -living in 1836. He was in his twenty-third year the summer of 1791. -He had already retired from the army and become a traveler in various -parts of the world. - -Captain Bayard seems to have landed at Baltimore, with his wife and -small boy. He remarks, “The months of June, July and August are bad -for children if kept in town in this country. Bath, situated 120 -miles from Baltimore, and near the Valley of the Shenandoah, offered a -stopping place in the country and a point of departure from which to -visit that fertile region, where, beneath skies almost always serene, -the inhabitants cultivate a generous soil, which rewards liberally the -slightest efforts of human industry. I wished to see this promised -land, from the bosom of which an innumerable population is beginning -to arise, prosperous and content, and already passing the limits of -the Valley to occupy the vast spaces beyond. Besides, before returning -home, I desired to gain a knowledge of the American people, and this -I could better compass in the country than in the towns. For the trip -I hired a carriage at Baltimore, at 41 francs the passenger, baggage -included. The owner was the driver, and a very skilful one, as we -learned on the road, which is often abominable and extremely dangerous. - -“Four miles south of the Potomac [by way of Ellicott’s Lower -Mill, Ellicott’s Upper Mill, the Red House, the Monocacy River, -Fredericktown, and Middletown] we arrived at Bath, in Virginia. The -town is situated in a triangular and very narrow gorge. The mountain to -the west is high and steep, and in the month of March snow and earth -become loosened from the declivity and descend in avalanches. The -houses built next to this dangerous mountain are protected by heavy -palisades. Several people, having neglected the precaution, have had -their houses engulfed. The residents boast of the climate--the winter -not too cold, and the heat of summer moderate. Bath has two public -buildings--the theatre and the bathhouse. The first is a log edifice, -and the second a framed barrack, partitioned into eight cells, in each -of which there are steps arranged for the convenience of the bathers. -The spring is hard by. The water is dispensed in a goblet by the man in -charge. The water is clear, lukewarm, and insipid, but very efficacious. - -“I have seen many come to Bath fearfully rheumatic, who had to be -carried to the spring at first, and in three weeks were able to walk -with a crutch. Bath was formerly called Warm Springs. The name was -changed in deference to the English resort. This imitative mania is -a bad symptom, and augurs ill for that nation, whose name is dear to -lovers of liberty everywhere. At Bath the young women ride about a -great deal, and are excellent horsewomen. It is to be remarked that -their physiognomy is distinct among American women. During the fall, -boats come up the river from Alexandria and Georgetown, and return -laden with grain. After that season there is no more traffic by water -until the spring, and if any one has neglected to provide himself he -must make a trip to Winchester for supplies, thirty-nine miles off. The -inhabitants of this region are very fond of the English boxing match. -Generally a bruiser (breaker of bones) is in charge of these combats, -who sees to the strict carrying out of all the regulations. - -“At our boarding house (excellent fare) there were about forty people, -among them two Virginians--Madame B. and Madame A.--who spoke French -tolerably well. Madame B. had read the works of Swedenborg, and -entertained us with descriptions drawn from those mystical books. There -were several very pious people at our boarding house, one of whom had -a theory that eating was not to satisfy the appetite. I noticed that he -ate a great deal. At Bath it is the custom to drink tea at 5 o’clock. -Everything is very ceremonious. At the right of the lady dispensing tea -are ranged in a half circle all the other ladies. A profound silence -follows the entrance of each invited guest; all the ladies as grave -as judges on the bench. A small acajou table is placed before the -dispenser of tea. Silver pots contain the coffee and the hot water, -which serves to weaken the tea or to receive the cups. A domestic -brings on a silver waiter the cup, the sugar dish, the cream pot, the -butter balls, the thin slices of ham. A Frenchman is embarrassed at -the necessity of watching his cup and saucer in one hand, and with the -other receiving a tart or a slice of very thin ham. - -“In sending back the cup the spoon must be placed in a manner to -indicate whether you will begin again, or have finished drinking. A -Frenchman on one occasion, unfamiliar with English and ignorant of this -polite sign language, was overcome at seeing the sixteenth cup arrive, -which, having emptied, he hit upon the device of stowing it in his -pocket, dreading a seventeenth. The tea dispensed and consumed, there -are songs. Mademoiselle L. was the accomplished artist at Bath. Her -favorite song was one of a certain Patrick, who, absent, was still to -be remembered. - -“We had at Bath a troupe of Irish comedians, alternately emperors, -shepherds, clowns, and no doubt very badly fed. The young man who -played the lover found great difficulty in pronouncing his consonants. -A tall, thin man played the tragic role of enamored prince. A blonde -soubrette was solemnly coquettish. The others of the troupe are -scarcely to be recalled. We had tragedy, comedy, comic opera, and -farce. Every week there was a dance. Billiards was an amusement, and -there was play at the taverns, particularly after the arrival of a -gentleman who kept a Pharaoh bank. He was treated with great courtesy, -and I heard nothing said against his probity. Nevertheless, it happens -that the planter who arrives at Bath with equipage and attendants goes -home with nothing but a horse, and a very mean horse. - -“I hired a horse to go to Winchester. For more than half of the way -the country is wild. As you draw nearer the town in the Valley, many -well-stocked farms appear, the land being very fertile. On the slope -there range strong, long-wooled sheep, not afraid of wolves during the -summer. Such war is made upon the wolves that even in this heavily -timbered country there is little danger from them except when the -snow lies deep upon the ground. It is a magnificent country about -Winchester. The men are tall, well-made, of strong constitutions, and -ruddy. The horses and cattle have the eye and the gait of health. -I stopped at a tavern kept by a German, who has made a fortune in -the business. I was treated with consideration, for having lived at -Strasbourg and for having crossed the Rhine. At this tavern there is a -good cook, the meat is excellent, there is game and fresh-water fish; -the house is well furnished, wines of every country, good linen, good -beds, the rooms well lighted, and the whole at a reasonable price. The -day after I arrived there came to the tavern an old gentleman limping -from the gout. I mentioned Thomas Payne to him and the ‘Rights of -Man.’ He fixed me with his eye, out the air with his stick, and said -vehemently that he wished Thomas Payne was hanged. He left me, and at -the same time I got up, whistling the air of ‘Ca Ira.’ I learned the -cause of his behavior: he had held a lucrative office before the war, -and was an incurable Tory. - -“A Mr. Smith, who lives a mile from Winchester, asked me to dine. -I spent the time very agreeably there. From the liberality of his -opinions I was led to discuss the political situation of America with -considerable frankness. Mr. Smith and his brother-in-law accompanied me -back to Winchester, discoursing by the way of their fortunate lot, of -the progress of agriculture, and of the richness of the inexhaustible -soil, which yields an abundance to the inhabitants of this beautiful -Valley. - -“I had a letter of introduction to Colonel P., formerly aid de camp -to General Washington. Colonel P. lives some sixteen miles from -Winchester, greatly esteemed for his public and private virtues. On the -way to his house I passed through a country of abundant harvests, fat -pastures and well peopled; where there was forest the trees were of a -magnificent growth, and in the intervals a deep green turf invited the -traveler to repose. It was hot. I dismounted beneath a poplar tree, the -white flower of which offered its corolla to the bee and the humming -bird. The coolness of the place, the delicious perfumes exhaled by the -acacias, the ivy, and the flowers springing from the sod, all gave to -the senses that calm which is the precursor of sleep; but ideas of -the happiness prepared for generations to come in this land of peace -and plenty, thoughts of the future greatness of the American people, -supplied a reverie sweeter than that of dreams. - -“Not far from the house of Colonel P., I met a large man on horseback, -whose open countenance was an invitation to talk. He was dressed like -a farmer during the busy season. I asked him the way. He showed me -the road, and continued his path without adding a word to the precise -answer he had given me. Arrived at the house, I found the overseer -near the barn directing some negroes who were shelling corn. I had not -been long in the house, a structure of logs, and very comfortable, -when there entered the same man I had met in the road, none other than -Colonel P. himself. I presented my letter, which he quickly read, and -receiving me in the most friendly manner, offered me refreshments. -We talked of the war, and he sketched for me in brief its causes. At -dinner I drank old whiskey distilled on the place. The Colonel spoke -with pleasure of his farm operations: he makes everything at home. -He showed me the plan of his 1,000 acres, at the centre of which he -will build a large and commodious house. At the present time his -outbuildings are more carefully constructed than his mansion. I quitted -Colonel P. at sunset, much pleased with him, and grateful for his kind -attentions.