Chapter VI: Part 6

As the Dismal Swamp lies so very near to Norfolk, where there is a constant demand for shingles, staves, &c. for exportation, and as the very best of these different articles are made from the trees growing upon the swamp, it of course becomes a very valuable species of property. The canal which is now cutting through it will also enhance its value, as when it is completed, lumber can then be readily sent from the remotest parts. The more southern parts of it, when cleared, answer uncommonly well for the culture of rice; but in the neighbourhood of Norfolk, as far as ten feet deep from the surface, there seems to be nothing but roots and fibres of different herbs mixed with a whitish sand, which would not answer for the purpose, as rice requires a very rich soil. The trees, however, that grow upon it, are a most profitable crop, and instead of cutting them all down promiscuously, as commonly is done, they only fell such as have attained a large size, by which means they have a continued succession for the manufacture of those articles I mentioned. Eighty thousand acres of the swamp are the property of a company incorporated under the title of “The Dismal Swamp Company.” Before the war broke out a large number of negroes was constantly employed by the company in cutting and manufacturing staves, &c. and their affairs were going on very prosperously; but at the time that Norfolk was burnt they lost all their negroes, and very little has been done by them since. The lumber that is now sent to Norfolk is taken principally off those parts of the swamp which are private property.

[Sidenote: ACCOMMODATION.]

From the Dismal Swamp to Richmond, a distance of about one hundred and forty miles, along the south side of James River, the country is flat and sandy, and for miles together entirely covered with pine trees. In Nansemonde county, bordering on the Swamp, the soil is so poor that but very little corn or grain is raised; it answers well however for peach orchards, which are found to be very profitable. From the peaches they make brandy, and when properly matured it is an excellent liquor, and much esteemed; they give it a very delicious flavour in this part of the country by infusing dried pears in it. Spirit and water is the universal beverage throughout Virginia. They also make considerable quantities of tar and pitch from the pine trees. For this purpose a sort of pit is dug, in which they burn large piles of the trees. The tar runs out, and is deposited at the bottom of the pit, from whence it is taken, cleared of the bits of charcoal that may be mixed with it and put into barrels. The tar, inspissated by boiling, makes pitch.

The accommodation at the taverns along this road I found most wretched; nothing was to be had but rancid fish, fat salt pork, and bread made of Indian corn. For this indifferent fare also I had to wait oftentimes an hour or two. Indian corn bread, if well made, is tolerably good, but very few people can relish it on the first trial; it is a coarse, strong kind of bread, which has something of the taste of that made from oats. The best way of preparing it is in cakes; the large loaves made of it are always like dough in the middle. There is a dish also which they make of Indian corn, very common in Virginia and Maryland, called “hominy.” It consists of pounded Indian corn and beans boiled together with milk till the whole mass becomes firm. This is eat, either hot or cold, with bacon, or with other meat.

As for my horses, they were almost starved. Hay is scarcely ever made use of in this part of the country, but in place of it they feed their cattle upon fodder, that is, the leaves of the Indian corn plant. Not a bit of fodder, however, was to be had on the whole road from Norfolk to Richmond, excepting at two places; and the season having been remarkably dry, the little grass that had sprung up had been eat down every where by the cattle in the country. Oats were not to be had on any terms; and Indian corn was so scarce, that I had frequently to send to one or two different houses before I could get even sufficient to give one feed each to my horses. The people in the country endeavoured to account for this scarcity from the badness of the harvest the preceding year; but the fact, I believe, was, that corn for exportation having been in great demand, and a most enormous price offered for it, the people had been tempted to dispose of a great deal more than they could well spare. Each person was eager to sell his own corn to such advantage, and depended upon getting supplied by his neighbour, so that they were all reduced to want.

[Sidenote: HORSE RACING.]