[K] Shortly after, the moon appeared over the mountains to -the south, and cast a light over the valley. The whippoorwill commenced -its plaints, almost extinguished by the various song of the melodious -mocking-bird. The blacks were coming in from the fields singing behind -the slow horses fatigued with the day’s work. - -“The next day at Winchester I went to church, a frame building, and -hitched around it horses of price well caparisoned. The negroes sat in -the gallery, dressed in their Sunday clothes. Below were their masters -and mistresses, whose appearance proclaimed them alive to the sanctity -of the place and to the solemnity of the ceremony. - -“The minister, a Presbyterian, was the grandson of a Frenchman. Coming -back from church I observed that the doors of all the houses were -closed. They remained so throughout the day. Mrs. B. and her daughters -retired after dinner to read chapters of the Old and the New Testament. -Throughout the United States this is the manner of observing Sunday. - -“The Valley of the Shenandoah is a most prosperous and healthful -region. Tobacco, corn, flax and wheat are the principal crops. Twelve -miles from Winchester I could have bought land for 50 shillings the -acre, but nearer the town the price of cleared land is from three to -four pounds. Several Europeans who have settled hereabouts have not -succeeded well, and for the reason that they failed to discard European -customs. It should not be overlooked that the price of labor and that -of produce is in reverse proportion to what prevails in Europe. Here -labor is high and market values, net, are low. An especial error of -foreigners is the attempt to improve too fast. A Frenchman who has -bought 300 acres of land thinks he has a ‘property,’ and goes to work -on the grand scale. What with building and embellishments he is very -apt to go bankrupt. There are men in this region who have made fortunes -in land speculations. There is not a tavern at Winchester where land -merchants may not be found. They are as enthusiastic in their offers -as the women who sell toothpicks at the doors of Paris restaurants and -cafés. An especially pleasing feature of their preliminaries is that -they assure you their only motive is to make your fortune. I met one of -these merchants who desired to enrich me, _nolens volens_, by selling -me land at an excessively high price. - -“Winchester is destined to be a manufacturing town, and to a degree -incalculable as soon as communication with the Atlantic coast shall -have been established by means of the rivers or by canal. Already there -is a famous carriage works at Winchester; and boots, shoes, and saddles -are made there, which, for use and for style of workmanship, equal the -product of the older cities. - -“I set out from Winchester for Bath at 4 o’clock in the morning, in -order to be on the mountain before the sun was too high. A light -fog covered the Valley, resembling transparent gauze, through which -appeared the tops of trees, houses and cabins, the cabin chimneys -already smoking. I observed that the squirrels were early awake. Coming -to Bath, I found the great subject of talk was a duel lately fought and -announced in the _Gazette_.” - - - - -_IX._ - -_ISAAC WELD._ - -_1796._ - - _Hoe’s Ferry--Freshwater Oysters--Vicissitudes of Ferriage--By-Ways - and Hospitality--The Northern Neck--Tappahannock--A Forest - Fire--From Urbanna to Gloucester--Norfolk--Richmond--The - Mocking-Bird--Frogs--Columbia--The Green Springs--The Southwest - Mountain--Monticello--Lynchburgh--New London--Botetourt County--The - Lower Valley--Lexington, Staunton, Winchester._ - - -1. - -The following are the observations of young Isaac Weld, of Dublin. -He was on his way from Philadelphia, and stopped at the Falls of the -Potomac: - -“From hence I followed the course of the river downwards as far as -George Town, where I again crossed it, and after passing through the -Federal city, proceeded along the Maryland shore of the river to -Piscatoway, and afterwards to Port Tobacco. In the neighborhood of -Piscatoway there are several very fine views of the Virginian shore; -Mount Vernon in particular appears to great advantage. From Port -Tobacco to Hoe’s Ferry on the Potowmac River, the country is flat and -sandy and wears a most dreary aspect. Nothing is to be seen here for -miles together but extensive plains that have been worn out by the -culture of tobacco, overgrown with yellow sedge and interspersed with -groves of pine and cedar trees, the dark green colour of which forms a -curious contrast with the yellow of the sedge. In the midst of these -plains are the remains of several good houses. - -“Such a number of roads in different directions cross over these -flats, upon none of which is there anything like a direction post, and -the face of a human being is so rarely met with that it is scarcely -possible for a traveler to find out the direct way at once. Instead -of twelve miles, the distance by the straight road from Port Tobacco -to the ferry, my horse had certainly traveled twice the number before -we got there. After having waited for two hours and a half for my -breakfast, the most I could procure was two eggs, a pint of milk and a -bit of cake bread, scarcely as big as my hand. - -“After having got into the ferry-boat the man of the house, as if -conscious that he had given me very bad fare, told me that there was a -bank of oysters in the river, close to which it was necessary to pass, -and that if I chose to stop the men would procure abundance of them for -me. The curiosity of getting oysters in fresh water tempted me to stop, -and the men got near a bushel of them in a very few minutes. These -oysters are extremely good when cooked, but very disagreeable eaten -raw; indeed all the oysters found in America are, in the opinion of -most Europeans, very indifferent and tasteless when raw. The Americans, -on their part, find still greater fault with our oysters, which, they -say, are not fit to be eaten in any shape, because they taste of -copper. - -“The river at the ferry is about three miles wide, and with particular -winds the waves rise very high; in these cases they always tie the -horses, for fear of accidents, before they set out; indeed with the -small open boats which they make use of it is what ought always to be -done, for in this country gusts of wind rise suddenly. Having omitted -this precaution, the boat was on the point of being overset two or -three different times as I crossed over. On the Virginian shore, -opposite to the ferry house from whence I sailed, there are several -large creeks, which fall into the Potowmac. As I wished to go beyond -these creeks I therefore hired the boatman to carry me ten miles down -the Potowmac River in the ferry-boat, past the mouths of them all; this -he accordingly did, and in the afternoon I landed on the beach, not a -little pleased at finding that I had reached the shore without having -been under the necessity of swimming any part of the way. - -“The part of the country where I landed appeared to be a perfect -wilderness. Taking a road, however, as nearly as I could guess, in a -direct line from the river up the country, at the end of an hour I came -upon a narrow road, which led to a large old brick house, somewhat -similar to those I had met with on the Maryland shore. On inquiring -here from two blacks for a tavern, I was told there was no such thing -in this part of the country. In the course of five or six miles I saw -several more of the same sort of old brick houses, and the evening -now drawing toward a close, I began to feel the necessity of going -to some one of them. I was considering within myself which house I -should visit, when a lively old negro, mounted on a little horse, came -galloping after me. On applying to him for information on the subject, -he took great pains to assure me that I should be well received at any -of the houses I might stop at, and strongly recommended me to proceed -under his guidance to his master’s house, which was but a mile farther -on. - -“‘Masser will be so glad to see you,’ added he; ‘nothing can be like.’ - -“I accordingly took the negro’s advice and rode to the dwelling of his -master, made him acquainted with my situation, and begged I might be -allowed to put my horse in his stable for the night. The reception, -however, which this gentleman gave me differed so materially from what -I had been led to expect, that I was happy at hearing from him that -there was a good tavern at the distance of two miles. I apologized for -the liberty I had taken, and made the best of my way to it. Instead of -two miles, however, this tavern proved to be about three times as far -off. The next day I arrived at Stratford, the residence of a gentleman, -who, when at Philadelphia, had invited me to pass some time with him -whenever I visited Virginia. Some of the neighbouring gentlemen dined -here together, and having related to them my adventures on arriving in -Virginia, the whole company expressed the greatest astonishment. Every -one seemed eager to know the name of the person who had given me such a -reception, and begged me to tell it. I did so, and the Virginians were -satisfied, for the person was a Scotsman, and had, it seems, removed -but a short time before from some town or other to the plantation on -which I found him. - -“This part of Virginia is called the Northern Neck, and is remarkable -for having been the birthplace of many of the principal characters -which distinguished themselves in America, during the war, by their -great talents. - -“Though many of the houses in the Northern Neck are built of brick and -stone, in the style of the old English manor houses, yet the greater -number there and throughout Virginia are of wood, amongst which are -all those that have been built of late years. This is chiefly owing -to a prevailing, though absurd, opinion, that wooden houses are the -healthiest, because the inside walls never appear damp. Tobacco is -not near so much cultivated now as it was formerly, the great demand -for wheat having induced most of the planters to raise that grain -in preference. Those who raise tobacco and Indian corn are called -planters, and those who cultivate small grain, farmers. - -“Towards the end of April I crossed the Rappahannock River, which -bounds the Northern Neck on one side, to a small town called -Tappahannock, or Hobb’s Hole, containing about 100 houses. Before the -war this town was in a much more flourishing state than at present; -that unfortunate contest ruined the trade of this little place, as it -did that of most of the seaport towns in Virginia. The Rappahannock is -about three-quarters of a mile wide opposite the town. Sharks are very -often seen in this river. What is very remarkable, the fish are all -found on the side of the river next to the town. - -“As I passed through this part of the country, from Tappahannock to -Urbanna, I observed many traces of fires in the woods, which are -frequent, it seems in the spring of the year. I was a witness myself to -one of these fires, that happened in the Northern Neck. - -“The day had been remarkably serene; in the afternoon, however, it -became sultry, and streams of hot air were perceptible now and then, -the usual tokens of a gust. About 5 o’clock the horizon towards the -north became dark, and a terrible whirlwind arose. I was standing with -some gentlemen on an eminence at the time, and perceived it gradually -advancing. As it came along it leveled the fence rails, and unroofed -the sheds for the cattle. We made every endeavor, but in vain, to get -to a place of shelter; in the course of two minutes the whirlwind -overtook us; the shock was violent; it was hardly possible to stand, -and difficult to breathe. The whirlwind passed over in about three -minutes, but a storm, accompanied by heavy thunder and lightning, -succeeded. On looking round immediately after the whirlwind had -passed a prodigious column of fire now appeared in a part of the wood -where some brushwood had been burning; in many places the flames rose -considerably above the summit of the trees, which were of a large -growth. It was a tremendous, and at the same time sublime sight. The -negroes in the surrounding plantations were all assembled with their -hoes, and watches were stationed at every corner to give the alarm if -the fire appeared elsewhere. - -“The country between Urbanna and Gloucester is neither so flat nor so -sandy as that bordering upon the Rappahannock. The trees, chiefly -pines, are of very large size, and afford abundance of turpentine, -which is extracted from them in large quantities by the inhabitants, -principally, however, for home consumption. Gloucester contains only -ten or twelve houses. There are remains here of one or two redoubts -thrown up during the war. The town of York consists of about seventy -houses, an Episcopalian church, and a gaol. Great quantities of tobacco -were formerly inspected here; very little, however, is now raised in -the neighborhood. The little that is sent for inspection is reckoned -to be of the very best quality, and is all engaged for the London -market. In the town the houses bear evident marks of the siege; and -the inhabitants will not, on any account, suffer the holes perforated -by the cannon balls to be repaired on the outside. Till within a year -or two the broken shells themselves remained; but the New England men -that traded to York, finding they would sell well as old iron, dug -them up and carried them away in their ships. Twelve miles from York, -to the westward, stands Williamsburg. The town consists of about 1,200 -inhabitants, and the society in it is thought to be more extensive and -more genteel at the same time than what is to be met with in any other -place of its size in America. No manufactures are carried on here, and -scarcely any trade. - -“From Williamsburgh to Hampton the country is flat and uninteresting. -From this town there is a regular ferry to Norfolk, across Hampton -Roads, eighteen miles over. Norfolk would be a place of much greater -trade than it is at present were it not for the impolicy of some laws -which have existed in the State of Virginia. One of these laws, so -injurious to commerce, was passed during the war. It was enacted that -all merchants and planters in Virginia, who owed money to British -merchants, should be exonerated from their debts if they paid the money -due into the public treasury instead of sending it to Great Britain. -The treasury at first did not become much richer in consequence of -this law. However, when the continental paper money became so much -depreciated many of the people began to look upon the measure in a -different point of view. In vain did the British merchant sue for his -money when hostilities were terminated; he could obtain no redress. - -“Another law, baneful in the highest degree to the trading interest, -is one which renders all landed property inviolable. Owing to this law -they have not yet been enabled to get a bank established at Norfolk. -Repeated attempts have been made in the State Assembly to get this -last mentioned law repealed, but they have all proved ineffectual. The -debates have been very warm on the business. - -“The houses in Norfolk are about 500 in number. These have all been -erected since the year 1776, when the town was totally destroyed by -fire. The losses suffered on that occasion were estimated at £300,000. -Amongst the inhabitants are great numbers of Scotch and French. The -latter are almost entirely from the West Indies, and principally from -St. Domingo. - -“Not a bit of fodder was to be had on the whole road from Norfolk to -Richmond, excepting at two places. Oats were not to be had on any -terms. Great crowds were assembled at Petersburgh, as I passed through, -attracted to it by the horse races, which take place four or five -times in the year. The only particular circumstance in their mode of -carrying on their races in Virginia is that they always run to the left. - -“Richmond is situated immediately below the falls of James River, -on the north side. The river opposite to the town is crossed by the -means of two bridges, which are separated by an island. The bridge, -leading from the south shore to the island, is built upon fifteen large -flat-bottomed boats, kept stationary in the river by strong chains and -anchors. The bows of them, which are very sharp, are put against the -stream, and fore and aft there is a strong beam, upon which the piers -of the bridge rest. The bridges thrown across this river, opposite the -town, have repeatedly been carried away; it is thought idle, therefore, -to go to the expense of a better one. The strongest stone bridge could -hardly resist the bodies of ice that are hurried down the falls by the -floods on the breaking up of a severe winter. - -“Though the houses in Richmond are not more than 700 in number, yet -they extend nearly one mile and a half along the banks of the river. -The lower part of the town is built close to the water, and opposite to -it lies the shipping. This is connected with the upper town by a long -street, which runs parallel to the course of the river, about fifty -yards removed from the banks. The situation of the upper town is very -pleasing; it stands on an elevated spot, and commands a fine prospect -of the falls of the river and of the adjacent country on the opposite -side. The best houses stand here, and also the Capitol, or State house. -From the opposite side of the river this building appears extremely -well. - -“A canal is completed at the north side of the falls, which renders -the navigation complete from Richmond to the Blue Mountains, and at -particular times of the year boats with light burthens can proceed -still higher up. In the river, opposite the town, are no more than -seven feet of water, but ten miles lower down about twelve feet. Most -of the vessels trading to Richmond unload the greatest part of their -cargoes at this place into river craft, and then proceed up to the -town. Trade is carried on here chiefly by foreigners.” - - -2. - -Isaac Weld, who spent about two years in this country, from 1795 to -1797, returned to Ireland “without entertaining the slightest wish to -revisit the American continent.” During his visit he saw a great deal, -wrote a very good book after going home (an extraordinary book as the -work of a very young man), and it is a matter of congratulation that he -came. Weld was a little past twenty-one when he landed at Philadelphia. -He was born in Dublin, of influential family connections, and had the -advantage in his youth of an acquaintance with the Martineaus, those -exceptionally intelligent people. Isaac Weld died in 1856. He had been -for years vice-president of the Royal Dublin Society, and was famous as -a topographer. Some account has already been given of his tour through -the Northern Neck to Richmond. The observations continue: - -“Having stayed at Richmond somewhat longer than a week, which I found -absolutely necessary, if it had only been to recruit the strength -of my horses, I proceeded in a north-westerly direction towards the -Southwest or Green Mountains. - -“The first week in May had arrived; the trees had obtained a -considerable part of their foliage, and the air in the woods was -perfumed with the fragrant smell of numberless flowers and flowering -shrubs. The music of the birds was also delightful. It is thought that -in Virginia the singing birds are finer than what are to be met with on -any other part of the continent, as the climate is more congenial to -them. The notes of the mocking-bird, or Virginian nightingale, are in -particular most melodious. It is a remark, however, made by Catesby, -and which appears to be a very just one, that the birds in America are -much inferior to those in Europe in the melody of their notes, but -that they are superior in point of plumage. I know of no American bird -that has the rich, mellow note of our blackbird, the sprightly note of -the skylark, or the sweet and plaintive one of the nightingale. After -having listened to the mocking-bird, there is no novelty in hearing the -song of any other bird in the country; and indeed, their songs are, for -the most part, but very simple in themselves, though combined they are -pleasing. - -“The frogs in America, it must here be observed, make a most singular -noise, some of them absolutely whistling, whilst others croak so loudly -that it is difficult at times to tell whether the sound proceeds from a -calf or a frog; I have more than once been deceived by the noise when -walking in a meadow. These last frogs are called bullfrogs; they mostly -keep in pairs, and are never found but where there is good water; -their bodies are from four to seven inches long, and their legs are in -proportion; they are extremely active, and take prodigious leaps. - -“The first town I reached on going towards the mountains was Columbia, -or Point of Fork, as it is called in the neighborhood. It is situated -about sixty miles above Richmond, at the confluence of Rivanna and -Fluvanna Rivers, which united form James River. This is a flourishing -little place, containing about forty houses, and a warehouse for the -inspection of tobacco. On the neck of land between the two rivers, just -opposite to the town, is the magazine of the State, in which are kept -12,000 stand of arms, and about thirty tons of powder. The low lands -bordering upon the river in this neighborhood are extremely valuable. - -“From Columbia to the Green Springs, about twenty miles farther on, -the road runs almost wholly through a pine forest, and is very lonely. -Night came on before I got to the end of it, and, as very commonly -happens with travelers in this part of the world, I soon lost my way. -A light, seen through the trees, seemed to indicate that a house was -not far off. My servant eagerly rode up to it, but the poor fellow’s -consternation was great indeed when he observed it moving from him, -presently coming back, and then with swiftness departing again into the -woods. I was at a loss for a time myself to account for the appearance. -I found it proceeded from the firefly. As the summer came on these -flies appeared every night. After a light shower in the afternoon I -have seen the woods sparkling with them in every quarter. - -“After wandering about till it was near 11 o’clock, a plantation at -last appeared, and having got fresh information respecting the road -from the negroes in the quarter, who generally sit up half the night, -and over a fire in all seasons, I again set out for the Green Springs. -With some difficulty I at last found the way, and arrived there about -midnight. The