Petersburgh stands at the head of the navigable part of Appamatox River, and is the only place of consequence south of James River, between Norfolk and Richmond. The rest of the towns, which are but very small, seem to be fast on the decline, and present a miserable and melancholy appearance. The houses in Petersburgh amount to about three hundred; they are built without any regularity. The people who inhabit them are mostly foreigners; ten families are not to be found in the town that have been born in it. A very flourishing trade is carried on in this place. About two thousand four hundred hogsheads of tobacco are inspected annually at the warehouses; and at the falls of the Appamatox River, at the upper end of the town, are some of the best flour mills in the state.

Great crowds were assembled at this place, as I passed through, attracted to it by the horse races, which take place four or five times in the year. Horse racing is a favourite amusement in Virginia; and it is carried on with spirit in different parts of the state. The best bred horses which they have are imported from England; but still some of those raised at home are very good. They usually run for purses made up by subscription. The only particular circumstance in their mode of carrying on their races in Virginia is, that they always run to the left; the horses are commonly rode by negro boys, some of whom are really good jockies.

[Sidenote: RICHMOND.]

The horses in common use in Virginia are all of a light description, chiefly adapted for the saddle; some of them are handsome, but they are for the most part spoiled by the false gaits which they are taught. The Virginians are wretched horsemen, as indeed are all the Americans I ever met with, excepting some few in the neighbourhood of New York. They sit with their toes just under the horse’s nose, their stirrups being left extremely long, and the saddle put about three or four inches forward on the mane. As for the management of the reins, it is what they have no conception of. A trot is odious to them, and they express the utmost astonishment at a person who can like that uneasy gait, as they call it. The favourite gaits which all their horses are taught, are a pace and a _wrack_. In the first, the animal moves his two feet on one side at the same time, and gets on with a sort of shuffling motion, being unable to spring from the ground on these two feet as in a trot. We should call this an unnatural gait, as none of our horses would ever move in that manner without a rider; but the Americans insist upon it that it is otherwise, because many of their foals pace as soon as born. These kind of horses are called “natural pacers,” and it is a matter of the utmost difficulty to make them move in any other manner but it is not one horse in five hundred that would pace without being taught. In the wrack, the horse gallops with his fore feet, and trots with those behind. This is a gait equally devoid of grace with the other, and equally contrary to nature; it is very fatiguing also to the horse; but the Virginian finds it more conducive to his ease than a fair gallop, and this circumstance banishes every other consideration.

The people in this part of the country, bordering upon James River, are extremely fond of an entertainment which they call a barbacue. It consists in a large party meeting together, either under some trees, or in a house, to partake of a sturgeon or pig roasted in the open air, on a sort of hurdle, over a slow fire; this, however, is an entertainment chiefly confined to the lower ranks, and, like most others of the same nature, it generally ends in intoxication.

Richmond, the capital of Virginia, is situated immediately below the falls of James River, on the north side. The river opposite to the town is about four hundred yards wide, and is crossed by means of two bridges, which are separated by an island that lies nearly in the middle of the river. 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. Between the island and the town, the water being shallower, the bridge is built upon piers formed of square casements of logs filled with stones. To this there is no railing, and the boards with which it is covered are so loose, that it is dangerous to ride a horse across it that is not accustomed to it. The bridges thrown across this river, opposite the town, have repeatedly been carried away; it is thought idle, therefore, to go to the expence of a better one than what exists at present. 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.

[Sidenote: STATEHOUSE.]

Though the houses in Richmond are not more than seven hundred in number, yet they extend nearly one mile and a half along the banks of the river. The lower part of the town, according to the course of the river, 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, as its defects cannot be observed at that distance, but on a closer inspection it proves to be a clumsy ill shapen pile. The original plan was sent over from France by Mr. Jefferson, and had great merit; but his ingenious countrymen thought they could improve it, and to do so placed what was intended for the attic story, in the plan, at the bottom, and put the columns on the top of it. In many other respects, likewise, the plan was inverted. This building is finished entirely with red brick; even the columns themselves are formed of brick; but to make them appear like stone, they have been partially whitened with common whitewash. The inside of the building is but very little better than its exterior part. The principal room is for the house of representatives; this is used also for divine service, as there is no such thing as a church in the town. The vestibule is circular, and very dark; it is to be ornamented with a statue of General Washington, executed by an eminent artist in France, which arrived while I was in the town. Ugly and ill contrived as this building is, a stranger must not attempt to find fault with any part of it, for it is looked upon by the inhabitants as a most elegant fabric.

The falls in the river, or the rapids, as they should be called, extend six miles above the city, in the course of which there is a descent of about eighty feet. The river is here full of large rocks, and the water rushes over them in some places with great impetuosity. A canal is completed at the north side of these 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 water, but ten miles lower down about twelve feet. Most of the vessels trading to Richmond unlade the greater 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, as the Virginians have but little inclination for it, and are too fond of amusement to pursue it with much success.

[Sidenote: GAMBLING.]

Richmond contains about four thousand inhabitants, one half of whom are slaves. Amongst the freemen are numbers of lawyers, who, with the officers of the state government, and several that live retired on their fortunes, reside in the upper town; the other part is inhabited principally by the traders.

Perhaps in no place of the same size in the world is there more gambling going forward than in Richmond. I had scarcely alighted from my horse at the tavern, when the landlord came to ask what game I was most partial to, as in such a room there was a faro table, in another a hazard table, in a third a billiard table, to any one of which he was ready to conduct me. Not the smallest secrecy is employed in keeping these tables; they are always crowded with people, and the doors of the apartment are only shut to prevent the rabble from coming in. Indeed, throughout the lower parts of the country in Virginia, and also in that part of Maryland next to it, there is scarcely a petty tavern without a billiard room, and this is always full of a set of idle low-lived fellows, drinking spirits or playing cards, if not engaged at the table. Cockfighting is also another favourite diversion. It is chiefly, however, the lower class of people that partake of these amusements at the taverns; in private there is, perhaps, as little gambling in Virginia as in any other part of America. The circumstance of having the taverns thus infested by such a set of people renders travelling extremely unpleasant. Many times I have been forced to proceed much farther in a day than I have wished, in order to avoid the scenes of rioting and quarrelling that I have met with at the taverns, which it is impossible to escape as long as you remain in the same house where they are carried on, for every apartment is considered as common, and that room in which a stranger sits down is sure to be the most frequented.

Whenever these people come to blows, they fight just like wild beasts, biting, kicking, and endeavouring to tear each other’s eyes out with their nails. It is by no means uncommon to meet with those who have lost an eye in a combat, and there are men who pride themselves upon the dexterity with which they can scoop one out. This is called _gouging_. To perform the horrid operation, the combatant twills his forefingers in the side locks of his adversary’s hair, and then applies his thumbs to the bottom of the eye, to force it out of the socket. If ever there is a battle, in which neither of those engaged loses an eye, their faces are however generally cut in a shocking manner with the thumb nails, in the many attempts which are made at gouging. But what is worse than all, these wretches in their combat endeavour to their utmost to tear out each other’s testicles. Four or five instances came within my own observation, as I passed through Maryland and Virginia, of men being confined in their beds from the injuries which they had received of this nature in a fight. In the Carolinas and Georgia, I have been credibly assured, that the people are still more depraved in this respect than in Virginia, and that in some particular parts of these states, every third or fourth man appears with one eye.

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+LETTER + XV.

_Description of Virginia between Richmond and the Mountains.—Fragrance
of Flowers and Shrubs in the Woods.—Melody of the Birds.—Of the
Birds of Virginia.—Mocking Bird.—Blue Bird.—Red Bird,
&c.—Singular Noises of the Frogs.—Columbia.—Magazine there.—Fire
Flies in the Woods.—Green Springs.—Wretchedness of the
Accommodation there.—Difficulty of finding the Way through the
Woods.—Serpents.—Rattle-Snake.—Copper-Snake.—Black Snake.—South-west,
or Green Mountains.—Soil of them.—Mountain Torrents do great
Damage.—Salubrity of the Climate.—Great Beauty of the Peasantry.—Many
Gentlemen of Property living here.— Monticello, the Seat of Mr.
Jefferson.—Vineyards.—Observations on the Culture of the Grape, and
the Manufacture of Wine._

Monticello, May.