hour was so unseasonable that the people at the tavern -were very unwilling to open their doors. Besides the tavern and the -quarters of the slaves, there is but one more building at this place. -This is a large farmhouse, where people that resort to the springs are -accommodated with lodgings about as good as those at the tavern. The -springs are just on the margin of the wood at the bottom of a slope -which begins at the houses, and are covered with a few boards merely -to keep the leaves from falling in. The waters are chalybeate, and are -drank chiefly by persons from the low country, whose constitutions have -been relaxed by the heats of summer. - -“Having breakfasted in the morning at this place, I proceeded on my -journey up the Southwest Mountain. In the course of the day’s ride I -observed a great number of snakes, which were now beginning to come -forth from their holes. I killed a black one that I found sleeping, -stretched across the road; it was five feet in length. The black snake -is more commonly met with than any other in this part of America. It is -wonderfully fond of milk, and is frequently found in the dairies, which -in Virginia are for the most part in low situations like cellars. - -“The Southwest Mountains run nearly parallel to the Blue Ridge, and -are the first which you come to on going up the country from the sea -coast in Virginia. The soil here changes to a deep argilaceous earth, -particularly well suited to the culture of small grain and clover, and -produces abundant crops. As this earth, however, does not absorb the -water very quickly the farmer is exposed to great losses from heavy -falls of rain. On the sides of the mountain, where the ground has been -worn out with the culture of tobacco, and the water has been suffered -to run in the same channel for a length of time, it is surprising to -see the depth of the ravines, or gullies, as they are called. However, -the country in the neighborhood of these mountains is far more populous -than that which lies towards Richmond; and there are many persons that -even consider it to be the garden of the United States. The salubrity -of the climate is equal also to that of any part of the United States; -and the inhabitants have in consequence a healthy, ruddy appearance. -The people appeared to me to be of a more frank and open disposition, -more inclined to hospitality, and to live more contentedly on what they -possessed than the people of the same class in any other part of the -United States I passed through. - -“Along these mountains live several gentlemen of large landed property, -who farm their own estates, as in the lower parts of Virginia; among -the number is Mr. Jefferson. His house is at present in an unfinished -state, but if carried on according to the plan laid down, it will be -one of the most elegant private habitations on the United States. -Several attempts have been made in this neighborhood to bring the -manufacture of wine to perfection; none of them, however, have -succeeded to the wish of the parties. A set of gentlemen once went to -the expense even of getting six Italians over for the purpose. We must -not, however, conclude that good wine can never be manufactured upon -these mountains. It will require some time, and different experiments, -to ascertain the particular kind of wine, and the mode of cultivating -it best adapted to the soil of these mountains. - -“Having crossed the Southwest Mountains I passed along to Lynchburgh, a -town situated on the south side of Fluvanna River. This town contains -about 100 houses, and a warehouse for the inspection of tobacco, -where about 2,000 hogsheads are annually inspected. It has been built -entirely within the last fifteen years, and is rapidly increasing, from -its advantageous situation for carrying on trade with the adjacent -country. The boats, in which the produce is conveyed down the river, -are from forty-eight to fifty-four feet long, but very narrow in -proportion to their length. Three men are sufficient to navigate one of -these boats, and they can go to Richmond and back again in ten days. -They fall down with the stream, but work their way back again with -poles. The cargo carried in these boats is always proportioned to the -depth of water in the river, which varies very much. Along the banks I -observed great quantities of weeds hanging upon the trees considerably -above my head, though on horseback. A few miles from Lynchburgh, -towards the Blue Mountains, is a small town called New London, in which -there is a magazine and also an armory, erected during the war. About -fifteen men were here employed, as I passed through, repairing old arms -and furbishing up others. At one end of the room lay the musquets, to -the amount of about 5,000, all together in a large heap, and at the -opposite end lay a pile of leathern accoutrements, absolutely rotting -for want of common attention. All the armories throughout the United -States are kept much in the same style. - -“Between this place and the Blue Mountains the country is rough and -hilly, and but very thinly inhabited. The few inhabitants, however, -met with here are uncommonly robust and tall; it is rare to see a man -amongst them who is not six feet high. These people entertain a high -opinion of their own superiority in point of bodily strength over the -inhabitants of the low country. A similar race of men is found all -along the Blue Mountains. - -“Beyond the Blue Ridge, after crossing by this route near the Peaks -of Otter, I met with but very few settlements till I drew near to -Fincastle, in Bottetourt County. This town was only begun about the -year 1790, yet it already contains sixty houses, and is most rapidly -increasing. The improvement of the adjacent country has likewise -been very rapid, and land now bears nearly the same price that it -does in the neighborhood of York and Lancaster, in Pennsylvania. The -inhabitants consist principally of Germans, who have extended their -settlements from Pennsylvania along the whole of that rich tract of -land which runs through the upper part of Maryland, and from thence -behind the Blue Mountains to the most southern part of Virginia. They -have many times, I am told, crossed the Blue Ridge to examine the land, -but the red soil which they found there was different from what they -had been accustomed to. - -“The difference indeed between the country on the eastern and on the -western side of the Blue Ridge, in Bottetourt County, is astonishing, -when it is considered that both are under the same latitude, and that -this difference is perceptible within the short distance of thirty -miles. On the eastern side of the Ridge, cotton grows extremely -well; and in winter snow scarcely ever remains upon the ground more -than a day or two at a time. On the other side cotton never comes to -perfection, and in every farmyard you see sleighs or sledges. On the -eastern side of the Blue Ridge, in Virginia, not one of these carriages -is to be met with. - -“Another circumstance may also be mentioned (besides the contrast in -the soils) as making a material difference between the country on one -side of the Blue Ridge and that on the other, namely, that behind the -mountains the weevil is unknown. In the lower parts of Virginia, and -the other states where the weevil is common, they always thresh out -the grain as soon as the crops are brought in, and leave it in the -chaff, which creates a degree of heat sufficient to destroy the insect. -According to the general opinion, the weevil originated on the eastern -shore of Maryland, where a person, in expectation of a great rise in -the price of wheat, kept over all his crops for the space of six years, -when they were found full of these insects. For a considerable time the -Potowmac River formed a barrier to their progress. The Blue Mountains -at present serve as a barrier, and secure the country to the westward -from their depredations. - -“Bottetourt County is entirely surrounded by mountains. The climate -is particularly agreeable. It appears to me that there is no part of -America where the climate would be more congenial to the constitution -of a native of Great Britain or Ireland. In the western part of the -county are several medicinal springs, whereto numbers of people resort -towards the latter end of summer. Those most frequented are called -the Sweet Springs. A set of gentlemen from South Carolina have, I -understand, since I was there, purchased the place and are going to -erect several commodious dwellings in the neighborhood. - -“The country immediately behind the Blue Mountains, between Bottetourt -County and the Potowmack River, is agreeably diversified with hill -and dale, and abounds with extensive tracts of rich land. The natural -herbage is not so fine here as in Bottetourt County, but when clover -is once sown it grows most luxuriously; wheat also is produced in as -plentiful crops as in any part of the United States. Tobacco is not -raised excepting for private use, and but little Indian corn is sown, -as it is liable to be injured by the nightly frosts, which are common -in the spring. The whole of this country to the west of the mountains -is increasing most rapidly in population. In the neighborhood of -Winchester it is so thickly settled that wood is now beginning to be -thought valuable. - -“As I passed along the road from Fincastle to the Potowmack, which is -the high road from the Northern States to Kentucky, I met with great -numbers of people from Kentucky and the new State of Tennessee going -towards Philadelphia and Baltimore, and with many others going in a -contrary direction ‘to explore,’ as they call it, that is to search -for lands conveniently situated for new settlements in the western -country. These people all travel on horseback, with pistols or swords, -and a large blanket folded up under their saddle. There are now houses -scattered along nearly the whole way from Fincastle to Lexington, in -Kentucky. It would be still dangerous for any person to venture singly; -but if five or six travel together they are perfectly secure. Formerly -travelers were always obliged to go forty or fifty in a party. - -“The first town you come to, going northward from Bottetourt County, -is Lexington, a neat little place that did contain about 100 houses, -a courthouse and gaol, but the greater part of it was destroyed by -fire just before I got there. Thirty miles farther on stands Staunton. -This town carries on a considerable trade with the back country, and -contains nearly 200 dwellings, mostly built of stone, together with a -church. Winchester stands 100 miles to the northward of Staunton, and -is the largest town in the United States on the western side of the -Blue Mountains. The houses are estimated at 350.” - - - - -_X._ - -_THE DUKE OF LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT._ - -_1796._ - - _The Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt--The