HAVING staid at Richmond somewhat longer than a week, which I found absolutely necessary, if it had only been to recruit the strength of my horses, that had been half starved in coming from Norfolk, I proceeded in a north-westerly direction towards the South-west or Green Mountains.

[Sidenote: VIRGINIAN BIRDS.]

The country about Richmond is sandy, but not so much so, nor as flat as on the south side of James River towards the sea. It now wore a most pleasing aspect. 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, which sprang up on all sides. 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, being neither so intensely hot in summer as that of the Carolinas, nor so cold in winter as that of the more northern states. The notes of the mocking bird or Virginian nightingale are in particular most melodious. This bird is of the colour and about the size of a thrush, but more slender; it imitates the song of every other bird, but with increased strength and sweetness. The bird whose song it mocks generally flies away, as if conscious of being excelled by the other, and dissatisfied with its own powers. 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 black-bird, 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 most remarkable for their plumage of those commonly met with are, the blue bird and the red bird. The first is about the size of a linnet; its back, head, and wings are of dark yet bright blue; when flying the plumage appears to the greatest advantage. The red bird is larger than a sky lark, though smaller than a thrush; it is of a vermilion colour, and has a small tuft on its head. A few humming birds make their appearance in summer, but their plumage is not so beautiful as those found more to the southward.

[Sidenote: COLUMBIA.]

Of the other common birds there are but few worth notice. Doves and quails, or partridges as they are sometimes called, afford good diversion for the sportsman. These last birds in their habits are exactly similar to European partridges, excepting that they alight sometimes upon trees; their size is that of the quail, but they are neither the same as the English quail or the English partridge. It is the same with many other birds, as jays, robins, larks, pheasants, &c. which were called by the English settlers after the birds of the same name in England, because they bore some resemblance to them, though in fact they are materially different. In the lower parts of Virginia, and to the southward, are great numbers of large birds, called turkey buzzards, which, when mounted aloft on the wing, look like eagles. In Carolina there is a law prohibiting the killing of these birds, as they feed upon putrid carcases, and therefore contribute to keep the air wholesome. There is only one bird more which I shall mention, the whipperwill, or whip-poor-will, as it is sometimes called, from the plaintive noise that it makes; to my ear it sounded wȳp-ŏ-īl. It begins to make this noise, which is heard a great way off, about dusk, and continues it through the greater part of the night. This bird is so very wary, and so few instances have occurred of its being seen, much less taken, that many have imagined the noise does not proceed from a bird, but from a frog, especially as it is heard most frequently in the neighbourhood of low grounds.

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 bull frogs; 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 neighbourhood. 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 twelve thousand stand of arms, and about thirty tons of powder. The low lands bordering upon the river in this neighbourhood 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 travellers in this part of the world, I soon lost my way. A light, however, 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, but after proceeding a little farther, I observed the same sort of light in many other places, and dismounting from my horse to examine a bush where one of these sparks appeared to have fallen, I found it proceeded from the fire fly. 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. The light is emitted from the tail, and the animal has the power of emitting it or not at pleasure.

[Sidenote: GREEN SPRINGS.]

After wandering about till it was near eleven 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; and it was not till I had related the history of my adventures from the last stage two or three times that they could be prevailed upon to let me in. At last a tall fellow in his shirt came grumbling to the door, and told me I might come in if I would. I had now a parley for another quarter of an hour to persuade him to give me some corn for my horses, which he was very unwilling to do; but at last he complied, though much against his inclination, and unlocked the stable door. Returning to the house, I was shewn into a room about ten feet square, in which were two filthy beds swarming with bugs; the ceiling had mouldered away, and the walls admitted light in various places; it was a happy circumstance, however, that these apertures were in the wall, for the window of the apartment was insufficient in itself to admit either light or fresh air. Here I would fain have got something to eat, if possible, but not even so much as a piece of bread was to be had; indeed, in this part of the country they seldom think of keeping bread ready made, but just prepare sufficient for the meal about half an hour before it is wanted, and then serve it hot. Unable therefore to procure any food, and fatigued with a long journey during a parching day, I threw myself down on one of the beds in my clothes, and enjoyed a profound repose, notwithstanding the repeated onsets of the bugs and other vermin with which I was molested.

Besides the tavern and the quarters of the slaves, there is but one more building at this place. This is a large farm house, where people that resort to the springs are accommodated with lodgings, about as good as those at the tavern. These habitations stand in the center of a cleared spot of land of about fifty acres, surrounded entirely with wood. 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.

[Sidenote: SNAKES.]

[Sidenote: MOUNTAINS.]

Having breakfasted in the morning at this miserable little place, I proceeded on my journey up the South-west Mountain. In the course of this 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, and is usually from four to six feet in length. In proportion to the length it is extremely slender; the back is perfectly black, the belly lead colour, inclining to white towards the throat. The bite of this snake is not poisonous, and the people in that country are not generally inclined to kill it, from its great utility in destroying rats and mice. 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, as the milk could not otherwise be kept sweet for two hours together in summer time. The black snake, at the time of copulation, immediately pursues any person who comes in sight, and with such swiftness, that the best runner cannot escape from him upon even ground. Many other sorts of harmless snakes are found here, some of which are beautifully variegated, as the garter, the ribbon, the blueish green snake, &c. &c. Of the venomous kind, the most common are the rattle snake, and the copper or moccassin snake. The former is found chiefly on the mountains; but although frequently met with, it is very rarely that people are bitten by it; scarcely a summer, however, passes over without several being bit by the copper snake. The poison of the latter is not so subtile as that of the rattle snake, but it is very injurious, and if not attended to in time, death will certainly ensue. The rattle snake is very dull, and never attacks a person that does not molest him; but, at the same time, he will not turn out of the way to avoid any one; before he bites, he always gives notice by shaking his rattles, so that a person that hears them can readily get out of his way. The copper snake, on the contrary, is more active and treacherous, and, it is said, will absolutely put himself in the way of a person to bite him. Snakes are neither so numerous nor so venomous in the northern as in the southern states. Horses, cows, dogs, and fowl seem to have an innate sense of the danger they are exposed to from these poisonous reptiles, and will shew evident symptoms of fear on approaching near them, although they are dead; but what is remarkable, hogs, so far from being afraid of them, pursue and devour them with the greatest avidity, totally regardless of their bites. It is supposed that the great quantity of fat, with which they are furnished, prevents the poison from operating on their bodies as on those of other animals. Hog’s lard, it might therefore reasonably be conjectured, would be a good remedy for the bite of a snake: however, I never heard cf its being tried; the people generally apply herbs to the wound, the specific qualities of which are well known. It is a remarkable instance of the bounty of providence, that in all those parts of the country where these venomous reptiles abound, those herbs which are the most certain antidote to the poison are found in the greatest plenty.

The South-west 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. These mountains are not lofty, and ought indeed rather to be called hills than mountains; they are not seen till you come within a very few miles of them, and the ascent is so gradual, that you get upon their top almost without perceiving it.

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; the seed is liable to be washed out of the ground, so that sometimes it is found necessary to sow a field two or three different times before it becomes green; and if great care be not taken to guard such fields as lie on a declivity by proper trenches, the crops are sometimes entirely destroyed, even after they arrive at maturity; indeed, very often, notwithstanding the utmost precautions, the water departs from its usual channel, and sweeps away all before it. After heavy torrents of rain I have frequently seen all the negroes in a farm dispatched with hoes and spades to different fields, to be ready to turn the course of the water, in case it should take an improper direction. On the sides of the mountain, where the ground has been worn out with the culture of tobacco, and left waste, 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, which it has formed. They are just like so many precipices, and are insurmountable barriers to the passage from one side of the mountain to the other.