Status of Norfolk--From - Yorktown to Richmond--The Business of Richmond--Tobacco - Inspection--Administration of Virginia--The Dover Mines--Goochland - Court House--Monticello--Staunton--Winchester--Alexandria--Roads and - Inns._ - - -The Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt was born January 11, 1747, and -died in 1827. He was in this country, of which he made a thorough -investigation, during the years 1795, 1796 and 1797, having been -obliged to quit France in 1792 by reason of the insanities of the -Revolution. It is stated that his education was neglected. He was -early in the army, and was in England in 1769. On his return from -England he made a practical application of the methods of agriculture -he had studied in that country. He set up a model farm on his estate, -and established a school of arts and trades for the sons of soldiers, -which, in 1788, numbered 130 students. It was he who made the answer -to Louis XVI, “No, sire, it is Revolution,” when the King observed, -“This seems to be a revolt.” He turned over a part of his fortune to -the King. From 1792 to 1795, and after his return from America, he was -in England, being much with Arthur Young, the famous agriculturist. -Returning to France in 1799, he continued his scientific and -philanthropic works, and (as much as was possible) was active in public -affairs. He was the organizer of the first savings bank. - -The two large volumes of travels in this country by the Duke of La -Rochefoucauld-Liancourt were translated, and published at London in -1799. These volumes are a record, and a summary of statistics for that -period of the history of this country such as are not to be found -elsewhere, the work of a man who had an eye for both the intimate and -the exterior concerns of the State. France was a volcano in those -years, and the observer was glad to give an undivided attention to the -facts of the new country across the seas. Below are a few statements -bearing on Virginia, taken from the second volume of this remarkable -book. The traveler came by ship, three days from Charleston to Norfolk, -landing May 29th [1796]. - -“Norfolk is built on Elizabeth River, at nine miles from the spot -where it discharges its waters into the bay. In the intervening space -there are few houses. An almost uninterrupted succession of pines -are the only object which meets the traveler’s eye. Erancy Island -lies nearly in the middle of the river at a short distance above its -mouth. Two points of land, which approach within a quarter of a mile -of each other in front of Norfolk, are strengthened with forts which -are capable of successfully defending the entrance. Portsmouth, a -small assemblage of houses on the opposite side of the river, did not -share in the conflagration of Norfolk. From its situation it seemed -entitled to expect all the commerce of Elizabeth River; at its quays -the greatest depth of water is found. But at the conclusion of the -peace, the inhabitants, being incensed against the English, refused -to admit any merchant of that nation, or any newcomer whose political -principles were liable to suspicion. The consequence has been that the -inhabitants have removed to the opposite side; that Norfolk has been -rebuilt, and that its trade is twenty times more considerable than that -of Portsmouth. - -“At the close of the year eighty-three there were not yet twelve houses -rebuilt at Norfolk. At present the number is between 700 and 800. -Last year the yellow fever is said to have carried off 500 persons -from a population of 4,000. The inhabitants of Norfolk, even those -among them who are the most opulent, fancy that the use of wine and -strong liquors furnishes them with a preservative. Previous to the -war the town is said to have contained 8,000 inhabitants. Norfolk -carries on a considerable trade with Europe, the Antilles, and the -Northern States. Her exports are wheat, flour, Indian corn, timber of -every kind, particularly planks, staves and shingles; salt meat and -fish, iron, lead, flaxseed, tobacco, tar, turpentine, hemp. All these -articles are the produce of Virginia, or of North Carolina, which -latter State, having no seaports, or none that are good, makes her -exportations principally through those of Virginia. This port almost -singly carries on all the commerce of that part of Virginia which lies -south of the Rappahannoc, and of North Carolina far beyond the Roanoke. -They are at present forming a canal which, passing through the Dismal -Swamp, is to unite the waters of the south branch of Elizabeth River, -or rather of Deep Creek, with Albemarle Sound. What must appear very -surprising is that for this canal, which already seems in such a state -of forwardness, no levels have been taken. It is thus almost all the -public works are carried on in America, where there is a total want of -men of talents in the arts, and where so many able men, who are perhaps -at this moment unemployed in Europe, might to a certainty make their -fortunes at the same time that they were rendering essential service to -the country. - -“The European demand has within four years more than doubled the value -of the exports from Norfolk. A barrel of flour, whose medium value -in 1791 was $5.55, rose in 1795 to $9.35; and Indian corn was at 37 -cents the bushel in 1791, at 54 in 1792, and at 66 in 1795. Exclusive -of the flour exported from Norfolk, there is drawn from the State, -through that and other ports, a great quantity of wheat, which is -taken by the merchants of Philadelphia and New York, or the millers of -Brandywine, who manufacture it into flour, which they export to Europe. -Good mills are not very common in Virginia. The exportation of tobacco -from Norfolk has by the diminution of the culture of that article in -Virginia, been reduced above one-third within the last five years. The -medium rate of house rent at Norfolk is $230. Many English commercial -houses are established at Norfolk. This year England procured from -Virginia a number of horses to mount the cavalry, which she proposes to -send to the French islands. Of 400 horses already shipped off, only 150 -lived to reach the place of their destination. - -“Agriculture can hardly be said to exist in Norfolk County or in -that of Princess Ann. The landed property is much divided, and the -inhabitants devote themselves rather to the selling of timber than to -the cultivation of the soil. In all these parts land is sold at from -$6 to $7 per acre; and often the value of the timber, which it offers -for the axe, amounts to four or five times the price of the original -purchase. From eighty to ninety vessels of different dimensions are -annually built at Norfolk. The price of building is, for the hull on -coming from the hands of the carpenter, $24 per ton for those above 120 -tons. Ready for sea, they cost from $47 to $50 per ton. It was intended -that Norfolk should build one of the six frigates of which the United -States had determined to compose their marine. That which was to have -been built at Norfolk was among the number countermanded: it was begun -at Gosport, where there are dock yards for the construction of the -largest vessels. The communication between Norfolk and Portsmouth is -continual: it is carried on by six rowboats belonging to a company, and -by three scows, in which horses and carriages are conveniently ferried -over. The fare for each passenger is one-sixteenth of a dollar; but on -paying $6 a person may become free of the passage for twelve months. -To the port of Norfolk, above any other in the United States, came -the greatest number of colonists escaped from Saint Domingo. Private -subscriptions raised in all the towns of Virginia, together with -further sums voted by the State Legislature and by Congress, afforded -the unfortunate French incontestable proofs of the benevolence and -generosity of the Americans. Major William Lindsey, commissioner of -the Custom House, is, of all the inhabitants of Norfolk, the individual -with whom I have the most particular reason to be satisfied. He is -a man recommended by simplicity of manners and goodness of heart, -and is held in universal esteem. I am profoundly indebted to him for -information on a variety of subjects. - -“A wherry, employed in transporting the mail from Norfolk to Hampton, -whence it is forwarded by land to Richmond, is the usual conveyance -for passengers who intend to pursue that route. In good weather the -passage is performed in two hours: we were ten hours in crossing for -want of wind. The Richmond mail arrives at Hampton, an inconsiderable -village, three times a week. Formerly there was a custom house -established here. In 1795 this was united with that of Norfolk. The -monument voted by Congress for erection at York Town is not even yet -begun. Such negligence is inconceivable, shameful and unaccountable. On -the opposite side of the river from York Town, in Gloucester County, -are annually built a considerable number of vessels. The highest -rents at York Town are from $80 to $100. Flour, an article which it -is difficult to procure, costs at present $15. From York Town to -Williamsburg land is sold at $4 or $5 the acre. The students at the -college in Williamsburg pay $14 to each professor whose course of -lessons they attend. Their board and lodging cost them from $100 to -$120. The lands about Williamsburg yield from eight to twelve bushels -of wheat per acre, or from twelve to fourteen of Indian corn. Those few -spots that are manured with dung produce double that quantity. Crowded -in the stage by ten passengers and their baggage, we did not arrive -at Richmond before 11 o’clock at night, though we had set out from -Williamsburg at 8 in the morning; the rain, which has been abundant -during the last two days, having rendered the roads very bad. - -“The position of Richmond is truly agreeable. On the opposite side -of the river the country rises in a gentle aclivity; and the little, -but well-built town of Manchester, environed by cultivated fields, -which are ornamented by an infinite number of trees and dotted with -scattered houses, embellishes the sweet, variegated, agreeable and -romantic perspective. This town has prodigiously increased, but within -the last two or three years it has remained stationary. A few years -back a conflagration consumed almost all the lower part of the town. At -present there are few wooden houses at Richmond. The trade of this town -consists in the purchase of the country productions, and in selling at -second-hand the articles of domestic consumption, which are generally -procured from England. The number of merchants who carry on a direct -commerce with Europe is inconsiderable. They keep their ships at -Norfolk, and send down the produce of the country in smaller vessels. -The commission trade may be considered as the real business of the -place. It is from the merchants