[Sidenote: CLIMATE.]

Notwithstanding such disadvantages, however, the country in the neighbourhood 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. All the productions of the lower part of Virginia may be had here, at the same time that the heat is never found to be so oppressive; for in the hottest months in the year there is a freshness and elasticity in the air unknown in the low country. The extremes of heat and cold are found to be 90° and 6° above cipher, but it is not often that the thermometer rises above 84°, and the winters are so mild in general, that it is a very rare circumstance for the snow to lie for three days together upon the ground.

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 female part of the peasantry in particular is totally different from that in the low country. Instead of the pale, sickly, debilitated beings, whom you meet with there, you find amongst these mountains many a one that would be a fit subject to be painted for a Lavinia. It is really delightful to behold the groups of females, assembled here, at times, to gather the cherries and other fruits which grow in the greatest abundance in the neighbourhood of almost every habitation. Their shapes and complexions are charming; and the carelessness of their dresses, which consist of little more, in common, than a simple bodice and petticoat, makes them appear even still more engaging.

The common people in this neighbourhood 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. From being able, however, to procure the necessaries of life upon very easy terms, they are rather of an indolent habit, and inclined to dissipation. Intoxication is very prevalent, and it is scarcely possible to meet with a man who does not begin the day with taking one, two, or more drams as soon as he rises. Brandy is the liquor which they principally use, and having the greatest abundance of peaches, they make it at a very trifling expence. There is hardly a house to be found with two rooms in it, but where the inhabitants have a still. The females do not fall into the habit of intoxication like the men, but in other respects they are equally disposed to pleasure, and their morals are in like manner relaxed.

[Sidenote: MONTICELLO.]

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[23], from whose seat I date this letter. His house is about three miles distant from Charlottesville and two from Milton, which is on the head waters of Rivanna River. It is most singularly situated, being built upon the top of a small mountain, the apex of which has been cut off, so as to leave an area of about an acre and half. At present it is in an unfinished state; but if carried on according to the plan laid down, it will be one of the most elegant private habitations in the United States. A large apartment is laid out for a library and museum, meant to extend the entire breadth of the house, the windows of which are to open into an extensive green house and aviary. In the center is another very spacious apartment, of an octagon form, reaching from the front to the rear of the house, the large folding glass doors of which, at each end, open under a portico. An apartment like this, extending from front to back, is very common in a Virginian house; it is called the saloon, and during summer is the one generally preferred by the family, on account of its being more airy and spacious than any other. The house commands a magnificent prospect on one side of the blue ridge of mountains for nearly forty miles, and on the

Footnote 23:

Vice-president of the United States.

opposite one, of the low country, in appearance like an extended heath covered with trees, the tops alone of which are visible. The mists and vapours arising from the low grounds give a continual variety to the scene. The mountain whereon the house stands is thickly wooded on one side, and walks are carried round it, with different degrees of obliquity, running into each other. On the south side is the garden and a large vineyard, that produces abundance of fine fruit.

[Sidenote: VINES.]

Several attempts have been made in this neighbourhood 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 expence even of getting six Italians over for the purpose, but the vines which the Italians found growing here were different, as well as the soil, from what they had been in the habit of cultivating, and they were not much more successful in the business than the people of the country. We must not, however, from hence conclude that good wine can never be manufactured upon these mountains. It is well known that the vines, and the mode of cultivating them, vary as much in different parts of Europe as the soil in one country differs from that in another. It will require some time, therefore, and different experiments, to ascertain the particular kind of vine, and the mode of cultivating it, best adapted to the soil of these mountains. This, however, having been once ascertained, there is every reason to suppose that the grape may be cultivated to the greatest perfection, as the climate is as favourable for the purpose as that of any country in Europe. By experiments also it is by no means improbable, that they will in process of time learn the best method of converting the juice of the fruit into wine.

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+LETTER + XVI.