of Richmond or Petersburg that those -of Norfolk most commonly purchase the grain, flour and tobacco which -the latter export. The country produce is paid for by the merchants -in ready money or at short credit; they even frequently obtain it on -cheaper terms by furnishing the planters with an advance of money on -their crop. The Richmond merchants supply all the stores through an -extensive tract of back country. As they have a very long credit from -England, they can allow a similar indulgence of six, nine or twelve -months to the shop-keepers whom they supply. All the merchants deal in -bills of exchange on Europe. - -“The falls of James River, which obstructed its navigation from -the distance of seven miles above Richmond, heretofore imposed the -necessity of employing land carriage for that space. At present a -canal, running parallel with the course of the river for those seven -miles, connects the communication by water, and opens a navigation -which extends without interruption 200 miles above Richmond. I have -seen one of the two mills at Richmond. It stands below the falls of the -river, receives a great power of water, and turns six pair of stones. -It is a fine mill, and unites the advantages of all the new inventions: -the cogs of the wheels are clumsily executed. It costs a yearly rent -of near $6,000 to Monsieur Chevalier, a Frenchman from Rochefort, -heretofore director of the French paquets to America, and now settled -in Virginia. Flour mills are more numerous at Petersburg than at -Richmond, and the mills there are also upon a good construction. -The exportations of Petersburg are more considerable than those of -Richmond, although generally speaking, the produce it receives is -inferior in quality. Tobacco, for instance, which sells at Richmond for -$6 or $7 the hundred weight, does not fetch quite $5 at Petersburg. -City Point, or Bermuda Hundred, is the spot where the custom house is -established for these two places. At half a mile from the custom house -stands the habitation of Mr. D. Randolph, who is fully entitled to -the reputation which he enjoys of being the best farmer in the whole -country. - -“The inspection of tobacco in Virginia, and especially on James River, -is esteemed to be conducted with a degree of exactness and severity, -which contributes as much as the real superiority of the article itself -to keep up its price in the market. The hogsheads are broken at the -warehouse, and examined in every direction and in every part. The -tobacco is then repacked in its hogshead, which is branded with a hot -iron, marking the place of inspection and the quality of the contents. -The planter receives a certificate of the particulars. It is by selling -this ‘tobacconote’ to the merchant that the planter sells his tobacco. -The civil laws of Virginia have struck me as wisely ordained. The State -of Virginia has no public debt, except $100,000, in which she was found -debtor to the Union on the settlement of the accounts of the States -with the general government; and a claim made on the part of France for -arms and military stores furnished during the war. From the condition -of the finances of the State of Virginia it follows that the taxes -are by no means heavy. The counties impose no taxes, unless when they -have bridges, prisons or courthouses to build. The slave laws are much -milder here than in any of the other countries through which I have -hitherto traveled. - -“On the 20th of June Mr. Guillemard and myself set out for the -mountains; Monticello, the habitation of Mr. Jefferson, was the object -of this part of our journey. Messrs. Graham & Havens, merchants of -Richmond, and owners of a coal mine at Dover, near by, were so kind -as to conduct us thither. This mine is scarcely wrought. There is not -one person throughout America versed in the art of working mines. The -country between Dover and Goochland Courthouse, where we stopped at -night, is more variegated than before; you find there more heights, -and some fine prospects, especially on Mount Pleasant, which commands -a wide extensive vale entirely cleared, and full of houses and clumps -of trees. This day was a court day at Goochland. It was near 9 o’clock -at night when I arrived. At the inn the company easily discerned that I -was a Frenchman. There arrived a large bowl of grog, and we drank one -after another, toasting the French, France, America, Virginia, and M. -de la Fayette, whose name they mentioned with enthusiasm. In spite of -my little disposition for drinking, I was obliged two or three times to -drink in my turn, for it was absolutely necessary to empty the bowl. -It was with great difficulty I prevented the arrival of a second. The -road grows duller after you leave Goochland Courthouse. The plantations -become constantly less frequent and less extensive. Inns are very -scarce on this road; the next is nearly seventeen miles distant from -that where we passed the night. I went a mile farther on, to stop at -one which I knew was kept by a Frenchman. After having spent nearly the -whole day there, we went ten miles farther on to an ordinary, where we -stopped for the night, and the next day proceeded to Monticello. - -“Mr. Jefferson’s house commands one of the most extensive prospects you -can meet with; when finished by his new plan, it will certainly deserve -to be ranked with the most pleasant mansions in France or England. -He has divided all his land under culture into four farms, and every -farm into seven fields of forty acres. His system of rotation embraces -seven years. Mr. Jefferson possesses one of those excellent threshing -machines, which a few years since were invented in Scotland. He has a -drilling machine, invented in his own neighborhood. Mr. Jefferson, in -common with all landholders in America, imagines that his habitation -is more healthy than any other; that it is as healthful as any in -the finest parts of France. In private life Mr. Jefferson displays a -mild, easy, and obliging manner, though somewhat cold and reserved; -he possesses a stock of information not inferior to that of any other -man. His daughters have been educated in France, where they became -acquainted with my family. Fifteen hundred leagues from our native -country, in another world, and frequently given up to melancholy, we -fancy ourselves restored to existence when we hear our family and our -friends mentioned by persons who have known them. - -“We arrived at Staunton by the road through Rockfish Gap. The most -frequented road to the Sweet, Warm and Hot Springs at Greenbriar, -and from thence to Kentucky, passes through Staunton. Eight inns are -established there, three of which are large. Hemp, which grows very -fine, is cultivated throughout the whole of this country. Wheat in -this region is mowed with the sickle, as in Europe, and is infected -with the rot. On the other side of the Blue Mountains they mow with -the scythe. From Staunton we passed by Keyssel Town, Newmarket, -Strasburgh (formerly called Stover’s Town), and Newtown, to Winchester. -Winchester sends to Alexandria the whole produce of the upper country, -and draws from Baltimore, but especially from Philadelphia, all sorts -of dry goods. Upwards of thirty well-stocked stores, or shops, have -been opened at Winchester. The town contains ten or twelve inns, -large and small, which are often full. In the course of last year -upwards of 4,000 persons passed through the place, going to settle in -Tennessee or Kentucky. Landed property in the vicinity of Charlestown -is more divided, perhaps, than in any other part of Virginia. Very few -of the planters possess more than 2,000 acres of land, and few even -so much. Alexandria is, beyond all comparison, the handsomest town -in Virginia, and, indeed, is among the finest in the United States. -Alexandria carries on a constant trade with the West India Islands, and -also some with Europe. There is a bank at Alexandria, the only one in -Virginia. The establishment of a bank at Richmond was authorized by the -Legislature of Virginia in December, 1792, but the subscriptions not -filling it does not exist.[L] - -“The roads are in general good throughout this State; and although the -inns are sometimes bad, yet upon the whole they are better than in -the other States. Those in the back country, where I have traveled, -are preferable to the inns in many of the most inhabited parts of New -England.” - - - - -_XI._ - -_JOHN DAVIS OF SALISBURY._ - -_1801-1802._ - - _The Sailor Turned Author--Vice-President Burr--Washington in - 1801--Cherokees--Gadesby’s--Colchester--Occoquan--Romantic - Situation--Tavern Luxuries--Eloquence and a War-Dance--Parson - Weems--Scholarship Per Se--Frying Pan--Newgate--Mr. Ball--‘To - Virginia.’_ - - -In the year 1798 John Davis came to America. He had been very much of a -traveler, had lived in the East Indies, had crossed the equator several -times and doubled the Cape of Good Hope more than once. Davis came -from Salisbury, in England. He deserves a place in the biographical -dictionaries, but is not found there. Having been a sailor before -the mast for eleven years, he became a desultory man of letters, of -considerable literature, who paid his way while in this country by -potboiling for New York and Philadelphia booksellers and by teaching in -South Carolina and Virginia.