_Of the Country between the South-west and Blue Mountains.—Copper and
Iron Mines.—Lynchburgh.—New London.—Armoury here.—Description of the
Road over the Blue Mountains.—Peaks of Otter, highest of the
Mountains.—Supposed Height.—Much over-rated.—German Settlers numerous
beyond the Blue Mountains.—Singular Contrast between the Country and
the Inhabitants on each Side of the Mountains.—Of the Weevil.—Of the
Hessian Fly.—Bottetourt County.—Its Soil.—Salubrity of the
Climate.—Medicinal Springs here.—Much frequented._

Fincastle, May.

THE country between the South-west Mountains and the Blue Ridge is very fertile, and it is much more thickly inhabited than the lower parts of Virginia. The climate is good, and the people have a healthy and robust appearance. Several valuable mines of iron and copper have been discovered here, for the working of some of which works have been established; but till the country becomes more populous it cannot be expected that they will be carried on with much spirit.

[Sidenote: BLUE MOUNTAINS.]

Having crossed the South-west Mountains, I passed along through this county to Lynchburgh, a town situated on the south side of Fluvanna River, one hundred and fifty miles above Richmond. This town contains about one hundred houses, and a warehouse for the inspection of tobacco, where about two thousand 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 breadth. 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 proportionate to the depth of water in the river, which varies very much. When I passed it to Lynchburgh, there was no difficulty in riding across, yet when I got upon the opposite banks I observed great quantities of weeds hanging upon the trees, considerably above my head though on horseback, evidently left there by a flood. This flood happened in the preceding September, when the waters rose fifteen feet above their usual level.

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 armoury, erected during the war. About fifteen men were here employed, as I passed through, repairing old arms and furbishing up others; and indeed, from the slovenly manner in which they keep their arms, I should imagine that the same number must be constantly employed all the year round. At one end of the room lay the musquets, to the amount of about five thousand, 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 armouries 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.

The Blue Ridge is thickly covered with large trees to the very summit; some of the mountains are rugged and extremely stony, others are not so, and on these last the soil is found to be rich and fertile. It is only in particular places that this ridge of mountains can be crossed, and at some of the gaps the ascent is steep and difficult; but at the place where I crossed it, which was near the Peak of Otter, on the south side, instead of one great mountain to pass over, as might be imagined from an inspection of the map, there is a succession of small hills, rising imperceptibly one above the other, so that you get upon the top of the ridge before you are aware of it.

[Sidenote: PEAKS OF OTTER.]

The Peaks of Otter are the highest mountains in the Blue Ridge, and, measured from their bases, are supposed to be more lofty than any others in North America. According to Mr. Jefferson, whose authority has been quoted nearly by every person that has written on the subject since the publication of his Notes on Virginia, the principal peak is about four thousand feet in perpendicular height; but it must be observed, that Mr. Jefferson does not say that he measured the height himself; on the contrary, he acknowledges that the height of the mountains in America has never yet been ascertained with any degree of exactness; it is only from certain data, from which he says a tolerable conjecture may be formed, that he supposes this to be the height of the loftiest peak. Positively to assert that this peak is not so high, without having measured it in any manner, would be absurd; as I did not measure it, I do not therefore pretend to contradict Mr. Jefferson; I have only to say, that the most elevated of the peaks of Otter appeared to me but a very insignificant mountain in companion with Snowden, in Wales; and every person that I conversed with that had seen both, and I conversed with many, made the same remark. Now the highest peak of Snowden is found by triangular admeasurement to be no more than three thousand five hundred and sixty-eight feet high, reckoning from the quay at Carnarvon. None of the other mountains in the Blue Ridge are supposed, from the same data, to be more than two thousand feet in perpendicular height.

[Sidenote: COTTON.]

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 stands about twenty miles distant from the mountain, and about fifteen south of Fluvanna River. It 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 neighbourhood 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 track of land which runs through the upper part of Maryland, and from thence behind the Blue Mountains to the most southern parts of Virginia. These people, as I before mentioned, keep very much together, and are never to be found but where the land is remarkably good. It is singular, that although they form three fourths of the inhabitants on the western side of the Blue Ridge, yet not one of them is to be met with on the eastern side, notwithstanding that land is to be purchased in the neighbourhood of the South-west Mountains for one fourth of what is paid for it in Bottetourt County. 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, and the injury it was exposed to from the mountain torrents always appeared to them an insuperable objection to settling in that part of the country. 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 the snow scarcely ever remains more than a day or two upon the ground. On the other side cotton never comes to perfection, the winters are severe, and the fields covered with snow for weeks together. In every farm yard you see sleighs or sledges, carriages used to run upon the snow. Wherever these carriages are met with, it may be taken for granted that the winter lasts in that part of the country for a considerable length of time, for the people would never go to the expence of building them, without being tolerably certain that they would be useful. On the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, in Virginia, not one of these carriages is to be met with.

It has already been mentioned, that the predominant soil to the eastward of the Blue Ridge is a red earth, and that it is always a matter of some difficulty to lay down a piece of land in grass, on account of the rains, which are apt to wash away the seeds, together with the mould on the surface. In Bottetourt County, on the contrary, the soil consists chiefly of a rich brown mould, and throws up white clover spontaneously. To have a rich meadow, it is only necessary to leave a piece of ground to the hand of nature for one year. Again, on the eastern side of the Blue Mountains, scarcely any limestone is to be met with; on the opposite one, a bed of it runs entirely through the country, so that by some it is emphatically called the limestone county. In sinking wells, they have always to dig fifteen or twenty feet through a solid rock to get at the water.

[Sidenote: INSECTS.]

Another circumstance may also be mentioned, 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. The weevil is a small insect of the moth kind, which deposits its eggs in the cavity of the grain, and particularly in that of wheat; and if the crops are stacked or laid up in the barn in sheaves, these eggs are there hatched, and the grain is in consequence totally destroyed. To guard against this 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, at the same time that it does not injure the wheat. This insect has been known in America but a very few years; according to the general opinion, it 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; from thence they have spread gradually over different parts of the country. For a considerable time the Patowmac River formed a barrier to their progress, and while the crops were entirely destroyed in Maryland, they remained secure in Virginia; but these insects at last found their way across the river. The Blue Mountains at present serve as a barrier, and secure the country to the westward from their depredations[24].

Footnote 24:

There is another insect, which in a similar manner made its
appearance, and afterwards spread through a great part of the country,
very injurious also to the crops. It is called the Hessian fly, from
having been brought over, as is supposed, in some forage belonging to
the Hessian troops, during the war. This insect lodges itself in
different parts of the stalk, while green, and makes such rapid
devastations, that a crop which appears in the best possible state
will, perhaps, be totally destroyed in the course of two or three
days. In Maryland, they say, that if the land is very highly manured,
the Hessian fly never attacks the grain; they also say, that crops
raised upon land that has been worked for a long time are much less
exposed to injury from these insects than the crops raised upon new
land. If this is really the case, the appearance of the Hessian fly
should be considered as a circumstance rather beneficial than
otherwise to the country, as it will induce the inhabitants to
relinquish that ruinous practice of working the same piece of ground
year after year till it is entirely worn out, and then leaving it
waste, instead of taking some pains to improve it by manure. This fly
is not known at present south of the Patowmac River, nor behind the
Blue Ridge.

[Sidenote: MEDICINAL SPRINGS.]

Bottetourt County is entirely surrounded by mountains; it is also crossed by various ridges of mountains in different directions, a circumstance which renders the climate 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. The frost in winter is more regular, but not severer than commonly takes place in those islands. In summer the heat is, perhaps, somewhat greater; but there is not a night in the year that a blanket is not found very comfortable. Before ten o’clock in the morning the heat is greatest; at that hour a breeze generally springs up from the mountains, and renders the air agreeable the whole day. Fever and ague are disorders unknown here, and the air is so salubrious, that persons who come hither afflicted with it from the low country, towards the sea, get rid of it in a very short time.