[M] He brought with him across the Atlantic -a library of 300 volumes, French, Latin and English. These books he -read. For statistics, commerce, land speculations, Davis cared nothing -whatever. He was an impressionist and not to be disregarded as a poet. -His work, therefore, is distinct among these early travels which are -usually records of fact as fact, and as such are extremely valuable. -However a man sees, let him write. - -Thomas Jefferson, who was pleased to accept the dedication to him of -this volume, supposed that it would be of a statistical sort. “Should -you in your journeyings have been led to remark on the same objects on -which I gave crude notes some years ago, I shall be happy to see them -confirmed or corrected by a more accurate observer,” wrote President -Jefferson from Monticello. - -Davis accepted the acceptance and published a book as little like the -“Notes on Virginia” as any book could well be. The author had read -Horace and believed as that poet did that his work was going to last. -“That this volume will regale curiosity while man continues to be -influenced by his senses and affections, I have little doubt,” was the -statement of John Davis in his preface. “It will be recurred to with -equal interest on the banks of the Thames and those of the Ohio. There -is no man who is not pleased in being told by another what he thought -of the world and what the world thought of him.” There is a good deal -of truth in both the particular and the general observation. We have -not yet taken the time to review our history with much care. Whenever -that is done, John Davis, of Salisbury, citizen of the world, more or -less, should find readers again after a hundred years. - -Having translated for bookseller Caritat, in New York (at Aaron -Burr’s suggestion), “The Campaign in Italy of General Buonaparte,” -and afterwards having spent a winter as tutor in the family of Mr. -Drayton, of South Carolina, Davis came back to the North, wrote a novel -called the “Wanderings of William,” for Thompson, of Philadelphia, -and, nevertheless, being in want of ready money, applied to Mr. -Burr, now Vice-President, for a recommendation that might lead to -government employment. The Vice-President very obligingly promised the -indigent author a place in the Treasury Department. Davis set out for -Washington, which at that time had only begun to emerge. The village of -1801 is thus described, as if by Goldsmith: “Washington, on my second -journey to it wore a very dreary aspect. The multitude had gone to -their homes, and the inhabitants of the place were few. There were no -objects to catch the eye but a forlorn pilgrim forcing his way through -the grass that overruns the streets, or a cow ruminating on a bank, -from whose neck depended a bell, that the animal might be found the -more readily in the woods. I obtained accommodations at the Washington -Tavern, which stands opposite the Treasury. There I found seven -Cherokee chiefs. They came to be instructed in the mode of European -agriculture.” Presenting himself to Secretary Gallatin immediately -after the Cherokee chiefs had descended the Treasury stairs, Davis was -told by the Secretary that the Vice-President had made a mistake, and -that there was no consulship or any other office to be had. Another -instance of the startling difference between promise and fulfilment. - -“Finding a schooner at Georgetown ready to sail for Alexandria, I put -my trunk on board of her, and left without regret the Imperial City. -The wind being contrary, we had to work down the Potomac. The river -here is very beautiful. Mason’s Island forms one continued garden; -but what particularly catches the eye is the Capitol, rising with -sacred majesty above the woods. It was easier landing at Alexandria in -America than Alexandria in Egypt; and I found elegant accommodations at -Gadesby’s hotel. It is observable that Gadesby keeps the best house of -entertainment in the United States. The splendour of Gadesby’s hotel -not suiting my finances, I removed to a public-house kept by a Dutchman. - -“To what slight causes does a man owe some of the principal events of -his life. I had been a fortnight at Alexandria, when, in consequence -of the short advertisement I had put in the _Gazette_, a gentleman was -deputed to wait on me from a Quaker, on the banks of the Occoquan, -who wanted a Tutor for his children. The following evening I left -Alexandria on horseback to visit the abode of Mr. Ellicott. Having -crossed the bridge [at Colchester], which is built over the Occoquan, I -alighted at the door of the tavern. - -“Having ordered supper, I gazed with rapture on the Occoquan River, -which ran close to the house, and, gradually enlarging, emptied itself -into the capacious bosom of the Potomac. The fishermen on the shore -were hawling their seine, and the sails of a little bark, stemming the -waves, were distended by the breeze of night. The seaboy was lolling -over the bow, and the helmsman was warbling a song to his absent fair. - -“The next day I proceeded to Occoquan; but so steep and craggy was -the road that I found it almost inaccessible. On descending the last -hill, I was nearly stunned by the noise of two huge mills, whose roar, -without any hyperbolical aggravation, is scarcely inferior to that of -the great falls of the Potomac, or the cataract of Niagara. My horse -would not advance; and I was myself lost in astonishment. - -“Friend Ellicott and his wife received me with an unaffected simplicity -of manners, whom I was happy to catch just as they were going to -dinner. An exquisite Virginia ham smoked on the board, and two damsels -supplied the guests with boiled Indian corn, which they had gathered -with their own hands. Friend Ellicott, uncorrupted by the refinement of -modern manners, had put his hat to its right use, for it covered his -head. - -“Our agreement was soon made. Quakers are men of few words. Friend -Ellicott engaged me to educate his children for a quarter of a year. He -wanted them taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. Delightful task! -As to Latin or French, he considered the study of either language an -abuse of time; and very calmly desired me not to say another word about -it. - -“No place can be more romantic than the view of Occoquan to a stranger, -after crossing the rustic bridge, which has been constructed by the -inhabitants across its stream. He contemplates a river urging its -course along mountains that lose themselves among the clouds; he -beholds vessels taking on board flour under the foam of the mills, and -others deeply laden expanding their sails to the breeze; while every -face wears contentment, every gale wafts health, and echo from the -rocks multiplies the voices of the waggoners calling to their teams. - -“No walk could be more delightful than that from Occoquan to -Colchester, when the moon was above the mountains. You traverse the -bank of a placid stream over which impend rocks, in some cases bare, -but more frequently covered with an odoriferous plant that regales the -traveller with its fragrance. So serpentine is the course of the river -that the mountains, which rise from its bank, may be said to form an -amphitheatre; and nature seems to have designed the spot for the haunt -only of fairies; for here grow flowers of purple dye, and here the -snake throws her enamelled skin. - -“After clambering over mountains, almost inaccessible to human toil, -you come to the junction of the Occoquan with the noble river of the -Potomac, and behold a bridge, whose semi-elliptical arches are scarcely -inferior to those of princely London. And on the side of this bridge -stands a tavern, where every luxury that money can purchase is to -be obtained at a first summons; where the richest viands cover the -table, and where ice cools the Madeira that has been thrice across the -ocean.[N] The apartments are numerous and at the same time spacious; -carpets of delicate texture cover the floors; and glasses are suspended -from the walls in which a Goliah might survey himself. No man can be -more complaisant than the landlord. Enter but his house with money -in your pocket, and his features will soften into the blandishments -of delight; call and your mandate is obeyed; extend your leg and the -boot-jack is brought you. - -“On the north bank of the Occoquan is a pile of stones, which indicates -that an Indian warrior is interred underneath. The Indians from the -back settlements, in traveling to the northward, never fail to leave -the main road, and visit the grave of their departed hero. If a stone -be thrown down, they religiously restore it to the pile; and, sitting -round the rude monument, they meditate profoundly; catching, perhaps, a -local emotion from the place. - -“A party of Indians, while I was at Occoquan, turned from the common -road into the woods to visit this grave on the bank of the river. The -party was composed of an elderly Chief, twelve young War Captains, and -a couple of Squaws. Of the women, the youngest was an interesting girl -of seventeen; remarkably well shaped, and possessed of a profusion of -hair, which in colour was raven black. She appeared such another object -as the mind images Pocahontas to have been. - -“The Indians being assembled round the grave, the old Chief rose -with a solemn mien, and, knocking his war-club against the ground, -pronounced an oration to the memory of the departed warrior. No orator -of antiquity ever exceeded this savage chief in the force of his -emphasis, and the propriety of his gesture. Indeed, the whole scene was -highly dignified. The fierceness of his countenance, the flowing robe, -elevated tone, naked arm, and erect stature, with a circle of auditors -seated on the ground, and in the open air, could not but impress upon -the mind a lively idea of the celebrated speakers of ancient Greece and -Rome. - -“Having ended his oration, the Indian struck his war-club with fury -against the ground, and the whole party obeyed the signal by joining -in a war-dance--leaping and brandishing their knives at the throats of -each other, and accompanying their menacing attitudes with a whoop and -a yell, which echoed with ten-fold horror from the banks of the river. -The dance took place by moonlight, and it was scarcely finished, when -the Chief produced a keg of whiskey, and having taken a draught, passed -it round among his brethren. The squaws now moved the tomahawks into -the woods, and a scene of riot ensued. The keg was soon emptied. The -effects of the liquor began to display itself in the looks and motions -of the Indians. To complete the scene, the old warrior was uttering the -most mournful lamentations over the keg he had emptied; inhaling its -flavour with his lips, holding it out with his hands in a supplicating -attitude, and vociferating to the bye-standers, ‘Scuttawawbah! -Scuttawawbah! More strong drink! More strong drink!’ - -“About eight miles from the Occoquan mills is a house of worship, -called Powheek Church; a name it derives from a Run that flows near its -walls. Hither I rode on Sundays and joined the congregation of Parson -Weems. I was confounded on first entering the church-yard at Powheek to -hear - - ‘_Steed threaten steed with high and boastful neigh._’ - -Nor was I less stunned with the rattling of carriage-wheels, the -cracking of whips, and the vociferations of the gentlemen to the -negroes who accompanied them. But the discourse of Parson Weems calmed -every perturbation. - -“After church I made my salutations to Parson Weems, and having turned -the discourse to divine worship, I asked him his opinion of the piety -of the blacks. ‘Sir,’ said he, ‘no people in this country prize the -Sabbath more seriously than the trampled-upon negroes. They are swift -to hear; they seem to hear as for their lives.--How, sir, did you like -my preaching?’ ‘Sir,’ cried I, ‘it was a sermon to pull down the proud -and humble the haughty.’ - -“I had been three months at Occoquan. My condition was growing irksome. -I, therefore, resigned my place to an old drunken Irishman, who was -traveling the country on foot in search of an Academy. I remonstrated -with Friend Ellicott on the impropriety of employing a sot to educate -his children. ‘Friend,’ said he, ‘of all the schoolmasters I ever -employed, none taught my children to write so good a hand, as a man who -was constantly in a state that bordered on intoxication. They learned -more of him in one month than of any other in a quarter. I will make -trial of Burbridge.’” - -Davis returned to New York, collecting a few dollars at Philadelphia, -due him from sales of “The Wanderings of William.” In April, 1802, he -was at Washington again, where Congress was in session. “I watched -an opportunity to make the Vice-President my salutations as he came -out of the Capitol. He demonstrated no little pleasure to see me; -and his chariot being at the steps, he took me home with him to -dine.” The House of Representatives was then sitting in a detached -temporary building. Davis thought John Randolph the most eloquent in -debate. After a few days in Washington, the itinerant passed on to -Prince William County, where he had been engaged as tutor by Mr. Ball -at twenty-five pounds the quarter. At Frying Pan, in Prince William -County, Davis inquired the way. “How far, my boy,” said I, “is it to -Frying Pan?” “You be in the Pan now,” replied the boy. - -“Frying Pan is composed of four log huts and a meeting-house. It took -its name from a curious circumstance. Some Indians, having encamped on -the run, missed their frying pan in the morning, and hence the name was -conferred on the place. I did not stop at Frying Pan, but prosecuted -my walk to Newgate, where in the piazza of the tavern I found a party -of gentlemen from the neighboring plantations carousing over a bowl -of toddy and smoking segars. No people could exceed these men in -politeness. On my ascending the steps to the piazza every countenance -seemed to say: This man has a double claim to our attention because -he is a stranger. In a moment there was room made for me to sit down; -a new bowl was called for, and every one who addressed me did so -with a smile of conciliation. The higher Virginians seem to venerate -themselves as men. Whatever may be advanced against Virginians, -their good qualities will ever outweigh their defects; and when the -effervescence of youth has abated, when reason asserts her empire, -there is no man on earth who discovers more exalted sentiments, more -contempt for baseness, more love of justice, more sensibility of -feeling, than a Virginian. At Newgate my pilgrimage was nearly at an -end, for Mr. Ball’s plantation was only distant eight miles.” - -Beyond Newgate, Bull Run was to be crossed. Having passed that famous -stream, the pedagogue and peripatetic, after a mile or two, came to -the Ball plantation. An old negro showed him the way, who related, -among many other things, that when he was a young buck he made as much -as fifteen dollars one winter as capitation money--“Master, I don’t -tell you a word of a lie”--levied on the wolves of the region. At -Mr. Ball’s: “In my way through the garden I passed two young ladies -gathering roses, who, however immured in the woods, were clad with not -less elegance than the most fashionable females of Europe. I asked them -whether Mr. Ball was at home. They replied that their papa was in the -parlour, and with much sweetness of manner directed me by the shortest -path to the house. Mr. Ball[O] received me with undissembled accents -of joy. He said he had long expected my coming and was gratified at -last. I was not a little delighted with the suavity of his manners and -the elegance of his conversation. I now opened what some called an -Academy and others an Old Field School; and, however it may be thought -that content was never felt within the walls of a seminary, I for my -part experienced an exemption from care and was not such a fool as to -measure the happiness of my condition by what others thought of it. -Of the boys I can not speak in very encomiastic terms. Of my female -students there was none equal in capacity to Virginia. Geography was -one of our favorite studies. I often addressed the rose of May in an -appropriate ode-- - -_TO VIRGINIA, LOOKING OVER A MAP_ - - “Powerful as the magic wand, - Displaying far each distant land, - Is that angel hand to me, - When it points each realm and sea. - - “Plac’d in geographic mood, - Smiling, shew the pictur’d flood, - Where along the Red Sea coast - Waves o’erwhelm’d the Egyptian host. - - “Again the imag’d scene survey, - The rolling Hellespontic Sea, - Whence the Persian from the shore - Proudly pass’d his millions o’er. - - “And behold to nearer view, - Here thy own lov’d country too-- - Virginia! which produc’d to me - A pupil fair and bright like thee.” - -What with a horse, the artisanry of verse, a mild philosophy, and the -business of his office, John Davis spent three months very agreeably -on Bull Run, within sight of the Blue Ridge. Then a New Jersey farmer -of the neighborhood discovered that his eldest boy wrote a better -hand than the teacher. Davis resigned the academy to the carpenter of -the plantation. “I now once more seized my staff and walked towards -Baltimore. It was a killing circumstance to separate from Virginia (the -student of geography), but who shall persume to contend against fate? -_Phyllida amo ante alias, nam me discedere flevit._ I embarked August, -1802, in the good ship Olive, Captain Norman, lying at Baltimore, for -Cowes, in the Isle of Wight.” - - - - -LIST OF TRAVELS - - -1. A Tour in the United States. Containing an Account of the Present -Situation of that Country, the Population, Agriculture, Commerce, -Customs & Manners of the Inhabitants, &c., &c. By John Ferdinand D. -Smyth. Two Volumes. London, 1784. - -2. Travels through the Interior Parts of America. In a Series of -Letters. By an Officer. [Thomas Anburey.] Two Volumes. London, 1789. - -3. New Travels through North America. In a Series of Letters, -exhibiting the History of the Victorious Campaign of the Allied Armies, -under his Excellency General Washington and the Count de Rochambeau -in the Year 1781. Translated from the Original of the Abbé Robin. -Philadelphia. Robert Bell: Third Street. 1783. - -4. Travels in North America in the Years 1780-81-82 by the Marquis -de Chastellux, one of the forty members of the French Academy & -Major General in the French Army, serving under Count de Rochambeau. -Translated from the French by an English Gentleman [George Grieve] who -resided in America at that period. With Notes by the Translator. New -York. 1828. [From the English edition of 1787.] - -5. Reise durch einige der mittlern und südlichen vereinigten -Nordamerikanischen Staaten, nach Ost-Florida und den Bahama-Inseln, -unternommen in den Jahren 1783 und 1784. Von Johann David Schoepf. 2 -Bde. Erlangen. 1788. - - [Translated and edited by A. J. Morrison. Two Volumes. William J. - Campbell. Philadelphia. 1911.] - -6. Viaggio negli Stati Uniti dell’ America settentrionale, fatto negli -anni 1785, 1786, e 1787, da Luigi Castiglioni, &c., &c. 2 Tome. Milano. -1790. - -7. Extracts of the Journals of the Rev. Dr. Coke’s Five Visits to -America. London. 1793. - -8. Voyage dans l’Intéreur des États Unis, à Bath, Winchester, dans -la Vallé de Shenandoha, etc., etc., etc., pendant l’été de 1791. Par -Ferdinand M. Bayard. Paris. 1797. - -9. Travels through the States of North America and the Provinces of -Upper and Lower Canada, during the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797. By Isaac -Weld, Junior. 3rd Edition. Illustrated and embellished with sixteen -plates. Two Volumes. London. 1800. - -10. Travels through the United States of North America, the Country -of the Iroquois, and Upper Canada. In the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797, -&c., &c. By the Duke de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt. [Translated by H. -Neuman.] Two Volumes. London. 1799. - -11. Travels of Four Years and a Half in the United States of America. -During 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, and 1802. Dedicated by permission to -Thomas Jefferson, Esq., President of the United States. By John Davis. -London. 1803. - - [Edited by A. J. Morrison. Henry Holt & Co. New York. 1909.] - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - - -[A] Or Hicksford, now Emporia. - -[B] Richard Henderson, one of the Colonial Judges of North Carolina, b. -Hanover County, Va., 1735. - -[C] In Pittsylvania County, near the North Carolina line, and northwest -of the Little Sawra Towns. cf. Map, Jefferson’s _Notes_, Ed. 1787. - -[D] Smyth’s entire book, two volumes, is one of the most interesting of -that period. It is possible he exaggerates, and he may be a compiler -here and there when he professes to be giving his own adventures. He is -readable always. Chapters of his book offer puzzles which are yet to -be elucidated. Some one must carefully check up the adventures of John -Rowzee Peyton with those of Smyth. (See John L. Peyton, _Adventures of -My Grandfather_.) - -[E] And it is not at all impossible that the work was wholly a -compilation, done skilfully at London. - -[F] Translated by Philip Freneau. Philadelphia, 1783: Price ‘two thirds -of a dollar.’ - -[G] The Marquis Armand de la Rouërie, called in America Colonel Armand. - -[H] Colonel Banister was the son of the botanist. cf. Campbell, p. 725. - -[I] Dr. Greenway was a connection of Gen. Winfield Scott. cf. Scott’s -_Autobiography_, I, pp. 3-5. - -[J] John Wesley, d. in London, March 2, 1791. In Georgia and the -Carolinas Dr. Coke had been on ground familiar to Wesley. cf. _Rev. J. -Wesley’s Journal_, 1st American edition, New York, 1837. Vol. I, pp. -1-52 (1735-1738). - -[K] From the description of the plantation, acreage, equipment, etc., -and the character of the proprietor, Col. P. might have been Col. -Richard Kidder Meade, father of Bishop Meade, to whom Washington’s -farewell advice was, “Friend Dick, you must go to a plantation in -Virginia.” - -[L] New York at that time, according to this traveler, had but two -banks; and there were but three at Philadelphia, the commercial centre -of the country. - -[M] Davis wrote in 1806 a historical novel, _The First Settlers of -Virginia_, largely the story of Pocahontas. In the modern romantic way, -Davis discovered the Princess Pocahontas. - -[N] During the war in Europe the United States were a sort of temporary -depot of the produce of all countries. Commodities over and above -consumption were re-exported. Madeira might come back a second time. -cf. La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Vol. II, p. 588. - -[O] Spencer Ball, m. a daughter of Robert Carter of ‘Nomini.’ cf. -_Journal and Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian_, p. 70. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Text of direct quotes has been retained from the original, with no - correction of spelling or grammatical errors. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Travels in Virginia in Revolutionary -Times, by Various - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS IN VIRGINIA--REVOLUTIONARY TIMES *** - -***** This file should be named 63221-0.txt or 63221-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/2/2/63221/ - -Produced by David E. 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